Interview with Lucy Francesca Dron

Brisbane, Australia's Lucy Francesca Dron recently released an outstanding EP entitled Leftovers. I recently did an email interview with her where we discussed the EP, having her brother in her band, her upcoming plans and more.  

Can you tell me a little about your musical background?

I grew up surrounded by music, mostly classical music. My mum is a music teacher and Dad is a classical pianist and they were always encouraging my brother and I to be involved in music at school and in our spare time which we did. My first instrument was the cello which I played from the age of 6 until I was 15 where I was then drawn to the guitar.

You just released an EP called “Leftovers" and I read that it’s called that because they are songs you feel don’t fit into concepts that you have for albums.  Can you elaborate a little on that?

I just felt these songs were all strong on their own but felt out of place within my other concepts. The songs I imagine for my other albums flow within the album together and I feel like they create their own little world and soundscape. The Leftovers EP ended up flowing well though but the tracks just stuck out a bit within the other albums

I read that these songs have been around for a few years.  Did any of them change drastically once you recorded them?

The songs developed a lot in the way I performed them. When I originally wrote them I would sing the songs in a much more emotional and loose way and the tempos were changing around. The songs pretty much tightened up a lot through time and practice and I've been exploring singing with more of a jazz technique.

I love the contrast of your vocals, which have a strong jazz feel to them, with the more indie rock sound of your music.  Having said that, a couple of the songs on the EP “Mirrors” and “Epilogue” (both of which I really like) definitely swing more towards the jazz side.  Have you considered doing more songs with that vibe?

Yeah I have a fair amount of songs that have a more jazzy vibe, I’ve definitely within the last two years been really into jazz vocalists and it’s been helping to refine my vocal technique a lot.

Can you give me a little background about your two bandmates - your brother Tom and Tex Keane?

Tom is my older brother and he taught me the first few songs I ever
learnt on guitar. He was writing music well before I started and I was always so in love with his songs so he would teach me them as well and we’d play his songs together. As I grew up and explored song writing myself he was getting really into bass and we just jammed and he's been my bassist ever since. I was looking for a drummer for ages and I heard about Tex from my old principal of Music Industry College because he was studying there. When I heard him he was 16 and absolutely phenomenal and we had a jam, connected and continued working together.

How is it working with your brother?

It is amazing and we work so well together. He understands my music really well and always comes up with the right basslines to complement what I’ve written and is a lovely person overall.

Do you do all the songwriting yourself or do either of them contribute at all?

Yeah I write all the songs on my own but they come up with their parts to go with the song unless I have a specific idea that I want them to play. 

You released your first EP “Eloqium” in 2017. How do you think your music has evolved since then?

They were the first songs I had ever written so they were quite undeveloped and simple. I've explored so many other angles to approach songwriting with now and of course I have a band to expand the sound even more.

You recently released videos for “What Is Next" and “Liquid Numbing Pain". What kind of input did you have in the music videos?

For “What Is Next?” I had no idea what I was doing because it was my first time so I let my team explore the concept and what they wanted to do with it. The more I got into it though the more I fell in love with making music videos and I was so determined and inspired to do my own concept for "Liquid Numbing Pain" and make it really good. I was extremely involved in the music video for "Liquid Numbing Pain" and it was a crazy experience.

You have quite a few other songs floating around between stuff on Soundcloud and various videos on Youtube and elsewhere.  Do you expect to have another release out anytime soon?

I don’t have anything officially lined up but I've been recording some stuff and plan to record a big project next when the time is right.

You have a demo for an almost 10 minute song on Soundcloud called “Tae”.  Can you tell me about that?

Tae was the person who recorded the song, the track is actually called "Venus Lake". This song is actually the title track for my biggest album I have planned, “Venus Lake” which I am so excited to start working on. I wrote the song when I was 18 in three different parts and it was a really, really special and therapeutic experience to me creating it. The album I envision this song on has all my favorite tracks that I have written and they are very ethereal, intricate and experimental. 

What can we expect from you now that the EP is out?

I’ll be playing some shows around Brisbane and going down to Melbourne later in the year, but nothing official is coming up.

Is there anyone in the Australian music scene right now that you think readers should be checking out?

 

Sammm, Kiri and Nicole Mckinney

(Lucy Francesca Dron)

  

 The Merseybeats / The Merseys - I Stand Accused – The Complete Merseybeats and Merseys Sixties Recordings

With bands like The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Searchers all exploding on the scene, Liverpool in the early 60‘s was a hotbed of musical activity.  Amongst the other bands that were part of the explosion and actually shared their band name with that scene were The Merseybeats. While they only released one album, one EP and a handful of singles, they had several hits including the ballads “I Think Of You, “It’s Love That Really Counts” and “Don’t Turn Around” all of which really showcased their strong vocals harmonies.  In addition to the hits there were many other standout  tracks like their covers of “Fortune Teller”, “Mister Moonlight” and “Shame Shame Shame” (the latter very reminiscent of early Rolling Stones).  Unfortunately that success was fleeting for them and they broke up in 1965.  A year later founding members Bill Kingsley and Tony Crane formed the band The Merseys, releasing several singles that maintained a similar sound to their prior band and having a hit with their cover of The McCoys song “Sorrow” (this song was later covered by Bowie on Pin-Ups).  All of their recordings from these releases are included in this excellent two-disc box set, along with some demos and unreleased tracks.  In addition to all this they’ve also compiled all the tracks from various groups that splintered off from the band during this time period.  One of these is a track by The Kinsleys, a short-lived band formed by bassist/vocalist Billy Kinsley after he left the band for a short while in 1964.   There are also ten outstanding songs from various bands led by Johnny Gustafson, who was vocalist and bassist after Kinsley left the band and is also notable later on as a member of Roxy Music and the Ian Gillan Band.  These start with a couple solo singles, then one from Johnny and John and finally two more with The Quotations (the latter 2 bands also included former Merseybeats drummer John Banks).   With the addition of a 24 page booklet full of pictures and an outstanding essay outlining the history of the band and it’s various offshoots I Stand Accused is an excellent and extremely comprehensive look at this era of The Merseybeats.  

