How Soon is Now?: The Madmen and Mavericks who made Independent Music 1975-2005 by Richard King Read Free Book Online

reverse. Making their own equipment meant Throbbing Gristle were elevating the idea of taking control to a higher level. The band rejected the format of bass, guitar, drums and vocals and, although they were releasing records, Throbbing Gristle were wholly detached from the conventions of the record business. The early releases on Industrial pre-dated punk, a style and movement of which Throbbing Gristle were dismissive. ‘Although punk painted itself as “revolutionary”, it wasn’t, in my opinion,’ says Tutti, ‘because business was its master, it didn’t crack its own whip, it still sought idolatry via a raw form of rock ’n’ roll dressed up in designer clothes.’
    If Hackney suffered from dereliction and tensions, it offered a cheap or free environment for creativity. ‘I’d always operated in this kind of atmosphere,’ Tutti remembers. ‘Living in derelict squat-type buildings that no one else wanted meant we could have large spaces for small money and we were reasonably isolated too. I personally liked the feeling of living and working in disused buildings. They provided an additional disconnect with mainstream society and became like my own territory. Society’s failure assisted our “success” in a way; because of all the political unrest of the Seventies it was easier for us to operate under the radar because people were focused on the inconvenience of the power cuts, uncollected rubbish. Me and Gen having theMartello Street studio was also an enormous advantage because we had a space in which to experiment to our hearts’ content. And just across London Fields we had our house in Beck Road, so when we had extended jam sessions, or were working late in the studio, we all bunked down together.’
    As well as COUM’s studio in Martello Street, which the duo leased from the Arts Council, P-Orridge and Tutti squatted in a terraced house in nearby Beck Road where Throbbing Gristle often slept side by side to achieve a group mind/dream state when sleeping.
    Throbbing Gristle’s self-confidence meant the business of running a record company was an enjoyable experiment. ‘In the beginning,’ says Tutti, ‘it was all a real novelty and we enjoyed discovering all the nuances of manufacture, distribution and promo. Of course, we played around and twisted things around a bit to suit our own needs. There was and continued to be a lot of game play. But the mundane day-to-day slog of going to collect mail, answering that mail, packaging orders and duplicating cassettes took up a lot of our time. Chris and Gen went to do the test pressings, deliver stock to Rough Trade. After a while, as things got more intensely active, we had to bring in two people to work for us in “the office” so we could get on with creating our music.’
    Upon its release Throbbing Gristle’s debut album Second Annual Report sold well and eventually achieved sales of over 100,000. In Rough Trade the record had a secondary use. ‘When it got too overcrowded,’ says Richard Scott, then a new recruit to the fledgling Rough Trade staff rota, ‘we’d put on Throbbing Gristle to clear a bit of room in the shop.’
    At a Throbbing Gristle concert at the Crypt in London, the support band was The Normal, whose only band member was Daniel Miller, a bedroom boffin with collar-length hair and theair of an amateur inventor. ‘I was mucking about at home with synths just as the first independent labels were starting and I just wanted to put out a single,’ he says. ‘I had very low expectations. I was listening to the Ramones and I was listening to Kraftwerk. I was disillusioned with the straight record industry, because everyone thought that the music they were putting out was shit and now if you were so inclined you could do it yourself.’
    Miller had recorded two songs that he intended to release as a single at home. Once he had mixed the tracks on to a cassette, he summoned enough courage to approach the counter of Rough Trade. ‘I