Miki has very kindly agreed to share her own photos from her time in Lush. So,without further ado or my customary waffling, I give you…
“A Pictorial History Of Lush-Much Loved, Much Missed”
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Miki : “These first three are from 1989…1 and 2 are our first ‘proper’ promotional photos which were done by Suzy Gibbons. Emma had been working for Jeff Barratt (PR) who did Creation stuff and Suzy was going out with Guy Chadwick (singer in The House of Love, then on Creation). I don’t think we had to pay !”
Miki: “Pic 3 is from a photo session for French music mag Les Inrockuptibles by Renaud Monfourny.”
Photo 4
Miki : “Me and Steve Rippon (original bass player) and Chris in Amsterdam. We were on our first European tour with the Pale Saints (joint headline – we just switched who went on first each night). Their singer Ian Masters is in the background. 1990.”
Photo 5
Miki:On stage at the Roxy in Los Angeles, April 11 1991. Photo by John Talley. We were on our first US tour with Ride, co-headlining (same as Pale Saints, taking turns to go on first).
Photo 6
Miki: While we were in LA we did a feature for the NME. We went out for the day doing pics and at one point raided a wig shop … HOW WACKY!”
Miki And Phil Interview 1992
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzAHjaW8APk&rel=1]
Miki And Phil Interview 1992 Part 2
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07-bSH-_Duc&rel=1]
Photo 7
Miki: “More from US tour 1991”
Photo 8
Miki :“Backstage in San Francisco on the Ride tour. No, it’s not Mark Gardener on a rough night… Sky Saxon of legendary 60s psychedelic act The Seeds came backstage. I think Andy Bell actually wet his pants. ”
Photo 9
Miki : “Spurs go through to the FA Cup semi final, which leads
us on to…
Photo 10
Miki: “The Lillies, L-R Simon Raymonde (The CocteauTwins), Chris, me and Russell Yates (Moose). We recorded a flexi for The Spur fanzine to celebrate our imminent failure to win the FA Cup. I remember a very very hungover photo session in Kew Gardens with photographer Piers Allardyce”
Photo 11
Miki: ” These are from the Lollapalooza II tour, 1992. Silverfish gave us t-shirts to wear for good luck on the first day.
Photo 12
Miki: “Outside the ‘Cheers’ bar in Boston. Sorry – we’re such tourists!”
Miki And Chris Interview Part 1
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEymYz2OkPc&rel=1]
Miki And Chris Interview Part 2
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3VoYM3Hv9Y&rel=1]
thanks to Neil
Photo13.
Miki: “Chris and me after ‘drinking the bile’ with the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. There was one of the freakshow acts where a bloke inserted a tube up his nose and into his guts and pumped a pint of beer in. Then he regurgitated it out of the tube and you had to drink it. Probably be illegal now, but 15 years ago it was like the Dark Ages and being on Lollapalooza was like touring a medieval village. Except for the air-conditioned motor homes. ”
Photo 14
Miki: “We got given a poster by a fan, Lush in the style of Kiss. Here’s Emma sharing the moment with Kat Bjelland (Babes in Toyland) and Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam).
Photo 15
Miki : “About to join Ministry on stage in Toronto (replete with Flying V) ”
Photo 16
Miki: ” With Al Jourgensen from Ministry.”
Photos 17 & 18
Miki : ” Emma and Chris join Soundgarden on stage to play drums on Cop Killer. It became a bit of an ‘event’ – I know it sounds horribly cosy – all that ‘bands on stage with one another’, but it was a genuinely good atmosphere (bar one or two notable exceptions!) . Also on drums is Bill Rieflin, then of Ministry, now in REM. I think by the time the tour ended there were about 10 people drumming on stage to that song. ”
Photo 19
Miki : ” Me in the crowd watching the Jesus and Mary Chain, which I did EVERY day of the tour, bar one…
VP: “Miki, which one are you ? I can’t quite make you out ..” :)
Photo 20.
Miki : “…And When we joined them on stage for backing vocals on “Far Gone and Out.”
VP: “And how where those volatile scamps the Reid Brothers ?”
