Moonshake
Encyclopedia
Moonshake was a UK-based experimental rock
/post-rock
band existing between 1991 and 1997. The only consistent member was singer/sampler player/occasional guitarist David Callahan, who initially co-led the project with Margaret Fiedler (Fiedler and other members and associates would leave Moonshake in 1993 to form the more commercially successful Laika
). The band was notable for its extensive use of textures and sampler technology in a rock context.
, who were active for much of the second half of the 1980s. Often associated with the C86
indie scene of the time, the band released several acclaimed albums of abrasive guitar pop and a dozen or so singles on a variety of labels. Following the dissolution of The Wolfhounds
, Callahan decided to form a new band and recruited Margaret Fiedler
(vocals, guitars, samplers), John Frenett
(bass) and finally Miguel "Mig" Moreland (drums, percussion). Although Callahan originally favoured Skyscraper as a project name, the band ultimately settled on the name Moonshake (taken from a Can
single
on the seminal Krautrock
ers' Future Days
album.
Callahan and Fiedler alternated the lead vocal and songwriting duties for the band, both favouring very different approaches: Fiedler created surreal, ethereal and atmospheric material, while Callahan favoured harsher-sounding urban fables. Due to this factor, the performance style of the band alternated considerably depending on which songwriter's songs were being played. Initially, the band's diversity added to its strength - in 2009, Fiedler would recall "I really liked Dave Callahan's songs and his voice - obviously! That's why I wanted to be in a band with him... We were different people and wrote differently, but came from the same influences - Can
, PIL
, Kraftwerk
, Eric B & Rakim, and MBV to name a few bands. Moonshake was a collision - it was supposed to be a collision." Regardless of the divergence in approaches, all Moonshake songs made a strong use of textures, noise and sampler technology.
's Creation Records for their debut EP, First, released in spring 1991. At this point, the band was continuing to follow the harsh-effected guitar-heavy sound which had characterised a lot of the last Wolfhounds recordings. The results drew comparisons with Sonic Youth
and especially My Bloody Valentine, and lacked the dub element which would feature in later recordings.
After the release of First, Moonshake signed to the emerging independent label Too Pure
(home of PJ Harvey
, Th' Faith Healers
and Stereolab
). Their first single for the new label was Secondhand Clothes, which showed a leaning towards the dub-bass-heavy post-punk sound of bands such as Public Image Limited and The Pop Group
. This was followed in 1992 by the Beautiful Pigeon EP (which featured two rare songwriting collaborations between Callahan and Fiedler) and then by Moonshake's debut album, Eva Luna. The band began to earn many positive reviews for its unusual sample-driven and rhythmically-propulsive sound, which drew on indie rock, noise-rock, breakbeats, electronica, psychedelia, dub, art-rock, Krautrock
and punk.
Things did get extremely tense on the last tour we did together in 1993 in North America."
Following this tour, Moonshake split in half, with Margaret Fiedler and John Frenett departing to form Laika
with Guy Fixsen
(who had engineered Eva Luna). In 2009 Fiedler would recall of the split "it wasn't amicable. In fact it took me years to get over it, which is kinda sad to admit. I haven't spoken to Dave in years..." Earlier (in a 1995 Laika interview), she commented "Laika is a close working collective; in Moonshake that was never possible. David and I always did what we liked. I have never compromised myself and that's the main reason why I was forced to leave the band. After the American tour David no longer wanted to work with me."
's bass player Johnny Dawe covered for the departed Frenett, while PJ Harvey
, Stereolab
keyboard player Katharine Gifford and Sidi Bou Said
members Lee Howton and Claire Lemmon all contributed vocals. Horns were added by trumpeter Andrew Blick (Blowpipe) and saxophonist Raymond Dickaty (from Gallon Drunk
and Skree). The band refused to use an outside producer for the sessions and self-produced instead, labelling producers as "an overpaid imposition".
