William Carruthers
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- For the botanist, see William Carruthers (botanist)
Will Carruthers (born 9 November 1967 in Chesterfield, England) is a musician, most well known for playing bass in the highly influential experimental rock bands Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized. He is currently performing under the name Freelovebabies.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Carruthers moved to Rugby in 1977, and joined St Mark's Junior school.
After leaving Lawrence Sheriff School at the age of 16, he went to work in a sheet metal factory in Birmingham, and it was then he began to teach himself to play bass. He then moved back to Rugby, and became involved in the local music scene, joining the local band, The Cogs of Tyme.
[edit] Spacemen 3
[edit] First Album
After two gigs, Carruthers joined Spacemen 3 with fellow Lawrence Sheriff School pupil Jason Pierce and Pete Kember, and recorded the album Playing with Fire. Will played a 1976 Gibson Thunderbird which he still has to this day. The album would prove to be the most successful Spacemen 3 album to date, and place the band at the forefront of the UK indy scene.
Melody Maker described the album as being 'The last word in English psychedelia'. The band then toured extensively around the UK and the rest of Europe. Some of these shows would then go on to make up the album 'Live in Europe'.
[edit] Dreamweapon
Around this time the band also recorded the album Dreamweapon, a 40 minute drone-rock piece performed in an art centre in Brentford. After playing for 40 minutes, the band were told that the previously arranged second set would not be required. The album still sells 20 years later.
[edit] Spectrum
Following this, Carruthers co-produced and played bass on Peter Kember's first solo album (recorded as Sonic Boom) Spectrum. The album had a more electronic sound, and featured covers of 'Rock And Roll Is Killing My Life' by Suicide and 'Lonely Avenue' by Doctor Pomus.
[edit] Last Album
The band then commenced work on what would be their fourth and final album, Recurring. At a time when internal conflict was rife, the album was recorded as two separate halves by Pierce and Kember. Before the album was released Carruthers left, and went to work on a building site to pay off the debts he had incurred during his time in the band.
[edit] Spiritualized
Following the rancorous demise of Spacemen 3 Carruthers was approached by Pierce to join a new band that he was forming with all of the musicians from Spacemen 3 except Kember. Carruthers was eventually persuaded to join, and the band recorded a single 'Anyway That You Want Me' a cover of a song originally recorded by The Troggs.
The band then began to tour rigorously around the UK to a lukewarm reception from a public who had largely perceived Kember to be the main creative force behind Spacemen 3. The band then recorded the album 'Lazer Guided Melodies'. Before the release of the album, Carruthers left the band due to a payment dispute, and went back to the building site.
[edit] Quitting the Music Business
Disillusioned, Carruthers quit the music business, and moved to the Lake District. He would not play live for four years. Carruthers drifted around the country, doing odd-jobs, working as a waiter, a cook, a gardener, on building sites, as a roadie and doing various other menial jobs.
He was asked to join the band 'The Guaranteed Ugly' in 1996 by his friend Gavin Wissen who had been the singer for 'The Cogs of Tyme'. At the time, the group were Billy Childish's favourite band. The band played once a month at the 'Dirty Water Club' in London supporting Thee Headcoats. Around this time, Carruthers was approached by Kember, to join his band Spectrum to tour America. Carruthers subsequently recorded an EP with Spectrum and The Silver Apples, and played many dates in the USA.
[edit] Freelovebabies
Freelovebabies is the name Carruthers is releasing his solo work under.
[edit] Written In Sand
Written in Sand was written by Carruthers and the guitarist Kevin Cowen. It was self-recorded and released by Carruthers in 2001 [1]
[edit] Home Improvement for Condemned Buildings
Home Improvement for Condemned Buildings is the second Freelovebabies album, and was released in 2006. It is available through www.willcarruthers.com. It features Jonny Mattock, Kevin Cowen, Mark Refoy, Fiona McCreath, Jon Wald and Adam Fernie. Carruthers is making a return to live music. He describes his life as being "a peculiar balancing act between artistic endeavour and hard labour".
