Formed in 1995, 'Slept In' (as they were then known), were centred around the twin talents of Ian Wark and Alasdair Miller (soon to become Rob Miller). Wark was already an inspired songwriter, at that time heavily influenced by Ride and Oasis, and Miller had taken up the (left-handed) guitar after hearing Jon Baker's tight, spacey playing on The Charlatans' official live bootleg, 'Isolation'. Over the course of the following 18 months the duo penned enough songs to form the basis of 5 albums, their respective burgeoning guitar skills bringing with them new techniques and plenty opportunities to stretch their evolving songwriting. This creative period culminated in the creation of the 'Paper Trax' demos, a series of short keyboard and guitar instrumentals.
In 2004, at something of a loose end, Miller slowly began to chip at the countless demo tapes from this early period, firming up basslines and adding to the guitar parts of the original songs. Work began in earnest in February 2004, Miller taking a week off work to record the backing tracks to their second record, 'The Evergreen Album' (originally titled 'The Brown Album'), all ready for Wark's vocals. Following this, another burst of activity was on the cards, and Telemachus (as they were now known) completed home-recording their original 5 albums; 'Quietly Confident' (originally titled 'Slept In, Crashed Out'), 'The Evergreen Album', 'Hammy Cubby' (originally titled 'Bombsite Delight'), 'Crocodile Rock' and 'When The Pie Was Opened'. In the midst of this Miller set about creating programmed backing tracks from the 'Paper Trax' demos and Wark worked on lyrics in turn, all this forming the basis for their 6th album, 'All Kneel Before The Corporporation'. During this period another record's worth of material was demo'd, comprising 'The Grey Itch' album. Finally an 8th record, provisionally a double record featuring an album each, entitled 'WE are the scene, we ARE the scene' was close to being realised.
Presently Wark continues to craft excellent songs in tantalising snippets, whilst Miller keeps busy recording his more experimental, mostly instrumental 'The Mind Robbers' material.
Read more...