Alan McGee on the return of Trashmonk!

Nick/Trashmonk is a true talent.  I met him in ‘95 cold.  I was dj’ing, he came up and we had a mutual friend, Kle, my PA at the time.  I was getting over living the dream chemically and we bonded.  From ‘96 to ‘99, we got together Mona Lisa Overdive.  During this time I don’t know who was more damaged—me or him?  In ‘96 I could do an hour with Nick, by ‘98 we went to NY/LA for two weeks with each other and then went to Nevis for a three weeks holiday.  I also have to say every A and r man Creation employed at the time never ever went and saw him for a second visit as they thought he was nuts ... so I ended up A and R’ing Trashmonk by default, so maybe he was the crazy fuck and I was just a bit post-blues.

His story is insane.  At 14 he ran off to the Isle of Wight festival and hung out and dj’ed with Jeff Dexter.  He became friends with John and Yoko around the Oz Trials and was in ‘The Act’, a punk band that Marc Bolan loved—Nick hung out with Marc and Tony Gordon - Marc’s manager at the time.  He morphed the Act into the Dream Academy who had mediocre success in the UK but a number one with ‘Life in a Northern Town’ in the States.  The album spawned two more hits and he sold 2 million records in America.  He fucked and drugged his way through Hollywood, lost his mind, wrote a song for Brian Wilson, sent Hugh Padgem, his producer, actually mad for a few years on the second Dream Academy album and ended up at the end of it high in a mountain in Pakistan, burnt out and getting cared for by Buddhists.  He came down from the mountain and met me and our story from there began.  During the making of the ablum on Creation he came in one day and was pissed off—a band called Dario G had sampled the chorus off ‘Northern Town’, he played it for me and apart from the chorus it was rubbish.  He asked me what I would do—I said—ask for 100percent of the publishing—he got 90 percent.  It sold 3 million records and to this day that version is still getting used in adverts all over the world.  He did a 90/10 admin deal with EMI—he kept all the money basically.

Making that album reminded me how far off centre we had flown from the original idea of the label.  He had the greatest time and its to this day an astonishing record.  Its called ‘Mona Lisa Overdrive’ by Trashmonk—if you ever see it, buy it as it sone of the great Creation releases. 

After that and the corporate bulslhit I had put with in the 90s, I realised that you could still be a fan and put out music.  I sold Creation to Pony.  Dick was fed up.  I was fed up.  We quit.  We never went bankrupt.  We just paid the outstanding bills and piss off alot of people.  But our love was true and Creation in ‘99 was not what we started it out.

His new album 7 years later may find Trashmonk more success.  When I get back I finish the Client album and finish the Trashmonk album.  He is a pop genius.  I love him as an artist and as a friend.  Paul would die for him.  It will come out on Poptones next year.

When I left Sony it was another quarter of a million or take Nick’s album.  I took Nick’s album and gave it back to him.  Most of it ended up a few years later in a Cameron Diaz movie, the Invisible Circus.  He is the brother I never had.  He grew up and stopped kidding himself he was 17.  The new record will be amazing.  I have told half the story the other bit you wouldn’t believe.  Wait on the record and buy the last one.  He is the real undiscovered Creation Records genius… McGee…

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