Chris Mars
b. USA. Formerly drummer with the Replacements, by the time Mars quit that groundbreaking band he had also left behind his drinking and drug-taking excesses. ‘I got a little constipated with the Replacements, and it's been a release to get out a lot of ideas I've had,’ he commented at the time. He left his former employers in 1990 with no idea of what to do, until his wife sent some of his home-recorded demo tapes to Island Records subsidiary, Smash. The result was HORSESHOES AND HAND GRENADES, the first of his albums to boast his distinctive caricature drawings in its artwork. The title of his second album, 75% LESS FAT, meanwhile, was taken by some analysts as an indication of his diminished circumstances. The intention was to tour with the album whilst also displaying his paintings in local galleries. 1995's TENTERHOOKS was his first collection for Hoboken, New Jersey independent, Bar/None Records. Written, performed, produced and engineered by Mars himself, this was the first collection to see Mars put distance between himself and the Replacements, focusing instead on the strong pop hooks which propelled songs such as Forkless Tree. His contract with the label came with the invitation to build his own 24 track studio in lieu of an advance, which suited Mars who was keen not to tour again following over ten years on the road with the Replacements. In a novel marketing coup, Bar/None sent out another of its roster, the Wallmen, to tour performing covers of the Mars songs, with a cardboard cut-out of the artist erected centre-stage.