International DJ, radio presenter and reviews editor at Vive Le Rock and Louder Than War - DJ Paula Frost, drops in to give us the lowdown on her explosive new single Oxygen Tank out on the 20th March......
Hey Paula - how would you introduce yourself to the PM blog readers?
I’d say I’m a DJ from London who used to play drums in bands. I’m also the reviews editor of Vive Le Rock and Louder Than War Magazines. I’ve been DJing for three years now and I have been on a world tour playing in 14 countries including New Zealand, Croatia, Russia and Japan. Right now I’m about to drop my debut single ‘Oxygen Tank’ on 20th March so pre-order here!
Did your parents records or music you grew up on have influence on you?
Yes definitely. My parents are music lovers but not musicians. My mum got me into reggae and indie like Bob Marley and The Cure. My dad got me into punk like Killing Joke, The Clash and Crass. I asked for a harmonica when I was about 4, a guitar age 6 and a drum set age 7. But I had to show I was serious by practicing every day on pots and pans and taking lessons at school until they got me the drum kit! There’s a musical bone in my family, my uncle is a great guitarist and my Irish grandma was a fantastic piano player. Both self taught.
What inspired you to start Doing and was there a lightbulb moment?
I was working as a radio show producer on Kane FM and all my friends were DJs. When my band split up and I wasn’t drumming anymore, the DJs encouraged me to get my own radio show and start learning the craft. I was interviewing at first and just playing records one after the other. Then I started to pick up the techniques and get serious. Now I’ve played all over the world and had loads of amazing shows so I decided to start writing my own music.
What was your first gig?
My first show was actually a really great ‘I was there’ gig because it was the first ever Art’s Cool in Margate held at a pub on the seafront which is now part of Dreamland. I DJed old school tunes like The Clash and The Jam and people loved it. Then a new band played called SLAVES. They are major label big shots now signed to Virgin Records. Art’s Cool has now become a club called Elsewhere. So I consider that gig as a very good starting point of inspiration because everyone there has gone on to great things.
Is there a country where you especially connected with the audience?
I have played a lot of shows in a lot of different countries over the years so I’ve picked up a lot of new music and I feel that I can connect with audiences wherever I go. Its about doing your research and putting your own stamp on it. People abroad want to hear the kooky British records they’ve never heard before so it’s a bit easier! I definitely connected with audiences in Russia and I find European audiences absolutely brilliant. But shows in England are always wild too. We like to let go at the weekend! I’ve had a guy come up to me after a show and say “Tonight was special. I haven’t connected with my wife like that in years.” Moments like that are amazing to think you’ve got these people on the dance floor who are in their late 30s and have been working really hard to raise their family and you’ve just given them a night to really let go any enjoy each other’s company completely. That’s beautiful!
You’ve gigged globally - do you have many places left on your checklist?
I do have a lot of countries left on my checklist! It’s endless really. I’d love to spend the rest of my life playing shows all over the world. An American tour, Mexico, China, more countries in Europe and all the incredible festivals that pop up each year. You can never say you’ve done it all. There’s always a way to raise the bar!
Do you see crossover between the energy of punk and electro/drum n bass?
The crossover is that its rebel music. It’s party music and its youthful. I love big gatherings of likeminded people, they are so powerful. Peace is the most powerful tool we have and music seamlessly brings us together.
Have you got any tips for aspiring DJs?
I get asked this fairly often and I’d say it helps to build up a collection of the very best music from each decade and genre. Like I have a disco and funk playlist up my sleeve as well as a punk ’77 playlist. You never know. Also just be a decent, humble person and be tolerant of others. I don’t like diva DJs who need this and that and demand creature comforts. As long as I have food in my tummy and bottled water on stage I can’t ask for much more so lets rave :D
Two weeks of polite digital bustling and some shuffling of email exchanges between industry types, personal assistants and Vive Le Rockers have finally staked us a date for an interview with the high priest of Goth Rock and overlord of the ebony underworld - Peter Murphy. Featuring as part of a hefty retrospective in support the Bauhaus back catalogue, an overview of his solo years.and spotlighting his current '35 years of Bauhaus' tour,
The time-slot is sorted and 'Skype call' red-ringed on the calendar: Sunday 12th May, 7pm GMT
Someone in the know had advised me 'tread carefully he can a bit prickly'. A subtle check with his PA the day before - 'anything I should avoid' (alluding to his meth-based DUI arrest) gets me a 'No we're all good' reply.
So, Sunday 12th May, 7pm GMT. 'Skype call'
I'm settled in with three pages of deep-reaching, heavily researched questions. Dial up, click, connect - and we're away with the tomb-like tones of Peter Murphy a'rumbling from the laptop..........
ME: How's the tour going
PM: Are you calling from London
ME: No Southend
*connection drops - the Skype's gone out*
PM: - This will probably happen again. Oh I used to come there as a child. So....
*connection drops* ( he knows, you know)
ME: I was thinking, for some additional perspective on the piece - of bringing in noir/horror authors (Cathi Unsworth and Syd Moore both Bauhaus fans) for their memories and experiences of the band
PM: Who's writing the piece you or them
ME: Oh, I am
PM *snapping* I am neither a horror nor a noir artist' - says the artist currently touring '35 years of Bauhaus' his debut single being Bela Lugosi's Dead, and star of the bite-night pics The Hunger and Twilight - I think we're done here
*Drops the call. Click. Gone* Time 7:05 GMT
A kick in the Skype. Press eject and give me the twerp
.
It could have been my imagination, a fault on the line perhaps, or even some rogue electronic crackle - but I'm almost certain I heard a crack of thunder, a puff of sulphur smoke and the manic flapping of bat wings as Count Murphy made his exit stage left?.
Either way, bagsy I get to review his new due-soon solo album please..
Backawhiles in 2008 - Ian Peel (keeper of the ZTT archive), kindly put me in touch with Chris Difford for a natter about his then new volume The Last Temptation of Chris. With all the Squeeze heat happening at the moment it seems appropriate to finally log it in the blog. Light on lines, but a neat and nippy read - in a way it scans like a pre-Twitter Twit-chat...similar to my twinterviews with Yoko Ono and Mary Hopkin
Chris Difford's second solo album The Last Temptation of Chris is as British as Light and Bitter and as London as Pie and Mash (with liqour). Each carefully crafted cracker is packed with more hooks than a velcro belt, more pop than a dropped bottle of Tizer and the nip of sensitively scripted lyrics that sit somewhere between Galton and Simpson, Clement and La Frenais, Andy Partridge and Lennon and McCartney
Chris is on tour at the moment, but managed to find time to help with my enquiries...
'The Last Temptation' was recorded at home, how techie are you when it comes to home recording , and is time spent twiddling , time that could be used tunesmithing?
I have a man who does this for me, it costs money but it's worth it.
What about gadgets like Auto-Tune, would you be comfortable using something like that.
Yes I would, it's very handy for an old chap like me.
There are several candid, confessional moments on the album. Does it work - getting subjects out of your head, off your chest and into a song?
It's a great way of saving money in the therapist's chair.
Are you ever tempted to write a book, fact or fiction?
Yes I have, if I had more time I would nail it.
Who is Jim the storyteller in 'Battersea Boys'?
