C86 Show - Indie Pop

Gina Volpe in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbZBwi0Y3Ao https://www.lunachicks.com/ Theo Kogan, Gina Volpe, and Sydney "Squid" Silver were students at New York City's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts when they decided to form a band. Sindi Benezra, an acquaintance of Silver, was asked to join shortly after. They rehearsed and wrote material in Gina's bedroom for about a year. Their first composition, the lengthy "Theme Song", was about killing Kogan's and Silver's English teacher. The band played their first show in 1988 with Theo's then-boyfriend Mike on the drums.

Nikki Corvette in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.facebook.com/nikki.corvette/ This Detroit punk-pop outfit – formed in 1977 – was led by the Nikki Corvette and guitarist Peter James. They had a sound somewhere between The Go-Go’s and The Ramones, with bubblegum teenage libido maxed out with a dose of The Shangri La’s. Led by a “new wave Betty Boop,” to quote one review, this group offered great sounds and sex appeal. Combining those undeniable elements of energy and enthusiasm. The group disbanded in 1981, though Nikki returned in the 21st century as Nikki Corvette & The Stingrays – a band incorporating Travis Ramin on guitar, Georgia Peach on bass and Johnny O’Halloran on drums.

Gary Lachman in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.amazon.co.uk/Touched-Presence-Blondies-Bowery-Occult/dp/B0DSV388DQ https://www.gary-lachman.com/ https://garylachman.co.uk/ In this memoir, Lachman recounts how he went from being a successful rock and roller to a writer on consciousness and the Western inner tradition. He shares encounters with rockers such as the Ramones, New York Dolls, Patti Smith, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop and also his time with Timothy Leary, William Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg. Living with Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein on New York’s Bowery, a block from CBGB, the birthplace of punk rock, Lachman discovered occultism via a follower of Aleister Crowley. Post rock and roll, Lachman’s occult studies brought him to the Golden Dawn, Manly P. Hall, Gnosticism, and a stint in Crowley’s O.T.O. He details his time in the Fourth Way, including a visit to the site of Gurdjieff ’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in France, and his years studying philosophy and literature and working as a science writer while managing a famous metaphysical bookshop at the height of the New Age movement. Excursions to Stonehenge, Avebury, and Glastonbury in search of ley lines and pilgrimages to Colin Wilson’s home in Cornwall are a few of the highlights of this introspective, often humorous account of a nascent writer’s struggle from rock and roll to individuation.

Joan Wasser in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.joanaspolicewoman.com/ Renowned NYC artist Joan As Police Woman announces her new album “Real Life Evolution”, out June 12 via UK independent Reveal Records -- on CD, Limited Edition exclusive red marble vinyl and digitally. Exactly 20 years since releasing her much-loved debut album "Real Life", she has re-recorded and imagined the album in full with guests including Iggy Pop and Krystle Warren. Joan Wasser, known professionally as Joan As Police Woman since 2004, is a critically acclaimed musician and producer, dubbed “the coolest woman in pop” (The Times) and “one of the 21st century’s best musicians” (The Economist). As a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, her music defies easy categorization, crafting her own sound that blends various genres. She has released ten albums of original material, two cover albums, and an anthology.Twenty years in the making, this record was developed through countless nights on stage. These new arrangements are brought to life by the musical brilliance of the players who helped define their sound. In order of appearance, it features contributions by Will Graefe, Jeremy Gustin, Tony Scherr, Parker Kindred, Danny Blume, Krystle Warren, Oren Bloedow, Thomas Bartlett and Iggy Pop.

Andy Allan in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.facebook.com/andy.allan.1232 https://www.facebook.com/hankdogsband Hank Dogs are an acoustic folk band from South London. The band members are Piano Pace, her ex-husband Andy Allan (formerly of Lightning Raiders and The Professionals), and his daughter Lily Ramona. Their music is considered to be in the English folk tradition. They started out in 1992 at an acoustic club in South London. In 1998 they traveled to Seattle with producer Jon Kertzer and played at the Bumbershoot Festival there. Their first album Bareback, produced by Joe Boyd, was well received and was named Record of the Month for WXPN in Philadelphia. Their third album Fiveways was recorded in 2010 but remained unreleased until 2024 following the break up of the band. The band reunited to celebrate the release.

Steve Nieve in conversation with David Eastaugh https://events.liveit.io/west-hampstead-arts-club/steve-nieve-kessada/ https://www.stevenieve.com/solo-albums Musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions and the Imposters, as well as Madness. He has also experienced success as a prolific session musician, featured on a wide array of other artists' recordings. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Elvis Costello and the Attractions.

Maggie Holland in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.maggieholland.scot/ English singer and songwriter and became involved in the local folk club scene in the late 1960s. She has played in a number of bands and formed a number of collaborations with other artists, but has become well known in recent times as a solo artist and songwriter. She enjoys singing songs with meaningful words and has named her major influences as Bob Dylan, Al Stewart, Dave Evans, Leon Rosselson, Billy Bragg, Bruce Cockburn and Robb Johnson.

