Well.......What's the crack?

Thursday, 7 November 2019

Interview with Dreddnautz (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of our interview with Tony and Karen from north east new punk rockers on the block Dreddnautz!

(Read Part 1 here)

MG: Whats the worst thing that’s ever happened to you when you’ve been playing live?
T: I got a bit drunk once - totally forgot the words. The thing is though technically it wasn’t my fault. It was at the Blyth and Tyne at a party and some woman was going round with a big tray full of these black shots. The other lads were all driving and I thought well I’ve only gotta go over the road, I’ll have a couple of them. God knows what was in them but the words just vanished. I was gone. Micky had a right go at me!!!
K: That happens to me if I have even one drink. The speed that the words come to your mind, they just slow down to the point where they’re just not fast enough for you to see them at all. It really illustrates well how drinking slows you down.
T: The difference is with me it relaxes me. A few mouthfuls of whisky gets me in the right frame of mind and helps with my one liners onstage.
MG: Another couple of daft questions: Who’s the biggest hog in the band?
T: Not us. It’s them three!
K: Have you seen the size of them? They’re about 10 foot tall…
T: They’re lager drinking, kebab eating machines!!
K: We must admit until very recently me and Tony would always go to bed with all kinds of food that we shouldn’t be eating, chocolate, cheesecake, all sorts, oh honestly we did it every night didn’t we?
T: Yeah, and I’d get a slice about that big (makes tiny hand shape)
K: We were both dead slim when we were in Collision, but over the years, we’ve both got fat!!
T: I was a stick insect 6 months ago!!

MG: Who’s the biggest poser in the band?

T: Me. Oh yes. I think you’ve gotta be. Yes a poser, I’m not a diva, although I can be, if someone doesn’t polish the head of my microphone and all that! (all laugh)

K: He does it in a cool way though, don’t you Tony?

T: 'Course I do!

K: He does it in a way that doesn’t look like he’s posing and like it just comes naturally and it actually does. He’s like that all the time.

T: Whenever the camera’s on me, I dunno I just perform naturally, so yes I’m the biggest poser in that band. But I think I’ve got to be, being a frontman.

MG: Does anyone do anything in art or music outside of the band?

K: Well I have my Khaos Clothes, where I screen print punk T shirts and shirts and customise or tie dye them. I have a shop on Etsy. I used to upcycle things in terms of using things had already been used to print on and that but now, I just print onto new things.

I also like to write and I recently published my first book on Amazon - Twizell Street - and it’s got two other books to follow it which are in progress. I’ve got numerous other books that are planned out and I just need the time to write them. I’ve made a firm promise to myself to get onto those projects but the thing is, ever since I’ve made that promise to myself, new books are coming to me! I got one the other day, I’m desperate to write it, I’ve got the whole plot written down and in my head!

T: Our granddaughter lives with us and we’re involved with a support group for people in our situation - Grandparents Plus – and they have asked you to write things, haven’t they?

K: Yes. They’re the leading kinship care charity in the UK. We went along to the local support group that they were trying to get started but it ends up the support group is pretty much just me and Tony now, (laughs) Anyway, I’ve done a couple of bits of writing for them and the Girl Guides.

MG: Tony – what do you do outside of the band in art or music?

T: Well I’ve got my own little business called Sewer Rat Art and you find that on Facebook. I do commissions for people. They’re acrylic paints on canvases of all different sizes and then once I’ve done a commission I sell limited edition prints from the original artwork. I do anything from film stars to pop stars. I’ll try anything really you know, I try not to turn anything away.

MG: Karen – who is your all time musical legend and why?

K: That’s hard to answer really. I love Gary Numan, absolutely think he’s amazing - I have from being very very young. He’s just a one off and I love Ozzy Osbourne as well. Johnny Rotten as well and the Sex Pistols. Everything he did with the Sex Pistols was just amazing. I once had a good dream about him as well (laughs). It was really innocent actually. I just dreamt I was back to when I an early teen and he just came in my house. We went upstairs and just listened to some records and he was just dead sweet and he just sat there all smiling, his young Johnny Rotten self - looking dead handsome and I just like, woah, he’s amazing isn’t he? It was dead real, it might as well have happened! It was an excellent dream that!

