Majesty Crush In Full(ish)
OK, so I lied (kinda) about the self-linking thing. Here's the deal. I'm trying to keep my promise of content every day (just to, you know, see what the pace is like). and rather than just combing for links that would no doubt drive up traffic and all that crap, I'm gonna do my best to step with original stuph.
That said, Metro Times asked me to help with one of those fun things they do from time-to-time. In this case it was catching up with Detroit bands from days of yore. I pulled (rather, selected myself) Majesty Crush and Angry Red Planet.
MT's gonna publish the quick 'n' dirty formatted for print version of both, but I thought I'd throw up, er, out, the unexpurgated e-mail interviewage between meself and Michael Segal, guitar-great, arteest extraordinaire and record bin sherpa of some repute.
Here 'tis. Enjoy:
Who Was Majesty Crush?
David Stroughter vocals
Michael Segal guitar
Hobey Echlin bass
Odell Nails bass
(above line-up was the original from 1990-1994)
Echlin leaves in late 1994
Craig Thornton bass 1994-1995
How did you conceive of your sound and how would you describe it (then or now)?
Our sound was conceived on the idea of drone and rhythm. We wanted to be pop but spacey and atmospheric (not yet a joke word). We had a mutual love of the 4AD and Factory labels. Also the heavy, dreamy rock from late '80s UK seeped into our brains (Jesus And Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Spacemen 3, Loop, Galaxie 500 [USA]). But our difference was that we had a singer that didn't want to be buried in the din. A dynamic frontman with no instrument put us a little outside what was termed then (and has stuck) as shoegaze. Above all we didn't just want to ROCK (though we did in a monotonic, static way).
Where did you form and when did you break up?
We formed in early 1990 when it was novel to run into people at clubs and say want to jam afterward? We began jamming in Stroughter's basement in a duplex in Indian Village. We began with an attempt at New Order's "Ceremony"
and all loved playing together. And it went on from there. We practiced for a few months, had about 8 songs, and for our first gig opened for Mazzy Star at St. Andrews.
We broke up in August of 1995 after about a year of being dispirited: our label went out of business a month after our first album came out (late 1993), bass player quit, ridiculous tours of the mid-west, etc.
What was the biggest/most significant gig you performed and why?
We used to play these 89X gigs at the State that were packed and the crowd was wild. It seemed that it was on our own merit, so that was the most satisfying. Though we played many opening slots with popular bands of the day and held our own (Mazzy Star, Big Cheif, Laughing Hyenas, Mule, Royal Trux, Jesus Jones, Soup Dragons, Julian Cope, Chapterhouse....your laughing). Playing CBGB's was cool, standing in Johnny Ramone's spot and thinking of the history...and then realizing that just about every band since than has played there as well...
How did you measure success and to that end how well do you think that you achieved it?
We achieved success in that some people dug our music. What else is there? Oh yeah sales, good reviews, good attendance. Maybe that stuff only happened in Detroit but we were poised. Anyway our name resides in ALL MUSIC GUIDE's top shoegaze groups, for what that's worth :)
In conventional terms, were you looking for that label deal and what happened when you got it?
Ideally, for the type of music we envisioned we made, we thought maybe 4AD or Creation in the UK would have been good. Or something more indie. Some factions of the band thought in terms of superstardom so a major deal wasn't an evil thing. WE went with a subsidiary of Elektra called Dali after being courted by their A&R guy (did you know Fishbone's served alligator at their breakfast brunch?). We had a budget for recording our album, got meager advances (I needed it too!), and got to play CMJ and hang out with other up and comers. The album was released in September of 1993 and the label folded in November of 1993. We were in New York when we got the call about the label going out, and sat there in a friend's loft -- stunned. But in a touching moment we picked up acoustic instruments and played a brand new song for our friend's female roommate (it was about her).
How did you fit into the Detroit music scene at the time? Who were your kindred spirits?
Grunge was happening. Faggy dream pop was not. Big Chief seemed like a nemesis. We seemed to fit into the scene as the token UK sounding band, where there was the Ska band (Gangster Fun), the Country joke group (Goober), and the Grunge band (Big Chief). Those seemed to be the big draws of the time and we were one of them. As far as kindred spirits, there were a few similar sounding (space rock, dreampop, etc.) groups that were younger than us, that opened for us. Spectacle, Asha Vida, Thirsty Forest Animals.
Did you have any ambivalence about success in the context of the first rush of "alternative rock"'s crossover potential?
No we knew what was happening. The term I believe back then was "The Post-Nirvana Signing Frenzy"
We were into it. We knew we were odd being American and sounding British. And we had the bi-racial thing too. We felt unique, but smart enough to be what we wanted to be and appeal.