(Cherry Red)

 

Cablog : Diary Of A Cabdriver - Dege Legg

While many people are familiar with Dege Legg the musician (Santeria, Brother Dege), most are not familiar with Dege Legg the cab driver.  Over a five year span from 2003 to 2008 Legg was a cab driver working the night shift in the swamplands of Lafayette, Louisiana.  During this time he kept a journal documenting the characters that he came across in his cab.  Cablog is a chronological journey and fascinating look at the drunks, drug addicts, thieves and prostitutes as well as the occasional normal person just needing a ride, that he had in his cab.  Just like most cab rides that are just a quick trip here or there, the majority of the stories are just a few paragraphs long with a few taking up a couple pages.  Some are sad, some are scary and a few will even make you feel good and put a smile on your face, and Legg does an excellent job of bringing out those emotions and painting a picture of what he experienced with each fare.  As you make your way through the book you can also see how the job affected Legg as he goes from rookie cabdriver to an experienced one and then on to getting burned out and eventually calling it a day.  Cablog is an outstanding read and gives an incredible insight into what it’s like to be a cab driver on the night shift.

(Brother Dege)

Greenslade - Temple Songs – The Albums 1973-1975

Formed in 1972 by former Colosseum members Dave Greenslade on keyboards and Tony Reeves on bass and rounded out by Dave Lawson on keyboards and vocals and Andrew McCulloch on drums, Greenslade released four albums from 1973 until 1975 before then disbanding in 1976.  Temple Songs - The Albums 1973-1975 collects all of these albums into one box set (not included is the 2000 reunion album Large Afternoon from Greenslade and Reeves along with vocalist/keyboardist John Young).  First up is their 1973 eponymous disc, an extremely enjoyable set of tunes that does an excellent job of showcasing their use of two keyboard players as they meld prog with a bit of a blues groove.  Bedside Manners Are Extra, their second album, was released later that year and follows a similar path to their debut with the title cut and “Sunkissed You’re Not” among the highlights along with the instrumental “Drum Folk”, a tune that allows McCulloch to showcase his drumming amongst the keys. With the departure of Reeves right after it was recorded, disc 3 Spyglass Guest was the final one to feature the original band.  While still firmly in the prog rock realm, the songs this time around tend to be shorter and more concise.  They also experimented a little more here with the use of guitars for the first time on two songs and stylewise there are elements of a jazzier sound on “Little Red Fry Up” and “Red Light” while the guitars on “Siam Seesaw” really bring out the rock in their sound.  For Time and Tide, the final album in the box set, the band replaced Reeves with bassist/guitarist Martin Briley.  This time around the band definitely went in more of a pop direction than ever before (all the songs with the exception of one that is just over 5 minutes are in the 3 minute or less range). While it does have it’s moments (see “Waltz For A Fallen Friend” and ”The Ass’s Ears”) this is definitely the weakest album of the bunch.  Whether you’re a fan or new to the band, Temple Songs – The Albums 1973 – 1975 is a great place to get these four discs in one nice collection with the biggest drawback being the missing bonus cuts that can be found on the expanded 2-disc versions.

(Cherry Red)

Needles//Pins - Needles//Pins

In just under twenty-three minutes the eponymous fourth album from Vancouver’s Needles//Pins harkens back to their earlier releases as they tear through ten cuts of rootsy, working class punk.  While the album is primarily a no-frills, straight-ahead set of tunes driven by Adam Solomonian's ragged throaty vocals they never lose their strong sense of melody. The band also takes an occasional step back with songs like the more subdued “Winnipeg ‘03“  and the bouncy “Stumble” to keep things fresh.  

(Dirt Cult Records)

Emily Taylor Hudson - Love Is A Dirty Word

Instead of recording in her hometown of LA, Emily Taylor Hudson headed to her best friend and guitarist Billy Newsome’s trailer in Pikeville, Kentucky.  After recording the basic tracks there, she then took them back to her brother Zak in LA to add the drums and bass.  The resulting EP Love Is A Dirty Word is a powerful collection of raw, straight-ahead rock 'n’ roll with Newsome’s buzzing guitars and Emily’s powerful vocals and biting lyrics leading the way.  Everything here from the infectious opener and first single “Hearts We Wanna Break” to the stripped down “True Sensation”, a song that shows just how strong her vocals are, to “Tone Of The Siren”, a tune reminiscent of Garbage, is a winner.   

