The Cleaners From Venus is one of the most fascinating entities in the underground music world, the band’s frontman Martin Newell is regarded by many as one of the most influential figures in the history of cassette culture and DIY recording.

Martin Newell has been an integral part of the British music scene since the 1970s, and his music career spans over six decades. The Cleaners From Venus are active to this day and recently announced a new album, ‘K7,’ out July 28th, 2023. The collection of songs was recorded at Newell’s home on a Tascam 8-track Portastudio with a little help from the Audacity programme on an old laptop computer – in a true DIY sense.

“Cassettes are where the Cleaners From Venus started, way back in 1981 with ‘Blow Away Your Troubles’. So we’ve brought out a limited edition cassette for all you oxide fans. And it just looks so lovely. We will of course also be releasing it on CD as well as in digital format. Back to cassettes! Just hold that thought. So what’s the new album ‘K7’ like? The opening track ‘The Beautiful Stoned’ just had to be in classic Cleaners style: an epic riff, spooky vocals and lots of echoes to get lost in. It came from the same stable as ‘Only A Shadow’. The album has ten brand new songs in all and an instrumental cover of the BBC Radio soap The Archers theme. Well, I had to find somewhere to include those now-traditional CfV farmyard noises. Apart from anything else, there’s a cherry feel good summer song ‘Golden Girlfriend’ which was very nearly “the single” but for now we’ve erred in favour of more typical Cleaners fare. There’s a killer ballad, ‘A Wedding Band’ near the end of the album. We have a sneaky Keef’n’Ron tribute in Small Town Earls. And elsewhere there’s some unclassifiable new stuff – a love song to the artist Tracey Emin, for instance. At the beginning, ‘K7’ was an awkward album to make. This was mainly because my hand was strapped up until late December, following almost losing a finger earlier that autumn. So it was a cautious and scary start, as I gradually became used to playing a guitar again. Then there was a rush for the next 10 weeks. I found myself writing the songs as I was going along. I hadn’t had to do that for a while. At the end of it all, I realised we’d got the kind of cohesion here which used to be found on mid-late 1960s albums — decisions being taken on the run. ‘K7’ is very different from the last album, ‘That London’. It’s its own thing. But it’s also a pop record with some proper songs on it. So I hope you like it.” – Martin Newell

Photo by Geoff Lawrence | Copyright: Martin Newell’s private archive

“The old DIY tape days of 1981 to about 1991, were very friendly, very home-made and very small”

It’s wonderful to have you. The latest Cleaners From Venus album ‘K7’ is being released July 28th, 2023. Would you like to share what was the creating process for it?

Martin Newell: Thank you. Well the creative process was a bit different this time, because the previous Autumn (late September) I broke a finger. It was a serious open fracture which stopped me playing guitar. In late December, I managed to start playing (cautiously) again. I realised in January that if I wanted the album out in summer, I’d need to hand it over for an end-of-March deadline. So I was working very fast, like I did in the old days. I was also using keyboards more. I got better at keyboards while my hand was mending.

The album is available on digital forms, CD and also on cassette, which I think is lovely. Cassette culture was always a big part of The Cleaners From Venus. How do you feel that people are again interested in hearing music on tapes?

I am somewhat incredulous that tapes have made a comeback. But yes, it’s a very warm buzz to see the Cleaners back on cassette again. The medium does seem to suit the music. So far, we’ve had lots of interest in the cassettes, but we’ve had many more pre-orders for CDs. We think the cassettes will sell though, — once the record is released on 28th July.

<a href="https://thecleanersfromvenus.bandcamp.com/album/k7">K7 by The Cleaners From Venus</a>

“The whole DIY scene was very inclusive and so home-made”

I guess it must have been quite special to exchange tapes back then via a tape-like network of people and fans interested in certain kinds of music. Would you like to share some of your favourite moments of being part of that format?

The old DIY tape days of 1981 to about 1991, were very friendly, very home-made and very small. Everything came and went by post. Our only media were fanzines and certain pirate stations. But it was recognised that we existed when all three major UK music papers (Sounds, NME and Melody Maker ) all started running cassette columns for a year or so. Melody Maker gave our second tape ‘On Any Normal Monday’ a really good write up. And NME occasionally mentioned us and once even printed a picture.

