BODY FULL OF STARS
1. Why did you decide to form this band , which is your intention?
SP: In days of old, there was a band called Neon who got signed to Sensible Records in Edinburgh. The company was run by a guy called Lenny Love and he told us at the time that the reason his surname was Love was due to the fact that his family were refugees in the war and the guy on the desk at immigration was very hassled and couldn’t suss out Lenny’s father’s surname. So he looked at his ID and said “Mmm, looks like Love to me” and so it has been ever since, officially. Anyway, Sensible Records were a very small independent who also as a matter of interest signed The Rezillos; the Neon contract was for one single only. The Neon single did well, the band got some sessions on the John Peel show and were due to be signed to United Artists along with another band we did a lot of gigs with and knew very well called Punishment Of Luxury (a band which Tim Jones later joined and toured with). Then Martin Rushent who was the producer at UA and was dealing with Neon suggested that they would be better signing with his own new record label ‘Genetics’ because Neon would be treated with more concern on a smaller roster of artists. Martin Rushent had produced The Stranglers and later The Human League and had achieved much acclaim so doing, so Neon went with him. It didn’t last long and after a single put out through Radar Records, they parted company. Martin thought that the band were moving in a too much jazz oriented direction. Neon disbanded but loads of other projects happened after that over the years with everybody moving in all sorts of directions. In fact, The Neighbourhood Vole and deluxe roadie Christopher Wade Evans (Wevans for short) ended up being the most successful and is now working full time on the road crew for The Rolling Stones. Anyway, I digress, name dropping again! Neon sort of metamorphosed into Body Full Of Stars, containing all four original members Paddi Addison, Mark Dunn, Martin Holder and Tim Jones, augmented by Terri~B, Paul Ellis and Yazuko Fukuoka.
2. How would you describe your music?
Actually any form of classification is practically impossible as there is a vast array of styles ranging from fusion to pure unadulterated rock.
Phil McMullen who is the editor of Ptolemaic Terrascope magazine (U.K) came up with quite a good description that we like:
” This CD (Welcome) gleefully mixes the tribal rhythms of Osibisa with the pub rock authentic drive of Chilli Willi, a dash of the Middle-Eastern and South American, all driven along by former Jah Wobble guitarist Martin Holder. ”
3. Tell me a few things about your latest album.
The latest Body Full Of Stars CD is entitled “Welcome” (SPCD 012) and once again features the lyrical thoughts of Mark Dunn. One of the tracks “We’re All Americans Now” from the album is due for international distribution at the end of February 2001 through the British magazine “Rock “N” Reel. The track is featured on a compilation CD attached to the front of the magazine. This kind of thing has happened with Body Full Of Stars tracks before, most notably on the “Progressive DisDURPance Volume 3 CD produced by the excellent DURP progressive website in Germany which is run by Markus Weiss. Also, another Body Full Of Stars track was featured on Sysyphus volume 3 (Music From The Underground), attached to the German magazine Eclipsed which is run by a guy called Uwe Goller.
4. What is the subject of the lyrics?
The lyrics in Body Full Of Stars music contain quite a lot of social commentary and a certain amount of cynicism about the world in general. We would say that there are also many references to ancient cultures such as the Mayan culture and esoteric leanings but always (and this is a very important point) we like to incorporate a sense of humour. Body Full Of Stars also incorporates ballads and straight ahead rock lyrics.
5. A few words about your label ?
STONE PREMONITIONS began its history in early 1994, centred around the Stone Studio in County Durham. It was instigated by the former Neon and Punishment Of Luxury Singer/Guitarist Tim Jones, Vocalist Terri~ B. and keyboards player Steve Ellis.
STONE PREMONITIONS is a label representing a musicians co-operative which was set up in order to seek and nurture the creative processes of innovative musicians in the North East of England. In short, to provide a centre of excellence for North East music. We refuse to put profitability before creativity and constantly endeavour to produce song writing and music of an extremely high standard and we are proud of the fact that our listening audience is attracted to STONE PREMONITIONS for exactly these reasons.
STONE PREMONITIONS is not a business and does not make a profit. Every penny we make goes back into running the co-operative and we manage to make our own records from start to finish without any outside investment from major record companies.
