Amazing WAX TRAX! supergroup, Michael Hornburg (guitars), Arleen L. Mitchel (vocals), Michael Roy (samples and keys) from NYC were collectively known as Ajax. As a New York-based Electronica / New Beat band, led by female singer Arleen Mitchel, they released two singles "Mind The Gap" and "One World" on Wax Trax! in 1989-90. The group's self-titled LP combined industrial and house, and became a minor club hit. Mitchel revived the name in the 1990s, most successfully on the 1995 "Ex-Junkie" single release. Jeff Jolley of RAD Cyberzine spoke with Arleen in 1995 about her past and future.
Jeff; Going through your bio it's kinda hard to tell how long Ajax has been together.
Arleen; I guess it got together around '89. I was working with two other people at the time and we sort of just got together to write this kind of industrial song called "Mind the Gap" because we had been to England and there was this recorded thing "Mind the Gap" at the tube station. So everybody was kind of doing sort of housier stuff, but we wanted to combine it with more industrial. So we just ended up writing that song. We didn't really plan on turning it into a group or anything. But we gave it to Wax Trax, and they ended up signing us and so they wanted us to do a whole album. So I guess, really, in '89 and we released "Mind the Gap" I think it was '90, and then the album right after that, '90-'91. It was alright at first. We did some shows here and there, but we never really tour with it. We did sort of a cheap video, and then they weren't interested in doing another album because budgets were really low and they were about to go under anyway. Kind of a bad time. And then I stopped working with those people. One of the guys went on to do a book about the grunge scene that just came out. I think he sort of positioned it about Coutney Love mostly, because he used to go out with her. Kind of like his claim to fame....
Jeff; And, of course, working with you....
Arleen; Yeah, I'm waiting for that book to come out next. The other guy is not doing music at all anymore. He sort of moved to the country. It wasn't a good experience at all for him.