Interpreters - Contributors

This page lists all of the artists who have contributed songs for the Julian Cope tribute project. For each artist, we list the songs, band members, contact info, and a short bio.

I can't guarantee how up-to-date the contact information is, but I'll try to check the links occasionally to make sure they still work.

If you are a contributor and would like your info updated, please contact me.

Abbie

Songs

  1. Planetary Sit-In (Extras)

Personnel

  • Abbie Oertel (vocals)
  • Billy Oertel (guitar)
  • Mickey Jennings (drums)
  • Chris Wilkerson (bass)

Bio

Abbie is 8 years old and lives in Farmville, Virginia. [as of 1999 - trav]

Contact/Links

n/a

Adam and Kris

Songs

  1. Mystery Trend (Volume 3)

Personnel

  • Kris Deelane (vocals, acoustic guitar)
  • Adam East (electro/acoustic guitar, vocals)

Bio

Adam + Kris began playing together in Los Angeles, CA in 1989. They have released six cd's and two cassettes of original music in that time, and have toured all over North America. They currently call Portland, Oregon their home where they perform as a duo and with their band "SweetJuice."

Adam is from Canada and has been into Julian since his first solo record came out. Kris got on board at Peggy Suicide and has been riding hard ever since.

Anton Barbeau

Songs

  1. Out of My Mind on Dope and Speed (Volume 4)

Personnel

  • Anton Barbeau (everything)

Bio

"Despite the easy tag, Barbeau peddles neither pop nor psychedelia, it's power that's the important word. Though they're completely unrelated references, think of Julian Cope's sprawling Krautrock and Zappa's ironic everything as touchstones for how outsider music can get inside you and change the way you think, feel and hear. Barbeau deserves a place alongside them." -Logo, UK

"If Martians landed, and decided to show Earth how to make precise, joyful, original music, it would probably sound like Anton Barbeau." -Fuse, UK

Benalto

Songs

  1. Reward (Volume 3)

Personnel

  • Jason W (guitar, keyboards)
  • Trevor W (drums)
  • Mike O (bass)
  • Cody F (vocals)

Bio

Benalto was a much maligned and uncared for Canadian punk band who in the course of their 10 year existence (1993-2003) managed to put out 18 albums. About 16 members floated in and out of the band, with the mainstays being the Jason and Trevor Warden.

Allow me a brief space to communicate a funny story about the recording of "Reward" (which was recorded in spring 2002). The only person in the band who had even heard of Teardrop Explodes was myself (Jason) and on the 8 track I lay down a guide vocal for the singer. He sang it in his usual punk swagger. When he heard the original song, his take on it: "That's kinda gay, isn't it?"

Contact/Links

Billy and Mickey

Songs

  1. 1995 (Volume 2, Extras)
  2. Ain't But the One Way (Volume 1)
  3. Autogeddon Blues (Volume 1)
  4. Double Vegetation (Volume 1)
  5. Fear Loves This Place (Volume 1)
  6. If You Loved Me at All (Volume 1)
  7. Julian H. Cope (Volume 1)
  8. KarMaKanik (Volume 3)
  9. Lunatic and Fire Pistol (Volume 2)
  10. MadMax (Volume 1)
  11. No Hard Shoulder... (Volume 1)
  12. Paranormal in the West Country (Volume 1)
  13. Promised Land (Volume 1)
  14. Sealink (Volume 1)
  15. Soul Desert (Volume 1)
  16. Squabbsy (Volume 3, Extras)
  17. s.t.a.r.c.a.r. (Volume 1)
  18. Upwards at 45 Degrees (Volume 1)

Personnel

  • Mickey Jennings (percussion, bass)
  • Billy Oertel (vocals, guitars, keyboard)

except for:

Squabbsy
  • Mickey Jennings (guitar, drums, keyboards)
  • Billy Oertel (vocals)
Lunatic and Fire Pistol
  • Mickey Jennings (music)
  • Billy Oertel (vocals)
1995
  • Mickey Jennings (piano, drums, keyboards)
  • Billy Oertel (vocals, guitar)

Bio

Billy and Mickey both live in Farmville, Virginia, and play in the band Trash Head.

See also: Billy Oertel

Contact/Links

not available

Billy Oertel

Songs

  1. Coming Soon (Volume 2, Extras)
  2. Head Hang Low (Volume 3)
  3. I've Got My TV and my Pills (Volume 3, Extras)
  4. London Underground (Volume 2)
  5. Trampolene (Volume 2)
  6. Warwick the Kingmaker (Volume 3)

Personnel

  • Billy Oertel (all instruments)

Bio

Billy lives in Farmville, Virginia. In addition to his solo work, he also plays in the band Trash Head, has paired up with Mickey Jennings (see Billy and Mickey), and also helped out Duane, Michelle, Chris, Tayna, and Abbie.

