The Jaybirds | Music Apartment | Interview | Reissue of mega rare ‘Step Inside’ by Music Apartment
The Jaybirds are an Austrian Mod band that began in 1989 and supported the Rolling Stones on their 1998 tour. Patrick Nagl joined the band in 1993 and among that had another very interesting project named Music Apartment, which was influenced by another Austrian progressive band featuring Karl Ratzer on guitar and Richard Schönherz on organ called C-Department.
Nagl continued to play in a project Meduza he founded with Christian Loebenstein and is currently occupied with Portobello Express, a psychedelic blues band.
La Pelote Records recently reissued ‘Step Inside’ by Music Apartment in two editions (Artist’s Edition was published at the Vienna Vinyl & Music Festival 2022 and is limited to 20 copies). It’s an organ driven progressive rock you don’t want to miss.
“We were deeply impressed by late 60s psychedelic groups with certain progressive leanings”
Where and when did you grow up? Was music a big part of your family life? Did the local music scene influence you or inspire you to play music?
Patrick Nagl: I was born in 1975 in Vienna, Austria. In my early childhood I already developed a certain interest in music. My first contact with music were radio programs. The radio broadcasts in the late 70s and early 80s were full of Beatles, Electric Light Orchestra and Supertramp. These were the bands I liked most during that period. By the mid 80s the music changed and I was not comfortable anymore with the current sound. At this point I turned off the radio and I went to my first record fair. I was about 12 years old. Checking out the local record stores soon, more obscure 60s bands piqued my interest. The so called Austropop was definitely not my cup of tea. But I didn’t know anything about Austrian beat and progressive music yet – this was still to be discovered years later.
When did you begin playing music? What was your first instrument? Who were your major influences?
I started to play the guitar when I was around 14. My dad’s old guitar was somewhere in a corner of our living room. One day by chance I watched a TV program that featured The Who with ‘My Generation’ and I suddenly knew – wow! That’s it! I was completely blown away by their mod looks and stage antics. I picked up the guitar and started off with the first chords and blues scales. Soon my ambitions were bearing fruit and I became obsessed with practicing the guitar every day. That’s how it went so far.
If I’m not mistaken, you started with the Jaybirds, a fantastic garage rock band that was clearly influenced by the Yardbirds. Tell us about the beginnings…
The Jaybirds were already existing when I first met them at a local garage party in Vienna in Autumn ’92. They started as a four piece band in ’89, more or less as a Yardbirds cover band. Since then they were in search of a second guitar player. Impressed by each other’s authentic 60s outfits (we were all really purists at the time), a rehearsal was arranged. We were running through the ‘Five Live Yardbirds’ material, and it worked immediately. So I was in. The same year we were touring around Europe promoting our first EP.
Would you like to tell us about the recordings with the Jaybirds?
In ’93 we were asked by The Fuzztones’ Rudi Prodrudi to record an album for his “Teen Trash” album series. We were completely blown away by that offer and went to a local recording studio. After two days the album was in the can, recorded live besides a few guitar and vocal overdubs. The sound was very raw and very garage, sounding like from 1965! Basically recording in a studio was very expensive. Most of our recordings were handled after touring. All the money we made was invested into new recording productions.
You actually supported the Rolling Stones in 1998, how did that come about?
We were on the point to record our second album ‘Going Our Own Ways’ in ’97. The promoter of the vinyl pressing company was an American who was involved with MTV. He was thrilled by the Jaybirds’ sound and image. One day he called me up and asked me if we would be interested to support the Rolling Stones! What a question [Laughs]. A band battle entitled “Rock the Stones” in a local club was arranged. Some videos were shot and sent to the Stones. Some weeks later my phone rang and our promoter was on. The rest is history. We couldn’t believe it – in June 1998 we played in front of an audience of 100.000 people supporting the legendary Rolling Stones!
How would you describe the underground scene in Vienna these days in comparison to the 90s?
There are few young rock ‘n’ roll bands coming up nowadays. Currently it seems rather hip to call yourself a singer songwriter…?
Around 2003 you started your own project, Music Apartment. What was the concept behind it?
