MY BLOODY VALENTINE ICEBERG
Original | My post in Russian
It took two years to record “Loveless” - The album was recorded over two years, between 1989 and 1991, in nineteen recording studios. The band’s vocalist and guitarist Kevin Shields dominated the creative process, which was not easy; his goal was to achieve a certain quality of sound, and therefore he experimented a lot - playing guitar with a tremolo arm, using drum loops and moving the vocals to the “background”.
The band is named after a Canadian slasher film - It is widely known that MBV are named after Slasher in 1981. Although Kevin did not know it was named after a horror film, when he saw it, he did not like it and considered changing the name, but when Bilinda joined the band, he apparently forgot.
The Loveless album almost bankrupted its label - According to rumours, the recording of the album cost the label 250 thousand pounds sterling, which put it on the brink of bankruptcy. During the work on the album, the relationship between the band and the label management seriously deteriorated. After the release of the album, Creation Records parted ways with the band, arguing that working with Shields was difficult and expensive.
No one was allowed into the studio - After the Loveless tour, they returned to the studio instead of taking time off to recover from the road. They tried to build their own studio, but encountered many technical problems that sank them financially.
Unknown lyrics - If I understand correctly, the songs are illegible, many of them have no lyrics.
Copycats - After gaining a small popularity in 1988 due to the album "Isn't Anything", MBV got their first copycats.
Third Album Delayed by Two Decades - The long-delayed third album, “m b v,” was released in 2013.
Tendinitis - Shields suffers from tinnitus (“it ranges from mild to severe”) and tendinitis in the offending hand.
Dyslexia - Kevin Shields has mild dyslexia.
The Band's Breakup - Goodge and O'Kisog left the band in 1995, followed by Butcher in 1997. Unable to complete the follow-up to Loveless, Shields isolated himself and, in his own words, “went crazy.”
Holocaust Section - YMMR was played so loudly that journalists compared it to the Holocaust.
Tinnitus - Kevin Shields suffers from permanent tinnitus.
Dave Conway - The former lead singer of the band, he also named the band "My Bloody Valentine".
YMMR Cover Girl - The cover girl is Melanie, a friend of Lush and the Valentines.
New Album in 2018/Late 2021 - There were rumors of two albums in the works. I think Debbie was asked about this in a Q&A, and she confirmed that they were still in the works.
Studio Move - Kevin didn't like the sound of "Loveless" and kept changing studios.
No Engineer - Shields went through a lot of engineers during the recording of "Loveless", eventually giving them up. He would later become one himself.
Tina Durkin - Former member of MBV, played keyboards from 1984 to 1985.
Who is on the cover of "Glider"? - Apparently, no one, it’s just a drawing.
Smoking Lots of Weed While Making Music - Kevin seems to have smoked a lot of weed, as is evident in the lyrics.
Cows - “One of the best anecdotes involved cows and the recording of the hypnotic track ‘All I Need’. “It was recorded around the time we had the cow invasion incident,” Kevin said. “The local cows seemed to really like these new sounds and surrounded the studio, getting very excited and agitated, scaring the owners. Afterwards, there seemed to be cow spirits in the studio, images of creatures with large almond eyes kept coming into my head as I was falling asleep trying to write lyrics, I assumed it was cow spirits, maybe not.”
Fifth Member - Possibly Jen Marco gastronole member handles keyboards and guitar (2013-present).
Bowl Cut - This picture shows the members of MBV sporting this cut.
Jungle Music - In the mid-1990s, Kevin Shields and Colm O'Siosoig recorded music influenced by the fast rhythms of the UK underground jungle and drum 'n' bass scene.
Squatting - Apparently they had to squat in the Netherlands with Conway and Tina. Bilinda also lived in a squatter's house with her child.
Legal issues with the record label - No information.
MBV is not shoegaze - MBV's main genre is indie (alternative) experimental music, earlier albums are rock or post punk.
Chinchillas - MBV did not come out in the 90s because all the equipment exploded, Kevin was going crazy on psychedelics, and there were about 14 chinchillas running around the house.
Failed Home Studio - It's unclear whether this was a failed home studio, but at least Kevin had a home studio in Streatham.
Broken Leg - No information.
Turning into a cartoon? - No information.
UFO Sighting - Shields explained the reason for the lack of an album "From UFO sightings, staying awake for 24 hours only to sleep for four hours, visions of hooded monks looming over the tape deck (an unprecedented omen), shutters constantly being closed to discourage passers-by who were casually looking for the studio to rob, and a sprawling colony of twenty stomping chinchillas who declared that anyone on the band's top floor was theirs, their time at Island was still marred by such unusual circumstances."
140 Decibels at Concerts - Concerts were played at over 120 decibels, causing the ceiling to crack and forcing people to wear earplugs.
Bilinda's Hearing Loss - Bilinda once played until her eardrums burst.
Angry/Cruel Audience - I don't know what the author had in mind, possibly toxic fans of the band.
Hypnagogia - No information.
Months Without Daylight - No information.
On the Edge of Human Comprehension
Kevin installs barbed wire and sandbags outside his house - No information.
The Backstory to "No More Sorry" - In the lyrics to this song, Bilinda Butcher addresses issues related to her mental instability following her divorce from the father of her son Toby. She said in an interview:
"Ever since I wrote Isn't Anything, I've been having panic attacks. Toby's father was very abusive to me, which I talked about in "No More Sorry". He suddenly wanted joint custody and I was scared. Hypnotherapy brought up things from my childhood that explained why I was living with a man like that. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and I realized that a lot of what happened when I was a child shouldn't have happened. A lot of that came out in my lyrics. A lot of discomfort."
Necrophilia/incest in lyrics - There are lyrics like this in the MBV lyrics, especially in the Conway era, such as: “Sunny Sundae Smile”.
Mental illness - No information.
Homeless period - Little information, only that Bilinda was homeless for a time.
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
theartofmadeline
