M OONGOOSE are about to mark an important phase in their evolution as they bring chapter one of their story to an end.
The first chapter saw MOONGOOSE mainstay, David ‘Yorkie’ Palmer, working with other musicians and visual artists. Going forward, future chapters will see Yorkie become the project’s sole proprietor.
To wrap things up there is a compilation album, A Package For Jankovic: Unreleased Oddities And Rare Curios, set for release tomorrow. The album brings together all the bonus tracks from the wider retrospective set, A Package For Jankovic: The Moongoose Box Set (1996-2022).
The first evidence of chapter two will be new album, Auto-Magic Cinema Gun, which Yorkie has already started work on. Unfortunately, work came to a halt when he was hospitalised for an emergency gallbladder operation. After a lengthy convalescence, work on the album has now resumed. Keep an eye out here for more news.
Ahead of all this, we caught up with Yorkie to see just what is going on in the MOONGOOSE universe and why phase one is drawing to a close.
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Sun 13: Why are you launching this new chapter of MOONGOOSE now?
David ‘Yorkie’ Palmer: “The idea came to me with the last release, the ‘Curtain Calls’ EP. With that EP and its accompanying album ‘At Home With The Readymades’, MOONGOOSE had been shaping up to be more of a solo vehicle for me rather than the collaborative project it had been for the past twenty five years.
“The box set A Package For Jankovic, tied up everything nicely as well.
“Over those years I have been very fortunate to work with some super talented people: Mick Dolan (Moon/Windmill), Paul Cavanagh (The Balcony, The Room, Top), Pete Wylie (Wah! Heat, The Mighty Wah!), Carl Hunter & Steve Grimes (The Farm), Andy Diagram (James, Pere Ubu, Space heads), the late Iain Templeton (Shack, Solian) Alex Griffiths, Vicky Edwards (The Aeroplanes, The John Head Band) Daniel Spiers and my very talented son Jack Palmer.
“Also, I have been very fortunate to work with two very gifted visual artists: Mark Jordan, who has supplied most of the videos for MOONGOOSE over the years and Clifford Sayer, who did the very first MOONGOOSE video, as well as some alternative videos for the last album.”
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S13: How does it feel to have closed chapter one, is there a sense of completeness or wrapping things up about it?
DYP: “It feels great, quite liberating. As a kid I used to love opening a new notebook to write new ideas into. This feels like that…the start of a new page.
“The new release A Package For Jankovic: Unreleased Oddities and Rare Curios collects all of the bonus tracks from the box set, from the albums Organic Technology, Missives From The Memory Machine, Tokyo Glow plus a handful of more obscure tracks.
“In the coming months, prior to the release of the brand new album (Auto -Magic Cinema Gun) I will be releasing the very first MOONGOOSE EP (In Flight!) and the first MOONGOOSE album (This Lives In Your Head Forever).
“Finally, the long-unavailable Yellow and Black EPs will be re-released.”
S13: What can we look forward to in the new chapter of MOONGOOSE?
DYP: “The new stuff won’t be radically different, but it will all be the product of my own singular imagination.
“There will be no visuals, as what I thought was an original idea 25 years ago, that the focus live should be the visuals, not the band, seems quite commonplace now.
“Plus, there are no plans to play live.”
S13: Does this affect the way you write your songs?
DYP: “It gives me a little more freedom when writing tunes now as I only have myself to wrestle with when it comes to what will, or will not make it into the finished mix.”
S13: You have been quite ill recently. What happened? Are you ok now?
DYP: “I was admitted to hospital in November last year with a dangerously infected gallbladder. What was supposed to be quite a routine keyhole surgery operation turned complicated, as they had to open me up to extract a gallstone the size of a tennis ball. Luckily they sorted everything. And, after five months recuperating, I’m still here to tell the tale.”
S13: Has this period of ill health fed into your work at all?
DYP: “It’s given me a wealth of wild, surreal and thoroughly hallucinogenic dreams to play with. Medicated Movies that I will be drawing on.”
S13: You once told us that you are not a natural musician and that you have to work hard at what you do. What did you mean by that?
DYP: “I am not an instinctive musician as much as say a blues guitarist or a classical pianist.
“In fact the only instrument I feel entirely at home playing is the bass guitar.
“I tend to deal with music as paintings or movies and consequently have to try and play things, whether instruments or parts, that are outside of my ability or comfort zone, just to try and illustrate the mood I’m after. That’s why I’ve always been drawn to collaboration.
“Modern technology allows me the palettes and wherewithal to achieve this on my own now.
“I started recording tunes for a new album a couple of years ago, (Auto -Magic Cinema Gun), but then got involved in the recording of the magnificent MOON album The Green Lilac Park.
“The last few weeks have been taken up revisiting the existing tunes and adding to them.
“It’s been intriguing, as I feel like I’m working on someone else’s tunes (pre-op) and shaping them into something entirely my own.
“I don’t wish any of this to sound egotistical in any way, I’m just excited to see what I can achieve alone on a raft in a big ocean of sound.”
S13: What three records most shaped who you are as a) a person and b) a musician?
DYP: “A) The Velvet Underground and Nico. The one album that encompasses all forms of music. It really is all in there.
“Roxy Music. When I first saw them I thought they’d been beamed in from another planet.
“Not Available by The Residents. Such a beautiful fairy tale. Penetrate the murky veil and it lives with you forever.
“B) Soundtracks – Can. The simplicity is simply magnificent. Mother Sky was a revelation: a two note bassline? Yes please.
“James Bond Collection by John Barry. This compilation was one of my most prized possessions. I was too young to see any of the films, but this added to the mystique.
“Punk rock. The cut off point and levelling of the playing field signalled a permission to try anything. I never thought I could be a musician till punk.”
S13: What have you been listening to lately?
DYP: “Astral Glamour – The Homosexuals
Then Came The Dawn – The Electric Prunes
Another Music In A Different Kitchen – Buzzcocks
Silver/Lead – Wire
Various – Erik Satie
Autobahn – Kraftwerk
Second Thoughts – Split Enz
Music For Installations – Brian Eno
A Door Inside Your Mind – West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band”
A Package For Jankovic: Unreleased Oddities And Rare Curios is out tomorrow. For more information visit MOONGOOSE on Bandcamp, Facebook and Twitter (X).