MG: Tony - who is your all time musical legend and why?

T: The Sex Pistols for definite 'coz I think they just changed everything. I first got into them when my brother brought a copy of the NME home or the Sounds. Johnny Rotten was on the cover and I just thought how f'kn cool is he? Then I managed to see them on Top of the Pops when they aired Pretty Vacant and I thought bloody hell, these are amazing! That was it for me, that was a turning point. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing

K: Well I’ve got this memory from when I was 9 or 10 and I remember having this old pair of jeans and sitting in the sitting room and putting loads of rips in them and adding things to them. I was thinking what can I do to make them look different and I just thought I’ve gotta do this! I didn’t know why and I can’t remember being influenced by something but it must have been the Sex Pistols on Top of the Pops or something. I got this matchbox and I covered it in buttons and I got a bit of string and I hung it off the jeans!!

MG: That’s wild man, (T: Yeah, wild man!) really original as well!

T: I used to get pillow cases off my bed at home and then I used to paint on them, Sex Pistols and things like that and cut armholes in and a bit off for the head and wear a pillow case!!

K: Did it look good?

T: Probably not no, probably looked like a sack of shit but the thing is back then you didn’t get Tshirts and stuff with band names and all the punk stuff with the Pistols on was down in London. You couldn’t get that stuff for love nor money. I used to have a neck chain with a padlock and I chucked the key down the drain and then I had to go to the doctors or something and my dad was saying ‘take that thing off your neck’. I said ‘I can’t take it off’. ‘Why? Where’s the key?’ ‘In the drain’ My grandad took me to the shed, got a saw and just sawed it off my neck!! (all laugh)

MG Who was your first crush in the music world?

K: Oh it was long before Gary Newman, you wouldn’t even know who mine was…..

T: Well we will coz you’re gonna tell us!

K: Leif Garret!

T: Fk'n hell. You’re fk'n joking!!

K: I was probably 8 or 9…I had loads of posters and……

T: You shouldn’t even have been looking at pictures of him then!!

K: ......actually I had a crush on the Fonz as well, I was in the Fonz fan club!! (all laugh)

MG: How about you then Tony, it's not Debbie Harry is it?

T: No…..

K: Who is it then? You’d better not ever have had a crush on anyone! (all laugh)

T: You’ll be all surprised. It was Sarah Jane Smith. One of the Dr Who companions, Jon Pertwee’s companion.

K: You arsehole!! (laughing)

MG: Ah but the question is though, musical crush

T: Ah… for gods sake man, lets see…....Joan Jett, I thought she looked pretty rock n roll. Or could have been Gaye Advert.

MG: They look quite similar

T: They do a bit aye, it’s the leather jackets and that isn’t it. Mind you Gaye Advert posed naked in all those old magazines, gentlemen’s magazines from the top shelf (K: Disgusting!!) Not that I ever seen it….(dirty laugh)

MG: Bit of a serious question – what do you think about politics in music?

T: I think there’s not enough bands singing about politics now but you know what it is? A lot of them are scared to say what they want in this country any more, they really are. A lot of people are and Facebook ban you at the drop of a hat!

K: It is scary to speak out on what you think. I know a lot of the things that I think are really controversial and I wouldn’t say them because I know they are. It’s difficult.

T: I think the Tories are awful, they’re terrible people. I don’t even know how they manage to stay in power.

K: There’s a lot of things to do with political correctness that you have to watch but I think they cover up some real issues that are going on.

MG: People get too easily offended?

T: Far too easily offended. It’s ridiculous I meant they’ve got these places in America, I don’t know if they’ve got them in the schools here yet, but if a kid's got too offended they take them to the free space room so they’ve got plenty of space to keep away from being offended!