What do you think would have happened had everything went according to plan and labels not folded/people not gone astray?
That's hard to say. Moderate success I guess. But we always had a dysfunctional, volatile inner band dynamic. So I don't know how far it would have gone in it's original state anyway.
Was there any disconnect between Odell's role as a kids show host [drummer Nails co-hosted a local children's program on WTVS Public Television] and rocker?
That didn't seem to come up much, but yeah that was a little odd. Some of our younger fans knew about it, some older people, peers, that were against us made cracks, but we took it in stride.
Why did you break up?
See above
What is everyone up to now?
Segal is a freelance graphic artist and fine artist, and lives in the Detroit area. Nails lives in New York and is a lawyer (entertainment law I think...for a major record label [?]). The other two I'm sort of vague on... Last I heard Hobey was teaching yoga in California. Stroughter lives in LA and still makes music as PS I Love You and sightings of him are related to me detailing varying degrees of wacky behavior.
DISCOGRAPHY
"Sunny Pie" 7-inch (Vulva Recordings) 1991
Fan EP CD (Vulva Recordings) 1992
"Grow" 7-inch (Davies Productions) 1992
Love Fifteen CD (Dali/Elektra) 1993
Sans Muscles EP CD (Vulva Recordings) 1994
"If JFA Were Still Together" 7-inch (Che) 1995
Majesty Crush Detroit limited edition/vinyl only LP (Vulva Recordings) 1996
That said, Metro Times asked me to help with one of those fun things they do from time-to-time. In this case it was catching up with Detroit bands from days of yore. I pulled (rather, selected myself) Majesty Crush and Angry Red Planet.
MT's gonna publish the quick 'n' dirty formatted for print version of both, but I thought I'd throw up, er, out, the unexpurgated e-mail interviewage between meself and Michael Segal, guitar-great, arteest extraordinaire and record bin sherpa of some repute.
Here 'tis. Enjoy:
Who Was Majesty Crush?
David Stroughter vocals
Michael Segal guitar
Hobey Echlin bass
Odell Nails bass
(above line-up was the original from 1990-1994)
Echlin leaves in late 1994
Craig Thornton bass 1994-1995
How did you conceive of your sound and how would you describe it (then or now)?
Our sound was conceived on the idea of drone and rhythm. We wanted to be pop but spacey and atmospheric (not yet a joke word). We had a mutual love of the 4AD and Factory labels. Also the heavy, dreamy rock from late '80s UK seeped into our brains (Jesus And Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Spacemen 3, Loop, Galaxie 500 [USA]). But our difference was that we had a singer that didn't want to be buried in the din. A dynamic frontman with no instrument put us a little outside what was termed then (and has stuck) as shoegaze. Above all we didn't just want to ROCK (though we did in a monotonic, static way).
Where did you form and when did you break up?
We formed in early 1990 when it was novel to run into people at clubs and say want to jam afterward? We began jamming in Stroughter's basement in a duplex in Indian Village. We began with an attempt at New Order's "Ceremony"
and all loved playing together. And it went on from there. We practiced for a few months, had about 8 songs, and for our first gig opened for Mazzy Star at St. Andrews.
We broke up in August of 1995 after about a year of being dispirited: our label went out of business a month after our first album came out (late 1993), bass player quit, ridiculous tours of the mid-west, etc.
What was the biggest/most significant gig you performed and why?
We used to play these 89X gigs at the State that were packed and the crowd was wild. It seemed that it was on our own merit, so that was the most satisfying. Though we played many opening slots with popular bands of the day and held our own (Mazzy Star, Big Cheif, Laughing Hyenas, Mule, Royal Trux, Jesus Jones, Soup Dragons, Julian Cope, Chapterhouse....your laughing). Playing CBGB's was cool, standing in Johnny Ramone's spot and thinking of the history...and then realizing that just about every band since than has played there as well...
How did you measure success and to that end how well do you think that you achieved it?
We achieved success in that some people dug our music. What else is there? Oh yeah sales, good reviews, good attendance. Maybe that stuff only happened in Detroit but we were poised. Anyway our name resides in ALL MUSIC GUIDE's top shoegaze groups, for what that's worth :)
In conventional terms, were you looking for that label deal and what happened when you got it?
Ideally, for the type of music we envisioned we made, we thought maybe 4AD or Creation in the UK would have been good. Or something more indie. Some factions of the band thought in terms of superstardom so a major deal wasn't an evil thing. WE went with a subsidiary of Elektra called Dali after being courted by their A&R guy (did you know Fishbone's served alligator at their breakfast brunch?). We had a budget for recording our album, got meager advances (I needed it too!), and got to play CMJ and hang out with other up and comers. The album was released in September of 1993 and the label folded in November of 1993. We were in New York when we got the call about the label going out, and sat there in a friend's loft -- stunned. But in a touching moment we picked up acoustic instruments and played a brand new song for our friend's female roommate (it was about her).
