Just been up to Chorley FM for a quick interview with the Matt Millin on the Drive Time show - and a very nice chap he was too!  We played Sometimes and the next single, Enemy and left a couple of copies of the CD and 7″ for some quick thinking Chorley FM listeners to claim . . .

Cheers to the wonderful Andi Coleson and Jess Pefki for making it run smoothly!

1. HI BRAD…. PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF…

Well it’s very kind of you to ask - I suppose you’re interested in my musical exploits. I’m one half of Merchandise with Conrad Astley who looks after the programming and keyboards/ samplers end of things while I busy myself with the guitar, bass, vocals and recording/ production end of things. I am also the bass player for Mazeppa, an indie band without the usual electric guitars but with grand piano and lush string arrangements instead making for some fine soaring live stuff. On top of that I also run Cityscape Records, a small indie which puts out the above mentioned loveliness and I record other projects I’m interested in with a view to putting them out when finances allow. The latest of these has been for an as yet unnamed band playing some wonderfully dark songs in a sort of Americana meets Violent Femmes meets new accoustic vibe. You might be able to tell that I don’t write our press releases!

2. TELL US ABOUT YOUR BAND MERCHANDISE…

Merchandise was something that Con and I put together at Uni. We met one night at some band jam session and drank a prodigeous amount of vodka. I awoke next morning to find him and another lad crashing in my flat and after reaquainting ourselves it turned out that we had agreed to put together a goth band. After one rehearsal that was thankfully axed and we ended up meeting to record electronic stuff. Over time we have gone back to song structures and now mix a lot of folk and rock influences with our electronica.

We write the songs together usually and the lyrics occasionally come from myself but more often from Roger Williams, a good friend of ours who writes lyrics such as those to Swallowing Curses in between writing his first novel. This usually works best as we just pick from a bank of lyrics that he’s written and put it all together with our music until we’re happy with the result: A sort of modern alchemy, except maybe Roger gives us gold and we turn it to base metal.

3. YOU ARE LO-FI BUT NOT… PLEASE EXPLAIN…

Well that’s your quote so I suppose you could explain what you mean better. I suppose what you’re getting at is that we have a fairly loose feel and use a lot of odd and unpolished noises and production but everything is pretty well recorded and mastered so although we take advantage of piles of odd instruments and sounds and record it all pretty cheaply we know how to use what we use so we get a good sound in the end anyway. I’ve always been attracted to unpolished bands such as Pavement or Bright Eyes. You don’t really know if a song is going to stay together or not and I feel that you can be a lot more human if you’re not trying to ape the perfection of a machine. But having said that, you can hear that they have contrived some of the sound at least on the newer recordings as they can often bring everything into sharp focus when they please. You can consider the lo-fi the artistic blur in a photo: while that is nice and adds character you do need some of your music in focus to give it some point. In our case lo-fi just means that we can’t afford better equipment but the limitations probably help us to get the best out of it. If we had the sort of money to book into a studio and record live strings and grand piano (like I managed with Mazeppa) then we would, we’d just probably manage to get a kazoo or a melodica or a moog over it at some point!

4. WHEN YOU ARE NOT PLAYING, YOU ALSO RUN ‘CITYSCAPE RECORDS’ YES?

Yes. That takes up a lot of my time as you can imagine. There is always so much to do and with a very limited budget you have always to make everything balance to the satisfaction of all. I enjoy designing the covers though and it gives a wonderful outlet for my photography. The finished product also gives you a great sense of satisfaction - especially with vinyl releases. And hearing back from people out there who’ve bought our records or reading reviews all helps make it worth it. For anybody wanting to go into it though, cost everything out - the expense doesn’t end with the finished product: it begins with it. So possibly does the work. Most of it is what you want to do up until the record is made: the selling can be soul destroying especially when distributors don’t pay their bills. . . But I suppose money is not what we do it for (one day, one day!) and with a slightly dippy pricing policy which seeks to give everyone good value you can end up making quite a loss. Its important that people hear whats coming out though and one way indies can do it is to put out a more lovingly produced record at a lower price - I bet Sony don’t spend so much time sourcing the exact size this and that to make it all perfect. They usually can’t even be arsed making the CD look like its got anything to do with the rest of the packaging - but perhaps its only me thats particularly bothered!

