Other sites: Robin Janssens | Strawberry Forks
In the dark, cold winter season of 2006, whilst raining, hailing, snowing, sometimes all simultaenously, there shone a bright light of hope - but this was no natural light. The light of positivity, the light of joy, and - to quote this glimmer of hope - the light of “happiness, love and laughter”.
The darkness was the swirling despair of everyone exposed to the nothingness which exists around us, in a so-called “musical” form - every single song on the radio in these musically-bleak modern times sounds as though it has metaphorically been chewed up, swallowed down and regurgetated into the next song, sounding precisley as mundane as it's predecessor. The light, with such a delightful alias as the Strawberry Forks, exists of many parts, (not necassarily equal parts…) and is a welcome change to the nothingness that we are all surrounded by today.
Influenced mainly by the sounds of the 60's, including the Beatles, all it's individual members, The Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys among many others, the bands “goals” include such things as becoming closer to the dream of a better world, and spreading the love and joy they feel exists in the world through their own musical triumphs, namely their debut album, “Fizzy Orange And Honeycomb Chocolate”.
Strawberry Forks first united in early 2006, lead equally by main lyricist Harry Sydell and originally-intended “only-drummer” and vocalist Paul Morris. The name was concieved during a lazy afternoon at the computer screen, and the band was just a mere blank canvas - with a title (equal to modern art…).
The first half of the name had been chosen by Paul (the whole story has not been explained fully by the members, so there is no background to how this word came about), and they needed a second. “Forks”, replyed Harry, staring intently at a lone fork which had seemingly no purpose in the escapade. The word was quickly discarded - if only for a second or two. The name suddenly clicked into Pauls mind. “Yes! Strawberry Forks!” And with that, the Strawberry Forks had been born.
The first Strawberry Forks song, however, was far less of a triumphant affair. Entitled “Bass-O-Joke”, but to some pronounced “Bassy Joke”, the “song” consists of a rather poorly recorded, and rather poorly though-out drum and bass track, with the plodding bassline distorting at times due to the snare drum rattling like crazy, in an embarrasingly un-rhythmic 3/4 time signiture. The “vocals” - a joke told the whole way through the song, with the punchline greeting a well-deserved rest from the music - provided by Paul, could be described as inaudible, due to poor recording quality. The song is introduced with an obvious statement - “This is a joke for you” - although, due to the nature of the song, it is unclear whether the song is intended (intentionally or unintentionally) as a joke overall, or whether it is the joke after which the song is named. I have been told the joke on one occasion as a rough translantion by the bands main vocalist and songwriter Mark Morris, (Paul's brother), and it goes roughly as so :
This is a joke for you
A married couple are having marriage problems, so they decide to see a councellor. “We don't talk at all anymore” say the couple. “I'll see what I can do,” says the councellor. So, he reaches under his desk, gets out his bass guitar, and proceeds to play. Soon after the couple start talking again. “Wow, we're talking again!” say the couple. “Thank you, but why the bass?” To which the councellor says;
“Everyone talks during the bass solo.”
The song ends with a strange departing dialogue from Paul once more. When the music eventually stops, the listener hears “Maxo,” followed shortly afterwards by a rather over-enthusiastic, “We got it!” After this, the song ends, and all the hiss and background noise generated from the poor recording suddenly stops. The song is over. And we are left to wonder what could have possibly motivated those two people to record such a fantastic travesty…
The band soon headed in a new direction, recruting the multi-talented Mark Morris to write songs that would fit to the lyrical genius of Harry. Soon after, the bands first real song was created, with the aid of vocals from Chris Stevens and Daniel Marriot. The solo was partially created by Mark, but Daniel had eloborated upon the original idea, and was recorded by the man himself. The song was a success, and for several months, the band basked in the glory of their one collaberative effort, enchanted by the dream-like daze of “Honeysuckle Raindrops”.
The band reconviened later on in the year, while Mark had continued writing and had a whole roster of songs to show for himself. Acoustic demos were recorded for the whole album, and only one outtake from the sessions exists, the rather strange. experimental version of “Outro”, on which Jackson 1 features.
His acceptance into the Strawberry Forks as a main role member wasn't a dreary process. The band was not an alien concept; his own band Spacejunkie had been of a similar writing style. The first time he appeared on a Strawberry Forks recording was with the song, “Helpless Animals”, on which he collaberated with Mark and Harry, providing guitar and vocals. From thereon in, he began to take a more active role within the band, creating dramatic and harmonic backing vocals to most of the songs that were sung by Mark alone.
