But just about then Susanne returned from London! And we immediately asked her if she’d do it…and she, yes, she would., which was a major coup for Thinking Plague.
Amazingly, Jill was willing to hive it a try. At one point some time in 1985 we asked a local “folk-pop” singer named Jill Sobule – yes, of ‘I Kissed a Girl’ fame, in whose band Bob was playing, or had played for a while, along with our friends Mark Fuller and Eric Jacobson (aka Moon). So, we continued to cast about for a singer. Unfortunately, she had recently moved to the U.K., where she lived in a London “squat,” apparently with some members of the Nick Cave / Crime and the City Solution crowd. She had no background with …”technical” music, but she did have a great ear and a big range. Bob thought she’d be a good singer for us. She had a unique voice and could nail pitches really well. One of them, the singer and I suspect “driving force,” was Susanne Lewis. But, meanwhile, we didn’t have a singer, an actual drummer or proper keyboard player.Īs for a singer, Bob had previously engineered a recording for a vinyl single by a couple of 19 or 20 year old young women who called themselves the Spray Pals. And after the first album we wanted a more kind of “up to date” sound. So these early 80s artists were influencing us a bot. – I should say that Bob was never much of a Crimson fan, but I had been exposed to them as a teenager and held them in awe for some time. Also I had been a King Crimson fan in the early 70s and I liked a lot of their early 80s stuff with Adrian Belew, et al. Bob had recently played in a couple local new wave–ish bands, which I think had a big impact on him.Īnd we were mightily impressed by Peter Gabriel’s ‘Security’ album, with its kind of new technology-meets-world-music approach to production and song creation. While we had been heavily influenced by the Art Bears and some of the more arcane experimental rock of the early 80s – like Lemon Kittens! and others – we were also being influenced by the “new wave” phenomenon. We wanted a more…um… professional?… produced?….sound, while still retaining our kind of lo/hi-fi, d.i.y., experimental aesthetic.
8BIT DRUMMER ROUNDABOUT HOW TO
After that we were kind of at loose ends about how to proceed. We released our first album, ‘A Thinking Plague’, in 1984. And this will necessarily be a long answer. Mike Johnson: That was a long, long…long time ago. I haven’t had a record player myself since the 70’s, but I do understand there are people who have a special passion for vinyl records, so this should be exciting for any fans of early Plague among them! Their cover design is very evocative…a different image, but one that captures the flavor of the album.īob Drake: It was funny because when Nicolas first contacted me and said they’d like to do an LP pressing of ‘Moonsongs’, I was surprised, I thought surely he’d made a mistake, and must be thinking about some other artist or album, not something as obscure as ‘Moonsongs’! But they really wanted to do it, and were very enthusiastic so that was incredibly nice of them. They have been very genuine and earnest about it, and they’ve created a great looking and sounding record. Their interest is strictly artistic…certainly not commercial. They approached us – it never would have occurred to me to try to re-release ‘Moonsongs’ on vinyl. It’s really great that Jelodanti wanted to do this. “All of us in the Plague family were interested in the strange, somehow disembodied sounds”Īre you excited about the latest Jelodanti Records reissue of ‘Moonsongs’, your album from 1986? Their influences span a spectrum from the Beatles and the Byrds to Henry Cow and William Schuman. They are exploring the frontiers of rock, folk, jazz and modern symphonic music. Their music has always been difficult to describe. Jelodanti Records recently reissued their highly regarded 1986 album ‘Moonsongs’. Based in Denver, Colorado, the band has been active off and on since 1982. Seba & Paradox - Move On (feat.Thinking Plague | Interview Thinking Plague is an American avant-garde progressive rock group founded in 1982 by guitarist/composer Mike Johnson and bass guitarist/drummer Bob Drake. MAKOTO, SOLAH & LXT | Hospital Podcast with Degs #461 Tune in to episode #461 of the almighty Hospital Podcast with Degs featuring very special guests Makoto, SOLAH & LXT to celebrate the drum & bass legend's latest album 'Motion Of Change'
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