(Emily Taylor Hudson)

The Loft - Ghost Trains & Country Lanes – Studio, Stage And Sessions 1984-2015

While there have been a couple of compilations devoted to The Loft before now, Ghost Trains & Country Lanes, which was compiled by the band and contains 16 previously unreleased tracks, is by far the most comprehensive and a definite must-have.  Back in the early days of Creation Records, The Loft was considered one of the most promising bands on the label.  Unfortunately, after recording only seven studio songs that were released over two singles, the band broke up onstage in the middle of a song at the Hammersmith Palais during a tour opening for the Colourfield. Those seven songs open this 2-CD collection and definitely show their potential by perfectly drawing together elements of post punk and jangly guitar rock (the song “Your Door Shines Like Gold” off the second single is worth the price of admission all by itself).  This era is also represented with four cuts from a September 1984 BBC Radio 1 Session with Janice Long, only one of which had been recorded for the two singles.  Amongst the three that hadn’t been recorded in the studio were “On A Tuesday” and “The Canal and the Big Red Town" a couple of songs that most likely would have been huge hits had they been given the chance before the band imploded.  There is also a live ten song set from August 1984 (all but one of these had been previously unreleased).  Surprisingly the band reunited in 2005 and showed they hadn’t missed a beat releasing another two song single, which is also included here along with three previously unreleased songs that were recorded at that time.  The final four cuts here are from another BBC Session, this time with Gideon Coe in September of 2015, which was 35 years after the band was initially formed.  Three of these songs are from those first two singles and while they stand the test of time, you can definitely here the maturity in the band’s performance.   

(Cherry Red Records)

Interview with The Distractors

With the release of their debut Subversiv Dekadent, Ghent (Belgium) four-piece The Distractors have hit the ground running with twelve cuts of raw, ragged no-frills garage & punk laced rock 'n' roll.  In this recent email interview with vocalist/guitarist Philip Malcolm (aka Lobster Johnson) he covered everything from their history and recording during the pandemic to the Belgian music scene and more.  

Can you give me a bit of history on the band?

I hadn't been in a band in 20 years after a show I promoted for some John Peel type band went bad and I ended up getting beaten up for the door by their manager. They're not around any more and I stole loads of their songs, so fuck them. In that time period I moved to Belgium, started playing again and met Yves (De Molotov, bass). I think he used to play in a surf band way back and we started bouncing ideas off each other. I was going to a lot of shows and getting really sick of a band saying "here's a song!" Playing it and then saying "Thank you! Here's another song!" and I wanted to have a kind of party band with some sort of theatrical element and really make people feel they were part of the show, not just watching us play songs like it wasn’t important if they were there or not. I think we roped in Golden Hands (Sven) and Jonah (JP9000) around January of 2019 and had our first show in June. People really seemed to respond to the idea and the way that we want to play like we're headlining some mad festival or a stadium show for 20 of our friends in a bar. 

From that we got booked for a Saturday night show at Gentse Feesten, which is like a mad 10 day long party in the city of Gent, (shows everywhere, all free) in a bar and the place was insanely full, hot and sweaty. There were people outside because they couldn't get in. Now, I'm not saying that was our burgeoning live reputation, it was the start of their Saturday night of madness, but by the end I think we surpassed our own and a lot of other people's expectations and we kind of got some word of mouth buzz and respect from some people who I look up to like crazy. 

The record happened because Darren who runs Trash Wax was delivering some vinyl to the Garbage Bags (check them out too!) in February 2020 and I got him wrecked on that mad 8% Guinness we have here and basically nagged him into letting us do an album. 

You recorded the album in just three days in October, which was between lockdowns due to the pandemic.  What can you tell me about that whirlwind process?

It was always going to be a very quick process, not least because we were skint. The cool thing about Peter Snakeboots who recorded it for us in his awesome analogue studio, is that he really doesn't like to mess about. He just said "This is gonna sound like a live, dirty rock n roll band" and he just took a listen to us in the room, twiddled the amps a bit, knew immediately which mics to use and how and then we just bashed it out. There aren't really that many overdubs on the whole thing and the ones that are there were the most painful part of the process for me. It's exactly what it sounds like, a tight-as-frog-booty live band picking up and playing, dropped notes, open strings, vocal fuck ups were all encouraged. 

In the end it was like a long work-day. We all got in at 10 and knocked off about 2230. Its mad, because I'm a fucking terrible employee and have always just turned up and fucked off at the earliest opportunity but this kind of showed me that I am capable of graft.  The weirdest bit was that the curfew here was 11 at night at that point, so we were all clockwatching the last two hours to get home on time not to get arrested. We also weren't 100% sure if we were legally allowed to be there as only "professional" cultural activities were permitted. That definition is as vague as it looks so I think we were half expecting a SWAT team to kick the studio door down and haul us off to amateur musician jail with a load of dad-cover bands who were still messing about in their garage that weekend: Truly a fate worse than death. I think the whole scenario gave it a sense of urgency that i think comes through in the sound. 

I went back and mixed it for 2 days in December. Pete does this cool thing where he takes the original tape, puts it onto his computer, mixes it and fixes some of our more glaring errors then records it back onto some old 1/4 inch tape and bounces that onto the computer as the final mixdown. The difference in the sound from raw digital to taped is night and day. Anyway, he has this stack of about 200 reels of 1/4 inch tape and tells us that his cousin is a bailiff and repossessed it from a guy who went to jail for pimping and various other unsavory stuff. Pimp tape. Tape repossessed from a dangerous criminal. For the record, Subversiv Dekadent was taped over his copy of "Unforgettable: The Best of Nat King Cole". Sorry Nat. 

Were all the songs already written when you went into the studio or were some of them written during those 3 days?

We're not Radiohead (gasp! End interview!), so writing in the studio is a luxury we, quite literally, couldn't afford. Everything was written and pretty well drilled by the time we got there. The only spontaneity on that score was that we decided not to record two songs and we dropped another one whilst we were recording it. That left us a song short, so we did “Long Live The Dead”, which I was adamant we weren't going to record out of fear that The Reverend Horton Heat would sue me. Come at me, Horton Heat. 

