Inspiral Carpets'  story

Interview to Clint Boon (INSPIRAL CARPETS)

Manchester Apollo review. Saturday. 6th December 2003 (Manchester - UK)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Inspiral Carpets'  story

    INSPIRAL CARPETS have been one of my favourite bands since the day I started to listen carefully to them, and that was not until this century unfortunately. What the hell was I listening to in 1990? Yes, THE STONE ROSES and HAPPY MONDAYS were more well-known, but it all depends on the likes of each music lover, and I prefer the INSPIRALS, yes, I am sure, since the day I listened to that beautiful and perfect hymn that is "This is how it feels", and that ideal song to fill you with energy every morning, "She comes in the fall"... That "Cool as" triple cd made me know them better and fall in love with them! Then I started to look for all their singles, in 7" vinyl and cd formats, their albums (both LP and CD format), their rare releases, their cassettes, their first and very-hard-to-find eps, their demos, their other projects after the INSPIRALS, and finally go to Manchester to see them live in that special Apollo gig in December 2003.

    I am sure that they are in my Top 10 chart of the music history. And I think they should have been more important according to the quality to all their songs, their attitude, their love for the music (not for the fame)...

 The pre-story...

    All began in the mid 80's when they played psychedelic punk-pop, and featured another singer. All was an idea of Graham Lambert, their guitar player and founder of the first INSPIRAL CARPETS in 1981, taking the name of a song that his father had written, called "In spiral carpet", and that he had sent in the 60's to Mickey Most, but with no answer. Before that, Graham had his first band, called THE FURS, as a tribute to THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS, and they mostly played covers (guess which band). In 1981 they changed the name to the INSPIRAL CARPETS, and started writing own songs. Those days they did not go out of their rehearsal room, so the only gigs were in that rehearsal room for their friends. Mani (THE STONE ROSES, PRIMAL SCREAM) was one of those invited friends to their rehearsal room gigs. Graham was then a fan of ORANGE JUICE and JOSEF K, while the others had got into DIRE STRAITS and BOB MARLEY, so the only one that remained in the band in the mid 80's was Graham, who was accompanied by Stephen Holt on vocals, Tony Welsh on bass, and Chris Goodwin on drums, all of them old schoolfriends.

 The story...

    In the spring of 1986 the line-up changed again, and a very young Craig Gill replaced Chris Goodwin on drums (that later would join THE HIGH), David Swift replaced Welsh on bass, and the most important fact was that Clint Boon joined, with that ‘Farfisa Compact Duo’ sound that gave to the INSPIRALS a different touch. Clint had been playing in THE MILL with Mani (later in THE STONE ROSES and PRIMAL SCREAM) on bass, Andy Housley on vocals (later on EASTERHOUSE), and the ubiquitous Chris Goodwin on drums. Clint was very well-known then in the Manchester scene.
    The first demos, “Waiting for ours” and “Songs of shallow intensity” showed that important organ sound. Their first gig was in Oldham in mid '86, at The Mare and the Foal.
    In January of 1987 they saw their first song "Garage full of flowers" out in a flexi-disc, that was given with the Debris fanzine. Their garage and psychedelic sound had that special touch of Clint's farfisa. They were 2-chord songs. The name of “Garage full of flowers” was a tribute to THE STONE ROSES. This flexi had the job of bringing the group some publicity, so they used it to promote the band and support bands such as THE STONE ROSES, THE HAPPY MONDAYS, SPACEMEN 3, DUB SEX and THE BODINES. They played in London that summer at Portlands.
    They spent 1987 and 1988 to play live live and support such important bands as above.

    In 1988 their first single came out, the “Planecrash EP”, in the small label Playtime Records, led by a girl called Paula Greenwood, and that sold the 1000 copies at once. The main event of the five tracks of "Planecrash" was undoubtedly “Keep the circle around”. The reviews were really nice. And John Peel named it his favourite single of the year and played it regularly. The legend of the cow was born, even in this ep there was an instrumental song called "Theme from cow". THE WEDDING PRESENT also liked this ep, and they invited the INSPIRALS to support them in Manchester and Scotland that same autumn. They had planned their second ep for November that year, but things soon changed. ‘Playtime’ distributor collapsed, leaving the INSPIRALS with no outlet for the new single, and no money, so Paula tried to use the group as a bargaining tool and tried to sell the band to a major. Then the band decided to leave Playtime, of course.