How did you fit into the Detroit music scene at the time? Who were your kindred spirits?
Grunge was happening. Faggy dream pop was not. Big Chief seemed like a nemesis. We seemed to fit into the scene as the token UK sounding band, where there was the Ska band (Gangster Fun), the Country joke group (Goober), and the Grunge band (Big Chief). Those seemed to be the big draws of the time and we were one of them. As far as kindred spirits, there were a few similar sounding (space rock, dreampop, etc.) groups that were younger than us, that opened for us. Spectacle, Asha Vida, Thirsty Forest Animals.
Did you have any ambivalence about success in the context of the first rush of "alternative rock"'s crossover potential?
No we knew what was happening. The term I believe back then was "The Post-Nirvana Signing Frenzy"
We were into it. We knew we were odd being American and sounding British. And we had the bi-racial thing too. We felt unique, but smart enough to be what we wanted to be and appeal.
What do you think would have happened had everything went according to plan and labels not folded/people not gone astray?
That's hard to say. Moderate success I guess. But we always had a dysfunctional, volatile inner band dynamic. So I don't know how far it would have gone in it's original state anyway.
Was there any disconnect between Odell's role as a kids show host [drummer Nails co-hosted a local children's program on WTVS Public Television] and rocker?
That didn't seem to come up much, but yeah that was a little odd. Some of our younger fans knew about it, some older people, peers, that were against us made cracks, but we took it in stride.
Why did you break up?
See above
What is everyone up to now?
Segal is a freelance graphic artist and fine artist, and lives in the Detroit area. Nails lives in New York and is a lawyer (entertainment law I think...for a major record label [?]). The other two I'm sort of vague on... Last I heard Hobey was teaching yoga in California. Stroughter lives in LA and still makes music as PS I Love You and sightings of him are related to me detailing varying degrees of wacky behavior.
DISCOGRAPHY
"Sunny Pie" 7-inch (Vulva Recordings) 1991
Fan EP CD (Vulva Recordings) 1992
"Grow" 7-inch (Davies Productions) 1992
Love Fifteen CD (Dali/Elektra) 1993
Sans Muscles EP CD (Vulva Recordings) 1994
"If JFA Were Still Together" 7-inch (Che) 1995
Majesty Crush Detroit limited edition/vinyl only LP (Vulva Recordings) 1996
posted by The Ferndale Dad | 2:30 PM
8 Comments:
nice. i was a complete m.crush geek back in the day. i remember buying every record segal told me to. anybody want a chapterhouse ep?
Thanks thanks thanks for the update on Maj Crush, easily my all-time favorite faggy dream pop band. Although I never saw The Crush live, I was witness to D. Straughter just DOMINATING (as PS I Love You) at the Whitney Garden Party in `97 or thereabouts. It just so happened that later, on the very same night, I saw him bumrush the stage at The Stick as the then 15-year old Donnas were playing "Rock N Roll Machine." Longest story ever, but so, so best.
"Where the Fuck/On Earth is Kevin Shields?" Stroughter kicked the tribute-song-as-stalker-calling-card like nobody's business. So many fishes in the sea...something something about stars and monkeys, I think. damn.
Sans muscles. Avec awesome.
Excellent. Most excellent. Now you need to find out where the hell Veronica Lake went to. ;)
re: veronica lake...last i heard chip was writing about jazz in DC.
"if jfa were still together..."
Nice recap of the band.
I was sold when I saw them perform at 2036.
Their music is still relevant to me today. Lots of plays in my rotation. I even digitized my vinyl copy of the live at St. Andrews recording.
Seine is my favorite song by MC.
Thanks for posting this. I too was a big fan and knew Michael from the record store (I forget what it was called back then) and used to see MJ play at the Falcon Club and at St. Andrews. We'd buy Stroughter a shot of whiskey, wind him up, and watch him go. I remember him downing bottles of Jack on stage while Segal would hide behind the stage monitors cranking strings way beyond their normal physical limits.
I live in FLA now and still regularly listen to MJ and PS ILY.... any news as to Stroughters whereabouts since the demise of PS ILY would be great!
Apparantly he did a show in Detroit in Nov under the name the deutschland dutchess. I found a myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/thedeutschlandduchess
Have you heard PS I Love You's Dear Kate CD yet? The only place I can find to purchase it is here: http://freelove.moonfruit.com/psiloveyoud/4517176861?version=long and it is about $21
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