Caught in the Carousel

Phil Wilson

By Alex Green

Years ago, Tom Waits said something to the effect that just because your line isn’t in the water, it doesn’t mean you’re not thinking about fishing. That being said, it’s hard to imagine a retired boxer not thinking about being back in the ring, or an ex-hockey player not thinking about ripping the puck into the net. In other words, once you’ve had the fever coursing through your veins, once you’ve tasted the manic thrill that was a pure and uncut manifestation of all you’ve ever dreamed of, a quiet life in the country is liable to be filled with the noisy memories of the past. Putting it simply, even if you think it’s all behind you and even though you may think your line isn’t in the water, brother you’ve got fish on your mind.

For a while, it may have seemed that Phil Wilson, lead singer of the legendary but regrettably defunct June Brides, hadn’t only forgotten about making music, it wasn’t even on his mind anymore. Oh sure, there were the scattered June Brides reunion gigs in ’95, ’03 and ‘06, but the truth was, Wilson hadn’t written songs in quite a while. And when I say a while, I mean twenty years.

Oddly, while some bands’ back catalogs lapse into dated obsolescence, The June Brides’ oeuvre sounds as fresh as ever. (A great primer is the two CD collection Every Conversation: The Story of The June Brides and Phil Wilson.) From the jangling bliss of “Every Conversation” to the raw garage rock of “I Fall” to the driving and melodic “Enemies” The June Brides are one of those rare acts that lasts. And while they may not have actually lasted all that long--the band existed from 1982-1986--their music retains an indefinable, yet enduring quality that leaves them impervious to the disintegration of time. In the linter notes of Every Conversation, Wilson acknowledged the everlasting appeal of his band’s legacy: “I look back with great pride,” he told Michael White in 2005. “The June Brides may not have been the Velvets or the Clash, but we, and I, made some fine singles which spoke to some people’s hearts—and still do to some today…”

When Wilson popped up on MySpace in February trying his hand at covers by The Kinks and Bowie, one couldn’t help but wonder not only if all that activity meant he was contemplating a comeback, but if he still had an untapped reservoir of songs waiting to burst. And Wilson’s return wasn’t just a wishful fantasia, as he seemed to tip his hand when he wrote on the site: “Following the end of the June Brides, I had a brief solo career--releasing two singles on Creation Records and one on Caff. However, the interest in my work seemed to have died out nearly as much as my interest in doing it any more, and I therefore retired from the music scene in 1987. I recently decided, however, that I'd been quite mad. I therefore gave up my job and moved to the West Country and started recording (at home) again. Is that a bit daft?...I'm currently mostly doing cover versions, which will appear on this page as and when they happen. I liked the idea of re-learning how to be a musician and songwriter by doing other people's songs…”

To get right to it, Phil Wilson is back. And this, my friends, is big news.

But before we get to that, let’s backtrack for a minute and fill you in on the June Brides.

The June Brides formed in 1982 when Wilson met guitarist Simon Beesley while both were students at the London School of Economics. Inspired by the acts that made up Postcard Record’s roster (Orange Juice, Josef K), the band was soon rounded out by fellow like-minded musicians (and over the years there would be numerous personnel changes and additions) and the ‘Brides were off. The band played regularly at Alan McGee’s cramped but spirited club The Living Room, and as word of their genius

Spread, they immediately started packing their CV with some pretty impressive highlights. Over the course of their short but brilliant career, the June Brides were on the cover of NME and covered extensively in Melody Maker; their album There Are Eight Million Stories… debuted on the indie album charts at Number One, (it stayed in that position for a month and on the very same chart for an astonishing 38 weeks), they recorded radio sessions for John Peel, Morrissey namechecked them as his favorite band of 1985 and the list goes on.

To be fair, the June Brides deserve more than this critic’s crude and expurgated history—they’re one of the most important and enduring indie acts of the ‘80s—but this is one of those rare occasions where, instead of an adorational encomium, we get to put history aside and talk about the future. Since coming out of his self-imposed retirement, Wilson has so much going on, to mourn the seemingly early dissolution of his band or to wonder what could have been are irrelevant, almost academic exercises, because what could have been is now.

