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Will Carruthers (born 9 November 1967, in Chesterfield, England) is a musician, best known for playing bass in the influential alternative rock bands Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized.
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Will Carruthers (born 9 November 1967, in Chesterfield, England) is a musician, best known for playing bass in the influential alternative rock bands Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized.
Carruthers moved to Rugby in 1977, and joined St Mark's Junior school.
After leaving Lawrence Sheriff School at the age of 16, he went to work in a sheet metal factory in Birmingham, and it was then he began to teach himself to play bass. He then moved back to Rugby, and became involved in the local music scene, joining the local band, The Cogs of Tyme.
Carruthers plays a 1976 Gibson Thunderbird electric bass guitar.
Carruthers joined Spacemen 3, replacing bassist Pete Bain, in 1988. One of his first gigs was the performance that would represent the live Dreamweapon album. He performed on Spacemen 3 third studio album, Playing with Fire released in 1989. Spacemen 3 toured extensively in Europe in 1989. Carruthers contributed to Peter Kember's solo side project, album Spectrum. He also played on Spacemen 3's fourth and final studio album, Recurring. At a time when internal conflict was rife in the band, Carruthers left the Spacemen 3 in 1990 before the album was completed. He went to work on a building site as a labourer to pay off the debts he had incurred during his time in the band. [1]
Following the demise of Spacemen 3, Carruthers was approached by Jason Pierce to join a new band that he was forming with all of the musicians from Spacemen 3 except Peter Kember. Carruthers was eventually persuaded to join, and the band recorded a single "Anyway That You Want Me", a cover of a song that was a hit for The Troggs. The band then began to tour rigorously around the UK and then recorded the album Lazer Guided Melodies. Before the release of the album, Carruthers left the band due to a payment dispute, and went back to the building site.
Disillusioned, Carruthers quit the music industry, and moved to the Lake District. He would not play live for four years. Carruthers drifted around the country, doing odd-jobs, working as a waiter, a cook, a gardener, on building sites, as a roadie and doing various other menial jobs.
He was asked to join the band The Guaranteed Ugly in 1996 by his acquaintance Gavin Wissen who had been the singer for 'The Cogs of Tyme'. At the time, the group were Billy Childish's favourite band. The band played once a month at the Dirty Water Club in London supporting Thee Headcoats. Around this time, Carruthers was approached by Kember, to join his band Spectrum . Carruthers subsequently recorded an EP with Spectrum and The Silver Apples, and played many dates with Spectrum in 1999, most notably on tour supporting the Flaming Lips.
Freelovebabies is the name under which Carruthers is releasing his solo work. Live gigs featured Ricky Maymi from the Brian Jonestown Massacre on guitar, Joe Woolley on guitar, Mel Draisey from The Clientele on keyboards, Steven Beswick on drums, The Koolaid Electric Company's Dave Griffin on bass and Sam Barrett on percussion.
Written in Sand was written by Carruthers and the guitarist Kevin Cowen. It was self-recorded and released by Carruthers in 2001. [2]
Home Improvement for Condemned Buildings is the second Freelovebabies album, and was released in 2006. It is available through www.willcarruthers.com. It features Jonny Mattock, Kevin Cowen, Mark Refoy, Fiona McCreath, Jon Wald and Adam Fernie.
Circa 2008–2010, Carruthers played bass and toured with the psychedelic band, The Brian Jonestown Massacre. He featured on their two albums, Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? and Aufheben.
In 2017 Carruthers published a memoir detailing, among other things, his experiences playing with Spacemen 3.
Spacemen 3 were an English rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psychedelia" consisting of heavily distorted guitar, synthesizers, and minimal chord or tempo changes.
Spiritualized are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce, formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pierce, Doggen Foster (guitar) and Kevin Bales with revolving bassists and keyboard players. The band’s current bassist, James Stelfox, has been playing with the band since 2012.
