Personnel: Laura Joy, vocals, guitar; Brett Turrell, bass; Martin Geese, drums; Ken Hagan, ”ethereal lead guitar.”
Formed: Late 1989. Joy, Geese and Hagan were together, and Turrell joined after answering an ad.
Sound: ”I think our sound was best described by a local DJ (Bill McCormick of Z-95), who called our music `U2 meets the Throwing Muses in a dark alley,` ” Turrell says.
Influences: Turrell cites ”everybody from Gang of Four to Siouxsie and the Banshees to U2 to the Chameleons.”
Songwriting: ”We get together, turn out the lights, somebody just starts playing something, and we all play on that,” Turrell says. ”The lights are turned on, and then we add the words. All lyrics and music are by the whole band.”
Onstage cover versions: The band covers only Patsy Cline`s ”I Fall To Pieces.”
Memorable concert experience: ”We were asked to play at a benefit for the Peace Festival at this place called the Ghost House,” Turrell says, adding that the address turned out to be a house, and the room was on the second floor. ”It was like somebody`s huge dumpy practice space/living room, and we played for three or four people. I don`t think they were actually affiliated with the Peace Festival; those three or four people probably were just bored and got a band to play in their living room. I think they just got free entertainment.”
Namesake: ”Somebody brought it up as a joke because it wasn`t indicative of the music at all,” Turrell says. ”It was the only name that we unanimously disliked, so it won by default. To this day when people see the name and they`re not familiar with us, they think we`re six or seven skinny black guys singing R&B tunes.”
Recordings: In early 1990 the band released a cassette, ”Paris on the Prairie,” on its label, da recordings. The band is currently at ACME with producer Paul Smith fine-tuning a new 10-inch EP, tentatively titled ”The Motion Parade.” Why a 10-inch record? ”Because everybody either does 12-inches or 7-inches or tapes,” Turrell says. ”A 10-inch is a lot more headache, and that`s what we like.” The band hopes to release the new record by the end of August.
Outlook: Turrell says the band tries ”to write about moods and feelings in an ambiguous way, since those things are so ambiguous anyway.”
Goals: ”To strive for longevity in the music world, to be constantly happy with the music and to make music that`s meaningful to us and to other people,” Turrell says.
Next appearance: Saturday night at Elbo Room.
