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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
ARTICLES
The Tubes - The Brook, Southampton -
Friday December 2. EXCLUSIVE POL INTERVIEW.
 One
of the gigs of the month comes early in December when the sensational American
band The Tubes play The Brook in Southampton on Friday the 2nd. I caught up with
manic lead singer Fee Waybill when I phoned him in San Francisco last year
before his last visit to the UK. We talked about the highs and lows of life on
the road with The Tubes, the rock world's most controversial and theatrical band
during the 70s and 80s, and his songwriting and acting careers.
I started by suggesting that The Tubes never actually made any money in their
heyday between 1975 and 1986. "We made shit loads of money," said Fee
good-humouredly, "it's just that we spent it all! We were just enjoying
ourselves - we'd go out on tour and make $4 million, then find the tour had cost
$5m. We were putting on a show; at one time we had 28 or 30 people on the road
with the seven band members - seven dancers, a choreographer, a pyrotechnics
guy, a backdrop technician - it just got bigger and bigger. But we didn't care,
we were having a good time. Finally it just came to a crashing end - we released
the album "Love Bomb" - a disaster record - and came back off the road with just
our dicks in our hand! Our record company dropped us and it was time to call it
a day."
Fee relocated from San Francisco to Los Angeles - "I had to get out of town
fast, man," is how he puts it - apparently the rest of The Tubes were not too
happy about his walking out on them. Once established in Los Angeles, Fee
started another career as a songwriter. He began collaborating with Canadian
singer Richard Marx who was married to former Tubes dancer Cynthia Rhodes, with
considerable success. Richard Marx also co-wrote and performed on Fee's second
solo album, "Don't Be Scared Of These Hands" in 1996. Fee went on to write for
other performers and even enjoyed an entry in the US country charts not too long
ago with Richard Marx on "Last One Standing."
But the charismatic Mr Waybill also had other irons in the fire. He had already
made his acting debut playing a rock singer in "Xanadu" in 1980 and in "Ladies &
Gentlemen,The Fabulous Stains" in 1981. Returning to the screen in a cameo role
in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" in 1989, and also appearing in three more
films as a singer it looked like a movie career beckoned. It didn't but a stage
acting career did. "I seemed to get psycho parts mainly," laughed Fee, "I played
in John Godber's "Bouncers" at La Lamarada Theatre in Orange County, and back in
1999 I played Frank 'N' Furter in "The Rocky Horror Show" at The Barn Theatre in
Michigan, the oldest for-profit theatre in the USA.
That was great - it was so much fun playing for a bunch of blue-haired old
ladies! It's a really waspy community, very prejudiced, and it was great to see
the looks on their faces."
The Tubes eventually got back together in 1997 and their spectacular rock
burlesque act has been welcomed back all over the world. Old favourites like
"White Punks On Dope" and "Mondo Bondage" are as popular as ever, and the band
have started writing material for a new album. "We're producing it ourselves and
It's nice to be able to take our time over it - we never got to do that before,”
says Fee.
When not working in his roles as songwriter, frontman for The Tubes and stage
actor, Fee relaxes by playing polo. "I was brought up with horses in Nebraska,"
said Fee, "and my brother got me into playing polo some years ago after I
quit playing softball. I've got two polo ponies, but I don't play too
aggressively, I love my ponies too much. But I have been hurt severely several
times.
One time I was flipped and pinched a nerve in my neck - I was completely fucked
for about two months!"
Before signing off the interview Fee was patient enough to answer a question
that had been on my mind for years - where did the name Fee Waybill come from?
"Waybill is my real surname," he explained (a website I visited had said
his surname was Waldo) "and Fee is a nickname. When I first started singing with
The Tubes one of the guys saw a photo of the King of Fiji on the front of a
National Geographic Magazine and thought I looked like him. So all the guys
started calling me Fiji and it eventually got shortened to Fee. Waybill, in fact
has UK connections - my father's forebears came from Brighton in Sussex, and I
think Waybill is a seafaring name, a waybill is a receipt for a cargo, so
Fee and Waybill seemed to go together."
Amy Rigby - Railway Inn, Winchester -
Tuesday December 6.
 Music
lovers Oliver and Richard have arranged another appealing Americana night at the
Railway Inn in Winchester. This one is headlined by singer/songwriter Amy Rigby
from Nashville, and also features Bob Collum & The Welfare Mothers from the USA
and Luke Doucet from Canada. It’s on Tuesday December 6.
Now a 44 year old divorcee with a teenage daughter, Amy first surfaced during
the early 1980s as a member of the New York City-based cowpunk outfit The Last
Roundup, later earning cult success with the postmodern girl group The Shams.
