Origins

Creaming Jesus were a London based UK band influenced by gothic rock

Gothic rock

Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...

, punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 and thrash metal

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

.
Formed in 1987, their original line up was Andy (vocals) Lil (vocals) Tally (bass) Roy (drums) Lindy (drums) and Paul (guitar), their original sound was a wall of percussive noise (two drummers and a drum machine) Slayer

Slayer

Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...

 type thrash metal guitars and screamed vocals.

Lil left after their third gig, and now runs Household Name Records

Household Name Records

Household Name Records is a DIY punk rock record label, based in London, UK. It has been home to notable artists including Howards Alias, Lightyear, and Adequate Seven. It was started in 1996 by David "Lil" Giles and Katherine "Kafren" Vik to promote unknown UK bands...

, a London punk/hardcore Label, and All Ages Records in Camden, London.

Career

The band's first release was a track on the House of Dolls fanzine covermounted 7" single.
They then self-released the 12" EP Nailed Up For Nothing, before being signed to Jungle Records

Jungle Records

Jungle Records is a British-based record label formed in 1982, specializing in classic punk rock, post punk, gothic and alternative releases.They recorded albums by Johnny Thunders such as 'Copy Cats' and 'Que Sera Sera' and are licensors of the classic Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers tape...

 of London, who re-released the EP and put them in the studio to record two further EPs, Mug and Bark (which included a cover version of the Cure

The Cure

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...

's 'A Forest

A Forest

"A Forest" is a single by the English rock band The Cure, released on March 28, 1980 as the only single from their second album Seventeen Seconds. It was their first chart single in the UK, reaching #31; the song was also a hit in the Netherlands, reaching #26. It was also their first single to be...

')

Guitarist Paul Scanlan left following the release of their first three 12" EPs, and and joined the Satanic metal band Akercocke

Akercocke

Akercocke is an English progressive blackened death metal band from London, England. They take their name from a talking monkey in Robert Nye's interpretation of the Faust-legend, and are notable for their heavily Satanic and sexual lyrical content....

The group then recruited Richard and Mario as guitarists, and Des replaced Lindy on drums, to produce their most enduring line up.

In 1990 Creaming Jesus went on tour with Fields of the Nephilim

Fields of the Nephilim

Fields of the Nephilim are an English gothic rock band formed in Stevenage, Hertfordshire in 1984. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Carl McCoy, saxophonist Gary Whisker, Tony Pettitt on bass, guitarist Paul Wright and drummer Alexander "Nod" Wright...

 to coincide with their debut album Too Fat To Run, Too Stupid To Hide. The band returned almost immediately to the studio to record two more singles, Deadtime and Ditchdweller V ('Single of the Issue', Raw). Their second album, Guilt By Association produced by Brian Chuck New, remained in the indie charts for months, as they toured the country.

Following the departure of Des, who was replaced by percussionist Roger, a further session yielded the original Headrush E.P. which coincided with a full four week UK tour. They also toured extensively throughout Europe and Scandinavia, and were one of the first UK bands to play in the newly independent country of (what was) Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

.

Overseas demand led to their first three singles being compiled for an album It's Dance Magic.

For their third album, the band took time off from touring to prepare the new material and after much planning recorded with Dave Fridmann

Dave Fridmann

Dave Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. From 1990 onwards he co-produced all releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips...

 of Mercury Rev

Mercury Rev

Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...

 as producer in Sweetfish, an isolated converted barn in upstate New York. They had met when Creaming Jesus and Mercury Rev toured the UK and Europe together on Mercury Rev's first ever dates in Europe. The result of this session being the album Chaos for the Converted, preceded by the single Hamburg, their style evolving away from the relentless industrial gothic thrash of their previous releases to explore a more experimental psychedelic sound.

The band's final performance in 1994 was at the Venue in New Cross, South London, a gig which was recorded and later released by Jungle Records under the title End Of An Error. By this time their sound was further augmented by the addition of violin player Ffion, who now plays in the band Pronghorn.

The track Reptile from the 'Guilt...' album made an appearance in an episode of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, renewing interest in the band's career.

