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Highways, Islands and Magic Moments – the Jo Bartlett interview

Posted on July 14, 2014 by writewyattuk

Acoustic Power: Jo Bartlett on stage at the Union Chapel in 2010 (Photo: Justin Thomas)

Now and again a song tugs the heart-strings, and for me it’s more likely to be because of an under-stated beauty rather than a claw-hammer approach.

A case in point is Highway Found, the title track of Jo Bartlett’s latest EP. And it’s not the first time this Sandhurst-based songstress has managed that.

Take for instance her most successful studio project down the years, It’s Jo and Danny, the critically-acclaimed pairing with hubby Danny Hagan.

At this point I’ll mention that it was – frighteningly – nearly 30 years ago that I first became aware of Jo as an artist.

By the time we properly met she’d moved on from indie outfit Go! Service – recently featured on the remastered, expanded C86 collection – to Bluetrain, with both acts recording for TV Personalities main-man Dan Treacy’s Dreamworld Records.

Even then she had a side-line, organising regular Buzz Club gigs and happenings at Aldershot’s West End Centre.

As it turns out, I was at the very first Buzz Club, at Camberley’s Agincourt pub in November 1985, catching That Petrol Emotion – and support The Mighty Lemon Drops – outside London for the first time.

The Buzz Club story is something I’ll tackle in its own right soon, but at this point I was pretty much unaware of her presence.

Incidentally, I only recently realised Go! Service were at an earlier TPE gig I saw a few months earlier, at the Enterprise in Chalk Farm.

We were no doubt supping at the bar during their set, though (and this blog will carry a special feature on That Petrol Emotion very soon, he adds tantalisingly).

Over the next eight years, the Buzz Club’s guests included a who’s who of happening artists of that era, including Blur, Bradford, The Charlatans, Cornershop, Dodgy, Elastica, Flowered Up, Happy Mondays, Manic Street Preachers, McCarthy, Mega City Four, The Milltown Brothers, The Pale Fountains, Primal Scream, Shed 7, Spiritualised, The Stone Roses, Suede, Sultans of Ping, and The Verve.

And in the next few years, as head honcho of Captains Log fanzine, our paths regularly crossed, through Jo’s club and my appreciation of Bluetrain.

Not much of the latter’s promise was caught on vinyl, although I loved Parade, boasting plenty of jangly guitar and augmented by June Brides trumpet talent Jon Hunter (someone else with a Petrols link).

I still proudly covert my four-track Land of Gold 12” from 1987 though, and later interviewed the band at Jo’s parents’ home.

On Location: “It all used to be docks round here” – Bluetrain between takes in London for the Land of Gold video (Photo: Jo Bartlett)

Actually, I only learned during this interview that there was a posthumous 12-track Bluetrain best of CD, released on a Peruvian indie label.

Peru? Yes, forget Big in Japan – South America’s where it’s at, apparently (although Jo did point out that there was a Bluetrain tribute act doing the rounds in Japan – while denying my suggestion that they were called Bullet Train, I might add).

Jo and Danny also penned an article for my fanzine during their first US travels, set for the legendary fourth issue in the Captains Log trilogy – the one that never saw publication.

Time moved on, and as the sassy blonde and her affable bass-playing beau moved uptown and I moved upcountry, we lost touch for a while.

The following years passed in a blur of family-building, careers and much more for both of us. And by the time I caught up again, I‘d missed big chunks.

So while I was around at the start of Here Comes Jordan – their next incarnation, one that largely failed to take root, other than a few live gigs in Singapore – I was playing catch-up a few years later.

Consequently, I had to shell out in retrospect for the four It’s Jo and Danny CD releases, starting with the self-released end of millennium Lank Haired Girl to Bearded Boy.

At that point, they’d both given up their London jobs to go about another crack at the big time, and with a fair bit of success this time.

“Jo Whiley played some tracks on her Radio 1 lunchtime show, and we got amazing reviews everywhere. We got signed by RCA at that point.”

While that first album retains pride of place in Jo’s affection, for me it’s the second that really resonated, 2001’s Thug’s Lounge.

“Really? That’s the one that got us dropped! It never got properly released after they decided that, so they did it all a bit half-hearted – not doing it justice.

“That was despite some nice reviews in The Times, and Radio 1 playing Driven Away, the single.

“It got deleted the same week it was released, but I always thought there were a couple of songs on there that got criminally over-looked.”

I agree. In fact, of all It’s Jo and Danny’s produce, I felt there were far more ‘stop in your tracks’ moments on that album.

While parts of those 1999–2005 albums were a little experimental, there were plenty of sparkling indie-pop-folk moments too.

For me, Driven Away, Dying Kiss, Real Thing and In the Here and Now were perhaps their finest moments.

And while Jo might not necessarily agree, she did re-record two of those tracks for 2005’s The Quickening in a bid to get them properly heard.

After It’s Jo and Danny, the pair formed the more psychedelic, instrumental Yellow Moon Band, releasing a couple of singles and the album Travels Into Several Remote Nations Of The World.

Further critical acclaim followed, but with little commercial success. Then again, I’m not totally sure Jo would be comfortable being a big success if stardom finally came knocking anyway. She certainly has the talent though.

There’s plenty of evidence of that on 2010’s nine-track solo album Upheaval, even if Jo plays that down as ‘just me and an acoustic guitar, recorded in an afternoon’.

I’d say it was a return to form, but I’m not sure she ever slipped below the bar. It’s just that it’s recorded in its simplest form, and refreshingly honest and all the more emotive for it.

In short, it includes several sweet songs laid bare, perfect examples of what Jo can pull out of the bag. And some of those songs have been getting an airing lately, given the band treatment while helping launch her latest EP.

So, back to that most-recent four-track release, and for me, title track Highway Found falls neatly into that earlier category of ‘hit in the making’.

It’s gorgeously but lightly layered, the subtle strings giving a wistful feel that brings to mind Catch by The Cure.

The original video footage used, shot around her beloved Outer Hebridean holiday island of Barra, seemed particularly apt.

And Jason Glenister’s subsequent video plays nicely on the song’s sense of nostalgia, following a little girl as she plays by the mudflats and estuary at Hollow Shore, Kent.

The other three tracks add to that, and again I’m mindful of The Cure on second track, Measure of the Storm, unable to place the riff until Caterpillar sprang to mind.

I put this to Jo, who said: “No one in my long, illustrious career has ever compared me with Robert Smith of The Cure, but I’m delighted to have opened a new page.”

There’s a Go Betweens album track guitar feel there too – like a Robert Forster song sung by Grant McLennan.

Meanwhile, the harmonies – Jo backed by Jo – suggest another of my favourite bands, fellow South-East outfit The Sundays.

Rising to the Bait offers another reference point, one I know was special to Jo when I first interviewed her – its guitar suggesting Lloyd Cole’s Are you Ready to be Heartbroken?

While flattered by that, Jo was quick to pass that off as being down to a bizarre method of guitar tuning. I won’t go into the details. She lost me, to be honest.

And then there’s Suitable Drama, with a pensive ‘castaway on a remote island’ touch back to the fore again.

The instrumental break and strings suggest Nick Drake or Mike Scott and The Waterboys, influences probably always there just below the surface in recent years.

Incidentally, she put part of that down to tuning the guitars the classic folk way, citing Martin Carthy’s part in that.

Again, she went into more detail, telling me how many guitars she has around the house tuned different ways, and how it depends on her mood as to which she chooses.

But this isn’t Classic Guitar Bloggers’ Monthly, so I’ll leave it there if that’s okay.

None of the last three tracks grabbed me at first, but slowly got under the skin, the latter probably closer to It’s Jo and Danny as it gathers space.

Yet even that EP now seems to be back-catalogue, Jo having moved on to her new band, with a current bout of recording and mixing leading towards an October release.

Kodiak Island: Jo’s latest band performing at the Cellar Bar in Bracknell (Photo: Jo Bartlett)

There’s a fine online example of that new ‘guitars, bass and cajon’ sound in video footage of Upheaval’s finale Take Me To Water, shot at a bar in Bracknell recently.

On top of all that, Jo’s recorded a few inspired covers, most notably a heart-felt version of the TV Personalities’ fantastic If I Could Write Poetry, and alternative renditions of Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights and The Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want.

But she has more than enough of her own material to lay down too, something she was quick to enthuse about when we caught up.

So Jo – and because of the 200-plus miles between us, we were on the phone this time – what’s the reaction to Highway Found been like?

“Really good, thanks. Lots of nice comments via email and at gigs.

“All the tracks from the EP were written after we stopped doing the Green Man Festival, in the lull between then and now.”

Hang on. Did I forget to mention the Green Man Festival? Well, Jo’s Buzz Club experience and past role at Covent Garden’s Rock Garden in time led to her and Danny helping set up an annual event in South Wales.

At that point they’d left London for Brecon, founding what was soon regarded as one of the highlights of the UK’s festival calendar.

The first, in 2003, attracted around 350 people, with the organisers £9.10 down but the reviews favourable. And in time a number of big-name acts featured, from Bon Iver, Donovan, The Flaming lips, Gruff Rhys, John Grant and Laura Marling to Martha Wainwright, Mumford & Sons, The National and Robert Plant.

Jo and Danny’s last Green Man Festival, in 2011, attracted a 15,000 crowd and Fleet Foxes headlined. But that’s all by the by, so let’s get back to the new EP …

“That whole session took ages to complete. Danny wrote the lyrics, and I’d go into the studio every now and again, but there was a lot of organisation involved.

“You’ll hear a string quartet on there, so I was taking the recordings to a certain level, living with them for a while, then thinking it needed other musicians on there.

“I was approaching them, then getting them on there. The whole process up to the mixing took about two years. I turned into Fleetwood Mac!”

I’d heard rumours.

So, has the release of the EP been well-timed? Only you seem to have a lot going on.

“Well, the emotions I was caught up in for those songs aren’t quite where I’m at now, but that’s how it often is.

“Richard Handyside, who plays electric guitar with my band now, played on those tracks, but not the others in the band. So I want to get recording with them now.”

Studio Fix: Richard Handyside at work during a recent recording session (Photo: Jo Bartlett)

Studio Fix: Richard Handyside at work during a recent recording session with Jo (Photo: Jo Bartlett)

In fact, Richard was also with Bluetrain in their latter days, and was present when I interviewed them back in the early ‘90s.

The band also includes bassist Mike Muggeridge and cajon player Gareth Palmer, with Danny out of the picture for now, having started a new lecturing role in music at a London university.

Not as if he can escape the band though, as they practise in his front room (although Jo stressed that he draws the line at offers to accompany them up to gigs in the van).

It’s fair to say Jo’s fairly buzzing about the new band though, and looking forward to a ‘new phase of songwriting’ with Richard.

“I’ve got a new batch of songs I can’t do justice to, so the two of us are going to get together. Again, that will be in the vibe of this new band.

“The best thing about this band is that they can just come and rehearse at my house, just like in the old days with Bluetrain.

“There’s no drum kit, as we have the cajon, so that helps. I have a little vocal PA, we’ve all got little amps, and it makes it all potently do-able!

“As you get older in life and keep doing the things in life you want to keep doing, they have to be do-able! Otherwise other things take priority.

“We’ve only been together since February this year, when Gareth joined, but it’s all coming on nicely.”

Multi Tasking: Jo lets loose at the keyboard, live (Photo: Jo Bartlett)

Despite the recent acoustic album and small-scale live set-up, Jo is still prone to flirt outrageously with electronica, so I can’t believe she won’t with this new project too.

“Actually, I was trying to get some synthesiser in there as well. But I don’t really have enough hands to pull that off live.”

Jo reckoned she already had an album’s worth of material before she started on the new songs, contemplating bringing that out under her name before switching tack.

“I feel a bit guilty about calling this new thing ‘Jo Bartlett’, so I think there will be a band name for the songs written with Richard.”

As it turns out, within a minute or so, Jo seems to have decided on a name, choosing Kodiak Island, ‘which we’ve been flirting with for a while’.

The name was inspired by Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary Grizzly Man, with its Richard Thompson soundtrack.

“The soundtrack was fantastic, and I found the whole thing so inspiring.”

So what’s likely to be released first?

“I don’t know, because we’ve also got an unreleased psychedelic album, with lots of lovely old ’70s synthesisers. You can imagine – I had a field day there!”

At that point, we got on to the Third Rail Festival, organised by Jo and Danny and set to happen on July 5 along the banks of the Thames, close to the Reading Festival site.

It was all supposedly on track (sorry) at that stage, but this ambitious one-dayer fell through ‘late doors’.

The festival was set to include several up and coming bands over two stages – showcasing everything from electronica and experimental jazz to guitar pop.

The idea was to create something combining ‘the variety of a festival, with the intimacy of a gig’, and included a cinema tent and talk events among other attractions.

There was even a discussion featuring indie cult Johnny Dee, NME C86 compiler Neil Taylor, Orange Juice legend Edwyn Collins and Weather Prophets/Loft frontman Pete Astor.

But it clearly wasn’t meant to be this time, although the idea may resurface next year.

In an explanatory note on her website, she added: “We had tried something different, it was just harder than we imagined it would be to get that idea across.”

Meanwhile, Jo and Danny keep themselves busy with their Third Rail music management enterprise, helping out behind the scenes with various acts.

Wonderful Copenhagen: Pinkunoizu

Clients include Danish psychedelic four-piece Pinkunoizu, Bristol alternative jazz combo The Lund Quartet, and 18-year-old rising talent The Cartoonist – aka James Munro.

Not as if it’s easy to lump those last three together, but that wide church seems to characterise just what Jo’s musical philosophy is all about.

“It’s just for the love of it all really, helping out others through our experience – giving a helping hand to those trying to do something original musically.”

But while that work goes on behind the scenes, Jo’s focus has now returned to her own recordings. And the signs are extremely promising.

As she puts it: “They’re just great songs, played really well, and we’re all really enjoying what we’re doing.

“The magic is there. And if you’ve got that magic … yeah!”

Fringe Note: As our conversation was a few weeks ago, I caught up with Jo again on the day of publication to check on a couple of queries, and it appears that things really have moved on.

She added: “I’m actually putting the finishing touches – and we’re about 99% done -to the next Jo Bartlett album.

“It will contain the four EP tracks plus five other songs. This is actually the album I’m now intending to release in October, on the Strikeback label.

“It’s getting finished at Bark Studio in East London, where I’ve recorded most of my recordings from the It’s Jo and Danny days through to my solo stuff.

“We’ve also started recording the first Kodiak Island songs too, but those might not materialise until 2015!”

Not only that, but Jo also has her debut radio show, called Fringe on Top (the same as her blog, the title inspired by Edwyn Collins, Roger McGuinn, and all that), broadcast on US station ChestnutRadio.com every Tuesday at 11am in New York and 5pm in the UK, starting on Tuesday, July 15.

Jo added: “The opportunity came about as the guy who runs this station in New Jersey is a fan of my music and is doing an hour and a half special on me – from Go! Service right up to the new solo recordings.

“We did an interview on the phone and I said I’d love to present my own show – so I’m delighted to say that will now be happening.

“Doing a radio show is perfect for me right now. I can record it at home and send it over to Chestnut.”

