IN: Tom Jenkinson grew up in Chelmsford, Essex. The first school he attended was affiliated with Chelmsford Cathedral giving him exposure to organ music, which he has subsequently acknowledged as an influence on his work. He took an interest in music very early in life, and simultaneously became interested in music reproduction equipment. Much of his early experience of music was from scanning through various radio stations for anything that caught his ear irrespective of style or genre, and he was also fascinated by radio static and amplitude modulation artefacts on the Short Wave band.

Jenkinson was offered a five album record contract with Warp Records in December 1995, which was duly signed, and this led him to defer his studies at Chelsea Art College. Early in 1996 Richard D. James completed the compilation process for Feed Me Weird Things which was made from over 50 tracks that Tom had given him on DAT, which were recorded from late 1994 to 1995. Around the same time Richard and Tom recorded two tracks together, one of which was subsequently edited by Tom and released as "Freeman Hardy & Willis Acid" on the We Are Reasonable People compilation album in 1998. Tom's contribution to the other track was reinterpreted and released as "Happy Little Wilberforce" on the Alt. Frequencies compilation released on Worm Interface in 1996. 1996 saw Jenkinson starting to be offered gigs both in the UK and in continental Europe.  Early that year Tom made the acquaintance of Talvin Singh who offered him a slot at his club night "Anokha" held at the Blue Note Club in Hoxton Square, London. Tom and Talvin went on to play together on several occasions during this period including improvised sessions at the end of the night at Anokha, one of which featured guitarist Guthrie Govan, and also at the first Big Chill Festival in 1996.  Shortly after the release of Feed Me Weird Things came "Port Rhombus" which was Tom's first release on Warp Records. The title track actually started life as a remix of a track by Ken Ishii, commissioned by R&S Records in Belgium. However the remix was rejected on the basis of it having insufficient similarity to Ken's piece. "Significant Others" uses the DR660 drum machine running through a spring reverb that Tom found at a jumble sale.

What happened in 1996

OUT: Early in 1996 Richard D. James completed the compilation process for Feed Me Weird Things

input: In the mid-1970s, Danzig started the Misfits, releasing the band's records through his own label, (originally known as Blank, then later as Plan 9). Danzig had attempted to get the Misfits signed to several record labels, only to be told that he would never have a career in music. The impetus for the band's name comes from Marilyn Monroe's last film, combined with Danzig considering himself to be a "social misfit." In October 1983, after releasing several singles and three albums, and gaining a small underground following, Danzig disbanded the Misfits due to increasing animosity among the band members and his dissatisfaction with their musical abilities. Danzig explained his decision: "It was difficult for me to work with those guys, because they weren't prepared to put in the hours practicing. I wanted to move things forward, and they didn't seem to have the same outlook. So it was time for me to move on."  After the Misfits, he began work on a new band project: Samhain. The origins of Samhain began when Danzig started rehearsing with Eerie Von, formerly of Rosemary's Babies. Danzig took the name of the band from the ancient Celtic New Year, which influenced the evolution of the modern Halloween. Initially Samhain was conceived as a punk rock "super group". The band briefly featured members of Minor Threat and Reagan Youth, who contributed to Samhain's 1984 debut, Initium. The band then settled with a lineup consisting of Eerie Von on bass, Damien on guitar, and Steve Zing on drums (later replaced by London May). In 1985 the Unholy Passion EP was released, followed by November-Coming-Fire in 1986.  Samhain eventually began to attract the interest of major labels including Epic and Elektra. Rick Rubin, music producer and head of the Def American label, would see the band perform at the 1986 New Music Seminar, on the advice of then-Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. Danzig has credited both Burton and Metallica frontman James Hetfield with helping to raise awareness about his music: "I first met them at a Black Flag gig, and then we became kinda friends. We'd often bump into each other on the road...James and Cliff helped to spread the word about me, and I was very grateful to them."

Answer this question "What songs were in their early repertoire?"
output:
several singles and three albums,