Related projects

Singer Andy went on to play in extreme noise band Ridiculous with members of Headbutt and The Homage Freaks; releasing one track on the first Household Name records release. He then produced music under various pseudonyms including Armchair Generals, The Master (Hubcap Decorator Trilogy) and Filtrum (Sad Robot Happy Robot). He is now a member of Giant Paw and touring with comedian Andrew O'Neill

Andrew O'Neill

Andrew O'Neill is a stand-up comedian, musician and writer. He lives in London.-Background:Born in Portsmouth in 1979, O'Neill grew up in the suburban town of Wallington. He did his first comedy performance at the age of ten . He started doing stand-up on 16 January 2002, at the Laughing Horse,...

 with their steampunk

Steampunk

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...

 band The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing.

Tally is now writing three novels; The Storming stone; The secret of the Messiah's tomb, and a thesis on how he can prove that god does not exist. His two boys Chaz and Harry are now bass players in their own bands, both playing thrashy hard core music

Lindy went on to marry roadie and celebrity photographer Maxim Mikhalkov, son of oscar winning russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov

Nikita Mikhalkov

Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess...

. She now runs her own established antiques, vintage and retro business, based in Londons Piccadilly Market.

Discography

Releases

• Nailed Up For Nothing EP (12") Jungle Records 1989
• Mug EP EP (12") Jungle Records 1989
• Bark EP EP (12") Jungle Records 1990
• Too Fat To Run, Too Stupid To Hide (LP) Jungle Records 1990
• Dead Time EP (12") (CD, Maxi) Jungle Records 1991
• Ditch Dweller V...The Story Continues (CD, Maxi) Jungle Records 1991
• Guilt By Association
  Guilt by Association
  Guilt by Association can refer to:* Association fallacy - sometimes called "guilt by association".* Guilt by Association Vol. 1 - album by Engine Room Recordings.* Guilt by Association Vol. 2 - album by Engine Room Recordings....
  
   (CD, Album) Jungle Records 1992
• Headrush
  Headrush
  Headrush may refer to:*Vertigo, a medical symptom of a balance disorder*Orthostatic hypotension, a sudden drop in blood pressure and coordination when a person stands up too quickly...
  
   (CD, EP) Jungle Records 1992
• Hamburg EP (CD/EP)
• Chaos For The Converted (LP) Jungle Records 1994
• End of an Error
  End of an Error
  End of an Error is the second studio album released by DeathBoy. A successor to DeathBoy's debut release Music to Crash Cars To, End of an Error was a much more polished release...
  
  (LP) Jungle Records 1994

Tracks appear on:

• Untitled (7") Jessie The God House Of Dolls 1988
• New Alternatives (LP) Hungerford Nightbreed Recordings 1990
• Gothic Rock (CD) Reptile Jungle Records 1992
• Gothic Rock (2xLP, Gat) Reptile Jungle Records 1992
• Gothic Rock 1 (2xCD) Reptile Cleopatra 1993
• The Whip (2xCD) Upside Down Jungle Records 1993
• Gothic Rock 2 (3xLP, Gat) Celebrity Cannibalism ... Jungle Records 1995
• Gothic Rock 2 - 80's Into 90's (2xCD) Celebrity Cannibalism ... Jungle Records 1995
• Gothic Rock 2: 80's Into 90's (2xCD) Celebrity Cannibalism ... Cleopatra 1995
• Flesh, Fangs & Filigree (3xCD) The Skinny Head Fuck Dressed To Kill 1996
• Flesheaters The Return Of The Undead (3xCD + Box) I Lost My Faith Dressed To Kill 1996
• Punks On Drugs! (CD) Smoke (Skin Up For Jesus) Antidote (3) 1997
• Zwischenfall - From The 80's To The 90's Vol. 2 (2xCD) A Forest Subtronic Records 1997
• Gothic Erotica (6xCD) The Skinny Head Fuck, ... Dressed To Kill 1998
• Gothic Rock 3 - Black On Black - Best Of 80's Collection (2xCD) A Forest Cleopatra 1998
• Gothic Rock 3 - Black On Black - Best Of 80's Collection (2xCD) A Forest Jungle Records 1998
• Undead A Gothic Masterpiece (3xCD + Box) Upside Down Dressed To Kill 1999
• Gothic Party Time (CD) Temple Of Love, A Forest Jungle Records 2005
• The Goth Anthology (3xCD + Box) Blind Metro Triples 2006