A Light History
In the swelter of a 100 degree Wisconsin summer day, inside a 100-plus year old farm building, armed with a collection of obsolete, borrowed and marginally functional recording gear, Paul Chastain and John Louis Richardson began work on the recordings which marked the beginning of  The Small Square project. Friends from a lifetime ago in Champaign, Illinois, the two had previously only dabbled in musical projects together before the fates scattered them across the globe. 

Paul is the singer, bassist, songwriter and co-founder of the critically acclaimed Velvet Crush rock group. Signed by Alan McGee to his mythic British indie label Creation Records (My Bloody Valentine, Oasis) who gave the band’s first and second albums, the latter, the seminal “Teenage Symphonies To God”, worldwide release. Velvet Crush has gone on to record six full-length records to date. Paul’s musical arc also includes path crossings with a handful of other major contributors to popular music. He has been playing and singing alongside pal Matthew Sweet from the pre-”Girlfriend” days onward. He has also been a known confederate of such pop music icons and ne’er-do-wells as Roger McGuinn, Mitch Easter, Susanna Hoffs, Stephen Duffy, Tommy Keene, Ami Onuki (Puffy Ami/Yumi), Unbunny.

John has similar roots, brushes with greatness and dubious associations. Among them, Joey Molland’s Badfinger, Gin Blossoms, Jay Bennett, Tommy Keene, Will Hoge, Adam Schmitt, The Vertebrats, Three Hour Tour and Keene Brothers. He still plays and records with DIY power pop pioneers and long time comrades, Shoes. The beyond rustic granary in which The Small Square was born has evolved into the fully realized Drum Farm Studio, which John operates.

The Martial Arts are releasing their new album ‘In There Like Swimwear’, on Friday 9 August 2024, on the Where It’s At Is Where You Are label.  It contains the singles, ‘No Victory’, ‘Not Coming Down’, ‘Exploding Crushing Inevitable’ and ‘Friends For Fools’.

The album links the neighboring worlds of power pop / indie pop / classic pop, and would sit comfortably in the collections of Daniel Johnston, XTC, Eno, Of Montreal, The Lemon Twigs or The Apples In Stereo fans.

The Martial Arts is Paul Kelly, who for over 15 years has been a mainstay of the Scottish music scene.   He was a full-time member of BMX Bandits for five years and is a long-time collaborator and bandmate of the SAY Award-nominated artist Carla J Easton (The Vaselines / Poster Paints / TeenCanteen).  He has performed with Raveloe, TeenCanteen, Kim Richey, The Primary 5, Dr. Cosmo’s Tape Lab, How to Swim and The Hector Collectors.  He has been using the name The Martial Arts since 2003.

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