The last official member of the Strawberry Forks was the soulful Emma Young. Providing backing vocals on the group songs such as “MiLK” and “Mexico”, and a lead vocal on “The End Of The Day”, she gives a key vocal sound to the songs in which she features.
All 7 members are the key to the ultimate Strawberry Forks vocal sound. The instrumentalists always differ between songs, however, so there is never a surefire way to tell who is featuring on a specific song. Most tracks are recorded by Mark and Jackson 1 alone, as both are self-confessed mutli-instrumentalists. An elusive list of lyrics, members and instruments played on each song exists within the hands of the members. However, this list shall be recreated within the next chapter of the story, in which the band goes through the ups and downs - the troubles, the arguments, the struggles; and last of all, the joy -of recording a full length album.
With the band's inner termoil completely abolished, what remained of Strawberry Forks - the trinity of the ever-erratic lyricist and the band's main songwriters - set off on a musical journey which, to them, seemed almost as mind-blowing as the amount of narcotics Harry had consumed upto and beyond this period.
The Forks' 3rd makeshift studio album, “Fade Out”, is a collection of songs from a wide range of differing musical eras, - varying from brand new gems such as the outstanding “Wrong Way” to the pre-Fork days, when “Bienvenidos” was first demoed - a pattern that would later be repeated. Despite his increasing marijuana usage, Harry was suprisingly productive when Fade Out was in it's embroynic stages. His lyrics, which included such hits as “Happy Days”, - an upbeat number with, in hindsight, a rather “evil” sounding laughing track - “Wrong Way”, - a tempo-jumper with plenty of melody and featuring the Forks' first 5-part harmony - “Clever Eyes Medley”, - a three-track medley about several different whimsical subjects - and “Roots Of a Strawberry Bush” - a bouncy number inspired by the experiences undergone within the history of the band - were quickly turned into songs, and Mark had demoed most of them post-haste. Together, bit by bit, and incorporating what they dubbed “bass-off's” in every song (a practice in which the two musicians would strive to create a more elaborate and over-the-top bassline than the last), Mark and Jackson 1 quickly compiled the song's basic tracks, vocals, overdubs and harmonies to create their 14 track masterpiece. But no task comes with a lack of setbacks, especially within the Strawberry Forks' universe…
Mark had envisioned the album to be sung by the many different members of Strawberry Forks. Unfortunately, by this point, himself and Jackson 1 had not yet realised that this was a far-from-simple task. For one, Harry lived over an hour away from the other members, and, even when motivated enough, it was difficult to provide himself the transport to visit MiLK Studios.
And secondly, the rest of the band had seemingly portrayed lack of motivation and enthusiasm for the recordings and the band itself. They were featured on the album, but from this point on, were seen more as “session musicians” than contributing members, and as such, were given less and less opportunity in upcoming releases.
One song, however, was contributed by long-dormant member Chris Stevens - the quirky, humourous number, “Happy Laughs”, originally intended for his own project. Chris was later quoted as wishing to be more involved with Strawberry Forks, but due to other commitments, this would not be the case. The songwriters were not phased by their friends' lack of contribution, but saw it as an opportunity to work as a more efficient musical force, and even talks of how they could pull off a live show were in the studio. However they looked at it, they knew the band was becoming a bigger project than they had ever anticipated. And with a new musician to work with, their next album would become their most ambitious and ground-breaking work to date, bringing in the new wave of Strawberry Forks' passion for pop majesty…
Interesting notes:
“Happy Days” - One of the very few tracks on which Harry is featured. He had just arrived at MiLK studios when asked to do the “happies” during the bridge if the song. Unfortunately, however, his vocal contribution is drowned out by Jackson 1's participation. Note Jackson's use of harmonics in the chorus lead part to create a feedback effect. The lyrical content is said to be about the reformed Forks.
“Clever Eyes Medley” - Three songs that were merged together due to startlingly similiar chord progressions. The “yeah!” featured in the “Mr. Bear” section was Mark and Jackson 1's attempt to sound like Harry, as he was originally used in the demo version. The song is said to represent several childhood situations. The phrase “clever eyes” originates from “Fizzy Orange and Honeycomb Chocolate” lyrics, meaning we look at the world in a positive way, as a child does.
“Wrong Way” - Two different versions of the song were originally demoed - one by Mark, one by Jackson 1. In the end, it was decided that Mark's version was superior, but the tempo change was inspired by Jackson 1's version. A wise comprimise. The song is about an imaginary trip to find the sun, never quite getting there, but still being content with your journey. Apply to your own, if you will. As with most of Harry's lyrics, drug imagery could also be interpreted. “Happy Laughs” - The only song to feature Chris Stevens, or anyone else for that matter, on lead vocals. Demoed as an Apex song. When asked what the song is about, Mark replies, “Good question, haha. Me and chris just sat down and wrote a song with verses of positive images. And the chorus is like word association.”