5. DO YOU GIG MUCH WITH MERCHANDISE, AND DO YOU HAVE ANY MERCHANDISE FOR SALE AT YOUR GIGS?

Merchandise are strictly a recording band. Myself and Con play too many instruments to make it practical to play the songs live unless we used a backing tape and, to be honest, I see no point in doing that. I feel that without the need to be able to perform live it really frees up what we can do on record. Also, without all that time rehearsing the same songs it gives us time to work on ever newer and better material. With Merchandise I feel the one version of the song is all that is required - it’s not a document of what the band is doing at the time as a rock band might describe a studio recording - the record is what the band does - there is nothing else.

As for for producing Merchandise merchandise - we don’t do it. The name Merchandise comes from a Fugazi song and although we’re not straight edge or anything near it we’re not into the over comercialisation of anything much, least of all music. The title of our first album This is. . . Merchandise was supposed to be a comment about the comodification of art hidden in what could be taken for a bland “This is, Here are, The Best Of” type album title. Obviously nobody got it but you’ve got to try! We did think about releasing some Merchandise merchandise to make a similar comment - really rediculous items, and I suppose we still might but I’m not too sure I can be arsed. Besides I worry about having such control beyond me and decisions made for me where it could all look a bit hypocritical. I’m not too sure where the line between irony/making a living and selling out is but I’m sure someone will point out that it wasn’t in the place I thought it was when they want to take me down a peg or two! I can’t say I have anything against obviously related merchandise such as T-shirts and posters but when you brand a band (or a sports team) I feel it’s just cheapening whatever it stood for in the first place alowing people to buy into an image/lifestyle without the hard work of genuinely caring about it. A little mudle headed but I’ll revise harder for Newsnight!

6. WHERE CAN PEOPLE HEAR YOUR MUSIC? WHERE CAN PEOPLE SEE THE ACTION?

People can hear Merchandise by buying the discs - that’s the only way! They are available from either www.amazon.co.uk or from us at www.cityscaperecords.co.uk (quicker!).
As for Mazeppa, you can check our website at www.mazeppa.net and get a list of all the gigs. Mazeppa is a very different set up to Merchandise, a gigging band with grand piano, strings etc. There’s a sample on the website so give it a listen!

Who are you? We are Merchandise. Brad B. Wood on guitars and vocals, and Conrad Astley on keyboards.

How did you get together? The pair of us bumped into each other on a drunken night at university, decided to form a band and we’ve been tinkering around ever since.

The story so far… Bit of an odd one, really. While most bands spend years on the live circuit before setting foot in a studio, we’ve done it all the other way around. Merchandise has existed as a recording duo for ages using a lot of lyrics by Roger Williams. We released a couple of albums, including last year’s Lo-Tech Solutions To Hi-Tech Problems, through Brad’s Cityscape Records label. That got a great response and ended up being distributed through Universal, but we were adamant our sound was too complicated to work on stage. Some time last year, we were finally talked into doing it live, got drummer Rob Turner on board, and played our first ever gig at a mate’s leaving do with The Loungs last week - about a decade after deciding to form a band. You could say we’re a bit like a fine wine, if you were really pretentious, which we obviously are . . .

What do you sound like? People who reviewed the last album came out with everything from Belle and Sebastian to Frank Sinatra, bizarrely, and all sorts of stuff in between. We might as well get the plug in early - your best bet is to come to the gig and find out. The live sound has ended up being a lot heavier than the recorded version.

What’s on your record player? We’re both into a massive range of music, which is probably why our stuff can’t easily be pinned down. We’re both big Belle and Sebastian fans, and we’re also into US punk band Fugazi - we’re named after one of their songs - although you wouldn’t guess it by listened to us. Recently we’ve been listening to The Arcade Fire, The National, Death Cab for Cutie, The Super Furry Animals and Sufjan Stevens.

If you could play with one band, who would it be and why? Either The Fall or The Houghton Weavers. Too complicated to explain why.

