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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
ARTICLES
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW WITH DARRON J CONNETT OF CONNETT
 In
March of this year, Surrey based band Connett discovered that they could well be
onto a good thing. The band’s management took a phonecall from none other than
the band’s hero Paul Weller who commented that their single “Son” was a “lovely
piece of work”.
“The fact we were even on Paul’s radar was a dream come true to the lads and
me,” smiles frontman Darron J Connett. “We all hold him up as one of the worlds
greatest, so for him to be so complimentary about anything we’ve done is
outstanding!”
Not bad for a band whose first gig together was only in December last year,
albeit at the world famous 100 Club in London. It is fair to say that the band
have started with a bang and it has been a non-stop rollercoaster ever since.
Their seven track debut mini album “Waging War On The Obvious” is causing
ripples in the music world with its confident rock n roll swagger. The band are
the self proclaimed purveyors of “Nu Skool Music Hall” and The Kinks influences
that run through the album are clear for all to see.
However Ray Davies and Paul Weller aren’t Darron’s only heroes. “Aside from Ray
Davies and Paul Weller, my main influences are John Holt, Elvis’s Presley and
Costello, Timi Yuro….in fact, everyone who ever tried to make music because I
know how hard it is!” These diverse influences are reflected in Darron’s view of
the Connett sound. “The Connett sound has no boundaries and will be forever
evolving. We can go wherever we want….although we will never be Euro Pop!” he
laughs.
With plenty of gigs in the pipeline, Connett are staking a claim for the hardest
working band around at the moment. This can only help them realise their
ambitions, something that Darron is far from shy about. “Connetts ambitions are
what all bands should be,” he states. “We want to dominate the world with our
music. We work hard, we have a great manager who works tirelessly for us and we
have fierce self belief. That can take us wherever we want to go.”
“Waging War On The Obivous” is one of the most exciting debut albums you can
hope to hear. With the colossal “Son” to the sunshine acoustic pop of “Lou” and
the \Phil Spector meets Ocean Colour Scene (yes, really!) opus that is “Can’t
You Hear Me?”, this is the sound of a band that mean business and who are
impossible to pigeonhole. The title of the album says it all. It is an album
full of surprises and makes for a mouthwatering future.
In what’s been a rollercoaster year so far, Darron is in no doubts of his
favourite moment so far. “Working at Black Barn Studios with Weller’s engineer
Charles Rees. He’s a real gent with a great work ethic.” Darron enthuses. “We
recorded a song called ‘Madamoiselle’. I would love for Weller to play piano on
it.”
You would have thought after such an epic year, Connett would take the
opportunity to put their feet up for the rest of the year. Not a bit of it. “We
really want to raise our profile. We’d love to get a support slot with someone
who’s smashing it at the moment. We will continue to gig and record until we’re
a household name like Persil!” he laughs. “ Seriously, we just want to be
successful. We want to record an era defining album that everyone loves across
the board. Connett don’t see boundaries, we only see possibilities.” INTERVIEW BY PAUL LANE
INTERVIEW WITH C MANAGEMENT
 Behind
every great band has been a great manager. Someone behind the scenes, pulling
the strings, keeping things ticking over, making sure that his or hers
temperamental band members every need is taken care of. Colonel Tom Parker,
Brian Epstein, Peter Grant – arguably without these men, Elvis Presley, The
Beatles and Led Zeppelin would not be so ingrained in our conscience.
Meet Mark Smutz-Smith, manager of Southampton’s great hope Dlugokecki and an
important and passionate player in the Southampton music scene that is waiting
to explode any time soon. “Southampton’s never had a music scene as such,” he
states, clearly miffed. “There should be something! There are plenty of really
good bands from the area who are waiting for that chance to be heard and I want
to play my part in giving them that chance.”
Born in Singapore, Mark moved to Southampton at the tender age of 3 years old.
“I went to school opposite The Dell and became immediately attached with the
city,” he explains. Like many people pulling the strings in any music scene,
Mark was a musician who never reached his potential. After which he was
persuaded to try his hand at management “I took on a punk band called Blackcouch
which was a real rollercoaster ride!” However the band’s popularity on the local
gig circuit was not enough to keep them together and they split up in the late
1990s.