“Roots Of A Strawberry Bush” - Another Harry-penned number. The only song to feature most of the original members on vocals. The “Stay with me now” section has an interesting array of vocal improvisation from the many who sung on the track. The telephonic “We can grow tall” by Jackson 1 is incorporated as a joke, as in the demo version - recorded by Mark on his MP3 player - the T.V. is on in the background. As the line is sung, the T.V. sounds eerily like an echo of it, as is mimicked in this version.
This song describes various aspects of the Forks' history together. Mark says, “its a song written by harry, in his words 'as a morale boost to the band'”. The first verse interprets escapism, a theme often dealt with by Mr. Sydell. “I once fought the Dogman” is a reference to Daniel “Dogman” Marriott, although a fight between the two was never recollected. “I got high with royalty, but it's not where we began” is rememberance of the times that Jackson 1 (a.k.a Sir Johnathon) and Harry would often consume copius amounts of illicit narcotics together, although the Forks had formed long before these times. “It started with a joke, but now we're on our third/I can't believe we grew so tall, it just sounds absurd” is about the band's first anti-hit, and how much they have progressed both musically and otherwise beyond those times.
“Bienvenidos” - Demoed way back in the early Spacejunkie days, the song was recovered and given new life by the Strawberry Forks crew. The solo, which contains a lot of cliche rock n' roll styles, is provided by none other than Matthew “Bujj” Bujok, featured again on the Forks next album.
Mark writes, “Bienvenidos was originally written on holiday in majorca. Superficially about being in the sun. It was more about when things seem to be on the up, only for you to come crashing down to earth again. Hence “welcome to the rain”. Coincidentially, that was a holiday which harry was on with my family. Before strawberry forks I think. 3 albums later it became an SF song, haha.”
“An Ode To MiLK” - As the title suggests, the song is referencing the band's first milk-related song, “MiLK”, and possibly MiLK Studios as an afterthought. The song contains no acoustic guitar - a staple instrument in the SF recording process - simply just a minimalistic piano, funky bass and straightforward drums.
The song is based upon one of the first set of lyrics ever sent to Mark via Harry, “simply proclaiming his love for milk.” “I sat down at the piano and created the second song about milk in SF history, and quite possibly not the last” - Mark.
“Artificial Happiness” - The song stands as an prime example of song evolution and genre-busting that has become a trademark of the band. The first song written by Jackson 1 alone, it was demoed as a simple acoustic song, with all the vocals sung by himself. During the recording, it somehow turned into more of a country song, with the melodic slide guitar and humourously western bassline. The vocal duties were then split between the two singers. The backing chorus vocals were recorded several times by Mark and Jackson 1, and, when listened to alone, create a horrid, out of tune mess that sounds more like a drunken pub crawl than two guys attempting to re-create a group, unbeknownst to the listener amongst the instrumentation. The erratic sound clip was found on the free sound project website (a tool often used by the musicians), when “country” was typed into the search box. It was used in a radio show, and the rest of the clip says, “You see, Harold, thinks it's so. Harold had his tongue clipped; Apaches.” The song is about thinking you're happy, due to material or hedonisitic wants, although true happiness is found elsewhere, and there are so many more important things in life.
Shortly after the recording of the highly ambitious and double length fourth Strawberry Forks album, work on the fifth album commenced. Inventively provisionally titled “Album #5”. The songs included some that were created as the fourth album was in production, and began to take a more politically charged direction. This included the song “FYC (Shall We Jump on the Bandwagon)”; a scathing attack on the political estabilishment and media. The album also included “Ker-Ching!” a song denouncing the hold that money has over society today. “Animal Coffin” provided a somewhat downbeat anthem for the vegetarian community, although Mark was never a vegetarian and since the song was penned Jackson 1 has become a fully fledged omnivore again.
Of course, there was still some of Strawberry Forks' trademark humour to be found on the album, this includes “Pizza Song”, and the classic christmas song “Mr. Frosty”. Another song which was considered for inclusion was a song where the band tried to recreate as many stereotypical genre styles in one song as possible; the favourite being the rap section, which was considered to be recreated as a song in its own right.
Unfortunately, this never came to pass along with many of the other ideas for the album as Mark moved to Norwich for University. The album, and indeed the band have been left with an uncertain future. Several different projects for the future have been suggested including a strawberry forks youtube series; whether any of these suggestions will come to fruition remains to be seen.