The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow was released in 1994 (a few months before Fiedler, Frenett and Fixsen followed with their debut as Laika
). It revealed that Moonshake had completely banned guitars from their new sound, relying entirely on the combination of Dickaty's saxophones with looped and layered samples over the rhythm section (in a similar manner to The Young Gods
). Compared to earlier recordings, the new Moonshake material was jazzier (with extensive horn parts) and more direct. Callahan wrote all of the songs for the record, with his bleak, vivid urban vision now uninterrupted and untempered by Fiedler's more psychedelic approaches. However, the use of female singers on the record - in particular, PJ Harvey
's striking guest contribution on "Just A Working Girl" - would ensure that for now Moonshake would retain a strong female component despite Fiedler's departure.
Katherine Gifford continued to guest as female harmony singer on live Moonshake dates (as well as performing as lead singer on those newer songs written for a female voice, such as "Heart Keeps Beating"). Dickaty also joined the band as a full-time member, and Matt Brewer was recruited as the new bass guitarist. Following Gifford's departure in 1996 (to form Snowpony
), Moonshake would make use of other guest vocalists - Mary Hansen
(Stereolab
) and Tor. During this period, Moreland also left the band to join Moose
, leaving Callahan as the sole surviving original member. Moreland was replaced on drums by first Kevin Bass (who later moved on to Snowpony
) and then Michael Rother (not to be confused with his namesake in Neu!
). During this period the band continued to play concerts and to tour, most notably featuring as part of Lollapalooza
.
, later licensed to a UK release through World Domination Recordings
). Compared to The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow, Dirty And Divine featured a far less prominent role for female vocals (reduced more to harmonies) and reduced instrumentation, being recorded by a core group of Callahan, Brewer, Rother and Dickaty (with assistance from Hansen). The album contained various songs which had been played in the Moonshake set during the previous two years, with subjects ranging from sailor's tales, the lives and deaths of cities, addictions to risk and danger and sexual fantasy in advertising.
Shortly after the release of Dirty And Divine, Callahan moved to the United States (to briefly relocate to Brooklyn, New York). This effectively called time on the band, and by 1997 Moonshake was over. An EP of remixes originally commissioned to promote the Dirty and Divine album was belatedly issued in 1999, though this release was disowned by Callahan.
.
Post-$urplus, Callahan would involve himself in other work including DJ-ing. Callahan would also reunite with several former members of the Wolfhounds
for live performances in late 2004, 2006 and 2010.
Former Moonshake saxophonist Raymond Dickaty would go on to join Spiritualized
and would stay with them until 2002. He would later work with The Duke Spirit
, AMP, Zukanican
and his own free-jazz/rock fusion band Solar Fire Trio.
(performing "French Disko" with them on Channel 4
's The Word
in 1993) and the Stereolab
spin-off project Turn On.
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
/post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
band existing between 1991 and 1997. The only consistent member was singer/sampler player/occasional guitarist David Callahan, who initially co-led the project with Margaret Fiedler (Fiedler and other members and associates would leave Moonshake in 1993 to form the more commercially successful Laika
Laika (band)
Laika is a British alternative rock band founded in 1993 by ex-Moonshake members Margaret Fiedler and John Frenett, and producer/engineer Guy Fixsen. The band was named after the first animal to orbit the earth, the Russian dog Laika.-Sound:...
). The band was notable for its extensive use of textures and sampler technology in a rock context.
Formation
David Callahan (vocals, guitars, samplers) had been in indie-rock band The WolfhoundsThe Wolfhounds
The Wolfhounds were an indie rock band formed in Romford, Havering, England in 1985 by Dave Callahan, Paul Clark, Andy Golding, Andy Bolton and Frank Stebbing. They began as a slightly askew pop/rock band, and signed to the Pink label in 1986. First EP Cut The Cake was well enough received for...