However some of Blackcouch got back together in 2006 for a project called
“English Pride” to coincide with the England football teams World Cup campaign
of that summer. With football legend, the late Alan Ball offering sponsorship
for the project, the resulting single “Savva Nuvva Beer” earned airplay on
national radio. During an in-store appearance at HMV in Southampton, an
excitable singer/songwriter by the name of Ben Dlugokecki approached the band.
Mark takes up the story. “Ben wanted to know who was behind the marketing
campaign for the single. We got chatting and once I’d seen Dlugokecki play live,
I took over the management side. That was in January 2007.”
Mark started his own management company, “the C” and has since taken more acts
under his wing such as Melodramas and Sturdy. “I saw Melodramas support
Flamboyant Bella at The Joiners. Which was really just a happy accident. I loved
their attitude and their great tunes.” Mark offers. “Sturdy is unusual. He is a
mixture of Scott Walker and Johnny Cash. He is certainly unique and he has
talent to burn.”
The proudest moment for “the C” so far has been Dlugokecki’s resoundingly
successful time at South By South West Festival in America earlier this year.
This came about after Mark had arranged a tribute concert in memory of cult
singer/songwriter Matthew Jay at Shepherds Bush Empire. After sharing the bill
with the likes of Starsailor and Chris Difford, Dlugokecki were approached by a
South By South West promoter who was in the audience on the night. They were
offered a spot at the festival and said “Yes” immediately.
“South By South West was the best experience ever!” Mark enthuses. Of
Dlugokecki’s performances out there, he states “The band really raised their
game. For me, they went as 5 individuals and came back as a band.” Having
supported The Proclaimers during the festival, Dlugokecki will be going back to
America in October to play the CMJ Festival in New York. “We’ve had such a great
response in America. The band were recently Number 7 in the acoustic playlist on
My Space so someone is noticing the band’s sound!” Mark smiles, clearly glowing
with excitement and pride. “I think we will have a hit in America before long.”
Having recently put on a successful “Sound of the C” night at The Joiners which
featured an impressive bill of The Queue, Melodramas, an acoustic set by
Passenger and, of course, Dlugokecki, Mark has many plans to help raise
awareness of the music scene in Southampton. With his track record, his energy
and his passion, Mark Smutz-Smith may just be the man to wake up this sleeping
musical giant.
You can find the C on
www.myspace.com/smutzandthec
INTERVIEW BY PAUL LANE
MARY GAUTHIER, LANTERN THEATRE, ROMSEY – FRIDAY AUGUST
7
 There’s
a treat for lovers of folk and country music when Mary Gauthier plays a concert
at The Lantern Theatre which is at Mountbatten School in Romsey.
Mary has an interesting history, to say the least. She was born in New Orleans,
Louisiana, in 1962 and was given up at birth by a mother she never knew. Adopted
by an Italian Catholic couple in Thibodaux, Louisiana, she ran away at the age
of fifteen, stealing her parents’ car. She spent the next several years in drug
rehabilitation, halfway houses and living with friends; she spent her eighteenth
birthday in jail!
These experiences provided fodder for her songwriting much later on. In the
meantime, she settled down and enrolled at Louisiana State University as a
philosophy major. But her next move was to open a Cajun restaurant in Boston’s
Black Bay neighbourhood, called Dixie Kitchen. She sold her share in the
restaurant to finance her second album. Mary didn’t actually start writing songs
until she was 35 years old, later releasing her first album.
Her second album,” Drag Queens in Limousines” resulted in Mary being approached
to play 11 major folk festivals, including Newport Folk Festival. “Drag Queens
in Limousines” won in The 1st Annual Independent Music Awards for Best
Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song. In 2002 her third album,"Filth and Fire" was named
Best Indy CD of the year by Jon Pareles of the New York Times. She moved to
Nashville, Tennessee and secured a record deal with Lost Highway, a division of
Universal Music. She also secured a publishing deal with Harlan Howard Songs.
Her first major label release' "Mercy Now" was on the top 10 list for the year
2005 in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, The LA Times, New
York Daily News, and Billboard Magazine. She was awarded New Artist of the year
by The Americana Music Association in 2005. Her second Lost Highway release,
"Between Daylight and Dark" came out in September 2007. She has had her songs
recorded by numerous artists, including Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw, Blake
Shelton, Bill Chambers and Candi Staton. Her latest album “Genesis” was released
last year.
