Up The Arse

When it finally happened, I felt no surprise. In a sense, I had been expecting this day my whole life. And now that it had arrived, my anxiety melted away and I felt a calm I had not experienced in a long time.
It s one of those rare stolen evenings which we will look back upon as a glimpse of something resembling a summer. We re sitting in the bandstand in Stephen s Green, lamenting the demise of the legendary Lark in the Park gigs. JG Golier and myself are discussing the precondition that sponsorship from a non-alcoholic drinks company would be necessary for daytime, all ages shows, such as the 7UP supported 7 Bands on the Up.
A week beforehand, Joan of Arse released their debut album Lost At Sea. This was marked with a ceremony a touch more unusual and poignant than your customary gig.
After the Funnel gig a few of us went out to Sandymount strand. We put a message and an album in a bottle and we launched it into the sea, as a symbolic gesture of giving back to the sea what we took from it. It was an appropriate way of saying hello and goodbye to the album. Our address was on it in case any one finds it and wishes to reply. It s a totally random way of seeing who picks it up.
Much the same as releasing it, pipes in Jeanne D Arse.
Lost At Sea is a gutsy and rugged musical odyssey that constantly refers to the power of the sea and the individual s relationship to it. Joan of Arse see it as a natural influence and metaphor that breathes through their songs.
I think some of its got to do with us being an island, elaborates Jeanne. Ultimately that s what separates us from Europe. When you are sitting out looking at the sea, you can find an hour going by without you even noticing.
When you see the sea, you see the potential, adds Golier. You see that nothing is definite. It s a common theme running through thousands of years of people s writing. The sea has always been one of the fundamental subjects and metaphors of art.
There were too many people running around deciding things, erecting their actions as a screen between themselves and the real world. Action as comforting illusion. I was sick of deciding, tired of acting. I wanted to be let be, to be let be in being.
The punk days of Dublin. The class of 88. The days when the two current members of Joan of Arse bonded over music. Jeanne D Arse considers those days as being incredibly significant both personally and musically.
You could go along and somehow feel involved, although you weren t. At the time, it was the only good thing going on. For me there was an element where I went along in a Dunne Stores sweatshirt and Penney s jeans looking really ordinary and you ll be sitting there chatting to people with Mohawks and all these rings, and they didn t give a shit, you didn t give a shit. There was no attitude of you might be all right if you wore better clothes or anything, they just took you as you were, which is deadly when you are quite young and you consider them much older. You got on fine and there was never any hassle. Even when you were a teenager, you d never find that elsewhere, especially in your own peer group.
Because of that freedom of expression, we re open to doing different things at different times, elaborates JG Golier. It s not a closed line-up of you play drums, you play guitar etc. The only reason we don t have a bass player is because there was no need for one.
Both of us can play bass, so either one of us could put the bass down on the album. It seemed complete. Andrew has a lot to do with that (Andrew Lyster or Asteroid. Musical Genius for the Next Millennium). We didn t have enough money to release a CD but Joss wanted to, so we did (Joss Moorkens, Scientific Laboratories mogul). If someone is up for doing something that adds to it then we are really up for it. We are not a closed shop and we love the idea of someone different playing with us at each show.
The DIY ethic is much more than an artistic statement. It can reap its own benefits in the most surprising of ways.
I m getting e-mails from Belgium, Canada, America, Spain, New Zealand people out there in similar situations, remarks Jeanne. You could send your album to ten different magazines and not get a mention, but you send it to the other side of the world and you get a thank you. I m happier that one in ten people will like the record rather that ten people liking it immediately and in a year s time they ll say who? oh Joan of Arse I sold my copy to Freebird .
It s time to leave the blissful sunny haven of the park and return to appointments to be kept and good food to be eaten. JG Golier surveys the bandstand and remarks on how it reminds him of an unforgettable image of English band Traffic.
Traffic moved from London to Shropshire and built a stage in the back garden with instruments set up there permanently. We d love to get together on Killiney beach and play to the sea.
We might have a summer yet. n
Lost at Sea is available on heavyweight vinyl on Julius Geezer and on CD on Scientific Laboratories. Some extracts from this feature are taken from the sleeve-notes which on their own are worth the price of the fare on the Joan of Arse Lost at Sea voyage.