the things i miss.
Secret Shine
interview by Kenyon Hopkin
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Secret Shine (current line-up of Jamie Gingell, Scott Purnell, Dean Purnell and Kathryn Smith) saw its inception at the height of the dreampop/shoegaze era in the UK, when bands like Slowdive and Ride were the latest thing and My Bloody Valentine was about to release Loveless. The Shine released an album on trailblazing indie label Sarah records before going on an extended hiatus. In 2008 they finally released All of the Stars through Clairecords.
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Advance Copy: How is life in the UK?
Jamie: Grey and wet, very expensive and celebrity obsessed.

AC: So you originally formed in 1990, when all the dreampop/shoegaze bands were blossoming. Was it an exciting time? Or did it just seem that way to everyone else?
JG: It was exciting in the sense that we liked the music that was being made at the time, although on the whole, things are never as exciting as we like to remember them.

AC: Are you impressed with yourselves that you're again existing as a band, given the break-up of so many other similar bands? Why did you originally break-up? What took so long? Why now the reformation?
JG: We never broke up. We're too lazy to do anything that organized. We creatively ground to halt and stayed that way in stasis for a decade. We all still saw each other regularly and started the idea of writing again a few years into the hiatus, but that conversation lasted about six years. We like to take our time.

AC: It's been over a decade since the last album. Given the climate in the music industry and trends between then and now, how have things been different for you as a band?
JC: We were never that aware of what the differences were really, because Matt and Claire at Sarah kind of took all that away and dealt with it for us. We didn’t have the kind of self-financed funding back then that we do now though, so we mostly gigged in the UK. I guess the internet in the intervening years has enabled much better social networking in the music scene and meant we get to play the States and mainland Europe a lot more than we used to. Bands don’t make as much money as they used to from record sales because everyone seems to want something for nothing on the internet these days, but the kind of fans who have the integrity to buy what you create and come to your gigs make up the difference.

old school Secret Shine

AC: You're already working on the next record, even though you had some recent hold-ups. What is providing the acceleration?
JC: I wouldn’t say were accelerating. We're planning another album, but in reality, we started writing for it about a year ago and I don’t think it will be ready until next year. Unlike our second album, we don’t have a tour-based commitment for this release, so it will be ready when it’s ready.

AC: i know you posted about it, but since it was such an unbelievable gig, what was it like for you seeing my bloody valentine for their recent reunion?
JC: It was loud beyond imagining, in your face, and uncompromising. Some songs were played to perfection and others were barely intelligible. If we wanted perfection, we’d all stay at home and listen to the CD I guess. There’s nobody else like them, mainly because no one else could pull it off.

www.myspace.com/secretshine