My Bloody Heart Beats

By Joe Kavanagh

In an industry where momentum is everything, a hiatus of any kind can be a fatal blow for most acts. Given the pressure of being in a band, many are tempted to take breaks from their grueling schedule, only to return and find that many of their fans have forsaken them for the latest up-and-coming act. There are, however, those rare cases where a band's reputation and standing is only enhanced by its absence, the legend growing with each passing year, as swelling ranks of fans pine for their return.

With a musical genius at the helm and over a decade of wild rumors circulating the band, My Bloody Valentine fit trimly into the latter category. Over the years their star has grown to almost mythical proportions, with more and more acts citing them as central influences in their careers, and their innovation in the recording studio is often held up as being in league with no less an act than the Beatles. Whispers of a return after a decade-plus of inactivity turned into a roar last week when singer Kevin Shields announced that the band will set out on the road before year's end and finally release an album that has been over ten years in the making.

The man often referred to as "the Irish Brian Wilson" was actually born in Queens, NY, but retuned to Ireland with his family when he was only 10-years-old, where they settled in Dublin. The move proved traumatic for Shields, who once described it as "like going from, as far as I was concerned, the modern world to some distant past."

One surprising distinction between life in the US and Ireland that soon became apparent to him, was the difference in how music was marketed to teens. Shields found himself exposed to a far greater range of musical influences in Ireland than he had in the US, and immersed himself in the world of music, as he dealt with his difficult assimilation. He began playing guitar and soon came to another watershed moment in his life when he realized that a lack of natural talent meant that he would never play the instrument like his more capable idols. Instead, he began manipulating chords and rhythms, while also employing different pedals to affect the sounds and allowing him to express himself as he truly wanted, This set him on a path that would eventually define a genre.

Around this time he also met drummer Colm O'Ciosoig, beginning a friendship that was forged as they served in a series of bands around the nation's capital. In 1983, the pair met singer Dave Conway and the three began recording tracks, with Conway's girlfriend filling in on keyboards. The band endured several breakups and reconciliations before Conway took off to travel around Europe and secured the band a gig in Holland on the strength of their demos. Taking their name from a Canadian slasher-flick, they set out for Holland, where they spent three months toiling, before deciding that their career had hit a dead end. Next, they moved on to Germany, where initial signs were good and they even recorded a mini-album, This Is Your Bloody Valentine, which bore little resemblance to later work, as the band openly wore their punk influences. Despite their early optimism, the band's career flagged once again and they eventually returned to London, before going their separate ways. Several months later, they reformed once more, sans Conway's by now, ex-girlfriend and took on bassist Debbie Googe, on the strength of a friend's recommendation. Their music soon caught the attention of Fever Records, who were impressed enough to release an EP, Geek!, but the release failed to capture the imagination and Shields began mulling a return to New York, where he still had family. His mind soon changed when the band signed to Kaleidoscope Records in 1986 and finally began to distinguish themselves with the release of an EP, The New Record By My Bloody Valentine, which exhibited early impressions of the swirling guitars and ethereal sound that would soon become their trademark. They then moved on to Lazy Records the following year, releasing another EP before Conway decided that he wanted to pursue his own career in music.

In 1991, Shields masterpiece, Loveless, finally hit shelves and became an immediate hit with critics who were awed by its originality and innovation. Shields' mastery in the studio redefined the rules of recording in a manner that can legitimately be compared to the Beatles, employing a host of tricks that have been emulated since by virtually every indie band in his wake. Commercially, however, the album only moved a half million units and they split from Creation, Shields' eccentricities having allegedly poisoned the relationship between himself and McGee, to the point where the latter resolutely refused to ever work with the singer again. There was no shortage of suitors, however, and the band soon signed to Island Records, who were confident that their investment would more than pay off, even as they handed over a $500,00 advance. Six months later the advance was gone and the album was nowhere in sight, so the label kept the band on a monthly retainer of roughly $5,000. They would collect it for a further nine years and finally leave Island in 2001, without ever giving them so much as a track.

Again, the rumor mill went into overdrive, with stories that Shields had "lost it" and was living as a recluse, with only a coterie of chinchillas for company. He was alleged to have recorded and scrapped at least two albums, which fell maddeningly short of his uncompromising expectations. Shields later claimed, "I lost it. I lost what I had and I thought, you know what? I'm not going to put a crap record out." He also is on record as saying that he simply did what he wanted, when he wanted, living in a veritable cocoon of his own making. He did make the occasional foray into the public eye, most notably standing in on guitar with Primal Scream, but despite rumors, until last week's announcement, it appeared that hopes of a reunion were nothing more than optimistic conjecture.

Now it is official, My Bloody Valentine are back and have announced that they will finally release the final part of what Shields has termed a trilogy, and he even claims to have been working on the project since 1996.

Although they have endured a far longer layoff this time around, My Bloody Valentine have form for returning from breaks stronger than ever. If that's the case this time around, then this could be pretty special.