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Uploaded tonight is the second Webcore cassette released on A Real Kavoom Cassettes from Cornwall. Personally I liked this band very much and saw them perform many times in and around the capital.\u00a0Many squatted venues including the\u00a0121 Railton Road\u00a0bookshop, the old Jungle Records building in Islington and the Mankind Club in Hackney Central. Plenty of great nights at the Club Dog venues in Wood\u00a0Green and Finsbury Park must also be mentioned. Also saw them support Psychic TV on a couple of occasions…What I can not find is too much information on the\u00a0band anywhere on the internet so you will have to make do with an interview with the\u00a0Webcore keyboardist Paul Chousmer\u00a0on the aural-innovations.com site.<\/p>\n
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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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nOne 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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nIt 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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nShorty 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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThough 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 ). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPaul recently performed as Another Green World for the Return to the Sources New Years Eve celebration at the Rocket. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDS: Can you give me an idea of your history musically? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPC: Webcore has some complicated roots. I’ll try to draw a family tree. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nVane – formed in Chelmsford, Essex 1981-3. We released two singles on Island. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nJames Vain – Vox <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPhil Pickering – Bass – Webcore\/Zuvuya <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nClive Roberts – Guitar – later owned Trace Elliot <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nColin Woolway – Drums <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPaul Chousmer – Keys <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nRing of Roses – formed in 1984. Signed to RCA Records for 100,000 Pounds though never released anything. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nJames Vain – Vox <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nRichard Havis – Guitar <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nChris ??? – drums – later went on to play with Zodiac Mindwarp <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n??? – Bass <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDan “Spannerman” Carpenter – Sax <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPaul Chousmer – Keys – left after four months <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWebcore – formed in Cornwall in 1984 and lasted until 1987. Released several self-released cassettes, 2 LP’s and 2 12″s through Jungle Records. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMick<\/span> West – Vox <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPhil Pickering – Bass <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPaul Chousmer – Keys <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nClive Goodwin – Guitar – later Ozrics sound engineer <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nColin Woolway – Drums <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nNick Van Gelder – Drums – had played with the Ozrics earlier-went on to Jamiroquai <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDan Carpenter – Sax occasionally <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMike ??? – left to join a monastery <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nJackie Hannah – backing vox <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nKaren Kay – backing vox <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nAnother Green World also started in 1984 when Dan and I left Ring of Roses. And it just keeps going… <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDid you know about the Thunderdogs? The band played with Circus Archaos all over Europe and Scandinavia from 1990 to 1992. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThunderdogs <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nTony “Dog” D’Amico – Vox <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nGavin Griffiths – Guitar – previously with the Ozrics and Ullulators <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDan Spannerman – Sax <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nJonny Ellwood – Drums <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSeaweed – Keys – now with Ozrics <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nGabrielli – bass <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSound 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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDS: I’ve never heard either Vane or Ring of Roses before. What was their music like? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPC: 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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDS: What about Ring of Roses? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPC: 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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDS: How would you describe Webcore? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPC: 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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDS: 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? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPC: 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! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDS: 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? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPC: 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… <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDS: How did Spannerman fit into the fold? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPC: 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.” <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDS: If I remember right you played with the Fields of the Nephilim for a short while. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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