The Someloves
Encyclopedia
The Someloves, were a alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band from Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

. They were noted for their 1980s power-pop underground style.

Biography

The Someloves were led by Dom Mariani and Darryl Mather each of whom were also in two other seminal Australian garage bands, The Stems
The Stems
The Stems were an alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1983 and were heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in 1987, reformed in 2003 and released a new album in 2007.-Formation:...

 and The Lime Spiders
Lime Spiders
Lime Spiders are an Australian punk rock band, currently consisting of Mick Blood, Tom Corben, Gerard Corben, David Sparks and Tony Bambach.-Early Days :...

. Mariani having met Mather in 1984 when Mather went to Perth to recuperate from what was thought to be leukemia and caught The Stems playing at the Old Melbourne Hotel.

"Darryl came back stage and introduced himself as ex-Lime Spiders, and we're like, 'Lime Spiders! Wow! He said he really liked the band and that it was the kind of band he'd wanted the Spiders to be" - Dom Mariani


"The first time we met, we must have talked for hours. The Stems didn't have the rock and roll swagger of The Lime Spiders, but Dom had the musicianship" - Darryl Mather


"I think we were closer to the sound that Darryl wanted. He was dissatisfied with the hard rock approach of the Spiders. We had an updated sixties garage sound and image going on. Semi-acoustic guitars and fuzz pedals through Vox amps. Darryl came to see us the following night at the Shenton park. I think he was impressed by our sounds." - Dom Mariani


During The Stems
The Stems
The Stems were an alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1983 and were heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in 1987, reformed in 2003 and released a new album in 2007.-Formation:...

 first trip/tour of Sydney in 1985 Mariani and The Stems
The Stems
The Stems were an alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1983 and were heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in 1987, reformed in 2003 and released a new album in 2007.-Formation:...

 drummer, Gary Chambers, stayed four months in a house on Terminus Street in Petersham
Petersham, New South Wales
Petersham is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Petersham is located 6 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Marrickville Council...

 that Darryl shared with Bill Gibson (who had just formed The Eastern Dark). Towards the end of The Stems Sydney trip Mariani and Mather found some time for some recording at Alberts. During those four months Mariani and Mather continued their previous conversations.

"Darryl and I both loved our sixties garage music, and we were passionate about power-pop - if we can use that term. We liked bands like The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...

, Raspberries
Raspberries (band)
Raspberries is an American power pop/pop rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. They had a run of success in the early 1970s music scene with their crisp pop sound, which Allmusic later described as featuring "exquisitely crafted melodies and achingly gorgeous harmonies." The members were known for their...

, Badfinger
Badfinger
Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...

, Big Star. He introduced me to The Real Kids
The Real Kids
The Real Kids were a Boston punk rock band led by guitarist, singer and songwriter, John Felice.Felice grew up in Natick, Massachusetts as a neighbor and friend of Jonathan Richman, a fellow fan of The Velvet Underground. At 15 he joined Richman in the first line-up of The Modern Lovers in the...

. We talked about maybe doing a single and he had some great song ideas, so we spent a couple of nights working them up."


For the first recording session, Gary Chambers was on drums and on bass was Christian Houllemare, a musician from France, who had played in a French band, Bad Brains. The tracks were mixed a few months later by Alan Thorne at Trafalgar and quickly picked up by John Needham at Citadel Records.

The single "It's My Time" was released in 1986 as The Someloves, a name that Mather coined that came from a Real Kids' song, "Some Love Like Yours".

"A great trust came between us. I had a vision, coupled with Dom's wonderful musicianship, which gave me the confidence that I could do the music I heard in my head" - Darryl Mather


"We had this common interest in music. We talked about it a lot and I really liked Darryl's opinions" - Dom Mariani


A second Someloves single began to take shape in 1987.

"Darryl had some losse ideas for three new songs. Bill Gibson had contributed to "Don't Have To Try" and they'd sent me a rough cassette to listen to. Darryl came across to Perth and we set about putting these tunes together. Darryl had the verses that led to a cool chord progression and the ultimate chorus for "Know You Know". We knew then that we had something special" - Dom Mariani


In September 1987 Mariani went to Sydney to remix what was to be The Stems
The Stems
The Stems were an alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1983 and were heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in 1987, reformed in 2003 and released a new album in 2007.-Formation:...

' final single, "Sad Girl". Mariani was staying with one of Mather's friends when they did The Someloves' recording of "Know You Now".

"Secretly, I could see that Dom had made the shift. "At First Sight" and a couple of other songs off The Stems' album, could have easily been Someloves songs" - Darryl Mather


"I went back to Perth, announced that The Stems had split up, then the shit hit the fan" - Dom Mariani


Mather sent the tapes to Perth, where Mariani, amid the post-Stems tumult, finished the vocals in early 1988. Mather had plans for the second single and sent it to Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...

