This entry is part 10 of 19 in the series NewBreed
Mod haircuts, short jackets, pointed boots, hipsters, cufflinks, r&b, freakbeat, style and passion: this is what you find in The Jaybirds nest. The Jaybirds were born in Vienna in 1989 and have had the same line up (except for a guitar player replacement in 1994) all the time. The Jaybirds were unanimously acclaimed as the coolest mod band in Europe in the “authentic side” mods and r&b/freakbeat-scene. Equally lovers of white & black 60’s music, we can find them playing Skip Bifferty to Sorrows or Sam Cooke to Joe Tex masterfully.
1. Who are the members of your band and what do they do?
Bernhard Gold: vocals, harps, Patrick Nagl: guitar Norbert Payr: vocals, guitar Thomas Schmitzberger: drums, percussions Markus Zöchling: vocals, bass guitar
2. How did you guys meet and what drove you to make music together?
We (Thomas, Markus and Bernhard) met in a graphic arts school in Vienna in 1989. We started making music together when someday we found out by chance that we are all desperately in love with the RnB sounds of Manfred Mann, Animals, Yardbirds etc. And back in 1989, please believe us, there was nothing else we could be fond of… Patrick joined in 1994 and Norbert came in 1995. So by this time we were already known and we did a lot of shows and tours.
3. Where are you from and where are you based?
We are all from and still live in Vienna, Austria.
4. How would you describe the style you play?
In short: Freakbeat (authentic Sixties-style). In long: any style from 64 to 68. Depending on the mood we’re in, who’s playing lead guitar, who wrote the song…
5. What are your live shows like?
Mmmhhh, hard one… We try hard to treat our instruments and ourselves bad _ and hope that everybody likes our music. So there is a plan which we call, ‘the Set’ but we do not stick to it very strictly. We are definitively a no-stage-diving band. More relaxed. Cool?
6.What are your main influences in music? Who do/would you play covers by? And who do you despise?
We are influenced by all kinds of Sixties bands, Sixties culture in general, we only have covers of Sixties bands.
7. What are your main influences outside of music?
Literature, films, art, history, philosophy…
8. How many official recordings have you done? How many released? Where can they be found? And who write your songs and what subjects do you deal with?
Three LPs, some 7” EPs and we have songs on some compilations.
9. What’s the favourite song of yours currently?
There is still so much to discover that it always changes…
10. How would you describe the current underground scene? Do you participate?
There are a lot of events now, so we participate as much as we can, we love those parties with great bands and DJs, girls, alcohol etc. and we enjoy to meet all the people again also that we know for so many years now, the entire thing is this same feeling and life-style in common, but there is still a lot of plurality and great individualism.
11. What has been the biggest challenge to date?
Our biggest challenge was of course our support gig for the Rolling Stones, ‘Ah, here they come bringing up this old story again!’ at a local airport near Vienna in front of 80,000 people. We won a battle out of eight bands hosted by a famous Viennese club called the Chelsea and because of a video that was sent to the management of Stones we were happily chosen by them or by the Stones themselves (something that we still believe in to this day). Actually it was an open-air concert on the biggest stage you can imagine and all the business there was crazy with all the huge trucks just for the stage-equipment and so on… But when we arrived there with our old VW-van (1975 or something like that), the stage manager was a bit taken aback for a second but after he collected he’d asked us if this is definitively all? What it was – just three amps and a drum kit. And us of course.
Unfortunately we did not get any money out of this which was ok for us back then (xxxx!!! – just imagine this: if anyone of these 80.000 visitors just have given us one EURO!?) but what’s still nagging us is: that after all we did not have the chance to meet anyone of the Stones personally.
But to be honest finally we are really happy that we had the chance to play a lot of venues in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia.
12 How often do you Rehearse? Play Live? Record?
Currently, once a week. We play as often as we get booked (though we do not really work hard on contacting people all the time and being a pain in the arse to get booked again) See Q15!
13. What do you think of the music coverage in the modern media?
That’s an issue in Austria in general, life is not easy for a musician here, even for the best or most commercial ones and of course for all the underground bands here. But it got better during the last ten years. Now there is a great guitar-pop scene with all their web, radio and tv possibilities which enables huge followings and is comparable to any other countries scenes nowadays.
14. Do you rate any other current bands?
All sixties-orientated or sixties-influenced bands are our favourite bands. Especially in Austria where we have (had?) the Incredible Staggers, Wild Evel and the Trashbones and the Attention.
15. Who and where would you most like to record and why?
With an endless budget in the background (that we haven’t), at Jorge’s.
16. What should we expect from you in the future? What are your plans and ambitions?
We’ll try to write new songs (some more of this I-love-you-and-you-love-me-not shit), to go into the studio again to do another record this year, to do some more gigs etc, yeah… P.S. fortunately you did not ask about our interests which would be still: sex and alcohol!
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
This entry is part 11 of 19 in the series NewBreed
Being a savage kid lost in an era of uninspiring music the Staggers’ frontman, Wild Evel, teamed up in 2008 with part of former teenbeaters the Roadrunners and a fuzzface to form a supergroup, providing serious garage punk at it’s best! Take some of Billy Childish’s trashy guitar solos, some of the Miracle Workers’and The Stomachmouths’ catching melodies, add the ‘three-finger organ’, invisible monsters and cavemen and you know what these guys are up to! LET’S GO RIGHT NOW!!!!
For sure the Trashbones have their roots in the 1960s U.S. garage punk, when teenagers started playing their own music, delivering their own ideas and ideals through tight and catchy lyrics telling the conservative society, “here we are”!
The sound, that these proto-punks produced is the same sound of the five Austrian freaks – succinct fuzz-guitars, farfisa organ, furious drumming and wild, howling vocals that represent a 100% hi-octane Rock‘n’Roll attitude.
1. Who are the members of your band and what do they do?
Sometimes we have Guests: Buddy Grabner – Saxophon (played for Screaming Lord Sutch) BJ Jaybird – Harp (The Jaybirds)
2. Where are you guys from?
I’m right outta the dirty swamps of Vienna town and the rest live in the sewers of Fuzzville, Graz. So we are from schnitzel county, Austria.
3.How did you guys meet and what drove you to make music together?
When I played with the incredible Staggers we played somewhere in the backwoods of Austria together with a very young band called the Roadrunners! I was amazed by the youngness and primitive garage R&B sound of that band! After that evening we became friends. Berni, Pauli and I decided one drunken night out to make a side project band. Then Murphy Morphine also joined the band. He was a friend for years. Got to know him through the Staggers as well! he was a fan back then and we became friends. I didn’t even know that he could play guitar till I heard his monster fuzz riffs. We had had different bass players thus far. What was a side project in the beginning is now my main band. The incredible Staggers are not playing anymore.
4. Where are you now based?
We are Fuzztronauts from hyper fuzz galaxy FZ-2 and we are based on planet Earth an the moment to Corrupt the human Teenagers to be primitive garage punks!
5. Are there any other bands you’d recommend from your area? Why?
The Jaybirds – R&B/Beat from Vienna, The Attention – Beat from Vienna , Dee Cracks – Punk from Vienna, Dave and the Pussies – Surf, The Slapbacks – Rockabilly, The Shirley McLaines – All Girl Punk from Innsbruck, Bat Man & Robin – Lo-fi Trash from Innsbruck, The Surfaholics – High Octan Rock and Roll from Bregenz….
Cause we like them and/or they are friends.
6. What’s the 60’s/underground scene like where you’re from?
There is a little scene, but sadly not to good. People are coming to the shows but there are not to many parties to join on so we have to make them ourselves. I don’t know why people nowadays like so much crap…
7. How would you describe the style you play?
6ts Neanderthal Punk!