JEFFREY LEWIS & THE JUNK YARD, JOINERS ARMS,
SOUTHAMPTON – FRIDAY AUGUST 21
 Jeffrey
Lewis was raised on New York's Lower East Side by loving beatnik parents. Having
no television in the tenement apartment, he became a comic book fanatic before
even learning how to read. A life-long love of writing and drawing comic books,
both autobiographical and fantastical, found new vent when Lewis began making up
songs in the winter of 97-98. Initially inspired by the gentle psychedelic folk
of Donovan, the DIY magic of Daniel Johnston, and the fearless early recordings
of local folk-punk legends the Fugs, Lewis began recording homemade cassettes in
1998 and selling them, packaged in small comic books, at his soon semi-monthly
shows at Sidewalk, home of New York's Antifolk scene. Lewis's younger brother
Jack began playing electric bass and contributing to the shows and tapes.
When other Sidewalk performers the Moldy Peaches signed to Rough Trade Records
in late 2000, they recommended Jeffrey's cassette recordings to label head Geoff
Travis, and Rough Trade has since released three full-length Jeffrey Lewis CDs
in America, England and Europe, garnering glowing press and a devoted following
for the idiosyncratic illustrator/songwriter. Like his Rough Trade releases, and
an art/music/DVD box set project (released on England's Hallso label), Lewis's
shows can range between "lo-fi folk and sci-fi punk" as well as occasionally
incorporating "low budget videos" (large colour illustrations displayed to
accompany songs).
It is only since 2002 that Jeffrey and Jack have become an "official" band, with
various friends trading time in the drum seat. The Jeffrey Lewis Band has toured
the US, UK and Europe sharing bills along the way with Cornershop, The Fall,
Beth Orton, Frank Black, Daniel Johnston, Scout Niblett, The Mountain Goats,
Radio4, Adam Green, Kimya Dawson, British Sea Power, The Fiery Furnaces,
Thurston Moore, The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Devendra Banhart, and
many others.
"The Big Apple's best-kept secret" - NME
"Jeffrey Lewis: 'The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane' - Best Indie Album of
2002; like his drawings, his music is witty, animated and true." - New York
Daily News
"Bizarre but brilliant. Jeffrey Lewis could well be [New York's] ace in the
hole." – Uncut
EUGENE HIDEAWAY BRIDGES, MR KYPS, POOLE – SATURDAY
AUGUST 8
 Eugene
is a nomadic musician living his life on the road. His home is wherever the next
performance takes him, and every year this is from America through Europe, to
Australia with many other stops in between.
Born in 1963, the son of the blues guitarist Hideaway Slim, Eugene is the fourth
child of five. His mother was from the Bullock family (the same as Anna Mae
Bullock better known as Tina Turner) and Eugene claims he got his guitar skills
from the Bridges side and his voice from the Bullocks. At five he was already
playing with his father around Louisiana. With his brothers as The Bridges
Brothers he sang gospel and was the musician of his church touring with the
Pastor, Elder A. A Edwards. At thirteen Eugene was entering R&B talent shows and
had formed his first R&B band The Five Stars.
Eugene moved to Texas to join the Air Force at sixteen, playing in the Air Force
band for the next three years. On leaving he joined The New Chosen on guitar and
vocals and went on to play with The Mighty Clouds of Joy. Following a move to
Houston, Eugene released Blues, Gospel and R&B recordings by the three bands he
was running at the time. These included the first line-up of the Eugene
‘Hideaway’ Bridges Band. They toured the USA from coast to coast.
Eugene then travelled alone to Europe, where B B King Bassist Big Joe Turner
spotted him in Paris offering him the position of Guitarist / Vocalist with Big
Joe Turners Memphis Blues Caravan. A year later he left to work under his own
name again and formed The Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges Band. Signed to the Blueside
label, Eugene recorded “Born to be Blue” produced by Mike Vernon. His live
performances received rave reviews and Eugene was awarded vocalist of the year
by the UK's Blueprint magazine and won the Trophees France Blues 99 Chanteur De
L'Annee.
