I do this blog with the best of intentions – I hope that every now and again my various ramblings will convince someone of the merits of some of the artists that I write about. And it seems that my contribution to Paul Haig Day may have helped stir up interest in the Cathode Ray, mainly because I seem to have been the only blog to feature TCR.
Now normally I would regard that as a result but, as with lots of best intentions, it seems that this one has mis-fired – witness the following statement from Paul Haig:
“It has been reported in places that the Cathode Ray is a new band formed that I’ve formed. This is definitely not the case.
I’ve been very busy and wasn’t fully made aware at all of the developing situation. For reasons of factual accuracy and to save people a lot of wasted energy it is now necessary to set the record straight.
It has been erroneously reported as a new band venture. There has never been any intention of starting, or for that matter joining a new band since the end of Josef K – I’m perfectly happy writing and recording as a solo artist. This particular collection of co-written songs (circa 2005/06) started as an experiment to see if there would be any interest from publishers with a view to placing them. Involvement ceased after that and it was made clear at the time it had been a song writing project.”
When JC came up with the idea of Paul Haig Day, the Cathode Ray seemed a natural route for me to follow because, a) it was a little off the beaten track, and b) most importantly, I liked the songs a lot.
The little information I featured in the post came from the Cathode Ray Myspace and I had no reason to doubt that it was accurate.
Given that Paul is an established solo artist it never occurred to me that the Cathode Ray was anything other than a side project. I am sorry therefore if my piece has, in any way, contributed to a different perception of this project. So it seems appropriate to help set the record straight by putting out Paul’s statement.
No worries it was the guardian piece that lauded Paul so much that caused the scales to tip over. Paul generally never says much…
The Guardian piece was a bit odd – was it a (probably well intentioned) attempt to hype up the 2nd single by omitting reference to the first?
Paul lester’s remarks were generous only wish the PR was for new work not an old project that PH didn’t really want to release but did so for the benefit of his friends who invested time and energy.
Move on… The new material is sounding really good and fresh!!!