How does your songwriting process tend to work?

I dream of being asked stuff like this! 

Normally, I get an idea for a riff or a chorus and mess about with it until some sort of structure falls out. I've long since stopped worrying about originality.  I'm not trying to take music to strange new places, I'm trying to take it behind the bike sheds and get it pregnant.  I'm also always scribbling down little lyrical ideas. With the first lockdown I had about 20 half finished ideas and about 80 post its with these lyrics on them, so I stuck everything up on the wall and just started to see what talked to what.

So then I'll come to rehearsal with the idea, or I'll record a demo and send it to everybody, then Yves takes over. He's got this great ability to pull my songs apart, move bits about, get rid of dross, add bits in and what comes out the other side is usually different to what I began with. Jonah, our drummer, is also the best musician in the band so he always has an interesting take on things too. 

Was it hard going into the studio and recording without having more time to test some of the songs live?

Climbing a palm tree is hard, recording songs you haven't played live, by comparison, is pretty swell. I think everything on the record, except “Everybody Hates Poetry”, “You'll Never Take Us Alive” and “The Night Is Young (and so are you)” have been played live. I don't think we're really in a position to be cutting material on audience reactions, given our average crowd is about 100 people. I think that's a dangerous route to go down as well: Self editing based on what you think people want from you. I am a student of pop music and as trite as it sounds, I want to make music I like. I want it to offer something I'm not getting anywhere else, otherwise what am I making it for? 

Most of your songs have a solid garage and punk sound with some surf rock elements at times, but ”Evil Mariachi” has a really strong surf rock vibe to it and really stands apart from the rest of the album.  What’s the story there?

“Evil Mariachi” is a Sven song, that's why it sounds different. He started coming up with riffs and making his own demos and then we went through the same process as my songs in rehearsal. He's a much better guitar player than me so his songs are normally a bit more complex or have more layers than mine.  “You'll Never Take Us Alive” was the other one from him. That's probably my favourite song on the whole thing. It's funny you mention surf music as Ghent has more surf bands per capita than anywhere on earth, it's insane how many surf shows you could go to here in a month. 

The band wasn’t together long before the pandemic started. What kind of impact did the pandemic have on the band?

We're still living it! We haven't all been in a room together since November 1st when we wrapped the recording. It is, to use a technical term, a fucking pain in the arse. We haven't practiced, we haven't played at all, we've had loads of cool stuff cancelled... But it's the same for everybody. We're going to have a beer on Friday (May 14) when the album comes out (digitally at least). That'll be the first time we've been able to get together with everything here being closed from early October until May the 8th. 

Your music begs to be heard live, but unfortunately due to covid that has been a no go for over a year.  I read that there are recordings of your last show before things were shut down.  Any chance we will be able to hear that?

It's like drunken bootleg quality, I wouldn't put it out unless we cleaned it up quite a lot. There's 4 or 5 covers on there too. It's also quite confronting... We're by no means perfect as a band, tightness to me is everybody starting and stopping at the same time. But there's a load of clangers all over that recording. I think it's part of the spirit of the band though, we play hard and that means we hit the odd bum note. In my head it sounds like that Replacements live album that came out a couple of years ago. Warts n all. 

Your bio says you’re “the third best punk band in Belgium”.  If you are number three, who is number one and number two?

That was a lie. I made it up when I was trying to put some streaming shows together via a large American platform. It was a lie that was so banal and, at the same time, so ridiculous I assumed nobody would ever check on it. Congratulations you're the first. 

For the record we probably are the third best rock n roll band in Belgium. The second and first are both Blackup. 

How is the music scene in Belgium?

Ghent is kind of like a little island in Belgium of off-kilter culture. All human life is here. There's a load of cool Rockabilly type stuff (Garbage Bags, Grave Brothers), cool punk stuff like Blackup, so much instrumental surfy stuff like The Akulas and Fifty Foot Combo. You've got the daddys of the scene like Deus and Soulwax... Sioen does some cool stuff in a really interesting, independent way without much mainstream support. 

In that way, I suppose Belgium is like anywhere else. It's the lowest common denominator stuff that ends up on the radio. I'm under no illusions that we're going to be on these stupid "Lets pretend we care about artists who can't work" shows on TV from the music barn in Antwerp, but as a nation we must be able to do better than Whispering Sons.  Other members of the Distractors quite like Whispering Sons and I'm sure they're lovely people doing their best. 

I read something about a cafe there in Ghent called Misterioso putting together an album and you will be contributing a song.  Is that going to be a new song or one from the album? 

Misterioso is my local bar, it's like 80 metres from my front door. We've played there twice and the owner is a good friend. The record isn't from the bar, however, it's a crowdfunding project with all the profits going to the cafe to help them back on their feet after 8 months with no income whilst the brewery still want their bit every month. 

The idea was from Jens De Waele who plays bass in Fifty Foot Combo and about 73 other bands. Then his girlfriend and my girlfriend and a few others got involved and it's a whole thing. The heart of it is a limited edition record with songs donated by bands who have played there, who drink there or, like me both. Our track is “The Night is Young (and so are you)”, there's stuff from Blackup, Garbage Bags, Pauline Verminnen, The Grave Brothers and most importantly Paul Couter who died recently and was an absolute legend of Belgian music (He's best known for his 80s stuff with Arno ,TC Matic  and Tjenscouter) who had his base above the bar and ran the sound for all the shows. 