Before we get to Wilson’s new body of work, let me just say this: Phil Wilson hasn’t only never sounded better, he may very well be the best he’s ever been. Late summer he sent me a demo of “I Own It,” a new song he had just written. A hushed and nimble pop number, “I Own It” comes replete with jangling guitars and a mesmeric vocal performance that shows Wilson’s pop smarts have only sharpened over the years. It’s the kind of track that would be the basketball equivalent of Michael Jordan stepping on to the court well into his forties, and the first play of the game breaking away down the court and offering an acrobatic slam dunk that breaks the backboard into a storm of shattered glass.

Yes, it’s that good.

You’ll get the chance to hear it, because the demo version will be released on Slumberland as a split single next year. Not only that, but Slumberland will soon be releasing an EP of Wilson covering Industrial/Krautrock songs acoustically; an acoustic re-recording of the ‘Brides classic side “Every Conversation will be out on Every Conversation Records in Japan at Christmas; Happy Happy Birthday To Me will be releasing Wilson’s “Nobody’s Scared/Lee Remick” single as part of their singles club, and Wilson has just recorded “Black Mule” for the Grant McLennan tribute album, which will be released by Rare Victory imminently.

Want bigger news?

Wilson is hoping to start gigging soon, with a U.S. visit possibly on the books for 2008.

As he gears up for what very well may be his biggest year since 1986, Wilson was kind enough to hang out with CITC and take a look back and a look forward at his career.

Caught In The Carousel: Can you describe the difference(s) in your approach to songwriting now as opposed to twenty years ago?

Phil Wilson: I've been doing mostly cover versions for the last year. I got used to writing when I was in the Junies and it mostly came pretty naturally at that time. Having stopped for 20 years, I felt the need to do covers as a way of re-learning the craft of putting together a song again. I've only written a couple of new songs so far...it's much harder work these days! I also have the feeling that I don't want to write many songs until it feels like there's some possibility that they might actually be released by someone.

CITC: Is there any sense of old pressures showing up?

PW: The pressure is now officially not there anymore! I used to feel the need to get more complex with my songwriting (witness the change from "In the Rain" to "This Town" in two years). It felt that using just a few simple chords would be wrong towards the end--I had to prove I was maturing, etc. I now realize that that was kind of silly...if it works, use it. You can write great songs with barely any chords at all.

CITC: Did you literally stop writing songs in 1987? And if so, did you find yourself thinking about songwriting over the ensuing years?

PW: Writing songs is kind of a magical thing for me...you just play the guitar for a few minutes and a tune pops up and, usually, the first few lines of the song. After that, you know what the song's about, and you can continue writing and refining the words. I never was a songwriter who sat down and thought "Today I'm gonna write a song about global warming," for instance. They just come from the ether, and once they have come I begin to know what I'm trying to say!

CITC: Did you stop playing guitar?

PW: From 1987 to 2006, I played the guitar a couple of times a month, maybe, and each time songs and some words would come. But I never recorded anything or wrote any of them down. There seemed to be no point....Imagine I wrote the best song of my life, but knew I was working for the Civil Service and that it would never be released. How depressing would that have been?! So I let them all go....

But times feel a little more different now. I seem to have become less of an indie has-been, and becoming more of an undervalued influence! I think the Internet has played a large part in the resurgence of interest. So, I'm thinking of giving it a try once more...just for a short time, and with only the thought that I might get a couple of records out before I'm completely past it...Fingers crossed.

CITC: Has your taste in songwriters that you admire changed since The June Brides?

PW: I'd like to say so! But I'd be lying…The things you grew up with tend to stay there forever. You can't really overcome that initial excitement. So I still love the likes of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, early Lou Reed, The Undertones, The Buzzcocks and The Clash...Having said that, I do have a lot of time for the Arctic Monkeys, MJ Hibbett writes a wicked lyric, Dan Treacy is still a genius (if only he could lay off the sauce) and Amy Winehouse has a voice and attitude to die for.