He is a guy I met two years ago in a hospice, he is not very well, but he helped me write this great song. It seems to be Londoners eye view of life, do you think geography and location have an influence on music and songwriting?
Almost everything to do with it.
As a guitarist are you self taught, and is there one artist, album or track that made you pick up and play?
I learnt to play by watching Glenn play, he is my teacher.
Are you are guitar collector, and if so what's your most cherished possesion?
I have a nice collection, my top guitar is a Jim Olson.
It's Robbie Williams on the phone, he wants to write together what do you say?
I'm coming right over. So what can we expect at the live shows - how does it break down with new songs, old favourites and covers?
All of the above and some nice lights too.
You've done the album, you're on tour - what's next?
More of the same....and then more of the same again until I grow up.
Have you got favourite lyric or moment on 'The Last Tempatation'?
It's all great, but I think Reverso is fun.
Take a stroll to the bottom of this post and you'll see the cover of the latest issue (# 8) of Vive Le Rock, an edition frothing over with interviews: Richard Hawley, Kevin Rowland, Steve Jones, Wayne Hussey - also album, book and gig reviews.
Take a thumb through the reviews section of VLR and you'll find me holding up score cards for the New York Dolls, Suzi Quatro, Dirtbox Disco and Zoe Howe's Wilko Johnson biography - written in collaboration with Wilko himself.
Understandably with such a packed programme, editorial tweaks and changes were necessary to keep to the word count. So, here's my submitted review of Looking Back At Me - and the published version. A tip of the titfer is due to all at VLR HQ for trimming it down, and, keeping the essence intact.
You'll also notice a couple of questions pitched at his Royal Wilko-ness, click on the VLR cover pic to get the rest of our chat and natter...
It's no overstatement to say I've probably ploughed through too many rock biographies in my time. Although only a handful are so supremely sculpted that they will stay with me forever. Looking Back At Me is one for this hand-picked library. Much more than the sum of it's parts - and larger than a life story, this is John Wilkinson walking and talking you through an oral and pictorial history (school reports, rare paintings/photo's memorabilia) of all that is Wilko: academia, anarchy, art, rock 'n' roll and carrying forward the tradition of journeymen blues musicians handing down their tales of troubles and travels.
If you've been lucky enough to have met Wilko ( I have, several times as we drink at the same pub) you'll know what you see onstage is exactly what you get offstage, an explosion of arm flailing, bug eyed-expressionism, intellectual theorising and raconteurism. Wilko isn't someone who knows stillness in anyway. There is no off button.
Zoe Howe's sensitive positioning of all the multi-faceted pieces that make up her study, perfectly renders Wilko's unrelenting restless energy and constant forward motion - she's pulled off the impossible trick of bottling Wilko's (smokestack) lightening. There's blood on the scratchplate, Canvey mud under his nails and the Thames Delta blues runs through him like a stick of Southend rock. Looking Back at Me is a stunning reinvention of the rock memoir format - a combination of compendium and confessional - creating a new standard which all future music biographies should measured against.
To catch the rest of our Looking Back chat - click on the VLR pic
As mentioned at the top the page, the New York Dolls blitzing new album Live From The Bowery is lent a critical ear in VLR - taste test one tune from it here....
2012 will be the year zero for a scrolling, rolling, infinite list of anniversaries, reviews and reissues. By 1977 the fractures of new sounds and styles that had appeared a year earlier, webbing their way across pop's slick surface tension - cracked and shattered as angsty punk, clangular art rock and sci-fi disco smashed through the flares 'n' hair-flicks sound barrier.
Released 35 years ago tomorrow - an early indicator of out with Old Wave and in with the New Wave, was David Bowie's Sound and Vision. A taste test of Low's genetically modified robot rock - compressed into a three minute cube of roaring sax, hissing synths and android drums.
Guesting on backing vocals was producer Tony Visconti's then-wife - Mary Hopkin, who on the 35th anniversary of Low's release very kindly agreed to entertain a few of my questions on the single and album sessions - expressed via the medium of Twitter and its 140 character limit.............
@themaryhopkin: You and Bowie were both folk scenesters - did you cross paths on the circuit, or later, have an acoustic Jam in the studio
@Mr_Mondo: No jamming - I only saw David while he was working with Tony (Visconti), when Tony and I were still married.
Today (interview was on 14th Jan) is the 35th anniv of Low. It still sounds like the future. What were your first impressions of the single/album's sound
David has always been ahead of his time. 'Low' is a great album and I'm delighted to have been there during the recording of it.
Low was recorded at the 'haunted' Château d'Hérouville - did you or the children experience any spooky doings
Not a thing. I'm glad I didn't know at the time that it was reputedly haunted. It was a beautiful chateau and we had a great time.
Who wrote the S & V backing/vox parts and were you allowed any input or much movement on the melodies?
Brian (Eno) wrote the line and we sang it in unison. It was a great little riff so I didn't need to offer any alternatives :-)
Your children sang on a couple of tracks - do you remember which & did they have a fave studio uncle: Bowie, Eno, Iggy
I can recommend an excellent book, 'The Complete David Bowie' by @NicholasPegg. No, too young for 'Low', but my musical 3 yr old son played 3 notes on piano which inspired Eno to write 'Warsawa'
How was Eno - did he get you doing Oblique Strategies?
No, but he let me read his thesis on Cybernetics. Fascinating.
What would we be surprised to hear about from the Low sessions.
Nothing you haven't already heard, and certainly nothing I'm going to tell :-)
It was Bowie's 65th birthday this year - did you send a card
No, I'm not in touch :-)
Did you get to visit Bowie and Iggy’s Berlin flat, was it bachelor chic or crash pad clutter
Yes. David is extremely stylish and has excellent taste. I saw less of Iggy but liked him very much.
The cover you won't see - spot the deliberate mistake?
If you're a regular or even occasional browser of this blog, one name you may have noticed popping up on repeat play is that of The Damned. I've been a Damned avid since bagging Love Song in '79 - then absorbing the albums and submerging slowly into the tunes 'n' chants atmosphere of their supercharged live sets. I've given The Damned a lifetime of unconditional support and they've never let me down. Not
one howler of an album, never a half-hearted performance or limp squib of a gig - from my first (their fifth Anniversary gig at the Lyceum '81) - to my latest (their 35th anniversary at The Roundhouse last month - review here..)
Punk was the poisoned apple that tempted me away from our long-held, stately family favorites: Elvis, The Beatles, disco, budget pop comps - luring me into a songbook of short, sharp shock-rock. The Sex Pistols were the atomic-age sonic blast that had already levelled everything by the time I clambered aboard the bondage bandwagon. But The Damned were different. By Love Song they were in their mark 2 lineup, reformed, re-energized and expanding to fill the new wave void – adapting, exploring, colonizing and cross-breeding with punk's inspirations and influences to create strange new worlds. It was a now-wave experience that unfolded in real time for both of us with me buying every new release and press piece on the day of release.
Four years and four albums on from the 30 minutes of slab-handed riffing compressed into the debut album, Sensible, Scabies, Vanian and Gray unwrapped The Black Album - a double LP set and a journey through a multi-mirrored hall of pop, punk, and psych to the centre of the album's dark heart - a 17 minute epic Curtain Call, that presents The Damned's widescreen genius at it's most progressive and polished.