K: One thing about political music as well, I think there’s a certain snobbery about it, that your music is only worthwhile if it's political and I think that its good if your music’s got a good message but at the end of the day if it sounds shit then your message means nowt!

MG: You’re playing Madison Square Gardens. Who’s supporting you and what’s on your rider?

K: I’d love a band called Blyth Power to support us. It’s one of my ambitions to see them one day but they only seem to play over London somewhere. Love Blyth power.

MG: Tony who would you have supporting?

T: Johnny Cash, I would have him there and as support band before that, Buddy Holly and the Crickets!

MG: What about a rider – would you be bothered?

T: Oh yes. I would have plenty of Jack Daniels – neat - and probably peanut butter on toast, with butter on as well.

MG: Smooth or crunchy?

T: Crunchy. It’s just like baby poo when it’s smooth!

MG: What about you Karen?

K: All I need is water with a touch of glycerine added, for my voice.

MG: What advice would you give to yourself musically ten years ago?

T: Don’t be in a fk'n band! (all laugh)

K: Forget about the shitty men, don’t even think about men! Have no relationships but get into a band as early as possible! Just do it somehow, make some wiser decisions in your life so that you can. I didn’t think that it was ever possible. I don’t think that I’m any kind of amazing singer, but I don’t think that you have to be.

T: I would say make sure that you get your point across all the time. Don’t be side-tracked by what other band members say. Make sure your point’s put across the way you want to put it across and the way you want to see things happening. If it’s true in your mind what you want to do and how you want the band to be and you know it’s the best for the band, you must do it that way. Don’t ever let your ideas get lost.

MG: What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?

T: Mine would be a Collision gig at the Flying Horse (Blyth). St Patrick's night, dunno what the year it was. We’d never played there before and we walked through the door, and you’ve got all these rough looking bastards at the bar and, they’re all looking at us thinking ‘who the hell are these?’. So we’re walking on the stage and I whispered in Micky’s ear ‘Right let’s just get this done and get the fk out of here man, look at all them all looking at us’. We started doing the sound check, ‘I Fought The law’ or something and then everybody just started tapping their feet and thinking ‘wow, these are alright!’. Then everybody’s getting on their mobile phones saying ‘get down here and see this band, they sound really good’. And before you know it, you it you couldn’t even get a rizla paper in that pub. It was so full that people were actually lined on the bar itself, stood up. There was no standing room. You couldn’t get anyone else in there. I mean if there had been a fire that night everybody would be dead! There was far too many people in there but that was a great gig.

K: I wasn’t there that night but the second time I saw Collision and the first time I really communicated properly with Tony was at the Flying Horse, which was a packed gig as well! There’s something magical about that little pub you know when there’s a band in it, it’s totally unsuitable for a band to play in but it’s amazing, it’s magic!

MG: It’s a shame it’s closed at the minute – it needs to be opened up again!

T: First time I ever met Karen was at the Flying Horse. I walked in, I was in a bad mood, always in a bad mood them days, always.

K: And that’s the best gig I’ve ever been to in my life. I remember thinking this must have been what it was like back in the day going to see the Sex Pistols in a little pub somewhere. They sounded amazing! Collision were much better then, before I joined (all laugh) They were! They were amazing, honestly, I’m totally in awe of Collision.

T: I walk in that pub, bad mood, orders a pint of lager and then I felt somebody looking at me, you know when you get that feeling? I looked over and there’s Karen, looking at me and then when I looked at her she went (mouth open stunned look)

K: It’s because Collision, to me, were like superstars, and Tony, to me, was the lead superstar!

T: I was just thinking what the hell’s she gawping at?

K: I was just thinking (starts singing) ‘long ago, and oh so far away’ (laughing) you know that Karen Carpenter song? ‘I fell in love with you before the second show’ (more laughs)

MG: How do people contact you contact to arrange a gig/book the band?

K: You can ring Tony on 07527 617403.

T: Or contact us on Facebook, either Dreddnautz the band or me or Karen direct.
MG: One last cheeky question to finish off: If you could kick out one member of the band who would it be?