8. What are your live shows like?
Let me say it with Phil Istine’s words, “The shows they have done in the past couple of years have been talked about by many. Wild, outstanding, sometimes legendary…” or with the words of Lutz from Soundflat Mailorder, “A tough and trashy fuzz guitar sound, screaming melodies and the ‘three-finger organ’ all add up to a rough, yet stylish Garage band, whose gigs are already legendary…”
9. What are your main influences in music? Who do/would you play covers by? And who do you despise?
A. Influences reach from well known 50′s Rock & Roll crypt kickers in the likes of Screaming Lord Sutch, the Wailers and the Trashmen over underrated 6T’s Garage losers and Beat nuts such as the Lyrics, the Tasmanians, the Gentlemen, Shadows of Knight, Moving Sidewalks, the Sonics, ? Mark & the Mysterians, the Remains, Downliners Sect, Paul Revere & the Raiders or nerdy Rock’n'Roll losers like King Uszniewicz to surfing zombies like Dick Dale, the Ventures, Los Straitjackets to Knights of Fuzz from the 80′s, 90′s and now – or in other words fuzz pounding, organ grinding, bass crawling, bone crushing & spine bending freaks…
B. We cover ‘Were You Gonna Go’ from Art Guy, or ‘Black Cat’ from Shapes.
C. All those indie bands that came out in the last years, people have no style anymore! They try to make music for everybody and everything. Thats what they look and sound like and all the rest of the pop music stuff and what there is.
10. What are your main influences outside of music?
11. How many official recordings have you done? How many released? Where can they be found? And who write your songs and what subjects do you deal with?
We released three 7’s. Two more are being produced right now, we just released our first album on Sound Flat and Wohnzimmer records on 17/02/2012 you can buy the album and maybe some of the singles online in mail-order stores and in good record shops and of course you can get the stuff directly at our shows!
I write the lyrics and Murphy the music and also Pauli and Berni are coming up with tunes! But the process is happening in the rehearsal room – somebody comes up with a riff and then we get it into shape.
12. What’s your favourite song in your repertoire currently? What’s your favourite song by another artist?
My faves are the breaks! haha… I don’t mind plain ‘Oh Yeah!’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Caveman’, ‘Why Can’t We Be’, ‘Rumble the Streets’.
13. How would you describe the current underground scene? Do you participate?
Yeah, we are 3 DJs in the band. We organise other shows and gigs… the scene is not big! We would prefer if other people would set up more cool happenings.
14. What has been the biggest challenge to date?
Getting up early in the morning! Finding new bass players!
15. How often do you Rehearse? Play Live? Record?
I don’t rehearse too much with the band cause I live in an other town! Maybe once a month I’m with ‘em, but we play way more often. Maybe 3-8 times a month – we record about once a year – depends how much new material we have.
16. What do you think of the music coverage in the modern media?
In the big channels in Austria they only play mainstream stuff, pop music or something… I don’t listen to radio. I don’t watch music channels, there is nothing that gives me a kick!
17. Do you rate any other current bands?
We like the Masonics, the Mentalettes, the Monsters, the Jackets, Wau y los Arrrghs, the Phantom Keys, the Fumestones, Thee Vicars, King Salami and the Cumberland 3….
18. Who and where would you most like to record with and why?
With the Lochness Monster on the planet of the apes!
19. What should we expect from you in the future? What are your plans and ambitions?
More wyldeeee Neanderthal Punk! Two upcoming 7’s and working on the 2nd album!
20. What can we expect from your Le Beat Bespoké 8 performance? What have you got in store for us?
We’ll tear that whole place down! It’s gonna be mental and insane… We’ll bring even Buddy Grabner who played saxophone for Screaming Lord Sutch as a special guest!
We are totally looking forward to a marvellous night out in london town!
*We can vouch that the answer to question 20 was 100% correct!
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
Band Members: Stepher W. Parsons, Chris Spedding, 16, Andy Newmark, Guy Pratt
Engineer: Jarrad Hearman
Label: Steamhammer
Release Date: Nov 8, 2011
Loud, powerful and worthy of the cast behind this. I think I saw Glen Matlock from the Sex Pistols in our NUTs promoted gig of theirs. Snips (aka Stephen W. Parsons) from Sharks, the early 70’s too often forgotten nugget, leads this outfit. It’s Hard Rock with elegant saloon guitars, think Jimmy Page gone Swing. It’s got 5 stars average customer reviews from Amazon and apparently there’s only one more copy left on vinyl. I worked with Steve Parsons myself, he worked as a producer in one of my singles. I know his influences and I can vouch for their depth and exquisite precision. Sit back and be swallowed into this all-star cast’s spell. It is a great commemoration of old friends for now, but if more albums pop out of this determined guerrilla militia I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the newbie bands out there call crying.
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
With 300 appearances and counting, The Pepper Pots have moved audiences in concerts around the globe: Tokyo, Osaka, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, London, Moscow, Helsinki, Vienna, Verona, Prague, Bern, Barcelona, Madrid… Their new big soul sound draws from the sound of Motown but with a certain 21st Century twist! Eron Falbo spoke to the band as part of their LBB8 appearance!
1. Who are the members of your band and what do they do?
Adriana Prunell - Voice Aya Sima – Voice Marina Torres – Voice Luiggi King – Guitar Ireneu Grosset – Hammond, Piano Enric Fluvià – Bass Joan Vergés – Drums Tomy Muñoz – Tenor sax Gerard Xifra – Baritone sax Roger Montsant – Trumpet
2. Where are you guys from?
We’re all from in or around Girona, a vibrant small city near Barcelona in Spain.
3. How did you guys meet and what drove you to make music together?
Since Girona is a small city, everybody knows everybody else… We’ve all been in the local scene for ages. We’re all total fans of old school soul music, and that’s what’s kept us together all this time.
4. Where are you based?
We’re based in a small town called Cornella del Terri, close to Girona. That’s where we set up our own Black Pepper Studio.
5. Are there any other bands you’d recommend from your area? Why?
Certainly! At the moment that are some really good bands playing soul music in Spain. These include the Excitements, the Sweet Vandals and the Cherry Boppers.
6. What’s the 60’s and Modernist underground scene like where you’re from?
To be honest, I would say that we’ve got plenty to learn from places such as Germany or France, let alone the UK! The scene is growing all the time, but it’s nothing compared with other parts of Europe.
7. How would you describe the style you play?
Strictly Soul!
8. What are your live shows like?
Well, we really love playing live, whenever and wherever, but we’ve had great tours in places like Germany and the States and played some fun gigs in the UK. Each time we’re on the road, we realise just how much catching up Spain has to do with the rest of the world in some ways.
9. What are your main influences in music? Who do/would you play covers by? And who do you despise?
We listen to a hell of a lot of authentic American soul artists: Jackie Wilson, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Fontella Bass, Freda Payne, just to name a few… It’s no use denying that we’re massive fans of anything Motown. The artists and the productions of the Detroit label are a great inspiration.
10. What are your main influences outside of music?
We’re all great admirers of Pep Guardiola, the Barcelona coach. He’s got an amazing sense of savoir faire, a quality we really admire. On top of that, he’s a really hard and persistent worker.
11. How many official recordings have you done? How many released? Where can they be found? And who write your songs and what subjects do you deal with?
We’ve got four albums out: Swingin’ Sixties (2005), Shake It! (2007), Now! (2009), Train to Your Lover (2011) and 2 EPs: Waiting for the Christmas Light (2009) and Time and Place, featuring Eli “Paperboy” Reed (2012).
Most of them were released in Europe, Japan and the US. ‘Train to Your Lover’ also came out in Argentina and Brazil.
It normally starts with a very loose idea that one of the band has. We then work around it until we find what we’re looking for. On other occasions, someone may have a far more intricate and structured ideas. And the song almost writes itself. There are lots of factors at play. On the last album, Train to Your Lover, most of the songs were written by our guitarist, Luigi King.
12. What’s your favorite song in your repertoire currently? What’s your favourite song by another artist?
Well, I guess we might all come up with a different answer. Speaking personally as the drummer, I love ‘Fated Heart’ off our last album. If I had to choose a favourite song out of many, I guess it would have to be something like Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get it On’.
13. How would you describe the current underground scene? Do you participate?
Like I said earlier, we feel that there’s much we can learn from other countries in Europe and the UK, but Barcelona’s become a bit of an underground hub and there’s been plenty of entertaining parties and all nighters recently.