Miki : “I guess that they spent a lot of time locked in their dressing room having blazing rows. I remember toward the very end of the tour I was having a drink with William and he suddenly expressed regret at having avoided much of the socialising, saying that he felt sorry he hadn’t enjoyed it more. To be fair, the Mary Chain had a really difficult slot on the tour. Pearl Jam had originally been booked to go on second (right after us!) and in the intervening months their popularity had gone through the roof to the extent that they could have virtually headlined. Being extremely un-starry though, they insisted that they go on in the same slot they had been originally booked for. This was great for us – it meant that the venue was already full, even at 2pm, because everyone turned up early to see Pearl Jam! Not so great for the Mary Chain, though, who had to play right after. Don’t get me wrong, they had a ton of fans and a great response, but to follow this band who were on the up and the audience was chucking themselves around to… well, it can’t have been easy. I watched them every gig though (except one, when we had to evacuate the area because of a hurricane!)
Photo 21
Miki : “And then of course we had our own people join us onstage too. Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Bill Rieflin (Ministry) and Mr Lifto (Jim Rose Circus Sideshow). The requirement was to drag up (obviously).”
Photo 22
Miki: “Me and Phil on the video shoot for Hypocrite. ”
Photo 23
Miki: “Me and Chris doing the tourist thing in Sydney, Christmas 1992. ”
Photos 24 & 25
Miki : “Lush as ‘Man About The House’ for the NME Xmas edition 1992. Poor old Chris HATED it (wonder why?!) but Phil was in his ABSOLUTE element. We virtually had to wrestle the chest wig off him”
“God, I’ve suddenly remembered that me and Emma did another NME Xmas dress up thing as The Liver Birds, which would be rather perfect for you, no? I`ll go and look for it”
VP: “hahaha ! This I have to see !”
Photo 26 retrieved By Miki ! “The Liver Birds ”
“Sweetness And Light”-Live -By Lush
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPaB7C0ySN8&rel=1]
Photo 27
Miki: ” Phil and me at a photoshoot for Raygun magazine in New York. They styled us in all this Paul Smith gear which the boys were rather keen on running off with…”
Photo 29
Miki : “Me, Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) and Emma – backstage in Rennes, France”
Photo 30
Miki: ” NME Awards”
Photo 31
Miki: “Phil enjoying a jacuzzi bath in the hotel room in Detroit, 1994.”
Photo 32
Miki: ” Phil, me and Chris off in the cab to Heathrow for the next tour… 1996″
gr8 stuff Andy!
Oh man, what a great insight this is. I was @ the Lollapalooza tour @ 3 cities. I miss Lush so much. My daughter is half-Japanese and I can only hope she grows up to enjoy such a wonderfully varied life as Miki had up until the band split. I’ve heard she’s a magazine editor and wish her the best. Ignorantly, I guess she and Chris were very close since she didn’t get back into music after he passed. While I grieve for the loss of Lush, and am sad about no longer getting great music, I understand. Good luck to everyone in what they’re doing now – bands & otherwise.
andy,
it was just coincidence that i got curious this morning (jan 27-08 sun) and found your interview with miki. i’m hoping the rest of photos are up. i still love lush like it was yesterday. i picked up scar on 12″ the week it came to the shops in the 80’s and been entranced ever since. do more.
dan/kana
I truly miss this band ; ^0
I truly miss this band
My God! Thank you! Your music still moves me to tears to this day…Your work has vastly enriched my life. THANK YOU!
thanks miki for giving this interview, its realy cheered me up, its lovely to see new pics and vids of the band i miss most of all. thanks andy for a great website and interview. best wishes..
I think everyone that loved this band will always lament their absence… I always will…
“Miki:On stage at the Roxy in Los Angeles, April 11 1991.
Photo by John Talley. We were on our first US tour with Ride,
co-headlining (same as Pale Saints, taking turns to go on first).”
I’ll bet Rob Dobbs was at that show.
“Miki: “Outside the ‘Cheers’ bar in Boston. Sorry – we’re such tourists!”’
I’ve been there!
What a wonderful cache of memories I have set to lush music… It’s like a time machine for me – I hear the voices of Miki and Emma, beautifully coupled with the boys and the girls on their guitars, and I am suddenly watching my best friend leave for college… or having my first child… or driving to the only club that played decent music, and the dj always played “Nothing Natural” when he saw me on the floor… How I miss lush – no one can ever replace them musically… even if they tried…
I wasnt at the 91 gigs, or anything during 92 and part of 1993 for that matter. I was in jail. I miss being young and stupid, now, im just stupid.
