Webcore – Cinematography – A Real Kavoom Tapes – 1984

Webcore’s first offering, all the way from Cornwall, mainstays of Club Dog and many squat gigs and free festivals…

Loved the ‘Mick Karn’ bass sound on Webcore releases and live gigs.

What I can not find is too much information on the band anywhere on the internet so you will have to make do with an interview with the Webcore keyboardist Paul Chousmer on the aural-innovations.com site.

Roughly four or five years ago I was in England for both a vacation and to start collecting stock for a psychedelic mail order that I ran for a while. Most of what I bought was directly from the bands themselves or band members. This was still when you could write to an address off of a tape case or a compact disc insert and some one would respond to you. I don’t really remember how I had got Paul Chousmer’s number and address. But I did contact him before my vacation and he agreed to meet with me. He was even kind enough to drive into London so that I could buy a few items from him. It didn’t really hit me that the person I was going to meet had been there for all of the eighties U.K. Psych/Free Fest scene or that he was moving quite gracefully into the electronic and dance clubs. Musically his style has always been similar to ENO. His ability to create mind bending soundscapes is uncanny. They lift you and take you to places you’ve only dreamed of.

One of the first groups he was with was as big of a major attraction as the Ozric Tentacles. More than often they could be found playing the same gigs. Forming in 1982, Webcore’s music was more progressive then their contemporaries. Though still heavily psychedelic their sound is often mechanical and much more structured.

It was during the Webcore years that Paul developed his soundscapes. He and fellow Webcore member Dan Carpenter formed the chillout group Another Green World. Their title describes their music to a tee. They originally formed to play the early morning chillouts at a regular Ozric/Webcore venue Alice in Wonderland. This led to the all-too-common draw at Club Dog, the Deptford Crypt, and later Whirly-Gig and Return to the Source shows, one of which I attended at the Brixton Academy in 1996.

Shorty after Webcore faded in 1988 Paul focused his attention on Another Green World only taking time out to work with The Thunderdogs (the trippy house band for a traveling circus) and Spannerman (a spin off of the Thunderdogs). Then in 1993 he joined up with Phil Pickering and Mick West of Webcore to form Zuvuya. Mixing tribal and dance rhythms with the textured sound washes of Another Green World they became one of the earlier bands signed to the Delerium label. For these releases they collaborated with the psychedelic guru Terrence McKenna.

Though Paul is no longer with Zuvuya he has continued with Another Green World. He has released various compilation tracks with the Return to the Source group, and on Club Crusty Vol 1, Shamanarchy in the U.K., and the Dubmission label. He also has a full compact disc release on the Magick Eye label. I was lucky enough this last April to be in England when Paul had a gig in Exeter. The show was held at the Phoenix. Once I made it past the metal bird above the entrance that came alive every so often to open its glowing red eyes and spread its wings I witnessed a show that blew me away. Pure electronic psych, dub, dance bliss. Joining him on stage playing guitar, another of my favourite performers, was Russ of the Oroonies (another great festy psych band which spawned Joie of the Ozrics and later Eat Static ).

Paul recently performed as Another Green World for the Return to the Sources New Years Eve celebration at the Rocket.

DS: Can you give me an idea of your history musically?

PC: Webcore has some complicated roots. I’ll try to draw a family tree.

Vane – formed in Chelmsford, Essex 1981-3. We released two singles on Island.

James Vain – Vox

Phil Pickering – Bass – Webcore/Zuvuya

Clive Roberts – Guitar – later owned Trace Elliot

Colin Woolway – Drums

Paul Chousmer – Keys

Ring of Roses – formed in 1984. Signed to RCA Records for 100,000 Pounds though never released anything.

James Vain – Vox

Richard Havis – Guitar

Chris ??? – drums – later went on to play with Zodiac Mindwarp

??? – Bass

Dan “Spannerman” Carpenter – Sax

Paul Chousmer – Keys – left after four months

Webcore – formed in Cornwall in 1984 and lasted until 1987. Released several self-released cassettes, 2 LP’s and 2 12″s through Jungle Records.

