Nex (21)

In 1993 Steve Hellier, 2 years before founding Death In Vegas, had just ended his run on two dance labels, Spare Beat Records (Hardcore) and Discrete Records (House), releasing a series of now sought-after 12” singles. Cliff Edwards was quietly honing and self-releasing his own lo-fi garden shed (kraut)rock and ambient cassette music as Homeland/c.v.edwards. Ian Button was dusting off the last of the ashes of Thrashing Doves/The Doves/ Ramona 55 and running his first solo project Motorcyclone. Hellier and Edwards were both in the Motorcyclone live band. The three decided to combine their love of discrete electronica and sequencer music to create an electronic jam band - Nex. They made two albums over two evenings - improvised with the tech of the time and recorded live to DAT in Hellier’s home studio in the Elephant & Castle. The tapes were left in a drawer as everyone moved on. Hellier co-founded Death In Vegas with Richard Fearless in 1995 (also recruiting Button on guitar). Edwards continued to write and record as Homeland/Seeglas and other aliases through the rest of the 90s and beyond. 2022 - the DATs were rediscovered and transferred.