    INSPIRAL CARPETS ran out of a label, and a distributor, and soon they also ran out of singer and bassist too. David Swift had to finish a college computer course, and left the band. He was replaced by Martyn Walsh, who was playing in a hardcore band called THE NEXT STEP. Stephen Holt, their singer, left the band too, as he preferred to get married and have a house and a mortgage,... and he could not wait then until the band was successful and self-supporting. Another story has it that Holt's girlfriend told him that he had to decide to choose her or the group. Well... Tom Hingley replaced him, who had a more pop outfit. He was the singer of TOO MUCH TEXAS, a group who'd already had a single out on the local Ugly Man label. Holt and Swift formed THE RAINKINGS, who released a pair of singles on Playtime, with a similar sound to the INSPIRALS.

    In February of 1989 the current line-up was settled, with Tom on vocals, Graham on guitar, Martyn on bass, Clibnt on keyboards and Craig on drums.

    The first gig with the current line-up was on March 2 of 1989, at Middlesex Poly, to a mere 70 people. Musically, the INSPIRALS were a lot stronger, as all of the members were now in the group for musical reasons, not for schoolmate connections, crating a stronger base.
    The group, after what had happened with Playtime, decided to control their releases, and all what they did, so they created their own label, ‘Cow Records’, with the famous cow logo. Then they released their 2nd ep, the "Trainsurfing EP” maxi-single, which was out in March 1989. That was the MOO 2, the second reference of Cow Records. The first one was a re-release of the “Planecrash" EP.

    The acid house movement started to spread beyond the clubs, and influenced almost all the bands playing at thet time, even guitar based bands. And so, although THE STONE ROSES and THE HAPPY MONDAYS were most well-known, the INSPIRAL CARPETS were much respected.
    The next single, the third one, “Joe”, the first with the current line-up, came out in May 1989, after a tour with JAMES, and had very good reviews, so that made MUTE be interested in them. The single had been produced by the 808 STATE. Some different remixes of the song were made.

    The INPIRALS wanted to sound danceable, but different. They did not want to sound as picky and thin as their debut single “Planecrash”. They did want that their music could be listened in clubs.

    In the mid '89 they released a cassette that was a compilation of the demos recorded with the original line-up at late 1987, and in July there was another release, a “Peel sessions” ep, in the Strange Fruit label, featuring a ROLLING STONES “Gimme shelter”' cover.

    That same summer of '89 a new single came out, “Find out why”, another effervescent pop gem with a classic garage production and with that irresistible melodic line of Clint's magical farfisa, that was good enough for it to end up as a TV theme. It received very good critics.

    The summer of 1989 was also the summer of the "Cool as F***" t-shirt, and at one point it was believed that the group were selling more t-shirts than records.

    "Move" became the INSPIRALS' fifth single of 1989 when it was released in November. At last, this was the Cinemascope sound that Clint had had in his head, but which had never translated onto record before. It entered the chartes at Number 49, two places higher than the HOUSE OF LOVE's “I don´t know why I love you”, which had the benefit of a major label backing, but Clint and the others kept showing total fidelity to their roots, they were a Manchester band, and they would always be the same, they would never deny their roots, they were conscious of the harm that a major can do to a band. Manchester dominated the pop scene around Christmas 1989. Confirmation of the INSPIRALS promotion to their first division came with an exclusive gig at Paris' Locomotive Club. It was the first time The Hacienda had travelled to the Locomotive, a trip they would take over the following months with other Manc notables JAMES, NORTHSIDE and THE HIGH. But the INSPIRALS were chosen first and they made the gig a celebration of their quite incredible year. They'd planned to print a special t-shirt for the occasion with "Cool as F***" translated into French, but at the last minute they discovered the translation they'd been given meant "Cool as kissing"! The band had to catch a plane at 6.30 the next morning to get home and do "Move" live on "Wacaday". It was their TV debut. But in the Paris gig the previous night there was an important guy, Daniel Miller, head of Mute Records, that had flown over to Paris to catch the hottest unsigned band in the country.

