TICP: OPINIONS #2 - Stephen Holt

Over 30 years ago a young lad set out to become the lead singer of a rock band, founding Inspiral Carpets and The Rainkings in the process, Stephen Holt has had an illustrious career in the music business. The Manchester legend answered a few questions for The Indie Cassette Player this week:

Is The Rainkings' name a reference to Manchester being the city that always rains?

Ha Ha, no, the name was taken from one of my favourite books ‘Henderson the Rain King’ by Saul Bellow. There’s also a link to Sonic Youth’s ‘Rain King’ as they were one of our favourite bands at the time and a huge influence on us. 

How did fans of Inspiral Carpets react to your new band when you first formed the band?

I’d say not very well really and that affected our overall lack of success then and still now. I think the way it was portrayed that I had left the band and then formed The Rainkings made people take sides and the Inspirals had and still have a really loyal following.

There was never any real animosity between me and the rest of the Inspirals, it just wasn’t right for me at the time and I should have just taken a break rather than leave if possible. But, as the band was really on the rise I don’t think this would have been possible.

I know they were disappointed by my decision though and felt that I really let them down. I’m trying to make up for this now though and feel really privileged to have been given a second chance.

What's the biggest difference between being in The Rainkings and Inspiral Carpets, if there is any? 

I had been with the Inspirals for about 4/5 years when I left and we had sort of grown up together. I was really close to Graham and we used to play football, cricket and go to gigs etc. all the time. So, even though I still had Swifty with me, who was a longtime close friend, it was really strange getting to know 2 new members and getting used to new ways of writing songs, rehearsing etc. 

One thing I loved about The Rainkings though was getting our autonomy back, it was our band and we made all the decisions. We used to have that in the early days with the Inspirals but as you get bigger more things get taken over by agents, managers etc. etc.

I suppose the other difference about being in the Rainkings was that I returned to being a ‘nobody’ again, which I quite liked as I’m not a natural for being in the spotlight. Even though it was fairly small time I used to get recognised quite a lot as well as being given free records and clothes etc. Some of this was quite nice but not always. Being in the Rainkings and leaving the Inspirals though, this stopped overnight!  

Noel Gallagher talks fondly of being a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets - what were you doing before you knew you wanted to be in a band?

I think I was in nappies before wanting to be in a band. I was brought up around music, singing and always saw myself in a band of some description.





The X-Factor continues to fill the UK charts - should we be worried?

Yes!

I've been to quite a lot of venues in Manchester, and I always find the smaller venues to be the best. What's it like from a bands' perspective?

I think Manchester venues are on the rise again, especially the smaller ones which is great for new, upcoming bands. When we started off with the Inspirals we were quite lucky as there were a number of smaller venues like The Boardwalk, The Venue, Pierots etc. where you could always get a gig. This seemed to stop for a whle and it’s great to see a lot of new/smaller venues popping up again and giving upcoming bands a chance.

Last but not least, United or City? (or an entirely different team?)

City til I Die! X
Stephen

by The Indie Cassette Player

IF I WANTED REUNION TOURS ID LISTEN TO THE ROLLING STONES

Now its my "role" on this blog to draw attention to past Indie bands, and hopefully bring awareness to some older bands that may have disbanded or drifted out of people consciousness. So this blog might seem a little contradictory to what I'm suppose to be doing LOL.

REUNIONS have become the vogue in the last view months since the announcement made by The Stone Roses. Now I know reunions aren't a new thing, but as a generation Xer with a love for Indie music in the 90s its really the first time I'm having to deal with all the mixed emotions this issue brings up. So please put up with my pointed confusions LOL. I like to waffle and ramble on "sometimes".

I was so excited when the Stone Roses announced the gigs in Manchester. I thought WOW, wish I could go. Then quickly countered with THANK THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS I CAN'T. The Stone Roses were born from an amazing era in the Madchester Baggy scene. The baton had passed from the Smith, New Order and the Fall. They captured a mood and movement along with The Happy Mondays, Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets and even the Scoucers The Farm grabbed the world of music by the scruff of the neck. It captured the growing dance movement and kept it in a traditional band format. Great happy times for my musical enlightenment. There was so much new music rolling along on funky bass and drum beats, with intelligent clever lyrics. I was in a good place.

I was lucky enough to see a the Inspiral Carpets play to a small but adoring crowd, I didnt get to experience the buzz of being in a crowd for a Mondays or Roses gig. Notice I say the BUZZ of being there, I listened to boot legs (not as easy back then on dodgy cassettes). The bandmanship on stage didnt grab me, in fact in seemed decidedly as dodgy as the recording I was listening to. The buzz it seemed came from being in a group of like minded "bombed of your nut" fellow fans. Not every great band is good on stage, and in my opinion The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays fall into this bracket. I don't think Ian Brown is going to cut the mustard in his late 40s early 50s that maybe Jagger can drag out of his coffin. And as for Shaun Rider, he is going to miss Bez. Its all going to be a bit pedestrian LOL. The studio albums from these bands are some of my most highly listened to tunes in my library. I can just see this going really really really badly. The Happy Mondays twitter and facebooks have already been blocked because its fucking annoying drivel.

Neds Atomic Dustbin are the newest announcers of a reunion gig...A 1off gig APPARENTLY, but its close to being sold out. SOOOOOOO I can see it expanding into a tour. So maybe I'm out of step with the idea of reunions. Neds were a fantastic band, with the unusual quality of having two bass players. I was lucky enough to see them tour on the "Are You Normal" and I loved watching John bounce around like a loon. Neds were a brilliant band to see live. But I reckon its going to look a little sad with everyone my age looking for a spot in the stalls to sit down with beer because "my back is playing up" LOL. I do believe Dan Dan the Fast Drummer Man has a new CD with his band Bouncing Ball (or is that the man of the CD....ooops) LOL, why not concentrate on the future.

Finally

I love the Smiths, I love the Smiths more than any other band on the planet, and yes Id pay the flight costs to see the Smiths play live once more...But I love the Smiths more for having the balls and the gumption to stick with the "IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN" stance. Saves me from making the decision on divorce and starvig my kids. Take note: Let the records stand and understand time moves on.

I'm a bit like John Lennon, I don't like violence, but lately I think to myself. I'm sort of glad the dude that popped JL all those years ago. Took away the possibility of a Beatles reunion. Thank God for the smallest mercies.