In 2000 Eugene signed to Armadillo and released his next CD “Man Without A Home”
which was played worldwide. He appeared, often headlining, at major festivals in
the USA, all over Europe, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia; whipping up a
storm wherever he went with his distinctive southern sound. The 2003 release
“Jump the Joint” reached Number 4 in the US Living Blues Charts, remaining in
the charts for three months. In September 2004 Eugene recorded his next CD
“Coming Home” at The Zone Studio in Dripping Springs, Texas; using a full horn
section led by Seth Kibel, on several tracks. He also has Texan guitarist and
friend Rocky Athas joining him on two cuts.
After four CDs recorded with his full band, his next self titled release “Eugene
‘Hideaway ‘ Bridges” he went into the studio with friends and fellow musicians
met on the road. Lucky Oceans, co-founder of the Western Swing band Asleep at
the Wheel, plays some fine Pedal Steel on three tracks and Texan legend Ray
Wylie Hubbard lays down some fine Slide Guitar on I Can’t Wait. This CD was
nominated for two 2008 US Blues Music Awards.
March 2009 saw Eugene in San Antonio to fulfil his fans’ wishes for a Live CD.
With the line up of Bobby Baranowski - Drums, Eric King - Bass, David Webb -
Keys, Seth Kibel Sax and Justine Miller – Trumpet.
ADRIAN EDMONDSON & THE BAD SHEPHERDS, MR KYPS, POOLE –
SATURDAY AUGUST 22
 Adrian
and his crew first got together after the former Young Ones comedian bought a
mandolin in Soho after a boozy pre-Christmas lunch in 2007. He was touring with
The Bonzos at the time and after playing his mandolin along with fellow member
Neil Innes, he decided to recruit some first-class musicians to form a band.
Here’s some information about the band members from The Bad Shepherds website:
ADRIAN EDMONDSON (Vocals, ‘thrash mandolin’)
Ade is best known as a comedian in The Young Ones, Bottom, and The Comic Strip
Presents. Though he’s no stranger to the music world having played the Monsters
of Rock and Reading Festivals with Bad News, the Hootenanny with Jools Holland,
Hyde Park with The Who, and he’s toured with The Bonzo Dog Doo-dah Band. He’s
also had a No 1 single with Cliff Richard! And as a director he made lots of
music videos in the 80’s for the likes of The Pogues, Squeeze, Elvis Costello
and 10,000 Maniacs.
MAARTIN ALLCOCK (Twelve string guitar, bass, vocals)
Maartin is a multi-instrumentalist originally from Manchester, and is best known
for playing guitar with Fairport Convention from ’85 to ’96, and for playing
keyboards in Jethro Tull for four years. Maart has played on over 200 albums for
people as diverse as Robert Plant, Cat Stevens, Beverley Craven, Judith Durham,
Ralph McTell and Plaid Cymru president Dafydd Iwan! Besides the Bad Shepherds,
Maart also currently plays for Swarb’s Lazarus and Beth Nielsen Chapman.
TROY DONOCKLEY (Uillean pipes, cittern, whistles, vocals)
Troy has built up a formidable reputation as both a Composer/Arranger/
Musician/Performer and as a leading virtuoso of the Uilleann Pipes. He’s
released three critically acclaimed solo albums, is a member of Iona, and also
finds time to record and tour with the likes of Maddy Prior (he has co-produced
four albums), Barbara Dickson (produced two albums) Maire Brennan (Clannad),
Midge Ure, Nightwish, Lesley Garrett , Roy Harper, Status Quo, Alan Stivell, Del
Amitri and many more…
ANDY DINAN (Fiddle)
Andy won the All-Ireland Fiddle Championship… twice. He’s best known for playing
with Toss the Feathers and Mike McGoldrick, but he’s also supported Dervish,
Lunasa, Capercaillie and solo artists Martin Hayes and Liz Carroll. He recently
performed at the Armagh Pipers club Festival with Mike and Ian Fletcher with a
new project involving Portugese, Brazilian and Irish music.
