The Scapegoat
The Scapegoat
Genres: rock, indie, Lo-Fi, alternative, weeping sores
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About The Scapegoat
The Scapegoat was born in deepest Essex sometime in 1991 It was used as a vehicle for Mark Cottrell's songs that didn't gel with the F.O.S. Over the next 6 years Mark experimented with a wide variety of sounds & recorded hundreds of songs. By 1997 Scapegoat had become a 4-piece band. They rehearsed in Steve's Diner, Romford with Cottrell on guitar & vocals; John Gleeson on drums; Robert Lynch on bass; Steve Oswald on keyboards. After a couple of rehearsals they recorded numerous songs and did their first gig in the aforementioned Diner. A friend of theirs, Joe Scannell, knew about mic placement and helped with the first 4 recordings - 'It's All Up To You', 'S.F.B.', 'Hellbent On Self-Destruction' & 'No Need To Cry'. The next set of songs were- 'Going Down', 'Vicious Circle', 'Thrilled', 'Nervous Breakdown', 'Baby Beets', 'One Day Your Star Will Shine' & 'Zoom'. The drums for these were also done at the diner. The rest of the instruments were layed down at Oswald's Opium Terrace in Chadwell Heath. The Scapegoat did their second gig at The Cauliflower in Seven Kings at end of 1997. John refused to play the gig, for some reason, but they soldiered on regardless. The show was a success despite Mark breaking a string and the lack of drums. Tensions were running high. John was soon back in the band but then Steve left shortly after. 1998 arrived and the three remaining members started rehearsing in Recent Studios, Leyton. An all night recording session was booked at Recent with their friend Kieron engineering. It was the first (and only) time that they had recorded on 16 track - all of their previous recordings were on Steve's Tascam 8-track. The day of the session arrived. Mark was in a, somewhat, frazzled state when he arrived at the studio (having just been involved in a car crash after a soiree with a female friend in Fairlop Waters!) John was already off his face and was closely followed by Mark. What is remarkable is that they managed to record 7 tracks that night, most of them at breakneck speed. The songs put down during this mayhem were, 'My Imaginary Lover', 'Don't Care', 'Just Jealous Of Us', 'Share Some Time With Me', 'Cut The Small Talk', 'Will Never Change' & 'Somebody Else'. These make up the 'Ecstacy Car Crash' E.P. They were soon back in the large rehearsal room in Recent to record more songs on the 8-track. C,John Freeborn & the return of Steve Oswald helped the proceedings along, as relations between Rob and John were souring further. 'Robert Mapplethorpe', 'For You', 'Running Away', 'The Silver People' & 'Ash Beat' were the last songs to be recorded with John on drums. The final gig was at The Bull & Gate, London. Things seemed ok at first until Rob broke a bass string during 'Vicious Circle' and left the stage. Mark & John soldiered on but Mark then broke 2 strings during the final song,'One Day Your Star Will Shine'. He then ripped all the strings out of his guitar and launched it into the drumkit. John trashed the rest of the kit & they left the stage to cheers & bewilderment. It was the defining moment. Some people thought it was part of the show but the band knew it was the end. The final set of songs were recorded in autumn. The drums were put down by Mark at the rehearsal room at Recent & overdubs were done at Oswald's Opium Terrace. 'Tomorrow', 'Something's Happening', 'Sirens', 'Rise Above The Sorrow', 'Til The End', 'Bah Kum Ya' & 'I'm Still Waiting' brought the story to a close.
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