The Minders are led by Martyn Leaper, a native of Portsmouth, England.
His family moved to Denver when he was in high school. The band started off as a studio-based
recording project when Martyn found himself between bands. At one point Tammy Ealom was a member
(Big Machine from the Paper Plane EP was written by Martyn and Tammy), but after
"artistic differences" with Martyn she left to form Dressy Bessy.
The first Minders release in 1996, the Come On & Hear 7",
included Robert and Hilarie from The Apples In
Stereo as part of Martyn's backing band, along with Chris McDuffie who has also since
joined The Apples. Legend has it that this was the fastest selling E6 single ever!
From the second EP Paper Plane 7" onwards, a more
permanent backing band was assembled. For this release, the band was Martyn Leaper (guitar
and vocals), Rebecca Cole (drums), Jeff Almond (guitar) and Joel Richardson (bass and
keyboards).
The third EP, Rocket 58 was released on the Japanese label 100 Guitar
Mania. At this time, Marc Willhite replaced Joel on bass. Robert Schneider also makes
an appearance on the title track, playing a theremin.
The first Minders' album, Hooray For Tuesday was released by
SpinArt/E6 in September 1998. Once again, Robert S. appeared playing
keyboards and guitars, as well as recording and producing it. Rick and Merisa from
The Perry Weissman Three also contributed.
One month later, the Black Balloon single was released by
LittleArmy/E6.
After the release of Black Balloon, there was a parting of
ways; Martyn and and his wife Rebecca moved to Portland, Oregon, whilst Marc and Jeff stayed in Denver. Once they
settled in Portland, they recruited Joanna Bolme on bass.
September 1999 saw a couple of releases from the Minders. First was the release of Cul-de-sacs And Dead Ends; a compilation of the first 4 single
releases plus some compilation tracks and a few previously unreleased tracks. Rob Greene from
Dressy Bessy played bass on a couple songs. Secondly, Earworm Records released
the single Right As Rain.
The trio recorded the Down in the Fall EP at their home studio in Portland. It was released by SpinArt in
October 2000. It includes bonus multimedia tracks of footage of the band recording and an
interview with Martyn.
Golden Street, the band's second album was released in March 2001. After its recording, bassist
Joanna Bolme left the band to join Steve Malkmus' backing band, the Jicks. Marc and Jeff rejoined the group.
During the recording of their next record, the band switched their lineup around again, with Rebecca moving
to keyboards and fellow Portlander Joel Burrows playing drums.Their third record The Future's Always Perfect
was released November 2003.
Official web page: www.theminders.com