Unfortunately, it’s pretty hard for us to get into, though. Firstly, time is always tight and we spend a lot of time on the road so when you get a day off, you just want to chill out. The other thing is the 120-mile round trip to Barcelona, which often puts us off.
14. What has been the biggest challenge to date?
Without a doubt, the EP which we recorded with American Soul singer Eli “Paperboy” Reed. Our managers thought we were a bit mad, since Eli is with a large record label and, I have to say, all the non-musical stuff was not easy.
15. How often do you Rehearse? Play Live? Record?
Depends on the time of year. We tend to all rehearse as a band once a week, but we also have separate rehearsals among the different sections of the band: the rhythm section, the horns and the vocals. It all depends whether we’ve got any gigs, which will mean less time for rehearsals, or if we’re recording, in which case we’ll practice more. We often play one or two gigs in a weekend, but this also depends on the time of year. There’s plenty of work in Summer, by some of the Winter months it can get a bit slow.
We’ve generally put out a record every two years, with the exception of Time and Place, which came pretty much hot on the heels of Train to Your Lover.
16. What do you think of the music coverage in the modern media?
It’s a very weak comparison when you look at Catalonia or Spain compared to the rest of Europe or the UK. I reckon this is gradually changing though.
17. Do you rate any other current bands?
One of our current favourites and someone who is really making an impact is Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Others include Lee Fields, Charles Bradley and Eli “Paperboy” Reed. They all came out of Brooklyn, a Mecca for the old school Soul revival.
18. Who and where would you most like to record with and why?
Ha! We’d jump in our time machine to land in the Motown studios in Detroit between 1960 and 1972, where we’d play with Marvin Gaye or the Temptations.
19. What should we expect from you in the future? What are your plans and ambitions?
We’re looking at touring with Eli “Paperboy” Reed and showcasing our new record, ‘Time and Place’, live. We’re close to hooking up a couple of dates in May in Spain.
20. What can we expect from your Le Beat Bespoké performance? What have you got in store for us?
A lot of the music will be from our latest album ‘Train to Your Lover’, which we haven’t really debuted in the UK, so we’re looking forward to doing that. On top of that, we’re thrilled to play together with Soul princess Maxine Brown. This will be our third show with her and it’s always been a great privilege for us. We’re really psyched about Le Beat Bespoké 8. Hopefully it’ll be one to remember.
*The band were perfect and gave a stella performance on the Sunday night at LBB8, sadly Maxine Brown was unable to appear due to a last minute illness and we all wish her all the best! She was greatly missed! The Pepperpots did her very, very proud!
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
We brought you a showcase of the best acts that will be playing at LBB8. If you’re still unsure if you’re coming, give it a try… If you’re definitely coming, then get a quick fix. See you all there anyway!
A transcript in case you can’t understand Eron’s Jive English…
Hello everyone and welcome to NUTsCast. We’ve got a special NUTsCast for you on this third official release. Le Beat Bespoké 8 is coming up in April and all the kids are a-shakin’ with anticipation. The crowd dictated our direction and we chose just the songs to give you a taste of what’s coming in April. Sit back, enjoy your cooking, cleaning, your pipe or cigar and beautiful penthouse view of central Tokyo or dodgy dusty basement feel of suburban London. I’m gonna take you on a journey through the acts we chose for Le Beat Bespoké 8.
The Winners of our Battle of the Bands competition and possible rockabilly champions of London will open the festival on Thursday night. Jack Rabbit Slim – Listen to: Long Time Dead,
Friday night we’ll be bringing you back to the 8 hour technicolor dream in Alexandra Palace 1967… Don’t miss our revealing interview with Arthur Brown and his Surprisingly Crazy World.
A band hailed post-mortem and resurrected to shine even brighter, here’s July with Dandelion Seeds
So we’ve shown you July and we’ve shown you the crazy world of arthur brown, but there’s one more band that will be performing their classic late 60′s album live for the first time since the Hipster Golden Age, a personal favourite of mine, the Pretty Things
ANOUNCEMENT April Come She Will, so hurry and get your tickets before we sell out at www.newuntouchables.com
After the record fair and Dirt Water Records, showcases, Saturday afternoon you’ll hear the wonderful sounds of our new breed garage sensation Thee Vicars,
Before we step into the gloriously sinful night of Saturday, I bring you another personal favourite to grace our stages, Don Fardon & the Sorrows.
There’s a cherry on top of every night, that is the DJs of NUTsWorld who will be taking you into the wee hours of the morn, remember kids, it’s no use whining when the tickets have gone, times are fast and it’s all one click away at www.newuntouchables.com
I interviewed the Trashmen myself, and they didn’t have a lot to say… they were to busy screaming! Saturday night at Le Beat Bespoke 8
It’s Sad, but it’s Sunday finally. Now we’ll be testing your moves with two rooms on Sunday night, on Room A, Cataluñas Armada devastation the Pepperpots. Singing with the Pepperpots is the unforgettable Maxine Brown
On the other room A will be the garage palatable, a great European band I once had the privilege of having a bus ride with, Wild Evel & the Trashbones
Scotland’s finest will leave you with a pre-nostalgia to an undoubtably memorable event, The Poets live at LBB 8, yes, you heard me right, the Poets…
How does it feel to have heard it all and still not have a glimpse? I’m with you brothers and sisters, tickets at www.newuntouchables.com
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
What’s the current line-up of your band, how did you come together in the first place?
Current group consists of Tony Andreason, lead guitar and vocals, Dal Winslow, rhythm guitar and vocals, Bob Reed, bass and vocals and Rob Reed, drums and vocals. The original drummer, Steve Wahrer, Tony and I, (Dal), started playing together in high school back in 1957. Bob joined the group in 1962, one year before we cut Surfin’ Bird.
Steve died of cancer in 1989. Tony’s brother Mark played drums for us for several years before Rob took over about three years ago.
Were there many line-up changes along the way?
It has always been the original group until Steve died. The three of us are the original guys that started back in the early 60’s.
Is everyone in the band from Minnesota?
Bob is from North Dakota, I am from Nebraska, Tony is from Minnesota and Rob, who is Bob’s son, now hails from Florida. Steve and I graduated from the same high school in suburban Minneapolis.
Did you stay there in the 60′s or did you move to somewhere like Los Angeles or New York City after you went professional?
We have always remained in Minnesota.
What are some of your memories from playing in London in the past?
We have never played London or Great Britain before. We were supposed to do a tour in 1965 but it was cancelled after the British music swamped the U.S.
Is there going to be any interesting reissues coming out? A box set perhaps?
There is a new best of the Trashmen compilation coming out this year. Hopefully prior to our gig in London.
What do you think makes London unique, why do think rock n roll lovers flock here?
It naturally is deep in history from the Beatles and Stones to Nick Lowe, etc.
Are there any thoughts behind recording new material? What are your plans for the future?
We have given it plenty of thought but have yet to come up with any material.
What have you got prepared for us for Le Beat Bespoke 2012 performance?
Trashmen songs. Every song we play is one we have recorded in the past. Either in the studio or on live performance. All are available on the Sundazed label.
Did you participate in the recent promotions of ‘Surfin’ Bird’ by the Family Guy cartoon, iTunes and Facebook? Did you expect another surge like this and returning to the charts after so many years?
We were very excited and honored when Seth and Fox chose Surfin’ Bird for the Family Guy Episode. The song continues to amaze us by popping up periodically. It is used on TV, Movies and a couple of video games.
How does this compare to the first time you heard yourself on the radio in the early 60′s?
It is always a thrill and kind of bizarre.
A lot of people describe you as Surf Rock, do you think that is a suitable label for the genre you play?
We are categorized as Garage, Surf Rock and Punk. Mojo has listed us as one of the top Punk groups of all time…
I guess we don’t like to pigeon hole ourselves and feel we probably fit in to all three catagories…
Some would consider “Surfin’ Bird” to be the first ever example of a Punk Rock track. What is your take on that? What is your take on Punk Rock in general?