CITC: What are you learning from the covers you're doing?

PW: So many of the songs I'm doing are so much simpler to play than I ever imagined. The best thing, for me, is learning that the simplest of chords can be combined in so many different ways, with so many different tunes, that I don't have be scared of simplicity. The best songwriters are those that use the fewest chords....

CITC: Do you think that as we get older we should by definition get better because we know our strengths and weaknesses?

PW: I wish it was so, but I'm not convinced...There's definite positives and negatives about it. I think you do become more self-assured, confident in your opinions and less prone to worry about peer pressure and what might be perceived to be cool. All things that should help you be better at what you do. However, there's also the laziness and tendency to seek the comfortable that comes with age: not good things if you're trying to create art. The lesson of history shows us that people tend to become worse and worse at what they do (step forward The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed and Bob Dylan....).

CITC: What lesson would you impart on your younger self from this vantage point?

PW: 1. Enjoy it, you pompous little ass! You'll be old before you know it....
2. Hold on to your friends. They're more important than you'll ever know.
3. Major labels aren't necessarily evil.
4. Indies aren't necessarily nice.
5. Trust your instincts (unless there's a financial consideration involved! Get professional advice when that happens).
6. I could go on and on...

CITC: Do you really think you were pompous? Isn't part of being young and holding a guitar a smoldering self-belief? I look at those early pictures of The June Brides and you guys looked cool!!

PW: I really was terribly earnest and, probably, a little bit pompous. I took everything very seriously indeed--from anarchism to existentialism. I think that lightening up and enjoying it a bit more would have been a good idea. I probably split the group for purely ideological reasons: the belief that we should maintain our dignity by not continuing anymore. How pompous and stupid was that?!

Not having smoldering self-belief was actually very important to me--I thought anybody could do what we did. It's only in later years that I've begun to believe that I might actually have been pretty good (if not great!) at what I was doing...

And we were looking nervous in the photos--not cool!

CITC: What was the cultural climate like in the early 80s? In other words, how did the effects of the Thatcher regime inform your work? Did you feel a certain aesthetic fraternity with other bands?

PW: It was a pretty grim time. There just seemed to be so little hope for anyone from a working class area. My family background, on my father's side, was in mining in the North East of England. So I hated Thatcher with a passion (and still do...).

We were quite a political band in our own way. I strongly believed in anarchism, and that you should not try to ram your political beliefs down others’ throats. Hence the personal nature of most of the words I wrote. But we certainly played many benefit concerts and anarchist squats in our time.

There was quite a strong political flavor to music at the time. The Red Wedge movement, for instance. I believed in a lot of the same things as them, but hated the patronizing stance it took towards "the kids". I wanted to inspire people to think--they wanted to inspire people to vote Labour...I was possibly being pompous here, too!

CITC: From the NME cover to playing with The Smiths, your CV has the kind of stuff that bands can only dream of. What are some of your proudest professional moments?

PW: I am mostly proud of the fact that what we did still has some meaning for people. I am stunned that 20 years down the line there are still new waves of pop kids getting into the Junies. It gladdens me, particularly, to be contacted by people from places like the Philippines and South America--to have got across cultural barriers like that thrills me.

It would be a fib to deny that getting the front cover of the NME was pretty fuckin' awesome, too….

CITC: Do you think the work of 1983-6 (before the splishy production) still holds up? Do bands like Josef K still hold up in your estimation?

PW: A lot of the post punk stuff from this period still sounds bloody great. From The Gang of Four and Wire to the Fire Engines and Josef K--those records still sound bright, fresh and adventurous. I wish I knew where to hear such exciting sounds today!

CITC: You mention on your MySpace page that you're working on music full time. Do you plan on playing shows? If so, will you assemble a band, or go out on your own?