 (who Mather admired through his band Let's Active
Let's Active
Let's Active was an American rock musical group formed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1981.-History:The principal songwriter and sole continuous member of Let's Active was Mitch Easter, who kept the band active through most of the 1980s. The band's musical style is sometimes referred to as...

 and his work with other bands like The dBs), with a request that he mix The Someloves single.

"I can remember being in this Greek restaurant and showing Dom the letter from Mitch Easter in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. I said 'That's where its going.' He couldn't believe it - he just looked at me in shock" - Darryl Mather


"When The Stems
The Stems
The Stems were an alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1983 and were heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in 1987, reformed in 2003 and released a new album in 2007.-Formation:...

 split, Mushroom
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

 were disappointed, but they were really keen for me to keep going. I was still contracted, so I pitched The Someloves to them" - Dom Mariani


After receiving the news about Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...

 Mariani called Mushroom and

"next thing we were flying out to North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 to meet Mitch. We got to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 at around 6pm, checked into the Milford Plaza and went straight to sleep, and woke at 1am to the sound of police sirens. 'We're up and what do we do? Let's walk around Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...

'. When we got back to the hotel, one of the hotel doorman asked 'Where have you been? You don't go out there this time of night, it's dangerous!'" - Dom Mariani


In New York they saw Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....

 in concert, in Washington DC they met Tommy Keene
Tommy Keene
Tommy Keene is an American singer-songwriter, best known for releasing critical acclaimed new wave/power pop songs in the 1980s. He has a longtime cult following among fans of the musical genre of power pop...

 and saw The Original Sins
The Original Sins
The Original Sins came from the edgy punk music scene of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania which at the time was in a major decline due to the closing of the once great industrial powerhouse Bethlehem Steel. The band was started by John Terlesky who had been bumping around in various bands including The...

. They then headed to Easter's studio in Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...

, where R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

 had recorded their first album, to find to their disappointment that the Drive-In Studio was no more than a converted sleep out at Easter's parents' house.

"Mitch had this musicality about him that defied logic. He had all this really cool gear lying around and we thought, 'If we ever do an album, we'll come back here'." - Darryl Mather


Mariani was still recovering from the demise of The Stems
The Stems
The Stems were an alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1983 and were heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in 1987, reformed in 2003 and released a new album in 2007.-Formation:...

.

"Depression had set in. I was even contemplating giving music away. I wasn't in the best shape. Darryl had a lot to do with getting The Someloves album off the ground, and encouraged me to keep the music going."


The single "Know You Now" came out in 1988 on Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

. The good reviews it received gave Mariani confidence that we'd made the right decision in moving away from "the sixties retro thing, towards writing more contemporary guitar pop" and added momentum to the idea that The Someloves should record an album. In 1989 Mushroom allocated a budget of $60,000 for the album.

In preparation for a return to the studio, Mather took time off work - a year, much of which he spent in Perth. The Someloves had no plans to play live, but they wanted their songs to have the polish of a set that is played every night. So in lieu of regular gigs they commenced a rigorous rehearsal schedule - rehearsing six days a week. They both brought along a number of songs and gave each other permission to add content during the rehearsals

"But you had to add value to the other guy's song not just bullshit to try and get your name on it. My playing improved astonishingly, playing with a great musician like Dom. Finally we both said 'okay, we're going to do the records that we both really want to do.'" - Darryl Mather


The bulk of the album was recorded in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 at Planet Studios in 1989. Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...

 had planned to come to Australia to start the recording but had to cancel a week before he was due, after a tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...

 hit his hometown. The sound engineer for the album was John Villani. Robert 'Robbie' Scorer, from Mariani's high school band, was on drums and on bass was Tony Italiano, a sound engineer who had been present during auditions for The Someloves' bass player and at some point had said "Look I can play bass. Give me a go".

"He really didn't know where we were coming from. His background was KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...

 and seventies rock. He wasn't hip, but he's a gifted musician and in may ways became an asset. He picked it up pretty quickly." - Dom Mariani


After they had recorded the basics - drums, bass, main vocals and most of the guitars, Mariani and Mather flew to the United States with the tapes in order to do the overdubs and the mixing at Eater's studio. Easter added a few guitar tracks and his wife at the time, Annie Carlson, played keyboards, with Bobby Sutliff and Jamie Hoover guesting on vocals. Six weeks after they had arrived in the US the album was finally finished.

For $60,000, which included a stay at the Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...

 Comfort Inn, Mushroom
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

 now owned a record that was never going to be toured. The Someloves debut album, Something Or Other, was released in 1990.