It sure was not intended to be Punk, since that term was unknown in ’63. It was simply a thing we did one night at a gig that expanded into the full Surfin’ Bird. Punk Rock is like other forms such as Garage, Surf, etc. You have some really great groups and some pretty sad ones…
On a radio show in New York Ringo said he didn’t like the Trashmen. How did you react to that and how did/do you rate the Beatles work?
We heard that remark and never gave it much thought. We were kind of stunned by the initial popularity of the Beatles but liked their sound. Did not care much for their later works…Undoubtedly, John and Paul were amazing song writers…
It seems your music was recognised by many bad boy film directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Stanley Kubrick. Do you rate their films and do you think their choices depict the true nature of the songs?
They are both highly respected directors. Always been a fan of both. After hearing first hand reports of Vietnam veterans and how they used Surfin’ Bird in the war, we were humbled by the use of our material…
We found some ‘classic tunes’ such as ‘Hava Nagila’ and ‘Greensleaves’ and were very interested in the unique idea of ‘surf rocking’ the classics’. How did this idea arise? Are there more rare releases or unreleased versions somewhere?
These were just ideas that came during practice. Malaguena was another example of this. No unreleased versions that I am aware of.
What’s the story behind the so-called “Trashmen’s Lost Album”?
This was the album we finished to be the follow up to the first Surfin’ Bird album. Our producers decided not to release since it was during the British music trend and they thought it would not be cost effective. Our ties with these goons separated due to this. We obtained all of our masters and thanks to Sundazed, the album was released about thirty years later…
We’ve heard you say that ‘Surfin’ Bird’ came up almost accidentally in a live gig at Chubs Ballroom, how was the recording process? When you saw it was a hit did you wilfully try to come up with other similar sounding tracks?
That’s true. We had heard another band do a bit of Bird is the Word in Wisconsin and thought we would just try something different one night. Steve said “just watch me for the chord changes and I’ll stop and do something bizarre in the middle”. The result was overwhelming. The DJ said we should record this due to the crown reaction. We cut a copy in George Garrett’s record store basement. Took this copy to the DJ and he said to cut down to two minutes and refine the sound. George said he would pay for the session in Kay Bank Studios, even though he hated the song. The follow up, ‘Bird Dance Beat’, did fairly well but kind of locked us into a gimmick band mold. We spent more time trying to get out of that than trying to duplicate the bird.
Do you have anything special planned for this year as we believe it’ll be the 50th anniversary of the band? Will this coincide with your Le Beat Bespoke performance?
We have a new unit coming out on Sundazed…kind of a best of the best…This is the 50 year anniversary of the Trashmen and next year will be the very same for Surfin’ Bird.
When you were playing ballroom dances in the early days did you ever expect such international admiration and success and so many long years of the band’s survival and triumph?
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
Who are the members of your band and what do they do?
Louise Turner: Vocals Mark Mortimer: Bass Scott Riley: Organ, piano, vocals Nigel Horton: Drums Tony Russell: Guitars, vocals Miri May: Vocals Donald Ross Skinner: producer, guitar Rich Skilbeck: Trumpet, flugelhorn, saxes Simon Holland: Harmonica, trumpet, flugelhorn Josh Large: Trombone
How did you guys meet and what drove you to make music together?
DC Fontana’s current line up is relatively new and we create music as a form of constant cathartic evolution designed to keep us out of the asylum as long as we possibly can.
How would you describe the style you play?
Art & soul… I think of it as melodic psychedelia copulating with earthier soul, jazz & folk vibes to create a cinematic offspring. It’s sonic medicine for poorly times.
What are your live shows like?
We never cut corners & always give an honest, 100% all or nothing effort that is value for money for these frugal, screwed up days but also, whenever we have the money, we like to make the bigger gigs more of a happening and add a whole visual ‘art & soul’ aspect to illustrate the music itself. This could mean elements of performance art, surrealism, optical decor etc and is all part of our creed that encourages us to make cool short films as well. We see ourselves as more than just songwriters and musicians and it’s why we spend so much time and money on making our records, videos and gigs up to a certain quality. We revel in working with talented photographers, dancers, painters, film-makers, graphic designers, costume makers, performance artists, lighting wizards, folk-dancers & others.
What are your main influences in music? Who do/would you play covers by? And who do you despise?
We are a sound-clash of sundry sonic tapestries woven from more than 300 years of influence and many people inspire us – some are probably obvious and a lot are not! The past may inform our present but we don’t feel the need to re-enact anything and so if we do play covers we inject our own DNA direct into their bloodstream. We’ve sprinkled our gigs with a few eclectic covers; from Morricone to World Of Oz, from Peru’s Traffic Sound to Germany’s Heidi Brühl & from the Velvet Underground to Jackie Lomax as well as Julie Driscoll & Pentangle… But there are no boundaries – I’d cover anything we felt we could add our own slant to. It doesn’t have to fit neatly into any generic bag to qualify. I try not to waste my energies on despising anything or anyone and prefer to be vibed up with positivity rather than weighted down in the misery of the gargantuan diet of rubbish the general public is force-fed on…
What are your main influences outside of music?
First & foremost, our friends and families but also I enjoy the various peripheral delights attached to creating music like the elements of art and film-making. Being in a group should be more than knocking off a few chords & lyrics – it should be an exhilarating ride and I am keen to work with people who awash with interesting ideas who can take on board our own individual personalities and help twist things. We made our ‘Six Against Eight’ video an eight-minute short film to pay homage to Pat McGoohan whereas on the more recent ‘Meshkalina’ video we wore hand-crafted animal masks while having fun exploring our love of late 60s/early 70s folk-horror movies like ‘the Wicker Man’ & ‘Blood On Satan’s Claw.’ The ‘Abbesses’ video sees us taking elements of ‘the Avengers’, “the Girl On A Motorcycle’ & late 50s nouvelle vague movies.
How many official recordings have you done? How many released? Where can they be found? And who write your songs and what subjects do you deal with?
The Contessa / Snake Charmer: 7” vinyl single (DCTone Records)
Six Against Eight: CD / mp3 album (DCTone Records)
Meshkalina / It Don’t Worry Me 7” vinyl single (Heavy Soul Records)
Meshkalina CD / mp3 EP (DCTone Records)
La Contessa CD / mp3 (DCTone Records)
La Contessa 12” vinyl album (Teensound / Misty Lane Records)
All available from www.dcfontana.com/shop.html
Subject matter varies wildly from the everyday like sex, freedom, joy and despair, unrequited love, mortality and even biscuits through to existentialism, metaphysics & the horrors of love turning violent, the ghosts of famous dead people having a mediaeval hoe-down after dark in Paris and the modern-day cult of underachieving banality. Some songs are the product of story-telling and much of it is personal experience given real animated life. Expect the unexpected.
What’s the favorite song of yours currently?
A brand new one called ‘Devilangel’ which may appear on the next album.
How would you describe the current underground scene? Do you participate?
Yes we participate whenever we can…. I personally love the diversity of peoples, clothes, tastes and styles: it mirrors our own search for the end of the rainbow.
What has been the biggest challenge to date?
Avoiding financial meltdown.
How often do you rehearse? Play Live? Record?
We are undoubtedly old school and gig frenetically; usually we play twice a week & rehearse weekly though it’s difficult as we all live so far apart.
What do you think of the music coverage in the media?
It can be summed up neatly in two famous words: shit sandwich.
Do you rate any other current bands?
As with all eras there are lots of great bands making great music across the spectrum of genre and even more people producing a great festering pile of kak. I particularly like the Silver Factory among others. The great challenge right now for all of us is to get our music heard because with the music industry imploding and the global economic difficulties I believe it’s never been as tough as it is now for people in the arts to stay afloat, let alone flourish.
Who/Where would you most like to record and why?
Recording with the strings section of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on our first record is hard to top actually – that was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done in my life but we are forever pushing the boundaries with quixotic and interesting ideas and on the next album we are planning to record one track inside a church with a choir.
What should we expect from you in the future? What are your plans and ambitions?