Mick West – Vox

Phil Pickering – Bass

Paul Chousmer – Keys

Clive Goodwin – Guitar – later Ozrics sound engineer

Colin Woolway – Drums

Nick Van Gelder – Drums – had played with the Ozrics earlier-went on to Jamiroquai

Dan Carpenter – Sax occasionally

Mike ??? – left to join a monastery

Jackie Hannah – backing vox

Karen Kay – backing vox

Another Green World also started in 1984 when Dan and I left Ring of Roses. And it just keeps going…

Did you know about the Thunderdogs? The band played with Circus Archaos all over Europe and Scandinavia from 1990 to 1992.

Thunderdogs

Tony “Dog” D’Amico – Vox

Gavin Griffiths – Guitar – previously with the Ozrics and Ullulators

Dan Spannerman – Sax

Jonny Ellwood – Drums

Seaweed – Keys – now with Ozrics

Gabrielli – bass

Sound engineer and occasional pianist was me. And Stuart Zehnder and Generator John were along for the ride, sometimes tecking. You can see that these bands were fairly incestuous. Dan and Jackie have a son together, Jackie’s brother is Stuart Zehnder who played bass for Spannerman and then Jamiroquai also.

DS: I’ve never heard either Vane or Ring of Roses before. What was their music like?

PC: Oh it was such a long time ago… Vane was primarily psychedelic, but remember this was the early eighties so we had just come out of the punk revolution here and were fishing about with Goth and New Romantic styles. We were very much into electric sounds and effects. So imagine if you can: we were fronted by James Vain, 6’4″ tall, skinny as a rake, loads of make-up, electric coloured hair (he was influenced a lot by Bowie’s transformations – but dissolute as Lou Reed!), low lights, big bass, electronic noises all over the place – can you picture this? Very much a precursor to what Webcore got up to. A little less danceable, but much better looking! The band got fairly well known around the seedier underground scene in London. Great fun and fond memories.

DS: What about Ring of Roses?

PC: Ring of Roses was James Vane’s attempt to ‘get commercial’ (He had already blown the deal with Island Records after releasing two dreadful singles), so the songs were still vaguely psychedelic/new romantic, but very polished with definite ‘understandable’ lyrics and structures. With the help of a typical low-life manager the band signed to RCA for 100,000 Pounds, then fell to pieces – really RCA were impressed by the band’s appearance more than anything. The A&R man who signed the band left the company shortly after the signing. Always a bad sign. So the money got frittered away and nothing was ever released! What a sad story.

DS: How would you describe Webcore?

PC: Webcore were often described as way ahead of their time (at the time, if you can see what I mean.) I sort of took the roll of manager as nobody else would and we played everywhere. I (and Ed ‘Ozric’ Wynne) took the same view that the best way to publicize ourselves was to play wherever we could. So we often found ourselves at the same dodgy benefit gigs. All sorts of squats, free festivals, you name it. So we got a reputation for playing together all of the time. I’ve always thought our music was completely different. I felt there was a common psychedelic thread and we were always up for a party. Then Club Dog started (by Mike Dog, who later had the Ultimate Record label with groups like Eat Static and Senser) Webcore, the Ozric Tentacles and Another Green World all became regulars. And we grew with it.

DS: I agree that Webcore’s music was ahead of its time at the time. What would you say were the musical influences of the group?

PC: Our influences at the time inevitably included ENO, but also Psychic TV, Siouxsie and the Banshees, it’s difficult to say now from this distance in time. I would say we brought lots of different things together. Mick was a poet not a singer, so that was his approach. Trying to make his words fit. My idea was to create atmospheres behind the songs. Setting the scene. We were all experimenting. Just trying out ideas and if they felt good. It’s funny now that I’m teaching I see loads of young bands coming together. They all seem to want to sound like somebody else. The A&R mentality of copying whatever the last big hit was! We didn’t think that way at all back then!

DS: Webcore’s music also seems quite different from much of the other free fest bands like the Ozrics and Psi. How do you feel that Webcore fit into this scene?