I best stop there, before Jo passes on details of her next venture. But to keep up to date with her musical projects and follow links to downloads and all that, check out her Fringe on Top website.

Posted in Music | Tagged Bluetrain, Buzz Club, C86, Chestnut Radio, Dan Treacy, Danny Hagan, Go! Service, Green Man Festival, It's Jo and Danny, Jo Bartlett, Kodiak Island, Lund Quartet, Pinkunoizu, That Petrol Emotion, Third Rail, Yellow Moon Band | 9 Comments

Timperley Sunsets and New York Mornings – In Conversation with Jon Ronson

Posted on July 14, 2014 by writewyattuk

Frank Trio: From the left, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Fassbender and Domhnall Gleeson on the set of 2014’s Frank

Jon Ronson is a busy man, this Cardiff-born, New York-based writer, film-maker and broadcaster clearly juggling lots of big deadlines.

But he was nothing less than charming and entertaining when we caught up via a web link from NYC this week, telling me about his seven-date A Frank Talk tour, his surreal brush with pop fame, and much more.

“I’m at the very late stages of the next book, so after about three years I’ve got about a week left. But I can stop for a while.”

The 47-year-old is perhaps best known for writing 2004’s The Men Who Stare At Goats, later a film starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey.

He made his name with his newspaper, magazine and investigative film-making work, leading to Channel 4 and BBC Radio 4 series, tackling a wealth of complicated issues, from conspiracy theories to debunking.

I neglected to ask which book he was currently finishing, but it could be the one he was rumoured to be writing on public shaming.

It’s his seventh, the most recent including The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, and Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries.

With that in mind, it’s fair to say Jon must have some interesting conversations with his publishers when telling them about new projects.

And one he must have struggled to explain was the screenplay of Frank, the comedy-drama that went on to feature Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Fassbender, loosely based on the story of late, great Mancunian papiere-mache-headed cult indie legend Frank Sidebottom.

If you’re not familiar with Timperley’s finest, I’m not sure I can explain this showbusiness leg-end any better than that. I’m not about to try either. Besides, it’s hardly a bio-pic.

Frank premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in Utah, with the filming experience just the latest mad twist in the life of Ronson.

That whole experience is the subject of Jon’s A Frank Talk, about to do the rounds in the UK, including an event at The Dukes Theatre in Lancaster – my excuse for speaking to him via the wonders of Skype.

And all because Jon, while working as an ents officer at Central London Poly in the late ‘80s, picked up the phone and admitted he could play keyboard one day.

I think I’ve already intimated it’s a long story, and I haven’t the space, but it’s nicely told on his blog, with a link here.

Long Gone: The Cricketers, Kennington, unfortunately no longer with us (Photo: Stephen Harris/http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/)

As it turned out, that one-night-stand at the Kennington Cricketers led to a three-year stint on the road with Frank’s Oh Blimey Big Band, and subsequently a major writing project.

I put it to Jon that had it not been for radio and TV presenter and fellow author Mark Radcliffe’s busy life, he might not have got his first-hand taste of the music business.

“True. It was Mark being absent that got me the job. One day he became very abruptly unavailable – I don’t know why – so Frank’s manager Mike Doherty called me in a flap.

“I didn’t know Mike, I didn’t know Mark, and didn’t know any of the band, but Mike said if they didn’t find a keyboard player that night, they were going to have to cancel.”

Jon wasn’t confident it was the job for him, but once it was confirmed he knew the C, F and G chords on keyboard he was in, albeit hiding behind a stack of speakers while playing that first night.

Key Opening: Mark Radcliffe’s absence that led to Jon Ronson’s big break (Photo: Simon & Schuster)

Has he brought it up with Mark Radcliffe since?

“No, I’ve bumped into him once or twice and he’s been perfectly affable, but I wouldn’t call us firm friends … I think it’s because I’m a Southerner!

“He was much closer to Chris Sievey (Frank’s alter ego) than I ever was, and that was at the back of my mind throughout this whole process with the movie and everything.

“I didn’t want to annoy Mark, and to feel like he would disapprove. I really admire him, but I’m slightly frightened of him. He’s like the spiritual heart of Frank Sidebottom.

“But I read something the other day by Mick Middles in which Mark said something relatively positive about me. That made me quite relieved.”

I’m guessing the Sievey family were always on board with the film project.

“We were talking to the family throughout, so knew how they were feeling. The film was shown to them the day after it debuted at Sundance. They were very happy.

“They understood right from the beginning it wasn’t a straight bio-pic but much more experimental than that.

“Also, the family came to my last show at the Dancehouse in Manchester a couple of months ago, and loved it.

Three Chords: Jon Ronson ‘s mastery of the keyboard led to a glimpse into the star-studded world of showbusiness (Photo: https://www.kickstarter.com)

“We reformed the Oh Blimey Big Band, with Chris’ son Harry on vocals, which was brilliant and extremely moving.

“The movie and the true story are both honestly labelled, with the movie a complete fiction inspired by Frank. It wouldn’t exist without Frank, but isn’t at all about Frank. Both the story and the speaking tour are by no means definitive biographical accounts.

“It’s much more a personal story about my relatively brief time with the band. Neither pretend to be something they’re not.

“Both have real integrity but don’t claim to be something they’re not, even though I feel they’re both really good.”

Did you think during that three-year spell with Frank you’d be writing about it all one day, and that might lead to a film?

“During that period of my life I was squatting in Islington, along with a psychotic man called Shep, who smashed all the plates every time Arsenal lost.

“As he hurled plates across the kitchen, I remember thinking I might do something with this one day … but not necessarily the Frank story! That was much later.

“Frank got back in touch 15 or so years later, and asked if I could write something for The Guardian to help with his comeback.

“That started me thinking. My pieces take forever to write, but my little 2,000 word story about Frank came out in three days.

“It had a sweet, fairytale quality to it. That took me by surprise. I think it was that Alice in Wonderland feel that made me think there was something there.

“Peter Straughan, who wrote The Men Who Stare at Goats and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy scripts, read The Guardian piece and said he’d always wanted to write a fictional music bio-pic.

“He told me he’d always wanted to write the story of what would happen if Captain Beefheart had been around in the 1940s or 1950s, and how society would have dealt with him.

“Then he said, ‘but your idea is better’, which I thought was kind of odd, because I didn’t actually have an idea!”

This seems to be a theme. I was reading about you getting your first TV series, BBC 2’s The Ronson Mission, commissioned by Janet Street-Porter in similar circumstances, saying you had a wonderful idea, one you denied knowing at the time.

“Exactly!”

So is this the story of your life – you’ve got a great idea, but you’re not quite sure what it is? (Just a thought, but maybe there’s a ‘Ron Johnson’ out there pitching all these brilliant ideas, but getting over-looked every time).

“It’s more like I have no ideas, but then someone tells me it’s a good idea. In fact, it’s happened again now with Peter, telling me another of my stories was a great idea, saying ‘that’s a movie!’

The Cast: The Frank personnel give us a wave (Photo: Element Pictures/Runaway Fridge Films/Jonathan Hession)

“Anyway, straight away I said to Chris Sievey about Peter, and explained that he was so in demand that if he wants to do something, it’s really stupid not to do it.

“I said we’d be idiots to say no, and Chris said he’d love to do it. But I explained how Peter, Film Four and all those people like those fairytale moments – like me jumping up on a stage.

“I told him it was never likely to be a bio-pic as much as a story about someone like me and someone like him, and the relationship between us.

“He was totally fine about that, and didn’t really want there to be a Chris Sievey in the film anyway.”

So where did you learn the three chords that got you that first gig at the Kennington Cricketers?

“Busking at Cardiff High School. Me, Dick Jones and Bethan Morgan would go off to Barry Island.

“And when my brother went to Guildford to the University of Surrey, when he was 18 and I was 16, I’d busk on the high street there.”

I explained at that point how I spent my Saturdays in an office at Boots the Chemist in Guildford in my student days, listening to buskers outside, wishing I was there instead. But that’s a whole different story.

Jon’s musical link didn’t stop there. In fact, he also managed mid-‘80s Manchester indie outfit The Man from Delmonte.

“That was around the same time. I totally fell in love with them and thought they were the future. And there was a time when they might have been the future.

“I just feel our timing was unlucky. They were very much in the same world as The Smiths and James, and C86 bands like Tallulah Gosh and The Monochrome Set.

“There was a moment when we were one of the biggest bands in Manchester, around 1988, just before The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays made it.

“We weren’t in that world. It was just bad timing. If the whole thing happened two years earlier, I’ve no doubt The Man From Delmonte would have become at least as big as James.

“But it was kind of a class thing. Rightly or wrongly, people saw bands like us and James as middle class, as opposed to the Roses and the Mondays.

“One set just fell out of favour. We had gigs when we were supported by 808 State and Inspiral Carpets, then months later those bands were headlining.”

Jon was studying journalism back then, but gladly gave it all up for life on the road.

“I don’t think I would ever have finished those studies. It was all very theoretical, and at the age of 18 I wanted to be doing stuff, rather than sat in a classroom learning it.”

If you’d have carried on, there have might have been no Oh Blimey Big Band role, no Frank, no run-ins with Gary Glitter on the road (also detailed on Jon’s blog), and all that.

“Absolutely. There was no comparison. I didn’t have to think about it more than a second.

“Man from Delmonte were offering me a chance to be their manager and Frank was offering me a chance to be his keyboard player. I didn’t hesitate.”

Having interviewed Frank Sidebottom once, speaking in character to me over the phone during my time at the Chorley and Leyland Guardian, I can only begin to imagine what a bizarre time that must have been for Jon.

“I wonder if he just put the nose peg on for his phone interviews… or the whole head.”

I don’t want to think about it being anything less than the whole papier-mache head, so quickly batted away that suggestion, then moved on.

You’ve come up against some very difficult characters over the years through your investigative work and writing. Who was the most difficult?

“Mmm … there are different sorts of difficult. There’s hostile, but that makes for a good interview. And if things are often unpleasant at the time, the writing’s better.

“Alternatively, I remember interviewing someone really successful and famous, maybe a politician or business leader.

“I can’t recall exactly who, but he was talking and talking, and I thought ‘Great! This is gold dust!’

“But then I came away and listened to it and it was nothing but bland, banal platitudes. He’d rather brilliantly given absolutely nothing away, despite all that talk.”

Ideas Man: Jon Ronson

Does the thought of performing a one-man show make you nervous?

“No, I really enjoy it. I spend so much time on my own, writing. Frequently I’ll spend an entire day where all I’ve done other than going to the gym is write and rewrite again and again one sentence.

“Alone in my room for about 10 hours, trying to get that one sentence right! That’s basically my life!

“So when I go out and do a one-man show, have an adventure and interview someone or get the source material to make the writing work, that always feels like a real treat.

“The one-man show is never as hard as that walk into my office in the morning. That for me is the far greater horror.

“At the same time, I must say I really enjoy the writing when it’s done. But it’s very daunting.

“Also, I know people enjoy coming to my talks. I’m better at it than a lot of authors – more entertaining. It’s almost like stand-up.

“I have this feeling of confidence that people won’t leave disappointed. That leaves me less nervous about it.”

What do you see yourself as first these days – journalist, film-maker, screenwriter, radio presenter or author?

“Always an author. The other stuff is great and I really enjoy it, but books are definitely what I care most about, or feel are the most stable part of my life.”

Jon has been based in New York for two years now, with his wife Elaine and son Joel, who is about to turn 16.

So is the Big Apple properly ‘home’? Jon’s response was a long sigh, followed by a fair bit of hesitation.

“Erm … I don’t know. My wife and son love it, so definitely it feels like home for them. I definitely have some good days too.

“I love the fact that it’s 80 degrees today and I don’t even feel the need to rush outside because I know it’s going to be 80 degrees every day up to October.

“We’re in the Upper West Side, but all of New York is pretty small, and there’s a lot about it I do love.”

Does Joel ever head back over to London with Jon to watch the writer’s beloved Arsenal FC?

“No, but we watched the FA Cup Final together at this really nice club in New York, The Blind Pig, which shows all the games. I do miss going to The Emirates though.”

Is New York proving to be a positive creative base for you?

“Well, this new book is working, and I don’t think I could have written it if I wasn’t based in New York.

“People are very ‘can do’ here. If I say I want to do a monthly show where I talk about how my immigration’s going, we just do it.

“There’s nobody there to tell you that you can’t. I love Britain’s sense of negativity, but it’s quite nice to be in a culture which is the opposite of that.

“You lose some of the funny cynicism, but you gain stuff as well.”

Do you keep in touch with your Cardiff roots?

“I keep in touch with my parents, and I’m going back next week on this tour, but I’m more in touch with my London and Manchester roots.”

Premiere Pairing: Ewan McGregor and George Clooney at a Canadian press conference for The Men Who Stare At Goats

What was it like to have people like Ewan McGregor play your character on the big screen in The Men Who Stare At Goats?

“Well, imagine being 15 and knowing one day that’s going to happen – the feeling of joy when you’re sat in a room in Cardiff. It would be the greatest day in your life, wouldn’t it!

“But when it actually happens, it’s just work. I wish I could be more Wizard of Oz, a bit more Dorothy about it.

“It’s all about contracts, if a film may or may not happen, problems with scripts, whether you’ll be invited on the set. And when you are it can all be a bit boring.

“Then, when the premiere happens, you’re on the red carpet, but nobody really wants you there. They want to see George Clooney.”

How about the books then? It’s 20 years since your first, the Clubbed Class travelogue, was published. Was that a big moment?

“Actually, that was a bit of a let-down too! I never really liked Clubbed Class. What wasn’t a let-down though was Them, which I think of as my first proper book.”

Them: Adventures with Extremists, published in 2001, follows Jon’s experiences with various figures labelled as extremists in some sense, from David Icke to Ian Paisley.

“The first time I saw that on the shelf at Waterstones was incredible, and the fact I got to be about No.5 in the bestsellers’ list.

“It was a similar feeling when I gave a talk at Borders in Oxford Street when it came out, and around 300 to 400 people turned out.”

It appears that the rights to Them were bought by Universal Pictures too, and ear-marked for a Mike White screenplay and co-production, with comedian and actor Jack Black involved.

But Jon’s clearly not too starry-eyed about the film industry experience anymore.

“I’m not saying the movies are a let-down, but there’s never a magical moment, and the film industry experience is all very stressful.

“There’s lots of pushing and shoving and people vying for the glory at the expense of others.

“Saying that, I visited the set of Judd Apatow’s latest film last week, and everyone was laughing and happy.

“Things were fine on the Frank set too. I loved the experience of writing it. It’s just that I wasn’t really involved on the Goats set. And it’s still work.”

Jon’s seven-date A Frank Talk UK tour starts at London’s Wilton’s Music Hall this Thursday, July 17, followed by visits to the Latitude Festival (Friday, July 18), Cardiff Chapter Arts Centre (Saturday, July 19), Llangollen Fringe Festival (Sunday, July 20) and Lancaster The Dukes Theatre (Monday, July 21).

He’s also set to give A Psychopath Talk at Hebden Bridge Trades Club (Tuesday, July 22), before ending at Manchester Dancehouse (Wednesday, July 23), complete with a full Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band in the final A Frank Talk event.