We are very ambitious and currently in a rich vein of song-writing; we’re corralling quite a corpulent collection of new tunes and there is a lot of music to be made yet! We will be heading into the studio as soon as we can to record new material but a lot depends on available funds because it costs us a lot for us to do the interesting things we do and everyone is struggling. I think we’ve made great strides this year and we are looking to keep building on what we’ve achieved thus far, disseminate our music as far as we can and continue to make interesting music and art. Although I find it difficult to quantify ‘success’ in this day and age we are happy with our first records – feel we’ve come a very long way in recent moons. It’s been exciting to play in so many different countries but there’s so much more we want to do; we all see our initial success as laying down a foundation for a brighter future.
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
How did you guys meet and what drove you to make music together?
Måns and Sebastian run a 60s club (99th Floor) together and they talked about forming a new band a couple of years ago. Soon Mats, from Sebastian’s previous band The Giljoteens, joined. They now had the songs and the style but they needed a young handsome, untouched bass player. Aron, of Les Artyfacts, was the man for the job. He couldn’t play bass at first but he was young, handsome and untouched for sure.
Or: We all knew each other from before and all our previous groups more or less split up at the same time so The Flight Reaction is basically the debris from The Giljoteens, The Maggots and Les Artyfacts.
No seriously, we met at a record fair. We were the only guys who weren’t fat and smelly and fought over expensive seventies prog albums with songs about unicorns. When we started talking it turned out that we all know things about women as well! Incredible where life takes us sometimes!
No really, honestly, we all met at a zoo. We lived in the same cage and then we managed to escape together. You should see us when we haven’t shaved for a couple of weeks.
How would you describe the style you play?
Garage beat ‘n’ moody sounds, with more than a hint of psychedelia. No hippie drivel or stoner shite though.
Our style is very sixties influenced, but with no obvious carbon copy stuff – it’s all our own take on it and we really go for melodies and diversity in arrangements etc. We just pretend that nothing’s happened since 1967 when we compose. That’s not very hard, since almost nothing has happened since then.
What are your live shows like?
We try to present an equal mix of super great songs with tight harmonies and more freaky excursions, without falling into that tired ‘long guitar solo’ trap that a lot of people think is the same as ‘psychedelic’. Instead we opt for just taking off into echoes ‘n’ sounds, kinda Barret Floyd style but mixed with a stronger garage groove. We’re still working on getting a lightshow aswell, but most modern venues have black backdrops and lame ‘rock lights’… Of course we dress up for the occasions as well. You won’t see us hanging from any ceilings though – the music, sounds and our good looks are the show!
What are your main influences in music? Who do/would you play covers by? And who do you despise?
Covers…
The covers we play at the moment are ‘Citadel’ by the Rolling Stones (a UK band from the sixties who ventured into psychedelia for a short while around 1967, just like The Hollies) and ‘Green Destroys the Gold’ by the Beacon Street Union. We’ve also played ‘My Time’ by The Golden Dawn and ‘Nothing Can Bring Me Down’ by the Twilighters.
Influences…
Måns: The experience… and yeah stuff the 13th Floor Elevators, New Colony Six, Silver Apples, the Pretty Things, Moby Grape, the Dovers, the Seeds, Barret Floyd, the Deep, Tages, countless (mostly US) punkadelic garage bands. A few eighties bands like the early Rain Parade, Laughing Soup Dish, the Steppes and some others also did some things that were very similar to what we wanna project with our music, methinks. Real psychedelia, and garage beat sounds, would be the short answer, I guess.
Aron: Tages, Pretty Things, the Wanted, the Smoke, St Louis Union, les Fleurs de Lys, Ronnie Bird…
Mats: The Crystal Chandelier, the Human Expression, and the Morning Dew – that type of moody psychedelia…
Sebastian: 60’s garage and psychedelia in general from bands that only mostly only recorded a 45 or two. The Dovers, Pink Floyd, Oscar & the Majestics, Electras, MG & the Escorts just to name a few.
Spitting vomit…
Måns: I hate hippie and theatre music, like Santana or the Doors. I don’t like cover bands much, like for example Led Zeppelin. I’m not into sports so I’ve never understood when people play as many notes as possible very fast.
The short answer to this question is: I like good music and hate bad music. And I am always right.
Aron: I have to say that I think Jimi Hendrix is quite boring. Overall bands/artists that play too much just to show how “skillful” they are.
Mats: Bands who are acting cool…
Sebastian: Cover bands are so boring, why bother? I mean the songs have already been done and probably much better anyway…
What are your main influences outside of music?
Måns: L.S.D.! No seriously… hehehe… life itself and all that’s going on around me. Love ‘n’ height. Nowadays I fly on memories ‘n’ feelings when tapping into those certain areas, lyricswise and so on. Magical thinking.
Aron: La belle époque, Napoleonic uniforms and 19th C mysticism.
Mats: Like everyone else I enjoy collecting 45’s and when time allows watching old movies.
Sebastian: Apart from playing, I enjoy collecting records and playing them of course. Food and wine is a great passion of mine and the good thing is that you can combine the two extremely well together with friends, playing those records.
How many official recordings have you done? How many released? Where can they be found? And who write your songs and what subjects do you deal with?
Three singles to this date. Two are released on Copasetic records in Germany and one is released on 13 O’Clock records in the US.
Where can they be found? In well stocked record stores and around that thing called “the internet”… there is something called “google” which may be helpful when looking for newly released records.
What’s your favourite song currently?
Måns: The 13th Floor Elevators ‘Roller Coaster’ and the Silver Apples ‘A Pox on You’ are always my favourite songs. Right now though I’m particularly fond of playing the Models ‘Bend Me, Shape Me’ on MGM over and over… and I keep getting blown away by Tages ‘Fantasy Island’ every time I play it…
Aron: Ronnie Bird ‘Rain in the City’, Cherry Slush ‘I Cannot Stop You’, The Wanted ‘Here to Stay’
Mats: The Mystic Tide – “Frustration”, the Raving Madd – “Boundaries” and Crystal Chandelier – “Your Land of Love” go on repeat on my record player…
Sebastian: Park Avenue Playground ‘The Trip’, Painted Faces ‘I Lost You in My Mind’, Ramases & Selket ‘Mind’s Eye’, Paul Martin ‘It Happened’
How would you describe the current underground scene? Do you participate?
In Sweden there’s not really an underground scene for what we are doing – but there may be seeds sown and when/if that’s harvested we will probably be there. We try to contribute organising clubs and spinning records from time to time. People generally love the things we are playing without necessarily being part of the small scene that we’ve got.
Good Swedish bands… Trummor & Orgel, the Fourtune Tellers, Voladoras, the Satans, Early Days…
What has been the biggest challenge to date?
To try and live in this world, surrounded by idiots.
How often do you Rehearse? Play Live? Record?
Often enough to not forget what we’re doing, haha! We’re recording at the rehearsal from time to time, when we got new songs. It’s a good way to work on lyrics and arrangements in between rehearsals. We’ve been playing live quite a lot. Gigs just kept pouring in for a while. Right now we’ve decided to concentrate on the album instead though, but if the right offer comes along we’re game!
What do you think of the music coverage in the media?
Mainstream media rock journalists probably have the easiest and most retarded ‘job’ on the planet… basic writing about whatever is ‘in’ this week and generally just making shit up in between getting drunk at free gigs. The biggest thing since the Beatles is apparently TV programmes where ‘average people’ sing washed out karaoke versions of washed out hits, so that’s what the mainstream ‘music media’ mostly write about these days.
Then there’s fantastic publications like Ugly Things, Shindig!, your own publication and so on, of course.
Do you rate any other current bands?
The Higher State and Paul Messis, Trummor & Orgel… we know there are lots more but these cats are the ones that spring to mind right off the bat.
Who/Where would you most like to record and why?
At the Abbey Road studio in ’67. Why? SF Sorrow, Piper… Or Gold Star in ’67! Or the Fenton studio! But seriously, it would be stunning to record at Atlantic here in Stockholm. It’s a huge old studio that’s been at the same location since the fifties. They still have all the old gear, including a sound technician who’s worked there since the sixties and knows all about doing analog tape phasing etc.. Masses of killer mics and tube compressors. Large recording room, looking just like it did in 1965. Way too expensive for us at this moment though. So we plan to record at our rehearsal and add vocals ‘n’ fluff in a studio run by an old friend who’s a dream to work with. It will hopefully be totally great.