In a thirty five year career that collects most of punks 'First Place' medals, sets the tempo for US punk, pre-dates and preempts several 80s fads and fashions - the business end of the back catalogue: the albums, singles and supporting tours - have never had the financial underpinning or safety net of any major label investment. All of which for my record vouchers - makes The Damned the Greatest Indie Band of All
Time…
So to be offered the opportunity to do 8 pages on them and their 35 year career of Anarchy, chaos and destruction is a teenage dream achieved. A huge thank you is due to all at Vive HQ :Eugene and Jim for the full bodied support and advice. And to Damned members past and present Captain: Rat, Brian James, Paul Gray - for their hours, answers, honesty and accessibility.
Due to space restrictions - not all of the interviews could be squeezed into Vive Le Rock and what lies below are the out-takes and extras. Think of them as a side salad to main course available in issue 5 of Vive Le Rock.
So Damned fans and perhaps non-Damned fans, buckle up and behold the untold tales from The Damned Reunited.....
Captain Sensible 'I just thought, well - you have to stretch yourself'
Captain with The Damned at Croc's Boxing Day 1983
Expanding on the MGE template, the Black Album is widescreen listening that no one else (certainly punk bands) were doing then - and is almost a template for the 80s psych revival and Goth. Were you deliberately distancing yourself from Oi and
contemporary punk of the time or was this an album that evolved in the studio
I just thought, well - you have to stretch yourself, do the best record you can so
if the progsters of the early 70s could do a whole side of an album containing one
epic song then why couldn't we. When Dave came along with Curtain Call that plan
went very much into action. After all night brainstorming sessions for about 5 days
the monster lurched into life. We couldn't believe what we'd created ourselves when
we played it back. Epic stuff.
For a band themselves with the line 'anarchy, chaos and destruction' and were
notoriously boisterous - the Black album is self written and self produced - you
must have been fairly disciplined for these sessions
It has to be said that because of our reputation the label was not inclined to put
us in the studio without someone to keep an eye on us - which is why we found a
producer called Alvin something or other sitting in the Rockfield control room when
we strolled in. He didn't last too long because if I remember correctly after
disappearing for a band meeting we marched back in, Mr Vanian having a black cloth
over his head, which harked back to the so called 'good old days' when that would be
an Old Bailey judges attire on announcing an execution. Alvin scarped sharpish I can
tell you - and we were free to make the record WE wanted with no A+R influence
whatsoever. I wonder how many studio sessions are done like that these days…… not a
lot I imagine.
If Chiswick records thought we were going to get up to no good they were absolutely
right, but we confined all the dodgy activities to outside the studio environment
which was one of our better ideas from that period I'd say.
The night time recording scenario was very productive as that was when the ideas
would flow and we pretty much recorded until we dropped. It was anything goes too,
searching for weird and wonderful sounds and harmonies because as we'd already made
a few noisy albums we didn't care to repeat ourselves. Low boredom threshold and all
that.
Particular favorites were the Hammond Organ, Tubular Bells, Harpsichord and a
Sitar…. in fact I had recently purchased one of those and on completing the album I
watched as the roadies tied it to the side of the Luton van telling me that they
were determined that nothing untoward would happen to it on the way back to London.
Apparently it wasn't going to move… solid as a rock, etc. The mistake they made was
in not securing our 4 by 12 Speaker Cabinets in the same fastidious fashion as,
being on wheels one of them crushed my beloved sitar to smithereens as they took the
first corner on leaving the bloody studio. I don't know, eh….
Were the glasses and hat a guard against the gob
Thankfully that doesn't happen any more. I blame J Rotten, the butter salesman.
You seem a very accommodating chap teaming up Magic Michael, Crass, Charlie Harper – but who would your ideal team up be with?
We all do things outside the band - Dave Vanian has been doing TV and film
soundtracks, Pinch produces library music for TV use over in LA, Monty has rapidly
released 2 quite unusual solo albums while I have been lucky enough to be asked by
my mate guitar maestro Tony McPhee to do some recording on a forthcoming Groundhogs
album. Backing vocals, a bit of bass and some Mellotron - don't mind if I do. Well, I
was brought up on the glorious 70s sound and in particular the 'Hogs Split album so
I understand the music pretty well.
And making a record with your hero feels pretty nice too I must say.
What's the story behind the Magic Michael single?
Described by NME writer Nick Kent as "Ladbroke Grove's answer to Wildman Fisher"
we'd met Michael at Stiff Records where he was attempting to get a record deal, like
a lot of other eccentrics who couldn't find a home at a 'normal' label and saw a
potential home on Jake and Dave's pirate ship.
When he DID eventually get someone to put him in the studio he very kindly asked for
us to be his backing band - AND we got paid too. In fact, a darned sight more than
we were getting at Stiff Records, but that's another story.
When he played us the 2 songs we were pleased to hear that they were blooming' good
tunes and that fact, added to the fact that the bloke could definitely sing leads me
to guess that it was his left field personality that prevented him becoming a
success.
I loved that Portobello scene though - the Pink Fairies, Magic Michael, Lemmy, Viv
Stanshall. What a bunch of sweeties indeed!
Does being a multi instrumentalist broaden you song-writing and - what's your
benchmark i.e. this song/album got to sound as good as...The Damned seemed write a huge quantity of high grade material: double album, great B-sides, single only releases and side projects. But there are hardly any studio based or leaked demo's. Did only the strongest songs make the grade - and what goodies are unheard in the vaults.
Well, I can play a few instruments a BIT….not great but enough to get it down on
tape…… even if it IS take 23 or whatever. It enables you to get the parts down that
YOU want…. as you hear it in your head. Sometimes that's great, other times it's
self indulgent. But there's nowt wrong with a bit 'o that in my book.
The Damned had eclectic tastes music wise…. Gong, Olivier Messiaen, Burt Bacharach,
Sweet, etc and the trouble with having spectacular record collections is that you
tend to be extremely critical of your own work. So loads of demos got rejected - I
still have some cassettes from back in the day - unused tunes in various stages of
completion and listenability. Our quality control worked well.
Even from the earliest days the Damned songs have featured some fiddle fingered
riffing and later Santana and Floydian style solos (not tunes for beginners to learn
in anyway) , thumping drummers, and a singer that can actually sing - do you think
the musicianship of the band gets overlooked
Looking back on it the initial punk boom was a golden period for UK music…. bands
like the Only Ones, Wire, Buzzcocks, UK Subs, X Ray Spex… all of them with their own
take on the punk thing. I'm more than happy to be in that company. We were lucky to
have the services of probably our generations best singer in Mr Vanian and the rest
of us could play a bit too. Possibly why, even after the intervening years we still
have a solid reputation as a live act.
I do think that the breadth and diversity of the original '77 bunch in their sound
and outlook is interesting though, especially when you compare it to the homogenized
punk thing that emerged a couple of years later. Not that there's anything wrong
with that but we always said the 1st rule of punk is there is NO RULES. Do your own
thing.
In amongst the jangle-pop and punk of Strawberries there are some deliberate
political finger points Thatcher, Reagan and animal rights something you’ve
maintained since what made you go public on politics
Politics is too important to leave to a bunch of corrupt, career politicians on the
make. How unedifying is it watching them jump on the gravy train one by one after
they leave office…. a nice fat cat directorship maybe, for services to the same
corporation they gave an easy ride to when in Government.