Then it’s back to the US and ‘on the first Tuesday of every month until one of us gets deported’, he’s putting on his I’m New Here – Can You Show Me Around? immigration talk with comedian Maeve Higgins at Union Hall, Brooklyn, NYC.

* With thanks to Louise Bryning at the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster and Mike McCarthy at Lakin McCarthy for helping arrange this interview.

* This is a revised and expanded version of a Malcolm Wyatt feature published in the Lancashire Evening Post on July 11, 2014.

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Domhnall Gleeson, Ewan McGregor, Frank Sidebottom, George Clooney, Jon Ronson, Maeve Higgins, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Man From Delmonte, Mark Radcliffe, Michael Fassbender, The Men Who Stare At Goats, The Psychopath Test, Them: Adventures with Extremists | Leave a comment

Deadwood Dog determined to party on the Preston front

Posted on July 11, 2014 by writewyattuk

Bouzouki Drive: Deadwood Dog, adding a little sunshine to your day (Photo: Deadwood Dog)

Nine months after launching their debut album, United Colours of Bigotry, Deadwood Dog are on something of a high.

The Preston seven-piece visit 53 Degrees this Saturday, July 12, returning to a treasured University of Central Lancashire venue facing closure at the end of the year.

And they’re determined to make the most of their latest ‘second home’ while they can, stressing that it’s not all doom and gloom for Lancashire’s newest city.

Deadwood Dog are gearing up for a celebratory event, showcasing the best of a home-spun music scene, with support from fellow Preston acts Matt Gallagher and David Shurr.

Lead singer Mick Stokes said: “We were hoping England might be in the World Cup Final. It was going to be a ‘feelgood’ weekend …

“Now we’re just going to have to double up and do everything! The team are back home, of course. I doubt if they’ll be at our gig, but …”

Well, you never know.

There was a prestigious support for Mick’s band at the same venue with From the Jam last summer, and they held their album launch there in October.

I put it to 49-year-old Mick (vocals, lyrics and electric guitar) that 53 Degrees had become something of a local for them in recent times.

“It has, but not for long, because they’re demolishing it. They’re knocking down this town, bit by bit.

“While 53 Degrees isn’t even an old bit, we seem to want to destroy anything that resembles Preston’s history – from the Bus Station to The Warehouse.

“But you have to draw the line somewhere, and a place like The Warehouse has too much history. They’ll regret it.

“Joy Division played there, and so much happened there – so many great gigs. Southern Dealt Cult played there, as well as at the Preston Poly.

“I was only about 12 when Siouxsie and the Banshees played the Poly, and The Cure played there too. Looking back, what a great time that was for Preston.”

The Warehouse, I should explain to out-of-towners, has been putting on alternative music nights in Preston since the early ’70s.

It was seen as a focal point of the North West’s late ’70s punk scene, and Joy Division recorded 1980 live album Preston Warehouse there just a year before Ian Curtis’ death.

It also played host to The Stone Roses in 1986, while China Crisis were previous regulars, and Black Flag’s Henry Rollins recounts a tale of being beaten up in the mosh pit there.

Furthermore, Deadwood Dog have their own The Men They Couldn’t Hang style anthem about one infamous night in the venue’s history, Warehouse Riot.

All very Wild North West.

Yet while we’ll mourn The Warehouse and 53 Degrees if they go, there are alternatives which might do well in their absence.

“Exactly. Blitz for one might benefit. It’s all set up there, with an in-house PA, and it’s not being used enough. The Continental’s doing well too.

“It’s just the size of the venue that’s the issue. I don’t know anywhere that would fill in for the big room at 53 Degrees.”

Getting back to the band themselves, Deadwood Dog’s official biog talks of a band whose ‘foot-stomping music tells stories of real-life, marrying up-tempo barnstormers, bittersweet ballads, and the odd well-chosen cover’.

We’re also asked to ‘imagine a supergroup made up of the Levellers, IRS-years REM and the ghost of Joe Strummer, all jamming in a Baltic bar’.

The fact that Mick’s part-Polish co-writer Daevid Goral Barker plays Greek bouzouki, and Sarah Pickin adds violin, contributes to that general picture.

There’s plenty of evidence of all that on United Colours of Bigotry, from the super-catchy stand-out single Out in the Rain – with its East European feel – onwards.

And while that initial talk of the weather seems to suit the band’s background, Daev’s bouzouki transports you way down south for a little welcome sunshine.

Despite Mick’s deep Lancashire tones, there’s more than a hint of his US heroes Steve Earle and early REM on the album too.

And those transatlantic touches bring to mind bands that followed in REM’s wake like Hootie & the Blowfish, and perhaps Canada’s Crash Test Dummies too.

The band’s breezy feelgood factor is definitely there on tracks like This World and You Brighten Up My Day, more songs of high summer.

They even tackle Kraftwerk’s The Model, and while nostalgia dictates I still prefer The Members’ glorious dub version, it’s a worthy cover that can’t fail to bring a smile to the face.

All in all, it’s a promising debut, and seems to have had a positive response. So how is life with ‘Preston’s original bouzouki-wielding folk-rockers’ right now?

“Things are definitely on the up. We headlined Bearded Theory’s Woodland Stage on midnight on the Saturday.

“We were on after The Stranglers, but they were on the main stage, so we had to nip off and sound-check and set up after a while.

Supporting Role: The Wonder Stuff’s Dan Donnelly

“It was all very good. The Wonder Stuff’s guitarist Dan Donnelly was down the front cheering us on, while harassing the sound-man about the lack of fiddle in the mix.”

Dan and Deadwood Dog go back a while, the acclaimed Belfast singer-songwriter their support when they officially launched their album, only recently joining the latest incarnation of Miles Hunt’s former chart-toppers.

And this time I gather the Derbyshire festival’s organisers came to Mick’s band rather than the other way around.

“We’ve approached a few in the past, and last year got nothing back, but this year had this and Spannerfest at Burscough come back to us.

“It’s just another sign that we’re starting to establish ourselves, albeit as a minor player at this point.”

Livewood Dog: The band in action recently (Photo: Hughie Roberts/ Deadwood Dog)

The fact that they have their first CD out might help too.

“Yes, but that’s not why we did it. I just want people to listen to that. It’s no massive concern where it leads to. It’s just part of the cycle of being in a band.

“You write songs, you work them doing gigs, and you go and record them. Hopefully people will then like it. But if they don’t … tough.

“We’re not beholding to anyone, or any record company, saying ‘this is how it’s going to be, and how it’s going to sound. “

And there’s been a good reaction to United Colours of Bigotry?

“Generally, yeah. Not enough people have heard it, that’s the only thing. We’re not getting radio airplay.

“We sent it to the BBC, but they’re obviously not interested at Radio Lancashire, which begs the question ‘what are they listening to?’ We’re a local band doing well.

“But I guess these aren’t the people I want to be judged by, if they’d rather play One Direction and chart music. It’s the same dross as on Rock FM. “

The fact that Deadwood Dog called their album United Colours of Bigotry tells us a lot about their stance and attitude to modern life.

That’s covered well on Little Town of Bigotry, tackling the ignorance of the area’s generational hand-me-down religious and racial divisions.

“It’s a play on the United Colours of Benetton advertising campaign too. I’m surrounded by bigotry, and seem to have been all my life around Lancashire.

“It’s frightening in this day of information technology that people are so ignorant really, just taking headlines for granted and not looking deeper into things.

“Look at Facebook, for instance. So many things land on your page and you wonder how they get there, like all those ’English’ things.

“I’m proud enough to be English, but I’m an Englishman into integration and diversity.

“I’m disheartened about the performances of our national football team like everybody else, but I’m no bigot.

“You only have to see the diversity within our cricket and football teams to see what being English really means today.”

I put it to Mick that Lancashire today – despite a few idiots – is a positive melting pot of cultures, and his band’s music helps lead the way, displaying many world influences.

“Our music’s from everywhere. Even the reggae thing. How many white bands have taken on reggae, from 10cc and The Police onwards?

“Any good music, any good beats … we’ll try anything, to be honest, and it’s all based around a folk-rock set-up.”

Melting Pot: From th eleft, Daevid, Mick and Robin in live action at Penwortham (Photo: John Mick Mather/Deadwood Dog)

Melting Pot: From the left, Daevid, Mick and Robin in live action at Penwortham Gala (Photo: John Mick Mather/Deadwood Dog)

The album took some time to get together, but the band were more than happy with the result.

“We recorded the whole album with a mobile studio set-up, but weren’t satisfied with the result, and felt we had to start again.

“I suggested we went to John Kettle, of The Tansads fame, at Jaraf House, Wigan.

“John knows the scene and knows what we were looking for, rather than those who use a specific format for everyone they record.

“When I spoke to him, his enthusiasm for it sold it to me straight away. We were so pleased with the result, and it’s the best thing we’ve ever done.

“Until the next one … which is going to be even better. We’ve a four-track EP coming out, including Divided Kingdom, another song about Preston.”

Divided Kingdom is Mick’s story of a Saturday morning in his hometown where he came upon an English Defence League demo, with plenty of opposition there too.

“I couldn’t tell which were which. Two extremes, both minorities. Yet most people just don’t have that hatred. But if you shout loud, you get heard.”

With Preston a relatively small city, there are plenty of crossovers with its bands, and Mick mentions links with a couple of recent writewyattuk interviewees Evil Blizzard’s personnel, and his own past in the bands Dreamland and Pike.

Think Pink: Evil Blizzard play it loud (Photo: Richard Nixon)

The Evil Blizzard link came to the fore last year, when that band and Deadwood Dog held their respective album launches across the road from each other at 53 Degrees and The Ferret.

“It were mad! There were around 300 people at 53 Degrees, and over the road it was packed out.

“But as far as Preston is concerned, the fact that all those people were in that little area is pretty cool really.”

When I spoke to Mick last October, he told me Deadwood Dog, formed in 2010, were a ‘five-piece soon to be a six-piece’.

Nine months on it appears that they’ve given birth to another band member. And are they all from Preston?

“Sarah, our violinist, is from Derby but lives here now, while our guitarist and banjo player, John, is from Blackburn way.

“But myself, Jez the bass player, Daev the bouzouki player, Andy the drummer and Robin, acoustic guitar, are all from Preston.”

And is there room on stage for all seven of your at some of these venues?

“Absolutely … if we breathe in!”

They have two big dates next month, on August 9 for the Plough at Oswaldtwistle’s three-day Acoustic Weekender, then the following day at Spannerfest in Burscough.

But first, what can we expect at 53 Degrees this weekend?

“A great night of music, with original tunes by great Preston musicians. What more could you want for a fiver?”

As there’s a World Cup link, will there be a South American flavour from a band with such cross-cultural influences?

“Well, perhaps I’ll wear my Brazilian speedos. That’ll bring people in.”

This is a revised and expanded version of a Malcolm Wyatt feature for the Lancashire Evening Post, published on Thursday, July 10, with the online version here.

For ticket details for the 53 Degrees show, head here, and for all the latest from Deadwood Dog, try their Facebook page here.

Posted in Music | Tagged 53 Degrees, bouzouki, Daevid Goral Barker, Dan Donnelly, Deadwood Dog, Evil Blizzard, Joy Division, Mick Stokes, Preston, The Warehouse, Wonder Stuff | 1 Comment

The Stranglers – Preston 53 Degrees

Posted on July 7, 2014 by writewyattuk

Stage Presence: The Stranglers in live action earlier this year (Photo copyright: Warren Meadows)

In the same way that the best football teams are built around a spine of experienced players, The Stranglers have never lost sight of their creative strengths.

Clearly, they had to adapt big time to Hugh Cornwell’s departure in 1990, yet Jet Black, Jean-Jacques Burnel and Dave Greenfield kept that team spirit intact.

And 40 years down the line – with Jet currently consigned to the bench amid health concerns – the latter two are definitely still on their game.

Take their last album, 2012’s Giants, as an example. Barely 40 seconds in, you’re aware of JJ’s growling bass guitar presence, and within a minute Dave adds his distinctive keyboard touch.

That midfield dynamism keeps The Stranglers firing, and it’s a similar story live, judging by this latest add-on to last year’s successful Ruby anniversary tour.

JJ and Dave have competent team-mates in Baz Warne, long-since proven up front, while Jim McAuley, promoted from within, puts in commanding shifts between the sticks.

We were aware of Dave’s mighty organ before he even reached the 53 Degrees stage, so to speak, Team Stranglers coming on to Waltzinblack, back from its loan spell with the late Keith Floyd.

Getting back to that engine room stoking, Baz was off and running to 1978’s Toiler on the Sea, before heading back a further year for landmark (Get A) Grip (On Yourself).

We were reminded of the band’s pop craft on 1984 hit Skin Deep, then got a taste of Giants as JJ offered a pensive Time Was Once On My Side.

The less ‘PC’ Stranglers got a look in on early headline-makers Nice’n’Sleazy and Peaches, and while the strippers – unlike the Rodneys of yore – are no longer queuing up, JJ was at least thrown a pair of briefs (although Baz complained that the price tag was still on).

The band’s more recent output was again showcased by 2006’s reflective Relentless, before a further trip down memory lane with my personal highlight, Duchess, then that album’s evocative title track, The Raven, with JJ taking over.

There were plenty of smiles from Dave along the way, happy behind his towering bank of synths, contributing vocal harmonies and expertly multi-tasking, not least supping his ale mid-song.

Golden Brown got the warm reception you’d expect, but the choruses were louder on 1986’s poignant Always the Sun, perhaps the closest to an anthem the band offer.

There’s no polishing the rough edges, and Death and Night and Blood – another cut from 1978’s Black and White, kept us on our toes and the ageing punks happy.

Nuclear Device had a similar effect, and then came the band’s majestic cover of Walk on By, that patented Stranglers sound beautifully complementing a Bacharach and David classic.

The supreme Hanging Around and Curfew kept the stage divers and old faithful down the front happy, with appreciation too for Norfolk Coast, taken from Baz’s debut Stranglers LP (itself a decade old now).

The set reached its climax with three other early favourites – 5 Minutes, Something Better Change and Tank, the fifth of the night from Black and White, aptly heralding an explosive finish.

Between songs, Baz does much of the talking, but he’s more than a mouthpiece, adding a personable North-East twist to a few crowd-pleasers and some nice guitar touches too.

Similarly, Jim plays his part too, adding the mettle to ensure that spine remains in shape – flying straight with perfection, you could say.

Staying Power: From the left – JJ, Jim, Dave and Baz (Photo copyright: Warren Meadows)

There was plenty of chanting for Jet before the encore, Baz in turn reporting that the 76-year-old was on the mend and determined to rejoin the squad soon – his Makem impression of the man himself worthy of the resultant big cheer in itself.

And with that, JJ teased us with a bit of bass-kidology, hammering on his trusty four-string, setting the venue throbbing – before that magical intro riff led us into No More Heroes, still as potent 37 years down the line.

Pretty soon, we were inching towards the exits as Meninblack issued from the PA, following a big night of nostalgia but much more from Team Stranglers, 2014 style.

* With thanks to Warren Meadows for the use of the photos, and subtly pointing out that I’d forgotten The Raven in my set-list. Schoolboy error.

