The Glee Club are the nucleus of two people: vocalist/lyricist Joanne Loughman and guitarist/violinist Hugh O'Carrol. They've been collectively known as The Glee Club for over two years; previous to this they were members of an Irish band named The Swinging Swine.
As The Swinging Swine, Joanne and Hugh toured Ireland extensively and subsequently built a strong live following. Their music was somewhat traditional and viewed by many as "a good time band". This perception came as some annoyance to Hugh and Joanne, whose affinity for My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins provided a sharp contrast to the other member's Van Morrison fixation.
The disparity within the group led to The Swinging Swine's inevitavble split but Hugh and Joanne continued writing music together, an opportunity that never really presented itself before. Under the new moniker The Glee Club, they spent the next year working on material with Kevin Boyle, a guitarist whose technical nature helped Hugh and Joanne get to the demo stage. One of these bedroom 4 track tapes made its way to the Setanta label, and the band soon found themselves recording an eponymous mini-LP, released in April 1993.
Shortly after the EP's release, The Glee Club were joined by drummer Adrian Meehan and bassist Magnus Box, primarily for live purposes. Joanne and Hugh then began to feel the tracks they'd recorded were far from the definitive versions, so with the assistance of 4AD, The Glee Club went into the studio a re-cut the mini-LP tracks with the help of Dick Meany and then recorded four additional tracks with Hugh Jones. The result of these sessions is the eleven track album "Mine".
Released in the UK by Setanta (SET CD 12), the "Mine" album was licensed for North America to 4AD and distributed by Warner Bros. (9 45496-2). It was released in February 1994. Both UK and US versions feature the incredible design work from v23's Chris Bigg. A truly fine album! Where are The Glee Club now?
adapted in part from the 4AD press release Jeff Keibel Toronto, ON CANADA