It's patent cobblers and makes for a more interesting lyric than 'I Love You Baby'.
Not that there's anything wrong with that it's just we've heard it before somewhat.
And I honestly think if people knew what went on in abattoirs a lot of them would
give up eating meat. Absolutely ghastly. And cows and chickens are lovely creatures
too, with proper individual personalities and all that. They deserve better than
what happens to them.
Was it frustrating that the era when you left The Damned - they had their greatest
mainstream success
Well, I was off doing my own pop career in Europe mainly so I was quite pleased for
them in a 'I knew there was hits in this band all along, despite the knockers' kind
of way.
I physically couldn't cope with the 2 careers - it was hectic and exhausting - and
they had an able and talented replacement in Roman Jugg anyway. It's just tragic
that Eloise didn't get to No1….. Wasn't it was some horrible novelty song kept them
off the top spot too? Disgraceful!
The two newer albums have some of The Damned's strongest songs and performances - when can we expect the next one - or how about a Damned do covers' What would be on your list..
Yes, the current lineup are scarily good on their day and can pretty much improvise
at will, which is how I always judge the merits of an act when I'm in the audience.
Another recording excursion will hopefully happen… maybe something different next
time. Covers might indeed be fun.
I've revised my idea that the Damned should re-record the WHOLE of the dark
masterpiece that is the Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request album. I now feel
that EVERY BAND should remake the whole thing…. I'd like to hear Muse's version of
'Gomper' wouldn't you? How about Coldplay tackling 'Sing The Song All Together' with
it's free and rather stoned sounding jamming. Robbie Williams would be a shoe in for
'On With The Show' though, eh? Maybe somebody should tell him.
What would we cover? 'Twilight Time' by the Moody Blues, the Pirates' Shakin' All
Over, maybe even attempt a Glitter song. Well, if you ask me it's a real shame we
don't hear that unique double drum kit Glitter beat on the radio anymore. After
all…. they still play Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis for crying out loud.
Given that almost every band or musician has a book out (if not biopic film) and
The Damned were one of the first original Brit-punk bands, have an incredible back story and are still very much an active unit - surely the time is right for some critical revision or a band biography (or film) documenting the untold tales of The Damned
Yes, that's not a bad idea. It's a bloody good story including some fairly over the
top escapades. I'm not sure I'd want my kids to watch it though.
Rat Scabies 'I don't call myself a musician - I call myself a drummer'
Rat with The Damned at Crocs September 1983
How did you pick up on punk and the developing scene
I only really liked playing fast songs. In fact I got thrown out of bands for not wanting to do soppy covers...
Brian James was the most innovative guitarist of that punk generation. When it came to the punk style of playing he tipped it on its head, there was nobody doing what he did
In a way
The Damned were almost a band of four frontmen
Absolutely! That was part of the problem,
Sid Vicious and Dave Vanian were both invited to audition weren't they - It would have been a completely different story (for you and him) if Sid had got the gig - how do you think things would have played out if he had joined
Disaster, tears and bloodshed - who knows?
Would you say being a drummer gives you a different temperament from other musicians and is having that energy/temperament something that draws you to the drums
I always wanted to be a drummer from when I was 8, when I got my first kit. I just always liked that sound
Do you lock in with bass player.
No forget all that of that bass player shit. The guitar is what I play with - that's the generation I'm from. Townshend and Moon, Hendrix, page and Bonham. It was drummer/guitarist combinations were groups that I listened to. So with Brian's style of playing and my style of playing, whoever was on the bass we wanted to anchor it down.
The speed and energy of the first album is on MGE but also some colourful production touches and a real sense of fun that one else was doing.
We used to like having fun. We were very careful about what we did and the notes that went down and getting that right. But when it came to doing vocal over dubs, a few beers later - you'd get the legendary okapi chorus.
Who came up with the okapi line?
I did. We used to play a game in the band called 'Scabies Unbelievable Lies' I used to tell the band things and they used to have to decide whether they were true or not. And I told them about this animal that lived in the jungle and was a cross between a giraffe and a zebra - called an Okapi. Nobody really believed me, but they liked the word so much, we used it all the time...
Synchronistically enough, years later - working with a band called Flipron - the singer Jesse told me it was his grandfather (a Victorian explorer) that discovered the okapi
The albums still sound fresh today. They haven't dated and sound timeless if not better than ever.
Yeah we didn't really know what we wanted anyway - I was used to going into a studio and coming back and being amazed how different it sounded
In18 months The Damned had written and recorded two albums (one a double) with the Black album expanding on MGEand were sounding unlike any other ‘punk’ band
We had a lot of things going for it. I always made sure there'd always be something going on, so I'd always have an idea even if it was something ridiculous - like Take Me Away. The important thing was we kept on going. We were very lucky in that Captain's got a brilliant sense of melody - that helped a lot.
You could go in with a rough idea - Curtain Call or Stranger on the Town, Dave would sit down with Captain and work out the notes and get it in the shape they wanted and do the vocal lines. We quite liked our audience so we liked doing a chorus they could join in with. It was always a good thing live - and it makes exciting listening.
We were always very aware of the audience, but were always aware we weren't that great a band. We'd go out and play live, listen back to some tapes - and it didn't sound anything like the record. We'd go and see other bands and they did sound just like the record! We thought that was very boring anyway. We realised every week there was a different group that went into that town and played at that venue, and really we weren't able to be that kind of live band, but what we were able to do was get drunk, be raucous and go for it. So in a way it made the gigs a spectacle, people would go away and talk about it - the gloves were off.
There weren't many bands that engaged with the audience in the almost music-hall chants banter or even meeting the audience
I remember going to Hammersmith Palais (83) and you were at the bar chatting with the fans
I was never afraid of our audience; they were pretty much the same as us, and that whole Rod Stewart - arriving in a limo, surrounded by security. First of all we couldn't afford that sort of thing (laughs) but really there wasn't any difference between us and the people coming that were to see us. It was never at a point where I felt we were better than the crowd, or we were getting too hassled by our audience. They're the ones that are paying for it, it's part of the job. If the public pay your wages - you're public property.
It's a strong back catalogue.
There's no fat on the albums, the B-sides are great. But is there any material in the vaults.
No I think pretty much everything’s emerged now. Ace Records (bless 'em) used to rent a little 8 track studio, so we'd have the place for a few weeks and everyday me and Captain would go in and we'd always come out with at least two or three ideas. We were lucky that we were able to do that, but I think everything's emerged.
Some of the stuff ended up being used as masters - like Just Can't Be Happy Today was a demo. When we went in to re-record it, we just couldn't get that same kinda thing happening, but we really liked the demo, so we just took the tapes and worked over the top of that.
Outside of The Damned you were doing production: The Satellites, Victim
Anybody that would let me go into a studio with them - I used to love going in, just so I could learn the process of what everything did, what a reverb does, how compression works. I was quite lucky because other people paid for my education.
Even acting with Breaking Glass
I don't think that was acting, that was director saying 'just go mental Rat and here's some money'
Were you tempted with anymore parts I don't think I work well enough to do something like that. When you meet people that can act and watch them do it, and suddenly realise there's a whole part of your personality that you just turn on and make it much bigger - it's a bit weird.