* For the recent writewyattuk interview/feature with JJ Burnel, head here (with links within to 2013’s Hugh Cornwell interview on these pages).

Posted in Music | Tagged 53 Degrees, Baz Warne, Dave Greenfield, Duchess, Giants, Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Jet Black, Jim McAuley, No More Heroes, Preston, The Raven, The Stranglers | 1 Comment

Ruby celebrations showcase Stranglers’ survival instincts – the Jean-Jacques Burnel interview

Posted on July 4, 2014 by writewyattuk

Ruby Quartet: From the left, Dave Greenfield, Jet Black, Baz Warne, JJ Burnel (Photo: The Stranglers)

Warning: this interview includes JJ Burnel’s own brand of industrial language in places, possibly explaining the derivation of the phrase, ‘excuse my French’.

A note on The Stranglers’ website from Jean-Jacques Burnel reads: “On this, the occasion of our Ruby anniversary, I would like to take this opportunity to stick my fingers up to everyone who wrote us off, who dismissed us, who slagged us off or who just didn’t like us. I would also like to thank those who saw beyond the mealy-mouthed words of the critics, who drew their own conclusions and cast aside the prejudices of others. He who laughs last laughs longest and loudest. Next year we will make a lot of noise with our friends.”

Ruby anniversary? Yes, The Stranglers formed in 1974, 40 years ago, and are still going strong, even if original front-man Hugh Cornwell moved on in 1990.

However, mellowed is not a term I’d use talking about the band all these years on.

As JJ – one of the greatest bass players in this blogger’s mind, and certain one of the most distinctive – put it when we caught up on the phone: “Well, when we started out, we certainly didn’t think we’d last 40 years, and what with all the ups and downs we’ve been involved with …

“But we’re still doing it, and we’re actually doing the best business that we’ve ever done. We’re not churning out top-10 hits, but that doesn’t really mean anything these days.

“We’re still going strong, we’re still writing about the world, and it obviously resonates with some people, worldwide.

“I’m sure we’re way past our sell-by date, but people have grown older with us and now there’s a whole new generation of kids who think we’re as cool as fuck!

“I don’t know why, but probably it’s because these days everyone’s a bit squeaky clean and sterile.

“It’s the X-Factor generation and everyone seems to want to be able to do well by their career.

“We’ve done everything the wrong way, including fucking off the BBC for years with Rock Goes to College. That was at Guildford of course …”

Bass Legend: JJ Burnel (Photo: The Stranglers)

I should point out at this stage that we’d started off talking about my Surrey hometown, one with huge significance for JJ.

You probably already knew his band were previously known as The Guildford Stranglers, and while born in Notting Hill in 1952, JJ’s formative years were spent in Godalming, barely three miles from my own manor.

His parents ran a French restaurant there, and we both went to school in Guildford, albeit 15 years apart and with him at the Royal Grammar School while I was at Guildford County School.

In fact, I had to explain it was actually a mixed school by that stage – Jean-Jacques having got to know a few pupils in its ‘all-girls’ day, not least one pupil who became the subject of early track Choosey Susie, I believe.

Anyway, I mentioned my link to the area, and childhood in Shalford, where The Stranglers practised in the village scout hut at the bottom of my road.

“I know Shalford!”

Remember those Scout Hut days?

“Absolutely, they should be putting a blue plaque on there. Well … how nice to speak to you!

Scouting Talent: The legendary hut that played host to The Stranglers (Photo copyright: writewyattuk)

“I went to the RGS when it was still a direct grant grammar school. It had pretensions of being posh but wasn’t an expensive school as it is now.

“I have been invited back. Quite ironically, because I was kicked out after one year in the Sixth Form, so had to take my A-levels at Guildford Tech.

“Years later I was invited back to an old boys’ evening, because they wanted some money off me – to contribute to bursaries.

“I didn’t have a problem with that, but did think it cheeky that the old head who threw me out in the first place was still there, soliciting me for contributions.”

The RGS has quite a glittering list of alumni, and diverse too – from JJ to Monty Python’s Terry Jones, football commentator Martin Tyler, England cricketer Bob Willis …

“I remember Bob. He was better at football than cricket at the time – playing football with a tennis ball in the playground.”

Ah yes. Bob Willis was perhaps my favourite cricketer – not just because of his Guildford link and skill with the ball, but because he made for a fine – if not gangly – tail-ender, in my memory helping out England a few times when we were staring defeat down the barrel.

“He was great. I always looked up to him. He was a couple of years older, and in the same year as one of the blokes who bullied me so badly.”

I can feel an anecdote coming, and JJ duly obliges.

“One day this guy, why I was queuing up with the rest of my year, just laid into me. I lost it completely, and the teacher in charge, the rugby teacher, said ‘Right, you two – in the school gym, four o’clock.’

“We were given boxing gloves … and I beat the crap out of him. After that, my school days were in clover really.”

Did your love of martial arts come along later?

“Oh yes, but by then I already had a taste for violence. Only to save my arse, though! It was a bit of trend then, with the Bruce Lee films and that.

“When I went up to university, I got involved with martial arts. And I’ve never really given up really.”

Centre Stage: The band in live action (Photo: The Stranglers)

And this coming from someone who also flirted with a spell in a local Hell’s Angels chapter, I believe. Does he ever hold reunions with some of those fellas?

“No, I keep well out of that! I still ride motorcycles every day though.”

Anyway, back to the interview, with JJ mentioning Rock Goes to College – the band’s infamous televised University of Surrey appearance in October 1978.

The gig was aborted when The Stranglers walked off just five songs in, refusing to play to elitist audiences, after a dispute over an agreement to make tickets available outside of the college was not honoured.

There is internet footage out there of opening song Ugly, with JJ at the forefront, but no one has yet unearthed the rest.

“That’s right. I heard it said we’d committed commercial suicide again. But I think we pissed off so many journalist of our generation that now it’s seen by the youngsters of today as a badge of honour.”

Despite his gruff battle cry on that website 40^th anniversary announcement, I put it to JJ that the band are all pussycats these days. A dangerous thing to say to this martial arts expert and supposed firebrand, maybe, but the tongue was firmly in the cheek.

“I suppose we sort of are. There are different ways of doing things these days, and also I have responsibilities now. I can’t go around doing what I used to do.

“I’m in charge of a karate school, having got my sixth Dan in Japan five or six years back. And I’ve changed as a person.

“Look at me sideways, and I’ll smile. If you did that a few years ago I’d be asking ‘who are you looking at, John? Who are you screwing?’”

Lining Up: Baz, Jet, JJ and Dave ask you outside, 2014 style (Photo: The Stranglers)

The Stranglers’ ruby celebrations have continued in earnest this year, with the band doing the rounds in mainland Europe.

Judging by the reaction they’ve had on this elongated tour, it’s fair to say Britain, Europe and the rest of the world is still feeling the love for The Stranglers.

So what’s the general reaction been like across Europe and in your earlier UK shows?

“We’ll, no one’s as loud as the British audience, no one’s as pissed as a British audience, and no one dances with as much abandon as a British audience.

“But the Europeans are waking up to it, and we did really well out there, and are going back again soon.

“We were in Holland in front of 15,000 people at the weekend, and we’re about to play with Blondie at a festival, having done a tour with them last year in Australia.”

Ah, Blondie, fresh from Glastonbury 2014, and fellow survivors from that golden era. Remind me, do you go way back?

“Well, we never knew them that well, but bumped into each other now and again. Clem (Burke, Blondie’s drummer) was always trying to avoid me as he knew I was going to ‘bitch-slap’ him. He knew what I thought of him.

“In fact, Debbie actually said to Baz (Warne, The Stranglers vocalist) in the bar at our hotel, “I think JJ’s having a go at my drummer!”

How does Debbie come over these days?

“Ah, she’s as cool as fuck. She’s just cool and sassy.”

JJ did offer further insight as to what he thought of Clem and guitarist Chris Stein, but I’ll leave that out.

“When we come on stage, we always play a trick on people, and we came on in drag in Brisbane in the middle of one of their songs.

“Actually, Clem was ok about it, I think, but Stein just gave looks that would kill, and Debbie just forgot her lines. She said, ‘I love those guys!’”

Going back to those early days, Dr Feelgood were a huge influence on you, and you got to know Wilko Johnson well over the years. It’s good to see him defying his illness and out on the road again, isn’t it?

“Yeah, it’s fantastic to see. I have such wonderful memories of him, and we lived together in 1977, until this rotten thing happened, when three of us were sharing a flat and the girl in the flat with us got raped while Wilko and I were away.

“Then we left the flat. It was tainted. As it was, Lemmy and Motorhead took it over.”

It’s a sad story, and pretty well known. It’s also the subject of The Stranglers’ Five Minutes, written by JJ about those West Hampstead days.

Incidentally, there’s a cracking interview of JJ and Wilko on the Stranglers’ official site, with a little insight of other characters on the scene at the time, not least Billy Idol, with a link here.

Of course, good r’n’b has never gone away, and continues to inspire. Just ask Irish teenagers The Strypes.

“Yes, and that’s great. It’s nothing new, but it’s new to a lot of people. It’s like every generation thinks it’s invented sex. Hang on though, that’s funny … how come we’re here then? But I think it’s great that someone takes on the flame.”

Was the first time you saw the Feelgoods in Guildford?

“It was. Hugh and I went to see them at the new Gin Mill Club, which started originally in Godalming. ‘Hairy’ Pete Newberry, the guy responsible for it, moved it to an ex-cinema, and that’s where we saw them.”

Actually, the story of the Gin Mill Club is told here, but let’s get back to Dr Feelgood’s appearance there.

“We just couldn’t believe it. Our jaws dropped! It was such a return to basics. Everyone was disappearing up their own arses around then. But this was in your face!

“It had attitude, it had credibility. I didn’t know people took speed, but I thought ‘Wilko’s definitely on something!’ It was great, and as tight as hell.

“Suddenly, I remembered what rock’n’roll should be about.”

My excuse for speaking to JJ was a show at 53 Degrees in Preston on Sunday, July 6, part of a continuation of the original Ruby tour (ticket details here).

“We’re doing festivals either side of the Preston show – at Whitehaven then T in the Park, the big Scottish one.

“We had some offers earlier this year and thought, ‘why don’t we just play some clubs in between?’

So what can we expect from The Stranglers – 2014 style, at least on this part of the tour?

“We discussed it the other day and the consensus is probably not to play as long a set as we did during the proper tour in the bigger halls.

“That was nearly two hours long and the longest set we’ve ever played. Also, we had a production with it, with big screens and stuff.

“We can’t bring that to 96 Degrees, but it’ll be a lot of the stuff we did earlier this year.”

I like that – the bassist from the band that once covered 96 Tears clearly plans to turn up the heat at 53 Degrees. Actually, perhaps it’s an idea for a re-brand that could see the Fylde Road venue survive its supposed December 31 closure.

“Oh dear. Freudian slip there.”

Note that I haven’t really bothered to go into the full story of the band here. Besides, there’s plenty of that on my previous appreciation – while interviewing Hugh Cornwell last year.

But, 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums tells its own story, and there’s lots to be proud of there for JJ and fellow surviving members Dave Greenfield and Jet Black.

Does that still make you sit up and wonder at times? And is it a wonder you’ve made it this far, what with all the years of partying, excess, and so on?

“Of course. When we set out on this thing, we thought we’d have a bit of fun for a couple of years, yet 40 years later we’re still having fun from it.

“It was never a career path. That wasn’t written on the tin. It didn’t say bands could last that long.”

By May, the band had already clocked up nearly 40 gigs this year. Does it get any easier after all these years? It must get monotonous, all that travel between gigs, setting up, and so on.

“I hate the travelling, and I hate flying now. It’s not glamorous anymore. You have to take your belt off, your DMs off, and all sorts. That aspect’s not so much fun.

“But if we haven’t played for a couple of months, we get stir crazy. We just enjoy each other’s company, and we get on 98 per cent of the time.”

You pre-empted my next question there. Is it easier to get on with each other than it was way back? Are you all easier to get on with?

Other Worldly: Dave Greenfield in action (Photo: BBC)

“Well, I am! I don’t think Dave is. He’s just this weird, strange person who beams down and is not of this world!

“He’s other worldly, but that’s him, and he’s part of the package. And we get on famously.”

How easy is it to agree on a set-list these days? Is the band like a committee, or is it a case of ‘he who shouts loudest’?

“Well, if you put ‘Stranglers Ruby Tour part two’ into YouTube, you’ll know how easy it is. ‘I do the fucking set-lists!’”

Yes. I didn’t know this when I asked that question, but someone has created a wonderful parody of JJ choosing the band’s set-list.

If anyone’s familiar with the previous parodies of the film Downfall, they’ll guess how it works. And JJ appears to appreciate it, despite it not painting him in the best possible light.

Are there any of the old hits you just can’t bear to play?

“Yeah. We stopped playing Peaches for about 12 years. I just couldn’t stand it. We left out Something Better Change for about 10 years, and Golden Brown for a couple of years.

“There’s no point a band like The Stranglers becoming a cabaret band and just going through the motions. People will sense it, and we will look bored shitless.

“You’ve got to maintain some level of enthusiasm. And well, we’ve got enough material to do that.”

This took me on to the same anecdote I put to Hugh Cornwell last year, about my first-ever Stranglers gig in early 1982 – at Guildford Civic Hall on the La Folie tour, with Golden Brown riding high in the charts.

I recall Hugh asking ‘Anyone here who came and saw us at The Star?’ and around 1,000 fans cheered and shouted ‘yes!’.

And yet a band I once managed played this relatively-small local in the late ‘80s to a 100 sell-out. I put this to JJ.

“I think we had about 20 people … and they were all friends. Similarly, I always think it’s funny that all of a sudden French people say ‘Yeah, I was in the Resistance.”

Health Concerns: Jet Black, back in 1978 at Portrush (Photo copyright: Alastair Graham)

Health Concerns: Jet Black, back in 1978 at the Arcadia, Portrush (Photo copyright: Alastair Graham)

How’s Jet doing at the moment? He’s missed a few dates so far on this tour (and is pictured on the latest group pic wearing a rather alarming oxygen mask).

“He’s missed loads of dates, and has done for the last 40 years really. His health has never been great. We’ve had seven, maybe eight drummers over the years. He plays when he can, but he’s 76 now.”

Yet the band clearly have good cover in the wings, particularly with Jim Macauley playing drums a lot recently – sometimes sharing duties with Jet during gigs.

From what I can suss, if Jet ever does bow out, that’ll mark the end of the band. Is that right?

“That’s how I feel about things. Jet was very resolute earlier this year when he said ‘Jim has my full backing’ and that his dream would be for us to carry on without him, with his blessing.

“But listen, we’ll come to that. If there’s a point I have to make a decision, I will. But I really don’t know.”

New Blood: Baz Warne (Photo: http://the-blacklog.blogspot.co.uk/)

Your ‘new boy’, Baz Warne, has been with the band more than a decade now, quite something in itself really. He’s clearly been accepted by the fans too.

“It’s been 14 years now. And at the end of next year he’ll have been in the band the same amount of time as Hugh was.

