The uniforms started life as an anti-fashion statement. We were so tired of the manufactured, airbrushed pop princesses, with a fashion stylist choosing ludicrous outfits that had more to say than the music, that we decided to dress ourselves in workwear that we would adopt whilst doing our job, ie playing a gig or djing, that wouldn't distract from the music but blend in with it. We loved the idea of "The Worker" in the music "Industry" and loved the kind of imagery from authors like George Orwell and Aldous Huxley and Ian Flemming, people who conform to strict outward repression but inside the uniform are passionate and courageous and the courage of their convictions bursts through. We wanted Client to be a home grown industry, a lifestyle choice... no main star or diva but a democracy. Substance over style and form follows function (very Bauhaus... Modernism was another mutual obsession). Besides, Kraftwerk wore uniforms too.
The fact that we decided to be an electronic band was because neither of us could play guitars and Kate had a keyboard and computer. So her bedroom became Client HQ where we demoed what was to become our first album, "Client" and all subsequent demos. Poor Alan. Taking inspiration from the melancholy minimalism and Northern desolation of Joy Division and the teutonic groove of DAF, Andy Fletcher liked what he heard and offered us a deal with his label, Toast Hawaii, which was named after his favourite toasted sandwich from Hansa Studios in Berlin, (what is it with me and food related record deals!!!). It was fun exploring what we could both do. Kate came up with the basic song structure and chorus and I added words. "Rock and Roll Machine" is basically my life story, about stepping out of the box of how others expect you to live your life, it was about how I felt in Dubstar, about how did I deserve to do this. Client was about when I had to sign on the dole after Dubstar had finished and I was looking at job advertisments and saw how they could have a cheeky double meaning... a window cleaner proclaimimg "Satisfaction Guaranteed". It was a very proud moment when a German Professor created an art instillation from it in a Munich art gallery, which was one of the more unusual places we have played, not to mention the hottest!
Because we both had previous history in the music business, Kate in Frasier Chorus and me in Dubstar, and the fact that Kate was married to Alan McGee, we knew our music could be cynically judged; "McGee's Mrs and the Bird from Dubstar" and we wanted a fair shot with no pre-conceptions so we decided not to put our faces on any promotional material... (nothing to do with the fact that we didn't have a budget to compete with standard airbrushing!!!) and let ourselves be known simply as "ClientA" (Kate) and "ClientB" (me). Our first single, a 10" promo of "Price Of Love" and "Client" produced with Sie Medway-Smith was released to critical acclaim which was a real thrill.
We were desperate to get out on the road and start playing but Daniel Miller said we had to get our name about first and suggested we learn to dj. Instead Kate, as usual, decided to go one better and start a club. She knew of a venue in the east end and used her charm to get us a night there... and "Being Boiled" was born. After a brief stint in Central London, it found its natural home in the basement of an old bank, known as Notting Hill Arts Centre. We finally realised we had to let it go a few years later, when arranging things on a blackberry from Eastern Europe got a little bit ridiculous. Looking back it was such a great night. We got to try out new material from both "City" and "Heartland" before we recorded or toured them... and it was a lovely way to keep in touch with fans. We always tried to encourage talent on the electro scene and nuture other female dj's. Dee from "An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump" used to come down and show films and sometimes I'd be on stage and suddenly find Carl Barat singing "Pornography" next to me. Which is always a nice suprise.
Saint Joe (Wilson, from The Sneaker Pimps) came on board to help us produce the second album, City. He is endlessley long suffering, patient and encouraging, particularly putting up with my ominous lunchbox brown rice creations that used to stink his car out, on the way to the Harrow Music College studio we used to record the vocals. We did 3 vocals per day/night depending on when it was free which was a serious wake up call for pampered me, used to posh studios and 2 days per vocal. This was vocal bootcamp... sing, sleep, whilst he mixed it down and made it sound nice then onto the next... and the next... I felt as if I was doing all the legwork for the Dubstar sucess, but the wrong way round!!!
The Scandinavian Air Hostess look for "City" gave way to brown leather clad for "Heartland" which we recorded with Youth of Killing Joke, in his studio in Spain. His directions were as follows.... "come out of Malaga airport and turn left until you get to the wind farm"... the wind farm was 3 hrs down the motorway and in a Ford Ka almost as terrifying as the M62 between Manchester and Leeds. It was a white knuckle ride all the way, however singing "Drive" and "Lights Go Out" whilst watching dusk then night fall over the Sierra Nevada more than made up for it. By this time I had stopped drinking and this was reflected in my lyrical contribution to "Heartland". It was also very liberating to lose a little weight and be able to wriggle myself out of the leathers after a gig rather than having to wait for Necker, our sound engineer (and apparently my part-time undresser!!!! sorry Fi!!!) to peel it over my head. Encouraged I started running and now listen through to rough mixes of songs, work out lyric ideas and plan Dj sets whilst pounding the streets.
More about Client www.client-online.eu
