Fuzz Against Junk

Formed in Summer 2002 by Billy and Ian (tuned to C , jamming on double bass and 12 string acoustic and ripping off riffs from favourite records) to play a gig at Mark Hymas / St Piran’s Limelight nights at The King Charles (RIP) just off Stokes Croft in Bristol.

Steve was asked to come along to provide percussion on the day of the gig – WE REALLY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT WAS GOING TO SOUND LIKE, BUT THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE BAND.

The place was so small Billy had to move his bass everytime a punter wanted to come through the door !. Seemed to go down well.

It was meant to be a one-off and nothing more was planned, but Fat Paul was at the first gig, dug it, and a few months later they played at his Espionage night on the Thekla , adding Paul on guitar / effects.

More gigs followed around Bristol, with a more electronic element to the sound appearing, and most of the first album was recorded in a day ‘live’at The Cube Cinema, yards from their debut gig. Adding Keith ‘Keth’ Bailey on sax and percussion some more recordings at State of The Art finished the album off and it was the debut release on Geoff Barrow’s Invada label .

Another album was recorded at the Cube when the band ‘….looking like cartoon beatniks…’ backed the Blue Aeroplanes Gerard Langley for the second part of his ‘Lit’ series of limited edition CD’s – now long out of print. Aaron on sax and flute appeared at this time, as did Stuart, playing Hurdy-Gurdy, Northumbrian pipes and trombone.

Swedish Radio’s legendary DJ Haken Persson picked up on the band early on and supported them, played tracks on his groundbreaking show.

More gigs followed with various friends appearing on stage and stretching the sound further. The first gig with legendary ex-Can vocalist Damo Suzuki happened at a special Espionage night on the Thekla in Autumn 2003, whilst a second gig with Damo arranged by John Stapleton happened at Fiddlers in March 2004.

Their first appearance at Ashton Court Festival in the Jazz Big Top was an exciting experience for all involved. The bando won some well deserved praise from fans and sceptical onlookers alike "joyous mish mash of folk, blues and psychedeliapounding drums, distortionasnd shake charming swirls." Venue magazine thought.

More studio recordings followed for the second album and more gigs with Oneida, Circle and Comets On Fire followed, as well as an all acoustic gig at the wonderful St Georges Hall, Bristol - ‘one of the finest acoustic chambers in Europe’ - alongside fellow Invada artists Gonga, Saddar Bazaar and Lucky Luke in June 2004. ".Fuzz Against Junk gradually refining their act were a revelation." commented Gerard Langley in Bristol listings magazine Venue and continued ".the semi-acoustic nature of their set made them more approachable than usual, and they went down a storm"

Radio sessions in 2004 included Star FM’s Bristol Uncovered, Resonance 104 FM (jamming on Tin Pan Alley !) and Radio Caroline, and a 3 track, vinyl only limited edition single, the controversial Trenchfoot/Dugout (with hand made labels by the band) was issued as a split release by Rocket / Invada in late 2004 "proto/punk Stooges meets Beefheart." exclaimed one satisfied listener breathlessly.

The band then played a short UK tour alongside cult U.S legends Cul De Sac, finishing with a killer gig at Bristol's Cube once more alongside Damo.

More recordings saw the appearance of vocalist Maria, as a version of ‘Ballad Of The Hip Death Goddess’ written by psychedelic nobodies Ultimate Spinach was released on John Stapleton’s Evil Kitty record label in August 2007.

October 2007 saw them record a BBC 6 Music session. The session was so loud, they had to stop playing while the news was read ! (the engineer told them that the previous week's guest - intense vocalist Vashti Bunyan had been so quiet thay had to turn the air conditioning off to hear her voice !)

2007 finished with 2 monumental sets at the All Tomorrows Parties festival in Butlins, Minehead in December. Curated by fellow Bristolians PORTISHEAD. Fuzz opened the festival with a storming set on the Friday and backed the legendary Can vocalist and friend DAMO SUZUKI on the Sunday, with guests Kid Millions from ONEIDA on second drum kit and Adrian Utley from Portishead on 3rd guitar.the kids minds were fried - so were the bands' !!

2008 saw the release of Fuzz Against Junk's brand new long player "NETTI NETTI" on INVADA RECORDS. Some nicereviews followed :

".the sound is an update of fuzzed out Jazz and psychedelic rock.from beginning to end it's a great album."

"they tap into an overlapping universe of acidic psych-funk, all underpinned by a keen sense of experimentation."

"a disc of fried freaks who make music freak fried ."

2009 saw gigs supporting Sonic Boom's Spectrum as well as taking part in the monstrous Invada Invasion at Bristol's Colston Hall.

2010 and Billy leaves to concentrate on Beak> and impending fatherhood. H. O Morgan from the Heads comes in to fill in the bottom end.and there's a new sound emerging with Paul moving on to fuzz organ.

A tentative gig at the Cube, Bristol saw them (accidentally) massacre the monitor speakers, which went up in smoke !

We want to play live, contact us,speak to us.LISTEN!