Welcome to part two of Ian McCartney's interview with Caesar of The Wake.

Did The Wake socialise with any of the other bands on the label?

We didn't really socialise much with many of the other bands - mainly because we were based in Glasgow and only spent time in Manchester when we were down to record or play live.

Through some of the shows we did get to meet a few of the other musicians. We got to know Stockholm Monsters a bit. One time they were up in Glasgow - supporting The Smiths on tour - and they stayed with us. We had a game of football with them (boys only - our keyboard player Carolyn gave it a miss) - a Scotland against England thing - and they kicked lumps out of us. After The Smiths gig we were in the van waiting to go home and a couple of Japanese girls approached them with these beautifully packaged little gifts for Sir Morrissey. And of course they said oh yeah we'll make sure he gets them and proceeded to rip them to shreds in the van when the Smiths fans had gone. They were good fun in a slightly mad way.

Vini Reilly played on the Talk About The Past single. Tony brought him along to the studio and he just improvised his piano part instantly which was impressive to see and a great help to the end of the song. We played with The Durutti Column maybe a couple of times too. One of our favourite Wake gigs was supporting them at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London. We've done some soundtrack work with Vini in recent years too with our theatre company 12 Stars.

We met Donald Johnson and some members of ACR at different points - especially the Factory All Stars thing when there was an episode of that TV show The Tube from The Hacienda and Factory put together a collective of sarcastically named non-stars to perform. It was only meant to be Carolyn taking part on vocals and keyboards but I got roped in to sing Love Will Tear Us Apart at the sound check. Oh and Simon Topping added brilliant percussion to several Here Comes Everybody tracks - that was a great idea from our producer Oz.



Obviously we played live a lot with New Order but that was never really a social situation.

Did you share concerns about lack of promotion, and so on?

We did hear some discussions about the lack of promotion but other groups seemed more concerned about it than us. We'd always looked on turning away from conventional publicity as a bit of strength at Factory. The lack of promotion was a kind of promotion in itself if that‘s not too romantic a view. The label was known for not resorting to the usual round of desperate publicity - which in truth it couldn't afford anyway. For me, as someone who got into the label through the music and presentation of the music as something I could trust without any hype, it made a sort of sense, I could see how it might work.

In the end, for a label which supposedly didn't have adequate advertising it's still around today, people are still interested, new generations. I don't see many books and movies out there about Sony. Although, unfortunately, we thought that 24 Hour Party People film was really poor. But James Nice's Shadowplayers book redresses the balance to my mind. Admittedly, James is a friend, but I genuinely believe it's a better representation, more in the spirit of the label.



Promotion is a really specialist thing and unless you can do it on a very large scale I'm not sure it makes that much of a difference. When we were with Blue Mountain for publishing they funded some music press adverts for Talk About The Past and it did seem to give it a slight boost - no more. Factory had no objections. So I'm not sure it was such an idealistic issue - more of a practical thing - they just couldn't compete in that arena.

Anyway, for what it's worth, we thought it was a good move to go in the other direction and make it a label you had to become interested in through your own reactivity and awareness.

Was Rob Gretton your main ally at Factory?

Yes, Rob was our main ally. Every time we wanted to do a record it was Rob we approached in the first instance. We stayed at his place quite often. He always dropped by the studios when he had time. He was around for most of Harmony and that made us feel like a real part of the label during those initial sessions.

I mean our relationship with Tony was good as well. Although when we did the Something That No One Else Could Bring EP we had a bit of a dispute with him about the artwork. We'd always done our own covers up to that point and we had an idea of what we wanted but didn't really have anyone to draw it up for us. Tony wanted to use specific designers - can't remember the name but it was some company who did a lot of the ACR stuff at the time. They came back to us with a sleeve that was basically for an ACR dance record and it just wasn't right for us at all - very 80s New York, very clubby - and nothing to do with our starting point. Had any of these people even listened to tracks like Gruesome Castle and Pale Spectre? That was the first time we felt Factory could easily slip into being a bit formulaic. We were expected to say yes to an idea that had nothing to do with our work just because Tony thought some art school guy was the next Peter Saville. We went in the opposite direction and went for something a lot more punk. But Tony didn't like it and the record was given a pretty low key release even by Factory standards to teach us a lesson. Apart from that though, Tony was great to us.