I don't mind do doing presenting, like the Holy Grail thing.
How did Naz Nomad happen
Because of Captain, he was off busy Happy Talking and we just couldn't get hold of our guitarist. He was always away and too busy to do Damned shows, and we didn't have any money. Everybody was into the Pebbles and Nuggets thing, somebody said maybe we should take on another identity while the Captain's busy. Roger Armstrong offered to give us a few quid to go in and make a record for a while until things had calmed down for the Captain
Any plans for a Naz reunion It would be fun, we're all knocking on a bit now but, we are still alive and able to play, and I'd hate to be standing over somebody's grave teary-eyed - saying ‘you know what, we should've done that reunion tour’. I'd like to do it, because it’s something I did and I’m part of
With Phantasmagoria, there must have been some stability and security being with a major.
I always thought it was our last chance. Which I suppose it was - our last shot. When it came to make the Anything album, we'd been on the road for 18 months, but to be honest there's nothing like 6 months on the dole to help you write an album
Was the pressure on
We'd been on the road constantly and we’d been working constantly from when the album came out. And hadn't really had a chance to take a breather and enjoy it. There was too much money at stake for everybody
I was getting very bored of the songs we were playing - after 18 months doing the same kinda tunes night after night they start to lose their gloss. We’d go onstage and I’d still sweat and hit hard but I wasn’t coming home feeling satisfied. So when it came to do the second album, we went in and did the usual thing but the band’s spirit was starting to break
So off the label and then Not of this Earth a few years later
When we broke up, I’d always had my eye on Kris Dollimore as a guitarist. I’d seen him play with The Godfathers a couple of times and really liked his playing and he always looked good, so I thought why don’t I put a band together. We were working together looking for a singer but nobody seem strong enough or if they were strong enough they didn’t want to do it. In the end, I thought Lets’ ask Dave if he’ll do it – so he came onboard and we did that album
I wanted that record really to be the starting point for the album after, where we could write to together and function like a band
It’s a great album
I like it. There’s a lot of great stuff on it no New Rose or Smash it Up, but I’m quite proud of the work we did – I love that line up, it was really great to play with everyone was solid on it and knew what they were doing and if you drifted off to somewhere else they could go with you…
So the plan was to take it further, get a label
I thought now we’ve got the line up together, what we should be doing is working as band, putting ideas in - but it just got so difficult I figured I’ve had enough. I’ll write a book
It’s a great story to tell. Would you be tempted to do a Damned biography or your biography
No - I don’t think I’ve done enough. I’ve only been the drummer in a punk band
Paul Gray 'Nothing beats The Damned'
Paul Gray and that jacket
You'd crossed paths with The Damned when you were in Eddie and the Hot Rods - what was your take on them before joining and did it change once you were in the line-Up.
What musical influences would you say you and other members brought to The Damned
Captain and I were really melody merchants and shared a mutual appreciation of ABBA. I can remember playing ABBA stuff backwards on our Portastudios and finding all these weird melodies to nick. DV was obviously into the more filmic stuff that crossed over with the three of us sharing a love of 60s stuff - Nuggets and all of that. And rat and I were well into "Live at Leeds" and the MC5, so it gave it that anything-could-happen edge - quite a heady mix when you put it all together.
Far from being A.N Other bass player you were a core part of the team and a contributing songwriter. Were they receptive to your ideas and input.
They were, and they were all great, nothing was worked out in advance, one of us would come up with something and we'd all dive straight in with our respective styles. The Black Album especially was a hugely creative time and there were no boundaries - we were beholden to no one but ourselves, so anything was fair game.
My bass playing just seemed to fit right in with Rats and Captain’s style, and Dave was a great singer to play off too - I've never traded off another singer melodically like him, he provided me with a lot of possibilities to bounce of his style of singing. And I’ve said it before and I'll say it again - I've never played with a better guitarist or tunesmith than Captain either.
For a band that tagged themselves as 'anarchy, chaos and destruction' and were notoriously boisterous -the Black Album is self written and self produced - the band must have been fairly disciplined for these sessions
Disciplined? You gotta be kidding - well maybe in a very bohemian way. Quite often me and rat would be heading to the studio in the morning and pass CS and DV on their way to bed. How the hell Hugh Jones the engineer kept it together - I don't know. He was a mere shell of himself by the time we'd finished. but we knew we had something special. And it was always about the music above whatever other shenanigans were going on. We really lived in a world of our own making.
You had a great motorbike jacket with white trim on it - do you remember where you bought it - have you still got it?
New York I think, and no its long gone, although perhaps I should have kept it under my bed like all the stuff a certain ex drummer is knocking out on eBay these days ;)
I understand you bought a Rickenbacker bass from Martin Gordon (Sparks/The Jets) have you still got it - and you were one the first revive the Rick sound - why these over Fender
The Rick is a very personal bass and one I have an immense affinity with on every level - its look, playability, sensitivity, sound etc. Takes a lot of work though, to get it just right, there are so many possibilities. It’s a bit like that rare girlfriend where everything fits, if you know what I mean. Martin’s rick lasted a good few years but eventually succumbed to the usual twisted neck which they're particularly susceptible too. The one I have now is the exact same year and colour, 1974. Fenders? dime a dozen. Nothing exciting about fondling a Fender! Not that I've ever found, anyway...
There are some stealthy Beatles-ish runs in Billy Bad Breaks, was Macca an influence on your style
No, and he was one of the few bassists that used a Rick and made it sound not like a Rick.
As a bass player how easy was it to lock in with Rat's rhythms and style.
On Strawberries you've got separate writing credits - why is this
Erm - ask Rat. I remember stepping off a plane at Gatwick from holiday and buying the NME and reading that I'd been sacked. I was bit surprised about this as you would imagine. It so happened that the rest of the band knew nothing about it. As far as I'm aware they didn't know anything about the change in writing credits either...
There was brief but bloody Damned reunion live in 96 - you even wrote Spider and the Fly with a view to it being a Damned track - was there a long term plan or talk of a new album around this time
Yeah I knocked up quite a few Damned type tracks, probably the best I've ever written - when I wasn’t a member! The reunions - with Rat everyone was skirting around each other so the vibe was pretty dreadful. It was all very Machiavellian. I hardly saw the others save being onstage or at the airport. After, I'm not really sure what went wrong, there was a lot of treading water and no real direction from what I remember. Having managers who had no idea how to manage didn't help.
I caught you live in Southend with Captain last year when the Glitter Band cancelled and you did an improv double-set (plus a guest appearance from Barrie Masters) - what a gig. What was your take on the night.
It was as it should be, as all the Captain gigs are - great songs played really well with everyone grooving!
The full Damned Peel Session from 76 with Peely intro's and outro's
l
Sensible, Scabies, Vanian - Paul Gray and Roman Jugg at The Ace in Brixton
When you're next nipping about the local newsagent, convenience shop or W H Smith, keep your peepers peeled for Vive Le Rock issue 4 ( The Specials cover). Pitched alongside The Damned, The Specials, Suzi Quatro interviews, reviews and features, you'll find an Eddie and the Hot Rods special marking the 35th Anniversary of the Teenage Depression album - by me of all the things!
