It was 1999, summer. Real T-shirt weather. The backyard cricket season was in full swing. Fresh out of high school, some friends and I from the Christchurch (New Zealand) suburb of Russley decided to put down our cricket bats for a minute and record an album. We didn..t know it at the time, but the result, Woodspasmgoat..s ..E-grade lullabies.., would change the Russley music landscape forever. Recorded live in Ryan..s garage (the spiritual hub of the Russley scene, it would eventually become known as ..Candyland..) with one room mic, it would go on to make some sort of impression on at least a few of the friends and family we gave it too. However, the people it made the biggest impression on was us. Although it would be a few years before any of us would record as a band again, from this time on home recording and giving out CD..s would compete vigorously with backyard cricket for our free time.
Following Woodspasmgoat..s demise, the members split into separate recording cells, and gave themselves names like ..Sky Decoder.. ..Invisible future circus.. and ..Square cool vacancy project... These names would change with the wind. It was from this context that the Refridgeration Process emerged in 2002, with ..Stirfried Fiction... Recorded on a tape 4-tracker, I think I made and gave out 20 or so copies which are floating around somewhere, most probably rubbish tips. I made up for the lack of listens it was getting from other people by listening to it a lot myself. I have always been The Refridgeration Process..s biggest fan.
It was about this time that my solo output started to slow down a bit, as a new friend was made and with two other Russley scene heavyweights, we started a new band, ..Ride on Estrada... Over the next two years Ride on Estrada would play three gigs (taking the Russley Scene gig total to 6!!) and record two albums, the first of which was described by ..NZ musican magazine.. as.. electic, raw and slightly disjointed.., the second as ..lacking good tunes and memorable hooks... In 2004, just before I moved from my beloved Russley to my beloved Matsuyama, Japan, I finished The Refridgeration Process..s second album ..A Decent Sleep.., which I was rather happy with. Shorter songs and smaller packaging, it was recorded on a digital 8 track. I think I made and gave out 20 or so copies which are floating around somewhere, most probably rubbish tips.
After coming to Japan, it took me a long time to resume my home recording hobby, due to things like a lack of equipment, a lack of time and a lack of Russley scenesters. However, in 2007, after a 3 year gap I finally got around to making the third Refridgeration Process album, ..Country people are warmer than city food.., which was recorded on my computer using ..Garangeband... I think I made and gave out 25-30 of this one because I reckoned it was that good. Or come to think of it, a fair few of those copies are probably floating around my shelves and guitar bag etc so if you want a copy, get in touch before they disappear. It..s apparently good to listen to when cleaning the shower, it..s fairly geographical.
Since 2005, and since 2007 in particular I..ve also been happily busy playing bass with The Watanabes, a band consisting of me and some other fine foreign fellows. We..re a band with a myspace page, so please check that out too (www.myspace.com/thewatanabes). In August 2007 we relocated the band to Tokyo, and I packed up the Refridgeration Process and all it..s belongings and brought it with me. So far all that..s come out of the Process is a small burp, in the form of a music video of ..Please come again.. filmed on vacation in Hokkaido. If the next album isn..t done in Tokyo, you can expect at least it will be tainted and tarnished with the grit, sleaze, money (not mine) excitement, frienldliness, quiet backstreets and memories of the Japanese capital.
When the Refridgeration Process started in 2002 there were doubters who said ..it..s not gonna last... Well here we are many years and three albums later, and I..ve moved from a tape 4 tracker, to a digital 8 track to a computer. What..s next? Surely now no-one can say that The Refridgeration Process isn..t worthy of a long long band bio like this one.
THE WATANABES
The debut album from The Watanabes, the band I play bass in for here in Tokyo. You can buy the album from these great websites and recordshops.
CDBABY
MORE MUSIC (Matsuyama)
REAL GROOVY (NZ)