Do you ever hear from the band’s current longest-serving vocalist, Paul Roberts?

“Well, he was 16 years as well. But he doesn’t want anything to do with us, so we have to respect his wishes.”

Premier Pedigree: Hugh Cornwell in live action

That surprised me. That question was just my subtle way of getting on to the big Cornwell question. So, any word from Hugh in recent times?

“No. Only … erm … no … erm, he’s not a happy bunny.”

I mentioned that I saw him playing live last year, and he put on a brilliant set – half solo material from the excellent Totem and Taboo, half Stranglers hits.

“Yeah. I respect him for his music, and just think he’s between a rock and a hard place.

“He didn’t want to be in the Stranglers anymore but has to play a lot of Stranglers material now.

“I think he’s seen the success we have compared to him, and that must piss him off something rotten.”

Moving on, how important is it that you’re still writing songs, rather than just being some kind of Karaoke Stranglers?

“Well, our last album was our best received for some time. I’ve still got things to say. I’m not living in a bubble. I still have an opinion like anyone else.

“I still want to write music and play, and hopefully that resonates with other people. That’s what I do.”

Triumphant Ride: JJ Burnel rides out

I have a shed-load more questions, but know JJ’s pretty busy, so try and decide on which to end with.

“Actually, I’ve got to collect my motorcycle from its MOT.”

So while we touched briefly on the three Triumphs he rides these days, I didn’t get chance to ask what became of Jet Black’s former fleet of ice cream vans.

A shame really, because I have this notion that between gigs, Jet – probably from a hospital bed somewhere – still sends the rest of the band out selling 99s and Strawberry Mivvis to earn their keep between tours.

Giants is the band’s 17^th studio album, and from the moment JJ’s bass comes in – then Dave G’s keyboards – we know it’s The Stranglers on fine form.

So, here’s the big question – will there be an 18^th album, particularly after the positive response to Giants?

“Well, it took a few years to get that ready. There’s no rush. I think there will be though. Yeah.”

Are there any particular Stranglers tracks or albums you’re most proud of?

“There are a few that mean more to me than the others, including The Raven and The Meninblack, which I think was a masterpiece, but no one else did.

“Giants I think is really commendable too. Yes, there’s a few.”

You studied history up in West Yorkshire, didn’t you?

“Yeah, Bradford and Huddersfield.

What might have happened, do you think, if you’d ended up being a history lecturer. You would have had your feet up by now.

“I wouldn’t have minded that. But I’d have been shagging all the girls and been thrown out of the university.”

OK. We’d better draw the line at that.

“Yes, that’s another discussion, really. Actually, I had a great education, going from Guildford up to Yorkshire, and thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

“And it put me on to a few things that maybe I wouldn’t have done otherwise – like the karate.”

Bass Instinct: JJ Burnel, way back then

So what’s the JJ Burnel recipe for relaxation from The Stranglers? Out on the motorbike? Practising karate?

“Yeah, all that … and cooking.”

Did you inherit your parents’ love of fine cuisine?

“Yes. Dad was a chef, and mum was front of house at La Chaumiere back in Godalming.”

I find it hard to believe Go Buddy Go is 50 years old, let alone that JJ’s 62 and The Stranglers have been with us four decades. The Beatles barely managed a decade.

When I was a newspaper reporter I’d interview golden wedding celebrants and ask them their secret of success. So what’s JJ’s secret for surviving a rocky 40-year marriage?

“The secret is to do everything that’s not expected of you. Do everything wrong. And also – never brush your teeth when you’re wearing black jeans.”

For the writewyattuk interview with Hugh Cornwell, published exactly one year before in early July, 2013, head here.

For all the latest from The Stranglers camp, including forthcoming live dates, head here.

This is a revised and expanded version of a Malcolm Wyatt feature published in the Lancashire Evening Post on July 3, 2014. For the original, head here.

Posted in Music | Tagged Baz Warne, Blondie, Bob Willis, Dave Greenfield, Dr Feelgood, Giants, godalming, guildford, Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Jet Black, Paul Roberts, Rock Goes To College, Royal Grammar School, The Stranglers, Wilko Johnson | 13 Comments

Gary Numan / Roman Remains – Preston 53 Degrees

Posted on July 2, 2014 by writewyattuk

Stage Presence: Gary Numan at 53 Degrees (Photo copyright: Iain Lynn)

So there we were, seven dates into Gary Numan’s ‘intimate’ club tour, and another venue was feeling the love for this prime mover in electronica.

And here was proof – if it were needed – that age has not sullied our Los Angeles-based visitor’s creativity. In fact, he’s on something of a career high right now.

If your mind has become clouded and you’ve more recently (and rather lazily) lumped Numan in with the 1980s’ weaker synth-pop moments, think again.

The evidence is not just in the live shows either.

I’d recommend you go out there and belatedly catch up with last year’s Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) as a starting point. You may well rediscover an artist who richly deserves his place in our musical history.

It seems rather apt that on this occasion it was Preston, somewhat synonymous with the Industrial Revolution, playing host to an artist who helped redefine electronica.

Before the industrial sounds of Sheffield shone through, there was Tubeway Army and a certain foot soldier born Gary Webb enhancing the punk and new wave spirit with a little clever reinvention.

And despite a few lean years in between, he remains as committed to his cause, as seen with stunning results on Splinter, and so brilliantly showcased here.

Dust Devil: Gary Numan at 53 Degrees (Photo copyright: Iain Lynn)

Gary Numan was at 53 Degrees in an extension of last year’s Splinter world tour, taking in various otherwise-forgotten towns and cities.

So on my doorstep I could judge for myself why this artist has proved so influential to so many bands over the past 35 years.

Before the main attraction, we were treated to the engaging vocals of Liela Moss and her outfit Roman Remains.

It was a worthy indication of what was to follow, fusing old-style goth with modern dance sensibilities, the band’s live presence a great advert for debut album Zeal.

Think Catatonia meets Chvrches on some tracks, imagine Bjork tackling Siouxsie Sioux on others. We should hear a lot more about this three-piece.

On to Numan, and all night this 56-year-old defied his advancing years. In fact he looked and acted younger than I ever recall, not least with his other-worldly balletic moves.

The US-based synth legend seamlessly switched between guitar, keyboard and dance expression, and you could barely take your eyes off him, despite the overall power of this five-piece band.

From mighty ear-bashing 2011 instrumental intro Resurrection and latest single I Am Dust onwards, the throbbing around 53 Degrees suggested the foundations might be undermined and this venue might not even reach its proposed December 31 end-date.

It was loud, to the point where the eardrums were still whistling the following morning. And that doesn’t happen so much these days.

Martian Light: Gary Numan at 53 Degrees (Photo copyright: Iain Lynn)

Numan’s band never stepped back from there, moving on to the metronomic soundscape of Metal, from the ground-breaking The Pleasure Principle, to a backdrop of Martian red planet lighting.

That set us up for a second selection from Splinter, the colour scheme changing to ghostly green as we experienced the orchestral mind-warp of an impassioned Everything Comes Down to This.

I was aware of the false ending, but was just one of many caught out as the band re-emerged from the darkness to herald a mighty climax.

Films was next, another selection from his defining era, the evocative original updated with cutting edge 2014 effects amid a wall of sonic power.

Here in the Black is another great moment from last year’s critical success, its almost-Yello whispered opening building to another cacophony of beautiful noise.

Numan seemed to switch back into soundtrack mode – if he ever leaves that zone – for The Fall, from Dead Son Rising, threatening an almost dalek-like swirling aural attack.

From there we returned to Splinter for The Calling, Numan as the lost boy amid orchestral touches that were subtle but powerful all the same.

Pleasure Principal: Gary Numan at 53 Degrees (Photo copyright: Iain Lynn)

Such was the perfect fit that it took me a while to realise we’d hit Replicas classic Down in the Park, this redefined 2014 version slower and more brooding than I ever recalled.

A more mellifluous mood was further enhanced with last year’s Lost, its sweet lullaby qualities backed up by that deep bass throb as band and audience tried to catch their respective breaths.

Reaction to the unmistakeable intro of Cars was as you might expect. And however over-played these past decades, it remains Gary’s finest pop moment.

While his career almost hit the bricks in the ’90s, there was a nod to the earlier signs of resurgence on 2000 album title track Pure, the artist rediscovering something of that old power, its shouty chorus particularly stirring.

He’s slowly built on that, and 2013 drum-driven title track Splinter, almost-anthemic slow-builder We’re the Unforgiven and the wondrous Love Hurt Bleed brought us up to speed.

The latter was difficult to follow, a simple searing synth riff gorgeously complemented by that earthy drum and bass framework. If ever a song was meant to top the dance charts, this is it.

Star Quality: Gary Numan at 53 Degrees (Photo copyright: Iain Lynn)

There was still time for one more, Baba O’Riley keyboard playing us into emotional 2000 show-stopper A Prayer for the Unborn.

An Elvis-like mumbled ‘thank you very much’ followed, Numan’s first direct words to his audience, and there was no mistaking the artist’s big smile as he returned and the band launched into 1980 single I Die You Die.

That wasn’t all, and a 21^st century re-imagining of Are Friends Electric? shone out, stripped down to claustrophobic vocals and simple piano verses that surged into mighty choruses.

Then he was away with My Last Day, slowly building to an emotional crescendo of piano, drums and orchestral layering – as perfect a finale to the live show as the album.

If you get the chance, catch the man himself in person. Exactly 35 years after that first hit, Gary offers an altogether-energetic and emotive live set. It’s electronica as it should be.

Emotional Crescendo: Gary Numan at 53 Degrees (Photo copyright: Iain Lynn)

* If you missed the recent interview with Gary Numan on this blog, try here.

* For more details on Gary Numan and his forthcoming dates and plans, head to his official website here.

Posted in Music | Tagged 53 Degrees, Are Friends Electric?, Dead Son Rising, Gary Numan, Liela Moss, Preston, Replicas, Roman Remains, Splinter, The Pleasure Principle | 3 Comments

War Girls – helping make 1914-18 more relevant to today’s generation

Posted on June 27, 2014 by writewyattuk

Chapel Meeting: The panel at Fulwood Barracks – from the left, Berlie Doherty, Theresa Breslin, host John Gillmore, Anne Fine, Melvin Burgess (Photo: Andersen Press)

Last week I caught up with the screen adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful, in a year when it seems you’re never too far away from one tale of Great War woe or other.

The film’s definitely worth watching, commendably taking on a recommended children’s novel with the non-patronising approach you’d expect from something connected with this treasured author.

As with Morpurgo’s 1982 success War Horse, this 2003 novel didn’t just cover the horrors at the Front, but the impact back home too, not least the way life in rural England was about to change immeasurably.

That theme was also tackled early this year by Helen Dunmore’s The Lie, examining how it must have been for those getting tickets home, and how the conflict never really ended for its survivors.

In a year of major commemorations 100 years on, it’s increasingly difficult to uncover fresh perspectives. However, War Girls, the latest short story collection by Andersen Press, somehow manages that.

Private Peaceful was rightly gritty, as befits the subject matter, pulling no punches and leaving you – no plot-spoilers here – angry at the politics and established practises of the day.

What’s more, John Lynch’s portrayal of menacing Sgt Hanley left me better able to cope with the grilling I got from the drill sergeant at the official launch of War Girls at Fulwood Barracks, Preston.

Apt Venue: Fulwood Barracks, home to the Lancashire Infantry Museum (Photo: http://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/)

Apt Setting: Fulwood Barracks, home to the Lancashire Infantry Museum (Photo: http://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/)

It was all taken in good part, the Lancashire Infantry Museum’s (old) boys in khaki giving something of the flavour of those dark times to an uncomfortable audience of literati – academics, authors, bloggers, booksellers, librarians and publishers.

Most didn’t know what to put down first – their complimentary drinks or paperbacks – amid gruffly-barked instructions as to how to stand straight and to attention.

The historic barracks was an apt setting for the launch of a collection pitched at ages 12 and over, not least as the authors themselves have brought history to life in their contributed tales.

Its nine stories all explore how the First World War changed and shaped the lives of women forever, drawing on a diverse range of subject matter. But in the same way that this collection’s not just for girls, it’s not chiefly about war either.

War merely acts as the vehicle transporting us through this landscape of immense change, as we moved so much closer to the world we now know.

Four of the authors were there on the night – Theresa Breslin, Melvin Burgess, Berlie Doherty and Anne Fine. And as the collection’s editor Charlie Sheppard – the driving force behind the book – pointed out, that quartet have several Carnegie Medals between them.

Five more authors contribute – Adele Geras, Mary Hooper, Rowena House, Sally Nicholls and Matt Wyman – and having just finished the end result, I can confirm it’s a winning project.

The launch involved the authors present introducing their contributions and answering questions from the pews in the barracks’ chapel, with BBC Radio Lancashire’s John Gillmore acting as host.

And each proved articulate in shedding light on their inspirations, their research and the positives they took from getting involved.

Inspirational Tale: Theresa Breslin

Theresa Breslin’s Shadow and Light tells the story of budding artist turned ambulance driver Merle Stevenson, and offers a perfect opening.

Theresa’s fictional heroine is fully determined to do her bit for the war effort, inspired by the work of Dr Elsie Inglis.

She overcomes prejudice, preconceived ideas and service limitations along the way, not least from her suitor, Captain Taylor.

It’s a theme that runs throughout War Girls, its authors (and editor) determined not to slip into cliché.

This could easily have been a book tackling VADs, munitions workers and not much else. But it avoids that route, duly living up to the promise of Garry Walton’s striking cover design.

Actually, Dr Inglis’ story was very real, this Scottish doctor and suffragist studying and practising medicine at home before setting up all-female relief hospitals, leading teams in France, Serbia and Russia until cancer claimed her at the age of 53 in 1917.

Theresa, best known for the award-winning Remembrance – another Great War-set publishing success aimed at young adults – cites wartime artist and Inglis volunteer Norah Neilson Grey as influential too, her paintings now hanging in the Imperial War Museum and Helensburgh library.

And the result is a fine tribute to both women, bringing their stories to prominence for new generations, as is the case with much of the subject matter here.

Matt Whyman certainly thought outside the box for Ghost Story, focusing on a fictional female sniper with nothing else left to lose.

The sorry episode of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles has been told many times, but few have attempted to get to grips with the Turkish side of the conflict.

Turkish Portrait: Matt Whyman

Matt subtly manages that though, through his depiction of a grieving wife and mother, in the company of Timur, a young conscript who has just lost his comrade.

The result offers a personalised example of how this emerging nation looked to ward off foreign invasion, while examining its female lead’s reason for taking up the bullet.

Mary Hooper’s Storm in a Teacup is a tale from the home front, told by a young girl working at a busy Lyons’ Corner House in central London, close to the War Office.

Spy Story: Mary Hooper

Harriet is just doing her bit in a time when suspicions fell on so many – innocent and guilty – for not adhering to the greater War effort.

Again, why all the ingredients are there for a hackneyed spy caper, Mary aims to steer clear of the more obvious path.

And that’s another area where this collection works well, with just about the right measure of suspense to keep the younger readers hooked on the subject matter.

The Marshalling of Angelique’s Geese, inspired by a documentary on the work of virologist Professor John Oxford, sees newly-published Rowena House take us well away from what we might expect from a First World War story.