In 1998, Billy wrote:

I'm 37 yrs and from central Virginia. The Cope tunes I covered are performed by a friend and fellow 4-tracker Mickey Jennings (Drums, most Bass tracks, and some guitar). I do the singing, guitars, some bass, and keyboards. The Cope songs that I covered were from the only CD's of Cope's I had at the time (Peggy, Jehovakill, Autogeddon). Since those days I have learned to play many of his more recent tunes, but I've been mainly recording my own compositions.

Contact/Links

n/a

Britt Daniel

Songs

  1. Cut My Friend Down (Volume 1)

Personnel

  • Britt Daniel

Bio

Britt plays in the band Spoon, whose fans were at one point currently compiling a Spoon Rarities CD; Britt's version of "Cut My Friend Down" was/is going to be included on that CD! [Anyone know about the status of that CD?]

Contact/Links

Chris Wilkerson

Songs

  1. Warwick the Kingmaker (Volume 2)

Personnel

  • Billy Oertel (piano, drums)
  • Chris Wilkerson (vocals, guitar)

Bio

Chris lives in Farmville, Virginia. He also plays in Trash Head.

Contact/Links

n/a

The Crayon Theatrical

Songs

  1. Bill Drummond Said (Volume 1)

Personnel

  • Michael Homyk

Bio

n/a

Danny Spacecat

Songs

  1. Safesurfer (Volume 4)

Personnel

  • Peter Adcock (drums, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar)

Bio

Strange sounds for spaced-out cats everywhere - not necessarily named Danny. Also plays guitar for The Runnies.

D-Blue

Songs

  1. Trampolene (Volume 3)

Personnel

  • ???

Bio

???

Contact/Links

???

Domiana

Songs

  1. Charlotte Anne (Volume 2)

Personnel

  • William Curry (guitar, vocals)
  • Kevin Reece (synth, vocals)
  • Brian Warren (bass, vocals)

Bio

n/a

Contact/Links

n/a

Duane Asal

Songs

  1. Me and Jimmy Jones (Volume 2)

Personnel

  • Duane Asal (vocals)
  • Billy Oertel (guitar, drums, bass)

Bio

Duane lives in Farmville, Virginia.

Contact/Links

n/a

Electric Angels

Songs

  1. Land of Fear (Volume 4)

Personnel

  • Bob Kingdon (lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, backing vocals)
  • Eric Daum (keyboards, percussion loops, rhythm and lead guitar, lead vocals)

Bio

Electric Angels, named for Bill Nelson's album, "Electricity Made Us Angels", are the transatlantic collaboration of English guitarist Bob Kingdon and American sonic architect, Eric Daum. Having met through Bill Nelson's Fan Forum, Dreamsville, they first collaborated on a compilation album in honor of Nelson's 60th birthday. They soon realized that they shared a love of much of the same music and their subsequent songs plumb a range of 60's, 70's and 80's Pop and Rock influences. Their music draws on a diverse range of influences from early 70's Glam and jangley Power Pop to progressive rock and Kraut Rock, blended into a sonically rich pop sound.

Gas

Songs

  1. Books (Volume 3)

Personnel

  • Ian Blenkinsop (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion)
  • Mick El Borrado (ditto)
  • Gene Pool Belmondo (ditto)

Bio

Gas began in 1995 determined that no live drums be used. This meant finding different methods for establishing rhythms, including samples played from a cassette recorder (provided by a delay pedal or keyboard sampler) or manual analogue keyboard drums.

This version of "Books" was recorded in Gene Pool's lounge and from memory the vocals were done acoustically direct into one channel of the cassette recorder with the other microphone picking up the other instruments. The line-up for this recording was Ian (vocals, electric guitar, accidental acoustic guitar ambience), Gene Pool (keyboard and backing vocals), with a percussion sample lifted from the Echo & the Bunnymen version of "Books" played from another cassette recorder through a guitar amp. We have merged the lyrics from the Teardrop & Bunnymen versions of "Books".

We have not played since 2002 but have been talking about getting back into action.

The Grandma Sylvias

Songs

  1. Trampolene (Volume 4)

Personnel

  • J. Ellenberg (all instruments)

Bio

The Grandma Sylvias are a band in Madison, WI, USA. One of us bought Saint Julian at the record store at the University of Maryland Student Union when we were 16 and was forever transformed. This "new wave country" version of "Trampolene" was recorded around a kitchen table in the summer of 2007.

The Gnats

Songs

  1. Promised Land (Volume 3)
  2. All the Blowing-Themselves-Up Motherfuckers (Will Realise the Minute They Die that They Were Suckers) (Volume 4)
  3. All the Alien Abduction Theorists (Will Realise One Day that They Were Right) (Extras)

Personnel

  • Adrian Boyns (guitars, bass, keyboard, drum machine, vocals)

Bio

The Gnats in first incarnation existed between (roughly) 1979 and 1982, during which time they only played live 4 times, but managed to grab a lot of publicity by 'imaginative' leaks to the press. The band were heavilly influenced by the Beatles in those days, playing numerous covers, eventually evolveing with their own material. Ade got into Julian Cope after being lent a copy of 'Jehovahkill' just after it was released and refusing to give it back! Ade and Tom record seperately, keeping in touch online but haven't been in the same room since 1985.

