Telstar Ponies are a Scottish rock band formed in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

in 1994. Their musical style varies considerably but displays influences from

Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, ...

, folk (especially latterly), and experimental noise.

History

They were formed in 1994 by

David Keenan David Keenan (born April 1971) is a Scottish writer and author of four novels. Career He used to run the Glasgow record shop, distribution company and record label Volcanic Tongue. Journalism His work for ''The Wire'' (who he wrote for from ...

on leaving 18 Wheeler. The original line-up included drummer Neil Grant as well as Sushil K Dade (ex-

Soup Dragons Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ...

, BMX Bandits, later of Future Pilot A.K.A.) on bass and John Hogarty (ex-BMX Bandits, later of

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

) on guitar. Grant was replaced on drums by

Brendan O'Hare Brendan O'Hare (born 16 January 1970) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, primarily known for being the drummer in the rock band Teenage Fanclub from 1989 until early 1994, and a member of and collaborator with Mogwai. Career O'Hare ...

(ex-

Teenage Fanclub Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), all of whom shared ...

) in time for the recording of their first single "Maps and Starcharts".Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Telstar Ponies", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, By the time this single was released Dade and Hogarty had been replaced by Gavin Laird and Rachel Devine. This line-up recorded two albums, ''In The Space Of A Few Minutes'' and ''Voices From The New Music'', adding

Richard Youngs Richard Youngs is an English musician based in Glasgow since the early 1990s. His catalogue of solo and collaborative work formally begins with ''Advent'', first issued in 1990. He plays many instruments, most commonly choosing the guitar, but ...

to the line-up for the latter. They split up in 1997, following the departures of both O'Hare and Laird, who formed Macrocosmica. They reformed minus O'Hare in 1999. A third album was recorded, mixed by Christoph Heemann and Andrew Chalk, but was never released. The band's current status is described as being on "long term sabbatical" by Devine, Laird and Prior, who have formed The Porch Song Anthology in the meantime. Keenan plays with Taurpis Tula and Tight Meat Duo, curates the Subcurrent music festival and runs

Volcanic Tongue Volcanic Tongue is a record shop, distribution company and record label located in Glasgow, Scotland. It specialises in underground music from the UK, US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. They describe their remit as "free folk, psych, J ...

, a shop, label and distributor specialising in outsider music.

Members

First line-up *

(vocals, guitar) * Neil Grant (drums) * Sushil K. Dade (bass) * John Hogarty (guitar) Second line-up *

(vocals, guitar) * Rachel Devine (vocals, guitar, violin) * Gavin Laird (bass, vocals) * James SK Wān (vocals, brass) * Brendan O’Hare (drums, guitar, vocals) *

- (vocals, keyboards, violin, guitar—2nd album only) Reformation line-up * David Keenan (vocals, guitar) * Rachel Devine (vocals, guitar) * Gavin Laird (guitar, vocals) * Kenneth Broom - (drums, saxophone) * Raymond Prior (bass, vocals)

Discography

Singles

*"Maps and Starcharts" (1994)

Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the la ...

*''Not Even Starcrossed'' EP (1995) Fire *"Her Name" (1995) Fire *''Mors Factum Musica'' EP (1996) Instant Mayhem *"Does Your Heart Have Wings?" (1996) Fire *"Brewery of Eggshells" (1996) Fire *"Voices From the New Music" (1997) Fire (withdrawn) *"Farewell Farewell" (1999) Geographic *''Hares on the Mountain'' EP (2002) Static Caravan-Obelisk

Albums

*''In the Space of a Few Minutes'' (1995) Fire *''Voices From the New Music'' (1996) Fire

References

External links

AllMusic Entry
{{Authority control Scottish indie rock groups Musical groups from Glasgow British pop rock music groups