"we told them upfront, 'We're not going to play live, we're a studio band,' but I don't think they really listened to us. So when the alum came out with great initial impact, the label said 'Okay, fellas, when are you going on tour?" - Dom Mariani


Whilst in The Stems
The Stems
The Stems were an alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1983 and were heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in 1987, reformed in 2003 and released a new album in 2007.-Formation:...

 Mariani had never shown a disinclination towards playing live and perhaps Mushroom had expected that this was a phase that would pass.

"The momentum of the album was driving it to a point where I felt that we should do some gigs. I tried to convince Darryl to do a handful of gigs. Then I said 'Look, you don't want to do it, but I'd like to - I want to play'." - Dom Mariani


In the end Mariani played half a dozen shows in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 as The Someloves. Mather only ever performed publicly in The Someloves for one song. Something or Other was nominated for a number of awards, including 'Best Album', at the annual Western Australian Music Industry (WAMi) Awards
West Australian Music Industry Awards
The Western Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc...

 with Mather flown over to perform "Girl Soul".

"I remember not feeling comfortable the night of the awards. In fact I was almost blacked out of my mind. I just don't think I got it. My enjoyment was writing songs, getting into the studio and articulating them. Dom loves the audience for the whole song. Ironically it was Michael Gudinski
Michael Gudinski
Michael Solomon Gudinski, AM is an Australian entrepreneur and businessman currently based in Melbourne who is a leading figure in the Australian music industry...

 (of Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

) who presented us with one of the awards." - Darryl Mather


"Dom and I are similar in some ways - we're both reserved people - but so opposite in others." - Darryl Mather


As the pressure from Mushroon increased, the differences between Mariani and Mather became more pronounced and began to divide them. Mariani and his wife recently had a baby.

"I had a family and had to make an income. Apart from being an integral part of being in a rock and roll band of only for your own development as a songwriter and performer, if I couldn't play live, how were we going to live?" - Dom Mariani


But Mather felt touring was going against the original concept of the band.

"I said to Dom, 'The thing I love is recording. I don't understand how it could be any better taking the songs out on the road." - Darryl Mather.


Tentative plans for another Someloves album were suspended.

"Mushroom basically said 'Not tour, no second album'. Darryl had somehow talked them into a second album, but I was over it. Darryl and I were friends; bands can be very emotional things and sometimes the best of friends end up the worst of enemies. I didn't want this whole thing to fester. I said 'No I don't need this.' I moved onto DM3. In hindsight I think we could have worked things out, but getting involved in The Someloves project even though we'd made this great record was a little premature on my part just after The Stems
The Stems
The Stems were an alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1983 and were heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in 1987, reformed in 2003 and released a new album in 2007.-Formation:...

 breakup." - Dom Mariani


"I just thought, 'No I don't want to do this.'" - Darryl Mather


Although The Someloves only released one album and remain virtually unknown on an international level Both Mather and Mariani did remain active in the Australian rock scene, Mather going on to The Orange Humble Band
The Orange Humble Band
The Orange Humble Band were formed in early 1995, as the brain child of The Lime Spiders & The Someloves founder, Daryl Mather. The band consisted of Ken Stringfellow of US outfit The Posies, former Lonely Hearts member, Anthony Bautovich, American indie producer/manager legend, Mitch Easter, &...

, and Mariani to DM3 and the instrumental group the Majestic Kelp, also recording a solo album in 2004.

Something Or Other is widely considered one of the essential power-pop recordings and is highly regarded among power pop collectors. It's re-release in 2006 as a two-CD compilation Don't Talk About Us: The Real Pop Recordings of the Someloves 1985-89, includes complete with a critical review of Mariani and Mather's inter-related stories, substantial interviews and a bonus disc of non-album singles and remixes.

Albums

  • Something or Other - White Label (Mushroom Records
    Mushroom Records
    Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

    ) (1989) #62 (Aus)
  • Don't Talk About Us: The Real Pop Recordings of the Someloves 1985-89 - Half A Cow
    Half A Cow
    Half a Cow is an independent record label from Australia, established in 1990 by Sydney musician and music identity Nic Dalton.- History :In 1987 - 1989 Dalton ran a bookshop in the Sydney suburb of Glebe called Dalton's Books...

     (July, 2006)

Singles

  • "It's My Time"/"Don't Talk About Us" - Citadel (1986)
  • "Know You Know"/"Don't Have To Try" - White Label (Mushroom Records
    Mushroom Records
    Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

    ) (1988)
  • "Melt"/"Jack Robinson" - White Label (Mushroom Records
    Mushroom Records
    Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

    ) (1989) #98 (Aus)
  • "Sunshine's Glove"/"Girl Soul" - White Label (Mushroom Records
    Mushroom Records
    Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

    ) (1990)

External links

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