What should we expect from you in the future? What are your plans and ambitions?
We would like to be the new standard bearers of a psychedelic revolution! Change the world etc – nothing less! Get rich, buy castles, invent a time machine and go back to 1966-1970 to buy records and meet Marianne Faithful. Have our own goose farm and produce foie gras. Travel in space. Lay golden eggs.
We will settle for making a really great LP though, and that’s in the works. We have a bunch of new songs and we’ve already made pre production recordings to choose songs, plan the flow and production etc. The plan is to have a good balance between live in the studio takes and whatever studio trickery we may come up with. We think that a studio album is something completely different from a live show. Live there’s the audience and the whole aspect of ‘now’. On a studio album we’ll make up for the lack of that by adding other elements instead – it’s more like a psychedelic ride though your mind, with us as the guides and non-captains!
We also have a new ’45 coming out soon, on 13 O’Clock records which may be the greatest little label in the known universe right now. It’s our take on the Rolling Stones – Citadel, backed with an original – Mourning Light. Apart from blowing you away it’ll also give you a taste of our recording philosophy… a deliberate mess! The third sound must be present and the best way to invite that is to accept chaos and just record what’s going on. Just like life itself. It’s a-happening!
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
Four twisted and bitter people, carrying out their cause through early 60s rock n roll.
Where are you guys from?
The highest rafters and the deepest pit. Where screams echo loudest.
How did you guys meet and what drove you to make music together?
Anger and lost love.
Are there any other bands you’d recommend from your area? Why?
Voola and the Jayhawks. Voola screams louder.
What’s the 60’s/underground scene like where you’re from?
Ups and downs, lefts and rights.
How would you describe the style you play?
60′s style garage with a touch of British rock n roll.
What are your live shows like?
A behind the sofa Dr Who episode
What are your main influences in music? Who do/would you play covers by? And who do you despise?
Joe Meek. Link Wray. The Renegades. John Leyton. Us? Despise?
What are your main influences outside of music?
Ice hockey. Flowers. Love songs. Vendetta.
How many official recordings have you done? How many released? Where can they be found? And who write your songs and what subjects do you deal with?
None… yet.
What’s your favorite song in your repertoire currently? What’s your favourite song by another artist?
For us, One Fine Day. The Tempests ‘Look Away’.
How would you describe the current underground scene? Do you participate?
We’ve only just begun.
What has been the biggest challenge to date?
Seeing each other on stage.
How often do you Rehearse? Play Live? Record?
As often as posisble which is about once every two months
What do you think of the music coverage in the media?
Getting better, though terms/genres get used too liberally.
Who/Where would you most like to record with and why?
Toerag Studios! Imagine, they got equipment from Abbey Road Studios!
But I also think we’d do good on a old tape recorder..
What should we expect from you in the future? What are your plans and ambitions?
Stop the screaming in our heads.
What can we expect from your Le Beat Bespoké performance? What have you got in store for us?
We really want to give it all and warm the people up before the Trashmen enter the stage. It’s a true honour to be their pre-band and we will make sure no one will be disappointed. Some dancing, jumping, screaming, and singing about lost love… Join us !!
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
Arthur Brown: The Mind Beneath the Fire – Part One
What was your recent tour with Alice Cooper like? Where did you guys first meet, what were some of the greatest moments between you?
The recent gig with Alice Cooper was a one off. It was specially for the English audience and it was a wonderful experience for me. He showed how humble and generous he is. Everyone in my party was greeted and treated with respect and kindness. The band had great fun doing the ‘Fire’ song. They told me that they had played it at the sound check at the previous 10 gigs. That was their only rehearsal. I was told to get to Alexandra Palace at 3pm for rehearsal. I arrived and was taken upstairs to the dressing room. Mark St John, who negotiated the whole thing for me, said I would do my tune at the end of the sound check – between 4.00 and 4.30. But as I sat in the dressing room I heard the tell-tale rhythm and chords of ‘Fire’ belting out (it was the band doing there final run through before going through their own material). I was later told by them that it was the first time they had got it right all the way through. They had based their version on one from the Internet, where I sang with the SAS band featuring Josh Phillips on keyboards and Mark Bzezicki on drums. They had had to make changes, as they had no organ in Alice’s band.
I went down to the stage and was spotted by Shep Gordon, Alice’s manager. He said, “Come and meet Alice now.” Up on stage I went, just as the last chords were played. Alice smiled and clasped my hand. “Well,” he said to the band, ” might as well do it now with Arthur.” The band got ready – including his new gorgeous female guitarist.
I said to Alice, “In the press it says we will duet.”
He said, “no you sing it. I’ll just sing some ‘Fires’ in the background.”
” Wow! What about the fire helmet?”
“Oh Yeah!” he said.
“And what about the original make- up?”
Alice, of course, had borrowed this later for his own image and I didn’t want to have any awkwardnesses arising. “Yeah!” he said, “You just go out and perform it the way it is natural for you.”
The run through was flawless, and there were smiles all round. “I see you still have that big voice” said Alice. When I got off stage, I asked Shep Gordon when in the show I would sing. He said, “You are the encore!” – the final song of the night. Alice was giving me the final song of the night! A supreme act of generosity from any performer. I said what a generous gesture that was. Shep said, “Whenever asked, Alice always says “Without Arthur Brown, no Alice Cooper.” In all my meetings with Alice across the years, he has always been approachable and human. In the middle of a high profile world tour, here again he proved to be considerate and generous, and, whilst aware of his own stature as an artist, entirely humble. In that regard, he reminds me of Peter Gabriel.
The whole night was thoroughly entertaining and a huge success, filmed in 3D?
A far cry from the early days, where I, already with the ‘Fire’ hit under my belt, was spending time with the GTO’s (Girls Together Only) a girl group in LA who were working under the tutelage of Frank Zappa. One of the band, Miss Christine, was my favourite. And we did have time together. Her other boyfriend was Alice Cooper, as yet without his later image. Strangely, another figure in LA. at that time was Kim Fowley, who, sporting a beard down to his waist, I met on a rooftop. A few years later, at a time when a certain band later named Kiss were wondering what to do, he said to them, “Take Arthur Brown’s image. he’s no longer using the make up.” And they did.
How would you describe what you are currently doing, what are your band like?
The current Crazy World is a young band. There are 3 guys in it and 3 women. We lift each other up when we’re down, we party, and we give each other space. When Z-Star, the great female vocalist did a guest spot with us at the Queen Elizabeth hall, she said what struck her most was the love we all have for each other in the band. So this spills over into the music and performance. The performance is musically disciplined, but this allows us a great deal of freedom when we want to let it all hang out.
The rhythm section is dynamic and powerful. Sam Walker is a wild man on the drums as well as being a solo singer in his own right, and Jim Mortimore is pulverising and melodic by turns on the Bass. Jim is also the MD, he is very direct and spots deviations from the arrangements instantly . Hawkeye is his other name.
Lucy Rejchrtova on keyboards is a dynamo. She plays exceptionally well, and also dances, gestures, and generally is a show-woman of the highest order.
Nancy Gromniak is the still mountain next to Lucy’s fire. But watch her blaze when it comes to a solo.
When we were deciding how to enlarge the line up, we were thinking of a sax. But we opted for a dancer instead. Angel proved to be a huge asset, with her exotic costumes and flawless dancing.
We wear masks sometimes and generally provide a spectacle. With this band, I enjoy dancing, with rhythms varying from soul, through dub reggae to folk and flamenco. And I can be crazy or just move aside a bit and let the others be crazy. On the larger gigs, we use projections custom made by Malcolm Dick. Expect the unexpected. We will be in the middle of recording a new lot of songs when we do this concert. There is also a vinyl only album of a live performance at The High Voltage Festival last autumn featuring this band. You can get it through the website arthurbrownmusic.com
Being an eccentric performer, even for the 60′s, do you get equally eccentric fans? What are some fan stories you can share with us?
