Prolapse in America: Tim's tour diary

"Seeing Greenland and the Arctic Ocean frozen with pack ice is not something you expect in life (unlike meeting a Newcastle United fan in Los Angeles) so flying over the top of the world was an unexpected bonus for the start of the tour...

After landing and meeting Steve - ex-Cop Shoot Cop - all American, cowboy boots, plaid shirts, tour manager, driver and a great guy, we're hit with the news that we're not staying in motels for the start of the tour but in someone's house. Oh fuck think of return to the dogshit fridge of Amsterdam...

But no, this was a wee bit different. Second from the top of Curzon Avenue in the Hollywood Hills. 'Chez Krautpunk popsters' was lifted straight from a Friday night's west coast schmaltz programme complete with natural grapefruit dispenser in the back garden. Prolapse finally find their true home (no offence Hull Blue Lamp!)...

No sooner than this hits us we're dragged out by Steve to see the Amps at the Troubador - can't get in on the guest list as it seems as though the Mean (generous) Fiddler has not reached LA. So we 'hang out' outside with Eddie Vedder, Courtney and Bush person, Trent Reznor, Greg Dulli, Chris Cornell and Dave Grohl!! Well not actually but do see Stereolab - which is weird in the fact that it didn't seem weird. The Troubador could well be the Garage if Santa Monica Boulevard was Holloway Road... which it isn't.

Go to a diner and discover American size portions... Next morning wake up at 6am (jet lag you know) and go shopping... The local shop - and this is true - is the 7-11 where Hugh Grant got arrested in Sunset Boulevard. Go to the only Russian shop in America to buy food - this is real abroad - they don't speak English. For some reason Tony buys 12 Kiwi fruits - beware of managers, strange people. Finally a gig! Fullerton University.Typical nondescript college town. The venue is non-smoking indoors - no beer on the rider - not even for Stereolab.

Suddenly US 80s 90s by The Fall makes sense. 'No beer no cigarettes no whiskey, welcome to the US 80s 90s.' The $7 each for food is quickly transformed into four crates of Bud and two bottles of vodka. As a result I dance like mad and slept for equal parts of Stereolab's set... all's well that ends well as they say... San Diego is Skegness! No two ways about it. Grey skies, grey sea and a pier. We had to paddle nevertheless. Pat met some friends of Turk at the gig which was punctuated by cries of 'Blue Army!' throughout.

We got the thumbs up from the lighting engineer - our fan tally is now three... Getting to the Troubador we finally got to see our name in lights on the Santa Monica Boulevard. Get wined and dined by Big Cat/Jet Set Shelley which is probably not such a good idea three and a half minutes before stage time. (The restaurant is where the cover of Art Garfunkel's LP Breakaway was taken!) The gig was great by the way... Second sellout night in LA and what a star-studded audience - Eric from Hole with Drew Barrymore and Beck. Scottish Mick got a request for a personal audience with her Drew-ness - who he described as a bit of a 'hippy'. Another fine gig but sadly we begin to realise our time in the Hollywood Hills is over and the tour for real is about to begin...

Prolapse are the only Brits ever to go to San Francisco and not get to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Nevertheless San Francisco is a great place even if we were only there for six hours. The venue, the Great American Music Hall, is wonderful... all gold leaf and carving. Get to see a few copies of Backsaturday in Tower Records. Wow! Go to a Scottish pub and someone asked Scottish Mick if he's the singer from Prolapse. We're almost beginning to feel like pop stars...

Flushed from the success of ad-libbing a song from scratch over the airways of Oregon in Portland we go bowling. Stereolab are there too as is Maxine, a friend from Leicester, who now lives in Portland. The score Yanks 1 Brits 0. It seems you can't both sing and bowl with Linda and Scottish Mick jointly collecting the wooden spoon - mind you who said Mick could sing... ho ho!