Exclusive anecdotes (starring our own John Medd), band history and an interview with long-haul frontman/vocalist Barrie Masters are bagged as part of the celebratory bundle. One piece we couldn't squeeze in however was a natter with the ex-Hot Rodder, Damned member and UFOer that is - legendary bass player and local lad (Canvey) Paul Gray. So tuck in below, and as bonus, lend an ear to Hit or Miss. The Hot Rods out-take that later appeared reworked on The Damned's Black Album.
What was the general vibe of the gig scene and circuit during the mid seventies. With the mix of salty seaside pubs and inner London boozers it must have been like playing in a bear pit at times.
They were full of characters from what I remember...it was a bit like playing in a set from Minder sometimes...sticky floors awash with Charrington’s IPA and a thick fug of Capstan Full Strength...shitty gear breaking down and crackling all over the gaff. Fights breaking out, and of course the IRA bombs were going off everywhere, we honestly never knew if we'd get home alive some nights
What were the good, the bad and the ugly Southend/Canvey venues
We hardly played our home town - the Kursaal a few times, the football club...I played Southend with Captain Sensible last Xmas and found a little caff behind the Kursaal that I remember going to in 76...same old Greek couple running it, dead as a dodo in there, but one of the last remaining bits of the old Sarfend left, and kinda know that in a few years time it will have gone and been turned into a tattoo parlour or something
What sort of sound were the band aiming for and how close to it did you get.
We had absolutely no master plan, simply plugged in, hit things and it sounded the way it did...our manager Ed played us loads of different music, he was a huge music fan, sat in his caravan drinking tea and skinning up and listening to Peter Tosh, MC5, The Doors, Live at Leeds, J Geils, Muddy Waters, The Stooges, Byrds, Nuggets and Arthur Lee...it all sort of got absorbed I guess...we were definitely into being full on though, gave us the energy and drove us on...
Zig Zag Magazine, May 1976
How were Eddie and The Hot Rods - these R 'n' B beating estuary swamp dwellers - received by london audiences at the time.
Really well and really quickly - right place, right time...the Feelgoods had paved the way for us and the others that followed - the pub rock scene was small but thriving, Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers, Brinsley Schwarz, Stray, Kursaal Flyers and I think we kinda breezed along and blew it wide open and made it more accessible to a younger audience. I remember playing the Red Cow in Hammersmith, one week us with 30 punters, next week AC/DC with 40, next us with 50...kept building like that...
Why did the Hot Rods and other similar bands return to the short, sharp, snap of R 'n' B (rather than the roots of rock and roll) - creating a form of a matured mod music
No idea. I'd grown up learning T .Rex and Slade and Hawkwind basslines, and I thought that was exciting, but when I plugged in with the Rods it was like mainlining 240 volts...suited the mood at the time maybe?
In an almost tidal movement Essex bands were a major influence on punk. Were you aware of the scale of the developing scene, or young punks cribbing moves and techniques
Not really - I was 16, had no idea how it was meant to be. It just was! I was aware of course that the audiences quickly became less beardos and more younger kids with attitude, but the bands all developed this sort of mistrust bollocks and skirted around each other, except for the Damned, who subscribed to the same hell for leather attitude as us. Joe Strummer used to watch us like a hawk when he supported us for weeks on end at our residency at The Nashville in Kensington with his 101ers band...as soon as that finished he disbanded them and formed the Clash...Weller was well aware of us too...the list goes on really...
Apart from smashed equipment any other outstanding memories of the Marquee gig with Pistols as support band. Or Mont De Marsan Festival (first European Punk Festiva) with The Damned
Only that they were fucking dreadful and McClaren was issuing them directions when to kick stuff over...M de M was a haze of beer and sulphate, I don't think any band played at less than 100 mph and that the promoter Marc Zermati was smacked out of his tree, bless 'im...given the state of the bands involved after a few days of no sleep and constant partying it may have been a pretty good option for him. I do remember the Damned though. Frighteningly brilliant, and in those days Vanian was all over the stage like a mad thing.
EatHR and other working class music from this era seems to have an energy driven by escape, change and more to the world than the old home life and traditional trappings - mirrored from Sex Pistols to springsteen's Born to Run to the Hot Rods and their peers (even spilling into Saturday Night Fever) What do you think was driving this.
It simply seemed a perfectly natural thing for us to do - play the music we wanted to play and bollocks to what anyone else was doing or if they liked it or not. Some sort of escapism for sure, but we genuinely never really took it seriously. But whatever we did seemed to strike a chord with a lot of other kids our age, no nonsense, unpretentious, fired up rock n roll. And personally speaking a helluva lot more fun than sitting crossed legged nodding off to Genesis.
How did your time in the Hot Rods shape you as a musician and was it a musical apprenticeship for your career
Absolute apprenticeship. No idea really what I was doing, bit it fitted great with the others! It was learning on the job, 300 gigs a year, and on days off probably recording, usually first take. Get the vibe down, fuck the mistakes! We never really rehearsed, knocked ideas around in the soundcheck and said "Great lets sling it in tonights set!". And absolutely the opposite of my later years in UFO when we spent months on end holed up in a dreary Birmingham rehearsal room which was deadly and took all the spark away. Mind you, the Damned never rehearsed, either.
Have you heard the budget Top of the Pops album version of Do Anything You Wanna Do
Ha ha no but I'd love to, where can I get it? (here}
Do you think the Hot Rods are due for a Feelgoods style reappraisal?
Due? We're fucking years overdue mate!
Hit or Miss is an unreleased Hot Rods tune better known for being on The Damned's Black Album Paul Gray: The Damned thought they could do a better version, but I've always prefered the Rod's one myself..
If you're not a Twitterer (yet), and even if you are - did you know the sunglasses fancying, pocket-sized, heavyweight-ledge that is Yoko Ono does a weekly Tweet-centric Q and A session?
Buzz your notes and queries here #yokoQandA and Yoko grabs a handful from the virtual bag(ism}.
Well, strike me down me with Pellici's hand-cut chip - I've only gone got a three out of three hit rate to date haven't I? Do you reckon they could be a bundled up and called an interview?
The Quinn Martin/Instant Karma epilogue: I told Pellici's about Yoko's reply. Turns out several interiors for Nowhere Boy were filmed at Pellici's, as vintage caffs like this just don't exist in Liverpool anymore.
Not a million miles from same-era Eno is it really...
Whether you're a long-haul reader or casual browser of this blog - you'll probably know if there's one band that kick-started my passion for punk, fired my energy and enthusiasm for gig-going and wide-screened my musical horizons with their technicolour productions tuning me in to strange new worlds: psyche, garage and power-prog - it is The Damned.
A regular rant of mine typically riffs on how under-valued and hugely influential this national treasure of a group are. A group with one of rock's (not just punk's - but rock's) finest guitarists on fret 'n' jangle-duties. So, it's no overstatement to say - getting yer actual Captain Sensible on this ol' blog is an absolute super scoop of the century for me...
Well, what are we waiting for gang - let's get to it and crack on with Captain.
Christmas seems the perfect time for your tour with the Glitter Band. What can we expect to see in the setlist..Glam anthems, Damned tunes (Sanity Clause?) Captain solo hits and Christmas bits - and is it a double bill or team up.
I'm definitely going back to revisit my 80s pop material. Not just Happy Talk.... there's some lovely tunes in there. Right jangly stuff too, that in my opinion gives Pop a GOOD name. Like before Simon Cowell made you avoid the charts.