If people want to buy it or just contribute to helping keep open a place where a lot of cool bands started out or hang out they can get on it here: https://initiatieven.crowdfunding.gent/project/31654

Do you have anything else you would like to share with readers?

Only the unconditional love of the Distractors, and the fact that they can always get in touch for info, bookings, fabulous gifts or empty promises at thedistractorsareintown@googlemail.com

That and they should buy the album Subversiv Dekadent, via our bandcamp or the TrashWax website. 

May the Distractors be with you!

(The Distractors - Facebook)

(Trash Wax Records)

L7 - Wargasm - The Slash Years 1992-1997

Following their debut release on Epitaph Records and it's follow-up on Sub Pop, LA's L7 signed with the major label Slash Records for three of their finest albums, which along with eleven bonus tracks, can all be found on the new box set Wargasm - The Slash Years 1992-1997. 

Produced by Butch Vig, Bricks Are Heavy, their first release on Slash, finds the band perfecting their mix of punk, metal, grunge and on “Mr Integrity” even a little surf guitar, all the while maintaining a melodic hook (see their biggest hit single “Pretend We’re Dead”) and the everpresent sneer in both the lyrics and vocals.  Bonus cuts on disc one are an edited version of “Pretend We’re Dead” and the B-sides “Lopsided Head”, “Freak Magnet” and with “I Used To Love Him”, their slightly altered take on Guns ‘N’ Roses. 

For their next record Hungry For Stink the band enlisted Garth “GGGarth” Richardson as producer, and while they follow a similar path, this time the overall sound is a little heavier, a little more abrasive and aggressive and a little less melodic, but all in a good way. Standouts include the single “Andres” and the semi-psychedelic tinged “Stuck Here Again”.  Bonus cuts this time around are a live version of “Baggage”, an edited version of “Stuck Here Again” and two B-sides - “Punk Broke (My Heart)” and “Interview”, which is an almost 14 minute radio interview that has to be about the most bizarre interview you will ever hear.

While there are moments that harken back to their previous releases, their final release on Slash, The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum found the band moving in a more experimental direction.  Produced by Rob Cavallo and Joe Barresi and largely recorded as a three-piece after bassist Jennifer Finch left (Belly’s Gail Greenwood filled in on bass on some tracks) the sound here is more stripped down and the band is tighter than ever.  Songs like “Drama” and “Must Have More” (the latter of which borders on doom metal) show they can still be as heavy as they’ve ever been, while others like the infectious near pop of “Moonshine” (complete with a countdown intro from none other than Lionel Richie) and the quirky acoustic tune “Me, Myself and I” show a new side to the band.  As for the final batch of three bonus cuts there is the (Piss Off Version) of "Drama" and two B-sides in the form of the outstanding spaghetti western tune “Guera” and the straight-up rocker “Worn Out”, both of which would have been right at home as album cuts.  

(Cherry Red Records)

 Ghoulies - Reprogram

With the release of their latest 7“  Perth’s Ghoulies present another collection of songs quite unlike anything I’ve heard before.  In just over nine and a half minutes the seven cuts on Reprogram are a cacophonous whirlwind of saccharine sweet synth-driven punk that even though they are the epitomy of chaos still manage to drip with hooks.  

(Ghoulies - Bandcamp)

Interview with Mark J Gidden

In 2019, following several years as a member of several different bands, Mark J Gidden released his debut solo album.  Now he is backed with his sophomore effort Fool Yourself.  I had the chance recently to do an email interview with him to talk about this new release along with a few other topics.  

Can you tell me a little about your musical background?

Hi Geoff, I joined my first band was when I was 17 and still at school. We were a three piece called 'Virtual Earth', but the problem was we all played guitar! I don't think we had the patience to learn covers which is is why we just started to put chords together and come with our own grunge-influenced tracks. We did one gig after hiring a drummer and after that I was in a couple of bands at unit before forming the Peterborough four-piece 'Traveller' in 2000. We won a local competition and after that I played drums for 'Emery' before relocating to St Albans. By that time I was focused more on songwriting and recording and after signing up with Nub Music I finally released my first album in 2019.

The arrangements and musicianship on your new release Fool Yourself are really strong and I really like the way the guitar sounds throughout.  Did you play everything yourself or did you have contributions from other musicians?

Although my first album included some collaborations, this second one
was something I wanted to put together on my own, as a bit of a challenge to myself! The oldest recording "If You Can" was recorded in a studio with an Engineer doing all the hard work and me just playing the instruments, but all the other tracks I recorded and mixed at home by myself. There are a few sampled instruments (including the drums) but the guitars are my trusty Jaguar and Pacifica!

I read that you performed alot of these songs at acoustic shows before recording them.  Did you even contemplate releasing them acoustically or was that just more of a way of getting them worked out before you recorded them?

I am keen to release an acoustic compilation at some point, but I think most of the songs have more 'impact' with a full band sound. In fact I'd love to get a band together so I can perform them closer to how they sound on the album, something for me to try to arrange in the future. For now I'll carry on performing with my acoustic guitar and hope that people like those stripped down versions as well as the album ones.

From time to time I hear a bit of an 80‘s/90's alternative vibe and a little glam (your vocals at time remind me of Brian Molko from Placebo and Trevor Tanner from The Bolshoi).  Would you agree with that assessment?