Regarding the "All the Blowing..." versions:

I've tried to give ["All the Blowing..."] a Byrds-esque 60's sound, rather than the original and had planned to play most of it on my acoustic 12 string, but couldn't get it into the recorder to a high enough standard, so went for the wah-wah'd up strat instead. I really like that keyboard sound, which is why I persevered doing dozens of takes of messed up chord changes. :-)

I reckon this song would have had a good chance of getting airplay if [Julian had] toned down the lyrics, as it's well catchy. I had a go doing just that, replaced the 'all the blowing...' chorus with 'I took a ride in a big starcar - full of light and travelling far'. Changing the meaning of the song to the aliens/mothership thing he was into a few years back.

John LaPolla featuring Frank Maglio

Songs

  1. Electrical Stormgirl (Volume 4)

Personnel

  • John LaPolla (lead vocals, harmonica)
  • Frank Maglio (guitar, background vocals)

Bio

John writes:

The cut is from a solo show that I performed called "Halfway to 90" to celebrate my 45th birthday. The show was on August 23rd, 2008 at the Sidewalk Cafe in Manhattan. My very good friend (and the guy who introduced me to Julian's music 15 years ago) Frank Maglio joined me on stage for this number. He plays guitar and sings back up and I (John LaPolla) sing lead and play a bad harmonica solo. It was a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy it.

Contact/Links

n/a

Harts Horn

Songs

  1. Spacerock with Me (Volume 3)
  2. Sunspots (Volume 3)

Personnel

  • Joe Davis

Bio

Joe Davis lives in northern Indiana with his wife and daughter where he mostly records in the middle of the night. Harts Horn is his solo home taping project, but he also plays drums in the bands The Far Look and Blood Of The Dragon. He also assembles the D.I.Y. psych/experimental music compilation series - What's Up, Mutants? which you can view at www.whatsupmutants.s5.com

Contact/Links

Jürgen De Blonde

Songs

  1. Kolly Kibber's Birthday (Volume 3)

Personnel

  • Jürgen de Blonde

Bio

Jürgen De Blonde is a Belgian who started making music when he was 12, experimenting with a cheap keyboards and a double tape deck that was unintentionally capable of overdubbing. Later on he started messing around with cheap guitars, samplers, sequencers, four-tracks and such. I love jamming with myself :-) Currently makes most of his stuff on a laptop. He is also member of Belgian's nerd-rock sensation 'de portables'. He's released solo discs and tapes under his own name and as 'Köhn' and 'Ed Nolbed'. Check also www.myspace.com/ednolbed.

I got to know of Julian's work through 'Peggy Suicide' that was advised to me by a guy who collected analog synthesizers (really). I was a fan from then on. 'Jehovahkill' changed my life and is one of my alltime favourite albums. I still hope to catch him playing a show one day... who knows... I know most of his albums and dig most of them. My Cope 5 would be: Jehovahkill, Peggy Suicide, Rome Wasn't Burned In A Day, 20 Mothers and... and... AND... i don't know... a fifth one excluding any other would be hard :-)

Michelle McMillan

Songs

  1. Las Vegas Basement (Volume 2)

Personnel

  • Michelle McMillan (vocals)
  • Billy Oertel (bass, organ)
  • Casey Wilkerson (acoustic guitar)
  • Chris Wilkerson (electric guitar)

Bio

n/a

Contact/Links

n/a

Ouch Monkeys

Songs

  1. Try Try Try (Volume 3)

Personnel

  • Elizabeth Ross (vox, percussion, smiles)
  • Rob Ross (guitars, bass, keyboards, drum programming, vox)

Bio

Produced and engineered by Rob Ross
Recorded at Synchronic Studios, Staten Island, NY

Liz (vocals/percussion) and Rob (everything else) are the Mavis Grind and Arch Drude (tho' neither of them cavort in green tye-dye or black taffeta dresses--they're really a nice-looking and very normal couple) of Staten Island, New York--a green and pleasant land which is a ferry ride away from Manhattan but still part of New York City.

Rob proposed marriage to Liz after he asked her "Do you know who The Teardrop Explodes are?" to which her reply was "Do I look stupid? That's Julian Cope's old band...".

Rob, who some of you may be familiar with, is the purveyor of such fine Cope-covers as "Books", "Treason" and the unreleased "Greatness And Perfection"--this is his third appearance on the "Interpreters" series; this is Liz' singing debut. They hope you really like it.

WHY "Try, Try, Try"?: Rob--"'Cos it's good, innit? D'ya know wha' I mean?"
Liz--"Yeh, I do..."

