Sons of Selina
| Sons of Selina | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, Wales |
| Genres | Psychedelic punk |
| Years active | 1990–1999 |
| Labels | Delerium Records, Cherry Red |
The Sons of Selina were a psychedelic punk group formed in Colwyn Bay in 1990. They were very hard to pigeon-hole into a musical genre as their sound swept from punk rock to electropop (sometimes in the same song).
Formation
Original members Neil Crud (Neil Birchall), and Robin Hemuss formed the band after discussing the merits of Hawkwind, both respected the psyche sounds but felt they’d be a better band if they had a harder edge. This became the basis of the Sons of Selina sound, although that was as far as the Hawkwind comparison went as Crud’s punk influence complimented Hemuss’ classical training. Both members were previously in the notorious North Wales punk band 4Q.
Releases
The Sons of Selina released their debut single “Anxiety” on Crud’s label Secrets of Sound in 1992, it was described as Hawkwind meets New Model Army and was remarkable by the points that only the 2 members played on the recordings and it was recorded on a 4-track cassette and pressed onto 7” vinyl. The single earned regular national airplay on BBC Radio One by DJs Mark Radcliffe, John Peel, Mark Goodier and Annie Nightingale.
They were subsequently signed to the underground label Delerium Records and released a further 2 singles and the critically acclaimed albums “Nour d'Oui” (in 1994) and “Fire In The Hole” (in 1998).
The band became more popular in Europe than at home; “Anxiety” reached No.5 in the Belgian Alternative Charts, “Jam Tomorrow” received airplay in Germany and “Of The First Water” sold about 30,000 copies in Greece after featuring on a compilation album.
Electropunk band Psychosexual Sex Terrestrials recorded an early Sons of Selina song “Creatures of The Night” in 2004 and invited Neil Crud to write and record new lyrics for the song. The release became a minor nightclub classic. This version was subsequently remixed by Head In The Shed in 2008. A 'mash-up' version with Snoop Dogg featuring on "Of The First Water" was available on-line in the late 1990s, but has since disappeared. The same track resurfaced in 2009 being mashed up with Eminem.
The track “The Last Ditch” was used as a signature tune to advertise a Ski-ing show on Sky Sports TV in 2001.
Cherry Red Records acquired the rights to Delerium's back catalogue and on 28.02.2011 released a triple CD Last Daze of The Underground, which features Sons of Selina's second single "Life is But". Record Collector magazine described the song as 'gruff, strident and almost a hit single.'
Line up
With radio airplay aplenty, BBC DJ Mark Radcliffe invited the band to perform a live session on his Radio One show. At the time being only a two-piece studio project Neil and Robin had to recruit a live band and did so, adding Steve Sync, Martin Wilding, Steve ‘Bonehead’ Jones, Ken Mainardis and Cumi Pants. This line up began playing live and it was noted the stage performances were better than the recorded work.
Bassist Ken left after three gigs to work for Reuters in London and the band became a six-piece. Robin took over and he too was eventually replaced by ex-Pocket Venus bassist Chris Bainbridge.
With Robin gone, Neil and Steve Sync became the working nucleus of the band and put together the second and final album “Fire In the Hole” but family constraints and line-up issues began taking their toll the band and things fizzled out by 1999.
Recent years
- Neil Crud began concentrating on media work (including at BBC Radio Wales), producing videos for bands (The Alarm, Spear of Destiny, Global Parasite, Homespun and compiling the link2wales archive website). He also had a brief spell managing Pocket Venus, releasing two singles on his Secrets of Sound Record Label. Since 1999 Neil has compiled link2wales.co.uk website, and in 2012 he started a new 'subpop-punk' band Braxton Hicks.
- Steve Sync along with ex-4Q member Cumi Pants (not his real name!) joined punk band Alien Matter and their Sons of Selina influence played heavily on the band’s sound, turning them into a heavier, punkier version of the Sons. Both went on to join The Affliction and then Courteous Thief
- Martin Wilding is now a studio engineer/producer for The Alarm and has worked with The Stone Roses, Doves, The Damned, Reef, The Levellers.
- Steve 'Bonehead' Jones is now a guitar technician and worked for Stiff Little Fingers, The Alarm and the Sex Pistols, Paulo Nutini, Muse, Level 42
Discography
This is a discography of Sons of Selina official releases. There have been many other unofficial bootleg and cassette releases along with countless compilation album appearances.
- Anxiety – 7” single - May 1992
- Life is But – 7” single - June 1993
- Jam Tomorrow – 7” EP - October 1993
- Nour d’Oui – CD / LP - June 1994
- Terminus – EP CD - September 1996
- Our Glass – CD single – March 1998
- Fire In The Hole – CD Album – September 1999
Members
- Neil Crud − vocals, bass, guitar (1990–1999)
- Robin Hemuss − guitar, keyboards, bass (1990–1997)
- Steve Sync − keyboards (1994–1999)
- Steve Bonehead Jones − guitar (1994–1999)
- Martin Wilding − guitar (1994–1999)
- Cumi Pants – drums (1994–1999)
Other members
- Ken Mainardis − bass (1994)
- Chris Bainbridge − bass (1998)