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www.myspace.com/subterraneanswasere
The Band
Jude Rawlins – Vocals, guitar
Carl Homer – Guitars
Robin Phillips – Bass
Guy Evans – Drums
Subterraneans were formed in Camden Town, London, in 1992, by Jude Rawlins and Carl Homer. Their name was taken from a track on the seminal 1977 David Bowie album Low. Subterraneans were given their name by Billy Mackenzie. Rawlins' experience with previous band Angelhead, and advice from friend Toni Halliday, whose band Curve had succeeded in breaking through commercially whilst retaining a strict DIY ethic, was proof enough to Subterraneans that there was no longer any need for them to pursue a career through the normal channels. They started their own label, the Electric Label, and instead of studio time, Subterraneans purchased their own recording equipment, recording their first album, and all their subsequent work, in locations chosen entirely for their convenience, atmosphere and amusement value. The band have never used a commercial recording studio, and, to date, have never worked with a producer (although they’ve recently indicated that they might consider a producer for their next album, due to go into production in mid-2007, as they have “nothing left to prove sonically”). Their first release was the 12" single "Dream Fades Into Dark" in February 1992. Their debut album, April May June, released in December 1993, took it's title from a line in Jean Paul Sartre's existentialist essay Nausea.
Despite critical success after their 1994 tour, Rawlins and Homer elected to return immediately to recording a second album. This was because Rawlins in particular, who was now free of the influence of drink and drugs, felt that the band had outgrown the material on April May June. However, the recording of the second Subterraneans album Mona Lisa proved nothing short of traumatic. When the band hit the road in December 1996 for what should have been the Mona Lisa tour, the record itself was only two thirds complete. It was eventually released, without fanfare, in January 1998. Subterraneans themselves quit touring in May 1997, following a particularly gruelling show at the Highbury Garage in London. Although they gave exhaustion as the reason for this decision, it inevitably emerged later that they had been deeply affected by death of Billy Mackenzie in January 1997, and simply lost their taste for performing.
The sabbatical lasted until 2002, although in the interim Subterraneans remained active, recording their Pandora's Box soundtrack, released in 2001 by Paul Haig's Rhythm of Life label, as well as releasing a cover of the Rolling Stones classic "The Last Time", featuring Angie Bowie (former wife of David).
After a one-off show in London in July 2002, the band gradually began work on what would become their first “proper” album since Mona Lisa. The production was shrouded in secrecy, no one not directly involved in the recording process was allowed to hear a note until the record was complete. When they finally surfaced in late 2005, performing live regularly again for the first time in over eight years, they emerged at the peak of their powers. The last year has seen them reclaim their reputation as one of the most exciting bands around, both live and on record.
In August 2006 they signed a new licensing deal with Cadiz Music, one of the UK’s largest independent record companies and distributors. With plans to record the follow up to Soul Mass Transit already in place, as well as a planned anthology, live album, and two side projects already in production, not to mention Cadiz reissues of their first two albums, 2007 is not only Subterraneans’ 15th birthday, but likely to be the busiest year of their career so far.
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Discography
1993 - APRIL MAY JUNE (Electric Label/BMP Records)
1998 - MONA LISA (Electric Label/Osceola Records
2001 - PANDORA’S BOX (Rhythm of Life Records 2001
2002 - ORLY FLIGHT (Electric Label/Osceola Records
2007 - SOUL MASS TRANSIT (Electric Label/Cadiz Records)
