Aquí el Desenterrador, con otro Vs., justo detrás del resto del último que hicimos a Manuel J González. En este caso, el Vs será con el músico inglés Will Carruthers. Bajista en bandas del nivel de Spacemen 3, Spiritualized y Spectrum,(entre otras muchas bandas) su vida da para escribir un libro. Y de hecho así fue, cuando hace unos años publicó “Playing the Bass with Three Left Hands” un repaso a su vida en las bandas anteriormente mencionadas.
Un punto álgido en el desenterrador con la entrevista a Will Carruthers
Lleno de anécdotas ácidas y tragicómicas, el libro no menciona con detalle su vida musical más allá de esas bandas. Y el Vs de hoy intentará llenar esos huecos, que como veréis si seguís escuchando, están igual o más llenos de anécdotas. Empieza el Desenterrador en su segunda entrevista en Inglés hasta la fecha..
Desenterrador: Hello Pedro from Irola Irratia Radio. We’re going to talk about your musical life. I’m very eager for this and I’ve to thank you beforehand to taking part in this experiment. We will begin with The most known to the public, Spacemen 3
Will Carruthers: What Can I say that I haven’t already said in the book. 350 pages about being in that band. I felt differently when I was writing the book, I always hoped there would be a reunion and then after I’d written it, I was talking to Johnny (he was the drummer when I was the bass player in the band) and I was just like I don’t really fancy it now, I felt like I’ve done the reunion by writing the book and it reminded me enough I didn’t want to do it again. Being in Spacemen 3, I was young, it was exciting and it took me a long time to get over. As for my favourite song from Spacemen 3, that would be one at the New Morning Club in Geneva in Switzerland from the 1989 tour. I always liked Spacemen 3 live. My favourite song that I’m not on is “Take me to the other side” but they’re always better live, they were powerful powerful guys. So it would be “Take me to the other side” live if I’m not on it and then if I’m on it it would be the very very long version of “Suicide” that we played to annoy the skiers in Switzerland and I like that one because we were just playing it really really long and really heavy and really loud to annoy people.And when we finished, we came back and played it again for an encore
Song: Spacemen 3: Suicide (Live in Geneva)
D: Okay for reasons of the control duration of the program the song chosen by Will last 40 minutes. As you have appreciated it only has been 20 minutes. Sorry for all of you that would love to have listened to the whole song or those who have listened to the whole 20 minutes I’m using the list provide in your website , Next question is about 2 bands that were continuation of the split of a Spacemen 3. Most of the people know about Spiritualized and to a lesser degree about Spectrum. I gather from the book that you played with both. Apart from the classic stories already in the book, how was the experience and did you have mixed feelings about playing with the two bands?
W: Did I have mixed feelings yet that’s what feelings are for is supposed to mix them in no? Otherwise just say it just like a non-mixed feeling it’s not real you’ve got to mix your feelings off so it’s a good stew it better yours better pinch of salt bit of pepper, clover, garlic, bit of regret, couple of clumps of joy, then mix all up in a pot and cook it for like 50 years and see how it tastes. So yeah mixed feelings a little bit you know, I just enjoyed the music you know I like both of them people as musicians I like the music they were making so, really it was the music that was most important to me in all of that. It’s kind of inevitable but it gets in the way sometimes. I just like music so I like to make music with Pete and I like making music with Jason and I like making music when they were together and I like making music when they weren’t playing together but if I had to choose one song of Spiritualized I played in, It’d be “Run” (from Lazer Guided Melodies). I’m always like playing “Run” that was always a good fun and I like the bass line on that I’m showing off, I couldn’t play it now but I like that one and then off the Spectrum album it would be “You’re the one” I think I choose that one because that was everybody from Spacemen 3 play on that one I think that was the last maybe the last song that Jason (Pierce) and Pete (Kember AKA Sonic Boom) made together but it’s a good song it’s a rocking little song. I alsodo like “Iff I should die” off that as well. I’m like an old man’s rambling. For the next I I’ll try and be more direct with my answers at least these two songs are short they’re not 20 minutes long (laughs)
Song: Spectrum/Spiritualized : Run (Spiritualized) You’re the one (Spectrum)
D: There you go, two songs, one of Spiritualized and another of Spectrum. The one with spectrum with the added bonus of having the whole line-up of Spacemen 3 playing on it. Anyway, next one for you Will, is going to be about one of my favourite bands. Back in the day, I was very surprised to see you playing in Brian Jonestown Massacre for almost two years. In fact, you played in two albums, so what was the experience and how did Anton (leader of the band) contact you?