PW: It's not exactly full time! We moved to the country and bought a new (well, very old, actually) house. I've therefore mostly been decorating for the last 8 weeks (sorry to let everyone down with my un-rock'n'roll activities...). I'll be back to recording again in the next few days. I'm collaborating with MJ Hibbett on a couple of songs and need to put some work in on that very, very soon! Then on with maybe trying to write a couple more of my own....

CITC: Are you going to keep it solo, or maybe assemble a band?

PW: Playing solo is more appealing in the short term: it's nice not to worry about other people in the band! Playing again live would be good. I really miss it sometimes. I may well do local solo gigs here soon just to get back into the swing of it. Probably playing anonymously in the bars in the local villages at first. Then there's a couple of offers I have to play indie clubs that I might consider after that.

There are offers to play elsewhere, with the possibility of a US tour next year. Lots of people have offered to help out, so fingers crossed that I make it over.

CITC: It sounds as though you've been writing quite a bit--if you find a suitable label, what is your plan in terms of releasing the music?

PW: I've only actually finished a couple of tunes so far. I wanted to wait until I got settled into my new home and life in the country before I started again in earnest! I have no plans as to what might happen next. I'm happy to wait and see. I've already achieved so much more than I ever dreamed of doing (All I ever wanted was to release one 7 inch single!). But if someone has a burning desire to waste lots of money on releasing my stuff, than I'm open to offers...

CITC: Are you still in touch with the fellows from the June Brides or musical friends of that era?

PW: Sure am. Frank, Jon and Simon from the Junies played a one-off concert with me in January last year. And Jon played with me at the C86 concert in October at the ICA. But we've all got separate lives. Jon is a teacher, Bees has recently become a father and Frank is busy making his own music. It's hard to find time to get together to play. And me moving away from London has not helped! A proper June Brides reunion remains very unlikely.

CITC: What is your philosophy for the future?

PW: Simple. Try to enjoy however much of it there may be left.

Discography (Partial):

In the Rain/Sunday to Saturday 7" Pink Label (PINKY01) 1984

Every Conversation/Disneyland 7" Pink Label (PINKY02) 1984

In the Rain/Sunday to Saturday/Every Conversation/Disneyland 12" Pink Label (PINKY09) 1985

There Are Eight Million Stories LP Pink Label (PINKY05) 1985

No Place Called Home/We Belong 7"/12" In Tape (IT24) 1985 12" includes On the Rocks + Josef's Gone

This Town/Cold/Just the Same 12" In Tape (IT30) 1986

"I Fall" (live) on Alive in the Living Room compilation LP Creation Records (CRELP001)

"Comfort" on Imminent Episode One compilation LP Food Records (Bite1)

"No Place Called Home" (live) on Communicate! Live at Thames Poly compilation DLP Thames Poly (TPSU0001) 1985 CD reissue Overground (OVER28) 1992

"On the Rocks" on Just A Mish Mash compilation LP In Tape (IT47)

"Every Conversation" on Seeds 1: Pop compilation LP Cherry Red Records (BRED74)

"Every Conversation" on A Different Kind of Tension compilation LP Pressures of the Real World Records/EMI (PRLP1)

"In the Rain" + Television Families" (live) on A Tribute to Tricky Ricky compilation cassette Rouska (RUSK03)

"In the Rain" video on Shelter Video compilation

"This Town" (acoustic) on Ideal Guest House compilation cassette Shelter (Shelter1) 1986

"This Town" (acoustic) on Chemical Imbalance compilation 7" Chemical Imbalance (CI001) given away w/Chemical Imbalance magazine (other artists were Sonic Youth, Broken Talent, and The Chant)

"Every Conversation" + "In the Rain" on Beauty compilation LP Pink Label (PINKY15) 1987

John Peel Session 12" Strange Fruit Records (SFPS023) 1987

For Better or Worse CD Overground Records (OVER40) 1995

Every Conversation: The Story Of The June Brides and Phil Wilson (Cherry Red)

Further Reading:
www.junebride.freeserve.co.uk
www.myspace.com/junebrides
www.myspace.com/philwilsonjunebride