 The glorious years...

    So this way 1990 started brilliant. The first single released on Mute was “This is how it feels”, in March 1990, that reached “Single of the week” by the NME, and entered the Top 20, and getting the boys onto “Top of the Pops” for the first time.

    And then their debut album came out, the really fantastic “Life”.

    From now on, a single after another was released. The next one was “She comes in the fall” and the INSPIRAL CARPETS went into long successful tours, not only along the UK, but also all over the world.

    1990 would be their most glorious year. This was the most exciting period where they reached the most successful hits in their career, with 2 really important moments: The Manchester G-Mex gig in front of 8.000 people that July 21, also recorded and released in video-tape with that special date as its title: "21790"; the most of the band remembers that gig as the best of their existence.

    The other special moment of the year was the gig headlining the Reading Festival, that same summer of 1990, in front of 40.000 people, and with a fantastic performance: a laser show, a pantomime cow, a posse of majorettes, and some nice music too.

    Their second album, in 1991, was "The beast inside”, a bit darker and less enthusiastic than the debut album, but featuring nice songs and singles such as “Caravan”.

    The third album was called “Revenge of the goldfish”, with a thicker production, but also different from the previous album, more heavier than darker. The single that reached higher in the lists was “Dragging me down”.

    The last album was released in 1994, and was called “Devil hopping” after their productor Pascal Gabriel, who came from Belgium, tried to define the sound of the group as 'developing’. This album would feature 2 of the best songs from the INSPIRALS' discography: “Saturn 5” and “I want you”, this last one with the collaboration on vocals by Mark E. Smith, from THE FALL.

      And when it seemed that with this album they would start again a new glorious period, they split up in mid 1995.
 

The present...

    I was glad to know that after 8 years they came with new energies releasing a new single, “Come back tomorrow”, a gorgeous song with the same magical inspiration as any of their past singles.

    Mute then released a triple cd and dvd compilation album with their promotional video-clips, their singles, some odd tracks (covers, demos,...), live songs, and an interview!!! and this has been called "Cool as".

    They also organised a promotional UK tour in 2003, with really glorious moments such as the Apollo gig on December 6th, and the Brixton Academy gig on April 4th, this last one was released also in DVD!

    The Apollo gig was another magical moment, a gig where we could listen to all their hits, and see the surprise of HAPPY MONDAYS' Shaun Ryder on the stage.

    Now part of the band have had babies so they stopped their activity, but I hope that they can be making new songs and gigs soon! After the INSPIRAL CARPETS split, Tom Hingley formed THE LOVERS. Clint formed their solo project called THE CLINT BOON EXPERIENCE, with a pair of albums and a lot of singles released, with that fantastic Farfisa's sound. They were playing at Reading Festival on 2000, and they played “This is how it feels”, introduced by Clint as a song that was also played 10 years before as headliners of the festival. It was an emtional moment of that Reading Festival 2000. I was so lucky to be there, and I think that from that moment, I started to fall in love with that sound! Clint is a well-known dj in some Manchester clubs, but also in festivals, and in some clubs out of the UK, such as the Razzmatazz club in Barcelona, Spain.

1. Well, what do you remember of that gorgeous year 1990? do you think it was the most important year in the story of the INSPIRALS?
 I'm not sure it was the most important but it was definitely our most succesful. It was the year when the rest of the world started to hear about THE INSPIRALS. It was the year we started to travel the world. We did our biggest gigs, headlining the Reading Festival and playing at GMEX in Manchester. It was a fantastic period and I have only brilliant memories of that time. In my opinion, 2003 was the most important year for us. It was the year we proved that our contribution to pop music was a very substantial one. To sell out such massive gigs after 8 years of being apart was a great achievement. They were also the best gigs we ever did.