Contact/Links

n/a

Paul Wykes

Songs

  1. Sunspots (Volume 1, Extras)

Personnel

  • Paul Wykes

Bio

n/a

Contact/Links

Peter Adcock

Songs

  1. Las Vegas Basement (Volume 4)
  2. Paranormal in the West Country (Volume 4)

Personnel

  • Peter Adcock (acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards, drums, vocals)

Bio

Peter has contributed other tracks as The Runnies and Danny Spacecat. He is currently a member of Vinyl Demand (http://vinyldemand.blogspot.co.uk/).

Pigmalion Insense

Songs

  1. Hanging Out and Hung Up... (Volume 2)
  2. Upwards at 45 Degrees (Volume 2)

Personnel

  • Brian (strings, drum programming; vocals on 2)
  • James (keyboards; vocals on 1)

Bio

n/a

Contact/Links

n/a

Rob Ross

Songs

  1. Bandy's First Jump (Volume 4)
  2. Books (Volume 1, Extras)
  3. Colours Fly Away (Volume 4)
  4. Laughing Boy (Volume 4)
  5. Treason (Volume 2)
  6. Try Try Try (Volume 4)

Personnel

  • Rob Ross (all instruments)

Bio

For Volume 1, Rob wrote:

Song: "Books"--the Zoo version

Staten Island, New York native Rob Ross, ex-guitarist/singer of THE PUNCH LINE and SMILE makes his solo recording debut with his version of The Teardrop Explodes' "Books". Recorded at Synchronic Studios in Staten Island (also known as Rob's living room) and featuring the Modfather himself playing and singing all the parts, it is, as Rob puts it, "a stunning exercise in self-controlled hero worship. For the five or so minutes that I was recording the vocals, I suddenly had the urge to put on an Arab head dress, drop some acid and beat the shit out of Balfey. The best I could do was put on my camoflage pants and take an aspirin". Rob cites Julian Cope as his main musical influence ever since "Passionate Friend" was the song playing in the background when Rob proposed to his now-ex-fiancee back in May, 1986.

WHY "BOOKS"? It's good, innit? Easy. 3 or so chords. It's old Teardrops. And it was the first thing that I'd felt like recording since my now-ex-girlfriend moved out... Once that was done, it set me back on the path of consistant songwriting and recording.

-----

ROB ROSS: Truth In Fiction

How time flies...from one song on each of the first two Julian Cope/Teardrop Explodes tribute CD's to suddenly blossoming on to four for the third installment. Why and how you may ask...

"I was bored when I did "Books"; I hadn't recorded ANYTHING in ages", says Rob, matter-of-factly. "It was a happy accident. Then I got a bit more serious with my attempt to do "Treason". I think I fucked it up a bit by having sung it so many times; my voice was shot. But it had a good, full feel. Plus, it was the first thing I recorded after Liz and I got married.

In fact, "Try Try Try" was initially going to be Liz singing and me playing all the parts, but she was a bit overwhelmed by doing it, so I took over and finished it. It was a lot of fun--my dear friend Courtney spurred me on by telling me "make it rock, you prick!"--so I did. I had a blast, really tearing into the vocal. I had the same kind of ethic doing "Bandy's First Jump" but instead of being exact, I stripped it down to one guitar, bass, drums, vox--that's all--no embelleshments. It has a great balls-out feel. "Laughing Boy" I wanted to treat with gentility as it's a beautiful and touching song. I wanted to be as faithful as I could to it. "Colours Fly Away" was a laugh--my obligatory Teardrop song and a nod of acknowledgment to a friend, Mr. Michael Krugman, who in his sage way, wanted to "Greedhead Detector" under the moniker of Mikey and The Marlborough Downs"... It was either that or "The Lonely Guy"...

So here you go. Third installment complete, on time and I'm pleased with the results--I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did recording it."

Enough said, eh?

-----

Update (2008-02-08)

Rob Ross (born January 7, 1965 in Brooklyn, New York) is a singer/songwriter/musician. He is best known for his work with the late 80s alternative pop band The Punch Line.

Growing up in the New York City suburb of Staten Island, he joined local political-punk band The Common Cause, who immediately became cult favorites Two Minutes Hate (name taken from Orwell's 1984). Although short-lived (1983 - 1985), T.M.H. built a quick reputation for aggressive, exciting and (somewhat) confrontational performances. While he was studying for his degree at Manhattan's Pace University, Rob wrote half of Two Minutes Hate's debut album as well as most of the tracks for two extended-play releases, "Love, Hate & Social Criticism" (their debut) and "Seconds, Time Signatures & Strings", which received much local radio airplay.

