Carriage House Plans: Alpinestars

Alpinestars

Richard Woolgar and Glyn Thomas met each other in 1995, as a result of being in separate bands that shared the same rehearsal space. They found they had more in common with each other than with their respective bands, so they broke away to form their own ephemeral electro group, which they named "Maxim."

Although Maxim never produced anything, it brought Woolgar and Thomas to the attention of the promoter of a Manchester club called "Homoelectric." The pair was invited to create an hour-long set to perform live within a week. They finished mixing 20 minutes before they were scheduled to perform, and took the name "Alpinestars" after a mountain bike Thomas owned. The gig was successful for the pair, who were reputedly shocked at the crowd's response.Alpinestars signed with Faith and Hope Records, and debuted in August 1999 with a limited edition EP titled "Las Vegas." Its third track, "Interlaken," became the most requested track on Steve Lamacq's "Radio 1" evening show. The band followed up with two more EPs, "Silicon Chick" in November 1999, and "Kitzbuhel Weekend" in March 2000. A single off this latter EP became a "Single of the Week" in NME magazine.