I'd say Rob would've been a lot more supportive over an issue like that but he wasn‘t around so much or accessible to us at the time. Rob actually enjoyed people challenging any preconceived notions of what a Factory record should look or sound like. I'm not saying Tony wasn't like that. I think he was deep down. It was just a period when the label was changing and certain people were becoming more influential and convinced Tony that dance music was the only way forward. We thought our EP was a much more interesting direction for Factory to go in than the dance stuff. We were right in my humble, but correct, opinion. It was never a natural dance music label apart from the ACR side of things.

What are your memories of Palatine Road?

Again being based in Glasgow we didn't get to Palatine Road that much - maybe four or five times - no more than that. Most of our business was done over the telephone - mainly with Rob at his place and later with Tony and Tina who worked at Palatine Road.

All I can remember is it being a lovely big house in Didsbury. There were lots of boxes and office paraphernalia lying around. It had a nice relaxed atmosphere. Some might say too relaxed. And yet it could get quite chaotic suddenly. My impression was it operated on the spur of the moment - there was a lot of spontaneity involved - not much in the way of a strict business plan or anything like that. I suppose there must've been a hell of a lot to deal with in respect of Joy Division and New Order at the time. But if you approached anyone at the Palatine Road office for help they would always try to get something done. It had the feel of a place that had grown organically - defined by the people who worked there and who ran the label on a day-by-day basis. I have good memories of it but as I say we weren't there very much.



What are your memories of Manchester in the mid-80s? (The Hacienda pre-acieeed, the city pre-Madchester, Manchester United pre-mega-global success.)

Memories of Manchester are fairly limited too. After that early period when we were chasing support slots and trying to find a label we weren't down that much and when we worked there we were in studios and hotels mainly or Rob's house in Chorlton (hardly the centre of any burgeoning music scenes). We spent an equal amount of time in Stockport during the Harmony and Of The Matter sessions working at Strawberry.

When we did go out it was to The Hacienda once that was up and running. We were there at the opening and quite a few occasions after that and played there a couple of times. Once supporting Howard Devoto and once on our own. They were good gigs but the sound there wasn't so great as is well known. Before it took off as a club it was a strange one. It was an exciting and impressive space to be in but of course people weren't going in any great numbers at the start. I think the gigs did okay. I always felt something significant was going to happen there eventually - it had so much potential. I'm just not sure that what actually happened was that significant artistically although it undoubtedly left its mark all over the city.

I suppose living in Glasgow we were closer to what was happening here. This was a very active and creative place at the time too. We spent more time around the groups here and had more awareness of what was happening with the Postcard label really.

As for Manchester United - well, for me football begins and ends with the SPL in spite of all the Sky billions.

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See also: part one, parts one and two

Many thanks to Ian and Caesar.

Labels: 24_Hour_Party_People, Caesar, interview, New_Order, Shadowplayers, Stockholm_Monsters, The_Durutti_Column, The_Wake_interview

Cerysmatic Factory caught up with James Nice to find out about newly-revived Factory Benelux imprint.

How did it come about?

When the Shadowplayers book was published in 2010, Peter Saville and I discussed some sort of umbrella organisation to protect and preserve the Factory legacy, rather than the logos, brand, heritage and so forth being used willy-nilly. Something like the Bauhaus Foundation.

That led to the formation of a new company, Factory Records Limited - which in turn led to a lengthy negotiation with WMG... After more than two years all we'd manage to achieve was a double vinyl reissue of Fact 90, and the Polite postcard and badge editions. From the outset we tried to involved Alan Erasmus and several other interested parties, but it just proved unworkable - rather like New Order and Hooky have proved unworkable in recent years.

So Peter and I gave up, really. It was like trying to raise the Titanic. And as the old joke goes, it might have been easier to lower the Atlantic.

