Flying high with the 3 clubmen

 By Henry Lipput

“Aviatrix,” the mind-bending first single by The 3 Clubmen from their self-titled EP out in June (Burning Shed/Lighterthief), is a love story made up of sounds and images that might, under normal circumstances, not work together. But these aren’t normal circumstances because The 3 Clubmen is the brand-new powerhouse musical trio of Andy Partridge, Jen Olive, and Stu Rowe.

Partridge, Olive, and Rowe have been working on projects since 2008 (Rowe and Partridge worked on 2oo7's Monstrance and Olive’s 2013 album The Breaks had all three of them on separate tracks performing separate tasks).  But The 3 Clubmen is the first time they’ve recorded as a proper trio. 

As for the process of making the new EP, Partridge said: “I throw paint, Jen throws paint, Stu throws paint...and we walk away. If, when we return, something in there calls to us, we’ll move heaven and earth to get it out and let it breath.” The result with “Aviatrix” may initially appear to be two separate songs but put together they complement each other not unlike Wasp Star’s “The Wheel and The Maypole” (or going even further back “A Day in The Life”).  And the paint on the walls must have stuck because the colors are so fresh you can smell them.