Ahh, yes. I was there at Speed Racer's first gig. The two permanent members, James Quinney and Matthew Beeston have been playing live since they were knee-high to a guitar. Well, sort of. Their first incarnation was as grunge band "The Jefreys" (with one 'F', of course). Formed from schoolfriends, the band as it was at this time spent their time covering Nirvana songs and trying to get served at the local off-license without getting picked up by the police on the way home for under-age drinking. "Sour Grind", a horrible title, if I may say so, was their next name, dreamt up using an electronic thesaurus!! From these humble beginnings, playing Edinburgh's Subway club (you wouldn't see them dead there now) they progressed, and became the almost-notorious "Gasoline". Playing a mixture of punk-tinged indi-grunge-fuckknowswhat they had acquired a 'permanent' drummer, Hamish Butt. They gigged at Legends, The Subway and Stones before ol' Hamish proved to bear too close a resemblance to his surname and him and James fell out leaving "Gasoline" as a two-piece band once more. The band didn't seem to be too lucky with their drummers... their first drummer Michael Cormack was an arse as well. Somewhere along the line, James and Matthew were also known to the world as "Spies In Space" when they placed a one-off gig at the Edinburgh Academy (my, the credibility!)
Meanwhile, James (lead guitar / vocals) was getting aquatinted with the local lo-fi bands, finding friends in Spare Snare, The "Deladogs" (Delgados), Eska and no doubt several others, that I've completely forgotten probably due to drug misuse. The band's influences were changing, and James was becoming interested in Surf Guitar music and in particular the band from outer space, "Man... Or Astroman?". He co-interviewed Coco - The Electronic Monkey-Wizard from "Man... Or Astroman?" in Durham last year for some fanzines (including his home-produced "Nitro Burnout" publication, currently trying to get past its first issue - I'll see if I can put some of it on the Web). Matthew (bass / cello / backing vocals) on the other hand, continued to pen his own brand of music, a drifting poppy affair, dealing with such topical issues as stars, moons, spacemen and his love-life, inspired no doubt by his adoring girlfriend, Laura. Ahhh, to be in love!
James' love of Manga movies and old cartoons spawned the idea for the band's current name, "Speed Racer". Gigging in and around Edinburgh, "Speed Racer" frequent Edinburgh University's Student Union, the "Potterrow Bar", and have also played at "The Attic". The band were beginning to get recognised and James was subjected to several scary occasions when complete strangers came up to him and shouted "OI! Speed Racer!!" at him in broad Scot's.
"Speed Racer" are currently going from strength to strength and with the release of their single "Fountain" due any minute now (as soon as they find out where they've left the vinyl) things are looking decidedly rosy for "Speed Racer". Good luck to them, I say. Oh yes. And I know where they live if they don't give me a slice of the profits :-)
This here is the main man, good ol' James, with his girlfriend Julie hiding in the background (unless of course James has three legs...) This photo is from the pictures I took at the band's video session at Gullane beach (near Musselburgh). James has played guitar for as longs as ... well, for as long as me. But he's better. A bit. Well, quite a big bit, actually, but that's really beside the point. James is currently honing his surf guitar playing skills, in order to develop a new, completely unique and ultimately fabulous musical genre (so he says). When not partaking in illegal smoking activities, James can be found down his local pub, "The Crown", when the pints are fast and the women are free... or something... if only it was the other way round!
This here is Matthew, seen on top of a hill without any shoes. Matthew comes from an incredibly talented line of musicians. His father is a member of the Edinburgh Quartet, playing the violin (or is it the viola?). His late mother was also a musician of the most incredible talent, who taught music. Matthew's role in the band varies from bassist to cello player for their live acoustic sets. His cello playing skills can (just) be heard on the demo I produced for the band of the single "Fountain", which will eventually appear on this site as RealAudio or MPEG3. When not performing live or writing his own brand of music with his 4-track at home, Matthew is earning his wage as a receptionist at a dental surgery (I think!). Matthew's song-writing efforts can be heard on the B-side to the forthcoming single, with a song entitled "Pinch Me". All of Matthew's songs have a wonderfully peaceful quality, helped along by his soothing laid-back vocal style and I hope to producing more of his work in the future. Look out for a solo project from him in the future.
Blimey! Those two people seem to go through drummers like there is no tommorow! Recent recruits include Del Springer (stage name? Of course not!), Mark Green (Matthew's sister's boyfriend) and drummer-to-be "Gale" (no, just 'Gale'. I know no more).
Well, let me think. Matthew's all set to nip off to university to study French and Arabic, while James is house hunting in Edinburgh. But whatever becomes of the two characters, you can rest assured that "Speed Racer" will never die. To the few who knew the members personally, the chorus or "Fountain" and "Pinch Me" will be forever swirling around their subconscious, released only in moments of heavy drug consumption. But of course, you didn't hear that from me. Rock and Roll.
Or, in the words of Marky Carr, "ROCKAHULA!"
Latest of Latest: Well, whadddaayaa know? I'm now in the ol' Speed Racer band. How's about that then? I must say it's not my normal line of work (!) but, hey, everyone can ROCK, yes? I helped them out for a couple of gigs in London (one of which went well, the other one, well, the other one didn't happen due to a f**king double booking!!) and I am now in a reasonable stable position, I guess. I'm doing keyboards, analogue SH101 basslines and weird ambient samples and stuff. So there.
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