Aha Its Dobbs! Ah well you’ve made up for lost time with your Mary Chain adventures
Thank you for taking time for this. I will forever be a Lush fan and consider your music to be timeless. It has gotten me through hard times, and will always will be grateful for that.
Jail *again* Dobbs? First the Coachella fiasco – now this? And to think I invited a “jailbird” like you into my home!
Miki writes:“ Chris and me after ‘drinking the bile’ with the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. There was one of the freakshow acts where a bloke inserted a tube up his nose and into his guts and pumped a pint of beer in. Then he regurgitated it out of the tube and you had to drink it. Probably be illegal now, but 15 years ago it was like the Dark Ages and being on Lollapalooza was like touring a medieval village.
I was there for this!
I saw that whole “Jim Rose Side show” thing! He did more than *that* Miki. He hung a weight from his, erm – “apendage”. Yikes! It still hurts me to think about it . . . .
Absolutely wonderful!
Been a huge fan for almost 20 years now, and am thrilled to see these photos and read the stories. It’s a real treat.
I hope everyone appreciates just how rare something like this is.
Thanks a mil’ Miki!! (and you too Andy!)
Orri~
ahh yes, the peepee stretch thing, yikes!
The Jim Rose Sideshow was crazy.
Bloody hell well done Andy. When you were twenty four you almost got a Miki tatoo after a few ciders. “F**k MorrisseyIts Miki who is the poet” youd mumble as yoru eyes misted over listening to Lush… hahaha. I bet this beats everything ! I’m amazed tho mind you always were a clever bastard. No word from Miki for years and there you are chatting like old chums. I am not worthy,
A partner from the past ;)
love the pic of miki and cris in sydney, all the pics are fab though. bless you miki.
Wow. A flood of nostalgia went right up like brain freeze. I shagged to the first time to “untogether”. Thanx Miki for existing, thank you to the people that brought them to us. Make a return baby, I’d love to see yous around again.
Andy from merseyside? not the same andy who wentto see Lush at manchester,and made me and my friends in the pub go and see Lush too even though we’d never met you before? You wore a Pogues T-shirt with an american flag andshamrocks on-cartoon looks like you minus a studenty dose of fashonable stubble. If it is you i remember you stnding behind us and when “Dead Star” came on your eyes filled up. You pretended it was the smoke in the hall. I remember this Andy guy as we weren t Lush fans at the time but I have been ever since.Nce to see you still spreading the word some 12 years on
If it is youa big “HI”
Ali (with the then,blue hair)
x x x
Eyes Filling Up ? AHEM! Anyone see the Bears game ! Bloody hell I do remember you lot Alice, Hope all is well
New site idea “Lush Fans Reunited”
AVP
x
This is awesome. Thank you so much…I’m in my thirties now, but for a good ten minutes looking at these, I was 18 again. Here in So. Cal, my friends were way into Grunge, but this was my scene. Lush was and will always be one of my favorite bands of all time :o)
this is truly amazing! I didnt think it could be done, youve achieved what i thought unachievable
I take my hat off to you Andy, superb
I was lucky enough to see Lush live twice- what a band! Totally unique. I hope 4AD will reissue the albums at some point with bonus tracks. Looking forward to hearing the Seinking Ships album too.
Thanks Miki for doing the interview and especially for the music.
Wonderful site and interview. Thanks Andy and Miki, for sharing your photos.
God, I love this band, and to think I only found them about three years ago on iTunes. Iin some alternate lifetime I must’ve been a Lush groupie, because discovering their music for the first time felt strangely déjà vu, as if I had known and loved them my whole adult life but had mysteriously forgotten them. I play their music almost daily, and “500” (UK version) is my little boy’s favorite video on Youtube, right up there with Grover and Cookie Monster. If he grows up to have a thing for fuschia-tressed Eurasian sirens, I’ll know whence it came.
Thanks so much for compiling this database of all things Lush; kep up the good work!
