©2007 Russ the Webmaster |
We should have recorded our debut album cheaply in Liverpool with a good engineer instead of in an expensive toilet in London with a name producer at the controls." Such experiences are no doubt common amongst many bands whose priorities lie outside Platinum sales discs. "Major label thinking is like a virus, you forget why you started the band and fall into the 'hit' record mind-set." Simpson's final words on the matter should probably be the first line in any guide to being in a band: "Major labels suck the poetry from your bones and fill the gaps with a cement made from cocaine and crushed teenagers." Despite recording two albums and some small successes ("We did well in America on college radio and even had a hit single in Germany") the band drifted apart once again. A roundup of their actual album material recorded on Sire has been proposed but "it's company policy not to licence their back catalogue material which is very frustrating for us". Whilst Quinn is now a successful artist and Kelly is back with the Lotus Eaters, Simpson spent the 90s recording under the Skyray banner before beginning work on his own literary take on the Liverpool scene of 25 years ago. "It's the memoir of a self-destructive musician who took the scenic route. The scenic route that lead to a bog - a septic bog on the edge of a dead marsh on a crumbling cliff top." He tells, and from reading an extract on the website, looks like it would make for interesting reading (curious readers may also want to check out the Sinking Ships song in the downloads section). The Incandescent project has been "A difficult time for me... all that dredging the past stirred up a lot of long buried sediment", but the ends justify the means. "Not only is it beautifully packaged but it just glows from the speakers". It's said with a fully justified deal of pride yet Paul Simpson has not said or sung everything just yet. "I've been demo-ing a Paul Simpson solo album called The Wickedest Man In The World.