K: Tony and then it would be an X-Ray Spex cover band (laughs). I can’t say anything nasty about anyone else. I couldn’t kick any of them out. I think the one Tony should kick out is me!

T: I’ll kick all of you out then it’ll be my solo career. That’s what I would do - finally do things My Way!

Thanks again to Tony and Karen for this great interview. Don't forget you can catch Dreddnautz at The Plough at Mitford this Saturday, 9th November!

Thursday, 17 October 2019

Interview with Dreddnautz (Part 1)

Music Grilll had the pleasure of catching up with local punk rock royalty Karen and Tony Houghton, AKA Karen Khaos and Sewer Rat of recently formed punk covers band Dreddnautz for a cosy Q&A session at Houghton Towers in leafy Northumberland!

We have split this interview into two parts as Tony and Karen had plenty to say!

MG: First question, to both of you, how long have you been together as a band?

T: About 10 months

K: I think it’s a bit longer than that, about a year

MG: And how did you get together? I mean the band - not you and Tony (laughs)

K: That’s another story!

T: (posh voice) I was chased…!!

K: Aye aye (all laugh) Well, basically, Collision [our old band] had all ended, which we were really upset about, and we wanted to do something else. I kept saying to Tony you should put a post up saying is anyone interested in being part of a band but he wouldn’t. So one day I put this post up on Facebook saying “does anyone want a female singer” and then Razor [bass player] got in touch. I said ‘do you want both of us?’ and he said ‘yeah!’

T: He was in Collision for a short time and our other previous band, the Pretty Anarchists He said his band, The Disagreeables, were ready to wrap it in because they didn’t feel like they were getting anywhere, just playing to one man and his dog in a pub and not getting paid. So we said we’ll give it a go but we’ll do a totally new thing and we’ll call it a totally different name.

MG: So, because they’re not here, who else apart from Razor is in the band? And what do they do?

T: Mark Foster - he’s the lead guitarist and David Frank Allan - he’s the drummer, along with Razor on bass of course. In The Disagreeables, Frank was on drums and Razor and Mark used to sing but they didn’t really like playing their instruments and singing at the same time. You know not multitaskers. (all laugh) I think they’ve been in a few previous other bands as well and I think Razor was in one with quite a bit of success.

MG: Ok great introduction to the band. Now, Tony first - What did you do musically before this band?

T: Well, I was in Collision, which I was originally in when I was 14. The rest of the band were older and had already left school. The original line up was me; Micky Oliver on drums; Kevin Walker on Guitar and Joe Judd on bass. We were Punk Rock, all the way. It was about 1979, the original days of punk. The Clash were still going – I think they had just brought out Clash City Rockers.

They practised in a church in Cramlington, right in the middle of a graveyard and always had a tape recorder set at the back of the room. They’d never have asked me in a million years but this one day, the singer didn’t turn up. They were playing Holidays In The Sun so I started singing at the back of the room and I didn’t realise the tape recorder was going recording the rehearsal. After they heard the tape back, they said ‘F'kn hell, he sounds just like Johnny Rotten!’ and they asked me in the band and that was it. All the kids in school couldn’t believe I was in a real band with people who actually play their own instruments! I used to skip school to go rehearsing in another school along the road when we first started. (lots of laughs)

K: That’s so cool Tony!

MG: Fantastic. Karen, what did you do musically before this band?

K: Well there was Collision, the Pretty Anarchists and then Collision again!

MG: We were at your first ever gig!

K: Ah, you were weren’t you? Yeah, Before that - I don’t know if this is something that should be admitted - but before I was in Collision, the only singing I ever did was in church!

T: WHAAAT???!!

K: I did do some busking, on Northumberland Street (Newcastle) but it was always God songs (good natured laughing all round) It was guitar and singing but I’ve never been a proper guitar player by any stretch, just playing a few chords. I’ve wrote my own songs since I was about 20 but they were usually God songs that I wrote or just depressing songs about how shit life was (laughs)

T: Can I just say about Pretty Anarchists though, that was like a full show not just a gig because we used to play the characters of each of the songs, we’d come on and do a couple of Clash songs and I’d be done up like Joe Strummer. It was a proper show, coz it was every 2 songs a different character would come out

MG: Didn't you have a Tardis for getting changed in?