A: I’ve known Ricky (Maymi, longtime guitarrist for the band) and he’d be on tour with Spectrum when we were touring in The States, and I’d known him from before I knew the rest of the band. The Jonestown I went to see them when they come to play in the UK and I met them in America. They hired me to be the support act for them so I went out. I was living in my mate’s garage in Toronto at the time I got a call, “come and support us”. So I supported them just with an acoustic guitar and they let me on the bus and we’ll got on pretty well, we’re all good friends.
And then Colin, the bass player, was getting married so they asked me if I’d come and play bass on a tour they were doing around Europe so I did that. It was like 6 weeks around Europe with them and we played in a couple shows in America Terminal 5 and ATP and then I ended up moving to Berlin and recording a couple of albums with Anton (Newcombe, leader of the band) really just me and him working an East Germany recording studio complex called Funky Aus. I did “Who killed Sergeant Pepper” and “Aufheben”.
My favourite that I played would be the one I sang. Anton got me singing a song but we never recorded it and it’s “Ode to space hassle” which is on YouTube somewhere, we’ve a really good video by John Carlin*. So yeah Brian Jonestown, I like them, they’re my mates. It’s good time, it was interesting to go on tour with them and another interesting band. Sorry! we did record the song but we never released I just realized and I’m talking rubbish. I’m so good at it
Song: The brian jonestown massacre: Ode To Space Hassle
D: Fantastic that one, the song and the story behind.. I mean I didn’t know anything about that because the line-up of The Brian Jonestown Massacre has been so fluid over the years… so many people have played. In fact I’m trying to do a special on all the bands from all the members that have been during the history of the band and it seems an almost impossible task. It’s like listing the emperors of the Roman Empire by heart. Let’s scroll down the list a little bit because. There’s not much information and I don’t know if you have played in records or you have played only live in some of the bands. The next one is Dead Skeletons, a band that I love that I discovered through Henrik Björnsson that also plays in Singapore Sling and Ryan Carlson Van Kriedt member of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Asteroid #4.
W: I think finding musicians that haven’t played in The Brian Jonestown Massacre is probably rarer than musicians that have, so it’s certainly in our little scene but yeah good luck with that. Will be a lot of music to get. Dead Skeletons, yeah there’s another odd tale. So after I’ve been playing with Brian Jonestown Massacre in New York, I I hadn’t arranged anywhere to go, so I was like in America and I didn’t know where the f*** I was going. I didn’t have a clue I was just standing around like on the dance floor wondering what to do myself. And Ryan and Aislinn Van Kreidt came over to me like “what you doing” and I was like “I might go to Mexico” that was my vague plan and they said “come to Philadelphia because we’ve got a spare room you can come and stay with us for a bit” so I went and lived with Ryan and Aislinn in Philadelphia for five weeks.
When they were going to visit Iceland (just because they wanted to go) before they were going to go on tour with theAsteroid #4 and I said oh I’ve got a friend in Iceland. and it was Nonni cos I’ve met Nonni (Jón Sæmundur Auðarson) on the Jonestown tour because he sang “Golden Frost”with the band. And I said, “why don’t you go and see Nonni?”, They said “all right you can give me the contact details” and then they went off and they ended up making “Dead Mantra” (only studio album of Dead Skeletons) in Iceland… weirdly no?
So the next time I see Ryan or Nonni, I was actually getting off the plane in Iceland to meet them and go and join up in the band because they wanted me to play bass and we were going to play in Greece. So we spent 6 weeks rehearsing because most of the people had never done a gig before and we’re supposed to be headliners in the festival in Greece (laughter)… as you do!,
So yeah that was a hilarious band to be in, I have to write a book about that one. I’ll be a funny f****** book I tell you. Dead Skeletons, I played all the gigs with them and recorded the “Live in Berlin” album that’s the only one. I didn’t do any actual studio recording with them. Another interesting band. How the fuck you end in an Icelandic band, well not completely, it was me, Ryan, Shaun Mulrooney from Ireland…. I’m laughing just remembering. I’m wondering if I should tell you the stories…
But if I had to choose a song it would be off that “Live in Berlin” album that came out on Fuzz Club records and the song I would choose would be t(here’s a couple of good ones) but “Get on the train” it’s pretty good.