We follow a disillusioned French farmer’s daughter on a journey, accompanied by her Uncle Gustav, looking to make the most of a dire situation in which she finds herself forced to sell her prized poultry.

Debut Promise: Rowena House

Angelique decides to take her beloved charges in person to General Foch and secure the best possible price. Yet amid all the danger is an unseen enemy – the deadly virus that led to a global pandemic accounting for at least 50 million deaths by 1919.

Rowena doesn’t spell it all out though, offering an admirable depiction of working class European life.

Melvin Burgess’ Mother and Mrs Everington – on the surface at least – concentrates on a more commonly-told side of the conflict, of middle-class England doing its duty.

There are few surprises in young Effie’s patriotic approach to this ‘glorious’ adventure, or even in her reaction to peers knitting scarves for the brave boys in France.

Vivid Detail: Melvin Burgess

It’s a story oft-told, most recently in the BBC’s The Crimson Field. However, Melvin turns things round through a vivid, somewhat graphic description of Effie’s subsequent nursing experiences at her forward clearing station.

In time, Effie gets to understands what her brother Robbie faced in the trenches, learning that equality is about more than just raising the bar to male levels.

Furthermore, Melvin’s tale should lead readers to the writings that inspired it, Helen Zenna Smith’s semi-biographical account of her war service.

I had some catching up to do with Berlie Doherty, who I previously knew best for her evocative picture book, Snowy, the story of a young girl, her houseboat and the barge-horse of the title. But Berlie’s also an accomplished novelist, playwright and poet, and Sky Dancer is a by-product of her research into a play about a Great War flying ace.

Vital Voice: Berlie Doherty

While Melvin’s Effie works the canvas tents tending the wounded, Berlie’s Kate does too – but through the healing power of music, as part of a travelling company of entertainers giving concert parties just behind the lines.

A love story runs through – of the amateur singer and her missing airman – but the strength is in her portraits of the performers and the important job they carried out to see the soldiers through.

Like Theresa’s tale, there’s a real story incorporated, with the actress Lena Ashwell responsible for putting on such tours.

Those who have met Anne Fine are aware of her no-nonsense approach to public speaking, her skill with the pen regularly replicated in front of a live audience.

Her attendance at Fulwood Barracks certainly helped ensure the event’s success, not least as she vented her feelings on organised religion in explaining her contribution, Piercing the Veil.

Spiritual Touch: Anne Fine

There’s a focus on the hypocrisy of dog-collar dogma in Anne’s study of the growth of spiritualism in this dark era, a time when grieving parents and widows wanted answers.

It’s not just a rant though, her tale examining the true nature of hope, with vicar’s daughter Alice at least willing to listen to other ideas.

There’s a do-gooding cleric’s daughter side to Alice, but her character neatly illustrates the transition in thinking from one generation to another in this period.

We stay with that spiritualist feel with Adele Geras’ The Green Behind the Glass, the author flirting with a ghost story alongside a study of those left at home while our servicemen fought overseas.

In this case we follow younger sibling Sarah, who was secretly seeing her older sister’s fiancé before he was posted overseas, yet is unable to publicly grieve his loss when that almost-inevitable telegram arrives.

Home Front: Adele Geras

The result serves as a reminder of all those who loved and lost during this harrowing period, amid changing social attitudes and expectations.

As Adele puts it, “The First World War has become a byword for violence and slaughter. But I was not interested in describing the mud and blood of the fields of Flanders, so much as the effect of the War on the girls and women left behind”.

That takes us neatly on to the final story, and as Theresa’s tale put us on the right road, Sally Nicholls’ Going Spare takes us to journey’s end in a fitting manner.

This time the story’s set in the late 1970s, as a 14-year-old gets to know her elderly neighbour, the misunderstood Miss Frobisher, subsequently learning something of her service and post-War years.

Beyond Conflict: Sally Nicholls

It’s a fine way to close the collection, drawing on the great advances made in that period, many of them fought for by the ‘spare women’ who didn’t marry and retreat to the traditional family unit, taking the suffrage movement on.

Through Miss Frobisher, we see how the world changed, with the door opened to so many opportunities, in many cases leading to the modern set-up we tend to take for granted.

And that’s where this collection works best, helping younger readers better understand the social importance of this devastating period in our history.

Teachers would do well to put this collection on their reading lists and help make this conflict all the more relevant to the next generations, and librarians and booksellers can help that process.

Great War stories need not just be about battle-lines and heroic or futile deeds. We can also learn a lot about the human spirit.

While the 1914-18 commemorations should honour all those who laid down their lives in this cataclysmic cause, it was about far more. And it wasn’t just those in the trenches who gave their all.

Guest Panel: The Fulwood Barracks authors’ quartet – from the left, Theresa Breslin, Anne Fine, Berlie Doherty, Melvin Burgess (Photo: Andersen Press)

* War Girls (Andersen Press) is priced £6.99 in paperback, and also available in ebook format.

* With thanks to event organiser Jake Hope and all at Andersen Press

* And for the writewyattuk verdict on Helen Dunmore’s The Lie, head here.

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio | Tagged Adele Geras, Andersen Press, Anne Fine, Berlie Doherty, Charlie Sheppard, Fulwood Barracks, John Gillmore, Mary Hooper, Matt Whyman, Melvin Burgess, Rowena House, Sally Nicholls, Theresa Breslin, War Girls | Leave a comment

Electric dreams still stirring emotions – the Gary Numan interview

Posted on June 27, 2014 by writewyattuk

It must have been on London’s Capital Radio when I first heard Tubeway Army, 35 years ago this month. I was only 11 at the time, yet already knew the charts inside out. But this was something else.

With my transistor radio under the pillow, I was a regular Little Nicky Horne listener. Big brother had made an impression, and I loved my punk and new wave – something that never left me. But just what was this stirring electronic sound?

I was too young to know about Mellotrons and Moogs, and while I was vaguely aware of an odd German band by the name of Kraftwerk, this seemed to have more about it.

It fitted in somewhere down the line with David Bowie – in the charts again with Boys Keep Swinging – but I couldn’t really say where.

Not long before, we’d cajoled gifted village church organist Mr Bryant into playing pieces reminiscent of old Bela Lugosi horror films after choir practise (yes, I was still donning cassock and surplice at that stage).

This took that on again though. The synthesiser had definitely arrived.

I loved Autobahn, but this seemed like a punk version, and far more ballsy than the weedier synth pop of Depeche Mode, OMD and Visage that followed within a year.

And whatever was happening in Sheffield with The Human League, and across the pond with Ohio weirdsters Devo, was definitely not on my radar yet.

I was further mesmerised when I tuned into Top of the Pops and finally saw for myself the 21-year-old Gary Numan as part of a six-piece Tubeway Army on Are Friends Electric?

The wan look, the black boilersuit get-up, unsmiling and other-worldly, in complete contrast to white-suited, smiley Mike Read on the BBC4 re-run I spotted this morning, from the band’s third of four weeks at the top.

The backlash against the synth would follow, and I too would rail against most of that New Romantic electronica that followed, with my Smash Hits days soon over.

But this was something fresh, something brooding, the hairs going up on the back of the neck.

More to the point, he still has it all these years on, Numan having released last year possibly his finest LP since early successes Replicas and The Pleasure Principle.

It’s odd to think now that punk-influenced Tubeway Army intended their debut album to be guitar-driven.

But then Numan found a minimoog left behind in the studio, and started experimenting. By the end of June, he had his first No.1, and within three months Cars hit the top spot too.

While Tubeway Army were decommissioned, Numan’s fame was already assured, going on to have more solo hits in the ’80s than any other artist.

I’ll not go into too much detail from there, but in time his fame ebbed, although a cult following kept him afloat as his mega-finances dwindled.

A major re-awakening followed in recent times, and the strength of his latest album, Splinter, is a case in point, suggesting a performer back on his game, released to critical and artistic acclaim.

And now, he’s set for an ‘intimate club tour’ of the UK, alongside festival appearances in Dublin and Knebworth Park.

The tour takes in a number of towns and cities Numan has not played in a long time, getting back to his roots following a successful earlier round touring the new album.

But few of us will forget our first listen to Are Friends Electric? and Tubeway Army’s screen debut 35 years ago – including the man himself.

“Pretty much everything that happened in 1979 was startling to me. It was just one thing after another, like a tornado, everything spinning by so fast you could barely register what it was before it was gone and replaced by something else.

“It felt exciting but dangerous, the pressure was enormous and I was entirely out of my depth the entire time to be honest.”

Do you find that original TOTP appearance left us with the wrong impression of who you were?

“I don’t think you can ever know what somebody is like by watching them perform, no more than you can know an actor by watching them act. It’s a performance; it’s a mixture of natural character but heavily mixed with many other things.

“Most of the famous people I’ve ever met have not been the way you would imagine from watching their performances.”

You’ve flirted with images over the years. Could that be a David Bowie and glam influence?

“Not as far as I’m concerned, I don’t see any glam influence at all in what I do, far from it in fact. My use of image to begin with was to portray a character in the song.

“The lyrics to Are Friends Electric, my first big single, in fact the lyrics from the entire album that single was taken from, Replicas, were all based on a collection of short stories that I had been writing. That first image was one of those characters.

“Lots of people have used image over the years, Kiss, Bowie, in fact the list is massive if you look back. Some do it to create a spectacle, some to enhance the meaning behind the music. That was my path; I thought the image would help with the meaning behind the music; as the music has evolved over the years so the need for an ‘image’ has faded away somewhat.”

There seems to be a mutual respect with Bowie. What do you make of what’s he’s doing today, and last year’s The Next Day?

“It’s true he’s said some very nice things about me but I haven’t listened to The Next Day so I have no opinion about it. I’ve heard good and bad opinions. I’ll check it out one day.”

I gather that your Dad bought your first Les Paul. Was there a good level of support at home for your dreams? And do you look at your parents’ sacrifices in a different light all these years on (as a proud Dad yourself)?

“There was am amazing level of support at home and, in a very real sense, I owe my parents a phenomenal debt of gratitude. I have always known that, always said so, never forgotten.

“I have the same feelings towards my own children that I think my parents had for me. Everything I do is to try to make their life better, to make their future happy and secure.

“I have a very different life these days because of the children and the things you give up for them. But, to see them happy is the reason I get up in the morning.

“Having children seems to bring an automatic switch from a self serving life style to one where my desires are very near the bottom of the list.”

Was there a defining moment when you realised where you should be going with Tubeway Army, moving on from that initial punk influence?

“Definitely; I went to a studio to record my debut album, under the name Tubeway Army. We had been signed as a punk band and that should have been the content of that first album.

“But, when I arrived at the studio, I noticed a synth and asked if I could try it out. I loved the sounds and so hastily converted my punk album to an electro/punk type album and took that back to the record company.

“Within about six or seven months I was number one so it all came good very quickly. Finding that synth was the defining moment of my entire life in many ways.”

I can hear bits of bands I loved like The Stranglers and The Vapors in those early recordings. Which bands did you admire from that era?

“In the punk era? None really, I only played punk to get a record deal. Once I had the deal I was looking at where to go from there, I had no real love for it.

“For me punk was a stepping stone, a way of getting my foot on the first rung of the ladder.

“By the time I had a deal I thought punk was already fading so I was keen to move the band away from it, with or without the synth.”

You’ve played with some big names over the years. Do you keep in touch with many?

“Not on a day-to-day basis, but I only ever work with people I like so it’s always friendly whenever we do meet up again.

“Now that I live in the US it’s become easier to have closer relationships with some of the US-based bands but, as I say, not on a regular basis.

“In truth, I don’t really keep in touch with anyone very well. I’m a terrible friend in that regard as I’m riddled with all social anxiety issues.

“Luckily for me, my wife is the opposite, very sociable, and she works constantly to stay in touch with everyone.”

Are your friends largely within the music industry, or do you like to leave all that at the studio door?

“Most are. We do have friends now who are parents from the school our children go to but most of them are music business people.

“Not many people outside the business really understand the life so it’s easier to talk to people that do I suppose, not that I’ve ever consciously chosen people in that way, it just seems to work out that way.”

Whose records do you listen to at home? Or out on the road?

“I don’t listen to music much at all. That is one thing I tend to leave at the studio door. I do go to see bands fairly often and I tour a lot so I seem to be around music all the time. At home, though, I like to keep away from it outside of work.

“I don’t listen to radio, don’t listen in the car, very rarely watch music TV and don’t play music in the house. It annoys my wife and children as they really love listening to it so I bought them all iPods. Listening to music stops me thinking, it gets in the way.”

Your loyal support has stood by you through the years. Did that help you sharpen your focus when the sales weren’t coming in?

“Well, my sales went from about one million in the UK to about three thousand at one point so, in truth, only a tiny few stayed with me throughout.

“I’m very grateful to those three thousand people obviously but I’ve had to rebuild my career almost from the ground up since the low point of 1992 so it was that drive and desire that was my focus.

“Since 1994 each year has been a little better than then one before, with 2013/14 being a lot better so things continue to improve. I will never forget how close it came to being over though.

Do you ever tire of playing those initial hits?

“I can’t say they all excite me as much as the newer songs but I’m sure that’s the same for everyone in a band, it might even be true for the fans themselves come to think of it.

“Some have held on to their excitement though, not the big singles perhaps but some of the older album tracks.

“I do rework them from time to time to give them a new feel and I think that helps. It keeps them reasonably fresh for band and crowd alike.”

In time came the re-appraisals, with critical acclaim for a more industrial sound and plenty of celebrity fans. Now we have a generation of established musicians telling the world what a huge influence you were; does it ever make you want to shout, ‘Told you so!’?

“God no; I have never thought I was anything special so when the initial success came along and the press were extremely hostile I just thought they didn’t like my music and I have no argument with that; I have no axe to grind about that time, if they didn’t like it fair enough.

“I’m glad that those same albums are now talked about as being ‘classic’ albums, influential and innovative. That obviously makes me feel good but I’ve never thought ‘Told you so’ about it.

“I have a level of respect and credibility now that I couldn’t have dreamed of back then and my new albums, Splinter in particular, have had the best reviews I’ve ever had.

“Splinter was made album of the month in many music magazines and publications around the world so I have no issues whatsoever with anything that was said way back when I started.”

There are the samples on more recent hits too – from Basement Jaxx’s Where’s Your Head At? to Sugababes’ Freak Like Me. Were you flattered by that attention?

“I’m flattered every time someone covers one of my songs, or samples something of mine. I feel honoured that someone wants to do that.

“Many of my songs have been covered or sampled by other artists who are themselves great song writers in their own right so it’s huge nod of respect and appreciation to me. I’m still totally blown away when that happens.”

By 2002 you had chart status again, slowly working towards where you are now with Splinter. I’m guessing you’re proud of the finished product and the reaction?

“I’m very proud of Splinter and the reaction to is has been incredible, all over the world. The charts themselves don’t mean that much to me to be honest but seeing the album reach out not only to existing fans but to a new generation of people has been very exciting.

“The Splinter tour has been the most intensive and long running tour that I’ve done since the beginning of my career so it’s been hard work, but very satisfying.”

