Tuesday 17 April 2012

Steve James Sherlock



Steve James Sherlock - Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Devices - Neu Electrikk




Steve James Sherlock (born: 1953 in London, United Kingdom) is a British musician and founder member of Neu Electrikk. He grew up in the south London district of Thornton Heath and played saxophone, clarinet and flute. Influenced by the sounds of his youth, jazz, soul, dub, reggae and hearing saxophonists like John Coltrane, Andy Mackay of the 70’s band Roxy Music and Davey Payne of Ian Dury and The Blockheads Sherlock went on to develop his own style of playing. This involved improvisation and experimenting with sound by processing the playing through various effects pedals.

Following his time in Neu Electrikk Steve Sherlock joined The The and contributed to the ‘Uncertain Smile’sessions ‘Three Orange Kisses From Kazan’ and ‘Waitin' For The Upturn’. He also joined Matt in various other ‘live’ versions of The The. At this time Steve also recorded various sessions with Keith Laws (unreleased) and joined forces with Matt Johnson/Colin Lloyd Tucker/ Simon Fisher Turner contributing to Deux Filles ‘Silence and Wisdom’ LP. Having received an endorsement from Matt, Steve joined Marc Almond and Annie Hogan in Marc and the Mambas. His playing features prominently on ‘Torment and Toreros‘. Steve wrote the track Narcissus with Marc Almond for the album. Steve also contributed flute to the track ‘The Hungry Years by Marc Almond and Andi Sexgang included on the 1983 compilation album ‘The Whip’.
 





Monday 9 April 2012

Steve Parry - aka Stefan Jadd



Steve Parry - Guitars, Piano, Synth, Effects, Devices - Neu Electrikk

In 1976, Steve Parry at the age of 18 moved from Harrogate, Yorkshire to London in search of new music opportunities. Parry had played in a succession of local bands, none of whom seemed to possess any real ambition. Parry had been accepted onto a journalism/photography course but would have to wait for another year before taking up the placement. During this time Parry worked for the civil service in the Ministry of Defence. Spending the days bored and frustrated working in a dead end job, in an office full of old army types who spoke of nothing but the war and the anarchism of today’s youth proved the catalyst for change.

Relocating to London, Parry answered a musician’s wanted advert placed by Derek Morris in the Melody Maker. At a similar time Parry answered an advert placed by Matt Johnson in the NME requesting musicians into The Velvet Underground/Syd Barrett. Having contacted Matt he discovered there had been a somewhat limited response to the advert. Parry enquired with Matt what instruments he played and equipment he used - this included a guitar/amp setup purchased from Woolworths, a Crumer Electronic Keyboard and an assortment of other borrowed musical instruments left behind in the basement of his father Eddies’ pub.

Johnson did send Parry a copy of his cassette demo 'See without Being Seen' recorded in the cellar of his parents pub. The music Parry found interesting, Matt had written all the music and played all instruments himself. The cassette came in a cover designed by Matt copied on a Xerox machine.  Parry thought ‘See without Being Seen’ an ambitious, impressive work for a 15-16 yr old. Parry considered Matt essentially a solo act and found it difficult imagining them being in a band together. Matt Johnson and Parry kept in touch informing each other of each other’s activities. Letters to each other would contain the names and addresses of key contacts, people like Genesis P-Orridge of the band Throbbing Gristle, people who could potentially help the cause. Concurrently Parry had been in contact with Derek Morris and Steve Sherlock and due to the practicalities of living closer to one another they decided to form a band.


Matt later contacted Parry when he discovered Keith Laws, appearing keen for them all to get together and introduce Laws to him.  Parry remembers having Keith around seemed to give Matt greater self-confidence. Together they would formulate ideas, take to the stage and perform as a live act, as a duo they would both develop the idea of what was to become The The.  At the time Matt was working at De-Wolfe music studios in Soho and this gave him the opportunity to record backing tracks to which he and Laws would later improvise. Parry was present at all of The The’s early performances. The The first gig was at the Africa Centre, nr London’s Covent Garden, the event being memorable for having an African/Caribbean evening taking place at the same time in the basement. As The The played upstairs, the throb of African music permeated up through the floor. Parry liked the abstract, experimental sound of early The The, the music being a stimulating hybrid of electronic drum beats, effected guitar, a wasp synthesizer, slabs of noise and distorted vocals. Parry did join The The on stage and played guitar on just the one occasion – The Anarchist Ball – Metropolitan Warehouse. This event followed a frustrating day spent in SGS studios in south London recording the track that was to become ‘Untitled’ as later featured on ‘The Some Bizzare Album’. In the company of an uncooperative, unprofessional engineer, Parry, Johnson and Laws struggled to make themselves understood. This situation Parry found especially embarrassing having recommended the studio to Johnson/Laws and booked the studio for them. Amid the chaos Parry found himself sharing the studio control room listening to the rant of the engineer while attempting to salvage the situation. Parry recalls making a musical contribution in the form of hand claps and maybe some fuzz guitar. At the end of the recording session the engineer scrawled obscenities on the tape reel box - "The Bollock Dance" - Parry took the master tape home with him then a few months later he received a request from Laws asking him about the whereabouts of the master tape. They wanted the track for a forthcoming compilation - Some Bizzare Album. Sadly when the Some Bizzare Album materialised no credit is given for Parrys contribution to 'Untitled'. 'Untitled' remains an interesting artefact in the early career of Matt Johnson / The The. 
   

Neu Electrikk and The The shared management, record-label, gigs and personnel. Following the demise of Neu Electrikk Steve Sherlock effectively went on to join The The and with Johnson both contributed to Marc and the Mambas.



Photocopied Gig Poster given to Steve Parry by Matt Johnson for early The The gig