2. Now part of the band have had babies, but last year you wrote new songs and made a UK tour... do you think that the INSPIRALS will come back soon? please, come back tomorrow with new songs and gigs all over the world (well, UK and Spain at least!)
 In the last few months, 3 of us have become fathers again. My girlfriend Charlie and I have had a little boy called Oscar Louie Louie. Graham and his partner Karen have had a little girl called Evie and Craig and Rose have had a little girl called Orla. I like to think these new INSPIRAL babies are a result of last years festival appearences being so good!
 We have no plans to do anything this year. We'll be getting together in the new year to decide what to do next. We're all very busy with our other activities. Personally, I would love to take the INSPIRALS around the world again.

3. We were very lucky to be at the Apollo that 6th December last year, how do you remember that gig? how did Shaun Ryder feel being an important part of an important gig of an important band?
 That gig was incredible, partly because it was the second time in a few months that we played to 3500 people in Manchester, but also because of Shaun's appearence. Shaun is a very close friend of mine. There is a lot of mutual respect. His appearence with the INSPIRALS was like the biggest 'seal of approval' we could possibly have recieved.

4. Do you think that the INSPIRALS should have been more important to the Madchester scene than it was? I mean at the same level than THE STONE ROSES and THE HAPPY MONDAYS? I think that they are really a bit missed when people talk about that scene and that age. Everybody talks about those two bands, and I think that the INSPIRALS were an essential band. Are you satisfied with the importance that the press and history gave to the INSPIRAL CARPETS?
 I'm very happy with the place we hold in the history books. To be third place behind the ROSES and the MONDAYS is cool. We were the KINKS. They were the BEATLES and STONES! At the end of the day, they sold more records. The best thing about that scene (and this city) is that there was never an element of competition. We were all very excited by the success each other's bands recieved. The INSPIRALS were massive fans of The MONDAYS, The ROSES, The CHARLATANS, JAMES, NEW ORDER, 808, GUY CALLED GERALD, etc, etc. It was a privilege to work alongside them all.

5. What about the film ‘24 hours party people’? I know this is one of your favourite films. Why are not INSPIRAL CARPETS featured more important in that film? I think that the film has 2 parts, and in the second part of the film, the one when the Madchester scene is reflected with THE HAPPY MONDAYS, don´t you think that the INSPIRAL CARPETS are a bit missed in the film?
 The story of Manchester and Madchester is one that consists of a thousand 'threads'. It would be impossible to make a film which covered every aspect of what went on. I would have been happy to see the INSPIRALS feature more prominently in the film but like to think the film concentrated on a 'thread' that didn't really involve us much, JOY DIVISION, IAN CURTIS, NEW ORDER, Factory, THE MONDAYS, Drugs, Guns...
 As you say though, the best film ever!

6. Which has been your best Inspirals gig?
 Headling the Reading Festival 1990
 Manchester Apollo, December 2003

7. Your favourite INSPIRAL CARPETS album?
 ‘Life’... Innocent, naive, strange. When we wrote and recorded it, we had no idea of how big it would be. We didn't even consider record sales. It went gold in the first 2 weeks of release.

8. Your favourite INSPIRAL CARPETS song?
 It's like being asked which of my children is my favourite baby! My babies are...
 “This is how it feels”, “Saturn 5”, “Sackville”, “Joe”, “Plutoman”...

9. What do you do in a normal day of your life?
 Currently... write and record music in my home studio (I'm working on the album for Engie Benjy, a kids tv show which is very successful, even in Spain! I wrote the theme song but I think the Spanish version has an overdubbed vocal in Spanish.) In the evenings (4/5 nights a week) I dj in clubs. In between composing and djing I do 'dad stuff'.

10. Which band or bands have you discovered recently and would suggest us to listen to?
 THE GO! TEAM are the best new band in Britain. KASABIAN are brilliant. THE SECRET MACHINES are ace. I love THE STILLS album. THE KILLERS are great. I can't wait to hear the new DOVES album. Apparently it's like ‘Pounding’ but bigger!

