In 1980, a woman, in Manchester took the music industry by storm. She was a dangerously beautiful punk, her voice was that of something cosmic funk. That woman was Stella Grundy. Her story is about a woman in the industry battling the men that run the machine. The rise took her to the moon and the fall brought her back. Now, Stella Grundy reveals the raw truth about the industry, women’s place in the industry, her rise, her fall and the birth of a new album.
The Rise
Tell me about the early years of your music career.
Grundy: The very first band I joined was while I was at school. The other band members were male and older. I do remember discussions about what I should wear for gigs. At the time, I wore combats pants, polo necks and sometimes jodhpurs; Quite masculine. I was asked to grow my hair and wear denim shorts, that was something I did wear but didn’t want to wear them on stage. I felt I was revealing enough with my songs and did not want to worry how my legs looked as well. I just loved being in a band. In my head, looking sexy wasn’t part of the deal. I was 15 and had braces. We played gigs and made demos but commercial success wasn’t really expected or wanted really but we did create interest. Our first gig was supporting John Cooper Clarke in a small bar in Manchester where there were usually fights and tough old audiences mainly male. A good education for things to come.
Tell us how the record company’s treated you when they first discovered you?
Grundy: I was in the right place at the at the right time. When record company’s eyes were turned to Manchester and the term ‘Madchester’ was invented by journalists around music, fashion, DJs, clubs, lifestyle. I believe it generated from Manchester’s love for 60’s psychedelia and tunes like ‘The Message’ by Grand Master Flash heard in the echoey Halls of the Hacienda.
We had about 6 0r 7 record company’s after my band, Intastella, including Silvertone, Polydor and Creation. We were wined and dined and naively we signed to the label with the most money MCA. I was a young working class girl from North Manchester and thought the bigger they were the more they could promote us and we could work with amazing producers in flashy studios with hotels and video’s. We were slightly blagged they suggested Craig Leon which looked good on paper but that didn’t quite work out. We didn’t like the finished album and insisted we redo it back in Manchester at Strawberry Studios with producer Chris Neagle, Martin Moscrop and engineers/protégées of Martin Hamnett. I’m glad we stuck to our guns and created original-sounding music for our first album we were proud of. In many ways, it was ahead of its time.
Did they turn you into what they wanted you to be?
Grundy: They certainly did in Tracy Star’s case. In some ways, a female Frankenstein as there are elements of manufactured pop stars who have been pushed into drastic situations. I’m far from preaching but as I soliloquize on the album and the audio-visual installation.“This is a cautionary tale” Although my tongue is firmly lodged in my cheek there is an underlying truth in the sub plot to this piece. I say this because this body of work transcends the genres and works as an album in its own right.
Do looks matter? As in, you must be young and attractive always.
Grundy: Yes, but not just sexy or overly made up. That can be subversive also but the manufactured bands who deliberately put a more homely member in or the females who ape me. No make-up trakkies who look like they have been playing computer games for months. That can be as contrived as the pornography shoot videos. That’s just too much emphasis on the look, the tribe you are in across the board. Unfortunately females are all compared to each other. They are basically put in the one tribe.
What do the record labels give you and take away from you at the same time?
Grundy: I suppose they give you a way in, a platform, admission through the portal. They bar the door also in a lot of instances. You can get caught up in the spin, believe your own hype google yourself and get upset. The problem with press and disingenuous industry people is they don’t have to take risks. They keep their jobs if a band fails. It wasn’t down to them obviously it was the band not being user friendly enough.
When you were in the spotlight, did they demand you to be perfect and not allowed to fuck up.
Grundy: There is always someone waiting for you to slip up. Banana skins all over the place, probably more for us girls.
Expose as to what happened to you . How the industry treated you and what they did.
Grundy: I must admit I was stubborn in both stylistically, lyrically and from a sonic aspect. (Some of our tunes were 8 minutes long). It is appalling when you are told who is producing; knowing full well a mis-guided brief from an A&R guy who brief did not subscribe to what the band was about. At least with the Independent label we had more say in which producers we worked with Steven Street and Tricky are great examples of producers who got us.
Expose what the industry heads don’t want to reveal to the artists they manage and sign.
Grundy: I’ve signed to both major and independent labels and in my experience the nurturing period is minimal in both Major and Independent labels. Back in the glory years artists such as Bowie and Fleetwood were given time to develop and were allowed the luxury of having records that bombed. It must be said when I was with an independent they seemed to be puppet mastered by the powers that be much like the fictitious character Tracy Star who features throughout this album and like her I was often encouraged to go down the wrong rabbit hole. I guess I was young and naïve. Luckily, I had success in other territories such as Japan, Germany, Finland and Italy. Which culminated in massive units. It’s a shame nobody told us at the time.
What do the industry heads not want the fans to know?
