Alpha Boys Are Dead

When I started this blog it was supposed to be about writing songs for a new album, “hopefully by the Alpha Boys feat. Joe Scholes”. This hope is gone now. On Saturday, 27th of February 2010, the name Alpha Boys feat. Joe Scholes was buried. What happened? I will get into that later.

First here is a quick recap of how the project came to be. In November 2008 the singer, guitarist and songwriter Karsten Riedel left Alpha Boy School, one of Germany’s most active and successful Ska bands of the last years. From 2002 to 2008 they completed four albums and toured throughout Europe and Japan. Karsten was undisputedly the driving force behind the band. With his wild tatoos and the slick brilliantine hair-stylings he was not only responsible for the band’s rough image, but also wrote all the songs and most of the arrangements. After Karsten’s leave the rest of the band began looking for a new singer. Fans may remember the call for female singers on their website and myspace. After a few months without any results the end of Alpha Boy School seemed near. That’s when the contact between me and the band intensified in such a way that we talked about joining forces. I had known Alpha Boy School from doing shows together with my former band The Braces and from the Alpha Boy School tourthrough Japan in early 2007. I had invited myself to that as their tour DJ and guest singer. And after two years of father’s leave I thought it would be a perfect time to return to the game.

Japan Video Diary

Alpha Boys feat. Joe Scholes | MySpace Musikvideos

Two weeks ago we decided not to walk that road together any longer. After seven months with about ten rehearsals and five gigs. You are not getting a place in the history of Ska music with these data. It wasn’t meant to be. A few questions can be asked in this situation. I try to answer them in this interview with myself.

What are the reasons for the untimely death?
There are quite a few.

Reason no 1: the name

We realised that the project name we had chosen – Alpha Boys feat. Joe Scholes – promised something that could not be kept. When we started out late last summer we wanted a name showing that we were a new band. But not that new. The name was supposed to also transport that we had a history in other bands/acts that fans could relate to. Looking back a more obvious cut would have served everyone better. Why? Because some promoters just ignored the name change and announced us as “Alpha Boy School” on their websites, posters and flyers. It wasn’t any help that we operated from the band’s old domain “www.alphaboyschool.de” and played our shows around Bochum, the homebase of Alpha Boy School and also the home of their most devoted followers. We underestimated the pressure that came with the decision not to let go of the name. I am not talking about the criticism of one fan or another about the changes in line-up, our attitude on stage or the songs being played. The pressure came from within. The subconscious expectation was that apart from the line-up changes everything just went on as before.

Reason no 2. the concept/the realisation

The plan was to play a few gigs here and there, with a set consisting of one third of the songs taken from Alpha Boy School, one third from my former band The Braces and one third cover versions. In the course of time we would replace the old songs with new songs I would write. That made some sense, but looking back it’s obvious that we fooled ourselves. The reality was, the cover versions we played had already been part of the Alpha Boy School set: songs like “A New England”, “Boys Don’t Cry”, “One In Ten”, “Rat Race”, “Skinhead Girl.” To us as well as the audiences (familiar with ABS) they were Alpha Boy School songs. That was a good way to be ready to play without rehearsing a lot, but it didn’t help transmitting the idea that we were doing something new, or at least different from the old band. You couldn’t blame anyone attending our shows to get the feeling that this was Alpha Boy School without Karsten (and the second frontman Torsten (sax, backing vocals) who also didn’t show up for the rehearsals). Maybe even the band felt so. Now, what about the new songs?
That leads to …

Reason no 3: work (or lack of it)

As I said before, in the last seven months we got together for only ten rehearsals, maybe twelve. The number of meetings would have been even smaller if we only counted those rehearsals where all of the band were present. Many times, one or two of us couldn’t make it. The remaining rehearsals usually took place in the week before a show and we used them to play the whole set which can be quite annoying. In our band meeting in the middle of February we agreed that we would have needed more new songs (than the one we got together) to move on. I had promised those new songs from the beginning but didn’t come across with them. Which fueled the sense of stagnation in the band. What had held me back?

Reason no 4: musical direction

After I had spent my first weeks with the Alpha Boys learning old songs by Karsten (and those cover versions) I started collecting new ideas. As I stated earlier it was clear to me that I would have to change my style. Songs for the band had to be definitely rougher than the stuff that I usually write. From playing live I tried to get a feeling which type of rhythms suited us best. Trying to come up with new stuff and to meet the expectations of the rest of the band I filtered so much that I began asking myself whether the remaining songs represented a special side of me or whether I was trying to impersonate someone else.

Reason no 5: approach

I had been told the band’s modus operandi used to be that Karsten basically had the whole song and arrangement in mind when he presented something to the band. This is a very efficient way to work. I work in a different way though. Nowadays I like to come to the rehearsals with some ideas in my mind, a few chord progressions and a type of groove everyone plays on for a while until a rhythm develops that fits. Then record that, go back home and write some more. In my experience this is a good way to involve the musicians in the song writing process. The result is that everyone feels comfortable with the songs/tracks/tunes. My imagination was also that the musicians would embrace this appoach because I think it is just more fun. But the reasonable argument against it (especially given our tight schedule) was that it is not effective enough. The next option we could think of is to build small units of musicians (two or three people) who prepare ideas for the others. But it did not come to that (yet).

Reason no 6: band dynamics

Maybe it all comes down to band dynamics. When a band has been together for a few years it gets harder to change the system. Comparisons between bands and relationships are as common as they are appropriate. After the infatuation phase the work begins. It’s very hard to make adjustments when everyone has settled for their role in this constellation of people. It’s even harder when you get the feeling that you are not going anywhere. When you reached a certain level of success and realise you can’t take it any further without making substantial changes. Maybe the sense of stagnation had already been a reason for Karsten Riedel to move on from Alpha Boy School.

Is this the end of it all?

Not sure. What we decided on is: The name Alpha Boys feat. Joe Scholes has to go. The next thing that will happen is: I will record the songs that I have written, without filters in my head. When new material is ready for play, Bassman Dirk, drummer Sven and maybe Andi on trombone will give some input. Should we think we are onto something good and have enough material, we get in contact with the people who can fill the ideas with life. Apart from you, the other former Alpha Boys will be the first to know. But my premonition is that the line-up of the new project will not be the same as Alpha Boys feat. Joe Scholes. Anyway, there will be a new name and we will hopefully be soon past the situation that on every poster and flyer it says “Ex-Alpha Boy School, Ex-The Braces” . No deadline was set for handing in new songs.

Anything good about the situation?

We were quite fast at realising our situation and changing our plan. It could also have taken years. Maybe the new situation also helps me to get rid of my song writing filters. Let the words and music flow.

What about joescholes.com?

I will definitely go on writing this blog. It’s too much fun to stop now. In fact since starting joescholes.com the ideas for new blog content keep coming to me, and the challenge is to find the time to write. Some may argue I should just focus on writing the songs. They might be right. They might be wrong. Failure or victory? The future will show. I recommend you to stay tuned.

Tagged as: Alpha Boy School, Joe Scholes, Ska Music, The Braces