11. Which is that record that you cannot stop listening to it recently?
 THE GO! TEAM - ‘Thunder, lightning, strike’ (Memphis Industries, 2004).

12. Which current bands from Manchester do you like most?
 DOVES.

13. You have been djing at Benicassim Festival last year, how was you experience there?
 Probably my best dj set ever.

14. You also dj at Razzmatazz in Barcelona from time to time... which main differences do you find in the people who attends your dj shows in Manchester and in Spain?
 Same spirit, different language.

15. Which bands can we listen now if we go to a club where you are djing?
 NEW ORDER, DOVES, INSPIRALS, THE MUSIC, THE ROLLING STONES, THE KINKS, RADIOHEAD, SUEDE, ELVIS, CLINT BOON EXPERIENCE, THE GO! TEAM, CURTIS MAYFIELD... generally... The Best Records Ever Made!

16. A song to start your dj session?
 THE STONE ROSES... Waterfall.

17. A song to end your dj session?
 DAVID BOWIE... Heroes
 RICHARD ASHCROFT... Song to the lovers
 MASSIVE ATTACK... Unfinished sympathy
 CANDI STATON... You got the love
 ELVIS... The wonder of you

These are all beautiful songs to end a set with.

18. What about THE CLINT BOON EXPERIENCE? did they split or are they still making music?
 We split (very, very amicably) 3 years ago. The next live band I have will be something completely different.

19. Which are your plans for the future, I mean, the next months?
 Finish the Engie album, decorate our house, start recording the next CLINT BOON album.

20. This is an exam, you have to score the following bands (most of them from Manchester) from 1 (I hate them, I can´t stand them) to 5 (I love them):
 -THE POLYPHONIC SPREE:      3 (it was 5 when I first saw and heard them)
 -THE CHARLATANS:   4
 -OASIS:  4
 -BELLE & SEBASTIAN:   3
 -I AM KLOOT:    5
 -PRIMAL SCREAM:    4
 -MANIC STREET PREACHERS:  0
 -THE LOVERS:    5
 -OCEAN COLOUR SCENE:  2
 -THE VERVE:    5
 -THE SMITHS:    5
 -ELBOW:     5
 -THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS:  4
 -ALFIE:     4
 -THE FLAMING LIPS:   4
 -THE FALL:     5
 -OCEANSIZE:    3
 -HAVEN:     3

    This was a gift from God the chance to enjoy one of our favourite bands, so in late September we called a friend living in Manchester to buy the tickets for this show, and in December we finally took an 'easyjet' flight to Manchester, one the most important cities of the music we love best! One of my favourite all-time bands, the INSPIRAL CARPETS, got together to play 10 gigs, all of them in the UK and Ireland. I could not have the chance to see them live the times they were in Spain more than 10 years ago, so this may be the last chance, so we made up our minds at once!

    They introduced the greatest hits triple album called "Cool as" that Mute label had recently released. The venue, the gorgeous Manchester Apollo, wow!

    PURESSENCE supported them, we did not like them, boring and eternal, even more than TRAVIS. I would have preferred a big screen with the Barcelona - Real Madrid football match, the football match of the year!! It is the first time I miss this match, I am happy to know that Real Madrid won the game!!!

    Well, let's concentrate in the gig... The stage, following the tradition of the cow's logo, was beautifully decorated with 6 big "Cool as milk" bottles, hanging from the ceiling in the background, and a lot of more bottles all over the floor. Then the five members of one of the main bands of the called "madchester sound" went onto the stage: Craig, Martyn, Graham, Clint and Tom, some of them a bit fatter than 10 years ago, but healthy and with a mood of children.

 They broke the ice with “Real Thing”, and then “Generations”, “Weakness” and the new song “Come back tomorrow”,... after that, they started performing a hit after another, as following: “She comes in the fall”, “Saturn 5”, “Two worlds collide”, “Uniform”, “I want you” (sin Mark E. Smith, qué lástima), “Move”,... and they ended with songs i did not expect such as “Sackville”, “Directing traffic”, the unreleased “Iron”, “Dragging me down” (i did expext this one), “Seeds of doubt” and “Out of time”... a nice set, much better than expected, including songs from the rarities cd of the "Cool as" triple compilation. We could hear songs from the early years, they even played "96 tears”, from that debut 'Plaincrash' EP, then with another singer, songs perfectly performed and sung that night with Tom Hingley.