The former wife of ex-dBs drummer Will Rigby, she made her solo debut in 1996
with “Diary of a Mod Housewife,” a record widely acclaimed for its vivid
portraits of life as a thirtysomething single mother and its smart assimilation
of pop, country and folk sounds. “Middlescence” followed two years later, and
“The Sugar Tree” was issued in 2000. The “18 Again” anthology was released in
2002, collecting the best singles and album tracks from her first three records
and putting them onto one CD.
In 2003 Amy released “Til the Wheels Fall Off,” reflecting some of the flavour
of her newly adopted hometown, Nashville, with guest appearances by Nashville
musicians Todd Snider, Ken Coomer, Duane Jarvis, Dave Jacques and Rick Plant.
Amy headed back to her old stomping grounds of New York City to record 2005's
“Little Fugitive,” which features guest turns from Big Apple admirers Lenny Kaye
and Dennis Diken.
Apparently there is a lot of humour and observation in Amy’s songs. And as
Oliver points out on his website: “Her mind is sharp, her voice is strong, her
hormones are coursing and her breasts are hanging in there.” Interesting.... By
the way, it’s a small venue so get advance tickets or arrive early on the night.
David Gray - BIC, Bournemouth - Thursday December 8.
 Singer-songwriter
David Gray arrives at the BIC in Bournemouth for a concert on Thursday December
8 hot on the heels of his well-received new album “Life In Slow Motion.”
According to his website it’s David’s seventh album, and marks a considerable development for the wobbly-headed one.
In a break with prior tradition “Life In Slow Motion” is the first of David's
albums to be recorded in a 'full scale' studio environment as opposed to the
'bedroom' sized facilities favoured in the past. This increased physical space
is matched by an evolution in David's musical aspirations. “Life In Slow Motion”
is the first of his recent albums on which David and his group have been abetted
by an outside producer, Marius De Vries (Rufus Wainwright, David Bowie, Madonna,
U2).
Of the change in his professional climate David says, “I don't think you can
remain the underdog forever and work in that way. I really wanted to get away
from that lo-fi bedroom, programming, Midi side of things. I really wanted to
experiment, so a lot of the songs came out of playing as a band or messing
around with sounds. A lot of them were just written in the standard way of me
sitting at the piano or whatever. But it became far more about playing, and we
realised this was our strong point, we can actually play!”“Life In Slow Motion”
is the deceptively consummate product of two years of near-constant evolution,
described by David as 'the tip of an iceberg' of new material generated along
the way. “It was bloody hard work,” he says.
“Fear and doubt are huge obstacles. In terms of your own work you have to try to
overcome them. It would have been so easy to get freaked out, but I’m really
delighted that I didn't. I did lose the plot at times in some ways, as you do
when you're immersed in something and you're kind of craving it stopping, but
you can't let go of it either. And this is a document of what happened.”
Derrin Nauendorf - Talking Heads, Southampton -
Saturday December 17.
 Dynamic
Aussie roots singer and guitarist Derrin Nauendorf has carved out a
name for himself since arriving in the UK with drummer Dave Downing around five
years ago. More recently Derrin has been performing solo, but on Saturday
December 17 he teams up with another drummer, Jamie O’Keefe, for a gig at
Talking Heads in Southampton.
Derrin, now aged 30 invested his life in music after picking up a guitar
in high school. His competence and enthusiasm for the instrument quickly led
to him playing in many rock and blues bands in his native Australia, and
eventually a tour of North America by the age of 21. His maturing taste for
melody
and lyrics drew him to explore roots and acoustica in a more sophisticated way
- culminating in the release of his debut album “Natural” in 1999. Bouyed by
the acclaim and respect that this CD earned him, Derrin focused on what has
become his life - real music with a never-say-die determination.
His music has developed since then into a melting pot of roots influences
and has become unique, powerful and extremely moving. Throughout his late
twenties, he played close to one thousand shows in all parts of the UK and
Europe
and, with a snowballing momentum, has gained a very strong following of
supporters. He has in recent years also become a main stage act at festivals in
Europe, UK and also his native Australia. His live show has grown into a
powerful medium, and he is consistently a top album seller at festivals in all
parts
of the globe. His flurrying guitar notes, cutting lyrics and powerful dynamic
delivery has won over fans, peers and critics alike. Derrin is one of the
hardest working musicians on the world circuit at the moment, playing around 250
shows a year. He manages himself and
acts as his own agent in England. His honest and committed approach has
gained him the
respect of promoters and music industry people - he always delivers. If you
haven’t seen Derrin Nauendorf yet you’ve been missing something special. If
you live in the South get down to Talking Heads on December 17!