, who were active for much of the second half of the 1980s. Often associated with the C86
C86 (music)
C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from independent labels of the time. As a phrase, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based musical genre characterised by "jangly" guitars and fey melodies, although other...
indie scene of the time, the band released several acclaimed albums of abrasive guitar pop and a dozen or so singles on a variety of labels. Following the dissolution of The Wolfhounds
The Wolfhounds
The Wolfhounds were an indie rock band formed in Romford, Havering, England in 1985 by Dave Callahan, Paul Clark, Andy Golding, Andy Bolton and Frank Stebbing. They began as a slightly askew pop/rock band, and signed to the Pink label in 1986. First EP Cut The Cake was well enough received for...
, Callahan decided to form a new band and recruited Margaret Fiedler
Margaret Fiedler
Margaret Fiedler McGinnis is a London-based American vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and noted guitarist. She is best known as a founding member of UK indie groups Moonshake and Laika and as live guitarist with PJ Harvey and Wire.McGinnis grew up in Winnetka, Illinois and later in Connecticut...
(vocals, guitars, samplers), John Frenett
John Frenett
John Frenett is an English bassist, best known for his slippery dub-style playing in the bands Moonshake and Laika in the 1990s.He had formed The Hangovers with former The Raincoats member Gina Birch, and played bass and guitar on their debut album, Slow Dirty Tears released in 1998...
(bass) and finally Miguel "Mig" Moreland (drums, percussion). Although Callahan originally favoured Skyscraper as a project name, the band ultimately settled on the name Moonshake (taken from a Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
single
Moonshake (song)
"Moonshake" is a song by the krautrock band Can, on their 1973 album Future Days. Unusually for this album, known for its ambient, lengthy tracks, the song is short and has a pop structure, and was released as a single....
on the seminal Krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
ers' Future Days
Future Days
Future Days is the fifth studio album by the rock music group Can. This is the last album to feature Japanese vocalist Damo Suzuki. On Future Days, the band employs more of an ambient sound than on their previous efforts, especially on the title track and the twenty-minute "Bel Air".-Track...
album.
Callahan and Fiedler alternated the lead vocal and songwriting duties for the band, both favouring very different approaches: Fiedler created surreal, ethereal and atmospheric material, while Callahan favoured harsher-sounding urban fables. Due to this factor, the performance style of the band alternated considerably depending on which songwriter's songs were being played. Initially, the band's diversity added to its strength - in 2009, Fiedler would recall "I really liked Dave Callahan's songs and his voice - obviously! That's why I wanted to be in a band with him... We were different people and wrote differently, but came from the same influences - Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
, PIL
Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd are an English post-punk band formed by vocalist John Lydon , guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble, with frequent subsequent personnel changes. Lydon is the sole constant member of the band....
, Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, Eric B & Rakim, and MBV to name a few bands. Moonshake was a collision - it was supposed to be a collision." Regardless of the divergence in approaches, all Moonshake songs made a strong use of textures, noise and sampler technology.
First lineup (early EPs and Eva Luna)
Moonshake signed to Alan McGeeAlan McGee
Alan McGee has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian.McGee is best-known for co-forming and running the independent Creation Records label from 1983–1999, and then Poptones from 1999-2007...
's Creation Records for their debut EP, First, released in spring 1991. At this point, the band was continuing to follow the harsh-effected guitar-heavy sound which had characterised a lot of the last Wolfhounds recordings. The results drew comparisons with Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
and especially My Bloody Valentine, and lacked the dub element which would feature in later recordings.
After the release of First, Moonshake signed to the emerging independent label Too Pure
Too Pure
Too Pure is a London-based independent record label that was formed in 1990 by Richard Roberts and Paul Cox.-History:Too Pure started off as a small experimental label and had built their reputation by releasing primarily alternative/independent music which they felt was being ignored by the major...
(home of PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
, Th' Faith Healers
Th' Faith Healers
Th' Faith Healers were a UK indie rock group who were active between 1990 and 1994 and part of the so-called Camden lurch scene. They recorded multiple EPs and singles along with two full LPs...
and Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
). Their first single for the new label was Secondhand Clothes, which showed a leaning towards the dub-bass-heavy post-punk sound of bands such as Public Image Limited and The Pop Group
The Pop Group
The Pop Group are a British post-punk band from Bristol, England, formed in 1978, whose dissonant sound spanned punk, free jazz, funk and dub reggae. Their lyrics were often political in nature...
