I'm Being Good

In 1991 the underground music scene in Brighton, England, was flourishing. Guitarist and vocalist Andrew Clare, already operating the cassette-only imprint Graphic Death since turning 16, launched the pop/rock band I'm Being Good that year. Clare later explained that the project existed so he could create the kind of music he wished to encounter beyond his own technical limits. The band's name drew from a lyric in Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" and a short story by Hubert Selby Jr. At first I'm Being Good comprised only Clare and a drum machine. Through Brighton scene contacts he recruited bassist Dave Campbell in 1992, and drummer Simon Ounsworth completed the lineup the following year. By then Graphic Death had evolved into the vinyl label Infinite Chug, whose inaugural release was the I'm Being Good single "Hate Sturdy Buildings." Late in 1993 Jason Williams took over bass duties, shifting Campbell to second guitar. Ounsworth departed in 1994 after contracting glandular fever; Tim Hall, then playing with Williams in Garner, stepped in as drummer. The next single, "We Have the Balleeen," appeared soon afterward on Infinite Chug, and the band undertook its first United Kingdom tour. Over the next six years the group returned repeatedly to England and made two European excursions. Early on, underground interest prompted BBC radio's John Peel to invite a Peel Session, which he later called "one of the sessions of the year." Labels such as Slampt and Che expressed interest in an album; Lissy's actually secured a recording, tentatively titled Horse Man Ship, whose first side captured the Peel material. While preparing the second side later that year, Clare suffered a knife accident that severed three tendons in two fingers, leaving his hand incapacitated for nearly twelve months. After surgery and recovery the band finished the LP's second side in early 1995 at Low Brow Hi Fi Studio, yet licensing obstacles with the BBC masters caused Lissy's to shelve the project indefinitely. Internal setbacks compounded the delay when Williams was diagnosed with cancer. The remaining trio continued briefly, and Campbell and Clare joined Floorjacker alongside Clive Henry and Joe Tunmer. I'm Being Good contributed to the Destroy All Music compilation In Glorious Space Age Stereo: Gods with Proboscis and enlisted Jon Slade of Huggy Bear on bass. Another overseas tour followed, but Hall soon quit to relocate to London; Campbell then switched to drums. Licensing issues for the Peel tracks finally resolved in 1996, yet Lissy's had lost interest in issuing the would-be debut. Floorjacker colleague Tunmer joined I'm Being Good, alternating guitar and drums with Campbell, though he soon left for a television career. Despite constant personnel shifts the band appeared on three 1996 compilations: Fisheye's Breaking the Plastic Hymen, Che Trading's Disco Sucks, and Slampt's Elastic Jet Mission. Clare and Campbell exited Floorjacker in 1997. Clare then participated in Alex Ward's Thirteen Ghosts, on which Ward recorded one side with Derek Bailey and Clare spontaneously contacted Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore about contributing to the other. During this period I'm Being Good featured on Slampt's 4-Track-4-Track. The lineup of Clare, Campbell, and Slade invited Sam Dook of Brighton band Lure Luxx to join on guitar in early 1998; shortly after Dook arrived, Slade departed for Comet Gain. The remaining members issued a split 7" with Truman's Water on Infinite Chug, followed in 1999 by the long-delayed debut album Poisonous Life. A European tour with Canada's North of America took place the next summer, though poor organization left many dates canceled and the band disillusioned. Roughly eight months of inactivity ensued, during which Paroxysm Records released the compilation Scandalized, Traumatized, and Baptized, marking the first public appearance of the 1995 Horse Man Ship recordings. Early in 2001 the group returned to the studio for the darker second album Sub Plot and added bassist Jussi Brightmore, whom they had known through prior collaborations including 100 Pets. By year's end new songs were being prepared for a prospective third full-length (or fourth, counting the unreleased Horse Man Ship). They also contributed a track to an EE: Lettro compilation slated for late 2001 alongside Old Time Relijun, Truman's Water, and Jad Fair, with whom Campbell had previously worked. Clare remained active with Small Things, Clarence Palmer, and Pine Forest, while Dook, Campbell, and Brightmore continued in 100 Pets; Campbell additionally played in Runt and Litmus, and Brightmore performed with Baron Samedi.