Two Minutes Hate dissolved in late 1985, but along with T.M.H. bass guitarist, Marc Treboschi, Rob assembled The Punch Line by May, 1986. Joining this band were Carl Treboschi (older brother of Marc), who came in on bass, while Marc moved over to guitar and drummer Chris Collins (ex-Mod Fun), who had been a friend of Two Minutes Hate and sometime drummer for an offshoot project with Rob Ross and Marc Treboschi. Taking their name from the debut album by The Minutemen, The Punch Line were an altogether different affair from Two Minutes Hate, with melodic, crafted pop songs and rich vocal harmonies. Often looked upon as "The Beatles meet The Buzzcocks", The Punch Line very quickly garnered college radio airplay with the release of their debut 45, "The Wild Flowers" in January, 1988. While recording the first attempted version of their debut album, the band quietly dissolved.

Reconvening in 1991, The Punch Line picked up where they left off, with shows, recording sessions and the promise of success looming ahead. However, tensions again took their toll on the band due to the pressure of not getting to that next level. After more sessions were completed for the album (the tapes were languishing at this point for three years), the band went their separate ways. They did, however, make an appearance on the R.E.M. tribute album Surprise Your Pig, with their version of "Bandwagon".

Rob Ross then went on to briefly join another band, Smile, who released one e.p., then split due to Rob's lack of interest. Citing "a band-by-numbers doesn't work", he turned his back on performing and concentrated on working within the industry, where he had assumed a management position with an major label.

Solo appearances on the Julian Cope/Teardrop Explodes tribute compilation series, Interpreters, brought Rob back to recording on a regular basis (in this instance, playing all the instruments himself).

After a twelve-year gap, The Punch Line reformed (albeit with a slightly changed line-up) in May, 2004. They returned to playing live and completed a re-recorded version of the "lost"/"legendary" ...to get to the other side, which was released via the Synchronic Entertainment imprint, in April, 2006.

In July, 2006, Rob Ross announced that he was putting an end to The Punch Line, saying that he "no longer desired to continue being 18". At the present time, he has begun recording new material and is playing low-key acoustic shows in the Northeast.

Back again for the third time, Rob Ross presents his take on 4 of Julian Cope's classics: "Try, Try, Try", "Colours Fly Away", "Bandy's First Jump" and "Laughing Boy". Recorded on 4 track cassette back in 2000, these songs went missing for a long time and have resurfaced in glorious digital form, thanks to the sweet little Ion transfer cassette player! All one-take attempts (except for "Laughing Boy", which Rob sang over and over while fighting a mid-winter cold at the time), it's once again, a heartfelt tribute to The Drude and his art.

Visit Rob's site at www.synchronicentertainment.com and pick up a copy of The Punch Line's "...to get to the other side" while you're there!

Contact/Links

The Runnies

Songs

  1. Bill Drummond Said (Volume 3, Extras)
  2. Sunspots (Volume 3)
  3. Pristeen (Volume 4)
  4. Soul Desert (Volume 4)

Personnel

  • Peter Adcock (guitars, drum machine, keyboards; bass on "Soul Desert"; backing vocals on "Sunspots"; vocals on "Pristeen", "Soul Desert")
  • Kevin Moseley (bass on "Bill Drummond Said", "Sunspots", "Pristeen"; vocals on "Sunspots"; cajon on "Pristeen", "Soul Desert")
  • Jason Matthews (vocals on "Bill Drummond Said"; harmonica on "Bill Drummond Said"; electric rhythm guitar on "Pristeen")

Bio

Started out as Run For Your Life - named after a Beatles song that Lennon wrote and disliked, but we thought was great. Gradually became known as 'the runnies'. Played a combination of Rock n' Roll, Sixties and Merseybeat mainly in the North West of England at such places as the MerseyBeatle Convention, The Cavern and the usual pubs and clubs (also a tour of South Wales!). In total, around 190-odd gigs (and odd they were!). Recorded quite a lot of demo's and live stuff with members drifting in (from Never The Less, Second To None, The Cathedral) and out (to Benny Profane, The Pete Best Band, Jacobs Dreams, The Duck Steps, Shady) of the band.

The band has been inactive (lazy!) for a while now, but are now back recording new material, arguing and rehearsing for forthcoming gigs. The current line up consists of long-time Cope fan Peter Adcock (AKA Danny Spacecat, see http://www.myspace.com/dannyspacecat), Kevin Moseley (AKA Country Kev), and Jason Matthews (AKA Vini Dangerbolt, see http://www.myspace.com/jay_matthews).

Sitting Odd

Songs

  1. Pulsar (Volume 3)

Personnel

  • Ben Hall (hand claps)
  • Joan Serafin (hand claps)
  • Marc Johnson (acoustic guitar)
  • Todd Johnson (vocals, all other instruments)

Bio

Todd writes:

I'm a drummer who can't sing, so I thought I would do a Cope song where I don't play drums, but I do sing. I recorded some of the tracks, like my brother's guitar part, in my basement in Minneapolis on a portable DAT. I did the rest of the tracks in my edit suite at work where I pieced together all the parts on Final Cut Pro. I got my first snare drum in 1973. Before that I used to hit ice cream buckets.

