Interview and session:

Tracks played: 10:51 Muscle Man, 14:40 Broken Bird, 26:20 Motorbike To Heaven, 29:36 I Want You, 42:12 Your Ma, 45:30 Drink The Elixir

We were utterly delighted to welcome Marijne and Paul from Salad, one of the best and most underrated bands of the 1990s!

The band, originally known as The Merry Babes, formed when Dutch singer Marijne van der Vlugt and Essex guitarist Paul Kennedy met in London in the late 1980s. The line up was completed by Pete Brown on bass and Rob Wakeman on drums.

While the band were writing and recording, Marijne was recruited as a presenter on MTV Europe where she fronted shows such as The Pulse and Alternative Nation for four years. In the meantime, the band were signed to Island Records and released two albums – 1995’s Drink Me, which reached no 16 in the UK, and the 1997 follow up Ice Cream.

Salad split in 1998 and the band members embarked on a number of musical projects in the meantime, including Cowboy Racer who performed on our 4th birthday at the Baytree Centre.

However Marijne and Paul have recently started performing Salad songs together again as an acoustic duo, with a recent performance in Anetnna Studios in Crystal Palace and more London dates planned, so it seemed perfectly natural to persuade them to come down to Brentwood for a long chat!

We were treated to SIX live songs and also chatted about the history of the band and why Marijne and Paul are doing what they’re doing now.

You can catch Marijne and Paul live at Star Shaped at the Garage in London tomorrow (6 August) and again in December – and more shows are planend for the future. Keeping an eye on the band’s Facebook page is a good place to find out when.