PC: You’d have to ask this one of the audience really. I find it very hard to be objective. I would say that I was always surprised that Webcore’s audience danced a lot. I didn’t think of our music as dance music. This was fairly unusual in the free fest scene. Our music was also quite structured. Not totally, there was some room for improvisation. But there were definite maps to follow. The other bands seemed to be more into long wibble solos etc…

DS: How did Spannerman fit into the fold?

PC: Spannerman came together while we were all in the circus. We were getting bored, so we became the party band. When the circus finished we carried on. We played for a summer in 1992 with an offshoot circus “Matarank” at the Avignon Theater Festival in France. Clive Goodwin came along with his PA and looked after the sound. I left the band shortly after this as I was starting a family. The band then changed with Jonny Ellwood taking over on drums etc… We used to describe Spannerman as “psychedelic-punk-jazz.”

DS: If I remember right you played with the Fields of the Nephilim for a short while.

PC: The Fields of the Nephilim link came through Jungle Records. They had put out a couple of singles through Jungle before signing to Beggars Banquet. And the Field’s manager, Steve Brown, was a partner of Jungle. I was working at London University in 1988 or ’89 when they were looking for a keyboard player. They remembered me from some gigs when Webcore supported the Fields in the early days and tracked me down. That was great fun. I played on six tours in the U.K., Germany and France and also on their live LP. I really enjoyed myself.

DS: What became of Zuvuya? PC: Dunno the answer to this. I broke off contact with these people for reasons I’d rather not discuss. I made some music with them and it was put out through Delerium.

DS: What are your feelings on the festival scene of the eighties?

PC: You have to remember there was a right wing government ruling here at the time, with that bitch Thatcher at the helm. Lots of unemployment, kids on the dole, etc… Punk had run its course. We were all getting politicized. Stonehenge free festival was banned and suppressed by the police with a heavy hand. So free festivals were often a way to protest. We were all squatting, traveling. I have fond memories of that time. People were thinking of the world around them. I look at the kids now. They have no idea about politics. Nothing to protest about I suppose. The legacy of the Thatcher years is that everyone is out for themselves. Make as much money for yourself as you can and screw everyone else. I think that Reagan and his cronies did the same sort of thing over there.

DS: Through your music as Another Green World, you as an individual have moved quite easily from the scene in the eighties right into the club scene of the nineties and on. How do you feel about the club sound and what are you writing these days?

PC: I really like the music I hear in clubs these days. But it only sounds good in the clubs! In that atmosphere and loud. Most of it doesn’t seem to work when I put it on at home. However loud! In that sense I don’t really understand how I fit in. I actively try to make music that transports you from your armchair at home to some other place, without necessarily being really loud. This is important to me. So I keep in contact with these clubs, send them what I am doing. I just do what I do and they book me if they like it. This is probably quite old-fashioned these days. Everything is high sell, throwaway.

DS: Would you mind naming a few of the bands that you have supported or that have supported you in the past?

PC: Webcore supported on occasion:

Psychic TV

Fields of the Nephilim

Doctor and the Medics

Zodiac Mindwarp

Daevid Allen

Ozric Tentacles

Another Green World has played with:

Eat Static

Astralasia

Banco de Gaia

Cheapsuit Oroonies

DS: What are your influences?

PC: I have all sorts of influences. Holger Czukay, Erik Satie, Lee Scratch Perry, Thelonious Sphere Monk. These days I listen to a lot of early Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Albinoni and Klezmer music. Dub seems to be another common thread. I’ve taken a long time finding the nerve to play dub live. It certainly takes me to some of the places I want to go. I hope it does the same for the audience. Who knows where it will take me next.

DS: What are you teaching at University?

PC: I teach a variety of things musical at the colleges. Music Technology, Keyboard Skills, Music Theory and Music Business. All very time consuming. But it earns a living and is rewarding in other ways. It can also be very frustrating. Under-resourced equipment, unmotivated students etc…

DS: What equipment do you use live as Another Green World?