. This was followed in 1992 by the Beautiful Pigeon EP (which featured two rare songwriting collaborations between Callahan and Fiedler) and then by Moonshake's debut album, Eva Luna. The band began to earn many positive reviews for its unusual sample-driven and rhythmically-propulsive sound, which drew on indie rock, noise-rock, breakbeats, electronica, psychedelia, dub, art-rock, Krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
and punk.
Big Good Angel and split of original lineup
For 1993's mini-album Big Good Angel, both Callahan and Fiedler contributed three songs each. By now the divergent styles of the two songwriters was producing too much creative tension for the band to survive for much longer. In 2009, Fiedler recalled that "maybe after a while, the tension that was there in our writing and singing styles spilled over into real life.Things did get extremely tense on the last tour we did together in 1993 in North America."
Following this tour, Moonshake split in half, with Margaret Fiedler and John Frenett departing to form Laika
Laika (band)
Laika is a British alternative rock band founded in 1993 by ex-Moonshake members Margaret Fiedler and John Frenett, and producer/engineer Guy Fixsen. The band was named after the first animal to orbit the earth, the Russian dog Laika.-Sound:...
with Guy Fixsen
Guy Fixsen
Guy Fixsen is a producer/engineer/musician based in London. He is best-known for his producing/engineering work with various indie rock, shoegazer, and experimental rock bands, and for forming the band Laika....
(who had engineered Eva Luna). In 2009 Fiedler would recall of the split "it wasn't amicable. In fact it took me years to get over it, which is kinda sad to admit. I haven't spoken to Dave in years..." Earlier (in a 1995 Laika interview), she commented "Laika is a close working collective; in Moonshake that was never possible. David and I always did what we liked. I have never compromised myself and that's the main reason why I was forced to leave the band. After the American tour David no longer wanted to work with me."
Second lineup
Moonshake was left as a duo of David Callahan and Mig Moreland. With the loss of Fiedler's guitar-playing and Callahan's increasing interest in samplers, the band began moving further away from indie rock and psychedelia and deeper into Callahan's art-punk/film-noir stylings. While recording the band's second full-length album, The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow, Callahan and Moreland drew on a host of guest musicians. Collapsed LungCollapsed Lung (band)
Collapsed Lung are a Harlow-based Brit-Pop group most famous for the song "Eat My Goal". They formed in February 1992.-History:Collapsed Lung was originally formed as a bedroom studio collaboration between Anthony Chapman and Steve Harcourt...
's bass player Johnny Dawe covered for the departed Frenett, while PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
, Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
keyboard player Katharine Gifford and Sidi Bou Said
Sidi Bou Said (band)
Sidi Bou Said were a London based rock band, who existed during the 1990s. Their music combined an indie rock/folk sound with complex arrangements and literate lyrics. They were often compared to Throwing Muses and the Pixies, with whom they shared a taste for sometimes uncomfortable lyrical themes...
members Lee Howton and Claire Lemmon all contributed vocals. Horns were added by trumpeter Andrew Blick (Blowpipe) and saxophonist Raymond Dickaty (from Gallon Drunk
Gallon Drunk
Gallon Drunk are an English band formed in London in 1988. Their swamp rock sound contains a variety of influences, from punk to jazz and the novels of Derek Raymond , and is noted for its dark subject matter.-Biography:...
and Skree). The band refused to use an outside producer for the sessions and self-produced instead, labelling producers as "an overpaid imposition".
The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow was released in 1994 (a few months before Fiedler, Frenett and Fixsen followed with their debut as Laika
Laika (band)
Laika is a British alternative rock band founded in 1993 by ex-Moonshake members Margaret Fiedler and John Frenett, and producer/engineer Guy Fixsen. The band was named after the first animal to orbit the earth, the Russian dog Laika.-Sound:...
