Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were an English rock band formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psychedelia" consisting of heavily distorted guitar, synthesizers, and minimal chord or tempo changes.
The band drew inspiration from acts like the Stooges, the Velvet Underground, and Suicide. Following their debut album Sound of Confusion, Spacemen 3 had their first independent chart hits in 1987, gaining a cult following, and through albums The Perfect Prescription and Playing with Fire, went on to have greater success towards the end of the decade. However, they disbanded shortly afterwards, releasing their final studio album Recurring post-split in 1991 after an acrimonious parting of ways.
They gained a reputation as a 'drug band' due to the members' drug-taking habits and Kember's candid interviews and outspoken opinions on recreational drug use. Kember and Pierce were the only members common to all line-ups of the band. Pierce has enjoyed considerable success with his subsequent project—Spiritualized. Kember has since found acclaim for his production work with indie artists, most often under the stage name Sonic Boom.
History
Formation and early years (1982–85)
The creative and song-writing force throughout Spacemen 3's history were Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. They met at the Rugby Art College on Clifton Road, Rugby, Warwickshire in autumn 1982, both aged 16, and became close friends. Pierce was in a band called Indian Scalp, but he left them near the end of 1982 to collaborate with Kember. The two guitarists recruited drummer Tim Morris, who played with a couple of other bands and had a rehearsal space at his parental home, which they used. Shortly afterwards Pete Bain joined on bass. Morris and Bain had previously played together in a band called Noise on Independent Street. Pierce handled lead vocal duties. Now a 4-piece, the band originally adopted the name The Spacemen. Their first live performances occurred around winter 1982/83, playing at a party and then at a couple of gigs they managed to get at a local bar; at the latter their set included a 20-minute version of the one-chord song "O.D. Catastrophe".In autumn 1983, Pierce, having finished his course at Rugby Art College, started attending an art school in Maidstone, Kent. This prompted Bain and Morris to leave and join a new local band, The Push, being formed by Gavin Wissen. Kember and Pierce recruited a replacement drummer, Nicholas "Natty" Brooker. They continued without a bassist and Pierce would regularly return to Rugby for rehearsals. In early 1984, they only performed at a few local, low-key venues. Still a trio, they changed their name to Spacemen 3. Kember explained:
Eventually, Spacemen 3 decided to produce a demo tape. In 1984 they made their first studio recordings at the home studio of Dave Sheriff in Rugby. This material – which included early iterations of the songs "Walkin' with Jesus", "Come Down Easy" and "Things'll Never be the Same" – was used for a short demo tape entitled For All The Fucked Up Children Of The World We Give You Spacemen 3. They got a few hundred cassette copies made and produced their own artwork and booklet to accompany it, selling the tapes for £1 at a local record shop. Spacemen 3's music at this stage had a loose, swampy blues feel; some songs included harmonica and slide guitar, and their style sounded akin to The Cramps. These early demo recordings, which Kember later recalled as being "really dreadful", would later be released unofficially in 1995 on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label, thus providing an insight into the band's embryonic sound.
Around 1984 and 1985, Spacemen 3 were doing gigs every two or three months on the local Rugby/Northampton/Coventry circuit, and had a regular spot at The Black Lion public house in Northampton. Their gigs had an 'anti performance' element: Kember and Pierce would play their guitars sitting down and would barely acknowledge the audience. They would illuminate the stage with some cheap, old optokinetic disco light-show equipment which they had acquired, providing a psychedelic backdrop.
By summer 1985, Spacemen 3 were headlining at The Black Lion and becoming one of the biggest local bands. Around this time they started to co-host a weekly club night together with another local band, Gavin Wissen's 'The Cogs of Tyme'. 'The Reverberation Club', as it was called, was held at The Blitz public house in Rugby on Thursdays. "50s, 60s and 70s punk" records were played and it soon provided a live venue for Spacemen 3 and various other local bands. At one of their gigs at The Black Lion in 1985, they came to the attention of Pat Fish, the leader of the recording band The Jazz Butcher; he felt Spacemen 3 were "extraordinary" and "like nothing else".
''Sound of Confusion'' era (1986)
Northampton demos
In November 1985, Spacemen 3 played a gig at a leisure centre in Coventry to an audience of fewer than ten people. Nevertheless, encouraged by the support of Pat Fish, they determined that they ought to record a new demo tape. By this time they had reconfigured and honed their musical style, and their repertoire consisted of newer songs and re-worked older ones.At Pierce's instigation, Pete Bain rejoined the band on bass in order to fill out their sound. Despite being a 4-piece again, they would retain the name Spacemen 3. Kember and Pierce opted to upgrade their guitar equipment ahead of recording the new demos. Kember purchased a Burns Jazz electric guitar and 1960s Vox Conqueror amplifier; whilst Pierce bought a Fender Telecaster and a 1970s HH amplifier. Both of their new amplifiers included distortion/fuzz and tremolo; these two effects were key components of Spacemen 3's signature sound.