What I would say is, the moment you wave the Factory flag and stick your head above the parapet, all sorts of nutters break cover and start firing potshots. Life's too short.

Anyway, I didn't want to cancel the Factory music reissue projects I had in mind, and earlier in 2012 I'd already issued the limited edition vinyl album of Short Stories for Pauline by The Durutti Column, with the blessing of Michel Duval. Since that edition was favourably received, I figured why not carry on with Factory Benelux.

Who is behind it?

Me, and the participating artists. I obtained the FBN name and logos from Michel in exchange for a donation to the Christie Hospital in Manchester, who looked after Tony Wilson at the end. It seemed like an appropriate gesture. Annik Honoré gave the idea her blessing too. Plus, on a personal level, I'm a lot more comfortable working with the Factory Benelux brand, because I worked with Michel in Brussels for several years between 1989 and 1991, whereas I was never directly involved with Factory Records in Manchester.

FBN is also a nice way of returning the Factory marque to come key recordings, without actually calling it Factory. Like the original FBN, it retains a sense of distance and otherness.

What other reissues do you have planned?

They're editions, dear boy. It's a mixture of CDs and vinyl, mostly remastered and with upgraded artwork. So Swimming by The Names gains their Peel session, the Crispy Ambulance album the original De Roeck artwork, and so on. The booklets are mainly visual, usually period photography and satellite artwork, without too much in the way of sleevenotes.

We've expanded LC by The Durutti Column into a double disc edition, because Vini was so prolific at the time, and very little that he recorded was filler.

All the CDs will come in a special FBN slipcase also - at least if you order direct from us. It proved a bit difficult trying to apply a generic slipcase to shop copies. All sorts of tedious issues with barcodes etc, plus it obscures some rather nice original artwork, which is somewhat counter-productive.

The Blurt vinyl is interesting. Live In Berlin should have come out as a 10" (FBN 5 or 6, depending on which archive source you consult) in 1981, but then Ted got a better offer from Armageddon, who released In Berlin as a standard 12" live album. To fit all 8 tracks on, we've had to include a bonus 7" as well. That costs way more to press than a 12", but a 12" would be a bit boring, and not true to the original FBN concept. Plus a 10" really suits Blurt's music well. There's a kind of faux jazz sleevenote from Chris Bohn also. It'll probably lose money!

Will you be releasing any wholly new material?

Yes, the new Section 25 album Dark Light will be on FBN, as will their limited 7" single for Record Store Day in April 2013. Peter Saville kindly provided the cover image and the title for the album. There will also be a vinyl edition of the recent Wake album A Light Far Out, again for RSD.

It's important to stress that all 'new' FBN releases are new editions through, not simply facsimiles of the original releases and formats. That would be misleading, and plain dull. Instead it's high-end antique futurism. From Belgium. Kinda sorta.

--

Many thanks to James Nice.

Labels: Blurt, Factory_Benelux, labels, New_Order, Peter_Hook, Peter_Saville, Section_25, Shadowplayers, The_Durutti_Column

24 November sees a special ex-FAC night at The Continental Bar in Preston featuring Section 25, X.O.Dus and Kevin Hewick.

The evening will feature a presentation of 'selected highlights from Shadowplayers' from 18:00-19:45.

Then, after a short break to clear the seating, the live music will start at 20:15 with sets from Kevin Hewick, followed by X.O.Dus and, finally, Section 25.

Tickets are available now at 8.00 GBP advance from The Continental Bar (Tel: 01772 499 425), Action Records Preston (Tel: 01772 884 772), Preston Tourist information (Te: 01772 253 731) and online from wegottickets.com, seetickets.com and ticketline.co.uk.

Facebook event page

Labels: events, gigs, Kevin_Hewick, Section_25, Shadowplayers, X-O-Dus

The winner of a copy of James Nice's Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records book in paperback is Sean Connors who, along with many others, correctly knew that Caesar out of The Wake was previously in Altered Images and was lucky enough to be first out of the Cerysmatic hat. Congratulations to Sean and thanks to everyone who entered.