I also was with Henrik (Singapore Sling). I knew him in Berlin for a while he lived with me for about a couple months so that was before Dead Skeletons. Singapore Sling, his band, got a new album (Killer Classsics, 2019) out by the way, really good. I kind of knew all of them individually from different places. I’m not sure if it is possible to explain that band properly really. At least without diagrams, flip charts and excel spreadsheets (laughter).
Song: Dead Skeletons: Get on the train (live in Berlin)
Q: Amazing record this live in Berlin as the studio album of the skeletons I didn’t know how all those connections came to existence. I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own, really appreciate it. The case of your connection with Fuxa and The Telescopes sounds interesting in paper, given the tumultuous story behind Stephen Lawrie.
A: I first met Stephen Lawrie fromThe Telescopes in like 1988 or 89 when they supported Spacemen 3 I think maybe in Derby or somewhere like that. So we met and then we did more shows with them and then they started putting records out so I’ve known Steve and Jo (Joanna Doran) from then and then Randall Niemann (Fuxa) I knew because, he was fan of Spectrum and Spacemen 3 and all that lot. So he came over to the UK and he asked me if I would record a bassline for a record he was making so I did that and then he was coming over on tour and he had Steven and Jo playing with him and Jerry Hope who’s playing a flugelhorn on a bit of it and we just went out and did some shows as part of the Rocket Girl (Record Label) touring festival. They put like a touring festival act with many bands, Mazzarin*and who else was on there? I don’t remember all the names that were playing but it was good fun. I just want to add they were little shows on that tour. I think some of it is online with me and Steven, Joe, Randall and everybody. And if I had to choose a Fuxa track I would choose “The Electric Sound of Summer”. That’s got me on it and it’s got, Jerry the flugelhorn player who played on some of the live shows and Randall. But I never actually played in The Telescopes, though, I just did that one tour with Steven and Joe in Fuxa, where we all played together.
Song: Fuxa/The Telescopes: The electric sound Of summer (Fuxa)
D: So this song you’ve listened is by Fuxa with the participation of our interviewee Mr Carruthers. I always find it difficult to pronounce names and surnames the first time. Not until I heard you pronouncing it yourself. So now it’s the time of Freelovebabies a band that for intents and purposes seems to be your personal project.
A: Freelovebabies, I suppose it was my solo project and that started off with me and Kevin Cowans. Kevin used to play guitar in The Dark Side and that’s when I was in Rugby. It was me and him, we just get together for ages with our acoustic guitars and just play. Just kind of write songs I mean never did any gigs really, we just played along and he’s such a great guitarist. Both of us were fundamentally lacking in ambition at that point to do anything other than play. so we just played. There’s loads of cassettes recorded with me and him playing in a caravan.
So I made an album, I was in a car crash and I got rammed by van, got some glass in my hand and I got some compensation so I bought a home studio and recorded the first album in my bedroom. It was 2000 or 2001. Then I self released it. It was called “Written in sand” and that was me singing and writing and Kevin plays guitar on some songs but not all. So it’s mostly me that is really but with Kev’s very lovely lovely guitar playing and some of the songs that we’d written together.
Then the second album was called “Home improvement for condemned buildings” and I made that in an abandoned office block in Leicester. I just recorded that myself and I got a couple people. Kevin played on that one, Johnny Mattock played on that one, Mark Refoy on that one. And again I just self-released the CDs and just sent them out to people and sold them through a website. They never really sold that much, never got any review. And then we did some gigs with Ricky from the Jonestown. He did encourage me to do some shows as Freelovebabies with Ricky playing and Steve from Northampton and Joe Wooley and Sam Barrett from the Kool-Aid and Rusty that also plays in The Telescopes now. They were quite good fun those those live shows.
So yeah, I put out two albums, self-released them, I did a few shows and then nothing has happened with Freelovebabies for a very long time. And if I had to choose my favourite track from Freelovebabies, it would probably be “Mermaid”. I always like Mermaid off “Written in the sand”. You might have trouble finding that one but it’s on YouTube or “Pick it up” that’s a pretty good one. F*** I don’t know. “Mermaid” I like that one, it’s relaxing.