What’s been the highlight so far? Getting some brilliant reviews for the last album, finding people in faraway places like Hungary, Australia, and Canada had picked up on it, and getting national airplay was all rather nice.

And the most embarrassing moment? As we’re just starting out live, we’ve not had any yet, but I’m sure there’s plenty in the pipeline. Brad was previously in a band called Mazeppa who had far too many to mention.

What’s your definition of success? Sitting in a yacht in Monte Carlo sipping champagne would be alright… but we’d settle for us all living in a big bus.

What have you got lined up for the future? Another opportunity for a plug - fantastic! We’ve got more gigs coming up, at No 15 on January 28, and The Life Café in Manchester on February 9. We’ve also got some gigs in Lancaster and Liverpool, and at some point we’ll have to find time to finish our next album which we’re half way through. Scarily enough, it’ll be number three.

How long before you can quit the day jobs? It depends how much you’re paying for this interview - That’ll remain a pipedream unless something fairly astronomical happens. We’ve both been messing around with this long enough to realise you don’t make cash out of it unless you’re Richard Branson.

If I was your fairy godmother and could grant you one wish, what would it be?
To be Richard Branson.

Made in Manchester: MerchandiseWho: Duo Brad B Wood and Conrad Astley who have shared a love of fusing electronica with acoustica, matching lo-fi vocals, tinkly pianos and jazz riffs with inventive sampling. Bolton born and based Wood takes care of vocals, guitar instruments, bass and production while Manchester based Astley looks after keyboard instruments, sampling and programming.

What to expect: The pair formed a goth band when they first met at York University in 1994, their name is taken from a Fugazi song and their recently released second album, Lo-tech Solutions to Hi-tech Problems, begins with a 1½ minute jazz solo. Safe to say they like a bit of variety. The common thread through their tunes, though, is an idiosyncratic, sunny mix of the stripped-down, plus an exacting use of the variety of instruments, live samples and sounds used. Collaborator Roger Williams’ lyrics give their songs a kind of everyday poetry, and tracks on their album range from joyful to hypnotic to mournful and back again.

The struggle so far: Because the duo use a multitude of instruments, samples and techniques to create their songs, they don’t perform live. “The only way of getting round it would be to change the music completely or play to a backing tape – which neither of us wants to do,” explains Wood. Because they aren’t really part of a scene, the band have received good reviews but “people don’t really know what to do with it. It’s like two strange blokes in a little cottage industry.”

What next: After recent good press, Merchandise have re-released their single ‘Swallowing Curses’, which shows their quirky style and Wood’s simple, worn-velvet vocals off to good effect. Each album has taken four years to make, so it might be a while until the next one. You can see why: “We went to the Isle of Skye to master the CD and I made the guy spend about ten minutes on the silence between the tracks. Then we listened to the album and made him redo practically every one. He used to do all the big EMI stuff – Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Eurythmics… I don’t think he had as much hassle off them.” Album Lo-tech Solutions to Hi-tech Problems and re-released single Swallowing Curses are out now.

Nicola Mostyn

Maybe it’s because Bolton Wanderers played a fairly good season in the Premier League. Maybe it’s because Brad B. Wood and Conrad Astley, the masterminds behind Merchandise, successfully resisted in forming a goth rock band back in the day. Maybe it’s because whimsical is the new tough. Whatever it is, fact is that the third album from Bolton hailing duo Merchandise, is combining luscious acoustic loveliness with the wonders of the electronic (r)age. Although they’re adoring Ian Mackaye and Fugazi, “Lo-tech Solutions to Hi-tech Problems” is sounding part Marcus Acher, part Damon Gough, part Richard Brautigan. Gorgeous. Pure. Pop. Indeed, Summer is finally here.

I find it pretty unusual, that Merchandise somehow seems to work as a trio, because Roger Williams is responsible for (nearly) all the lyris. How does this work out? Are you doing the music first and he’s coming up with some lyrics that fit the vibe?

It’s really more the other way around most of the time. We’ve tried working with Roger in a few ways but the usual method is just to collect his lyrics and when we come up with musical ideas go through them and see what fits the mood. Recently though Roger said he wanted to try to write to a tune so I gave him a new guitar led idea and the results are sounding really good - should be a catchy one.

