missAntarctica

missAntarctica is begin juni 2006 gestopt

missAntarctica = tempestous love affairs , a way out of the rat-race choir , an addiction to buying instruments, a half-light past of drugs, family complications , nomadic urges, a human time bomb.

missAntarctica = an unlit firework , an empty fairground, a five pound note on a city street , a black and white photograph in an empty hotel room drawer (circle where applicable)

In the mid 90's two imploding stars first started... Meer »

missAntarctica is begin juni 2006 gestopt

missAntarctica = tempestous love affairs , a way out of the rat-race choir , an addiction to buying instruments, a half-light past of drugs, family complications , nomadic urges, a human time bomb.

missAntarctica = an unlit firework , an empty fairground, a five pound note on a city street , a black and white photograph in an empty hotel room drawer (circle where applicable)

In the mid 90's two imploding stars first started playing music together in a run-down art studio near the sea front in Brighton, England - an hour away from London. Richey Glass was an ex-conservatory student (piano and percussion) who had given up classical music and was searching for music that was more immediate and intuitive. Jas Langdon was an art school graduate who had laid down his brushes and was making his first experiments with music on a 4 track tape machine. Richey played drums whilst Jas played guitars and bass. Sparks flew and a deeper understanding grew.

Richey went on a dark odyssey. A shotgun marriage, a year in New York, dead girlfriends, drug hell, therapy. All the rock and roll clichés without the music. He kept contact with Jas when he occasionally brought his head up from the water to catch breath. They traveled through America. Richey started writing; poetry, short stories. He wrote all night long. Jas carried on living in Brighton honing his craft, trying to forget the numbing glare of lights at office day jobs. Time passed. They both suffered from insomnia. They still do.

Fast forward to 1999. Richey had moved to Amsterdam following a relationship. Listening to Nick Drake, Chris Whitley and old blues musicians like Blind Willie Johnson and Son House, he'd been inspired to buy his first electric guitar and started playing in open tunings forgetting the rules he had learnt. He had a mission to write songs which would be dark fairytales, having promised a dead friend that he would turn all the furious sadness into something pure and life-affirming. She had written to him : 'Through your writing I feel totally understood and I feel beautiful where once I only felt disgusted and ugly - you see beauty where others dare not even look' He decided to honour these words. He rang Jas up. Jas came over. Jas eventually ended up moving to Amsterdam too. They recorded some songs. Sparks flew again. missAntarctica was born.

They started playing music with each other again, inspiring each other listening to Flaming Lips, Wheat, Pedro the Lion, Jim O'Rourke, Radiohead, Lali Puna, Prefuse 73, Idaho, the Afghan Whigs, Wilco, Papa M. The band went through different evolutions with different members, as they searched for their own language. They played a few tours through Europe, as support act for famous friends. Then the band finally settled, and the chemistry started to really form. Two Dutch guys were recruited - Jochem van Rooijen on drums and Sytse Wierenga on keys. Jochem had met Richey whilst playing drums for Keith Caputo. Richey saw a potential John Bonham in him. Sytse was an art school graduate who lived briefly with Richey and shared the same musical taste. The songs got better, the words gained resonance.

In 2005 they recorded their major label debut album - lost electricity ¬- and this was in many ways the real start of the band. This is the first chapter after all the false starts. This is the mission statement.

Clear the skies ignite the stars.

please join our streeteam or just drop a line to listen at www.missantarctica.com

GODSPEED

Lees ook De Week Van missAntactica op deze site, zie de link in de kolom links hiernaast. Het dagboek door Richey van 1 tot en met 8 september 2003. « Minder