Simon Jones - And Also the Trees - in conversation with David Eastaugh 

https://www.andalsothetrees.co.uk

The band made their live debut on 12 January 1980 at Grieg Memorial Hall in Alcester. A home demo tape was sent to The Cure, who were looking for support bands on their tour, leading to a friendship between the two bands. In 1981, And Also the Trees played several shows in support of The Cure'sUK tour. Their second demo tape, From Under the Hill (1982), was partly co-produced by Robert Smith and Mike Hedges. Graham Havas was replaced at this time by Steven Burrows.

In 1983, the band released their first single, "Shantell", which was produced by The Cure's Lol Tolhurst. Their second single, "The Secret Sea", followed in 1984 and was also produced by Tolhurst. Tolhurst also produced their debut studio album, And Also the Trees, which was released in February 1984. The band received the attention of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, and were invited to do a session in April 1984, which was produced by Dale Griffin for broadcast on 24 April.