from the same mother is a label,mainly dealing with the output of one julian williams.it was started back in 1990,in the inner suburban air of perth,western australia.back then,the only way of doing anything in a relitvly cheap way,was to put out cassettes.most of ftsms first thiry outings came out on this format.
our philosophy was simple(back then there was a group of us)-put out music we made and liked without having to even think of licking someones boots.the isolation in perth,mixed in with youthful naivety was probably a factor.we didnt see anyone else in bands playing our type of music and we wanted to capture the moments. i got sick of friends asking for copies of the music,so i made it official.from the same mother/waste products was born.its always for me about pleasing old friends and making new ones.
the first tomb off the ranks was the NUNS IN ADIDAS FOOTWEAR sixty minute compilation,which many combinatins of our group contributed to.it was a record of our activities in a three year period.it came out in june 1990,had its millisecond of impact,which inclued an hilarious one line in the west australian newspaper,vanishing into a dusty shelf.it set the tone for future releases-four track at best,recorded in peoples sheds,loungerooms,bedrooms,tiolets.
a handful of tapes came out in the year that i remained in perth.being as i was the most motivted,ftsm became my baby.a j.w solo album,a tape from the band i was in,plus another compilation DIRTY SHEETS(a real insestous effort as i play on 70 percent of the tracks in differnt band configurations,but i like it a lot more than nuns).i'd done my time in perth though.it was too small for the likes of my kind.i did the continent hop and ended up in melbourne by the autumn of 1992.
ftsm didnt stop its low fi ways.it continued with the BUISCUIT SLUDGE compilation, which was a tidying up exercise,looking at the days in perth making funny music.the focus changed to stuff around melbourne that was churning my inner butter.
the releases continued,usually in low,do it at home numbers.j.w solo albums poured out as well as releases by FALAFEL,BIG INTERESTING RIFLE and other unmentinables. as 1994 came along,so did another compilation.THE ATOMIC TURN ON X.Y.Z was probably the most eclectic offering the label has ever farted out,with bands from many capitol cities in our oztrayleen land.it was a movement effectionately known as the love triangle(perth,adeliade,brisbane)even though theres was melbourne stuff on there too.
the band SOLIDS started to play and bring out things on the label.at one stage in the mid 90s they were playing with perth invaders O,MOLASSES and SLEEPY TOWNSHIP. brisbane thingos CLAG moved into their melborne carparking spot,and out of these connections came the mighty DOUBLE CHIN.all this crazy love in scene was best captured on the MOLOPO compilation (not forgetting the bungalow tapes,a self released ditty from the hand of a double chinner).molopo speaks to me of an insane summer of music making hijinks.my four track came to good use as i recorded the goings on,as well as other brisbane and adelaide underground moles.DOUBLE CHIN and SOLIDS also colaborated on a split 7' polycarbonate single(the first of many projects with that wacky new zealand record manufacturer peter king).
VALIANT was a tribute to small world experience that the label finally took on.it has many from around this big wide land paying homage to the brilliant songwriting of pat ridgewell.it has some great moments.while on a visit to brisbane,hanging out with the man,he wouldnt stop playing the thing.the releseas kept seeping.ABOVE GROUND POOL turned up to the party with a cupcake tribute tape.SOLIDS came up with a polycarb 3x8 inch boxed set,a proper seven inch single, and a few more tapes,and of course the rodent j williams kept up the treatment with an annual blerg by the time every one was about to sit down to xmas.his MAGMA double 12 polycarbonate was an audicious move, complete with spray over silver paint job(quite a few were once kamahl albums).long wig outs, and one friend thought a track reminded him of sheep being herded on to a slaugter boat.another said it put him to sleep.
another polycarb 12 was a compilation GET TO KNOW YOUR OVEN.with four long songs(two lapnack combos from brisbane and two melborne combos playing longer experimental pieces in sccb territory with tone and timbre.SOLIDS finally petered out.as a final tomb they put out the POSSIBLE HUMAN CD.part compilation,part big studio fest.ABOVE GROUND POOL had a seven inch e.p and its flecled rotations touched the id.
RED WINE FOR GRAPES was a half pop,half scrchmmmm compilation in the cdr format.it was a nice taste of the varying reflections of the compiling one,and those velcro carboard covers,were fun to make. in the last few years,f.t.s.m has been idling along. JULIAN WILLIAMS made a solo pop comeback (well sorta pop),ABOVE GROUND POOL floated away with a six track farewell and BAMBOO SEL emerged and quickly submerged.another compilation WOODLOT SURER had many artists doing five one minute pieces ,each together in little suites.an interesting scadallion of non linear forms.
i guess the label has slowed,but there is no sign of it ceasing.its primarily a bit of fun.the label has never been anything more than small time.some releases have 10-20 copies,some 2 or 3 hundred,and varying numbers in between.we've made a lot of good friends over the world and thats really enough.