Since forming in 1996, Martyn Leaper and the Minders have morphed from Elephant 6 darlings to twee-pop anarchists, throwing love bombs and denouncing nothing. Most non-fans remember the Minders’ auspicious 1998 debut, Hooray For Tuesday, and its unfairly derided follow-up, 2001’s Golden Street, but the band was active until 2006’s slight-but-lovely It’s A Bright Guilty World. The Minders’ only interim release has been the second web-only iteration of their odds-and-sods Cul-De-Sacs And Dead Ends. In the gap, Leaper wrote and demoed new songs when he could crowbar it into his 40-hour work week. Along with renowned producer Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney), Leaper began finding the thread of Into The River, the first actual Minders studio work in a decade. Leaper will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Minders feature.
Leaper: In an age where independent record shops are disappearing from many of America’s cities, Stinkweeds keeps powering on. Kimber Lanning opened Stinkweeds when she was just 19 years old. During its 27-year history, the store has moved four times, and is now considered the best outlet for independent music in the region. Music lovers will find mostly independent releases here, with much of the store these days (thankfully) being vinyl. Stinkweeds holds an annual vinyl and cassette day, and is renowned for hosting instore performances that have over the years seen some of the indie world’s greatest acts come and play. Magnetic Fields, Smog, and fellow E6er’s of Montreal and Neutral Milk Hotel, to mention a few, have played here.
I first visited Stinkweeds in 1998 when it was based in Tempe, Ariz. It was during my first national tour with the Minders. We were supporting our debut album, Hooray For Tuesday, and were very new to playing record stores. I remember the performance well. The makeshift stage was very crowded, and our audience, five or so 20-somethings, were sprawled out on the floor in front of us in beanbags. I remember looking out to our seemingly bemused “crowd” thinking the whole time, “These kids hate us”. Well, I was wrong. Since after our show, each of them bought our album, and even pitched in for a hotel room for us to stay.
I recently had the pleasure of playing at Stinkweeds again, and had a blast. I love this wonderful record shop with its impeccable array of rare and independent music. I believe in supporting indie record stores, since without them a whole world of magic would disappear.