). It revealed that Moonshake had completely banned guitars from their new sound, relying entirely on the combination of Dickaty's saxophones with looped and layered samples over the rhythm section (in a similar manner to The Young Gods
The Young Gods
The Young Gods are a Swiss post-industrial band. The band's lineup has generally consisted of a vocalist, a sampler operator and a drummer. Their instrumentation often includes sampled electric guitars, drums, keyboards, and other samples. The lyrics are depicted in English, French and...
). Compared to earlier recordings, the new Moonshake material was jazzier (with extensive horn parts) and more direct. Callahan wrote all of the songs for the record, with his bleak, vivid urban vision now uninterrupted and untempered by Fiedler's more psychedelic approaches. However, the use of female singers on the record - in particular, PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
's striking guest contribution on "Just A Working Girl" - would ensure that for now Moonshake would retain a strong female component despite Fiedler's departure.
Katherine Gifford continued to guest as female harmony singer on live Moonshake dates (as well as performing as lead singer on those newer songs written for a female voice, such as "Heart Keeps Beating"). Dickaty also joined the band as a full-time member, and Matt Brewer was recruited as the new bass guitarist. Following Gifford's departure in 1996 (to form Snowpony
Snowpony
Snowpony are a British indie rock supergroup initially formed in 1996 by Katharine Gifford and Debbie Googe.-History:Gifford, who at the time was in Moonshake, gave Googe a tape of songs she had been working on before Moonshake went on a US tour. Googe, who then had recently left My Bloody...
), Moonshake would make use of other guest vocalists - Mary Hansen
Mary Hansen
Mary Hansen was a guitarist and singer with Stereolab.Born in Maryborough north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, Hansen moved to London in the late 1980s and became a backing singer with the Essex-based indie band, The Wolfhounds.She met Stereolab founder Tim Gane when the Wolfhounds played...
(Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
) and Tor. During this period, Moreland also left the band to join Moose
Moose (band)
Moose were a British indie rock band who formed in London in 1990. The original line-up included Russell Yates , K.J. “Moose” McKillop , Damien Warburton , and Jeremy Tishler . After Warburton and Tishler left the band they were replaced with Lincoln Fong , his brother Russell , and Richard Thomas...
, leaving Callahan as the sole surviving original member. Moreland was replaced on drums by first Kevin Bass (who later moved on to Snowpony
Snowpony
Snowpony are a British indie rock supergroup initially formed in 1996 by Katharine Gifford and Debbie Googe.-History:Gifford, who at the time was in Moonshake, gave Googe a tape of songs she had been working on before Moonshake went on a US tour. Googe, who then had recently left My Bloody...
) and then Michael Rother (not to be confused with his namesake in Neu!
Neu!
Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...
). During this period the band continued to play concerts and to tour, most notably featuring as part of Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
.
Last years
Callahan's dominance of Moonshake was further emphasised by the time their final album, Dirty And Divine, was released in 1996 (on the Seattle indie imprint C/Z RecordsC/Z Records
C/Z Records is a Seattle-based record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale with the release of the now-legendary, Deep Six LP, which collected the earliest recordings of the real pro-genitors of what later came to be known as grunge...
, later licensed to a UK release through World Domination Recordings
World Domination Recordings
World Domination Recordings was an indie rock record label founded by bass player and music entrepreneur Dave Allen in Los Angeles. From roughly 1989 to 1996 it released records by artists including Low Pop Suicide, The Elastic Purejoy, Stanford Prison Experiment, Perfume Tree, Sky Cries Mary, Loop...
). Compared to The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow, Dirty And Divine featured a far less prominent role for female vocals (reduced more to harmonies) and reduced instrumentation, being recorded by a core group of Callahan, Brewer, Rother and Dickaty (with assistance from Hansen). The album contained various songs which had been played in the Moonshake set during the previous two years, with subjects ranging from sailor's tales, the lives and deaths of cities, addictions to risk and danger and sexual fantasy in advertising.
