Biography
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Years Active
1989 – 1993 (4 years)
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Founded In
London, England, United Kingdom
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Members
- Kevin Miles
- Matt James
- Steve Mason
Great baggy band from London. Vocalist/rhythm guitarist and songwriter Lee Clark, bassist John Mason, lead guitarist Steve Mason, and drummer Matt James were original members.
The band was initially formed by Lee Clark (vocals/guitar) and Daz Walton (bass). Then John Mason took over playing bass and Matt joined on drums. A few years later, Lee, John and Matt recruited Steve Mason (John's younger brother) to play lead/rhythm guitar and free Lee's vocal style, which was limited by his mediocre guitar playing.
After cutting their teeth for several years in Woolwich, London, Sp!n became a promising Stone Roses-like band who were sadly the victims of a serious road accident. Bassist John Mason suffered a serious head injury and went into an 11-day coma. Their road manager Daz Walton retired as a result of the crash. In a strange sequence of events, the day prior to the accident, Lee (the original vocalist, and main songwriter of Sp!n) had also offered his resignation in a letter to the rest of the band, due to his dissatisfaction with the way the band and the record label Foundation, were guiding its course. "The final straw for me," stated Lee, "was calling the Sp!n album In Motion - a play on word-association which was so naff, that it beggared belief."
John, disappointed with the music business, went on to become a writer. Lee briefly recorded demos with Andrew (Snake) Newton, who had been the live sound engineer for Sp!n, then gave up 'serious' music to become a primary school teacher. John felt that tales of chaos, romance and terror were better suited away from the manacles of fashion. Lee felt he was getting a bit old to be a rock star and decided to play and record only in his own bedroom. Daz is now with the band Somewhere Outside New York.
Wanting to continue together in a band, Steve Mason and Matt James recruited bass player Enchilada Swiveltop who had a long association with the band through Daz. All that was left was the task of finding a singer, accomplished with some serendipity in a London nightclub. The story goes that after seeing Watford-based Welshman Martin Rossiter cross the floor of the club, Mason approached him and they began to talk (a process Mason once described as "like trying to pull a lady"). Their meeting ended with Rossiter handing out his business card ('Martin Rossiter: Soothsayer to the Stars') and Mason giving Rossiter a chance to sing with the band. Rossiter appeared on Sp!n's last demos as 'Martin T. Falls' (a nod to the Mancunian band The Fall) shortly before the decision was made to adopt the name 'Gene'.
Steve Mason, Matt James "Wrigley", Lee Clarke, John Mason
Profile:
Sp!n was Steve Mason and Matt James' original band before Gene. Matt, John Mason, AKA Steve Mason's brother, and Lee Clarke met studying at Thames Polytechnic. In 1987 the trio recorded a single "Flight Of Angels" and released it under the name The Go Hole. The Go Hole was apparently considered an "experimental pop band". The single was released on their Big Pop Records and 'cleverly' distributed by Pinnacle. John Peel did in fact have them in the studio on 17 November 1987. They played three other tracks titled "Bayonet Practice", "Treacherous", & "I'll Be Waiting".
In 1989 they changed their name to Sp!n. Sp!n blended the classic 1989-1993 'Baggy Pop Manchester Sound' with a tougher bite of South London guitar grooves. Lee wrote most of the songs for the band. They opened for acts such as Manic Street Preachers & Thousand Yard Stare, they headlined at venues like the Windsor Old Trout and Underworld. All releases were put on The Foundation Label and distributed by Rough Trade.
Sp!n recorded one full-length album titled In Motion, and two singles for "Let's Pretend" and "Scratches ". Later on 23 March 1991, there was a horrible accident where a truck hit the band's stalled van. The accident threw their manager and their live engineer, Andrew 'Snake' Newton, out of the van into a nearby field. Their manager broke several bones, and 'Snake' had broke his back spending 6 months in the hospital. Matt was left with a broken wrist, Steve with a broken collarbone, and worst of all John with skull damage. John was in a coma for several weeks. He had to have reconstructive surgery and unfortunately resulting in him leaving the band. That was when Kevin Miles, Steve and Matt's neighbor, filled in on bass. Kev was recommended by his roommate, Sp!n's manager. A while later, the soon to be 'fifth member' of Gene, Jerry Smith, took over as manager. Jerry would spend over ten years working with Gene.
Lee then left the band to pursue a career in dance music. In 1993 Lee Clarke was in a duo with Andrew 'Snake' Newton. Newton has engineered for both Sp!n and Gene, and has contributed in producing many B-sides during the Drawn to the Deep End era. They were dubbed Volatile. Lee Clarke has not been in the music business since. Newton continues as one of Gene's live engineers, as well as one for Duran Duran's 2004 tour.
Finally in 1991, the band hired a 'temporary vocalist', who Steve met at the Underworld. He was Martin T. Falls, who would soon be dubbed Martin Rossiter (Martin came up with this alias from Mark E. Smith's band, The Fall). With this new line up, the band recorded their last effort, Hot Blood EP. Their last Peel session was in February 1992. With one more try the band released a cassette demo titled Demos September 1992. The demo featured "Decide", which later became Gene's 1995 B-side "I Can't Decide If She Really Loves Me". The demo was distributed through Jerry Smith's Amalgamated Talent in London. Eventually, these four boys became Gene.
Line-up:
Steve Mason: Guitar
Matt James "Wrigley": Drums
Lee Clarke: Vocals, Guitar
John Mason: Bass
Former members:
Martin T. Falls: Vocals
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