We Three: Gary Numan, his wife Gemma, and producer Ade Fenton (Photo: edfieldingphotography )

You’ve clearly clicked with your producer, Ade Fenton. Is he good to work with? Does he instinctively understand what you want?

“Ade is very good to work with and did a fantastic job on Splinter. We do have our arguments from time to time but we get on well and, whatever we argue about musically, it’s always to try to make the album even better.”

Are there any artists out there you’d still dearly love to work with?

“I’m quite passive about such things. I am not the most confident person in the world and so I tend to wait for people to come to me. I’m too shy to put myself forward for any collaboration.”

Are you still excited by synthesisers and effects? Might there be a time when you go out on the road with just an acoustic guitar and a harmonica – Numan Unplugged?

“I’m still totally obsessed about creating sounds, doesn’t need to be a synth to be honest, anything that makes a good noise can be recorded and manipulated and turned into music.

“I still work with the very latest technology, and I love that, so I’m unlikely to tour unplugged in the forseeable future; having said that, there are other ways of playing live, online for example that might lend themselves to a more unplugged type of performance.”

Flying Time: Gary Numan, airborne (Photo: Simon Button)

Flying has always been a passion, from your Air Training Corps days onwards. Are you still a regular in the skies? And do you ever feel the need to recreate your solo round-the world flight?

“Since the children came along I’ve pulled out of flying. I was an aerobatic display pilot, flying World War Two combat aeroplanes at air shows all over Europe.

“I taught that for a while and, for a couple of years, was an Evaluator for the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK.

“Unfortunately it’s quite a dangerous thing to do and most of my friends were killed in various accidents over the years.

“When the children came along I decided it was too risky a thing to do as a hobby, plus I had other demands on my time, so I got out of display flying.

“I tried normal light aircraft for a while but it seemed so tame after the air display world it didn’t hold my interest.

“I do miss it though and I hope to get back into some kind of flying activity in the near future.”

You’ve shown your prowess on the road too, behind the wheel of fast cars. Any race-off with AC/DC’s Brian Johnson planned after your Sky1 series success?

“I haven’t seen Brian since the motor racing TV show we did together with Sky, but that was great fun.

“Although Brian won that final race I won the overall Championship so we both walked away happy. That was a fantastic experience, one I would love to do again.”

I gather home is LA now – are you ever likely to come back to England?

“For work and to visit friends and family yes, but to live, I doubt it. My life here in Los Angeles is so very different to my life in England.

“I wake up to blue skies and beautiful sunshine everyday, I’m surrounded by stunning mountains,

“I’m a 20-minute drive from Hollywood, 30 minutes from the ocean via a drive through rugged canyons.

“I can go snow skiing in the morning and surfing in the afternoon (should I want to). The amount of different things to do here are just incredible.

“Recently I was sitting at an outdoor restaurant by the Pacific and watched whales swim by. It’s an amazing place.

“The people are very friendly and helpful, the service is unbeatable and my wife Gemma and the children have never been happier.”

Is there a plan to update your autobiography, Playing to the Aliens, any time soon? Or maybe write part two? And did you find the writing process difficult?

“The writing process was easy, I have no problem with writing, be it stories or lyrics luckily enough. My problem is memory which is shockingly bad.

“I am now though working on a part two of the autobiography, which I hope to have finished and published sometime in 2015.”

You have the imagination to successfully write fiction too, I would say, judging by the soundscapes of your songs. Will that ever be an option?

“I’ve been working on a novel for quite some time. A high-fantasy epic in fact, so I’m diving in at the deep end a bit.

“Again, I will be working on that over the next year and I will see what I come up with. I have a strong desire to move into writing as time goes by so, for me, it’s quite a scary thing.

“If I find I’m no good at it, which is highly likely, I will have to abandon a dream that I’ve been working on for many years.”

So what’s next after this tour? New recordings? More film soundtrack work, maybe?

“I’ve just finished a film score for a film called From Inside, an animated nightmare of a film about a pregnant girl’s journey after civilisation has been destroyed.

“Once this year’s touring is over I will get on with the new album, the follow-up to Splinter.

“But other film offers are also beginning to come in so I will need to plan my time carefully, especially as I have to work on the novel and the autobiography as well.

“I’ve also been asked to write music for a new TV series, so lots of things to juggle and consider in the coming months.”

Now you’re set for this more intimate tour; is that a big step for this famously-introverted performer?

“No, I’m used to gigs of all sizes. On the last US tour they ranged from 8,000 to 800, it just depends where you are.

“It’s true that I’m quite shy as a person but I’m anything but when I’m on-stage.

“The stage performance is very aggressive and not the slightest bit introverted, apart from the fact that I don’t really talk that is.

“I might say ‘hello’ at the start and ‘thank you’ at the end if I’m in a particularly talkative mood, but that’s about it.”

What made you choose these venues?

“I wanted to visit places we didn’t get to on the last tour, I wanted to bring the show to the fans rather than keep expecting they come to me.

“Having done the previous tour with the big production, playing the smaller places opened up the opportunity to tour the album in a different, more intimate way.

“We are playing Hammersmith Apollo in November, so we will be back to the big production for that one. In fact that will be the biggest production on the entire Splinter tour.”

Finally, given the chance, what advice might the 56-year-old critically-acclaimed, seasoned performer and recording artist Gary Numan give 16-year-old Gary Webb, about to make his way in the wider world?

“Try to enjoy the moment more and stop missing out on that because you’re worrying too much about what comes next. That has always been my failing.”

* For more details on Gary Numan and his forthcoming dates and plans, head to his official website here.

* With thanks to Gary for his honest and sterling efforts from afar, plus Ian Cheek for organising this interview.

* This is a revised and expanded version of a Malcolm Wyatt interview with Gary Numan, published in the Lancashire Evening Post (with the online version here).

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Music | Tagged Are Friends Electric?, Capital Radio, David Bowie, electronica, Gary Numan, Replicas, Splinter, synthpop, The Pleasure Principle, Top of the Pops, Tubeway Army | 5 Comments

Full frontal nerdity – out and about with the insatiably sci-curious Steve Mould

Posted on June 20, 2014 by writewyattuk

Nerd Dimension: From the left, Matt Parker, Helen Arney, Steve Mould (Photo: Idil Sukan/Draw HQ)

Can science and maths really be deemed cool or funny? And when do geeks and nerds become cult TV and touring successes?

Gateshead-born small screen science experiment guy Steve Mould might just know the answers to those and many more questions.

And the regular Blue Peter and The One Show contributor is currently enjoying a renaissance in interest in all things mathematical and scientific, alongside award-winning geek songstress Helen Arney and stand-up mathematician Matt Parker.

The trio are still putting on a few dates to mark the last knockings of their Full Frontal Nerdity tour, the revered comedy trio with a difference discussing and demonstrating the appliance of science and maths.

I caught up with Steve at home in London, to ask about his love of all thinks academically nerdy.

Sci-Guy: Steve Mould, one-third of the Spoken Nerd

He’s made something of a name for himself in recent years through his contributions on the box, also including Britain’s Brainiest, I Never Knew That About Britain, Newsnight, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Sky News, as well as on Absolute Radio.

You could argue that his academic passion has emerged as something of a cultural force following the success of Californian sitcom The Big Bang Theory and those clever clogs TV shows featuring the likes of Dara O Briain and Dr Brian Cox.

There’s certainly evidence of that in his trio’s Festival of the Spoken Nerd live show, described as ‘where sparkling wit meets fascinating science in a comedy night for the insatiably sci-curious’.

Helen, Matt and Steve’s act was devised as a ‘celebration of science’, with comedy, songs, live experiments and unashamed geekiness.

Sometimes they’re joined by guest scientists and comedy headliners, and there’s always time for questions at the end (with extra marks for showing your workings).

But does it really work? Apparently so, with successful Spoken Nerd shows across the UK, including sell-outs at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, Hammersmith Apollo, the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Udderbelly on the South Bank.

Then there are the winning Green Man and Latitude music festivals and Edinburgh Fringe appearances, with rave reviews along the way.

They’re on my doorstep this coming week too, playing Preston’s 53 Degrees (Thursday, June 26) as part of the Lancashire Science Festival.

So how did Steve get involved in all this?

“I studied science at university, and there were open mic gigs at the time. I carried on doing stand-up when I graduated and got a job, but missed the science.

“I soon found there was this whole community of science communicators – people making a job out of talking about science. So I gave that a go.

“It took off quite well, not least because of my experience in stand-up, and I was doing comedy and science.

“It was a similar thing with the others. Matt was also doing talks as well as stand-up, and Helen was doing musical comedy on the circuit but quite nerdy stuff too.

“We all realised we were doing similar stuff, lamenting the fact there weren’t really the opportunities out there, so decided to run this monthly event in London.”

The result, Festival of the Spoken Nerd, is described by Steve as ‘us forcing ourselves to do new material, coming up with a new theme every month’.

Geek Songstress: Helen Arney

“We’d been doing Edinburgh for years, separately, and it was there that we had that conversation about starting to work together.”

The trio have returned to Edinburgh in their combined role twice, while Steve has carved out a parallel TV career too.

“Blue Peter was first. They’d seen some videos I made, and were looking for a science presenter to do a little segment as a one-off.

“It went really well and they kept getting me back, asking for fresh ideas.”

Lots more TV work followed, Steve’s profile further raised by his stand-up and sketch work with fellow rising star Gemma Arrowsmith.

So what do those who turn up for the live shows tend to get from the three of you?

“A really funny show, with lots of interesting stuff.

“When you put something together for a tour, it becomes this slick, well-rehearsed show. We’re also doing a run on London’s South Bank at the moment.

Matt Glass: Mathematics man Matt Parker (Photo: Steve Ullathorne)

“I reckon we’ve just a handful more appearance before we have to write a new show. We’re not doing Edinburgh this time, but start new material nights next month.

“We’ve been doing this since 2011 and have grown from that. Basically, the show’s about the three of us are trying to outdo each other, with our experiments and maths.

“For me, it’s really interesting stuff. I like to talk about stuff I find interesting, and that’s true of Matt and Helen too. Then there’s the banter between us.”

I take it you’re all quite competitive?

“A little bit, yes.”

It shouldn’t really work, should it?

“We had that feeling when we started, playing an upstairs room in a pub, but were packing the place to the rafters.

“We were thinking, ‘who are these people, and why are they coming?’ But there is this renaissance of people getting interested in science.

“Maybe they remember how much they enjoyed certain science and maths subjects when they were kids.

“It’s a cultural thing as well, and these sub-cultures tend to have their own comedy nights. There is such a thing as nerd culture, and it deserves its own comedy night.”

Geek Chic: From the left, Steve Mould, Matt Parker, Helen Arney (Photo: Idil Sukan/Draw HQ)

You’ve been involved in a movement dubbed guerrilla science too. What’s that all about?

“That involves a group of people I used to work with, and who I still collaborate with. They’re the super-cool science communicators, integrating science into culture.

“They go to music festivals and art galleries – all these cool places where you wouldn’t normally get science. They’re the hipsters of science!”

So are Steve and people like Dr Brian Cox the new poster boys of the science world?

“Well, I’d like to think so! I wouldn’t say so myself, but if other people say it …”

Poster Pal: Dara O Briain

And how does Dara O Briain fit into that?

“On the spectrum of comedy to science, I’d say Dara’s more on the comedy side. I was on a panel stage show with him, and he’s an amazingly friendly guy.

“I only spent around an hour with him, but then met him two years later, and he remembered me. He’s great.”

All a bit different from the TV scientists of yesteryear, the mad professor types like the late Dr Magnus Pyke and Sir Patrick Moore.

“Yes, I think there’s a broader audience now, with TV companies keen to tackle science in different ways.

“It was people like Johnny Ball when I grew up, very much geared towards kids and fun. I’m not so sure there was much fun science for adults.”

What influenced you on the telly as a young lad with a growing passion for science?

Golden Ball: Johnny Ball was an inspiration to Steve Mould

“Definitely Johnny Ball. Then there was How 2, back in the day, and I used to love Tomorrow’s World.”

Do you visit schools these days, as well as put on these more adult-oriented shows?

“I do. It’s interesting to analyse what works for kids in schools and what works for adults. Often it’s the same thing, only with more swearing.”

But the kids would love the swearing, surely.

“Yes, of course … but I’m not allowed!”

And how long have you been able to feel proud to be a nerd?

“Oh … good question! In some ways, all my life, but probably since around 2007.”

Was Steve, whose schooling in Blaydon in the North-East was followed by a physics degree and MA at Oxford, always outgoing, or the quiet one at the back of the class?

“I was quite out-going, although I never did any drama. I was talkative and always very inquisitive, wanting to know how things work.”

Did you have inspirational teachers?

Blaydon Boy: Steve Mould

I did, not least a brilliant science teacher, Mr Parkinson, and a brilliant maths teacher, Mrs Snook.”

What do you advise the kids you see in school today about fulfilling their own dreams?

“It’s how you look at things. I try to get the idea across that – especially in maths – it’s not good enough to know how to do something. You want to know why it works.

“If you understand an underlying pattern, then you’ve really got it.”

Which are easiest – adult or children’s audiences?

“Kids are harder, because the whole process of getting an idea across is about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes – from where they are to where you are.

“It’s much easier to do that with an adult, because their brain is much closer to where mine is now. With a kid you have to ask what they currently know. It’s a longer journey.”

And do the experiments ever go wrong on stage?

“Yes, but the thing is, sometimes they’re not going to work.

“One I do in this show is electrocuting a pickle. I’m not sure what I got wrong, maybe my pickles were too wet, but I kept blowing the fuse. It flashed briefly, but I couldn’t reset it.”

Is that where you need the charm of Tommy Cooper to keep the audience on your side?

“Do you know what – it’s fine when it goes wrong. An audience likes to see it go wrong. It’s very real then. If it’s too slick, people don’t believe it.”

Three’s Company: Helen, Matt and Steve (Photo: Idil Sukan/Draw HQ)

For all the latest on Festival of the Spoken Nerd and ticket details for Preston’s 53 Degrees (June 26), Suffolk’s Latitude Festival (July 17) and Grantham’s Gravity Fields Festival (September 26), head here.

And for more details of Lancashire Science Festival (June 26 to 28), try here.

This is a revised edition of a Malcolm Wyatt feature with Steve Mould first published in the Lancashire Evening Post on Thursday, June 19.

Posted in Books Films, TV & Radio, Comedy & Theatre | Tagged 53 Degrees, Brian Cox, Dara O Briain, Festival of the Spoken Nerd, Gravity Fields, Helen Arney, Johnny Ball, Latitude Festival, Matt Parker, Preston, Steve Mould | Leave a comment

Where to now? Woking negotiating Conference Runaround

Posted on June 12, 2014 by writewyattuk

Super Sub: Giuseppe Sole celebrates with the travelling faithful after his memorable 87th-minute winner at Luton (Photo: David Holmes)

Remember children’s TV quiz Runaround, with gravel-voiced late great Mike Reid asking his young contestants to ‘runaround now!’ and decide which answer’s right, then form an orderly queue?

Fast forward 35 years or so and I can see Woking FC boss Garry Hill doing the same with his squad, such is the everyday news feed from Conference HQ suggesting changes. Where the team coach will be pointed on match-days remains something of a mystery.

