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Background

Orange Free State shared their roots and members with several other bands.

The Orange Free State Family Tree

Latex 1982 - 1988

Mad Ant's first band. Their claim to fame? For a few practices, Sean Moore, the Manic Street Preachers' Drummer played synth for them. Latex also gave the Manic Street Preachers their first-ever gigs as support act. Mad Ant still owns Sean's Roland SH101, and an original poster from the Manics' first ever gig.

Original Line-up

Jeremy Webber  - Bass and Vocals

Mad Ant               - Guitar and Vocals

Colin Mills            - Drums

Nick Thompson  - Lead Guitar

Nick loved to dress in wild clothes for gigs. Mad Ant remembers a long blue satin cape and leopard-skin trousers. The Manics were at those gigs. Two plus two equals? Jer eventually left. He was replaced by Ceri (Vocals) and Andy (Bass).

Tape cover from first studio demo (Artwork - C. Mills)	Latex Mark 2	First gig poster (top) (Artwork - Mad A)	First gig poster (bottom) (Artwork - Mad A)

Latex and the Manics

Mad Ant: "I knew all the Manics (except Richey) for some time. I was with them on three 'firsts'. Sean Moore played in my first band on keyboards, I made their first demo tape, and the Manics played their first gig, as support to Latex.

"Initially, I was introduced to Sean by Colin [Mills]. He joined because he had a keyboard. It was a Roland SH101, very posh for the time. Sean was quiet but keen. When the band asked him to go, we all felt awkward as he was genuinely nice to know. There was a moment's silence, before a knock.  The door opened. Sean popped his head in, and said "Don't want a cornet player, do you?" I guess it shows how keen he was to be in a band.

"I met Sean months later during a gig at the Ynysddu Hotel. It was 'our' gig, and we'd asked the Manics to support. Back then they had a bass player called 'Flicker', Miles Woodward. Politeness means that I can't tell you how he got the knickname, but if you know what the slang means, then you can have a good guess.

"They played several other gigs with us after that. One stands out. It was Pentwynmawr's Workingmen's club. In those days you took any gig you could get [nothing's changed, Ed.], and if it meant playing Punk in front of your mates, with 30 elderly miners drinking bitter at the back of the room, so what! I think the Manics sensed that the elders weren't behind them after the first song. Requests for Elvis were shouted out. They left the stage after a few songs, their guitars feeding back through amps that hadn't been turned off. The Manics came back later, and the Chairman, and Flicker's dad, had a pop at them for disrupting the smooth running of their club.

"When they asked me to do the demo, I went to Nick's house. Sean hadn't been playing too long, James and Colin - the drummer from my band - played the drums. By drums I mean a high-hat, a snare drum, and a low tom, that was used as a bass drum. A little unorthodox, granted, but we thought we were 'cutting edge' in those post-punk days.

"Vocals were recorded in my bedroom. It was a hot day Summer's day (remember them?) and the bedroom window was open. James sung very, very loud, but had to sing the swear words quieter, 'cose my parents were downstairs. Yeah, Anarchy. Anyway, two months later they came and asked for the tape master. I had a bad feeling as I handed it over. I never saw the tape again, and I never got paid. On the tape were early versions of one or two songs that they played for quite some time. Seminal 'Suicide Alley', and a song called 'Love in a Make-Up Bag', which sounded quite mellow for them, but had a good hook.

"At this time Sean played his drums, partially hidden with boxes, as he was using pots, and pans, to supplement his kit. Sometimes it looked like the prop-room for Can't Cook, Won't Cook."
 

Gun Law 1988 - 1989

"Atrocious 'Cock Rock'. Less said the better," says Mad Ant. "The bass player, Splutt, knew the opening to an AC/DC song. He'd play it at breaks between songs. The audience would get wound up, and then we'd launch into one of our own." Cruel sods.

Latex Fable 1989 - 1990

Mad Ant went solo. He produced several demo tapes and wrote many songs that were to become OFS numbers. It was during his time at AB Electronics that he was introduced to Mister Anonymous, a great friend and future bassist in all Mad Ant's musical projects.

Demo Cover (Artwork - Mad Ant)

Primary Colours / Blue Eden 1990 - 1991

Landed a deal with Lendaneer Records. "Total waste of time," says Mad Ant. "Cost a fortune in promo pictures and recording the proposed single." There was a name change to Blue Eden and Colin Mills rejoined.

Original Line-up

Mad Ant        - Guitar, Synth and Vocals

Anthony Gill  - Vocals

Anonymous  - Bass

Promo shot for proposed single. Left to right: Anthony Gill, Anonymous, Mad Ant	Review from South Wales Argus	Blue Eden poster

Xtal 1991 - 1992

The band played many gigs but folded.

Original Line-up

Mad Ant        - Guitar, Synth and Vocals

Anthony Gill  - Vocals

Anonymous  - Bass

Colin Mills    - Drums

Tape cover: 'Lunch at the Piranhas' (Artwork: Mad Ant)	Xtal live	Xtal poster
Xtal poster	Xtal poster	Demo review in South Wales Argus

Orange Free State 1992 - 1997

Mad Ant's last band before joining the BodyBags. Kind of REM before they went crap. Or good (depending on your opinion of REM's music after Time after Time). Orange Free State was built around Merion's natural ability as a drummer.

The original line-up was:

• Merion 'Sam' Sampson - Drums and Vocals

• Mad Ant                           - Guitar and Vocals

• Anonymous                     - Bass

• Phillip Gardener             - Vocals

As Ant remembers, Phil Gardener was replaced by a rather large and loud chap called John, towards the end. Mad Ant, like Craig, always preferred to work with the same circle of close friends. "It was never the same after Phil left," he said.

Recordings that exist:

    Rage - A five-track demo featuring:

1. Cataclysms, Catechisms (Covered by the Bodybags and renamed C.A.T)

2. Pavlov's Dogs

3. Entropy

4. (A) Stranger (of You)

    Other recorded tracks include

• Friction (With Fiction)

• Tarred And Feathered

• Zoo (My Personal Mantra)