In January 1986, Spacemen 3 attended the Studio Morocco based at the home of Carlo Marocco at Piddington, outside Northampton, to record their new demo tape. They spent three-and-a-half days at the 16-track studio. Recording live as a group, with minimal overdubs, they managed to get demos for approximately seven songs. Kember and Pierce handled the production. with studio manager Dave Howard dealing with the technicalities. These "fine set of performances" would later be unofficially released as the vinyl album Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To on the Father Yod label in 1990.
Spacemen 3 managed to obtain a record deal shortly after producing their new demos. Pat Fish had given a copy of the demo tape to Dave Barker, the owner of the independent record label Glass Records, to whom Fish's band The Jazz Butcher were signed. Spacemen 3 signed a three-year, two-album recording contract with Glass Records in early 1986.
Debut album
Spacemen 3 were sent to record their first album, Sound of Confusion, at the studios of Bob Lamb in the King's Heath area of Birmingham. With a recording budget of less than £1,000, they completed the album in five days, with the last two days dedicated to mixing. Attempts at recording the title song "Walkin' with Jesus " were unsuccessful and abandoned.Pat Fish was slated to produce the album, but he had commitments with his band, and Bob Lamb produced it. Kember and Pierce were unhappy with the results, and they preferred the Northampton demos instead.
The seven-track Sound of Confusion album had a heavy psychedelic style. It was "a full on, fuzzed up drone of relentless guitar pounding", with a "rough garage energy " and "minimal, bluntly entrancing riffs". A NME review of the 1990 re-release said that the album was "A lo-fi, mostly low-key affair."
Sound of Confusion was released in July 1986. The cover artwork included shots of the band illuminated by their light-show equipment. The album was not received well, making little impression at the time, although it went on to reach no. 2 on the UK Independent Chart in 1989. Publicity for the album suffered from lack of funding by Glass Records.
During 1986, Spacemen 3 made live performances every few weeks. These continued to occur at local venues, with the exception of gigs in Chesterfield, Birmingham and, in August, their first appearance in London. The latter gig saw them receive their first reviews in both NME and Sounds.
To follow up their album, Spacemen 3 made their first single, "Walkin' with Jesus" in 1986; the received decent reviews from NME and Sounds, and peaked at no. 29 on the UK Independent Chart, and no. 46 in the indie chart published by Sounds.
It was in 1986 that guitarist Peter Kember started to use his long-term alias 'Sonic Boom'. He had earlier employed the aliases 'Mainliner' and 'Peter Gunn'. Bassist Pete Bain also adopted his alias—'Bassman' or 'Pete Bassman'.
''The Perfect Prescription'' era (1987–88)
1987
In January 1987, Spacemen 3 commenced work on their second album, The Perfect Prescription, which was recorded at Paul Adkins' VHF Studios, near Rugby; it was at the request of sound engineer Graham Walker. It took eight months and £3,000 to produce.Whilst working on the album, "Transparent Radiation"—a cover of a song by the Red Crayola—was recorded, and released as a single in July 1987. "Transparent Radiation" was awarded 'Single of the Week' by Sounds, and matched the previous single in reaching no. 29 on the independent chart. The B-side included "Ecstasy Symphony", an experimental piece using an organ drone.
The Perfect Prescription was completed in September 1987 and released the same month.
Kember described it as "kind of a concept album, it's about our better and worse experiences with drugs". Produced by Kember and Pierce, they agreed to restrict the amount of guitar overdubs in order that it would be easier to replicate the songs live. The Perfect Prescription received little critical attention in the UK, being better received in the United States. However, it represented Kember and Pierce's "collaborative zenith", and the album "is practically a best-of in all but name".
The Perfect Prescription "marked a serious artistic development, drawing deeper from gospel, ambient, and spiritual music, granting a serenity and depth to their spaced-out garage psychedelia". Much of the album did not feature drums. This was the first album on which Kember contributed lead vocals.
Spacemen 3 performed live on about twenty occasions during 1987. This included several gigs in the Netherlands and Belgium in March, and a few dates in London, Sheffield and Leeds later on in the year.