Contact/Links

n/a

The Sour Krauts

Songs

  1. Everything Playing at Once (Volume 2)
  2. Gimme Back My Flag (Volume 2)
  3. Not Waving (But Drowning) (Volume 2)

Personnel

  • Rob Berdahl (lead vocal on 2)
  • Scott Ferril (bass; lead vocal on 1; ARP 2600 on 2)
  • Marc Johnson (guitar; screaming on 1; recorder, shaker, lead vocal on 3)
  • Todd Johnson (drums; conga on 1; triangle on 3)
  • Chris Mars (guitar on 1,3; screaming, conga on 1; timbales on 3)
  • Harry Pulver (synth)

Bio

Marc illustrated the cover [of the Sour Krauts' 7-song CD]. Scott was responsible for the packaging; he did it on Quark. It was the first time we have "released" anything on CD.

The Sour Krauts: A Brief History and the Cope Connection

Marc, Scott, Todd, Chris, Harry, Rob and Cliff formed The Sour Krauts after a long night of drinking endless mugs of German beer and waking up with Teutonic hangovers.

As one anonymous band member put it, "Our judgement was definitely impaired, but we knew we wanted to make music like Can or Kraftwerk while drinking lots of German beer."

Hailing from New Ulm Minnesota, where they grew up in the shadows of the Schell's brewery, all the band members realized that despite the proud Germanic heritage of the area, it would not be easy being an American krautrock band.

Back then nobody in the modest sized town knew what krautrock was until the Sour Krauts introduced their brand of the music to the unsuspecting public.

The band landed their first gig at New Ulm's famous Star-Club. Crow reaction was mixed that night. There were those in the audience who hated the krauts, and then there were those who really hated them.

As one anonymous band member has stated, "Nobody liked us back then, but we didn't care because we had plenty of German beer to drink."

It was during their tenure at the Star-Club that it became apparent to all the band members that Cliff did not know how to play his bass. He did not even know how to plug it into his amp. At first nobody noticed Cliff's rudimentary bass playing skills because the Star-Club stage was so small that Cliff had to play in the second toilet stall in the men's bathroom.

After six months Cliff left the Krauts to front New Ulm's only Barry Mannilow tribute band. Cliff played Barry Mannilow all night every Friday night at the local VFW.

Upon reflection, one anonymous band member stated that, "Cliff had a lot of charisma, and we hated o see him leave, but that meant there was more German beer for the rest of us."

After a year of playing one nighters on the same tiny stage to the same hostile audience, the band decided to all pile into Rob's Volkswagen, hop on the autobahn and head north to the big metropolis of Minneapolis.

The Krauts discovered the city to be much larger than it appeared on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It also looked a lot different, which they eventually attributed to the fact that they were in St. Paul.

The band soon started gigging in all the bars in the Twin City area. The Sour Krauts came into contact with a variety of other bands. There were bands that liked Irish beer. There were bands that liked Jamaican beer. There were even bands that liked domestic beer.

After a few months, the band's performing options were limited to an elite few clubs willing to book a krautrock band. While they continued to consume many liters of German beer, they were aware that their fan base in the surrounding metropolitan area was no greater than it had been when they played in New Ulm.

They toyed with the idea of changing their name to the Teardrop Explodes. Much to their dismay they discovered that a band already existed with that very name. In their bitterness and desire for a new name, they briefly considered calling themselves The Teardrop Explodes USA, but it was voted down by the narrowest of margins. They decided to celebrate after retaining their moniker by drinking lots of German beer.

The name change episode would be but a minor incident in the band's glorious history if it were not for the odd coincidence that The Sour Krauts had zeroed in on the name Teardrop Explodes. The Teardrops were after all fronted by krautrock fan Julian Cope.

As one anonymous band member has said, "At first we hated Julian because he thought of using the name Teardrop Explodes before we did. But then we found out he liked krautrock, so we ran out and bought all his records."

And so when The Sour Krauts got wind of a Julian Cope tribute CD, they immediately jumped at the chance to drink lots of German beer and record a few Cope tunes.

But, really, who are those Sour Krauts?

The Sour Krauts are a totally fabricated band that were specifically assembled for recording Julian Cope music in the comfort of Scott Ferril's basement. Scott is a film and video editor in the world of advertising by day, and as a result, suffers from insomnia at night. His favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut and his favorite movie is My Life As A Dog. He doesn't like pickles.

To get in the proper mood for laying down screaming guitar solos, Marc Johnson likes to stare at Scott's lava lamp until he starts having vivid hallucinations. This typically takes about 2.5 hours unless he stands on his head, then it takes less time, but he may pass out as a result. Marc is a freelance illustrator who has illustrated everything from children's books to false teeth. In his spare time Marc is the drummer for The Copperheads and is a proud member of the world's largest regional Laurel & Hardy fan club, The Sons of the Desert.