Please tell me a little on how and when you started Merchandise… what about that early plans of starting a goth band?

The early plans to form a goth band were short lived and ill-advised! We met at university in York and got drunk together at a band jam session which led to more drinking and listening to music. We’d met a guy and his girlfriend who wanted to form this band with us, so when me and Con had a rehearsal to see what we could put together for them we discovered we just didn’t really want to do that sort of stuff. So we decided to just experient and see where that took us. We’ve got the early tapes somewhere but there’s no way you’re hearing them!

You named your band after a Fugazi song… seems to be quite a step between the DC-school of hardcore and your lush but brillaint Pop tunes.

Great music is great music and it would be a sad old world if we only listened to bands that sounded like us .

Fugazi were one of the bands that bonded us in the first place and I think that one of the first times Con came over to Manchester was to watch Fugazi. Roger’s also a massive fan and the name was his suggestion as is Alan who drummed on 14:53.

I really like the fact, that it is almost impossible to pin your sound down to a specific genre… from Jazz to Electronica to Indie to whatever. Would you say that this is a result of living in Bolton where you are allowed to just be yourself instead of trying hard to belong to a certain scene?

I’d say that we’ve always had a willingness to let ourselves make the music we want to without worrying too much about where it’s going until it’s got there. Both of us love all kinds of music so it’s pretty natural for that to shine through. We’re not the sorts to do all this for a fashion or lifestyle statement so you can forget the matching sharp suits and sound alike songs, we’ll just write what we think sounds good and what we want to listen to.

I was surprised that you already released two albums before. How would you say did your sound evolve over the years?

We’ve only released one album and two singles before. It all started off with a 10″ of dark instrumental electronica that I put out on Cityscape before we even had a name - it back fired a bit as catalogue numbers aren’t so memorable! Once we’d settled on Merchandise though we spent a fair while putting together the first album This is . . . Merchandise which, looking back on it, was probably a little too varied and lacked focus in parts. It helped us decide on the direction we wanted to go in and there are some good tunes on there, but they did tend to be a bit harsher - more like Sunday Song on the new album which was the first song started for Lo-tech Solutions and the last one finished.

By the time we did the Swallowing Curses single we had really started to find our voice and were sounding as we wanted. We’d started to use acoustic guitar, piano and sampled drum loops a lot more and I’d settled on a vocal style I was happy with. That was the stepping stone to the new album which took a long time to make but I think we can say we’re really happy with how it’s turned out. What’s even better though is the new stuff we’re working on now which is even more catchy so we’re really excited about that at the moment.

I really love the title of your new album… so what exactly are the ‘Lo-tech solutions to Hi-tech problems’ you are referring to?

The idea came from a conversation Roger and I had where I was going on about the story that during the space race NASA spent loads of money trying to develop a ball point pen that would work in zero gravity and the Soviets had got around the problem by using a pencil. I don’t know how much truth there is in that but Roger said words similar to the album title and we rang Con and he also liked it so that’s what it became.

We just felt that it fitted in with the whole way we make the music and I suppose it could be an attitude to life if you like - not to be taken too seriously though, we always like what we do to have an element of tongue in cheek just so we don’t disappear too far up our own arses.

‘I Hate That You’re Living’, ‘Beautiful Morning For A Bad Day’… would you say that the album somehow tells a story (for example, on how to deal with a fucked up relationship)?

It’s fair to say most of the songs are about relationships or the consequences of them - we should probably get a bit more imagination! It’s also fair to say there are a few different girls who’ve inspired the songs so it’s not themed around one relationship. Hopefully you can listen to each song and relate to the feelings and ideas though I don’t think we can offer any advice about how to deal with it. As we put it together we noticed the theme - but it wasn’t intentional, we probably know more about failed relationships than we do about dragons or drugs or super models or whatever other bands write about, and I’ve got a hunch that most folk feel the same.

As for the titles - all of them have a story and if anybody really wants to know any particular ones they can feel free to email us through the site and I’ll bore them to death with them. They weren’t intentionally themed but like the lyrics they seem to work together - so we liked that.

Brad and Con Interviewed by Sven Fortmann