#crypticsalutations

Cryptic Salutations: What is the story of Saturnalia’s beginnings?

Simon Edwards: The roots of Saturnalia came from four school friends jamming together in bedrooms and garages, learning to play our instruments, and figuring out how to play together. I played bass guitar, occasional double bass, and did backing vocals, Dave Woodcock played keyboards, Jonathan Kirk was on drums, and Steve 'Spacebat' Masters was on main vocals, guitar and sax.

In the last six months or so of the band's existence, we added a second guitarist, Martin Hedley.

CS: What first got you into music? Who were your inspirations?

Simon: Punk and new wave gave us the impetus to do something, without having to be virtuosos. A couple of the guys had also been into Pink Floyd previously, and later we were all quite open to all kinds of influences. Dave Woodcock and I got quite into jazz theory and tribal sounds. I'd say that some of the band's main contemporary influences were Ultravox (pre-Midge Ure), Psychedelic Furs, Japan, Joy Division, The Stranglers, Talking Heads and Chrome.

New photos courtesy of Simon CS: What was the band’s creative process like?

Simon: Ordinarily, someone would bring a chord sequence or a riff along to a rehearsal, and we'd jam around it, but on occasion Dave W or Spacebat would bring an almost complete idea. The lyrics were written by me or Spacebat, about half-and-half.

CS: Were there ever any live shows, if so, does footage exist, and did you enjoy playing live?

Simon: We played about fifteen or twenty live shows, mostly in our local area, in community halls, pubs, nightclubs, the local university student bar, but we also got to play one gig in London, at the iconic Marquee Club on Wardour Street. I don't believe any live footage exists, but I'd love to be proved wrong!

CS: Where has life taken you since the end of Saturnalia?

Simon: About a year after Saturnalia split up, I moved to London with Martin Hedley and my then girlfriend, and formed a band called Ask Virginia, which lasted a few years, played a few gigs and recorded loads of demos. I then joined Martin's resurrected band, Bible For Dogs, which was a frantic punk-jazz experience. I currently curate and present a specialist music show called Loose Canon, which is broadcast in the UK, Hong Kong and Bulgaria. I'm also a music promoter in my local area, specialising in alternative/indie/post-punk/punk.

Spacebat and Kirk now live about an hour from me, and we still get together now and again for a few drinks and a jam session. Dave Woodcock lives in Canada, but we see each other every couple of years. Martin Hedley lives on the south coast, and is in a horror swamp blues band called The Wattingers.

CS: In your own opinion, what do you think of the music industry then and now?

Simon: In the seventies and eighties, it was so much easier to get people to come out to gigs, at least in a small town, as there was so little else to do. Selling vinyl was so much easier, too – local bands like us would print a thousand or two thousand 7” singles, and easily sell most of them through local record shops.

CS: Of Saturnalia’s four tracks, did you have one that stood out to you as ‘the best?’

Simon: Of the four tracks on the Saturnalia singles, my favourite was 'Girl On The 8th Floor' - I think we'd all found our own musical voices by that point. All four of the original members had a creative hand in putting the song together, and I wrote the lyrics. I feel that the track still holds up well, is very evocative, yet still obviously of its time.

Lyrics from 'Girl On The 8th Floor / The Cold Night Air' 7" single CS: If you could give your past self any advice, what would it be?

Simon: I'd tell my younger self to stick to his guns, not compromise musically, and generally be a bit more pushy.

CS: How was the name ‘Saturnalia’ chosen?

Simon: I really can't remember how the name came about, to be honest, but a three out of four of us voted for it.

CS: Are there any unique stories behind the lyrics? ‘Inside the Devils Circle’ has a particularly interesting narrative.

Simon: 'Devils Circle' was one of Spacebat's lyrics – I seem to think that he got the idea from a film, but I don't remember which one. Most of my own lyrics were written using a variation on Bowie's cut-up technique.

Lyrics from 'Inside the Devil's Circle' 7" single CS: Anything else you’d like to share or promote?

Simon: I'm sending you rehearsal room demos of three more Saturnalia tracks (CS Note: Find the track 'Oh Tara' below!!), which I hope you'll enjoy – feel free to play any of them to your listeners, if you'd like to. I'll also include a studio demo from another band I mentioned, Ask Virginia, from around 1986. Anyone who's interested in current alternative/indie/post-punk etc might like to listen to my radio show, Loose Canon – here's a link to my Soundcloud account, where there are a large number of archive shows: Link