PC:Roland Jupitar 6

Korg M1

Oberheim Matrix-1000

Roland s-550 sampler

Lexicon Vortex

Yamaha SPX90

Alesis Quadraverb

Soundcraft mixer

DS: What do you feel the future holds for you musically?

PC: I’ll just polish the crystal ball!… I don’t know. I just carry on putting together music that appeals to me. And if other people like it great. I’ve never been terribly ambitious. I’ve always felt Music to be my vocation. I need to do it. And it’s nice when some money comes back from it. I have some vague ideas about getting into producing for other people or making film music. But it is high pressure work. And I prefer to work at my own (snail-like) pace. I have to have time to polish my work. I have been playing real instruments recently in a Klezmer band, with Russ and Jane of the Oroonies, and this is excellent exercise for the brain. In the very long term I suppose I will probably find myself playing piano jazz in my eighties. Though it is bound to be weirder than that!!!

Discography:

Webcore

Cassettes: Cinematography (A Real Kavoom ARK 4) 1984

The Great Unfolding (A Real Kavoom ARK 16) 1986

Consider The River (M.E.L.T. Music) 1987

12″: The Captians Table (Jungle/A Real Kavoom JUNG 30T/ARK23)

Running for the Precident (JUNG 34T/ARK25) Both 1987

Albums: Webcore (FREUD16/ARK27) 1987

WebcoreWebcore (FREUD22/ARK32) 1988

Spannerman

Cassettes: Leave it Mandy! 1992

Zuvuya

12″: Grabbing Nandi by the Horns (Nation NR026T) 1993

Shaman I Am (Delerium DELEC EP 031) 1993

Albums: Dream Matrix Telemetry (DELEC CD 021) 1993

Shamania (DELEC CD 031) 1994

Another Green World

Cassettes: My Dreams in Your Hands (AGW 001) 1984

Boondocks (AGW 002) 1988

Adjusting the Mirror (AGW 003) 1993

Albums: Invisible Landscape (Magick Eye) 1997

Video: Ambiotic State 1994

75 comments

chris
January 13, 2008 at 1:20 pm

webcore were superb

i used to see them

innovative

interesting

and surprising

where are they now?

chris
chris
January 13, 2008 at 1:23 pm

who posted webcore stufff????

anybody know what these people are doing now?????

chris
Nathalie
April 11, 2008 at 12:17 pm

I have been searching for stuff on Webcore for ages. Used to have tapes but got battered over the years and then the CD age came. Have not listened to these tracks for ohhh ohhh the best part of 20 years

Used to see them 84-86. That was my Ozric Tentacles, Magic Mushroom Band, Another Green World years. Have been looking for Another Green World’s stuff too but to no avail. Again tapes thrown out…

What a bonus to be able to download these few tracks. I was actually looking to see if I could buy the stuff again, I would have been quite happy to pay.

Inded what are they up to ?!
Penguin • Post Author •
April 11, 2008 at 12:18 pm

Another Green World cassette on this site if you search for it with the search function.
Carl
April 11, 2008 at 12:56 pm

Penguin..Shouldn’t you be knee deep in nappies now ??

Hope everything going well
Penguin • Post Author •
April 11, 2008 at 2:53 pm

No probs Carl, he sleeps a lot right now so I can sneak up here and upload at odd times! Nappies, can do it with my eyes closed now after 5 days.
Carl
April 11, 2008 at 4:08 pm

Thats good to hear Penguin, and a word of warning, dont do nappies with your eyes shut as you will deffo put your hands in stuff that you really dont want to !!!… I know from experience..

Keep up the brilliant work on the downloads
Nathalie
April 11, 2008 at 6:14 pm

Thanks for the tip, I downloaded Another Green World and will listen in a mo. What’s great is that I can download without feeling guilty ‘cos I paid for the music back then… I am one of those weirdo’s who wants the artists to get their due :-).

Before I played Webcore today I had absolutely no recollection of the music/songs but sure enough I remember every one of them..

Anyway it was nice dropping by I am really pleased to have been able to finally found this music again, I genuinly did searches on and off over the years.

