Sunday International

Sent in by Mike McClusker lan Parkin: Vocals/Miscellaneous; Melanie Levick Parkin: Vocals/Miscellaneous James Corazzo: Guitar/Bass/Miscellaneous Gareth Kenyon: Guitar/Bass/Miscellaneous Phil Wainwright: Guitar/Drums/Miscellaneous 1997: Wainwright is playing drums and jamming weekly with friend Jeff Lloyd in a photographic studio in Openshaw on the outskirts of Manchester. They don't know what they are doing. Late '98 Wainwright bugs Parkin to come along and do some singing. Parkin says "NO". This goes on for several months until Parkin capitulates. Parkin thinks to himself "Once they have heard me sing that will be that and I can get on with regular activities in the day". This doesn't happen Wainwright starts to play guitar as well as drums. Some songs are allegedly written. Not long after this Levick Parkin begins to add Germanic vocals to the mix. Corazzo floats out of the ether and sits in on guitar thinking it will be a short stint and that he can then get on with the rest of his life. This doesn’t happen. An inkling of some ideas starts to emerge. Some more stuff is written. Soon Jeff Lloyd extols the immortal line "/ have not been learning how to play the guitar for 15 years just to end up playing this shit". He leaves the band.. We purchase an old 4-track and begin to record ourselves. Richard Mulhearn joins on bass. Amazingly, with nobody in the band knowing exactly how to play their instruments properly things begin to come together. Soon we decide to release some of our material on an unsuspecting public. This takes the form of the ten CD box set "Landfill' and retails at £40, roughly sixteen hours of music that has no equal in the whole of music history. We hope to sell thousands. This doesn’t happen. We then get our first gig at Night & day via a CD we have posted out. Jay Taylor Night & Day promoter gives said CD star choice in City Life although he can't quite pin it down. The debut gig goes down in history as one of the best debut gigs of 2002 or the biggest pile of shite this side of the Pennines. Several of the audience comment on the fact that the band swap and change instruments at alarming frequency throughout show and on Parkin’s whistling prowess. Band makes a little bit of money selling celebrity masks that the audience are encouraged to wear while band are on stage. This becomes standard practice at gigs and band puts as much effort into thinking up new promo ideas as they do rehearsing. Time passes. After Mulhearn throws in the towel, through Corazzo connections, Kenyon joins on sonic guitar. A breath of fresh air. Several other gigs follow to much acclaim and the band begin to rub shoulders with a few of Manchester musical elite. They think. Intensive practising hones the band into a tightly organised chaotic shambles. A small feature appears in Flux magazine and 'Hey Hey You' is included on the following issues cover mount CD. Twisted Nerve label owner Andy Votel is encouraging and asks if band would like to be included on "This Is The Winter Of Our Discount Tents' compilation CD. We are thankful. A slot supporting Nine Black Alps at 'Night & Day' allows band to cross paths with the enigmatic Mike McCusker Future Butterfly record label owner. He likes what he sees and asks if we would like to release a single on said label. This does happen. A tour, XfM Session, airplay on US college radio and across Europe ensues.