The Last Perfect Thing
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Band Photos (left) - Kim Stringfellow |
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Since the bands demise around '92-'93, the members of Wire Train have been
involved in various other bands, session work or behind the scenes type stuff in
the music biz. This page gives you an inkling as to where else you may
find their work. I haven't gone into the same detail as on the band discography,
but people will get a good idea of where else to look if they
want to.
Kevin Hunter Whilst in Wire Train beyond, Kevin had a seperate songwriting deal (initially with CBS). This meant that any songs that didn't pass muster with Wire Train might end up in the hands of (for example) Jane Wiedlin, Eddie Rabbit (!!) and who knows who else. Some of Wire Train's '84 gigs would actually see a few of these songs performed by the band (more on that on another page sometime), as well as stuff that just never got out to anybody. Before the Renegades transformed into Wire Train he was (allegedly) in a band called the Snot Puppies. Kevin is continually busy - currently (2006) working with Renee Stahl under the moniker Bella Nova in a kind of "Getz/Gliberto meets Massive Attack" kind-of-way (including a cover of Zepplin's Stairway To Heaven), prior to this he has been involved in the Italian House scene and is a producer / writer for GMW Entertainment. In the late nineties he was working on a Simple Minds album, Our Secrets Are The Same, originally slated for release sometime in 2000. I was fortunate enough to get hold of a bit more info on his role, courtesy of Simon Cornwell and his excellent Simple Minds site, www.simple-minds.demon.co.uk. Here's the deal :When did you first become a fan of Simple Minds? I have been a fan of Jim and Charlie since the first Simple Minds record. What of your work do Jim and Charlie particularly enjoy? I know Jim and Charlie really got into Stone Me from the No Soul No Strain Wire Train album. How many songs have you written? Three of us have written about 15 songs over the last six months. How did you meet ? We met because I was working with Jim's brother Mark who has a great band called Sly Silver Sly. Who else have you worked with since Wire Train? I have also worked with Blinker the Star, Royal Jelly, Lazlo Bane, Sue Hoffs, Charlie Sexton, Sheryl Crow, Billy Idol, Jane Wiedlin, Keith Gattis, Johnny Cash...etc What have you been playing on the demos? I have been playing a little slide and acoustic on some of the demos but Charlie is such an incredible musician I only play when something needs f****** up. I hope to help out on the record in any way that the guys need me. When we are writing mainly its Jim and Charlie who run with it but I'll add a little here or there and get the tea. Nobody has said anything about touring but I am a hell of a guitar polisher. I am just hanging with the guys and doing some music, in truth we are all just having some fun. The Billy Idol album referred to was described to me as "kinda country". Other artists - Jacqueline Siebert, Black Lab, Robin Wiley, Jackie Bristow and Leah Andrione amongst others. There is also some film work in the pipeline too - "Gold Cup" and "Getting A Life" having been mentioned.Here's a couple of other places you will find him:
Lazlo Bane - "11 Transistor"
(Released 1997).
He can also be found appearing in one or two movies that came out in the '90's. I haven't seen any of these so I can't say how good they are, but have a look out for:
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Jeffrey Trott Jeffrey has found considerable success since the end of Wire Train, most notably with Sheryl Crow on all of her album and single releases. Along the way he has also lent his guitar prowess to the likes of World Party, Johnette Napolitano and Tears For Fears. I was fortunate enough to catch up with Jeffrey via e-mail recently, and managed to ask him a couple of questions about current projects, guitars and his time in Wire Train. Here's how it went : Are you currently working on the solo album you mentioned ? Yes, I'm up in Portland right now at my home studio, working on a solo record. A couple of the guys from Wilco, Jay Bennett & John Stirratt, will be on there. I'm also setting up a web page which needs to be designed - I'm going to have a couple of songs that will be downloadable. When I first saw you with Wire Train you had a guitar (I think a Les Paul) with what looked like a load of stickers over it. Do you still have it ? I always thought it was kind of cool. The guitar you mention - a 71' Gibson Les Paul Custom - has stamps from the Eastern block, pre-wall destruction. I bought the stamps myself from a hobby shop in Manchester in '86. That guitar is the sound of Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy", as well as "Favorite Mistake" and "There Goes The Neighborhood". It also appeared on "Stone Me" along with a Rickenbacker I have. Do you remember