Have a good week end everyone
Miquest
May 21, 2008 at 1:50 am

CONTACT TO SWITCH THE OTHER.

Hello.

Wasn’t Webcore the band I was in?
Ah yes… its all coming back to me now…

Miles and Miles,
We go for miles and miles and miles…

🙂
Penguin • Post Author •
May 21, 2008 at 9:22 am

Decent band mate…which member of Webcore were you?
pOoTer
July 10, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Webcore were my favourite band from way back when…used to go see them upstairs at the Cricklewood Hotel and also the Harnigey T.U Centre at what was then Dead Dog Promotions……most of you will know they mutated into Club Dog and the rest is history….
Often found in the same places was the Hassid Casualty Lightshow.

Got all the tapes and all the vinyl (as far as I know) and still listen to them regularly. Also got the original Another Green World stuff (RIP Alice In Wonderland….)

Miquest…put some more stuff out or even better, play some gigs 🙂
devotionalhooligan
August 5, 2008 at 8:18 pm

cheers for sharing this mate,lost my copy donkeys ago.
phil and a few other members released some excellent minimal beats/electronica under the name of zuvuya.
i released a lush ‘better days’ compilation back in the day-which i’d be happy to send for yoos to upload,if you like.

hope you’re all well.

peace.x
miquest
August 6, 2008 at 3:30 pm

Hello again, I notice that this thread has a little life in it and want to stick my oar in as it were.
I was the vocalist / lyricist in the obscure band formerly known as Webcore 🙂
Seems a couple of people here might at some point come across live recordings of Webcore; bootlegs etc. If anyone does, can they contact me through this forum?
Also i am interested in finding any recordings at all of Ring and Panixsphere…

Thanx for the positive comments above; what remarkable memories you have 🙂
In the Meantimes,
Contact To Switch The Other
miquest
Nic
August 6, 2008 at 4:36 pm

Try here for the ‘O De Dun Dun’ tape, miquest…
https://www.killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=506
Rikityrik
October 14, 2008 at 5:13 pm

Webcore were just fantastic. I saw them at Elephant Fayre, must have been about ’82ish. They were incredible and I promptly got in touch with them to get Cinematography. It is still one of my favorites – seldom do you hear such unique music. What made it even better was that they were so approachable and from “just round the corner” to where I lived for a while near St Austell. Wish I could find that old t-shirt 🙂

Good to see you posting Miquest, have found odd internet pages about/by you over the last 20 years or so in my search for mentions of Webcore
Katie James
December 30, 2008 at 8:31 pm

I used to hang with webcore in Fowey until I waved goodbye for London havent managed to track them down yet but will anyone know what happened to them Katie
chris
January 11, 2009 at 11:44 pm

webcore were just fucking superb..

saw them all over the shop..

innovative and spiritual

they should reform

where are they all now..

i notice an ex member above has posted

superb..

real music…thoughful original and passionate
Penguin • Post Author •
January 12, 2009 at 12:00 am

Absoutely, agreed, always a good night out Chris!
chris
January 12, 2009 at 7:55 pm

aha! ANOTHER Chris!! All of us not rejoicing in being called after Antartican birds are gonna have to get forum log-in names soon!
Sarah
March 6, 2009 at 8:45 pm

Just listening to this great stuff-i am sure i remember being at one of their first gigs at helston music fayre 1982(?) Have some tapes stashed away somewhere am going to look for them right nowwww…
Steve
March 10, 2009 at 11:51 am

Miles and miles of computerised smiles – Superb band live – I was living in London and was put on to them by my brother’s girlfriend who is from, and had seen them in Cornwall. I still have the cassettes somewhere in my mum’s attic and have been looking on the net for stuff to download for eons. My bro’ is digitalising the album that was released on Jungle Records. Crazy days – used to see Webcore at the Club Dog nights, various working mens’ clubs, University Halls (I remember the astounded faces of the students!), Alice in Wonderland and various squats like the Blue House in Hackney which is now a museum and still has a huge Webcore mural in one of the room. There’s an interesting piece on Zuvuya on the Delerium Records website http://www.delerium.co.uk/bands/zuvuya/zuvu_arc.html with photos and a discography. Make Contact!
pOoTer
March 10, 2009 at 1:45 pm