I'm definitely influenced by music from that period and am a big fan of Placebo, their first record is one of my all time favourites. Other singers that I am influenced by are Brett Anderson from Suede, James Walsh from Starsailor and Mark Greeney from JJ72. 

How does your songwriting process tend to work?

Most new songs start with me messing about on the acoustic guitar, which I do most days, and if I like something I'll quickly record the song idea on my old cassette recorder - I'm very old school that way! Most days I won't come up with anything, and most things I record never get turned into a song but I'll listen to these demos months later and the best ones will get short listed for inclusion on an album. Sometimes I'll be lucky and get more than one song idea from the same session - “St John” and “Non Profit” from the new album were both song ideas from the same day.

Over the years you’ve played in quite a few bands. How would you say being a solo artist compares to that? 

Well I like the freedom to spend more time on writing and recording and less time on rehearsing as a solo artist. There are also fewer arguments! But nothing can beat playing live with a band, it's much more fulfilling than standing up there on your own. And having others around you also takes the pressure off the performance.

What kind of impact did the pandemic have on your music?

It's certainly made it harder to get the music to new fans without being able to gig, but I'm very lucky that I've been able to keep working outside music and being at home more gave me the time to complete the album earlier than I might have done otherwise. I've really missed going to other people's shows though, so can't wait for things to get back to normal.

Now that live shows are starting to happen again and people are getting out more, what are your plans for the near future?

I'll likely be joining in with some open mics in the local area to start with and see how it goes from there.. Nub Music put on a great event in 2019 with several of its artists on the bill so I'm looking forward to something similar happening again. When things are 100% back to normal (hope that isn't wishful thinking!) I'd like to put a band together for a few shows.. let's see what happens!

Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?

Just to keep checking out new bands and other artists - there's so much good undiscovered music out there! And stay safe..

(Mark J Gidden - Facebook)

Global Village Trucking Company - Smiling Revolution

Often called Britain’s answer to the Grateful Dead, Global Village Trucking Company lived the epitome of the true hippie lifestyle with the band, roadies and families all living in a commune in Norfolk in the early 70's (the BBC actually filmed an interesting documentary about this that can be found online).  During their three plus years together the band managed to record one album, but unfortunately by the time the album was released the band had called it a day.  Smiling Revolution is a two disc anthology and includes a remastered copy of that album along with bonus tracks that include their contributions to the double live album Greasy Truckers Live at Dingwall’s Dance Hall and a few recorded for John Peel’s show.  First and foremost there is a quirky, free spirited element of fun here, something that is apparent from the get go with the upbeat and extremely infectious opening cut “Judgement Day” and while they do have a bit of that Dead-like jam band vibe they mix it up with piano driven pub rock, some soulful blues, honky tonk country, psychedelia and even some prog elements (“Short Change Tall Story”) resulting in a sound that is familiar but still refreshingly their own. Rounding out this anthology is an excellent 28 page booklet full of pictures and an outstanding essay on the band.   

(Cherry Red Records)

Interview with Elephant

The recently released debut EP from Rotterdam's Elephant is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  I recently did an email interview with the band where we covered their time in a Fleetwood Mac theatre show which actually led to their formation, the impact of covid, working with a member of DeWolff as producer and more.

Can you tell me who the band members are and what they play and also give me a little band history?

Elephant’s band members are: Frank Schalkwijk (vocals, guitar), Michael Broekhuizen (vocals, guitar, bass), Bas Vosselman (vocals, bass, guitar) and Kaj van Driel (drums & percussion).

We’ve been playing in different bands for a long time. At one point we all played together in a Fleetwood Mac tribute show. That’s where we grew close and decided we wanted to start a band. Because of the pandemic and the lockdown, the band became almost a religious exercise.

How does your songwriting process tend to work?

We have a very organic way of working in which all four of us contribute. Most of the time one of us has a riff or a hook and we start jamming on it. Then someone takes it home and writes a second part. We then develop it further in the rehearsal room. We don’t limit ourselves to our instruments. For instance, Kaj often plays guitar during songwriting. It’s always about the song, never about who plays what.

Your EP was produced by Pablo van de Poel from the band DeWolff. How did you hook up with him and how was the experience with him producing?

Pablo is an absolute legend. We already knew him and figured he would be the best match for our music. We recorded on tape which gives our songs the sound that we want.  Pablo also has great ideas to lift the songs to another level and always goes for that extra mile.

There are three of you that sing lead vocals along with some outstanding harmonies. How do you decide who sings lead on what song?

The song actually decides whose vocals should be lead. We all have different styles of singing, and most of the time it quickly becomes clear whose voice fits the song best.

Was it odd putting out an EP without really being able to test the songs much live due to covid?

Very odd! The pandemic made us grow closer as friends because the band is all we got. It has become a therapeutic activity for us. So in that sense the pandemic helped. However playing live shows is what we all love to do the most. We really miss that. For shaping and testing the songs we wouldn’t know, because we didn’t have much opportunities yet…

You have some various live performances on Youtube with alot of great tunes not on the EP (I absolutely love “Hometown”). I know the EP is just out, but do you have any plans for recording any of those songs and was there any reason you didn’t go ahead a record more for a full album instead of an EP?

Most of those songs are newish. The EP was recorded a year ago so we simply didn’t have them yet. However there is a rumour that we have just recorded our full length debut album ;)

You have a couple of really cool animated videos for “Bird’s Eye View” and “Never Know It’s Real”. Can you tell me a little about those?

Thanks! They were made by friends of ours. Cox Janssen did “Bird’s Eye View” and Emile Maigyte did “Never Know It’s Real”. We gave them total freedom to do what they want. I think that worked out really good. Maybe in the future we’ll work with them again.