how you got the gig with Wire Train ? Did you know the guys, or did you have to audition ? I got the gig playing with Wire Train from Brian MacLeod - he saw me performing at this artist loft space. I was doing a sort of "Brian Eno" ambient- solo- guitar- thing in San Francisco in front of 200 art freaks. Brian confronted me after the show about jamming with Wire Train - I said "are you kiddin'?" I played with them one night not knowing the songs. Kevin never said 'hi' or even looked at me the whole time. The next day Brian said that the band was impressed that I knew most of the songs - I told him that I had never heard the songs before and was just improvising! Brian said the gig was mine if I wanted it. Kevin mentioned two un-released Wire Train albums, "Snug" and "Electric". Anything else in the vaults ? Yes ..unreleased material..."Snug", an unbelievably great record. "Electric" is just some recordings from the "Snug" sessions. Do you still get to see the other guys now and then ? Yes, I still talk to the others - I do a lot of records with Brian. In fact I'm producing a record for Don DiLego and Brian will be on there. My thanks to Jeffrey for taking the time to answer these questions. Before a fuller rundown, here's a bit of background on some of his work. The Lifers - Jeffrey's pre-Wire Train band. Read all about them, courtesy of Daniel Garcia. The Waterboys - Probably my favourite gig of all time was The Waterboys / Wire Train / We Free Kings in 1986 at the Hammersmith Palais, London. I was totally blown away by the two main bands (being a huge Waterboys fan at the time) - Jeffrey joined the Waterboys on stage for a couple of numbers, and almost joined the band full time a little later. But, 'twas not to be. World Party - Goodbye Jumbo (various cuts on the album, one or two singles and videos (including Put the Message In The Box , Way Down Now ). Released on Ensign Records, 1990 Sheryl Crow - Tuesday Night Music Club, Sheryl Crow, The Globe Sessions (All released on A&M records). This pretty much seems like Jeffrey's full time job these days - as well as being a member of Sheryl's band he also has a big hand in a lot of the songwriting and production. Even if he is behind the scenes a little, at least he's now getting some of the recognition he deserves, having co-wrote the hits "If it Makes You Happy" , and "Every Day is a Winding Road" . Johnette Napolitano - not to sure about this - I know Jeffrey did some live dates with her in '93 (I think), but I don't know if anything's been released on record. Here's a break down of his work that I know of:
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Brian MacLeod Brian was formerly in a band called The Sleepers, and then Group 87 (along with Between Two Words producer Peter Maunu). He's also done a lot of session work, allegedly for the likes of people such as Madonna and Michael Jackson, but I have no idea on what. Before and after Wire Train, he can be found in loads of places - this guy loves to work! More recently been a member of Kaviar. Here's a selection of his work:
Anders Rundblad Anders is no longer involved in the music scene, and has more recently been working set construction on movie and TV series shot in and around California. Prior to Wire Train, he was previously in Swedish band Motvind (Sweden being his native country) - after Wire Train, he too appears on some of Sheryl Crow's songs on her '96 self titled album. His bass work also featured on Chuck Prophet's Homemade Blood album, and he toured as part of Prophet's band for a while. Not quite as busy as Brian MacLeod, here's a rundown.
Federico Gil-Sola and Kurt Herr I was fortunate enough to hear from Federico recenctly (May 2004), here's what he had to say: In 1990 I left San Francisco and moved back to Buenos Aires, where I´m from, to join a band named DIVIDIDOS, which became Argentina’s most popular group in the early 90’s. We released two albums that also came out in the States on PolyGram (now Universal, I think) Acariciando lo Áspero and La Era de la Boludez.
In 1995 I left the band and gave up being a professional musician for a while (just like I did when I left WT). I taught drums
for a couple of years and played on other people’s records but no serious project until 1999, when I set up my own studio and
started working on my first solo album
You can enter my website www.federicogilsola.com for
more info, although I don’t know if everything is translated, but you can get and idea. Sometime in the future we’ll have a full
English version.
Federico also appeared on Penelope Houston's album, "The Whole Wide World", released
on Heyday Records (HEY 029 - CD Only). LA Weekly described this release as "Some of the most inventive and innovative
acoustic pop/folk music ever."
Kurt left to start another band, possibly called Missile Harmony, but I don't think he is
actively involved in the music biz anymore.
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The Last Perfect Thing