I want to live in Bellingham, either the one in Washington or Northumberland. I'm not fussy. The balcony of the dressing room had the most wonderful view - looking out across the harbour and that bay bit that goes up to Vancouver. You could see the mountains of Canada. Tonight also brings us the first gig with Jessamine, a Seattle band who are excellent. After the gig certain people go off to smoke mixed herbs with the 'Labs entourage in their big sleeper bus - poor things can't afford motels like us real pop stars... "

Ludd Gang

The Biggest Library Yet

Interview with Tim Pattison in issue 7 of The Fall fanzine, early 97

Graham C: What is the history of your Fall covers group 'Ludd Gang'?

Tim Pattison: Ludd Gang was the fruition of about three years drunken talk around various pubs in Leicester. So far we've only played one gig, at the Pump and Tap in Leicester, supporting the Council. The line up was: me on drums, Johnny from Kooky Monster on bass, Zak from the K Stars and Neil from the Council both singing and guitars; a sort of two Marc Rileys and no MES type of Fall. If I can remember rightly the set was: Jawbone and the Air Rifle, Totally Wired, The Man Whose Head Expanded, Glam-Racket, Elves, Industrial Estate, New Face in Hell.

GC: Are there any plans for more gigs, recordings...

TP: There will definitely be another gig some time. Ludd Gang may put a track on a Leicester bands compilation CD which will also feature the bands the other members are in. Prolapse certainly don't have any plans to record Fall stuff, there are enough comparisons to start with.

GC: Come on then, favourite Fall songs.

TP: Too many to name but I will anyway. Jawbone and the Air Rifle, New Face in Hell, Hip Priest, Backdrop, Wings, Hexen Definitive/Strife Knot, Lay of the Land, What you Need, R.O.D., Gross Chapel, Australians in Europe, Athlete Cured, Big New Prinz, Sing! Harpy, War, It's a Curse.

GC: Are you an 80s Fall fan then?

TP: As you can probably tell from the list I don't like the recent stuff as much. I don't know if it's me that's changing or them. Personally I think the last great album they made was Extricate. Whether that was thanks to Mr Bramah I don't know. I think the determination to do an album every year has its price, witness four-track singles with every track being on the album following them and a worryingly high number of cover versions. Hopefully the re-arrival of Brix may stem any possible drying up, but it will take more than one album for the partnership to start producing classics again.

GC: Does the fact that Prolapse are often compared with The Fall annoy you?

TP: Any comparisons with other bands no matter who tend to get irritating after a while. I think I'm too familiar with The Fall's and Prolapse's music to judge how valid the press comparisons are. As far as it being early Fall, I'd rather be compared to Bend Sinister than Dragnet. Being compared to The Fall is much preferable however than Huggy Bear.

GC: Who else do you see as influences?

TP: Apart from The Fall, other major inspirations for Prolapse have been Stereolab, Th' Faith Healers and Joy Division, though not everyone in the band shares these. Stereolab are probably the only band we all rate.

GC: There can be a lot of tension visible on stage...

TP: We generally get on really well. Talking to other people in 'the biz' they are usually impressed at how united we are as a band. There are inevitable tensions within the band, but these are usually fairly transient and alcohol fuelled. I think everyone in the band appreciates each other's input equally, which is a very good thing. The gigs are often intense but there is a humorous side which helps to prevent things from boiling over.

GC: Is there anything that really annoys you about the music scene?

TP: I think the fickleness of the press is one of my biggest annoyances at the moment with bands like Supergrass being hailed as Britpop heroes, whilst bands like the Wonder Stuff and Kingmaker get laughed out of court. Personally I can't see the difference. Time until the Britpop backlash: two hours and counting. The other thing that really pisses me off is the lack of originality in today's bands, who generally don't possess an ounce of interest between them. Bland = successful. Interesting = obscure. I'm also pissed off that Prolapse aren't the biggest band on the planet.

Band members

Mick Derrick: vocals
Linda Steelyard: vocals
Mick Harrison: bass
David Jeffreys: guitar
Pat Marsden: guitar
Tim Pattison: drums
Donald Ross Skinner: keyboards