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Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records
Format: paperback book
Number of pages: 560 pages
Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd
Publication date: 1 June 2011
ISBN-10: 1845136349
ISBN-13: 978-1845136345

Labels: books, competition, Shadowplayers, The_Wake

To celebrate this month's publication of James Nice's rather excellent Shadowplayers book in paperback we are proud to present the factually-titled Shadowplayers Paperback Competition. Containing 560 pages, a shiny blue cover and the chronological story of Factory Records in immense detail. the new edition is well worth checking out if you don't already have a copy of the hardback (which is also still available).

Simply answer the following question to be in with a chance of winning:

Q: Which post punk pop band did Caesar play in before forming The Wake in 1980?

Usual Cerysmatic rules apply: 1 entry per person. Entries by email. Closing date 10pm 30 June 2011. Winner will be selected at random out of the Cerysmatic hat.

Thank you and good luck!

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Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records
Format: paperback book
Number of pages: 560 pages
Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd
Publication date: 1 June 2011
ISBN-10: 1845136349
ISBN-13: 978-1845136345

Labels: books, competition, Shadowplayers

Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records by James Nice is out in paperback (in blue cover) on 1 June 2011 according to Amazon.co.uk. The book was first published in hardback in (pink cover) May 2011 by Aurum Press.

Labels: books, Factory_Records, Shadowplayers

It's still not too late to buy your copy of Scream City, the Factory Records fanzine which was published at the end of June. Yes, Scream City is back with its fifth (the biggest and best ever) issue which is 60 pages in colour and black & white and is available to buy now for 3.00 GBP + Worldwide postage and packing via eBay (Buy it Now with Paypal only).

Contents

- A Factory Trip Around The World - the art of international collecting by Andrew James
- An interview with FAC 51 The Hacienda's (and Smack The Pony's) Fiona Allen
- The Distractions by David Quantick
- An exclusive extract from James Nice's new book about Factory Records 'Shadowplayers' plus a Q&A with James Nice
- Closer, Karamazov and K550 by Ian McCartney
- Looking From A Hilltop... at Lytham St Annes (or "When Interviews Go Wrong") - a salutary lesson about the dark art of the interview and a touching tribute to Larry Cassidy by David Nolan
- An interview with Shark Vegas man and remixer extraordinaire Mark Reeder
- Matthew Robertson talks to Factory Australasia man Andrew Penhallow
- Factory Over America - Scream City talks to the US wing of Factory Records with new interviews with Michael H Shamberg and Ike Yard's Stuart Argabright and Michael Diekmann

Scream City is still an old school fanzine and is made from paper, ink and staples.

Labels: Andrew_Penhallow, Fiona_Allen, Ike_Yard, Joy_Division, Larry_Cassidy, Mark_Reeder, Matthew_Robertson, Scream_City, Shadowplayers, Shark_Vegas, The_Distractions

We are happy to announce that Shih-Lun Chang is the winner of the recent Shadowplayers competition having been belatedly drawn out of the Cerysmatic hat.

A copy of Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records by James Nice plus the Shadowplayers dvd and the Drastic Plastic reissue of Always Now by Section 25 will be on their way soon. The correct answer to the question was "William" (the name of Tony Wilson's Weimaraner).

Thanks to everyone who entered. We'll do it again no doubt.

Labels: competition, Section_25, Shadowplayers

Scream City, the Factory Records fanzine from the people who brought you Cerysmatic Factory plus special guest contributors, is back (finally) with its fifth (and biggest ever) issue. Scream City is still an old school fanzine and is made from paper, ink and staples.

Scream City 5 (60 pages in colour and black & white) is priced 3.00 GBP + Worldwide postage and packing via eBay (Buy it Now with Paypal only).

