[spunge] didn't start off as [spunge], in fact when they played their first gig in July '94 they didn't have a permanent name at all - every time they got booked for a gig they had a different name to play under (by the way, this is a good way of getting loads of gigs at the same place, especially if you suck!)
The original line-up was Alex on lead vocals & bass, Wol & Des on guitars and Jem on drums. At one of their gigs, under whatever name they were that week, a friend of theirs called Simon Bayliss saw them and asked if he could join, on bass, as he had heard that Alex was looking to change to just doing lead vocals. The band all thought this was a good idea and Simon joined in April '95.
Everything went really well with the new line up and they wrote quite a few original songs of their own (one of which was 'Kicking Pigeons', yes, it is THAT old!) and although they played quite a few gigs the first time they strayed out of the local area was in June '95 when they played two gigs in Birmingham.
These were at the two Xposure Rock Cafe's of the time (R.I.P) and on consecutive nights. The first night was cancelled due to the roof falling in over the stage and water pissing into the PA (good start) and the 2nd night was supporting a Stiff Little Fingers cover band, although due to the night off the day before everyone was kinda feeling hung over so the details are a bit sketchy!
After this highly successful (not) debut into the world of touring the band did a few gigs every now and then but it wasn't until October '95 that they decided to give themselves the name [spunge]. Having acquired the name they started to build up a serious following in the Cheltenham/Gloucestershire areas around which they lived. They tried to branch out and after a while it was decided it would be worth getting a CD made of some of the songs they did because everywhere they tried to get a gig they were told to send in a demo, and also it meant they had something to sell at gigs.
They all went into the studio (Lionsheart Studios, Tewkesbury if you want to know) in June '97 and put down 3 tracks, 'Kicking Pigeons', 'Friend Called Fred' and 'Best Mates Girlfriend'.

As the band got more into what they were doing they came to the conclusion that they wanted to give it a serious go and do it full time. All of them, that is, except Simon Bayliss. Due to the fact that Simon had a good paid job and had just started a college course he decided that he couldn't make the sacrifice and, sadly, he parted with the band in August '97.
This left [spunge] with a big dilemma. The line up had been the same for over two years and it was a real blow to them. Luckily the same week that Simon left, Des bumped into a guy called Martin Holt at a party. Des got chatting about bands and ,knowing that Martin was in one himself, half jokingly asked if Martin fancied a side project as we needed a bassist. To his surprise Martin decided to give it a go (even stranger as the band he was in already was a hard-core band!), and he joined the band at the end of August '97.

It wasn't until now that [spunge] found out that some of the recording on the EP had been screwed up and so it was that they went back into the studio and had to re-record Simon's bass lines, this time with Martin Holt playing bass, in October '97. After what seemed like an age the EP was finished in February '98, a few hundred copies were pressed and it was sent out in March/April '98 in order to get the band some gigs.

One of the places it was sent was the very same Xposure Rock Cafe that had been the setting for their triumphant first step into touring in '95. The man responsible for booking the bands was one Dave Juste, and he liked 'Kicking Pigeons' so much that he offered to manage the band. So it was that Dave Juste became [spunge]'s manager in June '98. After a few meetings the band and Dave all decided what they really wanted to do was tour their asses off in order to get noticed so Dave organized a HUGE tour from September '98 until whenever the venues ran out!

Whilst on the tour a label called MoonSka heard about the 'hardest working band in Britain' and decided to check a gig out in November '98. They were suitably impressed and offered the band a one album deal.
This was to be the debut album 'Pedigree Chump' which the band recorded during December/January '98/'99. The album was released on March 1st '99 and the band went on another tour to promote the new record.

Then another set back struck. The constant touring got too much for Martin Holt and after much thought he decided to leave the band in August '99. He finished the tour that they were on at the time (although he had to borrow a bass amp for the last couple of weeks as he had already sold his!) and then went his separate way.

Again [spunge] had the problem of finding a new bassist. Luckily this time they were starting to get known and they put out the word although they knew they main thing was to get someone they could get on with due to the constant touring. It was then that they remembered a guy they had come to call 'Jarvis' who was no longer in the band he used to be in ('B Movie Heroes'), and they asked if he would like the job. They knew they would get on as he had roadied a few times for them before, the only major setback was that he was a guitarist, not a bassist, but this seemed quite minor at the time!
Chris 'Jarvis' Murphy accepted the challenge and after a couple of practices to see if it would work he became the third bassist of [spunge] in September '99. Within about 6 weeks of joining Jarvis was off on his first tour with [spunge] in Ireland. [spunge] then toured the UK right up to the end of December '99 during which time they landed another record deal with Sucka-Punch Records.

They took January '00 off to write the second half of the new album (the first half being songs that had been written while on the road), and then went into DEP International Studios, Birmingham (UB40's own studio fact-fans), in February/March '00 to record it.
[spunge] were then offered the chance to go to Europe for the first time, and although they still had a few things to finish on the album, they decided to do it. The band did a few warm up dates in the UK and then went to Germany.
When they got back the single 'Ego' was released on June 19th '00 and then, after another string of dates to promote 'Ego', they put the finishing touches to 'Room For Abuse' in July '00. The release date for 'Room For Abuse' was set for October 9th '00 and while they were waiting for this the band got itchy touring boots again and went off to Norway for a month gigging!

Now we are pretty much up to date, and while I write this the band are preparing for the UK 'Room For Abuse' Tour which starts on October 23rd.

Plans after the tour are to release a 2nd single ('Live Another Day') and then they are off to the United States in 2001 to take their brand of ska/punk to those shores too! And have now left 'moon ska' and are singned to 'B unique' now.

[Spunge] are going a bit commercial at the moment though :( but they are still a good band.

[ visit the official spunge site at www.spunge.co.uk ]