I have ALSO been invited to do a song or two with the Glitter Band which might be a giggle.
The Damned appeared on Mike ‘cue the music’ Mansfield’s Supersonic pop show in early 77 – alongside: Cliff Richard, Guys and Dolls and Leo Sayer. How did these established polite pop acts react to having such a hi-energy punk band on the bill..
Cliff hated us, he just doesn't get punk at all. He's old in the head, even back in the day. Couldn't he see that we were getting the same bad headlines that his hero Elvis had gotten? Supersonic was good cos they mixed up the acts.... a little bit like Jools. Holland - except for the fact that the Jools show won't have us on. Even when we release albums. What the problem is I have no idea.... I used to get on OK with Squeeze and JH himself. Maybe it's just some daft production policy - no UK punk bands maybe?
And THAT would be a disgrace for, whatever anyone thinks of 1977 and all that the eyes of the world's music scene were VERY MUCH on Belfast, London and Manchester and the UK in general where there was a music revolution going on. Crazy days that will be talked about for decades to come. This country should be PROUD of it's punk days - and play the bands on the radio occasionally - the BBC take note!!!
Marc Bolan took The Damned on tour as support in '77. I've read mixed reports of him during the mid 70s - but what are your memories of Marc
Nice chap, VERY helpful... full of advice about the music biz. Took us on the road in his tour bus. Sociable too. I used to pop in his dressing room as there was always a bottle of bubbly on the go. He lent me his shades one night after I sat on mine.
Why do you think most newbie bands seem happy to gig in their gardening gear - what happened to rockers looking like Rock Stars - why do you think dressing up seems to have disappeared
It'll come round again. When glam was 'cool' everyone had to wear the daft garb and it was reflected in street dress too. And then punk came along, which meant posh people had to ditch the expensive apparel if they wanted to be in fashion. What fun.
Wearing anoraks onstage is taking it a bit far the other way though.
There used to be a tradition of crowd-rousing band members (Rod Stewart, Noddy Holder, Freddie Mercury, Captain Sensible) - any thoughts on why newer performers don't work or interact with an audience in the same way
Can't say as I don't follow the scene at all. After seeing gigs by Sweet, The Groundhogs and Brian Auger why would you want to see these stage school educated bands around today?I'm sure there are WONDERFUL performers around.... some quirky eccentrics with totally original ideas but I can't be bothered to plough through the ubiquitous dross to find 'em.
Couple of local interest bits: I saw The Damned at Crocs in Rayleigh 1983 – with a totally over-capacity crowd in a tiny venue (exploding modern Health and Safety standards) do you have any memories of these shows..
Nup. Sounds like fun though......
The Damned's set-list September 10th 1983
Another Southend question: if you had any free time, which of these Southend Rock 'n' Roll landmarks would you visit?
1)The club where Donovan was discovered in Westcliff 2)Oil City (Canvey Island) home to Dr Feelgood and the Eddie and Hot Rods ,
3)Have an ice cream at Rossi's Ice Cream Parlour (relations of Francis Rossi) 4)Or, being a train fan - can the lot and catch a train to the end of Southend Pier (the World's longest pleasure pier)
Yes, I'm interested in all of these.... Don's 'Catch The Wind' is such a lovely song. I did that onstage myself a few times. You can't beat the Rods and Feelgoods for sleazy R+B..... and 'Ma kelly's Greasy Spoon' by the Quo is a forgotten masterpiece. Recorded just before their sound had gelled into a formula. They used to have a drink in the bar with their audience occasionally too..... a tradition the Damned carried on with some enthusiasm.
I'm still a 'spotter' too.....
[Captain's written a great piece on an Ivor the Engine style adventure here]
Do you think the influence of glam on punk has become overlooked. Which Glam bands did you catch in concert as a teen and who were your faves.
Yes, a lot of punk bands were into glam..... Mark E Smith was well into the Glitter thing, I loved T Rex and their beautifully simple riffy pop and who could not dig Sweet, described as 'brickies in tinfoil' by some wag at the time. Will you be sticking to your signature SG style guitars for the tour or going for something more Dave Hill-ish
I'm not playing a loud raucous set - it'll be full of thoughtful melancholy tinged jangly songs so - no.
Hopefully there'll be no gobbing at gigs - what a disgusting carry on that was, how did you put up with it and when did it die out?
Blame J.Rotten esq for that. And now he advertises butter. How times change.
The Damned's last records Grave Disorder and So, Who's Paranoid are two of the bands career-best albums in my opinion - are you working on any new material
No. It's quality not quantity with the Damned BUT we are talking about a special tour concept for next year maybe playing a couple of classic Damned albums back to back with stage sets and stuff. My choice would be the 1st album and the Black Album but it'll be decided by a brainstorming session round at Mr Vanians gothic mansion over a glass or 2 of port I'd imagine.
If you had to give a novice The Captain's Guide to Glam - what albums, bands or singles - what would you recommend.
Sweet, Slade, Mud, T Rex.... and don't miss out on the hugely influential Glitter Beat just cos the Daily Mail might get offended.
Regardless of what the ex singer got up to these great records should not be shoved under the carpet. Banning stuff doesn't work.
CALLING ALL SOUTHENDERS: Captain Sensible and The Glitter Band play Chinnerys on the 13th of December - click on the pic for all tour details..
A huge salute and a tip of the beret is due to Captain for his help with this and to John Medd for making it happen (Samuel Smith's voucher is in the post matey!)
You may remember some recent net-natter about a Charlie Chaplin film and the old curiosity shot of a mobile phone user. Well, now another Hollywood heavy-hitter is the subject of the latest web-whispers and video theorising.
It seems footage used for The Wolfmen's latest promo could contain some of the earliest (and previously undiscovered) footage of a young Marilyn working a burlesque a go-go routine. While Monroe's representatives and movie historians scratch their heads and run frame by frame studies, we're not legally allowed to discuss where the footage was obtained, but, are ok to say the video was edited together by Tronik Youth, and, that we can catch up with Wolfmen bass player, vocalist and co-writer Chris Constantinou for a chat about the bands new single Marilyn Monroe (Wam Bam JFK)
The new single's artwork seems quite early Ants-ish, is this intentional and is Mark Alleyne (designer of Kings of the Wild Frontier and other Ants albums, singles) doing graphic duties
Mark is our Art Director - and yes it is intentional, although Adam originally got it from a JFK comic book
Jack/Jackie seems to be a reocurring motif in The Wolfmen's Songbook (previous tunes include - Jackie Says, - Jackie, is it my Birthday?) Why is this..
I have no idea - it started way back in my previous groups – I’d need some therapy to find that out or a few lava strength phalls and Kingfishers
The new album (Married to the Eiffel Tower) is due out next year, and Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols has remixed some tracks. How many are likely to make the final cut and are their other plans for Dandy Wolfmen collaborations.
All Courtney's and Jacob’s work will be released as will Steve musters. But we’re not sure in what order this will happen though. We would love to do some more collab’s with Courtney and The Dandys – I jammed flute on Lou weed with them at the London Koko gig in July. The band is amazing and what a great bunch - Zia has been giving me advice on the best tequila to drink.