Alice in Wonderland…now you’re talking 🙂 Think I may have been to that club too…brings back memories…

I’m digitising my cassettes too, done some Webcore already 🙂
Veriditas
March 15, 2009 at 9:33 pm

Don’t plan it….leave it up to the planet
Love loves you through me……
SEAN …… if your out there get in touch
May your love of the light and your understanding of the dark never fade.
Kevin
June 23, 2009 at 5:21 am

Fantastic! I still have this tape & the AGW tape. Didn’t catch either in Cornwall, but saw Webcore many times in London. Feathered Mask was a thumping live song. Also, AGW at the brilliant, hash-cake fuelled Club Dog. Will never forget those nights!!

Cheers all, Kevin

PS. AGW appeared at the Faery Fest down here in Cornwall 2 years ago. They are on MySpace http://www.myspace.com/anothergreenplanet
Penguin • Post Author •
June 23, 2009 at 8:36 pm

Assume you know AGW are on the site here Kevin:

https://www.killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=409

Just in case you did not.

All Club Dog nights were great from Wood Green to The Robey. Did you witness the Webcore gigs at the 121 Railton Road bookshop and the squatted Jungle Records buildings? They were good, as were the Club Mankind squat gigs in Hackney Central.

I will upload the second Webcore cassette on A Real Kavoom in a few days.
chris b
June 24, 2009 at 9:57 am

please upload any material..

id love to hear more

where are the musicians now i wonder..

chris
Penguin • Post Author •
July 5, 2009 at 12:34 am

Second Webcore cassette now uploaded on this site for anyone that give’s a rats arse!

https://www.killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=2627

There you go people…
Kevin
July 14, 2009 at 2:19 am

Penguin… Apologies for not replying sooner. I didn’t get up to London until early ’87, so looks like I missed Webcores squat gigs. Damn!! No matter how soon you arrive in London, you have always missed the previous 5 years. Argh!! Saw Webcore, maybe 5 times over 18 months, including the last (?) when a guitarist (?) stormed off stage mid-song.

I can only remember the Club Dog evenings at the Robey. The Robey has closed now, I’m sure I saw on the ‘derelict London’ site. Wonderful memories of some brilliant & some strange bands!

Cheers for uploading both tapes. I will download the second cassette in a moment. Can’t recall much about this one. Did not have it myself. Just a query about Cinematography. Doesn’t your tape (side 2, Poison Without Trace) begin with the immortal, in my head anyway!, “Sounded like someone closing a door then”, quietly spoken by Miquest, followed by a few musings about how strange this was. The words are spoken over the intro & if they couldn’t be heard I would always rewind and play the tape louder. Someone from Helston gave me my tape, perhaps later versions edited this.

Miquest… Pleased you posted. What are you up to these days? I have seen your myspace page… ’tis a little empty. Thanks for the songs & the live sets. Any chance of a Webcore re-union gig sometime?

Nostalgia…? Ain’t it great?
Kevin
July 14, 2009 at 2:24 am

And thanks for the Another Green World tape, Penguin. I had spotted the link. I have the tape, but a digitised copy has been very much appreciated.

Cheers Penguin,
kevin
pOoTer
July 14, 2009 at 9:17 am

I transferred both my Webcore tapes to MP3 ages ago if anyone needs them…

Miquest…I have the Ring cassette if that’s any use to you? I can convert to MP3 very easily as I now have a USB Cassette deck
TPFREE
October 7, 2009 at 9:33 pm

Hi POoTer, how can i download the Webcore MP3’s from you?
TPFREE
October 7, 2009 at 10:04 pm

I found your links thanks…
stig
November 3, 2009 at 12:45 pm

wickedy punk sticks, cor blimey, would you adam n eve it??? nice, only just found the kypp website, my my my how times have changed, got any amsterdamned or dead mans shadow?