K: Continually getting changed!

T: Yeah, we’d decorated the front of this screen like a full size Tardis. We went behind the screen and when I was on stage doing the Damned or something with my top hat on, Karen would be getting changed to do Blondie or Toyah or whatever.

K: Tony even dyed his hair behind the screen….!! (lots of laughing)

T: I did once, aye. Coz I’d already dyed it orange but the big finale was Sid Vicious and I’d just gotten my white Jacket especially for this. I had a swastika T shirt that I’d made, I just wanted to be authentic that’s all, and while she was on singing two songs, I was quickly behind the screen, pair of rubber gloves on and this black hair dye and I was like this (messing with hair) and then I came out and me hair was black and everyone was like ‘how did he get his hair black?? It was bright orange two minutes ago’??? (all laugh)

K: Pretty Anarchists didn’t last that long but we had one weekend where we did, and I know it doesn’t sound a lot, but we did three gigs that weekend - Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon but with the performance that we were putting on, man, we were backwards and forwards. It was really, really hard work.

T: We all had about 7 different sets of clothes in the back (K: It was like doing a bloody pantomime!!) so that’s like 14 costume changes and every one of them gigs we did was absolutely ram packed!

K: It was really good but we were shitting ourselves, you know? We’d only just kinda gotten the whole act together….

T: We did it once in rehearsals, a dress rehearsal, and then that was it - we did the Ashington cricket club and it was f'kn nerve wracking like!

K: The adrenaline we had to have!

T: We had sound effects for that as well, loads of little soundbites in between each act.

MG: So what’s different about Dreadnautz, say compared to Collision and Pretty Anarchists?

T: We all wear ties!

K: Well, what we’re hoping to do really is take some of the best bits of Collision and the best bits of Pretty Anarchists and still kind of hold onto them but create something new with them as well.

T: We’re trying to deliver a real authentic experience from the punk era. We’ve talked about doing something along the lines of the Pretty Anarchist‘s changing costumes thing coz it used to draw a lot of crowds and the feedback after that at them gigs was like “I loved the way it was like Stars in Their Eyes - I didn’t know who was coming out next!” And they literally didn’t know. They didn’t have a clue, did they? And afterwards they all said that was great. Nobody else was doing that kind of thing.....

K: I think we should do that again!

T: Oh and can I just say the difference with this band is we’re trying to not do the same songs as a lot of other cover bands. And if we do do the same songs, we’re trying to do them slightly different. Like the way we do the start of Anarchy in the UK and we do a Madonna and Sex Pistols mashup with it! We’re trying to add different things to it all the time and another thing we were toying with doing the odd gig where we just specialise in one band. So Karen would do half X Ray Spex with the band and then I'd do half The Clash or The Pistols, so a full set but just a bit different.

K: Really, I just want to be in an X Ray Spex cover band to be honest (laughs) but I don’t think that’s ever gonna happen

MG: Is that where the kazoo comes in instead of the saxophone?

K: Well actually, I just always wanted to play the kazoo in a jazz band and I never got the chance. People think it’s a clever gimmick but really I just wanted to fulfil that dream!

T: It works though! Plus we want to write more original material as well.

MG: So the majority of stuff you do is covers but you do your own stuff as well?

T: Yeah

MG: So at one point in the future do you see yourselves being able to do whole gigs of your own stuff?

T: Yeah maybe, that might be a good idea one day

MG: Tony - What's your guilty secret?

T: Wellll….I like to dress up as Captain America of a night time…(laughs), nah… my guilty secret… I collect 12 inch Marvel figures. Karen calls them dollies 'Oh, he’s in there playing with his dollies again' and I’m like 'They're not dollies, they're fine sculpted figures, that’s what they are'!! And I read comics a lot when she’s not looking!

