I was in contact with a guy, David, from the band a few years ago. Here’s the story he send me:
“Neural Circus was formed in 1979 from the ashes of the punk band 625 Lines. I had become increasingly disillusioned by the limitations and expectations of the guitar, bass and drums format. I bought a Wasp Synth to replace my guitar and recruited Liam Tungate purly for the reason he drank in the same pub as me and he had a Korg MS20 synth.
We began working on various ideas but found that the most rewarding pieces were pure improvisation. We were asked to perform at a local party (which lasted for 3 days). We did perform at some of the local venues in Harrogate (our home town) but the reaction was very hostile. We continued to play at parties where we were better received by the people who attended.
During this period we had a floating membership and welcomed anyone with complimentary ideas to our own these included, Mike Thomas, Mike Prince,Systems Pete, Wally Wallace, Nigel Hunt, Adam Brown, Claire Gibson& Steph Lang. Some of these people were performance poets or dancers.
On a whim I booked Ric Rac studios in Leeds to record what was intended to be an improvised piece but was persuded to actually write four distinct songs of which two were written on the way to the studio. Exit was as near as I got to the original intention of the recording session in that it was performed straight to tape.
1000 copies of the EP were made with only 200 officially distributed. I was so unhappy with the recording that I burnt the remaining 800 during an outdoor performance.
I have continued to work under the Neural Circus title to the present day but I rarely record anything anymore beliving that the performance is continual and exists on the moment it is made.”
I especially like the concept of writing songs on the way to the studio!
/Jens
Deadlines are famously inspirational.