The news of lost tapes being found and long lost music being unearthed ready for release normally sends any music lover into the spin of excitement. Joanna were a four piece indie band formed in North West, England between 1989-1991, who recently discovered lost tapes found in a Manchester loft and are about to be unleash this music into the universe. Gigslutz caught up with the band for this exclusive interview:

Can you please let me know about your upbringing?

Tyrone – We are all from working class backgrounds from the north west of England.

What was the first music you can remember hearing?

Carl (drums) – My dads Elvis records.

What was the first serious music you can remember hearing?

T – Sex Pistols (blew my tiny mind!) / C – Kate Bush/ Tez (Bass) The Rolling Stones.

How did you get into playing music?

T – I had a friend who wrote music in his shed obsessively and he asked me to play keyboards. I said ‘hell yeah’ but didnt have a keyboard! I got a loan to buy a Korg Poly 800 (I think) and joined his band.

C – My dad always wanted to be a drummer, so when I showed interest he borrowed some from a mate at work to see if id take it seriously.

How did you get into composing your own music?

T – I bought a Tascam porta studio four track tape recorder. ( I still have it)

Were you in any bands prior to Joanna?

T –  I was in my mates electronic band playing (bad) keyboards then I swapped it for a guitar and never looked back. I tried writing a few songs and to get a band going but it never took off.

How did Joanna form?

T – I met Carl at college and he asked me to audition for a band he was in which later became Joanna. Tez was playing bass with Carl and Tez asked his workmate Neil if he fancied singing….and the rest is history.

What were the bands musical influences when they formed?

T – We formed at the peak of the Madchester era so Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, Charlatans etc…but I was a massive Smiths fan.

Did you have original material from the get go or did you have any covers you used to play?

T – We never played covers we just always wrote original stuff.

Did the band rehearse much?

Twice a week if we could.

What were the early live shows like for the band?

T – Exciting. We knew we were great. It was usually in pubs that involved beer and lots of mates. I used to get nervous before gigs (still do) and Id only been playing guitar for 6months.

Did you tour with some well known bands?

T – We didnt tour but we supported Shack, Dr Phibes & the house of wax equation, Rig, Eusabio who were making names for themselves at the time.

Can you tell us how you got to record material?

T – We rehearsed at Pentagon Studio and they had a recording studio as well so we went there and recorded Mr Sunshine. We also got to record at the famous 10cc owned Strawberry studios in Stockport were The Stone Roses, New Order and The Smiths recorded.

To someone who hasn’t heard your music before how would you describe the bands music?

T – 90s indie with an hard edged groove. The tunes are all different tbh.

Were there ever any negotiations with any record labels?

T – We played a few showcase gigs and still have the hand written letters from record labels including Factory and Rough Trade records…we never got to the negotiating stage. Factory had signed Northside and Rough Trade went bust soon after  showing interest in us and liking our demos.

Do you have any stand out live shows you played?

T – We played The Ritz, and International 1 in Manchester and also The Venue, New Cross in London but the stand out gig was probably The Manchester Boardwalk where we played the opening after a refurb…there was real buzz and I thought we were going to get signed. There were people in the queue with homemade Joanna tshirts on!

When and why did the band split up?

T – The tide turned on the scene and we got disheartened when Rough Trade went under…we plodded on for a while and the band drifted and things fell apart after gaining so much momentum…it felt like failure but we should have had more faith and patience. The songs were great and we rocked live..

Following Joanna did the band members go onto form any other bands?

T – Carl and Tez joined a band called Jules Verne straight after Joanna. Then later Carl played with a band from Northern Ireland called Joyrider and got to go on Top of the Pops. He also played with Half Man Half Biscuit. Neil formed The Chimps with Tez. I went into Trip Hop with a female singer called Miriam Lamen and we supported James Taylor Quartet and Beverly Knight. Me and Tez are now also in a funk band called Supergiant and have had our singles played on BBC 6 Musics Craig Charles Funk and Souls show. We have supported Smoove and Turrell, Hot 8 Brass and Vintage Trouble and played festivals up and down the country

Fast forward 30 odd years and some original tapes of the bands material have been found, can you tell me how this came about?

T – I have a friend that was moving house after 35 years and he was clearing his loft and found the tapes in a plastic bag! We think a mutual friend of ours (Martin our manager) had left them to give to me when he moved to The Isle of Man but never did. It was a real time capsule. Some of the songs I had not heard in 35 years! It was amazing.

Are you planning to release the material?

T – Yes! We had to get the tapes digitised which can be a precarious process. There is a risk that Ampex tape can crumble over time. We got Chris from Manchester Restoration Audio to oven bake the tapes on low heat. The tapes survived with no sound loss. Our drummer now lives in LA and got them mastered in America by a mastering engineer that he knows and they sounded great. In an amazing twist of fate, Carl the drummer played the songs to Jesse Kivel who was in a band called KISSES in LA and he loves 80s and 90s indie music from Manchester. He loved the songs and decided he wanted to release them into the world. The album is being released on vinyl on the 5th Dec! Our first single ‘If You Dont Want Me To’ is out now on Bandcamp!

Any reunion shows on the horizon?

T – Definitely. Maybe….watch this space!

Are you still involved in music?

T – Yes I work for the Halle Orchestra in Ancoats and still do the funk & soul band with Supergiant playing bass and a bit of guitar…Tez plays guitar and sings in the band as well.

Finally, what’s on your turntable?

T – I went to see Goat at Manchester Psychfest in August so Ive been listening to their album from last year.

Joanna can be found on Instagram and Facebook