What's your take on the Marilyn/JFK conspiracy theories
JFK and crew had poor beautiful Monroe bumped off
In a perfect piece of synchronicity Up All Nighter from the first album (Modernity Killed Every Night) has recently been used to soundtrack Fox TV series Human Target. Is there any other TV or soundtrack work lined up, and was this anything to do with Marco being a comics fan.
No the Human Target thing was just out of the blue really - we have a track Nothing Else Matters in Paul Hills new movie called 'Do Elephants Pray ? ' Which is winning all the festivals right now (and the nice Trippy scene - is good) We’ve also got Needle in the Camel’s Eye in Dogging by Vertigo Films and had some music in some new games/ads and a fair bit of other stuff – which, I think is on Youtube ?
I've heard whispers the third album may be covers and collaborations? Have you got a list of who you'd like work with or tunes to be covered.
We’re just starting to get a list together
Being a Southender, I understand in your pre-Ants/Wolfmen days you played Southend, any memories of your visits venues or gigs there...
I Played with Drill at a place called the Top Alex - our singer Will jumped in the audience and sorted out some nutter who was throwing shit at us and giving general abuse - then managed to get back on stage to finish the song - it was a bit like that at some gigs..
The Top Alex was a legendarily dingy Southend pub, typically favoured by rockers and bikers - you'll hear the name crop up in the Feelgood's Oil City flick..
Can we expect to see The Wolfmen live next year, and what sort of gigs:clubs or festivals.
Yes - at the moment we’re booking up gigs/festivals from April up until December 2011
Marilyn Monroe (Wam Bam JFK) can be downloaded and here and here with the physical version available to buy via The Wolfmen's site from Monday 6th December. The new album (Married to the Eiffel Tower) is due out next year, with Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols and Jacob Portrait on post production, mixing and remixes.
Thanks to Davy Ghost for this Tweet-based tip off: an interview with a secret service agent present at JFK's assassination. Hear here
In an age where pop as a packaged product dominates - and talent show hopefuls hold out begging bowls of back stories and shrill trilling to pinch-eyed panels of string pullers and pop puppets. It gives you a glow to know - that away from the cold, controlled production environments of formulaic chart pap, tat and ratbaggery - pure musicians and solid songsmiths are busying themselves in studio bolt holes, writing and refining their craft with the stealth of shoemaking elves.
So let me introduce to you, The Sonic Executive Sessions - session musicians by day, self composers in their downtime - a group whose skill isn't a wily eye on a chart placing or tactical piece in the media. But an ear for a hook, a taste for a tune and the raw talent to fill a fully formed, self penned songbook of multi-layered, hi-polished pop, glowing with a shameless sense of fun, sun and freedom.
I've been following The Sonic Executive Sessions for almost 3 years now - hooked, reeled in and rolling from the opening notes of 17 (Over You). The album arrived last week and what a gem and a joy it is. All honeycomb vocals and milky bar harmonies. Pace shifting from the urgent swish of show tunes to the midnight slink of Steely Dan - the album is 100% Sonic originals with echoes and shadows of both greats and guilty pleasures. The Beach Boys meet Jellyfish with Toto undertones, Bacharach by way of Badfinger with Ben Folds on keys. Oh, and an actual appearance by Oh Lori legends the Alessi Brothers on one track...
11 minty new tunes that immediately feel like old friends....
Christian Phillips, lead vocalist of The Sonic Exec's was kind enough to enough to answer a few Q's exclusively for the PM blog.....
How would you describe The Sonics Executive Sessions signature sound to the uninitiated
Yowzer, that's a hard question. Fallen at the first hurdle here. But I guess its me trying to re-write the American songbook, failing miserably and then superimposing our favourite Record/CD/MP3 collection on top of it
What is the bands history, how did you come together
Tim's been running the Sonic-One Studio for a long time and over the years Ryan and I have worked there a lot. Local sessions stuff like that, I've taken other projects there. Tim had some free studio time so we just started doing this
You're a studio based group, but have the band ever played live, or will
there be future gigs
The band has never played live...but never say never. Just don't ask me to play keyboards
You've done a crazy range of sessions: Colin Bluntstone, a TOTP appearance and teamed up with The Alessi Brothers for one track (Make Do) on The Sonic Exec's album..
Top of the Pops, We played for a guy called Steve Balsamo. He had a single called Sugar for the Soul. I was his guitarist and Ry' played drums. I think the Dandy Warhol's were there. Yup done some very weird sessions. Sang backing vocals on a Joey Ramone track once... How weird is that!!! I didn't meet Joey, my bit was done here and he did his bit in new York. I think it's called Punk Boy by a band called Helen Love
I did a session for a guy once (who shall remain nameless) he got so stoned that by the end of the day he forgot who everyone was and whose album we were working on, I'm writing most of Colin Blunstone's new album. And Alessi They just got in touch after finding us on Myspace...isn't the internet great
Are there other hook ups with more hit-makers or heroes planned and who would be on your fantasy team-up list
I love working with as many different people as I can. I'm not a very confident songwriter/lyricist so any help would be greatly appreciated.Hmmm fantasy team up list: John Williams (composer)the Four Freshmen, Andy Sturmer, Take 6,Richard Carpenter, Todd Rundgren,Van Dyke Parks, Rufus Wainwright the 23 year old Brian Wilson you know the usual I could go on and on. People no longer with us...Gershwin,Cole Porter, Nilsson and on and on again
Have you had any TV synch or Soundtrack interest? Or what show or film would your dream soundtrack (past or present)?
The A team (TV show)
I can hear echoes of Jellyfish, Dean Freidman, Steely Dan in the album, but, what would we be surprised to find on the Sonic Exec's iPods?
Hahah well there is no Dean Friedman on there for a start. Ummm the N'Sync Christmas album??? Kings X
The band covered Jellyfish's unreleased track Hello - will other cover versions be added to the band's songbook?
Its a possibility, I'm not a very prolific songwriter so I guess so
Do you keep any vintage gear or collectable kit (synths, guitars, amps) in the Sonics collection?
Most of it is vintage I suppose, especially Tim's studio gear. He's just purchased a 24 track studer tape machine and I think we're going to record any new tunes on that..OLD SCHOOL BABY!
Each track is multi-layered polished pop nugget - what has been your most indulgent or trialling moment of studio trickery?
Well being able to come into a studio like the one Tim has and play all those instruments and sing all those parts is me at my most indulgent, and Ryan and Tim let me indulge. But then Tim has to mix that and make sense out of all of it so for him I think that bit is trialling.
I've been following the band since 2008 when can expect see a second album?
I didn't think people would want a first album, I'm still in shock that anyone would listen to anything I was writing. So if people like it I'll keep writing and see what happens
For a UK band you have a broad international sound - have you had much interest from outside of the UK?
More outside the UK then in the UK. Its getting a release in Japan and the Americans seem to like it. I don't think many people in the UK know we exist....you're the only one I think
I could imagine the Sonic Exec's delivering the perfect Christmas song - any plans for a seasonal single?
Not right now, I have recorded a Christmas album with the vocal group I sing with (The 4o5's) and that's Christmasmungus. I'd love to record one with Roy Wood with that big Phil Spector sound. Hmmmm you've got me thinking now, I would be stroking my beard if I had one.
The Sonic Executive Sessions album 2010 is available right here....
on iTunes or via Amazon