Jason Collins/Umbrellabird in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5uCjjeIi68 The Roots of the Seers lie in two places; Bristol (obviously) and Billericay (not so obviously). Leigh Wildman grew up in Billericay and it was there he met Jason Collins, a guitarist from nearby Brentwood. They had spent some time in bands around the Essex region and they, along with a few friends, had decided to up sticks and try somewhere else. At the suggestion of one of their number, Bristol was decided upon, and a mini Essex invasion took place in the summer of 1984. Adrian Blackmore, or Age, as he was known, had been in the second wave of Bristol’s punk scene, too young to be in bands like the Cortinas, but old enough to be won over by punk’s energy. He picked up the drums quickly and formed Lunatic Fringe with fellow Bristol Punk stalwarts Bear Hackenbush and John Finch. The Bristol punk scene in 1984 was a more cider fuelled version of what Crass was peddling, with a very much Do it yourself vibe. Bands squatted venues like the old Beetle Centre on Stokes Croft and encouraged the squatting of disused houses, which many lived in. It was in one of these squatted houses, Turdy Way, named for the amount of dog shit in the house when it was first squatted, that the Essex invasion landed. After a single and some tracks on a few compilation albums, Age had left Lunatic Fringe (very amicably) and started jamming with Leigh and another of the Essex invasion, Marc Hymas, in a loose knit band called Death Machine. Influenced by T-Rex and Hawkwind, they played a few gigs at the Demolition Ballroom (the name given to the squatted Beetle Centre). After a while, Marc decided he wanted to do something else and played Saxophone with Pigbag sound-a-likes Animal Magic. Leigh and Age decided they liked playing together and enlisted Jason on bass guitar and vocals. Getting more focused, and deciding to add some shared influences in the form of 60’s Garage bands they enrolled a singer, Dean Strange, with Jason providing backing vocals.

Momus in conversation with David Eastaugh https://imomus.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwH79Z9-WQe2jwaHCK_Cgpg https://momus3.bandcamp.com/ Nicholas John Currie more popularly known under the artist name Momus (after the Greek god of mockery), is a Scottish musician and writer. For over forty years he has been releasing albums on labels in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. In his lyrics and his other writing he makes use of continental philosophy, and has built up a personal world he says is "dominated by values like diversity, orientalism, and a respect for otherness".[2]

Rob Tannenbaum in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.cherryred.co.uk/various-artists-cbgb-a-new-york-city-soundtrack-1975-1986-4cd?srsltid=AfmBOoohm1glA9ey7r6K1osC9drIJOO4YZT5Q0P6y6vXPapBUTVMN2ig “CBGB was a place for the dirty people.” - Jimmy Destri of Blondie “Afterwards, I took off and went crosstown to CBGB’s, the stronghold of the unknown, to be with my own people.” - Patti Smith In December 1973 Hilly Kristal changed the name of his roots music bar from Hilly’s on the Bowery to CBGB and altered his musical policy to hire mostly rock bands. He was indifferent to many of them (“No one is going to like you guys, but I’ll have you back,” he told Joey Ramone), blissfully unaware of how important his scruffy little club would soon become. In the span of only 15 months, the five groups that comprise the CBGB’s pantheon all debuted: Television in March 1974, followed by Ramones in August and Blondie in October, then Patti Smith in February 1975 and Talking Heads four months later. Those five groups all quickly got record deals and became popular enough to outgrow CBGB’s. By the fall of 1977, Smith was the only one who was still playing there. What succeeded the Big Five was an array of new and retro styles, all of which feature here: No Wave (Sonic Youth, Mars, DNA, Bush Tetras), post-punk (Ritual Tension, Unknown Gender, Khmer Rouge), mutant funk and R&B (James Chance & The Contortions, Mink DeVille), art-rock bands (R.L. Crutchfield’s Dark Day, The Revelons, Erasers, Jeff and Jane Hudson) hardcore punk (Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Vatican Commandos, Beastie Boys), and lots of power pop (Sorrows, The dBs, The Rudies, The Miamis, The Paley Brothers) . The club’s best-known bands are present on this compilation but we’ve also revived interest in dozens of unfairly forgotten acts that, for a moment in time, made an album, EP, 45, or even a demo that crackled with innovation, wit, and joy. CBGB no longer exists, at least not in the physical plane, but what happened between those soot-filled, beer-stinking walls continues to reverberate around the world.

Adele Bertei in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.roughtrade.com/product/adele-bertei/no-new-york-a-memoir-of-no-wave-and-the-women-who-shaped-the-scene In 1975 a young queer singer from Cleveland meets photographer Nan Goldin - an encounter that will lead them to New York's bombed-out downtown, where something unprecedented is brewing. At Max's Kansas City and CBGBs, in derelict lofts and underground clubs, a generation of visionary women artists is rewriting the rules of creativity, sexuality, and power.Adele Bertei didn't just witness the No Wave explosion-she ignited it. As acetone organist for the Contortions and Brian Eno's assistant, she was at the epicenter when punk collided with post-punk, birthing a counterculture that fused music, art, cinema, fashion and outlaw literature into an uncompromising explosion of creativity. While mainstream culture wallowed in sexism and homophobia, these artists and more created something fluid, fierce, and transgressive.Raw, gripping, and illustrated with rare photographs from personal collections, No New York is the definitive insider's account of the women who obliterated every barrier in their path, taking you deep into the artistic and sexual experimentation of an era when true expression mattered more than money or fame.

Chris Anderson in conversation with David Eastaugh https://crayolalectern.com/n-e-w-s https://crayolalectern.bandcamp.com/ Departure Lounge was initially known as Tim Keegan & Departure Lounge, reflecting the fact that the band evolved from a solo project and Tim Keegan was the singer and main lyricist. They released an album under this name in 1999 (the US version with different tracklisting as Departure Lounge in 2000), Out of Here, which received warm reviews in both the general and music press (subsequent re-releases of the CD have changed the name to simply Departure Lounge).

Peter Yarmouth in conversation with David Eastaugh https://blackandbluerecords.com/hom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pik16Mpn6Lw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-izEjeVZCX4