Photomoto and a dimly lit bedroom in the north of England
Fotomoto, John Peel and a dimly lit bedroom in Stoke-on-Trent …
I first heard of Fotomoto through one of those random opportunities that seem to influence our lives so much, that they lead us down an unexpected path.
My younger brother Richard had been living in North Wales for several years, and I knew that he had learned to play himself in secluded flats and hotel rooms while making a living as a chef in a number of establishments.
He even had some demo tapes that he had made with a band called “The Scabbs.”
Through the music scene of North Wales, Richard connected with a band called Melys, and played bass with them. Melys had already been quite successful with radio play and S4C appearances. Their big triumph came on Christmas 2000 when they beat out little known bands like the White Stripes and Strokes to win John Peel’s legendary Festive Fifty with their single “Chinese Whispers.”
I was very impressed with this, having been a lifelong fan and admirer of Peel ever since I saw him at the Hollywood Festival (Staffordshire!), In the summer of 1970. I started listening to JP’s late night shows again between week as a result, in the hope of catching any reference to Melys.
One night, John played a Fotomoto track and commented that the band was looking for feedback and gave his email address. I emailed them and that started an email / internet dialogue that turned into so much more.
My forays with the internet and websites had extended to creating a family name history research site, primarily for the benefit of American relatives, but also to keep up with technology for my paid work. for rent.
I offered Fotomoto some space on my isp and they took the opportunity as they were eager to become more known in the West and free web space was hard to come by for them. They designed the site and I set it up, along with an email group for interested fans.
The first two albums, the namesake Fotomoto and Fotomoto2, were made by me by burning individual copies in my room late at night, usually after a hard day’s work. They were mailed all over the world: UK, Ireland, Mexico, Germany … such is the power of the internet, Mr. Peel’s reputation and recommendation and word of mouth.
The Moscow record label Snegin produced his third album, “suranov, a?” but only made a limited print run. It sold well, sold out, and then went back to making copies one by one for fans who knew where to look.
In June 2004, a long-cherished ambition was fulfilled. Fotomoto had been invited to do one of the most prestigious things in the musical world: a John Peel session at London’s Maida Vale.
They endured bureaucracy, a lack of cash and a forty-hour bus ride from Kiev to London to make that dream come true.
The session was a triumph, with John Peel raving about their sound. I even got a mention!
I had the privilege of meeting Fotomoto in London, albeit briefly, as he was there on business the day before they left.
We met at the ‘Head of Steam’ in Euston for about an hour while waiting for my train back to Stoke. Their spoken English was somewhat worse than the pidgin emails they sent, but we got along well and parted with lots of hugs and good wishes.
Rock journalist Matthew Collin picked up the story. He had been fascinated by Eastern European rock for years and was intrigued by the history of Fotomoto’s determination to play in the West. Matthew went to Ukraine to interview the band and it coincided with the Orange Revolution in that country.
Music mixed with politics and it was intoxicating!
The resulting article in the Observer created a huge wave of renewed public interest in the band. The untimely death of John Peel added an emotion of tragedy to the whole affair.
Emails and website visits went haywire. Everybody wanted a copy of “suranov, a?”, The album that Snegin had released. After the Observer article, I was interviewed by local zine and radio editors.
“How does a guy in Stoke get involved with a gang in Ukraine, and more column inches of interviews in the Observer than John Peel …?”
I had the great honor of meeting John Peel a couple of times.
The first was the incredible live session Melys played in 2001, the night Liverpool won the UEFA Cup. Richard sent me an invitation and John spoke to me because I was the only other boy at Maida Vale who was close to his age … “
Naturally, he was elated by the victory and threw his record list to the ground, ordering Melys to “keep playing.” They introduced me as ‘the man who takes care of Fotomoto’ and I was proud of that. I have a much appreciated photo of John, Rich, and myself – John is holding a red celebratory glass!
By now he had a standing invitation to visit the live sessions at Maida Vale if he was in London on business. I tried really hard to make sure my meetings were on a Tuesday. Bosses, if you are reading, please excuse me!
Fotomoto also had a standing invitation to hold another session, but this was not done until December 2005.
The world hadn’t forgotten John Peel, but it had moved on. Radio Ones’ OneMusic now ran on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights from 2300-0100 GMT.
Huw Stephens took the clubs for Fotomoto. I was invited to a first live session with Gryff Rhys from Super Furry Animals and I was armed with the backlog of CDs, as JP’s originals probably languished with thousands of others at Peel Acres.
A date was agreed to record the session and it was December 7, 2005. Fotomoto also performed at the Progress Festival in Ghent, Belgium, on the way to London. They also played live at the Spitz club in the East End.
Once again, I was lucky enough to be in London the next day, even though I was suffering from a hangover from the company party the night before!
We met on Oxford Street, packed with Christmas shoppers and tourists watching London’s last red Routemaster buses on Route 159.
Try explaining to Ukrainians whose English is rudimentary the complexities of extremely British eccentrics watching buses. It certainly made my headache worse!
We got some great photos in Hyde Park, and sadly parted ways to wait for the broadcast, which came out on January 17, 2006.
The new songs, designed for live performances rather than studio recordings or albums, were brilliant.
Once again, the Internet switchboards lit up, full of interest and delight. We can only hope the band’s new work comes out on CD, even if that means doing each one devoutly, late at night, in a dimly lit room in Stoke-on-Trent.