One Christmas somebody even mailed us a bit of dope to smoke. It was a token of the kind of affection our earliest fans had for us. There was much interest in Germany and one of our biggest champions there was Joachim Reinbold of JAR Music, who was great. The whole DIY scene was very inclusive and so home-made. I hope I’ve carried that feeling into the future with me. I’ve never forgotten it.

Martin Newell (1985) | Copyright: Martin Newell’s private archive

“I write about what I see, who I meet and what I think”

The ‘K7’ opening track ‘The Beautiful Stoned’ has that “typical” Cleaners sound and it’s a perfect opener. The album has ten brand new songs, would you mind sharing what were some of the main inspirations when it came to songwriting this new material? Do you feel that you’re affected by the current world situation when it comes to songwriting?

Having had a wounded hand for some months, I definitely wanted to demonstrate to myself, not just the listeners, I could still make an old-style Cleaners From Venus track, But 40 years later, the truth is that I’m probably a much better musician than I was back then. My songwriting ideas and inspirations come from the same places they always have – life! I write about what I see, who I meet and what I think. In the end however, I’m an old-fashioned Tin Pan Alley-style songwriter. Somewhere between The Beatles and Rodgers and Hammerstein — with a bit of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band thrown in.

How did the ‘A Wedding Band’ come about?

I found the guitar idea on my sonic-sketchpad. It’s a small hand-held Tascam recorder which I can quickly put ideas down if I haven’t got time to develop them. I go back to it and explore what I have and sometimes turn them into songs. I had much bigger ideas for this song but in the end, it worked best with two acoustic guitars and a single voice. It’s quite untypical of me. I didn’t think it would work on the album but two people I knew said “you must include it.” So I did.

You had some medical problems when beginning to work on the album?

Yes, this was the severely broken finger. It was snapped in two by a piano stool. The doctors took it very seriously because it was an open fracture and there was a big risk of sepsis – which can kill you. They shot me up with gallons of antibiotics. The whole episode took up 36 hours of my life and I had to go to a hand-trauma unit for. The operation which saved it. Then, after going to the hospital every week for many weeks to have the dressings and splints changed. Not playing the guitar was depressing, so I made some electronic ambient music with keyboards to keep myself busy.

Martin Newell | Copyright: Martin Newell’s private archive

I feel that ‘K7’ is quite a different album from your previous one, ‘That London’. Would you like to draw some parallels and differences in how you worked on it?

‘K7’ is very different from any album I’ve made. It has 10 songs completely unconnected with each other. A total contrast to ‘That London’. I needed to do something like this because ‘That London’ seemed like something of an “Opus” to me which I’d lived and breathed for months and months. I needed to get it out of my head and to do something different. With ‘K7’ I’m still not sure what I’ve done. It was made in the deep winter. I hope people like it anyway.

As a songwriter, what makes a good song?

A good song is something which gets into your head and your heart and imprints upon you the time when you heard it, so that it’s like a time machine and can bring a whole atmosphere back whenever you hear it.

Martin Newell and Andy Partridge of XTC | Copyright: Martin Newell’s private archive

James Robert Sharp, the director of The Jangling Man once commented in my interview that you have this unique way of making you feel like you’re at home in the British countryside. How do you think you manage to do that?

I really have no idea. But I spend all my time in one place and although I have travelled much, that place is always with me. I’m inside this vehicle, so I couldn’t tell you how I radiate this country-ness about me. But it’s been said of me that I do.

Plod |Carl A Szymanski, Michael “Stix” Natkanski, “Bachelor” Johnny Fitzsimons, Martin Newell

Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

I’ve noticed that I’ve been listening to a lot of music made by women in recent years. Women singers in particular. For instance Molly Drake (Nick Drake’s mother) wrote these really great and rather spiritual songs, which she played on her piano. I also looked up Female Baroque Composers…there were quite a few, but because men controlled music at that time, we don’t get to hear them much (still!) – Barbara Strozzi is one. There are some wonderful female jazz singers too. If you’ve never heard the album ‘One Year’ by Colin Blunstone…that’s one of my favourite albums of all time. It’s very beautiful.