{"id":14272,"date":"2020-11-19T20:40:51","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T20:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skylight.gr\/?p=14272"},"modified":"2020-11-19T20:40:55","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T20:40:55","slug":"this-twisted-wreckage-the-fashion-and-other-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/2020\/11\/19\/this-twisted-wreckage-the-fashion-and-other-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS TWISTED WRECKAGE – The F\u00e1shi\u00f6n And Other Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Interview with Luke Skyscraper James.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Which was the vision and the goals of the band F\u00e1shi\u00f6n during the 1979-1980 period?<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Luckily we had a large fan base right from the early days thanks to postering campaigns and word of mouth – there was no Internet in 1978! Each show we played the number of people coming to see us seemed to double, people liked us, then loved us – until eventually Miles Copeland, manager of a then unknown band called The Police, heard us and offered to repress more copies of the single, finance an album, and get us London shows. We paid the gangsters back the loan for our first single and so still had our kneecaps intact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the UK there was an explosion of new music and bands in the late 1970\u2019s. F\u00e1shi\u00f6n were one of the first bands to decide to be our own record company so we could have total artistic control. As we were all unemployed at that time, this meant borrowing the money to record and press our first single \u201cSteady Eddie Steady\/Killing Time\u201d. We borrowed money from a local gangster family and had to pay it back plus interest quickly<\/em>. We hand assembled the picture sleeves, stuck the labels on the discs ourselves, and started selling them at local Birmingham record stores and at our gigs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We were suddenly touring the UK with punk poet John Cooper Clark, then The B52s, Squeeze and playing shows with bands like The Cramps, Alternative TV, The Police, The Skids, and The Tubes. Duran Duran\u2019s first ever gig with Simon LeBon singing was opening for F\u00e1shi\u00f6n. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Then we went to the USA to tour twice with The Police, also playing shows with John Cale, The Ramones, Gang of Four, and Patti Smith. We came back to the UK to do a club tour with a then unknown band from Ireland called U2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So at that time, our trajectory seemed to be global domination by creating radically different music that included diverse styles, often within the same song. We were the only band that blended together techno, reggae, and punk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2.\u00a0Why did you leave the band?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Basically it was because I was disillusioned with the music business. I had nowhere to live, no money, I was traveling, playing shows that paid just enough to eat and buy a hotel room. This was because all of the money Miles Copeland made from his stable of support bands for The Police was being ploughed back into promoting The Police. Once on tour at a soundcheck in Kansas, I heard Miles tell Sting they were going to have to spend another $250,000 promotion to get Message In A Bottle into the US charts. I think I had about $58 in my pocket, in the world, at that moment. Not only was I disillusioned with the music business, but also the relentless and frustrating pursuit of fame had exhausted me. I wanted to play music and not be in the music business. So in June of 1980 I just walked away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And ever since I\u2019ve been happily playing music with many bands over the years, not trying to be famous, just play music. It\u2019s my passion in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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