MG: Karen - What's your guilty secret?

K: I don’t know (turns to Tony) what do you think it is?

T: Well I don’t know, do I? It's meant to be a secret!!

K: I do like some Christian rock music actually, I like a band called The Altar Boys and a band called White Cross which is probably a bit of a guilty secret like I must admit. (T: F'kn hell!!) but I do like Lady Gaga as well and, actually I was just thinking about this yesterday but she, long before I was in Collision, was my first spark of inspiration to ever want to do something like that. Not that I thought it would ever happen but I was watching Alejandro video and she’s hardly got anything on and there’s all these men and they’ve hardly got anything on (T: Ooo, I’ll have a look at that!!) I just thought I wish I could just do something like that or something expressive anyway and it just really stayed with me but I don’t suppose I’ll ever go naked on stage or anything!

MG: Tony - you’ve probably already been naked onstage?

T: Yeah man - I’d have my top hat there, hide my modesty!

MG: Who writes your original songs? And what is the song writing process?

T: (posh voice) Well, I tend to write them all, you know being the head songwriter and that. Don’t I Karen? (K: No, I do!) and I’ll allow you to come in now and again with an idea! (all laugh) No, Karen’s the song writer. I’ve been busy writing songs and every time I come up and say ‘Oh look, I’ve been working on a song’ and I sing it to her, she goes ‘mm…..right’ and that’s all I get!

K: It’s always, ‘I’ve got this new song!’ and it’s the same tune as the last bloody song and they’re not really tunes! (laughs) The process is, I pick up the guitar and I just start strumming a chord and then I just put a few together and it just comes out!

T: That Disposable one [track on EP] came out quickly didn’t it?

K: Actually yeah, that was an unusual one because I didn’t do the tune on the guitar but I did do the tune in my head. I never know what I’m going to write the song about, I never have any idea, I’ll just singing some random words and it turns into something. It just kind of evolves.

T: It’s a great song though, that Disposable one. Great sound to it, really good.

MG: What bands are you into, you go to see or listen to?

T: I just listen to a lot of the old stuff. I do try and hunt down different versions of things you know. I listen to the Pogues a lot. Oh, and that was another band I used to be in, called the Rogue Pogues, obviously a Pogues cover band - I was Insane McGowan instead of Shane McGowan (Laughs)!

K: I love Ozzy Osbourne

MG: Here’s a daft question. Dreddnautz: who’s the laziest in the band?

K: Bloody Tony I think (Laughs)

T: You're f'kn joking! (More laughs)

K: He never learns anything!

T: I don’t need to learn it coz I already know it!

K: No. He doesn’t always know it……..

T: I haven’t got time!! I think all of you lot are lazy. And very picky. And pointing fingers at one person in particular all the time. F'kn hell! Ooh just wait till I get my own band!!! (all laugh)

MG: And what have Dreddnautz got coming up?

T: We’ve been asked to go back to The Tavern (Blyth) on the 19th of October. It’s a Saturday night; and then we got asked to play at the Plough Inn at Mitford on the 9th of November, that’s a Saturday night as well. Our new EP will be on sale and there'll be a few surprises so make sure you come along!

Thanks Tony and Karen. We, here at Music Grilll think it’s a damn good idea to get along to those gigs over the next couple of weeks if you can! These lot are great live! In the meantime check out the band’s links and we’ll see you back here for Part II of our Dreddnautz interview session soon!

TO BE CONTINUED................

Thursday, 30 May 2019

Nothin2Heavy - N2H EP

A couple of weeks ago a message dropped into Music Grilll’s inbox from Tim of Nothin2Heavy asking if we fancied reviewing their soon to be released new EP. Daft question of course - bring it on!

The three piece originate from Manchester with the band being made up of Jamie (guitar/vocals) Tim (drums) and Jac (bass). I’d resisted temptation to do a bit of research before diving in so the sound that burst from the speakers after enthusiastically pressing the play button wasn’t quite what I was expecting but the raw, grungey Nirvana-esque angst quickly grabbed – and held - my attention.

