In every direction, from every corner of the universe, the mythical energy of inspiration and creativity will be forever flowing. Some musicnauts residing in the south of Sweden has heeded the calling of the Logos. And these refiners of the cosmic background radiation are known to the world as Crescent Venus.
The embryo to the Crescent Venus spaceship was brought to life in the town of Ystad, way back in 1989 when the venusians were lads skipping school in order to consume vulgar amounts of coffee at their favourite cafe.
Among these notorious criminals were such prominent citizens as Benjamin Berglund, Peter Mankowski, Elisabeth Wieslander, Mikael Fant and Jan Löwgren, and without further ado the not so legendary band Mein Krampf reared its ugly head.
Following the first and last Mein Krampf concert (starring Benjamin Berglund as "The Drunk Drummer ignoring the bass drum and later on knocking the drum kit over") Berglund and Fant left the band. The three remainers for some reason thought a drum machine would be a reliable new band member, and thus appeared Silicon Tits. However, a Silicon Tits gig with Fant in the audience actually led to his rejoining with the group, and the time of the Salvation Theatre.
These first years the music was truly omni-directional. The styles covered included funk, reggae, hardcore, gothic rock, jingle-jangle guitar pop etc (with the occasional doom metal chunk thrown in for good measure).
The Salvation Theatre closed its stage entrance sometime in 1991 and the ones left inside were Jan Löwgren and Mikael Fant, strumming guitars and staring into space. These boys made some recordings that showed influences from contemporary british pop bands, and one hazy night Fant uttered the words Crescent Venus, and there it was.
After teaching Jonas Mattsson how to play the bass, the band started consuming drummers with great appetite. Only Esbjörn Tagesson stayed for more than a brief period. Shortly thereafter Mattsson left the band due to musical disagreements, and now the pioneers Fant and Löwgren once again stood without a drummer as well as a bass player.
Löwgren’s celloplaying mate Fredrik Resman suddenly returned from a stay in the USA, and he became the second bassist being taught how to play by the fiery spirits Jan Löwgren and Mikael Fant.
With this line-up things started to happen. The demo "what smells purple?" was recorded with Löwgren playing the drums, and the band got a record deal. Eventually a drummer was found in Johan Torgeby, and Crescent Venus was on a roll.
A single ("sad + kinky") and an album ("slower than dark") was put out, and CV played concerts in cities such as Lund, Gothenburg; Stockholm and ye olde home towne of Ystad. It was around this time that the interest in minimalistic and psychadelic music arose within the band leaders Löwgren and Fant, as well as the over the years increasingly important space theme.
The cooperation with the record company Delicious Goldfish ended without too many tears shed, and Crescent Venus gradually reduced the number of chords per song too a minimum. Instead the band started using dynamics as a way of varying the songs.
Helikopter records in Gothenburg has shown interest in the band since about 1996, but so far the company’s economy hasn’t really been up to it. The final results of these contacts is yet to come.
In the spring of 1997 Johan Torgeby abandoned the spaceship Crescent Venus to move to Stockholm. (He found a job moving other people’s money from one place to another, with some of the dole ending up in his pocket...) His contribution to the Crescent Venus artistic endeavours have been formidable, and his memory is cherished by the remaining musicnauts.
Drummer Marcel Strub joined the group in the early fall of 1997 and thus Crescent Venus now consists of Jan Löwgren (vocals, guitars, and other stuff), Mikael Fant (vocals and guitars), Fredrik Resman (bass guitar) and the aforementioned Strub.
The great organic mothership Crescent Venus is currently floating through space aiming its antennae towards the outskirts of the known universe. Further reports will follow. Over and out.