How is the Dutch music scene?

Up till the pandemic it was very much alive. Great festivals, great venues and all that.

We’re hoping that things will be as they were soon… In the meanwhile, be sure to check out a live show of DeWolff or The Dawn Brothers on youtube, they really are amazing.

I read that a couple of you were involved in something called Fleetwood Mac: The Incredible Story from The Cosmic Carnival. Can you tell me a little about that?

We all were! It was a theatre show about Fleetwood Mac. We played all the songs starting with the legendary Peter Green and Jeremy Spence songs, and ending with the success of Fleetwood Mac up until this day. The show was a big success in Holland. We had such a good time zooming in on Fleetwood Mac, they’re such a diverse band! Truly one of the greatest of all time.

Are any of you involved in any other projects at this time?

Nope. Elephant is all we got. This way we can give the full 100%!

I know people can listen to the EP on Spotify but I didn’t see anywhere online where people can buy physical copies. Is there somewhere for them to go to order one if they are interested?

They can message us on Facebook or Instagram. Or email us at : info@elephantmusic.nl

Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?

Did you know the Elephant Song by Kamahl?

(Elephant - Facebook)

      

  

 Classix Nouveaux - The Liberty Recordings 1981-83

Following the demise of X-Ray Spex in 1979, two members of the band (Jak Airport and B.P. Hurding) joined forces with Mik Sweeney and vocalist Sal Solo from the band The News to form Classix Nouveaux.  Taking inspiration from Bowie and Roxy Music, over the next six years and through several lineup changes Classic Nouveaux released three albums (four if you include the alternate version of their debut album) and alongside bands like Spandau Ballet, Ultravox, Japan and Duran Duran, Classix Nouveaux was at the forefront of the New Romantic movement.  Their debut Night People (and the slightly different eponymous US version) is a really strong release full of infectious synth driven tunes and Solo’s distinctive vocals, and even though it contained  a couple of UK hits with “Tokyo” and “Guilty” you can tell the band is still getting their footing and finding their direction at this point.  Their sophomore release La Verite found the band heading in the same direction as their debut, but they really found their sound at this point by smoothing things out a bit and resulting in the biggest hits of their career with “Is It A Dream” reaching number 11 on the UK charts.  Unfortunately on their final release Secrets the band seemed to be pushing too hard for radio hits and the album sounded way too polished and completely lost any edge they had before.  Having said that Classic Nouveaux is definitely a band that deserved more attention than they got and The Liberty Sessions is an outstanding box set that not only includes all of their releases, but also contains 24 bonus tracks consisting of b sides, extended mixes and single versions along with an essay on the history of the band from Sal Solo.  

(Cherry Red)

Interview with Megan Lacy

I recently had the chance to do an email interview with Megan Lacy about her outstanding new EP Salvation.  In addition to that we also discussed her move to Austin from California a few years, her lyrics, the plans for her next release and more.

Can you give me a little background on yourself? 

First of all, Geoff, I just want to say thank you so much for reaching out and connecting with me - it’s very cool to be able to share with you! 

I’ve always been a singer, and I started writing songs when I was a little kid - all melody, hardly any structure, and no instrumentation. I got my first guitar when I was 18, a blonde D-16 that I named Lucy, and I really started writing songs around then. My brother taught me what he knew on guitar, and he and I started playing around our hometown, a little rural gem called Volcano in the California gold country. 

I moved to Truckee when I was 20 to be a ski bum, and over the course of the next decade I met some pretty influential people on my music path. I played solo for a while before meeting my friend, Gil Gaus. Gil is a killer songwriter, and a great guitarist, and he set me on a path of really learning about songwriting. We both had a lot of opinions, and I didn’t always listen very well. When I would actually take the advice he was giving me, most of the time the songs would take some kind of turn that was really unexpected.  A couple times that turn ended up forging a totally new relationship to the song, and I started to crave that new feeling - almost like I was free from what the song had meant to me, and was able to help the song become more about the feeling it was trying to create.  Gil and I played together for about 4 years. We co-wrote the song “Salvation” together! Over a decade ago. 

You moved to Austin from California a few years ago. How do you think that move has impacted your music? 

I just can’t even iterate how impactful a move it was. My partner and I moved in search of something much bigger than what seemed to be available to us in that small town where we were, and we both got such a kick in the britches out of moving here and starting fresh.  I mean, it was hard. Neither of us knew anyone, or had any connections, and starting at the bottom can feel like a pretty big punch in the gut. But we did it. Made friends, slowly, and at one point I thought like, how come I’m not getting invited to people’s backyard song circles?  And then I realized I had to create that. So I started hosting them, and soon I was meeting all kinds of songwriters, getting invited to other people’s song circles, and just feeling involved in the experiences I was craving.  I love feeling connected to people, it’s what inspires me most.  I do tend to get a lot of material out of feeling disconnected, ironically, but I prefer the joy that comes from relating deeply with people. 

Your lyrics sound like they could come from a very personal place. Does that tend to be the case or are they more fictional? 

The emotion is always real, but the details don’t necessarily need to line up exactly with what my experience has been. When I started writing, all the songs were relatively autobiographical, but as I’ve had more and more experiences, I think I am able to draw on imagery in ways that are more in service to the emotion behind the song than anecdotal.  Sometimes the lyrics are able to say something that I’m experiencing emotionally, but have not experienced in my life. 

