John Tovey from legendary 90s rock/rave pioneers Flowered Up appeared in a ‘where are they now’ feature in UK newspaper the Guardian this week. He described becoming addicted to heroin after the band spent £600,000 at the height of their career in 1992.

“It was accepted (then) for bands to get off their heads through drink and drugs, and a lot of us ended up on smack,” the Flowered Up former drummer told the newspaper. “I cherish memories of blowing Blur off stage at the Reading Festival in 1991, and I love the guys. But sometimes I wish I’d never joined a band. I lost the girl I was engaged to, and I deeply regret that we pissed it up the wall.”

Tovey also confirmed that after two ‘disastrous’ attempts at comebacks he’s given up music altogether and is now ‘setting up a window-cleaning business’, ironically the same occupation of the character in the acclaimed video for their biggest hit ‘Weekender’, The 11 minute mini-film accurately depicted the drug driven nightlife scene of the early 90s, gaining an 18 certificate for its honesty whilst simultaneously launching the career of video director W.I.Z.

Chatting to Skrufff, W.I.Z. endorsed Tovey’s recollections of bands getting high as being central to the scene though admitted having a different take on the club scene in general. “For me, what’s important to understand about acid house is that copious drugs were eagerly consumed because there was a sense we invented them and how to take them, and the pioneer force is a power to be reckoned,” he recalled.

“It wasn’t just ‘acceptable’ to be a party animal, it was irresistible for everyone to get loaded, because that inclusivity was an integral part of the high. It didn’t make a great deal of difference if you were in a band or not, because it wasn’t about elitism or celebrity which is what made it so subversive,” he added. “My regrets? I should have taken more drugs,” he laughed.

W.I.Z. has since made over 50 videos for the likes of Marilyn Manson, Oasis, Chemical Brothers and Kasabian, though he stressed that the mini-film remains one of his proudest accomplishments. “Weekender was the first record of the era to really question how committed people were, how deep was the love,” he said. “And I like to think that Weekender the film is a worthy offspring; we attempted to celebrate as well as question that tsunami of excitement.”

“With their singer Liam, Flowered Up were a beautiful talent, ironically they probably had more depth than the Happy Mondays, the band they were often accused of aping,” he concluded. “And it’s easy to say that they f**ked it up royally, which is true, but in Weekender they also made without doubt one of the greatest records of the 90s; And that is divine,” said W.I.Z.

Jez Willis from Utah Saints, who was signed to London Records at the same time as Flowered Up admitted the band ‘certainly knew how to party apparently’ though said their own experiences as chart topping rave/pop crossover stars was markedly different.

“Everything was pretty mental at that time, and there was a lot of excitement at the arrival of a new music/fashion and drug scene, it was all new, anti establishment (even anti the anti establishment movement, if that makes sense,” he recalled. “But at the same time, the media has always represented bands as being expected to be excessive. For us, we were always working, promoting, DJing, playing, making music, so we didn’t take drugs or get particularly off our heads.”

Describing today’s music business as ‘less of everything – that really sums it up’, Jez was philosophical about Flowered Up’s fate. “Being young and signed as an artist can do your head in for loads of reasons,” he mused, “Flowered Up and The Mondays were both awesome bands, and the chaos that came with them added to their music, but unfortunately also helped them implode, which is a shame for music,” said Jez.