Grundy: In the Intastella days, they wanted me to be a female version of Ian Brown or Shaun Ryder. I did like a drink I was quite rock and roll but stories were literally made up about me kicking off in bars. I remember I had a fall trying to gain access to my rehearsal room by climbing over a wall and I feel breaking my wrist and cheekbone. Actually, I had to perform the next day and wore dark glasses. The story that went out though was I was in a motor cycle crash ha and that almost ended my career. Print the Myth. It does not matter but when people expect this crazy woman swigging Jack Daniels from the bottle and punching people they are disappointed when they meet a hard-working song writer whose main concern is the music both in a live capacity and in the studio. I was the main song writer in Intastella but many assumed the boys in the band wrote the songs and I just sang them. In fact the total opposite was true.
How are men treated in the industry versus how women are treated?
Grundy: Over 90% of music producers are male in the music industry compared to healthy number of female TV and film. It’s a little archaic. I’m of course try not to stereotype a cigar smoking producer type who sees a female artist as easier to manipulate than her male counterpart. However, music is way behind other industries in fairness where gender is concerned. It’s all in Tracy Star’s story which is why this album is so important to me. Without trying to sound like an ardent feminist. I was bullied by the industry and members of my own band. This still happens today and now I work as a solo artist it is even more important to choose your producers and team wisely and take charge. I am a keen supporter of organization such as Sound Girls in America who I was introduced to an incredible music lawyer and mentor Terry Marsh of Rafta Marsh. It is fantastic they are pushing for female engineers and the model is happening here in Manchester. L.A. and Manchester are 8 chromosomes’ away from each other both musically and the progressive nature in which they are slowly but surely giving woman a voice. There is still a long way to go.
How do women earn respect in the industry?
Grundy: By getting on with it a strong work ethic maybe. It’s funny but when I get called a ‘grafter’ I used think people thought I should give up. Know I don’t really care what people think and respect is something you get by your actions towards others in life. I’m not too concerned about what respect I have in the industry it’s so transient and at times shallow.
What sort of attitude should women have in this industry to survive?
Grundy: Get on with it. Don’t try to play a man at his own game don’t change your attitude to fit in placate or succeed. Success is a weird one as it usually has a number placed on it. Not so much charts now but cashflow and bums on seats.
As we are objectified in the media its not such a stretch to be branded and compartmentalized till you have not got a clue why your doing it except to keep the ball up and the money rolling in. I think the fame thing is addictive and what people say about you your main concern. That’s not really the best conditions for creativity is it.
How do you prove what you are worth?
Grundy: Listen politely, then do what you wanted to do in the first place. The further you get the more advice you get that’s across the board. But there is always someone with an opinion and its not always right.
Industry moguls do subscribe to stereo types unfortunately and they are usually white, middle class males.
THE FALL
They didn’t make the top 40. So although they charted high in Finland (1) Italy (2) and Germany (1) who ironically got it with immediate effect.
The fall happened. How?
Grundy: I’m not sure it was a fall we were hardly at any great height. So much about success is spin especially now when there is money in it. Sure the odd rock and roller enjoys his trip in helicopters and the clothing lines and perfume brand it is so tacky.
How do you rise after you fall?
Grundy: A lot of people are calling the digital era the wild west. I must admit I’m kind of enjoying it. I’m lucky enough to have landed a deal with a fantastic team who not only understand me but have given me free reign as an audio visual multi-media artist. For instance I’ve always loved electronic music and have found myself propelled into the American Dance Charts with underground re imagination that get the narrative and social comment which is important to me as a female in this business. I am now doing multi-media installation in large arenas having building from the ground up in small scale regional theatres. So, the DIY ethic can indeed work if your prepared to knock on doors, put in the ours and get support from the right people. My Bullshit radar is now finely tuned.
Why have you not given up yet?
Grundy: Well it is a compulsion, it’s from a deep need to express yourself. All the factors come into play working class female relatively voiceless in society so grabbed a mic to be heard. Escapism!! I’m a realist, I’m a single parent so I have to be. But writing creating music plays songs. Within that process, you have control of this fantasy world.
Why do you keep pursuing this industry?
Grundy: I don’t know is the simple answer. What are the alternatives. TBF I always go through a diifficult patch on any artistic work. Why am doing this? Is it any good? Am I deleuded? What gets me through to the end is the promise to myself that I don’t ever have to do it again. Its me who creates these situations who seeks out collaborators artists, musicians actors. One thing though I always finish what I start whether it reaches its full potential is down to others. Unfortunately, blinkered media are capable of short changing excellent work. It has a lot to do with geography in Britain. The North South divide has never been more apparent.
THE INDUSTRY
Compare a Major Label to a DIY Label.