The first band Marc was ever in was with Harry Pulver many many moons ago. The band was called Red Skull and they played Black Sabbath's "War Pig's" while wearing silk shirts and puka shells. Harry is a freelance artist and is the only Kraut to have actually seen Julian live. Harry has played and composed music for hundreds of TV commercials and he also fronts the rock/polka band Tubby Esquire.

Rob Berdahl is a professional actor who likes hot chocolate with marshmallows. Even though he sang on a Julian Cope tribute CD, Rob's favorite performer is Tom Waits. He has produced two tribute shows of Tom's music called "Warm Beer Cold Women" at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater in Minneapolis.

Rob and Chris Mars appeared together in the soon to be released short film "Private Eyes." Playing the part of a pizza deliverer, Chris delivers his lines and the pizza with the subtle touch of a seasoned pro, even though the film marks both his acting and pizza-delivering debut. Like Marc and Harry, Chris is an artist who has had his work shown at galleries across the United States. Chris has released four excellent CDs on his own and he and his wife are devout Twins fans.

Todd Johnson has been trying to keep a steady beat for twenty-five years. He would like to express his extreme gratitude to all the Krauts for playing the tunes and helping him avoid doing a "Todd's Drum Tribute to Julian" or even worse, "Todd Sings A Julian Cope Medley A Cappella."

Twenty Mothers

For the intro to "Everything Playing At Once" The Sour Krauts decided to honor Julian by rounding up 20 mothers to recite lyrics from Julian's songs. Amazingly enough, none of the mothers we recorded had ever heard of Julian Cope. How they could become mothers without ever having heard of Julian is beyond us. We thrust a list of Julian's lyrics in front of their faces and most of them picked a line of lyric that struck their fancy. We gave them no direction, for we did not want to influence their motherly interpretation of the lyrics.

The Sour Krauts would like to sincerely thank the following 20 mothers for the use their voices: Nancy Applequist, Brenda Banks Fuller, Barb Becker, Sally Castellano, Pam Marriutto, Tina Janz-Welte, Jan Petit, Karen Thompson, Wendy Hansen, Amy Gohman, Amy Harper, Anne Zarth, Lisa Thotland, Virginia Hoffman, Reba "Ma" Keller, Jordan McElwain, Eman Zohdy, Tina Wilcox, Cathy Ostlie, and Amy Demarest (who was instrumental in helping us coral many of the mothers).

Julian lyrics they recited:

  • "The boat of love has been capsized." -- If You Love Me At All
  • "You know me, I wasn't built for elegance." -- Mantranil Vavin
  • "People I see just remind me of mooing like a cow on the grass." -- An Elegant Chaos
  • "I've got a spacehopper baby, but it's strictly one seater." -- Spacehopper
  • "I look around I see what I think I be, I be a crowd of mystics all in a heap." -- Pulsar
  • "Men hound you, they just do, men hound you, they just do." -- Crack In The Clouds
  • "I had a dream in the middle of the day, and now my waking dream won't go away." -- Autogeddon
  • "The rising of the moon means the end of the day, time waits for no one, just takes you away." -- Madmax
  • "Driving on the fast side of slow." -- Archdrude's Roadtrip
  • "Wasting my time up here on the throne." -- Queen/Mother
  • "If you see right through, I don't mind, I'm coming from behind." -- 1995
  • "Dim your lights my friend, or I'll dim yours." -- Adam & Eve Hit The Road
  • "I tie you up, to tie you down." -- Planetary Sit In
  • "This is not a dainty world." -- Hangng Out & Hung Up On The Line
  • "I'm going to drown myself in holy water, watch the fever rise." -- The American Lite
  • "I'm driving and I can't even drive." -- No Hard Shoulder To Cry On
  • "Is it the face of an angel?" -- Slow Rider
  • "Double pneumonia, double euphoria, double your salary." -- Poet Is Priest
  • "Woke Up In the fire place, slept like a log." -- JHC
  • "I'm so very glad you found me." -- Great White Wonder

Contact/Links

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Spaceship Mark

Songs

  1. Great White Wonder (Volume 1)
  2. Paranormal in the West Country (Volume 1)
  3. Pulsar (Volume 1)
  4. Pulsar Reprise (Volume 1)
  5. Wayland's Smithy Has Wings (Volume 1)

Personnel

  • Spaceship Mark (music, vocals)

Special Guest

  • Go Speed Racer (music on 1, 2)

Bio

Mark Spaceship, sole and founder member of the band Spaceship is a resident of the baudy seaside resort of Blackpool in the North-West of England. His work, often in the form of music, is something which he wholeheartedly believes in. At a young age Mark discovered the destructive power of the stylophone and the recorder. Since then he has progressed through many schools of thought and theatres of war to arrive in his current orbit. His output has been, to say the least, erratic. From country folk to ambo-kraut-droning Mark's done them all. A jack of all trades and master of none, Mark won't admit to having talent for anything except baking sponge cakes. But with a little coaxing the most rudimentary skills have produced, often startling, results. Mark's current output is very much Cosmic Joker's meet Faust in Tortoises back garden and have a jam with Jason Pierce. Except when you listen to it you'll probably think of something totally different.