The Warlocks are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1998 by the guitarist/singer Bobby Hecksher. The band's music has ranged from psychedelic rock to drone music. There have been many changes in personnel since its formation, with Hecksher the only constant member.
Jason Andrew Pierce is an English musician. Currently the frontman and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized, he previously co-fronted the alternative rock band Spacemen 3 with Peter Kember from 1982 until 1991. He has worked under the name J. Spaceman.
Peter Kember, also known by his stage name Sonic Boom, is an English singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He was a founding member, vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist of alternative rock band Spacemen 3, lasting from 1982 until the band's dissolution in 1991. He is now based in Sintra, Portugal.
Metropolitan are an American four-piece indie rock group from Washington, D.C.
Royal Albert Hall October 10, 1997 is a live album by space rock group Spiritualized from their 1997 tour of the United Kingdom, recorded during an October show at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The album was released in late 1998.
Slipstream are an English indie rock band, not to be confused with the American band "The Slipstream". They were formed in 1994 after Mark Refoy left Spiritualized. The band consisted of Ian Anderson on guitar, Gary Lennon on bass, Steve Beswick on drums and occasional appearances from Jonny Mattock who had also stopped drumming for Spiritualized later that year. Over the following five years the band released two albums, Slipstream and Be Groovy Or Leave, and a compilation CD, Side Effects, all on Ché Trading.
The Darkside were an indie rock band formed in 1989 by former members of Spacemen 3. After releasing two studio albums they split up in 1993.
The Black Angels are an American psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas. Formed in May 2004, they took their name from the Velvet Underground's "The Black Angel's Death Song." They have released six studio albums and one compilation album.
Methodrone is the debut studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released in 1995 by record label Bomp!.
The Flowers of Hell are a transatlantic experimental orchestra made up of a revolving line-up of 16 or so independent musicians based in Toronto and London. Their mostly instrumental sound builds bridges between classical music and post-rock, shoegaze, space rock and drone music, often resulting in their being described as an orchestral extension of the work of The Velvet Underground and Spacemen 3. They are led by synesthete composer Greg Jarvis. Much of their repertoire is an exploration of the timbre-to-shape synesthesia that causes Jarvis to involuntarily perceive all sounds as floating abstract visual forms.
The Black Ryder is songwriting duo Aimee Nash and Scott Von Ryper, who originate from Sydney.
Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? is the eleventh studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It was released in February 2010 on band leader Anton Newcombe's A Records.
"Big City" is the fifth and last single from the English alternative rock band Spacemen 3. It entered the UK charts at position #88. It was released in January 1991, shortly after the band split up, as a 7", 12" and CD single. The 7" contains a shorter version of the song than the 12". A remixed version was released separately. The 7" edit appears on the band's final album Recurring under the title "Big City ".
Aufheben is the twelfth studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It was released in May 2012 on band leader Anton Newcombe's A Records label.
Formed in 2002, One Unique Signal are a British, London based, five piece playing loud repetitive experimental music. The band also perform live and record as The Telescopes alongside founder Stephen Lawrie since 2010.
Forever Alien is the third studio album by British space rock band Spectrum, a project led by Peter Kember under the pseudonym Sonic Boom. It was released in August 1997 by Space Age Records. After the band's preceding EP Songs for Owsley (1996) moved them away from guitar-oriented music and towards electronic music, Forever Alien furthered this approach considerably, as Kember aimed to create a predominately electronic album that sounded organic and analogue in style. The record is dominated by vintage analogue synthesizers, including the EMS VCS 3 and EMS Synthi AKS. Kember had become fascinated by the synths as he felt they presented him with more musical possibilities than guitars.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American rock band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990.
The Sour Truth is a collaboration between English musicians Stanley Belton as Black Market Karma and Peter Kember as Sonic Boom. It was released on 16 August 2023 by Flower Power Records, premiering through the online magazine God Is in the TV. It is available as a 10-inch transparent vinyl record, limited to 500 copies.
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