The Fight - The Joiners, Southampton - Friday December
16.
 Feisty
four-piece The Fight bring their pugilistic punk rock style to The Joiners in
Southampton on Friday December 16, when they will be promoting their debut album
“Nothing New Since Rock N’ Roll.”
The Fight formed in 2000 and hail from Dudley, near Birmingham, England.
Long known as a breeding ground for caustic rock and punk bands, the UK has once
again given us a band that embodies the spirit of youthful rebellion. The band
undoubtedly possesses a hint of that old English sound in their music, citing
Gen X, The Clash and The Buzzcocks as influences.
The discovery of the band is quite the rags to riches story. K8 slipped a copy
of her demo CD to a member of the New Found Glory road crew while they were on
tour in the UK. After exchanging several hands, Chad Gilbert, guitarist for New
Found Glory, caught wind of the record, really liked what he heard, and had them
open a show for New Found Glory on that very tour! With the demo in hand, Chad
returned to the states and passed it along to punk rock tycoon Fat Mike, owner
of Fat Wreck Chords and founding member of NOFX. Within a matter of weeks, The
Fight found themselves involved in quite a whirlwind of chance success.
Their first EP, "Home is Where the Hate Is," was released via Fat Wreck Chords
in 2002. Recording with Bill Stevenson (Descendents, Black Flag) at the highly
esteemed Blasting Room studios, is quite the opportunity for such a young band.
Their full-length record, "Nothing New Since Rock 'N' Roll" was released on
Repossession Records in November last year. In the live arena, this fresh-faced
foursome has found themselves sharing stages in their native country with some
of the biggest names in the punk rock community: Rancid, Yellowcard, Sugarcult
and New Found Glory, to name a few. Aside from the UK, The Fight has already
landed their energetic live show in the states, finding themselves on tour with
some of the best up-and-coming American acts like Brand New, The Starting Line,
and Moneen.
The Fight is:
K8! - Guitar & Vocals
Jak - Drums
Scott - Guitar
Matt - Bass
The Jackson Analogue - The Venue, Ryde Town Hall on the
23rd.
 Isle
of Wight band The Jackson Analogue play a one-off concert at The Venue, Ryde
Town Hall on the 23rd.
The Jackson Analogue formed on the Isle of Wight in the summer of 2004.
Brothers Rob and Jim Homes on guitar and vocals and Matt Winsor on bass formed
the nucleus of the band, and after a string of unhappy couplings with session
drummers they persuaded old friend Craig Watson to quit his job in Brighton and
sign up on percussion. Despite a previous aversion to keyboard players the
arrival of Beast on Hammond and percussion filled out their sound and proved to
be the last piece in the jigsaw.
Things then happened quickly for the band. Their first demos sparked the
interest of several major recording labels and a showcase gig for 100 guests
later in 2004 went berserk. Word of mouth took over and over 400 crammed in to
the tiny Ryde Castle. The band celebrated the release of “The Band on a Hill”
with dates supporting fellow Islanders The Bees, and a full UK tour with Morning
Runner followed.
The bands influences are as diverse as their style is hard to pin down.
They claim not to listen to songs anymore, just sounds. So if you think Led
Zeppelin playing Janis Joplin covers in the style of Kings of Leon, that’s only
half the story. Throw in the soul sensibilities of Aretha Franklin, the awkward
edge of At the Drive-In and the easy danceability of the Come-Ons and you’re
getting closer. One of the hits of this year’s Isle of Wight Festival, The
Jackson Analogue are signed to Island Records.
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EXCLUSIVE POL INTERVIEW
The Tubes
The Brook, Southampton
Friday Dec 2
Amy Rigby
Railway Inn, Winchester
Tuesday Dec 6
David Gray
BIC, Bournemouth
Thursday Dec 8
Derrin Nauendorf
Talking Heads, Southampton
Saturday Dec 17
The Fight
The Joiners, Southampton
Friday Dec 16
EXCLUSIVE POL INTERVIEW
The Tubes
The Brook, Southampton
Friday Dec 2
Amy Rigby
Railway Inn, Winchester
Tuesday Dec 6
David Gray
BIC, Bournemouth
Thursday Dec 8
Derrin Nauendorf
Talking Heads, Southampton
Saturday Dec 17
The Fight
The Joiners, Southampton
Friday Dec 16
The Jackson Analogue
The Venue, Ryde Friday December 23
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