Pump (band)

Pump was an experimental, pre-electronica, band, active between 1979-1993. They released five cassette albums as MFH on the YHR label before changing their name to Pump in 1986 and recording the LP “The Decoration of the Duma Continues” in 1987 (Final Image) and “Sombrero Fallout” in 1992 (released by Plague Recordings in 2010).

Andrew Cox (born 14 July 1961) met David Elliott (born 14 March 1961) at the University of Sussex in October 1979. The two lived on the same corridor of campus dorm York House and quickly realised they had similar left field musical interests, particularly krautrock and the newly happening industrial music scene. Elliott had written for a few music fanzines and, with Cox's help, decided to start his own, Neumusik, together with a campus radio show of the same name. Cox had a synthesizer and circuit boards and Elliott had some musical ideas so they also formed a band, MFH. Some thought this referred to the term Master of the Fox Hounds but in truth they were named after the author of a teach-yourself German book by Margaret Frohlich Hardy.

These were the days of cassette culture when legions of bedroom-based bands across the UK, taking a leaf from punk's Do-It-Yourself ethos, set up independent cassette labels to distribute their own music. MFH's "First Move" became the first release on York House Recordings in January 1980, comprising rudimentary sound collages and four synthesizer pieces by Cox. This was swiftly followed by a Cox solo, "Arioch", recorded using two radio oscillators. The duo's second album "Within 30 Miles", released in the summer, showcased shorter, more minimal pieces.

MFH's third album, "Masks", released in early 1981, represented what might be called a more mature affair, taken a step further with their fourth, "Ground Zero" which was recorded in Cornwall and released in the autumn, along with a second Cox solo, "Methods".

The combination of Elliott moving to France for a year and Cox dropping out of university altogether put MFH on hold for a while, although Elliott continued to build an impressive YHR catalogue including albums by Conrad Schnitzler, Asmus Tietchens, and Cluster & Farnbauer's Live In Vienna, all of whom he had interviewed for Neumusik. It was not until the spring and summer of 1982 that Cox and Elliott were able to record their fifth album, "Head", mainly using ARP Odyssey and Korg synthesizers. During this time, numerous tracks appeared on compilations, including The Elephant Table Album, inspired by the Wild Planet column in Sounds.

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