The Jaybirds decided to take a break for some years in 2002. Our drummer and I were hungry to form a new band. Looking for some new members we bumped into two guys from our rehearsal room. They had this band playing early Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin stuff, but they also wrote some original material too. When they told us they were on the point to split with their band the penny dropped. A rehearsal was arranged, we jammed a bit and exchanged our ideas. Back then I was very much impressed by the Austrian progressive band C-Department featuring Karl Ratzer on guitar and Richard Schönherz on organ. Their 7“ from 1970 was my holy grail. That was the direction we were heading for, especially now that we had a classical trained Hammond player on board! The Music Apartment was born.
“Everything was recorded analog through a tape machine from the 70s”
Tell us about the 2003 album, ‘Step Inside’?
The first few months playing together we focused on writing our material, rehearsing and exchanging new ideas. Most of the songs we wrote came from jams between organ and guitar. After some months we had a couple of songs and decided to go to the studio to record our best tracks. We did six tracks in two days. Organ, guitar and drums were recorded live. Lead guitar and vocal overdubs were added as we also added bass lines through the Hammond organ since we didn’t have a bass player. Everything was recorded analog through a tape machine from the 70s – maybe that is also the reason why this record sounds that authentic.
The original was released only on CD-R, but you got a vinyl reissue done via La Pelote Records?
Indeed, the original release in 2003 was a limited edition of just 100 CD copies. Hans Pokora (publisher of the book series Record Collectors Dreams) was so impressed with that album that he decided to have a vinyl release. Together with La Pelote Records the re-release was arranged. There are also two other tracks featured on the LP which were not included on the CD. These tracks were recorded in 2006 and released first by the UK label Detour Records on a compilation series.
What can you say about the ‘Step Inside – Artist’s Edition’?
La Pelote Records featured a limited edition of 20 copies with an alternative cover. The artwork is based on the technique of etching which is pressed to a handmade paper that is folded like an envelope. A very nice and creative idea and a true collectors item.
What influenced you?
As I mentioned before we were deeply impressed by late 60s psychedelic groups with certain progressive leanings. Besides the music I was excited about the artistic side of the cover artworks of that era. To push our cover design into new boundaries was our next aim. We decided the artwork for our upcoming album should be a painting or collage by the likes of Hieronymus Bosch. I commissioned a friend who was a painter to design the cover. He did a remake of the original artwork, painted and in colour.
Then there’s Medusa, what can you say about this band?
Medusa was founded in late 2006 by me and Christian Loebenstein, a friend of mine who was deep into progressive 70s music. He played excellent bass and could handle the lead vocals. He was a big fan of Glenn Hughes and Trapeze and we took the idea for our name from there. Medusa was the title of a Trapeze album from 1971. Basically we were immediately writing our own material but we also featured the one or the other cover to our set that we liked at the time. In 2008 we had an album out and we played a lot of local club gigs. Our biggest moment was to come when we supported the legendary Spooky Tooth who were touring Europe in 2008 promoting their ‘Nomad Poets’ album. I have loved Spooky Tooth since my childhood and for me a big dream came true sharing the bill with them!
What about the more recent project, Portobello Express?
My current project Portobello Express is a female fronted psychedelic blues rock band starting off in 2016 as a 60s mod party band. Betty (Francesca Spolaor), our singer, has a real standout soulful rock voice and is the perfect for that project. We played some shows around Austria, Italy and Germany. Soon Betty found herself with plenty of ideas for writing our own material. Meanwhile we have two EPs and two singles out. Last Summer, after the pandemic situation had eased we focused on touring again. We were kicking off with some local club dates and headlined some open air festivals in Austria. It was a big satisfaction for us to perform again in front of an audience!
Is there any unreleased material you would like to release?
There is no unreleased old material lying around that I know of. At the moment we are working heavy on new material in the recording studio for an upcoming Portobello Express album that will be released in 2023.
Did I miss any of your projects?
Definitely not – you did a perfect research!
What else currently occupies your life?
During the day I am working for an Austrian music and film publisher. The company is also running an artist agency and operates some well known venues in Vienna. I have been working in that field for years and it is exciting me since my interests are bound to those matters.
Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.
Thank you very much for the invitation to that interview. I deeply thank Betty, my family and friends, companions and all the fans for their enthusiasm and steady support through all the years. Stay safe and healthy and always remember – don’t just hang around, enjoy good music!
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: The Jaybirds (2000)
The Jaybirds Facebook
Medusa Facebook
Portobello Express Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube
La Pelote Records Official Website / Facebook / Instagram
