Brief summary of musical experiences during the years from ' 60 to '80 (in particular the Kaleidoscope experience); We`d served a three year apprenticeship by the time we arrived at 1967 and found ourselves the proud owners of a recording contract with a major international label. We began in ’64 as a sort of covers band; we played Stones and Beatles songs and lots of blues, or rhythm and blues as it was called back then. As a fledgling band with nil experience it was easy to play steady blues stuff. We then ventured into Stones territory. But we soon realised that writing our own songs would be a logical next step. The Beatles led the way. Now we were pushing at invisible boundaries.But in 1966 everything changed with the release of what is arguably The Beatles best album, `Revolver.` When John hit us with `Tomorrow never knows` it was as if he`d flung open the doors to a Technicolored musical paradise where everything was possible. Once we got our recording contract and open access to all the wonders of the huge Philips Marble Arch studios, it was natural for us to experiment with arrangements. Brandishing our spanking new Kaleidoscope moniker we entered the studio with songs like `Dive into Yesterday` and `The Murder of Lewis Tollani` and couldn`t help but produce what was instantly called psychedelia. It was the flavour of the month. Unlike every recording session we`d ever had before -- in egg-box dives -- we were not disappointed with the results. In fact we were stunned by the clarity of the results, fascinated by the recording process and pleased to find that the engineers were friendly and co-operative. The actual recording process was taken out of our hands and was something of a mystery: we did what we were told in terms of levels and retakes. The arrangements were down to us, although Dick Leahy our producer did have some input via carefully phrased suggestions. We were always willing to listen and incorporate inventive ideas. But all the songs went into the studio fully-formed. We never wrote in the studio like some bands. Our songs were very carefully written, rewritten, arranged and polished long before recording sessions. Dick produced, obviously aware of the beating of our novice hearts, allowing us time to settle down, to accustom ourselves to the cathedral studio. In fact, the studio was so enormous that when we set up our equipment we only occupied a small area, but this was how we preferred it -- reminiscent, perhaps, of our nights rehearsing at the school hall in Acton not so long before. What does it mean for you the term psychedelic music? Psychedelia was very short-lived. It lasted not much more that eighteen months. It was that truly magical period between late ’66 to early `68. Fortunately for us this was the time we hit gold, securing our first recording contract and getting all the time we needed in a professional studio.I wouldn`t know how to define our music. Looking back it`s easy for new generations to ridicule the style and lyrical content of music from way back then. It was a colourful burst of fashion in music. And as we all know fashion comes and goes swiftly. Fortunately for us it is also true that there is nothing new in this world and fashion styles always return. Psychedelia is again enjoying a substantial revival -- and it is great to have caught that wave. And we were certainly not writing to appeal to the druggy crowd. At this point we had very little experience of drugs having dabbled frighteningly in the early Sixties purple heart period and being put off pills for life. Younger people look back and think there were drugs and free love available on every street corner. Nope. We weren`t particularly interested in the former and the latter, didn`t come up and offer itself to us. Besides, we had total tunnel vision: we lived for our music. Nothing was going to make us waiver from our righteous path. Copyright: Peter Daltrey 2017 / Contact: chris@sussd.com

Novelty Island’s hook-filled dream pop channels surrealism and Northern melancholy through classic songwriting. The project is led by Liverpool-based songwriter and producer, Tom McConnell who describes it as “Paul McCartney having an argument with Bernard Black”. Eclectic songs inspired by childhood, motorways, trains, old televisions, cowboys, space, birds and balloons form their first two albums, How Are You Coping With This Century? and Wallsend Weekend Television, which received acclaim from Mojo, Shindig, BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing and Absolute Radio. The psychedelic, papier-mâché-prop-filled Novelty Island live band have performed at Glastonbury and toured the UK extensively as a headline act and support to Sea Power, The Pale White, Scott Lavene and China Crisis.

In 2025, Novelty Island will release a new album Jigsaw Causeway; a darker collection of lo-fi songs inspired by the fuzzy, woozy production of Grandaddy, Beck and Boards of Canada. Novelty Island’s releases feature McConnell’s artwork in a range of styles from papier-mâché sculptures, lo-fi animation and claymation. The new album will be by accompanied by his first exhibition.

Joe Kane of Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab, The Owsley Sunshine, Them Beatles and Onlyjoekane.

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