Cheers,
Rob
Numb .. this is truly amazing. Wonderful photos… ,.thank you so much !!
nice photos! thank you lush
i had come across an entry in wikipedia called “The Scene That Celebrates Itself”.
“The term was invented by the Melody Maker’s Steve Sutherland in 1990…focused on the fact the bands involved, rather than engaging in traditional rivalries, were often seen at each other’s gigs, sometimes playing in each other’s bands, and drank together. Bands lumped into the ‘scene’… branded with the shoegazing label, such as Chapterhouse, Lush, and Moose, and other (mainly indie) bands such as a pre-Popscene Blur, Thousand Yard Stare, See See Rider, and Stereolab”
so i did a search for Lush, expecting the same websites i’ve been across for many years but came across this rather recent interview.
great interview knowing how she is doing and what she thinks of Lush now.
but i’m just blown away by the loolapalooza pictures. they are all getting along and supporting each other, literally, by going on stage.
now i’m trying to find this loolapalooza footage. miki with ministry?!
Thank you so much for putting this interview together. And thank you to Miki for doing the interview and providing the photos and commentary. Now we can all just pray that Miki will get inspired enough to make that fantastic solo album that we all know that she has locked up inside her head and heart!
Miki…we love ya’…still! And you are a much better guitarist than you give yourself credit for being. :)
Twas a pleasure to do. Dont think Miki can fit in music these days, its a big commitment when you have a family…but one can dream eh ;)
Hi! Wonderfull site, is one of my favorite bands, they never came to México, i Miss Lush a lot, I remember listening Spooky at 20-21
Thanks! I saw them twice, I just wish I hadn’t had so much drink on both occasions! ;)
Yep – love your site. Having a huge wave of Lush nostalgia recently, aided and abetted by this wondeful page amongst other things. Agree with your comment that you wished you hadn’t had so much drink. I was thinking the same about my encounter with Lush – I did an interview with Phil & Emma at the Split launch, but then had four hours to kill in the pub until they played. Gig brilliant, but at the after-party at Raw I think I really bored the pants off Miki and Chris by being drunk at them. Remember following Miki round like a little puppy until she said “stay there for a sec”, and literally ran away. Bad Moz. Still, lovely memory and I was so, so starstruck.
hahaha classic story mate, cheers
.. i love lush and the lillies music forever
dear (people from)
lush
around 2002 my life was very full of music , and especially the ”Split” album.
I enjoyed it very much, and was playing along on my guitar, which i dont have anymore.
I still have the albums ”Split” and the one with the cactuses on the sleeve, and ”spooky”
on cd. Thanx for sharing your photos, cos i havent been on any Lush gig… sorry, but thanx!
I thought Lush were one of the best and most interesting bands of the early 90ies (together with Curve, Heather Nova, PJ Harvey and Mazzy Star).
Quitting Lush after the departure of one of the band members was the right thing to do.
I’m glad the remaining band members never ‘cashed in’.
If you listen to bandl like Blonde Redhead, you hear Lush will never be gone.
Lush still brings me great joy, Saw them twice live, in the early 90s.
can someone tell a dead man named Jacob Hofstra i’m free to think whatever i want?
thank you for doing so.
Sorry for my moaning on my last comment, but the point is, i want to feel free…LOL
Was just clearing out old VHS tapes, and ran across Lush’s Conan O’Brien performance circa ’92-93? Man, I miss good music…..
ahhh, ’94. looked it up.
I enjoyed your pictures! I am physically, an old geezer! However! {in spirit} I am rocking out in the front row of every one of your shows! And NO, I am no "stalker"! Truth be told, I couldn't stalk a baloney samich! LOL! Just like my brother JIMI said "Sing on brother, play on drummer!"
Awesome interview. I really wish Lush would reunite and play some gigs, their music is really fantastic in so many ways
:) Saw you in Philly in '94 and the second Lollapalooza in Saratoga Springs, NY where the flash flood occurred. Thank you so much for the memories. Miss you guys a great deal!
Photo 19 that’s me next to Miki!!!! I’m 95% sure that’s me. This photos was taken at Molsen Park Toronto 92 Lollapalooza. So long ago but I remember Jesus and Mary Chain playing I felt hands on my shoulders I turned around it was Miki she said hello moved around to the side and dance the entire time! :-)