LEFTOVER CRACK, TALKING HEADS,
SOUTHAMPTON – TUESDAY AUGUST 11
 Leftover
Crack to play the Talking Heads! These guys don' tour much and hit Southampton
even less, The last time Stza was in town it was for The Crack Rock Steady Seven
show and now he's back with one of the bands that made his name synonymous with
hard hitting straight up punk rock! This uncompromising outfit have posted the
following statement on their website:
“ We are ANTI-RACIST,ANTI-SEXIST,ANTI-HOMOPHOBIC, and ANTI-BREEDING but
PRO-CHOICE. We are not P.C., but share similar interests...we are simply against
ALL forms of Fascism and against the petty infighting that can result in an
exclusive scene where the true, terrifying enemies can be put on the back-burner
because of our petty differences. I just wish we could unite to fight for the
important things in life like freedom and equality and our polluted dying
eco-system that we depend on to live. Yes, I mean these wicked corporations &
their collusion with our government to feed you lies through the media they
control. Wake the fuck up!!! And if you ARE awake or claim to be, please heed my
warning that this infighting can result in nothing but the smallest, smug sense
of self-righteousness and the alienation of people that truly want to help (most
of the time, a few bad apples aren't even usually that bad). Well, I can dream,
can't I or is thought-crime being enforced finally!!! Throw away the key.
For a finely detailed explanation about our views on police, prisons, border
police/immigration policies and the greed and corruption that fuel these
loathsome enterprises, I can't recommend the following book highly enough:
'Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis' by Christian Parenti
(the son of Michael Parenti [the man whose spoken word quotes we used in the
record:'No GODS/NO MANAGERS' by Choking Victim] whom also has written many books
that have greatly informed our politics.”
SONIC BOOM SIX, SALISBURY CITY HALL –
SATURDAY AUGUST 22
 From
Manchester's dynamic musical landscape comes the most compelling soundclash to
rise from the underground for years. Few bands can so smoothly mix dancefloor-savvy
elements of reggae, jungle and ska with the rigorous commentary of hip-hop
whilst retaining enough grit and aggression to be an active fixture of the UK's
punk scene. A true product of their environment - the sound of a thousand
city-centre clubnights and student party mash-ups invigorate the righteous fury
of distorted guitars and dubby grooves – SB6 create a sound as authentic as it
is unique. Looking as at home on a festival stage as they are playing at a
warehouse party, the band are retaining their grassroots ideation and positive,
unifying message as their music steadily permeates a wider international
audience.
Sonic Boom Six return with their third album “City of Thieves,” the fifth record
to be released on their own Rebel Alliance Recordings. Whilst SB6's eclectic
punk soundclash staunchly remains far too down-to-earth to ever being described
as ‘prog', the album follows the concept of a collection of songs that explore
and examine life in a large UK city. From crass consumerism to traffic
congestion, lawless youth culture to homelessness, binge drinking to street
violence, Laila and the guys cast their pragmatic critique on the state of the
nation, embellished by their characteristic positivity and humour.
“City of Thieves” is built on the bedrock of the band's unique ska-core/hip-hop/jungle
hybrid but (in keeping with their original ethos of expanding the boundaries of
what a punk band can be) adds dubstep, electro, dub and even glam rock to the
mix, all the while retaining the snarling live edge honed by recent tours of the
UK, Europe and the US with acts such as Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, Bad
Brains and Big D and the Kid's Table. The first class collaborators involved in
the record include production duties by Peter Miles (The King Blues, The Steal),
artwork courtesy of Dan Mumford (Gallows, ADTR) and guest appearances from Al
Rumjen (King Prawn, Asian Dub Foundation), Robin Leitch(Random Hand), and New
York City ska legend King Django (Stubborn All-Stars, Skinnerbox).
Tickets: £7 plus £1.50 booking fee (£10.50 on the door)
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW WITH
C MANAGEMENT
MARY GAUTHIER
LANTERN THEATRE ROMSEY
FRIDAY AUGUST 7
JEFFREY LEWIS & THE JUNK YARD JOINERS ARMS,
SOUTHAMPTON FRIDAY AUGUST 21
EUGENE HIDEAWAY BRIDGES
MR KYPS,
POOLE
SAT AUGUST 8
ADRIAN EDMONDSON
& THE BAD SHEPHERDS
MR KYPS,
POOLE
SAT AUGUST 22
LEFTOVER CRACK TALKING HEADS,
SOUTHAMPTON TUES AUGUST 11
SONIC BOOM SIX SALISBURY
CITY HALL
SAT AUGUST 22 |
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