Phil Shöenfelt: Backwoods Crucifixion 1990

Phil Shöenfelt is a veteran of the London, Manchester and New York punk and post-punk scenes. After getting caught up in the London punk explosion of 1976-1977, he moved to New York where he played

with several Downtown bands, such as DC10s, The Nothing and Disturbed Furniture. In 1981 he formed the post-punk band KHMER ROUGE with Barry "DJ Scratchy" Myers on bass, Marcia Schofield on keyboards and Paul Garisto on drums. DJ Scratchy worked with The Clash on their first three US tours. Marcia went on to play keyboards with The Fall, and Paul played drums with Psychedelic Furs and Iggy Pop. Another Khmer Rouge drummer was the artist Claus Castenskiold, who has designed album covers for The Gun Club and Kid Congo Powers.
                           

The first performance of Khmer Rouge was at the 1981 White Columns Noise Festival, which was organised by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. The band later played shows at CBGBs, The Peppermint

Lounge, Danceteria and The Ritz. They also supported artists such as Alan Vega, The Gun Club, Tom Verlaine, Nico and The Clash at concerts on the east coast of the USA.
Khmer Rouge was managed for a time by legendary photographer Nat Finkelstein, famous for his books “The Factory Years” and “Edie”. Finkelstein collaborated with Andy Warhol on “Andy Warhol’s Index” and was responsible for many of the classic black and white photos of the Velvet Underground. He also filmed a ground-breaking video for the Khmer Rouge song “New Assassins”.
                       

In 1984 Phil returned to London, where Khmer Rouge continued for another two years. During this time the band supported The Fall on two UK tours. They also recorded several songs with the English producer John Leckie and played regularly in London clubs. The band split up in 1986. A double

Khmer Rouge CD, New York-London 1981-86, was released by the UK label Voiceprint in 2004. For the next two years Phil concentrated on writing songs and making demos. In 1989 his first solo recording, a 12 inch single “Charlotte's Room” b/w “The Long Goodbye” was released on Mark E. Smith’s Cog Sinister label. The recording was produced by Tony Cohen, renowned for his work with The Birthday Party and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
                           

In 1990 the UK label Paperhouse Records put out Phil’s first solo album Backwoods Crucifixion. In 1993 his second album, God Is The Other Face Of The Devil, was released by Humbug Records.

During this period Phil supported Crime & The City Solution and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds on UK tour dates. In the summer of 1994 Phil toured in the Czech Republic, backed by the musicians from Tichá Dohoda. One year later he moved to Prague on a permanent basis. There he formed his current band PHIL SHOENFELT & SOUTHERN CROSS with Pavel Krtouš (bass guitar), Jarda Kvasnička (drums) and Pavel Cingl (violin). In 2014 Pavel Cingl left the band and David Babka joined on lead guitar.
                      

With Southern Cross Phil has recorded five albums to date: Blue Highway, Dead Flowers For Alice,

Ecstatic, Paranoia.com and The Bell Ringer. In 1997 Phil founded FATAL SHORE with Berlin-based Australians Bruno Adams and Chris Hughes (Once Upon A Time; Hugo Race & The True Spirit). The band toured Europe and became a popular act on the Berlin club scene, notable for their intense live shows and sonic improvisations. Fatal Shore made 3 CDs between 1997 and 2007: The Fatal Shore, Free Fall and Real World.
                          

In 2004 Adams became sick and was diagnosed with colon cancer. Fatal Shore continued touring, but in

June 2008 the band played its final concert at Ebensee Kino in Austria. Bruno died in 2009 after putting up a long, brave fight, and Shoenfelt and Hughes decided to discontinue the band. A final CD, Setting The Sails For El Dorado, was released in 2011. The album is dedicated to the memory of Bruno. Phil also collaborated with Nikki Sudden, playing lead guitar in Sudden's band on European tours in 1997 and 1998. After the second tour the pair went into a Berlin studio and recorded Golden Vanity, an album of co-written songs that was released by the UK label Easy Action in 2009.
                     

In November 2010 Phil Shöenfelt & Southern Cross released their fourth studio album, Paranoia.com (Easy Action Records). The album marked a change in the band’s musical direction from atmospheric

indie rock to a more edgy hard rock sound.  With nine original songs and a James Williamson-approved version of Iggy Pop & The Stooges' "Open Up And Bleed", the album features a remarkable cover painting by ex-Khmer Rouge member Claus Castenskiold. One song from this CD, “Stupid Rock Star”, was included on the 2014 compilation, “Shark Infested Waters”. Also included on this CD are tracks by Iggy & The Stooges, Bob Dylan, Alice Cooper, Patti Smith, Johnny Thunders and many other classic artists.
                   

