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Spunge Biography
Review The Artist (0)
Source: http://www.spunge.co.uk/biog.html
Alex (Al) Copeland- vocals
Damon (Des) Robins - lead guitar
Paul (Wol) Gurney - rhythm guitar
Chris (Jarvis) Murphy - bass
Jeremy (Jem) King - drums
Dead pig heads. Phil Jupitus, 300 gigs a year, Kicking Pigeons, Beer.
Welcome to the life of the UK's hardest working band, [spunge], Tewkesbury's ska-punk terrorists.
Leading the pack of the UK's burgeoning ska-punk scene, [spunge] are set to break the mould of a genre dominated by US acts such as Less Than Jake, Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish.
The band hit upon the sound by accident, having amalgamated their collective influences of Sublime, Stiff Little Fingers, The Clash and The Wildhearts.
Undergoing a grassroots level of promotion by playing tour after tour after tour, [spunge] are living proof that bands can by-pass the media manipulation machine and still play sold-out shows across the country.
"It's still very much a cult thing but bands like Blink 182 and Sum 41 are bringing it out into the mainstream explains vocalist Alex, "But there will always be a healthy underground culture 'cos it's very much part of the lives of skaters and kids like that."
Things haven't always been this way for [spunge]. Conceived in July 1994 with almost the same line up as today (the one difference being that vocalist Alex used to double up on bass), the band went through a lengthy gestation period (adding bassist Simon Bayliss in 1995 and replacing him with local hardcore man Martin Holt in 1997) before emerging with the 'Kicking Pigeon's EP' in 1998.
Having sold a staggering 5000 copies at pub gigs the [spunge] boys decided that there was enough potential to jack in the day jobs and make the band a full time concern. Having soon gained a manager in Dave Juste of Birmingham's Xposure Rock Cafe (a regular early haunt), [spunge] hit the road, and would eventually notch up a mammoth 600 gigs in just two years.
Less than a year later in 1999, [spunge] released their debut album 'Pedigree Chump' on MoonSka Europe and thus set about introducing the band and their unique brand of ska, dub, punk and comedy to a wider audience.
Unfortunately Martin got sick of being on the road, so good friend Jarvis from local pop-punks B Movie Heroes jumped in on bass despite being a guitarist and stayed there!
Their second album 'Room For Abuse' was recorded at DEP International Studios (owned by UB40, strangely enough) and released on Sucka-Punch Records in 2000, featuring the single 'Ego' plus covers of Bob Marley's 'No Woman No Cry' and Sublime's 'Santeria'. The single version of 'No Woman No Cry' - complete with new lyrics from Alex - was the first cover of a Bob song ever to receive permission to be altered by the Marley family as Ziggy loved it so much.
All this attention brought them to the eyes of B-Unique and a deal was signed in February 2002. 'It's quite weird," states Alex, ''Right up until now, we had almost no back up, just word of mouth through gigs. It shows it can still be done the hard way - it's all home-grown."
The [spunge] approach to music is philosophically the same as it's always been ("All feel good music") - just bigger, stronger, louder and all those other things that you associate with great modern rock. The first single to be taken from the new album 'The Story So Far', 'Jump On Demand', is the ultimate crowd-pleaser - a huge bouncy mosh-pit thunderer of a track, full of elastic bass, ska riffing and an anthemic, sing-a-long, stick in the head like an axe chorus.
Produced by John Cornfield (Muse, Oasis), the single blasts out with the undeniable power of the band's legendary live show. 'Jump On Demand' hit the Top 40 despite being ignored by radio and mainstream media magazines and also topped the Kerrang! TV chart for two weeks. "That song was kind of inspired by 'Fight Club' - looking at class diversion in an amusing way and doing your own thing," explains Alex, "And the irony is there for all to see, I'm singing about doing your own thing, but when I shout 'jump' the pit does exactly what it's told!"
Also working with Chris Sheldon (Foo Fighters, Therapy?), 'The Story So Far' contains elements of ska, punk and dub, and, according to Alex whilst trying to hold down a giggle, "some ballady-rock.'' Subject matter sits largely within the usual irreverent [spunge] styles - "There's a whole song about haircuts, nothing too serious. Our last two albums have had songs about guinea pigs, so I'm sure they'll find a way in somehow!"
Such is the humour of [spunge] that vegetarian bassist Jarvis was given a freshly removed pig's head for his 21st birthday by the rest of the band. He returned the joke in style however, by naming the head 'Terry' and insisting that he travelled with them on the tour bus. Eventually the whiff of a dead pig in a hot sweaty tour bus meant that it just had to go... "I wanted a cow..." deadpans Jarvis in mock despair.
With a less than serious take on the world, it's hardly surprising that [spunge] can count Never Mind The Buzzcocks star Phil Jupitus and Dave Gorman (whose live show 'Are You Dave Gorman?' won Time Out New York's Comedy Show of 2001) amongst their fans. "Yeah, I heard that Dave Gorman plays 'Kicking Pigeons' at the end of all his shows!" enthuses Alex. "I guess comedians like us 'cos we're comedians ourselves!"
Following up this success was going to be difficult with next single 'Roots', but the band still managed to chart in the top 50 again with zero radio play showing that their army of fans were as loyal as ever. However, things between the band and the label B-unique|Warners weren't rosy. Both releases had been delayed after the band had arranged sold out tours and promotional appearances meaning that things were not coinciding as they should. This was to raise itself again shortly. The album, 'The Story So Far' was then scheduled for release at the end of August 2002. On the same day as the Reading and Leeds festivals which the band were playing. Great timing. No, the band didn't think so either. Most of their fans were at the festivals and wouldn't have the money to buy festival stuff and the album at the same time. Cue another disagreement.
The band then recorded a cover of 'Oliver's Army' with Steve Harris, which Alex Donnelly at Radio 1 said he would A List, Alex having seen the band at a press show at London's Camden Monarch in July and at Reading. For once the band would have radio support for a release.
The label again asked for a tour to go with the release and a huge UK tour was arranged for November/December 2002: The band were in full control of all the promotion for the tour and most shows were sold out with over 15,000 tickets sold to [spunge] fans, with no financial support from the label, and no press coverage at all. The single wasn't released.
Another meeting in December between label and band management had [spunge] pointing out that the label had let the band down again, that there had been 5 different production managers in 6 months (including 3 in seven days!), that the press representative had not even contacted the big four magazines to arrange press for the tour (a fact confirmed by the editors), and that overall the organisation was a sham. The label agreed. 48 hours later [spunge] and B-Unique parted company.
On the live front things keep going from strength to strength. It seems the fans just can't get enough of them. The band have recently played the Download Festival at Castle Donington on June 1st 2003, alongside Audioslave, NOFX, Metallica etc, as well as headlining some other smaller festivals during the summer.
Recently the band decided to part company with their manager Dave Juste mainly due to a difference of opinion in how the band should grow. The split was on a totally amicable basis and both parties involved wish the other all the best in what they do.
After this split the band decided that, rather than get another manager, why not manage themselves? This has proved to be a good move all round with the gigs and the songs coming on stronger than ever! While doing this they decided to start up their own label DENT'ALL RECORDS and they have the first release out on Feb 23rd 2004 called 'THAT SHOULD COVER IT' a collection of covers they have done, some previously unavailable live demos and two BRAND NEW [spunge] songs.
This release is being backed up by a large UK tour with more gigs and songs to follow!!
All in all, [spunge] are going from strength to strength and loving every minute of it! |
Would you please submit the latest Spunge biography to me? Thank You.
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