[4] Gavin Lee joined The Joans in the autumn of 1992 and played drums and, later, bass guitar before leaving to pursue a career at British Airways the following year.

Performance artist and musician Mark Greenwood[5] also played bass in The Joans for a number gigs in the summer of 1992[citation needed].

Sarah Blackwood was invited to join the band in August 1993,[4] after her boyfriend accidentally left a cassette tape of her singing in Steve Hillier's flat in Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

[4] Ross engaged the services of Pet Shop Boys and New Order producer Stephen Hague to co-produce a number of tracks with Robinson for their critically acclaimed debut album Disgraceful (1995), and commissioned an advertising campaign featuring Robert Steel's controversial "pencil case vulva" artwork.

In 2002, Blackwood was recruited by ex-Frazier Chorus member Kate Holmes to join her duo Technique, replacing singer Xan Tyler for a European tour with Depeche Mode.

Shortly afterwards, Holmes and Blackwood decided to write together and formed a new pseudonymous electropop act, Client (stylised CLIEИT).

[12] Blackwood and Wilkie have worked together in the interim, as Blackwood's first solo album, 2008's Acoustic at the Club Bar & Dining, features Wilkie on guitar; the seven-track live recording was released exclusively online, and consists of acoustic versions of Dubstar and Client songs, plus covers of tracks by The Smiths and New Order.

On 12 April 2010, the band released a cover of "I'm in Love with a German Film Star" for an Amnesty International project.