ArtistInfo

The Happy Couple

Band, *2001 DE, Hamburg
Rock and Pop

Music mates Jane and Tom started out as a DJ outfit in their hometown of Brunswick, Lower Saxony. They moved to Hamburg in 2003, having set up their own record label Félicité Singles Club to release 7" singles by Simon Fisher Turner AKA The King of Luxembourg, Roy Moller, The Catalysts. In June 2003 they celebrated their label launch night in Glasgow after having DJed at "How Does it Feel To Be Loved" in London the night before. The Happy Couple released their debut ep (The Four Seasons EP) on Félicité in October 2003 and played their first gig in Athens, Greece in Janaury 2004. In the same year, they played shows in Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. March 2005 saw the release of their 2nd ep, Fools In Love, on the US label Matinée Recordings. This EP was recorded and produced by The Void (Glasgow's Ulric Kennedy and Dannie Vallely) and features Roy Moller as special guest musician. Before going into hiatus in 2006, another vinyl single entitled "Song For The Troubadour" followed and featured Belle & Sebastian's Stevie Jackson on harmonica. On the flip side is a remix by Hamburg's Erobique (International Pony). An alternate mix of the song was released on Slumberland Records in the US. In November 2006 Japanese label Quince Records released their single compilation Happy Times & Petty Crimes which also featured previously unreleased tracks as well as their contribution to the Television Personalities Tribute Album If I Could Write Poetry. Their comeback (and debut album) “Into The Woods” was released in 2014; the album was recorded at the studio of Joe Watson (Stereolab/The High Llamas); his collection of vintage equipment contributed to the sound of this record, which was heavily influenced by late sixties' folk/psych and electronica pioneers – artists such as Wendy & Bonnie, The Feminine Complex, and Jerry Yester & Judy Henske. Their admiration and knowledge of that music blends with The Happy Couple's background in jingly-jangly indiepop.

Members

	Dannie Vallely
	Tom Hilverkus eb, p
	Ulric Kennedy g
	Johanna Maier voc