One female fan had her boyfriend change his name by deed-poll to Arthur Brown – so she could truthfully say she was sleeping with Arthur Brown! One fan at a festival built his own fire helmet. It worked from a butane tank and could shoot flames eight feet into the air Two young girl fans booked an apartment for two weeks so they could have me to themselves. It was conditional upon me wearing my stage make-up when we went to bed. One fan works for the railway, but likes to come to concerts dressed as a psychedelic Bishop and sets himself up in the entrance on a podium, welcoming the crowd, and advising them. His advice, if taken, would ruin many people’s lives. I have one fan who took two cars, smashed the roof of one, the floor out of another, welded the two together, the floorless one on top of the other, and now lives in it. I have fans who live in nudist communities. You should hear what the women say about the size of men’s appendages. One nudist liked to dress himself as a salad, complete with a ring of Parsley round his whatsit.
During the Foundations years, what was your role, did you give creative input to shape their sound?
Well, it started as some kind of ‘peace intervention’ because when I walked into the audition, one band member had a spear at the throat of Tim the drummer, who was bent back over the coffee bar. They both stopped rather sheepishly when I announced I was there to sing. After that, I enjoyed singing with Clem Curtis. We had some good fun with the music and I loved soul. I learned quite a lot from Clem, as it was the first time I had done duets with a guy. I wasn’t with them long and I don’t know if I had any effect on their music or stage performance.
What motivated you to leave the Foundations and to create the Crazy World of Arthur Brown?
Well, at the time I joined them, The Crazy World was actually already going. But we only got about two small gigs a month. Then, during the time I was with the Foundations, the Crazy World was invited to play the UFO club. I really loved the atmosphere and creativity down there. The band were talented and all of them quite wild. So, when one day the Foundations manager walked in with a record contract which was for three years and would require me to focus on that for those years, I was faced with a choice. I loved singing soul and liked singing with Clem. But the Crazy World allowed me to explore artistically, musically, and develop my showmanship as a performance artist. So, although The Crazy World was still only earning 30 pounds a week – not enough to live on – I chose them. Four months later, the Foundations had their first big hit. The Crazy World were still paupers. But I never regretted it and within a few months we had signed with Track and were ourselves on our way.
What do you remember about the original ‘Technicolour Dream’ event at Alexandra Palace? Can you remember much about your performance and what songs you played?
I remember it as a vast event of which I was somewhat suspicious. It seemed like a lot of the bands were not really anything to do with UFO. The underground was becoming overground, and getting watered down. In retrospect it introduced new ideas of music and performance to lots of people – including John Lennon. There were the bands from the underground, but it was more of a treadmill than the very informal, though efficient, way things were handled at UFO. We did ‘Nightmare,’ ‘Give Him a flower,’ ‘Fire,’ ‘Witchdoctor (a theatrical rendering of the John Mayall number),’ ‘I put a Spell on You,’ ‘I got Money,’ and ‘Come and Buy’.
How true is the Italian legend which includes your hair being set on fire, stage nudity and deportation?
Well at the time, I had gone into my second theatrical period. I left behind the theatrics of The Crazy World and often did concerts that were totally improvised . So I was artistically naked. I improvised lyrics and melodies, and the band improvised often atonal avant-garde sounds. In order to be truly free from normal bounds I decided I would sing naked. I did this round Europe with varying effects. When I appeared naked at the Marquee club in London, one young woman fainted, but otherwise it was accepted as “Oh yes, Arthur Brown!” In Sicily, indeed, I was put in the maximum security prison, where I had many adventures, and caused a riot. I had a trial, which is reported elsewhere, and too lengthy for this interview. I eventually escaped because Dennis Taylor, who was tour managing me did a deal with the local mafia and gave them all our gig money to spring me out. It was chaos. There were people marching through the streets with huge billboards – cartoons depicting me naked – some suggesting I be thrown out of Sicily as being “Filthy Beast” and others saying “Set this hero free!” It stopped the whole festival while the police tried to restore order. The Palermo Pop Festival lasted for three nights, and featured the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Aretha Franklin, among others. That night I performed with Pete Brown’s Piblokto, and we did not improvise it all. In fact, we did ‘Fire.’ This was part of the contractual requirement. The promoter said he was counting on me for something unusual and exciting. I think it was both.
Where did you get the idea to start wearing heavy make-up on stage, that later influenced so many artists?
In 1965, when I was performing in Paris at a club called the Bus Palladium, which for a while was the epicentre of the new wave of music in France, one night a mother brought a seven year old child into the dressing room. He said “You should black out your teeth. The next night, when I performed, I blacked out all my front teeth. The audience loved it. I also occasionally dressed as a woman and wore a little Mascara. I also found my first fire helmet – a crown with candles on it – in the corridor of the hotel. The combination of flaming crown and blacked out teeth really struck the audience. Then, when it came to UFO, one night both Drachen, the drummer, and I decided to wear make up. The Death’s Head idea came out of conversations with Mike Reynolds, an artist living in the same lodgings as me. I later changed the outline slightly away from the original skull pattern. It was a product of feeling. I needed to really take the audience into a different dimension than was usually offered in concerts. And the songs were about mystical things – so the possibilities were opened up image wise.
You were an inspiration to many acts from the 60′s beyond, you also worked with a plethora of them, what are some of your favourites?
Of course, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. Alan Parsons. Alice Cooper, Kula Shaker. Van der Graff Generator, Mothers of Invention, Peter Gabriel and the Prodigy
What was it like working with Pete Townshend as a producer?
Pete Townsend came to see us play at UFO. Track records had dithered about signing the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, and lost them. So Pete, as talent scout for the Track set up, took me for a drive in his swank American car. The band decided that Track seemed the only company – out of the dozens that wined and dined us – that would allow us to go artistically where we wanted to go. Pete took us to his studio, and we set about demos. He was a useful creative force, particularly as the band had almost no experience of recording. When I said I was working on something that was incomplete, Pete asked what it was. We did a rough version of Spontaneous Apple Creation. He asked what was incomplete about it. I said I hadn’t come up with a melody for the song. He said, “I think it’s complete as it is.” We listened again, and agreed – it did sound good spoken. A lot of our performance in those days were improvised and often I would end up chanting or speaking in rhyme – so Pete’s idea was not out of keeping with our performances. Pete played rhythm guitar on some tracks but later it was decided to keep the basic unit as the band. We worked in pretty much harmony to produce the demos. The actual album was produced by Kit Lambert and Pete gave his input between Who gigs. So, Pete was pretty definite when he needed to be but did not attempt to dominate the band. He was excited with the ‘concept’ idea, which at that time was something new. I went to his house, and became aware of the scope of his imagination, which would later lead to Tommy. People claim to have been the first to develop the concept album but the truth is, it was in the air, and no one can say for certain who first had the idea. He was for me the opener of a door to the possibilities of realising things as yet unheard in popular music.
What are your memories of Track Records?
My memories of Track are that it employed more criminals than any other company I know. I remember two dynamic guys – Lambert and Stamp – who wanted to be film directors. They directed the High Numbers towards op art and drum smashing, and the band became The Who. Lambert was outrageous. Stamp was cool. Lambert was a creative force and was responsible for Hendrix’ rock hits. But they both succumbed to the lure of drugs. They nevertheless put me to the top. They were brilliant promotion men with artistic flair. They were bright and unstoppable in the beginning. But when my ex drummer sued them they became bankrupt as a company. Track’s office might have in it Jim Morrison, Hendrix, Ritchie Havens, Jonathan King, Thunderclap Newman, Marsha Hunt, Terence Stamp, (Chris’ brother.), John Fenton (publicist for Brian Epstein and manager of a Third World War and who at one time had 6 records in the top ten as a publisher); all manner of people to do with The Who – Wiggy, their tour manager was a favourite – and of course all the Who band members were in and out. There were beautiful women, Linda Keith for one, and journalists and radio figures. It was like a who’s who of the rock industry. Lord Sutch was a favourite of Lambert’s. I met David in Track’s office. Of course while the Bosses were partying, the accountants were siphoning off the money. So to me, a newcomer to the rock industry at that time, it was a revelation of what business was like in those years.
