Flush & Royal Flush are available as 2 x LP at:
kapitaen-platte.de?wpsc-product=pre-order-locust-fudge-flushroyal-flush-2lp

LOCUST FUDGE

In 1991, Schneider (back then singer, songwriter, and guitarist with Hip Young Things) and Krite (then singer, songwriter, and guitarist with the Speed Niggs) founded the duo Locust Fudge and started playing acoustic versions of their original bands' semi-hits to ignorant audiences in the streets of their hometowns.

What began as an excuse to hang out together quickly drew the attention of Reinhard Holstein, CEO of Glitterhouse Records, the European business arm for Seattle's Sub Pop label, home to the likes of Nirvana, Mudhoney, and others who were about to define a new hype soon to be known as "Grunge". Holstein encouraged Locust Fudge to record an album for his label. Their acoustic guitar-driven debut album, Flush, was released in 1993, receiving widespread media coverage all over Europe.

After touring as a duo for quite a while, Schneider and Krite recorded their ground-breaking follow-up, Royal Flush, in 1994, a milestone of "Lo-Fi Glam-Folk" to this very day. The album’s delicate arrangements demanded a somewhat bigger live sound, and thus the 5-piece LOCUST FUDGE BAND was formed to go on the road with the new material.
After extensive touring throughout Europe, LOCUST FUDGE released the EP "Business Express" in 1996. Besides working with LOCUST FUDGE, Schneider and Krite had released numerous albums, toured extensively with their bands Hip Young Things and Sharon Stoned, and worked on different side projects.

By the end of the 1990s, Schneider and Krite had moved to Berlin. Alongside Japanese performance artist Hanayo, they reunited in the noise-pop outfit PAINCAKE and performed in unusual surroundings like the Urbanization Congress Cities on the Move 6 in Bangkok 1999, the opening of the Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2001, an exhibition opening at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and many others.
After the band's demise in 2002, Schneider and Krite went separate ways for a while. Schneider, who had been involved with electronic music for many years, would become a global trailblazer for a music genre known as Indietronica with Schneider TM and his hits Reality Check, Frogtoise, and his The Smiths cover version The Light 3000, which were hugely acclaimed not only by John Peel. Schneider co-founded the noise-and-drone band (die) ANGEL with Ilpo Väisänen (Pan sonic), was a member of the three-guitar outfit A S S with Günter Schickert and Jochen Arbeit (Einstürzende Neubauten), and has worked on experimental music in a variety of collaborations as well as being a composer for film, radio plays, performance theater, and other media.

During the first years of the new millennium, Krite produced albums for bands like Ragazzi, The Innits, and Julia Hummer's Too Many Boys. Becoming musical director for the René Pollesch play Prater Saga 4 at the Volksbühne Berlin in 2004 marked the beginning of a long-term artistic partnership with director Stefan Pucher; they're working together continuously at theaters in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Zürich, and elsewhere to this day. Aside from writing for She She Pop, Krite collaborated with the British-German performance collective Gob Squad to create the show Revolution Now!, which has been invited to tour all over Europe and South America since its Berlin premiere in 2010.

Amid those diverse activities, irregular vital signs of LOCUST FUDGE could be witnessed: random shows in Berlin and the Song Cannibal Man, featured on PERVERTED BY MARK E. - A TRIBUTE TO THE FALL by ZickZack Records fueled the rumor of LOCUST FUDGE re- surfacing at some point in the 21st century, being neither denied nor confirmed, until their first two albums FLUSH and ROYAL FLUSH were re-released on vinyl in 2014, and the band embarked on their first tour in 20 years as trio w/ Japanese drummer Chikara Aoshima to present the classic material alongside a bunch of new songs. In 2018 they released their album OSCILLATION featuring 10 new songs and numerous guest appearances by the likes of J Mascis, Chris Brokaw, Zappi W Diermaier, Julia Wilton, Wolfgang Seidel, Lucio Capece, Ulrich Krieger, Gwendolin Tägert, Lars Rudolph, Günter Schickert and others.

Flush:

Rembert Stiewe (Glitterhouse Records):

'...At some time Krite and Schneider mentioned they were planning a mutual project, Locust Fudge. „More, like, acoustic, stripped down songs, kinda like getting naked, you know?“. Throw in a few cover versions, avoid spending a whole lot of time in the studio. And would we, Reinhard Holstein and myself, aka Glitterhouse Records, consider releasing what they came up with. We were thrilled. On the one hand we were excited to hear what the outcome would sound like, and on the other hand, though we were known for signing any american musician with an acoustic guitar at the time, we were slowly becoming weary of exactly this very formulaic and conventional sounding Americana. We were sure these talented rascals had something to throw into the mix: Originality, the courage to experiment, a fresh angle, and quite simply class. We had no actual expectations of Locust Fudge other than the strong belief that they would deliver something unique and special. „Sure, go on“, we said, „sounds good to us“.
Right before the recordings for their debut „Flush“, Reinhard, Schneider, Krite and I were sitting together drinking beer and we asked „Is there anything else you need from us?“. „We could use two harmonicas, but can't really afford them right now“, was their offhand answer. Needless to say, that was one request that wasn't going to bankrupt us.

Their debut „Flush“ was an exercise in mutual respect for their shared songwriting capabilities and it carried through on our high hopes. Fragile harmonies, a heartwarming depth combined with wistfulness, but also an easygoing levity. Their own songs had a way of glistening languidly, hinting at things life has in store for us, things that we could never actually picture or verbalise. Wishing, yearning, despairing – but at the same time keeping a distance from it all. There is no room for escapism, but simply drowning in a sea of introspection is not their cup of tea either. And the cover versions only add to the result. This is not about pulling out an obscure treasure from the remotest depths of your record collection. This is about splendour for splendour's sake. „Thrasher“ and „I love you“, and even more so The Notwist's „Our alien“ fluctuate between candidness and world weary prowess. As unfinished, innocent and deliberately imperfect the record may sound, „Flush“ is no less than a masterpiece!...'

Jens Kirschneck (What's That Noise etc.):

'...By 1993 Krite and Schneider had both pretty extensively explored the ins and outs of guitar-based songwriting with their main bands Speedniggs and Hip Young Things. And while it was never actually brought up, both might have begun to become a little bit bored. As the manager of the Hip Young Things at the time, I initially viewed Locust Fudge with a whole lot of skepticism. According to my masterplan I would have had Schneider focussing on his main band who were surely headed straight for world domination and global fame. Complete nonsense of course, but how could I have known that at the time?!

Anyway, Krite and Schneider locked themselves in Schneider's flat in Bielefeld for some time and came up with „Flush“ - a monolithic album shining a light on the talents of each individual songwriter and baffling the listener in the process. The absence of the previously overly familiar distorted guitars stripped the songs of any ornamental padding and really bowled you over.

Essentially the album consisted of nothing but cover versions – Krite and Schneider choosing to cover Neil Young, The Notwist and themselves. Almost all their own songs had been played by their previous bands earlier on, but the forte of this record is, that not at one point in time do you think to yourself: 'Ah, heard that one before!' 43 extremely consistent minutes of music, begging to be listened to again and again and again...'