Nick Sanderson 1961 – 2008
Apologies that this is a month late, I only learnt of Nick’s death from cancer earlier this week, although obits did appear in the guardian, independant and mojo as well as on Quietus (although there seems to be something up with the main article).
The first time I saw Earl Brutus was at Glastonbury in 1998. MyPete had been raving about them for months having seen them in Amsterdam. After four days of torrential rain, spirits were low and, to be honest with you, I didn’t get it. Lots of shouting, sampled glam drums and a funny Japanese bloke who didn’t really seem to do anything. Everyone else was buzzing but I was just a bit confused. It was only when I saw them a second time, at the Attic in Cheltenham a few months later (and then every three or four months after that, well, MyPete booked the bands you see), that it clicked into place. There was lots of shouting, sampled glam drums, and a Japanese bloke who didn’t seem to do anything and it was ASTONISHING. A bunch of grizzled, rather scary-looking blokes making an almighty racket and central to it all, Nick screaming lyrics about army boys, suicides with stars in their eyes and asking us to show him our minds. The one thing that brutus gigs never were was boring, shambolic often yes, but visceral and communal. Watching non-believers faces as we punched the air, joining in with the terrace chant choruses, trying to keep up with Sun-Yu’s drinking speed (the main thing he did, i soon realised, was drink lager). Given that the post-britpop landscape was such a graveyard of plodding sub-travises and ska-punk it was only Earl Brutus and Arab Strap (more grizzled old men getting pissed) that seemed to do anything for me.
The last time i saw Earl Brutus was the weekend of the jubilee in 2002, at the ICA. As we sat in the bar we saw the huge crowds of people being marshalled away from the palace as a fire alert or bomb threat or something had caused the whole area to be evacuated. Safe inside the 10 foot thick walls, we were left alone to continue with the gig. I never quite worked out why they’d been booked for this gig, they were supporting the Parkinsons and hardly anyone else seemed that botherd about them, but, down the front, the hardcore had come out of the woodwork and the band didn’t disappoint they were the same drunken, shouty, visceral, idiot genius they always were.
I missed the “re-elect ken” gig they did in 2004, but always had half an eye out for them when looking through the guardian gig guide. Surely, i thought, one day they’ll be back, nearly every other chancer from the era has reformed, but now, I guess not.
Here are some shamefully underwatch youtube clips. Thank you Nick.
Come Taste My Mind Video
Navyhead Video
Short clip of the ICA gig mentioned above
Earl Brutus wreck the Austrian Embassy, 2001 (SAS and the Glam that Goes With It and Navyhead)
CarsmileSteve in FT • Drink/earl brutus/nick sanderson/Pop • 350 views • Share/Save
A lot of Nick’s obituaries have mentioned how Earl Brutus had more in common with Brit Art than Brit Pop. I think it’s telling that one of the best artists in the country, Jeremy Deller, is a Brutus nut. How much more exciting/adventurous/hilarious/emotional were they than any of the Britpop groups who got gold discs (a frightening number of whom were thoroughly useless). Only Pulp came close to the lyrical acuteness (“I wear the clothes that make you cry” is one of my very favourite opening lines), humour, and nu pop thrill of Earl Brutus.
I’ll remember Nick as the best company I could have wished for on a crumbling terrace at Edgware Town, Chesham United or Purfleet; listening to Focus on the pub jukebox; wondering what inspired Robert Palmer’s I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On (“Who was he singing to? The washing machine?”); the only person I knew who meant there was a one-in-five chance we’d be thrown out of the pub, Laurel and Hardy style, before the end of the evening. He was a total one-off and a massively inspiring bloke. I wish everyone could have met him.
Nick in a nutshell. We started following the FA Cup in the first qualifying round a few times but never got past the last sixteen. This was shot by Paul Kelly at a village called North Leigh (Hellenic League) when they played Newport County in a Cup game and got a record attendance. Such a shame the film never got finished.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VtUqj055lk
[...] The one that’s really stung lately, though, is the passing of Nick Sanderson, formerly of World of Twist and Earl Brutus. Earl Brutus are a band I remember being mentioned a lot on The Evening Session when I was 15, 16-ish, but not one I ever recall hearing for myself. I saw their singles advertised in the NME sometimes, and remember being particularly taken by the title “The SAS And The Glam That Goes With It”, but I never sought them out. Ten years too damn late, I actually bothered listening to them thanks to Steve Hewitt’s article about Sanderson’s passing on FreakyTrigger: [...]
The Nick Sanderson Tribute Night ‘Train Driver In Eyeliner’ – Monday October 27th at the Forum, Kentish Town:
Starring The Jesus & Mary Chain, British Sea Power, Black Box Recorder
with DJs Gordon, Jim, and Shinya (Earl Brutus)
£20 a ticket, all proceeds go to Nick’s wife and son.
Please come along, it’s going to be a very special night.
booked my ticket.