The Blue Aeroplanes

Wonderfully eclectic and chaotic Bristol combo. Gerard Langley and Wojtek Dmochowski (dance) have been the heart of an ever changing line up since the mid 80’s. It’s said that if you spit in certain pubs in Bristol you are certain to hit a current or former Aeroplane. At times it seems like they’re all on stage with a guitar in their hand @ once. They’ve gone from indie label to major and back again via legal wrangles. Just when you think they’re gone, they reappear even just for a Christmas gig in Bristol but NOW they’re back good and proper; most recently with the Outdoor Miner EP in 2007. Their discography runs to 17 albums. However their most influential album was Swagger in 1990. The album was supposed to be their breakthrough. As it turned out it was a high water mark of their wider popularity, but they are still much cherished by indie cognoscenti and Bristolians of a certain age. The BLUE AEROPLANES formed out of the ashes of the Art Objects. The first gig under the name BLUE AEROPLANES was at the King St. Art Gallery in Bristol in 1981. The line-up was mainly ex-Art Objects, plus NICK JACOBS on guitar and vocals. The same line-up played 3 or 4 gigs over the next couple of years, either at the gallery or for benefits, including a Karl Marx centenary gig at the Victoria Rooms (with additional trumpet and didgeridoo!). Meanwhile, Gerard had been putting together a set of recordings featuring the above musicians and IAN KEAREY (also of the Oyster Band). These turned into the first album “BOP ART”, which was ready for release in 1984 on the band’s own label. A live band was put together to promote the album, including NICK JACOBS, ANGELO BRUSCHINI and CAROLINE TRETTINE (then called Caroline Halcrow) on guitars, SIMON HEATHFIELD on bass, JOHN LANGLEY on drums and, of course, WOJTEK DMOCHOWSKI on dancing. The album got good reviews in the NME and SOUNDS and led to the band signing to Fire Records. At this point, and not for the last time, the band split. Gerard called in RICHARD BELL and RUTH COCHRANE (guitar and bass) and DAVE CHAPMAN (guitar, bass, mandolin) and this line-up was stable enough to record both “TOLERANCE” and “SPITTING OUT MIRACLES” before splitting up in mid-1988 to get proper jobs. With a certain amount of overlap (RICHARD delayed his entry into the real world until the end of 1988), the band turned into a much rockier unit with the return of ANGELO and the addition of RODNEY ALLEN on guitar and vocals, ALEX LEE on guitar and ANDY McCREETH on bass. This infusion of youthful ambition (RODNEY was 20 and ALEX was 18) seemed to lead directly to where the band wanted to go. After supporting the DARLING BUDS and REM (how often do you hear those 2 names in the same sentence?), the AEROPLANES signed to ENSIGN, making a pretty hip roster of Sinead O’Connor, The Waterboys, World Party and the Aeroplanes. This led to “SWAGGER” and touring 20 countries in a year. Unfortunately, this uncharecteristic burst of energy led to tensions in the band and JOHN LANGLEY quit at the end of 1990, just before the recording of “BEATSONGS” (not produced by Elvis Costello, as several encyclopedias seem to think. Don’t know where that came from, although Gerard does have a very good anecdote about Elvis and a girl called Alison). ALEX LEE then quit immediately after the recording of “BEATSONGS” in the best studio in the world involving 2 months in LA (great timing, Al!), and was replaced by HAZEL WINTER and, for one tour only, ex-Art Object ROBIN KEY. A potential hit single in the US was then scuppered by a record-company buy-out and legal problems prevented the band from releasing their next album till 1994 and a move to BEGGAR’S BANQUET. The album “LIFE MODEL” sold surprisingly well and there was a sell-out tour with A House and Sleeper supporting, but lack of back-up from the label and a constant rotation of musicians meant the centre couldn’t hold and, after “ROUGH MUSIC”, Gerard took a break, returning in 2000 with the experimental folk-rock-psych-prog “CAVALIERS” and the lo-fi pop solo album “RECORD PLAYER”, featuring ex-Eat guitarist MAX NOBLE. Writing constantly during this period, Gerard was also recording with many local musicians and once-and-future AEROPLANES with a view to making an album that would stand with the major-label successes of the early 90’s. Having achieved this in 2005, the band duly signed with EMI/HARVEST and released “ALTITUDE” (and re-released “SWAGGER”) to a chorus of 4 and 5 star reviews. They played “SWAGGER” in its entirety at a sweaty over-sold gig at the Borderline where Wojtek (in spite of his current part-time staus due to family commitments) almost destroyed the overhead sprinkler system with over-enthusiastic audience interaction. So. As of this moment the BLUE AEROPLANES are the band that toured to promote “ALTITUDE” in mid-2006. GERARD LANGLEY on vocals, MAX NOBLE on guitar, the returned JOHN LANGLEY on drums, JOE ALLEN on bass, JULIAN POOLE on guitar (the last 3 previously with ALEX LEE in STRANGELOVE and also currently an instrumental trio called SATURATION POINT), GERARD STARKIE (previously with WITNESS) on guitar and vocals, plus the recent addition of KATIE TOMLINSON on violin. They are currently working on between 15 and 20 new tracks towards an upcoming AEROPLANES album, although the next official release will be an album featuring covers of classic HARVEST songs. Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Barclay James Harvest, Edgar Broughton and Professor Longhair are just a few of the artists given the AEROPLANES treatment. Past and future mean nothing when you’ve got 3 guitars and a poet. And a dancer (sometimes). And a violinist. And a banjimer/tiple/psaltery/harmonium player (sometimes). And a hit single (they’re’re working on it right now). Oh, it’s a fun time to be a BLUE AEROPLANE! Must be due for a split. Watch this space. Listen at Last.fm