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110, DISRAELI ROAD, Putney, London SW15, just south of the River Thames, 1980. Underneath the arches of a railway bridge, carrying the District line south towards Wimbledon's Centre Court, nestled a rehearsal studio named RITZ.
Ritz was a long way in every way from |
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110, DISRAELI ROAD, Putney, London SW15, just south of the River Thames, 1980. Underneath the arches of a railway bridge, carrying the District line south towards Wimbledon's Centre Court, nestled a rehearsal studio named RITZ.
Ritz was a long way in every way from it's somewhat grander namesake on Piccadilly, but the kettle worked and that was to be important.
Siouxsie And The Banshees' 'Juju' was taking shape in an insulated room below the rumble and vibration of the over ground underground.
Taking a break from teasing the arrangement of 'Arabian Knights' out of it's original 3/4 waltz time, Steve Severin & John McGeoch left Siouxsie & myself alone.
And, like proverbial cats, we played...............while the kettle boiled!
'But Not Them' sounded strangely complete with just drums and voice and although it was recorded that way as part of the 'Juju' sessions, it was to be the impetus for the first Creatures' recordings of May 25th, 26th & 27th, 1981.
In those three days, working for the first time with producer Mike Hedges, we also recorded and mixed 'Mad Eyed Screamer', 'So Unreal', 'Thumb', a cover of the Troggs' 'Wild Thing' and celebrated one of Siouxsie's many 'in the studio' birthdays!
Released on September 25th, 1981, 'Wild Things By The Creatures' was actually titled after 'Where the Wild Things Are' by the writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak.
On the UK Juju tour, a bathroom in the Newcastle Holiday Inn, was where the impromptu photo shoot for the 'Wild Things...' sleeve took place, giving a first glimpse into our other world.
By flying West from London to Hawaii, December 31, 1982, we met the New Year three times, midnight UK in Canada, a Canadian party at 35,000 ft and Aloha '83 Hawaiian style with thousands of firecrackers exploding from the high rise hotel windows of Honolulu, Oahu.
Two days later we arrived in Kuilima with a couple of ideas for lyrics, some drum sticks, a tambourine, a lot of unswerving confidence and several tins of Heinz baked beans for emergencies. We left 14 days later with the ten completed songs that would be our musical 'Feast', written, recorded and mixed and even time for photos beneath a Banyan tree!
A one off single, 'Right Now' hit no. 14 on the UK singles chart in August 1983, a quick blast of big brass, then the Creatures were absorbed back into the all consuming passion of the Banshees.
After six years, four big city studio albums; 'Hyaena', 'Tinderbox', 'Through the Looking Glass', 'Peepshow' and all the hullaballoo of the Peepshow Road show, Siouxsie & I set off on a long drive through the old castle lands of Spain, looking for that other world once more.
The Creatures surfaced again in May 1989, on a bull ranch, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. We set up a mobile studio beneath the vaulted ceiling of the old winery, and allowed the rarefied air of Andalusia to infuse our senses. The release of 'Boomerang' prompted our live debut on TV using guest musicians to reach the parts that we couldn't, but, using sampling & sequencing technology and two huge drum kits, we did our first live shows as a duo playing Europe & the USA in 1990.
After 'Superstition' in 1991 and 'The Rapture' in 1995, Siouxsie And The Banshees stopped. Fifteen years after those little Ritz tea breaks, it ended. A very strange feeling.
By 1996 our last ties to major label music business were cut, as Geffen records became part of the Universal behemoth, by October '96 we had recorded 12 new Creature songs, independently.
In 1998 we debuted two songs live on BBC TV, launched the SIOUX label, gave the first SIOUX 7" single away free at the Garage gigs, played Mexico City, toured the USA, played the Edinburgh Festival and recorded our final show of the year in London for the Zulu CD.
In 1999 we released our 3rd album, 'Anima Animus', toured the UK, Europe, USA & Japan, played Glastonbury & many European festivals and then returned to the USA for eight Halloween parties!
Then we put the kettle on again...............and we all know what happens whilst the kettle boils!
Budgie, April, 2000 CE..........Welcome to the new website.
"Forget tomorrow's mess - because right now is the best... I guess we're dancing on glass..."
Into the 21st Century!
2000 was the 1st year of our ‘Art’ mag. Gift Horse which included the release of the Creatures/Cale collaboration ‘Murdering Mouth’.
We were also writing and 8 tracking new material and began first steps along the learning curve of engineering & production.
September 2000 we headed ‘down under’ to perform at the Hemispheres Festival opening the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. An exciting trip with exotic parrots & pelicans all included.
2001 began with the continued writing of new songs and the construction of our own studio space. ‘Rocket Ship’ was launched as part of the Gift Horse & the year ended on a seasonal note with the issue of our 2nd ‘self-recorded & produced’ song ‘Red Wrapping Paper’.
2002 and the completion of new Creatures’ material was curtailed by the unexpected return of Siouxsie and the Banshees’. An invitation to play California’s Coachella Festival gave rise to the ‘7 Year Itch Tour’, which spawned a live DVD and an album, which along with the completion and publication of the Banshee’s 1st official biography, meant very little time for anything else. Lot’s of familiar ups & downs back on the Banshee roller coaster convinced us that the decision to stop was definitely the right one, & so the future now beckoned with an even greater urgency.
August 2002 & a Japanese twist in the tail end of the 7YI tour, produced an unexpected rhythmical souvenir and an auspicious beginning to 2003. Read the full story of “Hái!” in the Discography section.
2003 posed many questions, mostly beginning with ‘How’?
Luckily I had one of those books called ‘How to..’ so it was all pretty straight forward.. he lied! The writing, recording, arranging & mixing of Hái!, were unnervingly painless. We only lost sleep through excitement & worrying endlessly whether it was actually as good as we thought it was! The first inkling that we may not be deluded, came when Japanese Taiko master & Hái! collaborator Leonard Eto, expressed his delight on hearing the finished mixes.
The press are also responding incredibly positively and so now dear reader and listener, it’s over to you!
Welcome to the new new website........Budgie, 20 October 2003
“No more maybe, no more could be, say yes!..”
Source: http://www.thecreatures.com/creatures/biography/ |
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