Grundy: With the DIY ethic, you get to choose your own studios and productions, different surrounding which inspire my lyrical content. The equipment is not on an Abbey Road level but you get to genre hop around different studios and upcoming engineers creating an opportunity to cross fertilize which inspires me lyrically and truth fully. Rather than being coheres and marginalized into what they consider a girl lead band should be. It is of financially a lot harder. But we have been lucky enough that Universal has taken a leap of faith and backed it so it can be released with a chance of being heard. Eclecticism has been embraced after much DIY work, and the fact Nova have got major of board who are distributing are own creation with no A & R interference is the best of both worlds.
What was the music industry like before the digital age?
Grundy: It was a narrow playing field you are either out or in
How has the digital age effected your music career?
Grundy: It was always about playlists which is easily corrupted and dominated by old school tie types and the corporate machine. It may sound controversial but payola is more transparent. For example, Alan Freed who invented the word rock and Roll and introduced Black music was eventually found guilty of this rock and roll crime. He features in both the live show and this album and I must admit he is an important figure in music history.
Is there hope for new artists?
Grundy: Oh yes, of course each new generation discovers the Velvet Underground. Music is raw and an energy out let. Life without it would be shit
Are fans important?
Grundy: Yes, Yes, Yes!
THE ALBUM
What inspired this album?
Grundy: The inspiration for this title came from the original stage plot the Rise and Fall of a Northern Star. A semi autobiographical, unique and incendiary show blending comedy and tragedy in rhythmic, pacey dialogue, interspersed with Stella’s original music.The story is a cautionary tale of rock n roll wannabe, Tracy Star trying to make her mark in the male-dominated Manchester music scene of the eighties and early nineties.
Photo by Tracey Welch
Mike Bennett, the producer
Gaining a series of awards, including 12 Gold Discs and the coveted Ampex Gold Reel Award, Mike Bennett has written, produced, and remixed a diverse range of artists, including Ian Brown, Toyah, The Stranglers, Gregory Isaacs, The Specials, The Selecter, Hazel O’Connor, Wishbone Ash, Emerson Lake and Palmer, BMX Bandits, Bad Manners, and The Fall of whom he was also a group member.After working with many independent artists Mike’s first break came when he was asked to write and produce Toyah’s Dreamchild album, which was released on the Pinnacle- based Cryptic Records, and featured collaborations with the acclaimed Utah Saints. It wasn’t long before Mike was expanding his repertoire by co-writing and producing albums for the legendary Frank Zappa/John Lennon cohort Kim Fowley. The albums around this period included Let the Madness In (Receiver Records) and Trip of a Lifetime (Universal). The latter featured a string of guest stars including Roni Size, William Orbit and Teenage Fan Club. He went on to produce Kim Fowley and the BMX Bandits’ Receiver Records’ album Hidden Agenda At the Thirteenth Not. Mike also co-wrote and produced tracks with Fowley for the BMX Bandits’ album Theme Park (Creation Records).
Hell bent on pushing the creative envelope into an even more left field direction Mike went on to produce and co-write several albums for celebrated Manchester group The Fall. These offerings include Cerebral Caustic (Permanent Records), The Light User Syndrome (Jet Records) and the Number One Indie single The Chistlers (Jet Records) in which Mike is heard duetting with Fall frontman Mark E. Smith. Mike’s next project was for ex-Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown for whom he co-wrote the smash hit single Golden Gaze (Polydor).
Other albums Mike co-wrote and produced around this period include the Wishbone Ash albums Trance Visionary (Universal), Psychic Terrorism (Universal) and Hazel O’Connor’s Big Night (Universal) and Frankie Howerd’s Get Your Titters Out (Tring) for which he was both lyricist and composer. He then went on to produce the Clubbed to Death album for The Stranglers (Universal).
Tell us how it was working with legendary producer Mike Bennett?
Grundy: Mike Bennett said he was a fan in the mid 90’s period I was aware of The Fall then the Ian brown track Golden Gaze and his one fingered fuzzy synth lines much like myself and love of drones and single not music . He likes using old tape, synths and reel to reel. Explores noises and of course his work at Trojan records.
He was attracted to the concept and wanted to re imagine this body of work. I brought him demo half ideas sound clips scripts poems. He said he wanted to create not a remix album but a hall of mirrors version. He works quickly and there are no rules, we shared a love of Dub Reggae and the album quickly proved to be a brand new piece of writing.
This album is so unique, how did that happen?
Grundy: Jah Wobble for a start his unique and inimitable sound. Not only does he appear on bass he is a great actor which is utilized to great effect both on the album and the Live show. Also the unique nature of this album is due to its diverse roster of artists who have asked to get involved in this album from the Membranes, members of Spinal Tap and Dub legends such as Dillinger, Nick McCabe, Craig Gannon. Eclecticism is the order of the day.
Stella Grundy and Jah Wobble
Album credits:
Stella Grundy, Mike Bennett Jah Wobble, Nick McCabe. Craig Gannon , The Membranes, Mike Joyce, Harry Shearer, John Cooper Clarke, Dillinger
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