Editing My Bloody Valentine (band) (section)

===1985–1986: Independent releases===
Following their relocation to London in 1985, members of My Bloody Valentine lost contact with each other while looking for accommodation and Tina Durkin, not confident in her abilities as a keyboard player, left the band.<ref name="ss" /> When the remaining three members regained contact with one another, the band decided to audition bassists, as they lacked a regular bassist since their formation. Shields acquired [[Debbie Googe]]'s telephone number from a contact in London, invited her to audition and subsequently recruited her as a bassist. Googe managed to attend rehearsals, which were centered around her day job. Rehearsal sessions were regularly held at Salem Studios, which was connected to the independent record label [[Fever Records]]. The label's management were impressed with the band and agreed to release an [[extended play]], provided the band would finance the recording sessions themselves. Released in December 1985, ''[[Geek!]]'' failed to reach the band's expectations; however, soon after its release, My Bloody Valentine were performing on the London gig circuit, alongside bands such as Eight Living Legs, Kill Ugly Pop and [[The Sting-rays]].<ref name="ss" />

Due to the band's slow progress, Shields contemplated relocating to [[New York City]], where members of his family were living at the time. However, [[Creation Records]] co-founder [[Slaughter Joe|Joe Foster]] had decided to establish his own record label, Kaleidoscope Sound and persuaded My Bloody Valentine to record and release an EP. ''[[The New Record by My Bloody Valentine]]'', produced by Foster, was released in October 1986 and was a minor success, peaking at number 22 on the [[UK Indie Chart]] upon its release.{{sfn|Lazell|1997|p=155}} On the strength of the release, the band began performing more frequent shows, later developing a small following and travelling outside London for live performances, supporting and opening for bands such as [[The Membranes]].<ref name="ss" />