Furniture

What they did next

Furniture split in early 1991. Three of the five went on to sustained careers in music or music journalism.

Tim Whelan and Hamilton Lee

From 1992 Tim and Hami formed Transglobal Underground, the pioneering British electronic / world-music group responsible for Dream of 100 Nations (1993), International Times (1994) and a long run of albums and collaborations since. In 2008 they won a Radio 3 World Music award. Impossible to do their work justice in a small space so here are some links to get you started.

Jim Irvin

Jim joined Melody Maker as a reviewer (and then reviews editor), writing under the pseudonym Jim Arundel. In 1994 he became the founding features editor of Mojo, later senior editor, and compiled The Mojo Collection. Between Furniture and journalism he formed the short-lived duo Because with jazz musician Chris Ingham, releasing Mad, Scared Dumb and Gorgeous on Haven Recordings in 1991 — “an attempt at Blue Nile meets the Beach Boys, Steely Dan and late XTC”.

Later he ran the Dusty Company imprint at Domino, produced Clearlake, and co-wrote for Gay Dad’s Leisure Noise (1999). In 2002 he signed to Warner Chappell as a songwriter; co-writes since include work for David Guetta, Lissie, Simple Plan, Lana Del Rey and Nothing But Thieves. Jim and Sally Still’s co-write “The Weekend”, with Michael Gray, became an international house hit.

Sally Still

Sally also contributed to Melody Maker under a pseudonym — Sally Margaret Joy — and was subsequently involved with female underground rock acts in the wake of Riot Grrrl. Sally and Hami both played on the 1991 “Damascus” 12-inch by Catwalk, a project of the journalist (and long-time Furniture supporter) Chris Roberts.

Maya Gilder

Maya left the music industry. She now works in broadcasting in Australia.