After a frustrating US tour during which they were signed and dropped within just three months, Clouds ended tidily with the single Never Say Forever and final album, Futura in 1997. The following years were good to Trish Young but she doesn’t hesitate to add, “I am really looking forward to getting out there and playing some of the old songs again!” Young explains the timing of the tour – which see’s Gen-X favourites, Jesus Jones and The Wonderstuff on the same bill – had an added benefit for Clouds, who were already considering making a return.
“We had put out the feelers before the Jesus Jones/Wonderstuff tour came about.” Trish claims. “In the start we were told it would be a five-band lineup with us, Jesus Jones, Wonderstuff, Frente! and Caligula, but by the time the booking was done, Frente! and Caligula had vanished from the roster…”
The planned triple bill might seem like some cobbling together of completely unrelated acts in any musical sense, but between them, they recall a very specific time in music. All laid claim to equal billing on the alternative music charts but all three bands had previously crossed paths during their respective peaks. Trish recounts: “I can’t remember the exact year – but we actually supported Wonderstuff once before, and Jesus Jones used to open for them in England quite a bit. I do vaguely remember hanging back stage and chatting with [singer] Miles [Hunt] and the guitarist and having a great time, but recently I read in an interview, Miles said none of them [in Wonderstuff] got on back then and tours were always really tense. But it was not the impression I had. But who knows, maybe the tour with us was the only one they enjoyed!”
Clouds frequent live shows, including the first ever Big Day Out in 1992, were near legendary events attracting sell-out crowds around the country. Trish recalls Clouds’ touring years fondly: “That was exactly the kind of life I had wanted. I actually enjoyed living on the road and staying in a different hotel every night, meeting fans and doing in-stores, but it was tough on Jodi. She used to suffer terribly from insomnia when we were on tour.”
Jodi’s fatigue was never offered as a reason for the Clouds’ eventual split in 1997, but it seems reasonable to think it was a factor. “No, it really wasn’t that, but it is true that Jodi wasn’t enjoying the same things that I was about being on tour.” Although Trish admits she misses Clouds, and Jodi continues to slot her ‘old band’s songs’ in during her live solo gigs, no plans are afoot to revive the group. “It’s only a reunion in the sense that we’re playing these three shows… there won’t be any new music or plans to continue beyond the tour. There just isn’t the time anymore for us to commit to that kind of lifestyle.”