In 2011 Phil started a new band, DIM LOCATOR, with drummer Chris Hughes and bass player Dave Allen. Based in Berlin, Dim Locator is an outgrowth of the work Hughes and Shöenfelt did with Fatal

Shore and features music co-written by all three members. The sound of Dim Locator is based more on drones and guitar loops than conventional song structures, taking inspiration from the “kraut-rock” bands of the 1970s. To date the band has released a Download-EP Immortalised (a three song tribute to Rowland S. Howard), a 7 inch single of two of Howard’s songs, “I Ate The Knife” b/w “Undone”, Wormhole, a mini album containing four original songs. In July 2016 a live CD Six Miles Deep was released on the German label Moloko +.
                    

In addition to writing and playing music, Phil has also written several books. To date, he has had five titles published: Junkie Love (a fictionalised autobiography); The Green Hotel/Zelený Hotel (poetry

and song lyrics); Magdalena – Books One and Two (a collaboration with the poet and artist Kateřína Piňosová), Kamikaze Skull (twenty poems co-written with UK performance artist Sophia Disgrace); and Stripped (a trilogy of books set in New York in the years 1979-1984). The first part of the trilogy was published in Czech translation in December 2012. The second part - Underground Incognito - was published in May 2016.
                    

Junkie Love first appeared in Czech translation as Feťácká Láska. It was published in English in 2001

by Twisted Spoon Press and went on to win the Firecracker Alternative Book Award (New York, 2002). On January 10th 2020 Phil’s latest solo album Cassandra Lied was released on the German label Sireena. Guest musicians include Chris Hughes and Baron Anastis of Dim Locator, Kristof Hahn of Swans, David Babka of Southern Cross, Eva Turnová (ex The Plastic People Of The Universe) and Marcia Schofield (ex Khmer Rouge and The Fall).
                    

Phil Shöenfelt – Backwoods Crucifixion
Label: Paperhouse Records – PAPLP 002
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1990
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Blues Rock

SIDE A.

A1. Garden Of Eden
A2. Marianne, I'm Falling
A3. The Light That Surrounds You
A4. Psyche

SIDE B.

B1. Devil's Hole
B2. Hateful Heart
B3. Walkaway
B4. Salvation Hotel

NOTES

                         

Keyboards – Marcia Schofield (tracks: A3, A4), Phil Ames (tracks: A4, B2 to B4), Phil Shöenfelt (tracks: A1, B1)
Producer, Bass Guitar – Phil Ames
Written-By, Arranged By, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Phil Shöenfelt

GARDEN OF EDEN LYRICS

                               

Dancing colors all around
I lost my head in a web of sound
Now I don't know what to do
like Kubla Khan in Xanadu

I need inspiration
I got no motivation
Life is a dream but I'm not sleeping
Life is a dream but I'm not sleeping
Outside of the gates of the garden of Eden
Outside of the gates of the garden of Eden
Garden of Eden

All the city lights go out
All our friends have gone away
She doesn't need a helping hand
but she thanks you anyway

She needs inspiration
There's been too much hesitating
Life is a dream but she's not waiting
Life is a dream but she's not waiting
Outside of the gates of the garden of Eden
Outside of the gates of the garden of Eden
Garden of Eden

I went down to the city at night
I stepped up, took a look inside
I went down to the city at night
I stepped up, took a look inside
Yeah, oh yeah
                      

I went down
I went down
I went down
And I stood outside
The garden of Eden
I close my eyes
And I walk right in
And I walk right in
And I walk right in to the garden of Eden

All the bridges are in flames
I kiss your tears like a falling rain
All the city lights go out
Everybody scream and shout

I need inspiration
There's been too much hesitating
Life is a dream but we're not waiting
Life is a dream but we're not waiting
Outside of the gates of the garden of Eden
Outside of the gates of the garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden

DEVIL'S HOLE LYRICS

                            

Last night I dreamed I saw Saint Peter
The Book he held was black with sin
We stood outside the gates of Heaven
He would not let me in

Last night I dreamed I saw Saint Peter
He looked at me, my blood ran cold
"Abandon Hope all ye who enter
And may the fires purge your soul
Down in the Devil’s Hole"

I told this story to my woman
Last thing I heard, she was still runnin'
My words of love remained unspoken
Drowned by the sound of the thunder comin'
                          

I told this story to my woman
Last thing I heard she was on the run
With my best friend who was discovered
Shot through the head with his own gun
Shot through the head
With his own gun...

I saw them standin' by the river
A crowd of people 'round the Hangin' Tree
An' that Laughin' Boy, he was fairly swingin'
He looked a lot like me...

Last night I dreamed I saw Saint Peter
He looked at me, my blood ran cold
We stood outside the gates of Heaven
He said, "The Man Downstairs has won your soul
Now get down to the Devil’s Hole
To the Devil's Hole
To the Devil's Hole
The Devil's Hole
To the Devil's Hole..."

MP3 @ 320 Size: 109 MB
Flac  Size: 283 MB

 
Phil Shöenfelt on Urban Aspirines HERE