The EP has 4 tracks – Stranger Danger, Cool Kids, Reject and Hate Me. The tracks are short and sharp, more than palatable (even at 7.30am) and warrant at least two plays at a time! I would be pushed to pick a stand out among them – all 4 did it for me in equal measures.

You’ll see on the band’s Facebook page that the lads have a pretty impressive gig list for 2019, which is taking them all over the place: London, Leeds, Sheffield, Stockton and beyond! This band is in demand so make sure you check them out and see them at a venue near you soon!

The good news for you lovely people is that the EP is set for general release on CounterCult Records tomorrow – yes that’s right you can get your very own copy from Friday, 31 May!

Get yourself over to Nothin2Heavy's Facebook page for details of how to purchase this sonic gem and drop them a like while you’re there.

Do it and enjoy!

Sunday, 28 April 2019

Wulfe Adams Interview

Caught up with local Northumberland singer/songwriter Wulfe Adams at the Commissioners Quay in Blyth last night. We talked about his thoughts on music, politics, AI and beyond plus his up and coming EP which he is in the process of recording ready for release in the coming months.

Following his Easter Monday live session on Koast Radio's Unleased show with DJ Caz Thompson, we asked Wulfe if he’d like to be the guinea pig for our new format Music Grilll blog and, as he’s never one to turn down a challenge, he was happy to oblige!

Music Grilll: Easy one first, where do you come from?

Wulfe Adams: I come from Wallasey on Merseyside. Originally it was in Cheshire but now it’s part of Merseyside. It’s a bit like Gateshead is to Newcastle in terms of it’s just across the river from Liverpool.

MG: So you go over on the ferry? The ferry across the Mersey?

WA: It is, that’s exactly where it is (laughs) I’ve been across the Mersey on that ferry more times than I care to think of!

MG: So how long have been together? (oops – band question!!)

WA: As a band? I’ve never been together (laughs) I’m completely out of it!! No, I think I’ve been a bass player slightly longer than I’ve had teeth so…….

MG: Well that might lead us into the next question - What did you do musically before this project?

WA: Before this project I was involved with a band called Blue D13SEL as their musical director and bass player. That came to an end in August 2018 with a rather good gig at the O2 Academy in Newcastle organised by Clemmy Scotswood. It was rather excellent night but I had to move on at that point and decided to start working on much more of my own original material, working with my wife, Kath, on lyrics and putting together our own original material and some new arrangements of some relatively well known tracks, so that’s where we are at the minute.

MG: When and where was your first ever solo gig?

WA: As Wulfe, my first full solo gig would have been down at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead - probably a couple of years ago - for a private party, an engagement party in fact but prior to that as sort of solo, I played various folk clubs and acoustic sessions probably for 10 years or that kind of timeline.

MG: (another band question fell in the mix!) Who is the biggest hog in the band?

WA: That would be me, even if I was in a band it would still be me and given that I am the band it’s all me! So we’ve got a band of pigs! (laughs)

MG: You’re playing Madison Square Garden – who is supporting you and what’s on your rider?

WA: *Much hmmmming and scratching of head* Such an unfair question!! Who would be supporting me? I genuinely dare not answer that question I’d offend so many people! (laughs) As for the rider, world peace!

MG: A bowl of world peace?

WA: (Laughs) Yes, I’ll have a large box of world peace please!

MG: What do you think of cover songs and which one(s) do/would you do?

WA: I think with covers it’s important to invest yourself in the song or invest the song in yourself. Just playing what somebody else has played is not really the ethos that we should be trying to achieve, this is about creativity, this is about originality and so when I’ve played covers I’ve always tried to a greater and lesser extent, depending on what the track is, to try and imbue it with something different and a different way of playing it, maybe occasionally introducing new lyrics if I think they’re appropriate or playing it a different style. I quite like playing cover tracks because there’s some very good music out there.

MG: Do you find it stretches yourself musically?

