A Message From Pete
As left on the Kenickie Fried Chicken Message Board, 16.10.1998
Hello everybody. Pete/Johnny/x/Gofton here, speaking to youse the day after the night before. i can't actually remember large parts of the evening (re: the astoria ), but others have attempted to fill in the blanks. its episodic at best, but here goes anyway; im writing in response to several things i've both seen and heard in the past 12 or so hours. as far as i can recall, we made no firm statement about our future last night at the LA2. what lauren (and possibly myself) said onstage was hazy. however, i can say that there are no future plans for kenickie at the moment. contrary to what some music biz scumbags (who are responsible for this state of affairs,and know who they are)have been spreading,we (the band) are as close as we were before the unpleasantness. the reasons behind all of this shit are manifold; where do i start? ok, fuck all people bought 'get in' but so what? my favorite band of all time is slint,and they sold fuck all, split up, only gaining kudos after their dissolution. if this was about selling records,'get in' would sound like 'at the club', only more refined and with bigger choruses. maybe then the people who like shite like suede and mansun would have bought it, as they did the first album. i know there's some people out there who will say "why didn't you do the album like that?", the fact is; 'get in' and 'at the club' are statements of intent. they are nowhere near being the albums they were supposed to be. both are compromised, delivered as close as we could realise how they are supposed to sound. due to record company and management politics, and our own naivety and lack of wherewithall of the rock industry(i.e 'you scratch my back and you'll have blanket air play on the chris moyles show" and shit like that),we failed in 'music biz terms'. we didn't sell enough records to be considered a 'cash cow', and given the time to grow as a band. we had to make our statement within the two albums. to us, this was a shitter, but you can only work with what you're given.anyway, this whole 'we wanna be popstars' angle is completely overplayed. i look at that chicks band now, and realise the inanity of those sentiments. we were an aquired taste, which is perfect for me, my favorite bands sold in insignificant numbers. we would never split due to the sales of records. it's a stupid, pissy little thing to be upset by. a couple of words about the gig itself; initial reports have the gig as being shambolic. a word of advice kids, alcohol and a cold don't mix. i'm told i was great, but to all the people whose evening i ruined - sorry. spraydog and velocette where both sooperb (as they have been the whole tour),and i thank them for making good show every night. another rumour about the gig was our 'apparently half-arsed attempts to smash our gear up. in this case, the only person doing the smashing was me, and i entered into it fully-arsed. anyhoo, thanks to the people who liked us for what we were, not what we were supposed to have been. and the moral of this story is;-
never sign to a major label (pete, you were right)
trust no-ones intentions but your own,
and finally, never compromise. ever.
thankyou and goodnight.
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