We are always looking for new outlets for our releases and making new contacts in the vast and truly wonderful International Underground Music Network. Bollocks to the mainstream, this is where the future lies for independent music, as far as we are concerned, through the hard working magazines, radio stations and networkers who make up the movement.
We consider that the current underground music scene (world wide) is the most vibrant that it has been in years! There are so many excellent publications that are working very hard indeed to promote true independent music. They offer a real alternative for musicians who are in it for the music rather than the money. These people are reliable and very responsive. Also, there are so many excellent independent underground radio stations out there these days that offer a real alternative to the mainstream aural pollution! These stations continue to play our music and they are very supportive of the STONE PREMONITIONS project.
Most of our music is created at The Stone Studio where we are based and all Stone Premonitions projects are interactive. Knowing your own limitations in a realistic way, without losing a firm, positive attitude to what you are doing is a very important lesson to learn. For example, if you really can’t do a particular aspect of a job yourself, get someone in who can! In actual fact, if a few bands get together with the same philosophy…i.e. they want their music heard first and foremost, secondly that they want nothing to do with major corporations…i.e. mainstream record companies and thirdly, their prime aim in life isn’t to put money before creativity, it can be a huge success, ARTISTICALLY and this is more to the point! In a nutshell, this is what Stone Premonitions set out to achieve. You can have a co-operative of bands under one banner who pool resources. You can then attempt to achieve credibility for that banner and introduce new talent through that credibility. You can start small and build as the interest grows in the whole project.
The most positive aspect of doing all this is exchange. The beauty of it is that it doesn’t involve money. An exchange of good, competent skills can go a long way to making your ideas successful when you have little or no budget. We basically exchange creative and technical skills and as a consequence of this, appear on each other’s records. There are around 50 musicians involved with the Stone Premonitions project at the present time.
STONE PREMONITIONS is an idea. It is an ideal and we don’t hasten to use that word lightly! We created it for sure through our human interaction but now it exists in it’s own right and we have to uphold this ideal. It is like a banner or a flag with a great big peace sign on it. It’s what we believe in and in return it’s a vehicle for all of our self statement. We become more confident over the months, then years that it will outlive us because it is timeless and music exists outside time and space.
It would be true to say that Rabbit’s Hat were the first band on Stone Premonitions, then Mr. Quimby’s Beard, Krom Lek and Body Full Of Stars, then Spacehopper which is a guy called Davey Wright on guitar and another guy called Weeb on vocals, augmented by lots of sequencing but incorporating very rocky structures, spacey, punky, heavy and sometimes even pop! We are also very excited about our new band on the label called Census Of Hallucinations in whom there is a lot of interest. The last person to get involved is called Paul Rose who is an amazing guitarist. He won a competition in his youth for his virtuosity and was given a beautiful guitar by the late and great Rory Gallagher as a prize. He has produced an excellent CD of ambient, guitar oriented music and his playing really has to be heard live to be believed. Amongst these various projects, there are the solo offerings from Terri~B, Tim Jones, Mike Forse and Steve Ellis’ Tribute To Nick Drake project which we are very pleased with. We have twenty five CD’s of the above music available up to now and you can write to us for our new 2001 comprehensive catalogue including reviews.
6. How are you going to promote this CD ?
We have already mentioned certain magazines that produce CDs in which we have taken part. Both Body Full Of Stars CDs are available direct through Stone Premonitions via mailorder and they are also distributed through THE FREAK EMPORIUM/DELERIUM RECORDS, P.O. BOX 1288, GERRARDS CROSS, BUCKS, SL9 9YB. We also have distribution for the albums through ZEITGEIST, P.O. BOX 13499, EDINBURGH, EH6 8YL. and PENDLE HAWK MUSIC DISTRIBUTION, 2nd FLOOR, 11 NEW MARKET STREET, COLNE, LANCASHIRE.BB8 9BJ.
We have lots of support from many independent radio stations just too many to mention here. Infact, we produce our own radio show entitled “Alchemical Radio” which is broadcast through the excellent Supanova Internet Radio station (www.supanovaradio.co.uk)
SP: We want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your interest Billy. Also, thank you for rejuvenating a few memory cells through your questions!
