I could hear someone plucking away at a guitar in the background and then John got on the phone. I told him I was just calling to see how things were going and to ask about a couple things that had come up on the list.

I actually didn't expect anyone to be there, so I was completely unprepared (didn't have my questions ready and couldn't find anything to write on)...but here goes (you'll notice that a lot of this is the same as what Frank said last month):

What are they doing these days: They're currently working on some new songs. John says they have 7-8 tracks they're working on and they'd like to come up with a full album worth as opposed to an EP. A friend of theirs from London has been up there helping out with the engineering. They really are selling Shabby Road and are moving out in about 3 weeks. So the focus has been on using the studio as much as possible and they will continue to spend a lot of time recording while they're still living there.

Where are they going: He wasn't sure. All he said was that they just wanted to get out of Kilmarnock. I asked about moving to London and he said maybe, they have some friends there.

I asked some ridiculous question about whether the new songs have the same sound that we're used to, or if they're different (as soon as the question left my mouth I wished I could have gone back in time about 10 seconds): he said that he didn't know how to describe it, it was a little different sound, and they had gone about recording in a different way. I'm not really sure what this means.

Who is playing drums and bass: Stephen is officially back on drums. They all sort of take their stab at playing bass for the purpose of laying down the new tracks. Campbell Owens, who used to play in Aztec Camera and who played with TCS in France last fall, has offered to help out on bass. I think John said that he's in college right now (I'm not sure if this is 'college' in the American meaning), but he'll be putting his spin on the songs at some point. I think what John said is that Campbell isn't really considered a sessions musician, but he wouldn't be a full time member. It would just be the four of them, and Campbell would help out. John also said that TCS is much better with Stephen on drums and Campbell on bass than when they sported the lineup with Stephen on bass and Skip Reid on drums. He basically said that no one can play drums like Stephen can.

What's going on with the record label search: They still don't have a manager right now and have decided to forget about this for the time being; I don't think I even asked if anyone had contacted them lately. He said that it would require one of them to be on the phone all day, so they're just focusing on recording songs while they're at Shabby Road and afterwards they'll worry about securing a record deal. He sounded pretty optimistic that something good would happen.

Did they obtain the rights to AHP: I'm really mad at myself because I forgot to ask this!

Do they think they'll ever make it to the US: He didn't know, but he hoped so. They hope that a record label will set them up with a tour. I told him that the list had talked about flying them out here, trying to set up shows and having them crash at our houses, and he just laughed. He probably thinks we're nuts! I made some comment about it being a low budget tour, sleeping on floors and he said he sleeps on the floor now so it wouldn't make a difference!

I don't know how this came up but he mentioned that they rent out some of the sessions rooms in the studio so they've been earning some income and can afford to buy food!

I said something about how the people on the list would practically kill to get their hands on more TCS material and he said that he knows there hasn't been much of anything available for a while, but hopefully that will change soon.

He said to tell the list thanks for all the support. He said they'd received quite a few really nice faxes lately as well as a bunch of letters and it's nice to know everyone cares what happens to them. I think he really seemed optimistic that something good would happen to them. He also mentioned that it was raining and crappy weather, so they'd probably be inside recording all weekend.

That's all I can remember.

Keep sending in those letters, if you have a chance:

Here is how to contact them via snail mail:
The Receivers (or TCS)
1 Glencairn Square
Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
KA1 4AQ
UK

Look for more news soon...

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