One day, we’re all set to play last-day survivors Hereford United again, next it’s a reprieve for Chester, and that after concerns over Salisbury City too. At this rate, even third-bottom Conference Premier finishers Dartford will be wondering if it’s their lucky summer after all.

The first bombshell came from the FA’s Ivory Towers, Greg Dyke announcing his master plan to install a new Premier League B division and give the nation’s big guns a chance to fully utilise their corpulent squads.

The aim was in some quarters seen as ‘laudable’, as it tackled concerns regarding English players making their future mark in the game.

Mike Reid: The Runaround legend might have made a better job of coming up with FA blueprints than former LWT, Channel 5 and BBC boss Greg Dyke (Photo: Southern Television)

Mike Reid: The late Runaround legend might have made a better job of coming up with FA blueprints than former LWT, Channel 5 and BBC boss Greg Dyke (Photo: Southern Television)

But the bottom line would be a new tier between League Two and the Conference, a further buffer against non-league’s more progressive and accountable clubs. Yes, those who not only have ambition, but also know how to do their books properly.

A new division featuring the big clubs’ second-strings? Imagine that. It would be like having the FA privately allow another 22 Milton Keynes Dons to set up overnight and jump the queue.

And while we all felt Dyke’s plan was so ludicrous it wouldn’t be allowed to happen, the whole MK Franchise saga had left a worrying precedent.

Thankfully, Football League clubs had no stomach for his blueprint, so we’re saved -at least for now – a set-up that could have driven more non-league clubs to the wall in these uncertain times.

That’s not to say every club below League Two has the sound financial basis to climb the current structure, with a few caught short in recent years. There’s been plenty of money splashed about – from the Premier League downwards – and not always spent wisely.

A few clubs have fallen by the wayside accordingly, with many more now struggling to make ends meet for one reason or other.

Last year, Aldershot Town somehow pulled back from the financial brink, surviving a slapped wrist and points deduction to make it through … just.

And now we’ve seen Hereford blow up, their on-going financial turmoil leading to an ultimatum from the Conference to pay up or ship off … and then expulsion.

Bulls Hit: It could be a while before the Cards return to Edgar Street (Photo: David Holmes)

Chances are that the Bulls won’t be the last casualty, but while I’ve no appetite to see an established club struggle, from a selfish point of view it at least means one more relatively-short trip for me next term – to Chester.

Anyway, i take it that’s the final change for the 2014/15 season though, so I’ll finally complete my end of term Cards review before I’m fully distracted by the World Cup.

I know it’s late, and at one stage I was even close to a one-off celebrating our fantastic televised win over champions-elect Luton Town in mid-March.

Perhaps I should have done. I had the headline sorted for starters – Always Believe in Your Sole. But it never quite happened.

By the time I was finally ready to roll, we’d wound up an impressive season and I had plenty to say about day-trips to Grimsby, Forest Green and Tamworth too, after a positive end to another great season, home and away.

Lining Up: Woking prepare for their big night at Kenilworth Road (Photo: David Holmes)

I’ll start with Luton. And what a great night that was, a perfect indication of what we’re capable of. The fact that it was capped by that memorable Giuseppe Sole winner – our super-sub’s first touch – made it all the more special.

It wasn’t so much the victory – the Hatters had plenty of time to secure the title – as the fact that we finally got nationwide coverage again, and didn’t freeze under the floodlights.

It’s too simple to say the commentary team were surprised how good Garry and Thommo’s side were. They’d done a little homework, but seemed genuinely shocked.

It wasn’t just ‘cup final’ spirit either. It was far more than that. We played a team assembled with so much more financial clout off the park, leaving it genuinely difficult for the neutrals to work out which team was heading for League Two.

Luton got there in the end of course, with Cambridge following through the play-offs, but this was our night. We may only have had a little corner among a 6,000-plus crowd, but out-sang the Hatters for much of the night. I felt right proud watching on the box.

I’d only bothered with one BT Sport match before, and then only managed 20 minutes on freeview, that Macclesfield vs Southport game in October seeming muted and lacking in atmosphere, any crowd noise there lost in the ether.

But this was something else, and the quality football brought back memories of past TV highlights like our FA Trophy finals and classic Coventry, Millwall, West Brom and Everton clashes in the FA Cup.

We had to wait a long time for BT Sport to remember we were in the Conference, and even then were just the support act as Luton looked to extend an amazing 27-match unbeaten run and score a hatful against a side guilty of the odd error at the back during an up-and-down season.

Those big nights on the BBC, Sky and Setanta were seemingly behind us, and while the Cards had been back in a national league for two seasons, the cameras had avoided us.

The build-up saw plenty of talk about Andre Gray’s prowess and history-in-the-making for the affable John Still, set on a third Conference top-flight title. But if Woking were just meant to make up the numbers, Garry and his team were having none of it.

Luton weren’t taking us lightly, as you could tell in their pre-match huddle. Two inspirational F-words later, the sound was slightly muffled and the commentator stumbled out an apology. But we got the picture.

Payne Game: Josh Payne proved his worth on national TV (Photo: David Holmes)

Pretty soon we had them rattled, Dave Farrar and Adam Virgo singing the praises of Kevin Betsy, John Goddard and Josh Payne.

Incidentally, maybe I should try the TV approach to reporting at some stage. I’ll just nip down to the bench and ask Thommo how he thinks the game’s going so far and what we should be doing. Worth a try? Not sure if I’d have the guts to ask Garry, mind.

The Woking pressure continued, the Cards also defending valiantly as Luton looked to sneak a lead. We thought they’d managed it with six minutes to go, an Alex Lawless cross almost sneaking in at the back post, before John Nutter survived calls for handball as the ball was floated back in.

But then came that memorable 87th-minute winner, Betsy’s right-wing trickery teeing up Keiran Murtagh, whose superb right-foot volley rattled the crossbar, with the keeper beaten and Sole – on less than 90 seconds – first to react, heading the rebound powerfully home. Sublime. Cue mayhem … at Kenilworth Road, in the Kingfield clubhouse, and in the front room at writewyattuk hq.

Heading Home: Giuseppe Sole fires us into raptures (Photo: David Holmes)

Heading Home: Giuseppe Sole fires us ahead (Photo: David Holmes)

That match was always going to be a difficult one to follow, but we managed it, and while there was a marked lack of fixtures in March, we retained a 100% five-game record.

There was a comprehensive 7-1 Surrey Senior Cup semi-final win over Southern League side Egham Town, with regular texted goal updates from brother-in-law Andy on a night man of the moment Gez Sole grabbed a treble.

Then came the 2-1 home league success over Wrexham, appropriately-named young defender Joey Jones grabbing a winner against a team many of us expected to be challenging at the top. What’s more, the attendance at Kingfield crossed the 2,000 mark for the second time since Christmas.

Successive wins number six and seven followed at home to Forest Green and at Hereford, and we were definitely in nosebleed territory, banging on the door of the play-offs, despite our smaller budget and squad, something only over-achieving Braintree Town were managing to match.

Murtagh Magic: Kieren Murtagh fires us ahead again at Grimsby, but it wasn't quite enough (Photo: David Holmes)

Murtagh Magic: Keiran Murtagh fires us ahead again at Grimsby, but it wasn’t quite enough (Photo: David Holmes)

It was all set up nicely for my next outing, April 8’s mid-week trip to Cleethorpes to face play-off likelies Grimsby Town.

The fact that it was loosely classed as ‘Up North’ meant the Boy Wyatt was called on to supply coverage, and seeing as I’d missed the previous trip to Grimsby, I was definitely up for it, despite the miles involved.

Add in a half-term Premier Inn stay for the family – I know how to show my girls a good time – and it could only be a winner all round. Besides, I’d never really explored that stretch of the East coast.

The weather wasn’t great at Cleethorpes, but we did our best, enjoying the beach and later fish and chips on the front, before I made my way to Blundell Park for the evening entertainment.

Again, this had the feel of a proper League match, watched by a 3,500 crowd, and up against a club with a proud history. But the home crowd soon realised we were no brush-offs, giving as good as we got and only denying us at the death a deserved three points.

After a dodgy 95th-minute penalty secured the Mariners a point, a grouchy Garry Hill remarked, “You see Paul Hurst jumping up and down as if he’s won the Champions League. It was an embarrassing decision.”

Despite all the excitement and another worthy Cards performance, this was a reporters’ nightmare, with all four goals coming late doors.

Cleethorpes Conundrum: The final scoreline at Blundell Park, with the blogger writing feverishly in the stand, trying to make sense of those last few roller-coaster minutes (Photo: David Holmes)

Kevin Betsy put us ahead with just six minutes to go, but twice Grimsby clawed their way back, Murtagh our second scorer on a night when it was difficult to work out what the hell was happening in those penalty areas.

But, great as that performance was, there was the feeling that a mere draw realistically ended our late promotion push, as under-lined by the following 3-0 defeat at Cambridge.

But our Garry’s not one for adhering to expectations, as proved by the following 2-1 home win over Alfreton, a side up among the play-off pack.

This time goals from Joey Jones and Jack Marriott in the last 10 minutes saw us come from behind, that spirit back to the fore and talk of the play-offs back on the agenda. And not just from the wonderfully-excitable Jon Howick on BBC Surrey, on a day when the turning point might well have been the Kingfield sprinklers going off part-way through.

Next up was a trip to Gloucestershire, which was kind of on the way home from a brief Surrey visit. Give or take a slight deviation. Glad I went though.

I hadn’t made it to the New Lawn before, and only have vague memories of our first trip to the Old Lawn, so to speak.

Level Pegging: Woking celebrate Brett Johnson’s equaliser at the New Lawn (Photo: David Holmes)

I can’t recall much about that first visit, but reckon it was during their first Conference season, suggesting our 2-0 Cards win in April ’99. What I do remember is having to negotiate a long dark tunnel at half time (perhaps I was losing consciousness) to swap ends – not something that would appeal if you were visiting the Old Den.

Well, this time it was a glorious sunny afternoon and – despite an early scare – we almost snatched what looked like an unlikely victory at one stage.

A small section of a sizeable away following barracked home striker Lee Hughes all afternoon, something that was always likely to blow up in our face.

Disappointingly there was no Marriott, recalled by injury-hit Ipswich that week, and despite a promising start, we were behind 10 minutes before the break after James Norwood defied the law of offside while our defenders waved excitedly at the lino.

Matters took a further turn for the worse shortly after as Mark Ricketts was shown a straight red for an ‘I got there as soon as I could’ tackle, leading to much chunnering and talk of ‘that’s it then’ at half time.

Yet that old Hill-inspired spirit was evident again from there, and from a Scott Rendell cross Brett Johnson chested down and home to level. What’s more, pretty soon after it was 10-a-piece after a second yellow for Ali Bangura, the travelling fans’ belief levels raised another notch.

In Front: John Goddard celebrates Woking’s second with sub Mike Cestor (Photo: David Holmes)

There was a time when I dreaded other teams having a player sent off, as it would pile too much pressure on us. Time and again we’d seem to fail to go on and win, as if mentally mocked by the fact that we couldn’t beat 10 men.

While there was parity this time, it was still a nagging doubt. That was briefly forgotten, however, as Kevin Betsy played in John Goddard for our second.

Still, the abuse rang out for Hughes, and lo and behold the ex-West Brom striker meat-headed home at the back post in stoppage time.

We were gutted. It was Grimsby all over again, our hard work on the pitch undone and another two points dropped.

Our dreaded derby with Aldershot was next, a best of season 4,728 attendance seeing battling Brett Johnson score our goal in a game in which all three finishes came in the last 25 minutes. It was never going to be pretty, and it appeared that our neighbours – desperate to avoid the drop, wanted it more than us, our play-off chance already gone.

Thankfully I missed that, but I was there for the final-day dead-rubber against relegated Tamworth, complete with stupid o’clock kick-off.

Again, I’d treated my girls to a winning weekend, this time with a canalside berth not far out of Burton-on-Trent (well, that sounds better than ‘a Travelodge just off the busy A38’), and again the Cards came up trumps.

Lamb Chop: Adam Newton shows the way for Woking (Photo: David Holmes)

While Giuseppe Sole and Scott Rendell’s goals put us into a commanding 2-0 lead within the first quarter-hour, with those hackneyed headlines about slaughtered Lambs looking inevitable, the hosts at least showed some spirit from there.

How they reached half-time just two goals down was a mystery, but this was just a pleasant early summer evening kickabout, and didn’t really matter.

There was something poignant about Kevin Betsy, quality on the right flank with stand-in skipper Adam Newton throughout, making sure in the closing stages, adding to Rendell’s second to secure a 4-2 victory and fire Woking up to a highly-commendable ninth-place finish.

Elsewhere, Murtagh was the midfield lynchpin, just one more player who could make the difference in 2014/15 if we got our way.

Bets Off?: Kevin Betsy finishes the Lambs off at Tamworth (Photo: David Holmes)

Thankfully from a spectators’ point of view, Tamworth were revitalised after the break, the home fans around me inspired by their side’s late-found spirit. And while Brett Johnson and Joe McNerney looked solid, some gangly breakaways by unlikely two-goal local hero Jessy Reindorf left us wanting.

Cardinal Hero: Kevin Betsy takes the plaudits at the Lamb Ground (Photo: David Holmes)

In that sense it seemed almost cruel when Betsy started and finished a move for the killer fourth, with the help of Rendell. Jubilant scenes followed at the away end with the veteran No.11, whose future involvement at Woking remained uncertain.

There was a footnote of course, and a fitting one, a comprehensive Surrey Senior Cup Final win over Met Police back at Kingfield.

I was reduced to listening in this time, courtesy of Gary Smith and John Moore on BBC Surrey, local radio again coming to the rescue of this geographically-challenged Cards supporter for our 12th county cup win.

This time, Scott Rendell scored twice and Gez Sole added another in the first half, before Reece Beckles added a fourth. Two further goals followed in the last 20 minutes, from Brett Johnson – his last for the Cards before a summer departure – and that man Betsy again. A fitting end to a cracking season.

Cup Kings: Woking celebrate their 12th Surrey Senior Cup victory (Photo: David Holmes)

So now to next term, including trips to Altrincham, Bristol Rovers, Dover, Eastleigh, Telford and Torquay. But I’ll get back to that some other time.

The next date in the Cards’ diary involves Falkirk at ours on July 12. But first, I’m off to Manaus, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro …. Well, at least in spirit.

Footienote: Of course, since this piece was finished, that rumour about Salisbury City turned out to be more than just a few Chinese whispers, and they’ve also been booted out of the Conference top-flight.

As a result, the Cards are all set for a Darts reunion next term, hopefully with doo-wop legend Den Hegarty back in the line-up again.

Meanwhile, word has it that Tamworth and Hyde are waiting in the wings for the next faller …

Posted in Football, sport | Tagged Adam Newton, Brett Johnson, Chester, Conference Premier, Forest Green Rovers, Garry Hill, Giuseppe Sole, Grimsby Town, Hereford United, John Goddard, Josh Payne, Keiran Murtagh, Kevin Betsy, Luton Town, Tamworth, Woking | 3 Comments

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