 Graham, the guitar player and founder of the Inspirals', kept in the background, controlling that the band was like a machine perfectly working. Martyn, the bassist, did the opposite thing, he stepped up onto the border of the stage, with his provoking and hooligan attitude ;-)

Craig, the drummer and the youngest one (the most of the band were now up to the 40 years old) kept up with the beat. Tom Hingley kep the same good voice, drawing the Inspirals' melodies with that kind and eccentric touch.
 And Clint Boon, the most active musicly speaking all the past years, delighted us with that recognizable sound oh his Farfisa Compact Duo, and whose riffs made us recognise and enjoy every song...

    And well, they left the stage after more than 15 songs, but whey left for the bises the special gift and surprise of the night, and also their best pop hymn, “This is how it feels”.

    They went onto the stage again, and started with “Joe”, followed by “96 tears” fom their debut ep, and after that came the SOFT CELL's cover “Tainted love”, that I did not expect either sincerely. And then more and more, they went on with an extended live version of “Commercial reign”, and at the end of the song, we began to hear a voice but we did not know where it came from, then we saw an old Shaun Ryder, from the HAPPY MONDAYS come onto the stage from the corner, with a mic in his hand, and then they made a medley with "Commercial reign" and "24 hours party people". The HAPPY MONDAYS leader was the surprise that the Oldham guys kept for that magical night. I could not believe he was the same Shaun Ryder, as I remember him of the HAPPY MONDAYS glory days, and now he seemed to be paying such a long life of excess and more than 24 hours parties. He was wearing dark sunglasses, and he could hardly move, but he seemed to feel fine on the stage, and he also dared to sing not only the Inspirals' “This is how it feels” but before that, he sang a medley with “24 hours party people” and including famous parts of songs from THE ROLLING STONES, THE DOORS, and some others,... until he linked with the Farfisa's riff from “This is how it feels” to end that magical and unforgettable night.

    This was a gig plenty of small details and even any joke, with an inspired band showing the real talent of the band that should be the first and most important band of that madchester sound. He made us enjoy that night at a point that we felt that that night was the most brilliant night of the year, and that would be the best gig in 2003, with jokes like the one when a roadie went onto the stage to move anything, and when he went out of the stage, Clint introduced him as "this is the new Noel Gallagher" or such glory moments when Tom came down from the stage and sang along with the first rows.

    I should have finished the review right here, but I should tell something about what came after, as we were invited to the 'after-show' party upstairs. Infinite thanks, Clint! As crazy fans from Spain spending less than a week in Manchester only to see the Inspiral Carpets' gig, we thought that in this party we would find all the artists we love from the Manchester scene: Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, The Charlatans, I Am Kloot, Doves, Elbow, Liam Gallagher, even Morrissey! but that was just a dream, anyway, we thought that unless Noel Gallagher would come to the party (he was an Inspirals' roadie before Oasis) and also Ian Brown, as he was a Clint's friend in the 80's, even Mani who loves parties! so that part of the dream could be real, but it wasn't. In our dream we knew the five Inspirals and we talked to them, about their lovely songs, about their gig... We imagined that there would be free drinks, free beers, free other things (as in the spanish festivals for the artists)... but it wasn't that. We could only find Clint from the Inspirals and he had to go at once as he djed at South Club afterwards. We did not know anybody there, there were no free beers nor free drinks, they were even expensive! and from the Manchester bands, we could only see John, from I AM KLOOT, with his girlfriend. Well, when Clint went to dj to South, we went with him, we were also invited to that club, thanks again, Clint! and many thanks, Inspirals, for your music and for what it has meant to my life, thank you, and I hope that you can tour Spain anytime, Spanish summer festivals are superb!!!