What was the intent behind ‘Kingdom Come’ do you feel you took it to where you felt it belonged? Also, please tell us your more recent memories of the 2005 performance that afforded you Classic Rock Magazine’s ‘Showman of the Year’.
Kingdom Come sprang from a decision to go inwards and find myself. At the time, I felt this would be achieved either by going to study at the Samye Ling monastery in Scotland, or by a band. In the end, I chose the band, an active route. The name came when Dennis Taylor and his wife Astrid, and Jeanette, my first wife, and I were walking in Glastonbury by the Tor. I said, “Well, let’s name it according to the legend that King Arthur will return – let’s call it Kingdom.” Dennis said, “Why not Kingdom Come?” so Kingdom Come it was. It seemed to tie in nicely the Pagan element with the Christian who co-opted the Pagan mythology. My thinking was coloured by my time in the US. Hippie philosophy had dared come up against money, greed, and had to encompass the assassination of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Timothy Leary publicly manifested a gun. The war in Vietnam gave an object lesson in how money and power can change both invader and invaded. So the forces of change and inertia were gathered against each other. Ronald Reagan proposed putting hippies in a concentration camp. Many of those who aspired publicly to a spiritual realm were seduced by money, power and security.
Kingdom Come was financed by German Polydor, and English Polydor, who had refused us, did their best to block every move. I wanted, with the band, to represent the feelings that the above mentioned confrontation brought up in me on my journey towards myself. I wanted also to see how far my body could go in terms of drugs and alcohol etc.. It was a balance between discipline and fun. We did musical exercises – for instance a game much like musical chairs, but swapping musical phrases round every member of the band instead of chairs. At the same time, I wanted to explore multimedia presentation. So we had muslin screens, and costumes. And a lightshow and lightsman. We recorded Galactic Zoo, and in a conversation with Manager Mark Radcliffe, the idea arose of crucifixion as the theme of the piece . Some people take it as specifically Christian. But that was not it. Where the timeless meets the timebound events of this world is maybe a good starting point for that image. We were experimenting with non-traditional management structures, and seemed to consequently suffer from lack of money. But in the end that line-up received glowing reports, and played alongside Alice Cooper at the Rainbow, a major London venue. He referred to what we were doing as “true psychodrama.” A couple of years later and after much soul searching the band morphed into its electronic configuration, where synthesisers replaced the Hammond and I personally played the first robot onstage, when we used a drum machine instead of a drummer. It was the first time a band had been based on beats instead of a drummer. And the response varied from utter astonishment, to disbelief. The idea was for the band to have the simplicity of a string quartet. It also gave equal importance to all the instruments, as opposed to being based around a lead figure backed by others. I wanted to explore music as an objective expression as opposed to being a diary of personal feelings. We had projections on a screen – but now they were Yantra, geometric patterns and some of the great master paintings that transcended the personal. We were reaching for a multimedia presentation that would satisfy all the senses. I am still aiming for that, and will one day take it to its next level. That said, though we had no commercial success, we were liked in Europe, and opened for Duke Ellington amongst others, at cultural events. We were revolutionary, but we couldn’t quite make it into the heights controlled by the major financial league. We experimented with group living, drugs, sex, music, art, and life itself, and produced what are now regarded by many as two Classic albums. A worthwhile journey! In the end, I decided I had gone as far as I could go with a band form in the quest to find myself. So we disbanded.
This concert arose out of a series of concerts I did in the Brighton area where various artists did short sets before I came on. I remember our promoter losing faith three weeks before the gig, so we had to put in a completely new team. Billy Jones and Phil Rose took the Helm, and we managed to get a large crowd. My personal memories were that at 2.30 in the morning of the day, I found my then girlfriend naked downstairs with the carpenter. I had only just recovered from flu and my voice was extremely questionable. In the end, it was fine. Bruce Dickenson did the DJing because he wanted to, but his manager didn’t want that fact advertised. I did three sets with three different line-ups, and didn’t actually see any of the other artists. I didn’t get to chat with any of them. But they were great. They all did it basically for expenses. Howard Marks did a superb job of MCing the whole two and a half hour event. Everyone on the bill did it out of love, and I am still overwhelmed at their response. A DVD of the event is finally coming out this summer.
What were the songs like that you created for ‘Healing Songs Therapy’, is it possible to listen to some?
A healing songs session was where a friend of mine, an excellent counsellor, would talk to a client about their problems and I would listen, just picking up the threads and feelings that were undercurrents and often not stated. I would then take the guitar and improvise – I mean not like make new words for an existing tune but rather totally improvise both words and melody in the moment – and we would record it. The client would take away the result on a tape. We had glowing reviews, and Life magazine did an article, ‘From God of Hellfire to Singing Shrink.’ We got excellent reviews from psychologists and counsellors as being a potent new avenue for counseling. This was in Austin,Texas. When I got back to England, I called Pete Townshend about the method and suggested he might want to do some counseling of others in his AA program. He said he was not ready for that. But I heard a year or so later he developed his own variation of the Healing Songs method. Not improvising in a session but getting people to write in their problems and then creating a song which he sent them. Because it was poetry, people found the images fruitful for a long time. I think my counseling buddy, Jim still has some of the song tapes.
Do you have any mystical/occultist influences, what are they, in terms of writers and books?
Well when it comes to mystics there are many. Rumi, Gurdjieff, Ibn Arabi, Hallaj, Meister Eckhart, William Blake, Tennyson, Etc. A book for the occult is by Manly P Hall (who was Elvis Presley’s Guru). It is called Secret Teachings of all Ages. The Urantia Book is quite a volume. Books by Alice Bailey can be revealing of the occult. Bhagavad Gita is beautiful. To know what is really hidden, and what hides it, look at ‘I Am That’ by Nisarghadatta Maharaj. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
Did Robert Plant tell you why he invited you to work with him? What was that partnership like?
When I was contacted by Robert Plant’s management to do a tour supporting him with my acoustic trio, I was very flattered. It was during a period when I was also doing a tour with The Pretty Things. Miraculously, the two tours only conflicted on two concerts. Although it was only four weeks to the tour, everything was soon sorted out. Robert proved to be a very good host, and we had lots of laughs. He had just come off a stadium tour with the Who in the US. He took his cooks and three long trailers on the road for this tour. One night he joked that he would disband his line-up and work with a trio like mine. That way the expenses were kept down. He struck me as someone who had kept his integrity in the face of great fame and wealth. We never discussed why he wanted me on the tour, we were more likely to discuss the necessity of fisticuffs if necessary, or the place of magic in life. But his personal secretary said he had called from America, and said, “I want someone like Arthur Brown.” It may have been because his band at that time gave the music a psychedelic slant. I must say, he was well known for doing whatever he wanted to musically. When his success with Alison Krause came, I for one was well pleased that he had found a new niche for his talents. He is currently living in my old home town in Texas, Austin.
What have you got prepared for us for Le Beat Bespoké 8 2012 performance?
It’s what I haven’t got prepared that will thrill people -the unexpected in the moment happenings that are the hallmark of creativity. Of course it will be a full show with costumes, Fire helmet and such. I think it will above all be good fun. And danceable!
Brazilian polymath Eron Falbo came to London in 2009 after leaving his band ‘The Julians’ to pursue a solo career and become a cosmopolitician. Falbo began writing at the age of 11 for the school newspaper. By the age of 16 he had got his first job as a journalist. His experience in other magazines stretches from film critic to travel writer, passing through much but never leaving the culture spectrum. Apart from writing, Falbo is also an emerging singer. He was invited to record an album in one of the best studios in Nashville, Tennessee by none other than legendary producer Bob Johnston, who recorded the best material by the likes of Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash (all acclaimed writers). As of yet he’s only released one single, ‘Beat the Drums’ which was featured on Dermot O’Leary’s “Go Buy Monday” (single of the week) for BBC Radio 2, among other media. Currently, Falbo fronts the band ‘the Kyniks’ in venues in London and around the UK and can be occasionally spotted prowling the scene of the New Untouchables taking notes.
