While I can’t be 100% certain Leave The Story Untold dropped on April 15, 1996, the advertisement below is reason enough to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Soulwax’s debut right here.
Three decades ago, the original line-up—Stephen (vocals), David (guitar), Stefaan van Leuven (bass), and Piet Dierickx (drums)—headed to Los Angeles to record the album with Chriss Goss.
The Soulwax you hear on this record is a far cry from the band that would redefine themselves years later on Much Against Everyone’s Advice. While fellow Belgians dEUS were making waves with experimental art-rock, Soulwax was drinking from a different well: the stoner rock of Kyuss, Monster Magnet, and Masters Of Reality—a sound that would only go mainstream years later with Queens Of The Stone Age. At the time, however, local critics dismissed them as “The Black Crowes-lite.”
In the UK, Much Against.. was often hailed as their true debut, while Leave The Story Untold was largely ignored—a fact punctuated by the lack of a vinyl reissue to this day. Nevertheless, this chapter of Soulwax’s career deserves its moment in the spotlight! So let’s keep the story no longer untold..
While most Belgian bands would ask a local producer for their debut album, Soulwax had more ambition. They sent out copies of their EP ‘2nd Handsome Blues’ to all producers they admire. Lo and behold: Chris Goss (Masters Of Reality) likes what he hears and accepts to do the job.
David Dewaele: “I can’t remember how many tapes and demos we sent to Chris Goss, but we never got a response. And suddenly, after more than seven months, we get a call from the owner of the Galaxy Studios in Mol that they had received a
fax from an agency in Hollywood to book a studio for six weeks. The project: Soulwax. Producer: Chris Goss. He completely caught us by surprise. Our manager didn’t know, we didn’t know”.
Chris Goss: “I get a lot of music and 99% I don’t like. But I liked them immediately and thought this could be fun.”
Stefaan Van Leuven: “We couldn’t believe our luck when we heard Goss wanted to do it.”
Stephen Dewaele: “Chris really wanted to do the album and we made a good deal, way below his normal fee.”
The recording wouldn’t take place at Galaxy Studios in Belgium, it turned out it was more convenient for Goss to get the band to Los Angeles. So they hopped on a plane to Los Angeles where they were supposed to meet Chris Goss
in the Roosevelt hotel.
Piet Dierickx (drums): “We were in the lobby of the Roosevelt hotel and we were very nervous. Also excited, waiting and looking at people, ‘…no that’s not
him’. We had no idea how he looked.”
Chris Goss: “They stuck out like a sore thumb, you know: four Belgian kids in the lobby of the Roosevelt (laughs). They looked nervous and I thought that was really cute.”
Stefaan: “We were totally not sex, drugs and rock and roll. For example, I had this stupid grey little vest on during that first trip to LA.”
Recording at Sound City Studios made a lasting impression on the boys
from Ghent.
Stephen: “We were in the same studio where they recorded ‘Nevermind’, where Fleetwood Mac made their records. Where Charles Manson shot bullets into the door. And while we were recording, Frank Black was recording next door, and I was big Pixies fan.”
One of the tracks Soulwax record is called ‘Acapulco Gold’, which is also a type of weed. Chris Goss wrongly assumed that the guys are into pot and ordered some to be delivered at the studio.
David: “That whole trip Chris Goss actually inaugurated us, I don’t have a saying for it. They say that you’ll always remember the person who takes your . I’ll always have the feeling that Chris Goss will be a father figure for me.”
While ‘Leave The Story Untold’ is definitely still a solid rock album, something happened during those recordings.
David: “A song like ‘Caramel’ really pulled us away from being just a rock band.
Stephen: “The song wasn’t finished when we got to LA to record the album. When we were in the studio, Dave played it on his acoustic guitar. To annoy Chris, I started playing the tune from ‘Popcorn’ on this cheap Casio keyboard.
Eventually this ended up in the final recording. The studio technician went ‘That’s clever man: popcorn, movies and caramel – I get it!’”
Chris Goss: “David had recorded his slide guitar part and he looks up at me and said it sounded like ABBA! And from David, that was like the biggest compliment.”
For the first time the band started experimenting with drum loops and synths. Chris Goss, impressed with the way Dave and Steph quickly
take in how to work in a studio, gave them the nickname ‘The Flying Dewaele Brothers’ (named after The Flying Burrito Brothers).
Chris Goss: “When I got their first cassette from them it was very bluesy, they sounded like the Black Crowes. But in the middle of making the record, they started to pull out Radiohead’s ‘The Bends’ and talk about sampling. It was the days of early UNKLE, Massive Attack and Björk. The cutting edge of music in Europe was starting to become electronic. And for Soulwax, this side was just starting to peek out, using modern technology, sampling, dance music and electronica. ‘Caramel’ and a few other pieces is that side of them that eventually became 2 Many DJs.”
David: “I left for LA to make a record with the coolest guitar riffs ever, but I was surprised. There was a whole other world with cool songs, that sparked something.”
The video for ‘Caramel’ was recorded in Wembley and features temporary keyboard player Kurt Huyghe and new drummer Steve Slingeneyer.
Piet: “We played a lot, but we didn’t get paid a lot. A festival now and then, but mostly youth centers, small clubs and places like that. It’s the eternal hell of a musician. You want to do what you love, but you also have to make some money out of it.”
Because Piet worked full time and wasn’t always available, the band decided to get Steve Slingeneyer on board.
‘Leave The Story Untold’ sold poorly. “Less than ten thousand copies if I remember correctly”, Stephen says. Play It Again Sam invested around
200.000 Euros in the album, which they could recoup entirely.
Belgian newspaper De Morgen wrote in their review that they “don’t get why Soulwax wants to sound like The Black Crowes.”
Stephen: “To be honest, something clicked inside my head. I knew from then on that Belgium wasn’t going to be our reference point. There’s
a whole other world out there, you know. Maybe someone in LA thinks our music is cool, or in another country.”
Chris Goss: “For 1995, this album is as advanced as Queens Of The Stone Age is now. These guys were ahead of their time. I’m gonna send a copy
of ‘Leave The Story Untold’ to Josh Homme!”
Dave: “I was happy because my guitar sounded good.”
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