- A Factory Trip Around The World - the art of international collecting by Andrew James
- An interview with FAC 51 The Hacienda's (and Smack The Pony's) Fiona Allen
- The Distractions by David Quantick
- An exclusive extract from James Nice's new book about Factory Records 'Shadowplayers' plus a Q&A with Mr Nice
- Closer, Karamazov and K550 by Ian McCartney
- Looking From A Hilltop... at Lytham St Annes (or "When Interviews Go Wrong") - a salutary lesson about the dark art of the interview and a touching tribute to Larry Cassidy by David Nolan
- An interview with Shark Vegas man and remixer extraordinaire Mark Reeder
- Matthew Robertson talks to Factory Australasia man Andrew Penhallow
- Factory Over America - Scream City talks to the US wing of Factory Records with new interviews with Michael H Shamberg and Ike Yard's Stuart Argabright and Michael Diekmann

Initial copies come with a free 10-track compilation CDR featuring live / rare / unreleased material by Section 25, Ike Yard, Thick Pigeon, The Names, The Wake, The Durutti Column, The Distractions, Biting Tongues, Shark Vegas and Fidelity Kastrow & Spartak (produced & remixed by Mark Reeder).

The tracks by Section 25, The Wake and Biting Tongues were recorded live at Plan K in December 2010.

The CDR is a strictly limited edition of 160 copies available on a first come first served basis.

Labels: Biting_Tongues, Ike_Yard, Larry_Cassidy, Mark_Reeder, Scream_City, Shadowplayers, Shark_Vegas, The_Distractions, The_Durutti_Column, The_Names, The_Wake, Thick_Pigeon

Win a copy of Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records by James Nice plus other goodies in Cerysmatic Factory's new competition.

The winner will receive a copy of the book, the Shadowplayers DVD from 2006 and to complete the impressive prize list the limited edition new vinyl album reissue of Section 25's Always Now by Drastic Plastic in the US. The 180 gram vinyl features a facsimile of the original Peter Saville pochette envelope.

To be in with a chance of winning this, ahem, factastic prize answer the following question (courtesy Mr Nice):

"On the DVD version of Shadowplayers, a pedigree Weimaraner dog can be seen running back and forth in the background during Tony Wilson's interview at his Little Peter Street loft in 2005. The dog made quite a mess in the hall... What was his name?"

Entries by email please. The competition closes 10pm Sunday 27 June and the winner will be pulled out of the Cerysmatic hat shortly thereafter. Usual competition rules apply: only one entry per person please and the winner will be notified by email.

Good luck!

Labels: competition, Section_25, Shadowplayers

James Nice's history of Factory Records, Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records is published by Aurum Press on 1 June 2010. The book features a foreword by Jon Savage.

In the years since the collapse of Factory, the label has become both a legend and a cautionary tale, yet its definitive, authentic story has never been told - until now. Shadowplayers is the most complete, authoritative and thoroughly researched account of how a group of provincial anarchists and entrepreneurs saw off bankers, journalists and gun-toting gangsters to create the most influential, acclaimed and adored music of modern times.

The Shadowplayers book builds on the original feature length documentary Shadowplayers: Factory Records and Manchester Post-Punk 1978-81 released on DVD in 2006 by James Nice's LTM label but is extended in scope to cover the complete history of Factory Records.

To celebrate the publication of the book please come along to the official book launch at Rough Trade East on Thursday 20 May 2010 from 6.30pm until 8.30pm. Original Factory band Blurt will be performing live and there will be DJ support from Tom Moderne.

Rough Trade
East Dray Walk
Old Truman Brewery 91 Brick Lane
London E1 6QL

Nearest overground/Tube: Liverpool Street or Aldgate East

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Shadowplayers
James Nice
The Rise and Fall of Factory Records
Foreword by Jon Savage

Format: hardback book
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd
Publication date: 1 June 2010
ISBN-10: 1845135407
ISBN-13: 978-1845135409

Labels: books, Factory_Records, Shadowplayers

Next year will see the publication by Aurum of James Nice's book Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records. The book is set to be published in Spring 2010 and will feature a foreword from Jon Savage.

Nice's LTM label's dvd documentary Shadowplayers, tracing the early history of Factory Records between 1978 and 1981, was released in 2006.

Labels: books, Factory_Records, Shadowplayers

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