The Spacemen 3

Early Spacemen 3 releases were quite garage punky in style and very lyric driven, they then seemed to sway under the influence of electronica and feedback before seeming to strain under the tension between Sonic and Jason trying to take the band in different directions,Boom towards the electronic avant-garde and Peirce in the direction of a lyric based band. This tension eventually lead to a split which almost everyone could see coming as Peirce and Boom worked seperately in the studio on their last release each providing the material for one side of the record, the only thing making it Spacemen 3 was the shared vinyl and the musicians they worked with.

Although many line up changes did happen in the band, Peirce and Boom were the band, with others being treated little better than session musicians.

Drugs were cited as a major influence by the band with Sonic picking up the nickname "Chronic Spoon". Though the band got quite a bit of publicity for one recording in particular - "Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to" Which clearly was a public announcement of their preferred form of recreation.

After the band split up Peirce moved to Bristol and formed Spiritualised which developed a strong fan base and success was assured. Although recent output is minimal they do get out and do gigs on occassion such as the Glastonbury Festival.

Meanwhile Sonic Boom went into his Rugby bedroom armed with electronic and other paraphenalia to create EXPERIMENTAL AUDIO RESEARCH & later Spectrum along with various other audio projects. Although not as successful it has picked up a large following, particularly in Italy and America with Boom still doing occassional tours.

Spacemen 3 & The Birth of Spiritualized Book

The book traces the influences, roots and explores the truths & lies behind the band, the break up and the formation of Jason Pierce's Spiritualized & Sonic Boom's Experimental Audio Research (E.A.R.)

Nitty, Gritty & not always Pretty!

The book seems to consult all members ex-members in regard to the break-up of The Spacemen 3, but Jason, though there are plenty of his quotes from the time culled from various interviews. A remarkably well researched book.

The Darkside were the first band to spin off from the Spacemen3. Formed By Pete Bain (Bassman) and the drummer Rosco (Stirling Roswell) after leaving due to the constant infighting between Peirce and Kember, (allegedly!) and issues with the division of the profits. Other members being Nick Haydn (vocals), although he left swiftly and Pete took on the vocals, Kevin Cowan was the bands guitarist until the release of the 2nd LP.
The band signed a recording deal relatively quickly and released 'Highrise Love' in 1990 followed swiftly by their first LP. For the second LP Rosco moved to Keyboards and Craig Wagstaff joined on Drums. Kevin left shortly after the release of the 2nd LP and Pete dropped the Bass for the guitar.
The bands 3rd contracted album was never recorded after the Record label rejected the demo's. A rapid disintegration followed this with the relationship between Pete & Rosco remaining sour for years afterwards. Pete went on to form Alpha Stone, whilst Rosco dissappeared until recently, releasing a recording under his original name.

On Amazon UK
Melonomia Audio samples are also available on Amazon.
All That Noise Also available as an LP, though copies can be scarce.