Candytree

Julianne "As you already know, Andy and I have recently parted company with Marty, and so a new chapter of AAE is about to be written. We hope that you'll trust us when we tell you that we've found a great new guitarist with whom we are currently rehearsing both the old and new material. The end of the 'Marty era' will surely be making some of you feel a bit apprehensive about our future, but, the silver lining in that cloud is that we are now in no danger of becoming complacent or of resting on old laurels. Although we’re not in denial about our history, the last thing we want to be is a ‘greatest hits’ band. It feels pointless. We need to be vital and keep ourselves excited, and, keep YOU excited, and so that’s why we’re massively looking forward to playing new material alongside the older stuff in May.

The new stuff will be a slight departure from the past but nothing to send anyone home in tears of disappointment. I sincerely promise you that. You, our beloved audience, have proved yourselves to be a fairly broad-minded body and have always been willing to move with us, even when we have gone off on tangents such as Ultraviolet (!) and we hope you will again.

New Guitarist

So, who is this 'great new guitarist'? He's Toni Haimi and he already knows In The Clouds backwards (now, if only we could get him to learn it forwards......!). He's got a smashing collection of effects pedal, a nice Les Paul guitar and a Telecaster too. He's been playing guitar for 17 years, been in a few bands in his native Finland, and more recently, was in a band called Malluka, (who split up but I've got their ep and I love it), and was described by NME as "looking like a young and - impressively - more sinister Jimmy Page, alternating between noose-tight rhythm lines and loose, flowering solos with ease." Sounds just like the man for the job, eh?

Here's to the future. Come with us! - Love Julianne.

Malluka

Thankfully, Malluka are free of the patchouli'n'panstick nightmares of yore. Malluka are goth, like Joy Division or Girls Against Boys were goth - not in the details, but in their morbid romanticism, the scorched-earth bareness of their sound, the way they fetishise being pale, skinny and intense. Were Malluka a great deal less subtle, less earthy, they'd be Placebo.

They hail from Canada, Brazil, Finland and North Shields. Guitarist Toni Haimi looks like a young and - impressively - more sinister Jimmy Page, alternating between noose-tight rhythm lines and loose, flowering solos with ease. Singer/guitarist John Hutcheson is suitably, deathlessly deadpan, looks like Tom Petty's hair dropped on Tom Verlaine's body, and sings like the microphone has been plunged into his heart, and is syphoning off whatever secrets lie within. Bassist Carlos Rocca wears both a black leather skirt and black leather trousers. But he plays well.

On songs like 'Beehive', the intense, humming noise breaks into something almost accidentally beautiful. Other times, the guitars just plough on, fearsomely concise, directed and powerful, John spitting out more broken-glass poetry. It's not exactly dancing music, true. But we're not exactly dancing. We're standing still, mesmerised.

Malluka Background

Malluka were formed in London, England yet contained a global mix of influences and cultures. Their first release was the self financed CD EP "Dancing In A Minefield" (recorded with founding member Xavier Thienpont on drums). John Hutcheson, the singer, came from Newcastle in the north east of England, but shared a common vision with Carlos Rocca (bass guitars) from the south of Brazil, Toni Haimi (guitars) from Finland and new member Shawn Park (drums) from Ontario in Canada.

The EP was noticed by the Radio 1 Evening Session and Malluka received their first exposure this way. They caught the attention of erstwhile NME scribe Simon Williams who released a limited edition 7" single of "Who Can See The Wind" b/w "Fake" (NING74) on the Fierce Panda label. This paved the way for a mini-album "The Deceptive Sound Of This" (NONG013) in March 2000. Featuring mixes from long time producer of The Cure, Dave Allen, the mini-album was critically acclaimed - drawing comparisons with bands such as Joy Division, The Cure and Placebo.

Malluka played many well received shows in the UK, with acts as diverse as New Model Army, The Crocketts, Gary Numan, HIM & Smashmouth.

For more information on Malluka visit www.malluka.co.uk