I think a lot of us need help getting in touch with our emotions. Maybe we even feel numb to our emotions - we’re kind of taught to suppress them, or to disown them, especially the more difficult emotions. So the feeling a song can bring is kind of a tool to help us discover those areas in ourselves that might need a little attention. The story is just a story, but the feeling it can give you ends up feeling pretty real. 

The whole EP has a really stark atmospheric sound. Is that something you already had in your head when you went into the studio or was it more the influence of your producer? 

I think Justin was very much in service to the song, and to the feeling of the song. We had used Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball as a diving off point - his idea.  Semi-stark, impactful, much more than my little record, but the intent was there.  I think his own stoicism is very much a part of this record.  I certainly didn’t want a lot of bells and whistles, and what ended up being on the record I needed to feel solid. 

I had played the songs for so long as a solo performer, that when it came to developing them with other instruments, I didn’t really know what to imagine. All I knew was that I didn’t want the instruments to cave in on the song. I wanted there to be a lot of space in between everything - like I wanted it to feel like you were in a room with the song being played, and you could walk around in between the instrumentation.  Justin was well aware of this, and naturally has such a sonic understanding that everything he did seemed to create more and more space, and for me it helped to deepen the solidity of the sound.  It feels like a stepping stone to me - like I can stand on it for a second before I jump off again. 

Instrumentally “Watch This” is one song that really stands out to me, especially the really cool percussion. Can you tell me a little more about that song? 

Right on, Geoff! Well, it was the last one we developed in the studio - we had brought the others along, and sort of didn’t have too much of an idea of how to move that one forward and make it stand apart from the others.  It’s a really slow mover, and I suggested banjo, thinking that it could have some weird effect that we weren’t expecting, but that idea quickly got nixed. 

The four of us sat around, and Justin picked up the dobro, and I was like, Oh yeah, that’s gonna be it.  Aaron picked up this wooden conga that his dad, who is a luthier at Collings had designed and built for him. Chris sat down at the Wurlitzer, and we started playing the song. It was pretty magical! And when we kind of figured out how it would go, we ducked in and did a couple takes, and the last one was it. That dobro solo is one of my favorite moments on the record. 

You have quite a few videos on youtube of live performances of some really good older songs.  I know some musicians don’t like to look back at older songs and just tend to record their newer ones.  Do you think we will be hearing some of those on future releases? 

I’d love to bring those songs to tape! I am really excited to move forward - I just learned so much in the process of making this first record, that I’m kinda rearing to get back in there and develop more songs.  I’m always writing, but it takes time for songs to come up, and for them to become what they want to be, so I think it’ll be cool to try to give light to the songs who have been with me the longest. (I have one little record of newer tunes that I want to put out before anything else, though…) 

I see that you have a couple of live shows listed on your website, but with the pandemic alot of live music is still shut down. Do you have any alternative plans for getting the word out there about the EP? 

Well, I think it really matters that you are helping people get the word out about their music during all this - it’s really awesome to have people listening and sharing and engaging. Thank you so much, Geoff! 

I’m hoping now that things are opening back up, I’m gonna get to do what I always planned to do, which is to play live music as much as I can.  The live music experience is such a beautiful aspect to the songwriting journey, and I think a lot of people are ready for it to come back. 

I’m in this for the long haul, and I know about slow returns, so I’ll be alright with however this path wants to roll out. 

Is there anything else you would like to share with readers? 

I’m working on getting that second record together - it’s got an Alt Country/Cosmic Americana vibe, and it’s really upbeat and positive, if you can imagine that, haha.  I’m looking forward to getting those songs out there in the world to you soon, so stay tuned!  Your readers are welcome to follow @MeganLacyMusic wherever they do their media, and I’ll keep y’all posted.  Thank you beyond words for your great questions and for this opportunity to share about the record, Geoff!

(Megan Lacy)

The Living Pins - Freaky Little Monster Children

Twenty-five years after their first release (a cover of T Rex’s “Spaceball Ricochet" on the Wheatsville band compilation The Wheat Album) Austin, Texas’ The Living Pins are back with the Freaky Little Monster Children EP.  This time around the band is comprised of original members Carrie Clark (also a member of the band Sixteen Deluxe) and Pam Peltz with some help from producer Jeff Copas and Medicine’s Matt Devine along with Brian, the drum machine.  Opening things are the slow, psychedelic garage rock groove of “Raven”, a song that virtually lulls you into a trance with it’s droning, yet infectious hooks, and “Downtown” which musically throws in a bit of a Lou Reed / Velvet Underground vibe.  The glam sound of “Jaguar” finds them picking the pace up a little with it’s definite T Rex influence coming through and closing things is “Fish and Beads” an outstanding straight ahead psychedelic rocker.  Hopefully this EP is just the beginning and we won’t have to wait another twenty-five years to hear more.  

(The Living Pins)

The Blips - The Blips

With Will Stewart leading the way, this five-piece rounded out by Wes McDonald, Eric Wallace, Taylor Hollingsworth, and Chris McCauley is a bit of a who’s who when it comes to Birmingham, Alabama musicians with bands like Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Timber, Dead Fingers, Vulture Whale and Holy Youth amongst their pedigree.  Written and recorded in late 2019 and the beginning of 2020, the album was then mixed and mastered throughout the rest of the year through texts and emails due to the pandemic.  The resulting eponymous disc is 10 cuts of raw, ragged, rootsy garage rock with some punk and pop sensibilities kinda like the bastard child of The Replacements, Big Star and The Long Ryders.