The songs featured were chosen mainly because Mark could play them. It should be noted that these works were recorded earlier in Mark's career and hence are sadly bereft of his trademark 'woodle-woodle' sound. 'Wayland's Smithy Has Wings' was recorded in one of the chambers of Wayland's Smithy itself, a Neolithic long barrow near Uffington Castle and the famous Uffington White Horse.

Some of Mark's more recent work is to surface on the first Head Heritage sampler when it finally arrives 'sometime'. Until then mailing Mark at the below address could secure, for a negligible some a copy of the casette that is growing by the week and could soon be called a double album 'Universal Voyages (and Astral Trips)'. Mark's ambition is to own a large collection of analogue equipment and one day to travel to the moon. Thanks to Craigs, Mark, 'Chelle and all the Engineers, to SJ, Ma&Pa and the inscrutable Panda Bump, to Julian, Dorian, all at Godhaven, Avebury School PTA, Stones and the Goddess and all her incantations.

Contact/Links

Tayna

Songs

  1. Head Hang Low (Volume 2)

Personnel

  • Billy Oertel (music)
  • Tayna (vocals)

Bio

Tayna lives in Farmville, Virginia.

Contact/Links

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Trash Head

Songs

  1. Highway to the Sun (Volume 3)
  2. Safe Surfer (Volume 2)

Personnel

  • Mickey Jennings (keyboards, guitar; lead vocals on 1; congas on 2)
  • Billy Oertel (vocals, guitars; keyboards sweeps on 2)
  • Chris Wilkerson (bass; acoustic guitar on 1)

Bio

Trash Head is from Farmville, Virginia.

Contact/Links

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Trex

Songs

  1. Safesurfer (Extras)

Personnel

  • Travis Emmitt (all instruments)

Bio

Trex is my secondary musical project. Unlike Tripecac, Trex avoids sequencing, has very little editing, and is mostly improvs.

I recorded "Safesurfer" as an improv in 2007. It's pretty silly, and has nothing in common with the original other than some of the lyrics.

Tripecac

Songs

  1. Ha Ha I'm Drowning (Volume 3)
  2. Sleeping Gas (Volume 1, Extras)

Personnel

  • Travis Emmitt (all instruments)

Bio

"Tripecac" = TRavis + IPECAC. I was in a two-person band from 1988-1990 and we called ourselves IPECAC (the medicine that induces vomiting). I liked the name IPECAC but I couldn't just reuse it for my solo recordings (1990-present) so I decided to call myself Tripecac.

I recorded "Sleeping Gas" back in 1994. As you can tell, I had no idea for some of the lyrics so I wung it. :)

My very loose cover of "Ha Ha I'm Drowning" came 13 years later. This time I didn't even bother sticking to the original lyrics or arrangement. Who wrote those lyrics anyway???

VIA

Songs

  1. I Can't Hardly Stand It (Volume 3)
  2. Metranil Vavin (Volume 3)
  3. Metranil Vavin (instrumental) (Extras)

Personnel

  • Eric S. Reitz (guitar, bass, synthesizers, vocals, programming)

Bio

VIA is the moniker of Cleveland based musician Eric S. Reitz. Experiencing a renewed interest in home recording after a hiatus of seven years, Eric has shrugged off the old analog Tascam four-track recorder and wholly embraced the opportunities afforded him by recording software. He is currently working on his first album proper (discounting hours and hours of noodly electronic demos), a collection of ambient pastoral folk, electronic drones and subtle rhythms.

Eric has been an obsessive fan of the Drude since the late 80s and wishes to offer you a drastically different take on one of his favorite tracks from 'Citizen Cain'd', "I Can't Hardly Stand It".

Eric chose to combine the instrumental aspects of the Teardrop's version of 'Metranil' with the verse and chorus structure used on Julian's solo take from his first album.

Wah-Wah Marca

Songs

  1. Leli B. (Volume 2)

Personnel

  • Wah-Wah Marca (all instruments)

Bio

Here's a mini-interview:

  • Travis: Why did you chose to cover "Leli B"?
  • Wah-Wah: Well, probably because I did not want to sing and I cannot play the guitar, so it had to be instrumental and electronic. That is why I couldn't go for Necropolis or anything similar. Apart from that, I think Leli B. has so much energy and light in itself, I wished it had been a single back in 1995.
  • Travis: Is your Roland a workstation? Does it have a built-in sequencer?
  • Wah-Wah: Yep, it is a workstation and I used its sequencer. As you can see, it is not too bad and it is one of the cheapest opportunities to do sth yourself!

Contact/Links

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