Shortly after the release of Dirty And Divine, Callahan moved to the United States (to briefly relocate to Brooklyn, New York). This effectively called time on the band, and by 1997 Moonshake was over. An EP of remixes originally commissioned to promote the Dirty and Divine album was belatedly issued in 1999, though this release was disowned by Callahan.
Post-Moonshake
David Callahan's time in the United States was brief, and he re-emerged on the London music scene in the early 2000s, setting up a multimedia/DJ/music project called The $urplus!. In its band formation (in which Callahan was joined by singer Anja Buchuele) The $urplus! released a single self-titled EP containing four songs, resembling Moonshake's later material but with a lighter and less brutal approach, the inclusion of guitars, and Callahan and Buchuele operating as much more equal partners than was the case with latter-day Moonshake. The band briefly experimented with an expanded garage-rock lineup, but did not release any more material. Buchuele would later contribute to the revived Bark PsychosisBark Psychosis
Bark Psychosis are an English post-rock band/musical project from east London formed in 1986. They were one of the bands that Simon Reynolds cited when coining "post-rock" as a musical style in 1994, and are thus considered one of the key bands defining the genre...
.
Post-$urplus, Callahan would involve himself in other work including DJ-ing. Callahan would also reunite with several former members of the Wolfhounds
The Wolfhounds
The Wolfhounds were an indie rock band formed in Romford, Havering, England in 1985 by Dave Callahan, Paul Clark, Andy Golding, Andy Bolton and Frank Stebbing. They began as a slightly askew pop/rock band, and signed to the Pink label in 1986. First EP Cut The Cake was well enough received for...
for live performances in late 2004, 2006 and 2010.
Former Moonshake saxophonist Raymond Dickaty would go on to join Spiritualized
Spiritualized
Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
and would stay with them until 2002. He would later work with The Duke Spirit
The Duke Spirit
The Duke Spirit are an English rock band based in London. Their sound has been seen as a melding of many influences ranging from the alternative noise of 1980s/90s guitar bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Spacemen 3, the tremulous rock n roll of bands such as The Gun Club and The...
, AMP, Zukanican
Zukanican
Zukanican are an experimental band primarily based in Liverpool, England. They have been in existence since 2003 and, amongst other releases, have had two albums and one EP on Pickled Egg Records...
and his own free-jazz/rock fusion band Solar Fire Trio.
Connections
During his Moonshake years, David Callahan enjoyed brief cameos with contemporaries StereolabStereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
(performing "French Disko" with them on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's The Word
The Word (TV series)
The Word was a 1990s Channel 4 television programme in the United Kingdom.-Format:Its presenters included Mancunian radio presenter Terry Christian, comedian Mark Lamarr, Dani Behr, Katie Puckrik, Jasmine Dotiwala, Alan Connor, Amanda de Cadenet and "Huffty"...
in 1993) and the Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
spin-off project Turn On.
Singles
- First EP (1991, Creation records)
- Secondhand Clothes EP (1991, Too Pure)
- "Beautiful Pigeon" (1992, Too Pure)
- "Lola Lola" b/w "Always True To You In My Fashion" (1995, Clawfist Singles Club)
- "Cranes" (1996, C/Z / World Domination)
Albums
- Eva Luna (1992, Too Pure / 1993, Matador-Atlantic)
- Big Good Angel (Mini-album) (1993, Too Pure / Matador)
- The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow (1994, Too Pure / American)
- Dirty And Divine (1996, C/Z-BMG / World Domination)
- Remixes (1999, C/Z)
Compilation appearances
- Beautiful Pigeon (1992, V/A "Independent Top 20 Volume 15", Beechwood Music; the track Night Tripper also appeared on a 7" single given away with the vinyl edition of this LP)
- Just A Working Girl (1994, V/A "Pop - Do We Not Like That?", Too Pure)
- Nothing But Time (1995, V/A "Volume 16 - Copulation Explosion")