Factory Records: IKE YARD

STUART ARGABRIGHT: "In 1978, keyboard and synth man Martin Fischer from Berlin and I formed The Futants . So then over the next couple years I had days to play around with synthesizers in our rehearsal room on Houston Street. Nights out dancing at the Mudd Club to Warm Leatherette, PIL, Magazine, M, Pop Group. Future Ike Yard member Ken Compton and I would see each other a few times a week down at the Club.

"After KEN COMPTON (bass, vocal) and I (drums, vocal) had been playing awhile, we cast about for other members, found Michael Diekmann (guitar, synth ) and Fred Szymanski (synth modules, drum machine, sequencers) through a mutual friend and began the 4 piece Ike Yard.

"A few of us were well into Joy Division, the Unknown Pleasures album had resonated over here as well. We had tickets to see them at Tier 3. Within the group we did listen to many things. The German electronic stuff like Pyrolator, Der Plan, Kraftwerk, Bowie and Iggy's Berlin albums, Liaisons Dangereuses, Conny Plank, Mute Records, Fad Gadget, ZTT.

"When we started we didn't have a steady space to go to, so when we did we began this intense level of playing and listening concentration, tried to record everything as we would drift far into our own almost private space and sound."

MICHAEL DIEKMANN: "The initial contact [with Factory] came through Crepuscule. A friend mentioned that he'd read or heard that Crépuscule was interested in recording acts from the US. We were aware of their connection with Factory via Factory/Benelux (especially ACR's Shack Up 45), so after a band meeting, I sent a cassette of several of Ike Yard's demo recordings to Michel Duval at the beginning of 1981. Michel responded a several weeks later saying that he wanted to record us and would soon be visiting NYC. After he arrived here, he called and we set up a meeting (at a Belgian restaurant in NYC's East Village) to discuss the specifics and offered IY a contract to record an EP. After searching out an appropriate studio, in April 1981 IY went into Sorcerer Sound on Mercer Street in lower Manhattan with engineer Greg Curry to record a 5 song EP - plus a 6th song for the Crépuscule complation Fruit of the Original Sin, which we ended up not sending to Michel; instead we sent a home-recorded instrumental track emphasizing drum machine and synths.

Line-up

STUART ARGABRIGHT
KENNETH COMPTON
MICHAEL DIEKMANN