WA: It can do because it might not necessarily be a style I’d play myself. For example we did a version of James Bay’s Hold Back The River and the guitar line actually worked quite nicely on the bass and there was a sort of challenge to making that work. I think it changed the nature of the track just enough so that people recognised it and enjoyed it for what it originally was but just placed it into a slightly different sonic spectrum.

MG: How do you feel about politics in music?

WA: I think in all honesty politics is everything and there is no aspect of human life that isn’t in politics. Politics decides how we agree to live with each other and how we function within that agreement. Music could easily be seen as a microcosm of that framework and I think its important as a statement of whatever we do that we should not be afraid of reflecting our opinion of politics, what’s happening in the world, why we’re doing what we’re doing and why we shouldn’t be doing what we’re doing. All these things are really an important statement by any art form and music in its own right has a part to play in that.

MG: Other than your solo project, what else do you do musically?

WA: As a sound engineer, I’m interested in the technology behind sound, the history of music, how it’s come to its current form and where it might go next. There’s a lot of very interesting material going on with the inception of artificial intelligence. I heard a recent interview with a well-known jazz guitarist. They’d used some of his material to teach an AI and he was hearing his own material coming back to him through the AI but then it did something different that he wouldn’t have thought of and so he adopted that and then reintroduced that and there’s a very interesting growth potential there. Having said that, there is also some negativity in the context, and this is back into politics, with certain attitudes within the music industry, we could easily see a situation where they felt they could maybe do away with the musician under those circumstances and that’s something that we need to be very aware of, keep an eye on, you know? Interesting, very, very interesting times moving forward.

MG: Who is your all time musical legend and why?

WA: Oh so many….pick one? I’m literally tossing a coin at the moment but it would have to be a three headed coin (laughs). It would be between Peter Gabriel and Dave Gilmour versus Roger Waters. Roger Waters, I’ll say he can be very aggressive and very earthy in his approach to politics. I respect that and I find it very refreshing but Dave Gilmour’s ability with the guitar, his lyricism with the guitar is just unending but Peter Gabriel’s lyrics are to die for and his ability to move through different genres and offer some very, very deep and meaningful material within those songs is astounding. All three, sorry I can’t make a decision on one.

MG: What advice would you give to the you of 10 years ago?

WA: JFDI! Just do it. Because at the end of the day music is at the core of everything that happens and you’ve got to make it happen. As simple as that. Don’t second guess yourself. Just get on with it.

MG: How do you prepare mentally for a gig?

WA: Just make sure that I’ve practised hard. I think the truth of the matter is there comes a point where you’ve got to feel comfortable with what you’re going to play - that’s obvious - but then there comes a point equally where you’ve almost got to get your mind off it. I do suffer from nerves and anxiety before getting up on stage. I think anybody who doesn’t isn’t living in the real world and I don’t think I’d ever like that to go away but in terms of preparation it’s just making sure that everything that can be done has been done before putting a foot on the stage, really as simple as that!

MG: What have you got in the pipeline over the next few months?

WA: What we’re basically going to do is pull together 4 tracks and push that out as an EP. We’ll do a launch and invite some people to enjoy and participate and get some marketing done as part of that process. The timelines are all pretty tight at the minute with various other projects that are going on in the world but get some more radio shows put in, there’s going to be some bits and pieces of live stuff to facilitate that and then ultimately get this material out as a CD and principally electronic digital deployment. There’s a whole world out there who can listen to what where doing so let’s give them the opportunity to do that.

MG: Ambitions?

WA: On the back of the EP we’ll be pushing forward with an album and really keeping moving that kind of material forward over time but then expanding that out into some new project lines that I’m thinking about. I mean there’s some concept album material which I’d like to explore and really expand my range out into more electronic and ambient material.

Thanks so much for that Wulfe. Great to see you and looking forward to that launch party/gig!

(Since the interview we’ve heard from Wulfe and that’s likely to be in June or July. We’ll keep you posted as to when that will be once we have a date).

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All Photos (c) Clemmy Scotswood