The lyrics for Mermaid now I come to think about it were written partly by Natty Brooker who was the first Spacemen3 drummer. We wrote them one night when me and him went off into the countryside and had a fire and slept underneath this old tree. And we were drunk and sleeping under this tree and we were writing these lyrics and making ourselves laugh because it was kind of was a dirty song about licking p****. Just really making ourselves laugh with this pirate song about eating p****
Song: Freelovebabies: Mermaid
D: This information has been a revelation as there’s not much written about Freelovebabies. So thank you for the clarification. The next band, I knew about them just when I began to dig into the list. The name is Dope Aviators.
A: It was the project of my friend Kasko from the Czech Republic and what happened that they just sent me a track and I lay down a bass line for it. Then they came and stayed with me in Rugby. The year was 2001. I don’t remember the name of the song. So that was a very quick a quick collaboration with my friends from the Czech Republic
Song: Dope Aviators: How is this sound
D: After finally discovering what song was the one you played (called how is this sound) now is the turn of Electrahead. My mind might be betraying me, but I seem to have heard about them at some point, maybe in the book.
W: Thanks that’s a good song I reckon it’s a pretty good song. 11 Fingers Records released it. They had their own record coming out there, doing good stuff. I guess that one failed to trouble the charts or the reviewers!. Sounds pretty good to me.
So Electrahead from Rugby featuring Steve Evans and Tim Morris. Tim Morris was actually the first drummer of Spacemen 3, it wasn’t Natty. Natty drummed on the first album but Tim was the very first. Electrahead, I did some shows with them. Sonic Boom produced a song of theirs, It think it is called “Insane TV” or something like that.
After I left Spacemen 3, I was working on a building site I was carrying bricks as a hod carrier. I don’t know if you know what it is. It’s like a big box in the shoulder, you fill it with bricks and then climb a ladder. You’ like it to keep fit or die if you fall off the ladder.
So I was playing in Electrahead the bass for them and Sean Cook was playing drums for them. Sean Cook was the bass player in Spiritualized after me. So there’s another little nice little tied up end. I did a few gigs with Electrahead, I never actually recorded with them except for live and rehearsals and then me and Steve Evans joined Spiritualized. Steven was the original keyboard player before Kate joined. I went to school with Steve and Jason and Sean. Actually we were all at the same school. “Insane TV” (actually is called Watching TV), if you want to find that one that’s the one that had Sonic Boom producing. I don’t think it ever got a release.
They kept getting threatened by Elektra, the record company, they said they sued them if they didn’t change the name because they decided that they owned the name Elektra even though presumably it comes from the Greek myth. Anything works if you got big enough lawyer on it (laughter). And Electrahead also supported Spiritualized after Kate joined on keyboards on some of those early gigs. So yeah Rugby is a small town
Song: Electrahead: Watching Tv
D: A good song this one of Electrahead, and very sad that they didn’t release a proper record. The one that you have just listened is the one mentioned by you produced by Sonic Boom. One band that I have had more time to dig and listen to is Koolaid Electric Company and they sound fantastic.
A: Okay the Kool-Aid Electric Company are from Leighton Buzzard in England. I know Dean from the band because we used to go and rehearse there before the Freelovebabies shows and he was a friend of Ricky’s and mine so he comes to Brian Jonestown shows and Rusty the bass player plays for The Telescopesand Sam played in Freelovebabies
The electric Kool-Aid were a f****** great band who have done nothing for a long time which is a shame. I did some recording with them down in Penzance in Cornwall. Me and Ricky went down and met Marty Wilson-Piper (The Church) and we did some recording. I don’t think it ever came out. They got a record called “Random Noises And Organised Sounds” and the song could be “Invasion from the skies” but I’m not on it so I can’t claim any part in that. There is some recording somewhere with me on it I think.
If I remember it was good fun and cool. But we did a really good open mic night (that’s when anybody can get up and sing a song). So all of us went down (it was like 15 or 20 of us) and just singed songs. I decided it might not in Penzance and it was really good. That’s what I know about the Koolaid Electric Company. I really wish they’d do some gigs because they were f****** good band so it’s a bit of a shame that they don’t.
Song: Koolaid electric company: Invasion Of The Skies
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