Showing posts with label London Ska Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London Ska Festival. Show all posts
Friday, 1 April 2011
King Blues, Sonic Boom Six and Random Hand
So this week I went to see the kind of line up which would have caused a wet dream in my youth and now at the age of twenty four excites me just as much but I have developed coping mechanisms for such excitement.
Joking aside this one one of the most exciting line ups I have seen in a very long time, it's not often you get to see three headline quality acts for the price of one (unless you come to Thirsty and Miserable shows of course). Opening the night with Random Hand is like waking up to your alarm on buzzer from the very first moment of the intensely compact set these young men from Yorkshire tore the stage up. With tracks from their new record sounding every bit as catchy as the older material. I can safely say Random Hand are one of the UK's most exciting live bands and every time I see them I enjoy them even more.
Sonic Boom Six were next to take the stage and delivered the genre clashing brilliance I have grown to love over the past decade in which I have seen them play umpteen times. They are a band who in my opinion will never surpass their first two albums but I think my love of these is partially due to the memories tracks on them hold rather than the music being superior. As the band develop their sound further it does become more and more varied allowing almost anyone to watch them live and find areas they enjoyed. I could never accuse SB6 of not putting 100% into their live performance and this was another fine example of how to successfully blend vast musical influence into a fantastic live set.
Last up were the King Blues who began the show with a ferocious track from the new album which in Itches own words is 'a modern day punk album' and the new material did not disappoint in this way at all it's heavy and political passion is beautifully delivered. It was however the mixture between old and new which created an unforgettable live set for me the combination of the three albums work was almost like skipping through the greatest hits of The King Blues and made me realise just how much I have enjoyed this band and how many amazing tracks there are in their back catalog.
It was not until the encore where two moments took my breath away firstly Itch delivered a beautiful entitled '5 Bottles of Shampoo' to a stunned audience who stayed quiet (mostly) for the full duration of the poem. The second moment was also the moment that made me realise exactly how important music is to politics to hear an entire audience interject into a song with the words 'Going to war to prevent war, is the most stupid thing I've ever heard' was both powerful and emotive.
It looks like 'Punk and Poetry' will be one of the albums of year regardless of my opinion but I've got to say I can't wait to hear it and see how it's received.
Joking aside this one one of the most exciting line ups I have seen in a very long time, it's not often you get to see three headline quality acts for the price of one (unless you come to Thirsty and Miserable shows of course). Opening the night with Random Hand is like waking up to your alarm on buzzer from the very first moment of the intensely compact set these young men from Yorkshire tore the stage up. With tracks from their new record sounding every bit as catchy as the older material. I can safely say Random Hand are one of the UK's most exciting live bands and every time I see them I enjoy them even more.
Sonic Boom Six were next to take the stage and delivered the genre clashing brilliance I have grown to love over the past decade in which I have seen them play umpteen times. They are a band who in my opinion will never surpass their first two albums but I think my love of these is partially due to the memories tracks on them hold rather than the music being superior. As the band develop their sound further it does become more and more varied allowing almost anyone to watch them live and find areas they enjoyed. I could never accuse SB6 of not putting 100% into their live performance and this was another fine example of how to successfully blend vast musical influence into a fantastic live set.
Last up were the King Blues who began the show with a ferocious track from the new album which in Itches own words is 'a modern day punk album' and the new material did not disappoint in this way at all it's heavy and political passion is beautifully delivered. It was however the mixture between old and new which created an unforgettable live set for me the combination of the three albums work was almost like skipping through the greatest hits of The King Blues and made me realise just how much I have enjoyed this band and how many amazing tracks there are in their back catalog.
It was not until the encore where two moments took my breath away firstly Itch delivered a beautiful entitled '5 Bottles of Shampoo' to a stunned audience who stayed quiet (mostly) for the full duration of the poem. The second moment was also the moment that made me realise exactly how important music is to politics to hear an entire audience interject into a song with the words 'Going to war to prevent war, is the most stupid thing I've ever heard' was both powerful and emotive.
It looks like 'Punk and Poetry' will be one of the albums of year regardless of my opinion but I've got to say I can't wait to hear it and see how it's received.
Monday, 13 December 2010
Pama International Interview
I caught up with Sean Flowerdew at one of Pama International’s last five shows and had a chat about the last ten years with Pama International, his label Rockers Revolt and The London Ska festival he will be organising.
The first of last shows was in Newbury yesterday?
It was a kind of hometown show, I used to go to school there and our singer Finney still lives there. It was very enjoyable, a great venue and good crowd.
How come now after ten years it seemed to be a good time to take a break from Pama International?
I’ve been working solidly for the last ten years, twenty four seven, on Pama International and over the last couple of years we haven’t really done ourselves justice as a live band; we’re a good band but live we haven’t improved as much as our recorded sound or at the same rate. It’s also getting much harder for us, venues and promoters to make the money we each require from live shows as purse strings tighten. Ten years is a long time, I need to sit back and relax for a while.
Are you going to be focusing on your other projects?
Yeah Rockers Revolt will be releasing an album a month in 2011, it seems mad that no one is buying records anymore and we are releasing more than ever, but it’s good as long as we keep realistic about how many we expect to sell it’ll be fine.
I’m also concentrating on writing a lot more and will be doing some bits for the BBC, some writing with Lynval (Goulding) for his solo work and writing with a few of the older Jamaican guys we have previously worked with. So I’m going to be busier than ever.
How hard is it to balance the band and record label, does music end up dominating your life?
Yeah pretty much, Rockers Revolt was set up as a vehicle for Pama so we could cut out the middleman and would only have ourselves to blame if things went wrong. We did an album for Trojan Records and we sold more of them than they did but we have never had a single royalty from them. We have now started to sign more bands to the label so things are starting to look exciting.
Are there new signings for the New Year?
The first release will be by a band called Intensified who are celebrating their twentieth year. They make ska rocksteady and the album will include a documentary of their twenty years. Maroon Town are ska meets hip-hop meets funk meets latin. Lenny the Pama guitarist is in a band called the Sidewalk Doctors, which is a rocksteady thing. Babyhead and Pama International Meets The Mad Profesor (rewired in dub) have just come out making a strong end to this year. It’s been good we’ve got Pama meets Ron Tom on the way and he has just done an album for Roots Manuva, which was Mojo’s seventieth album of the year.
I heard you’re organising a ska Festival next year too?
The London International Ska Festival next Easter is taking up a hideous amount of time at moment. For the four days I’ve booked over a hundred and thirty flights and had to sort ninety visas and work permits for the artists from all over the world. It’s something ska music has needed for a very long time and I’m aiming to put it back on the map.
Do you listen to the newer breed of ska music or do you stick to the more traditional styles?
It’s an incredible music style, the festival aims to show where it came from with the early R and B through to the Jamaican innovators through to ska punk through to the people who are taking the influence on further.
How was being the first band in thirty years to release something on Trojan Records?
It was a real honour to be able to release something on such an iconic label. My only demand in the deal was to be able to use the Trojan logo on the release, that was the only thing I wanted to see. It doesn’t matter what the music sounds like the Trojan logo will encourage people to buy it as the label has such a strong reputation. It also opened some doors in the way of collaborations. It was an honour, but the business side was terrible, as the label has been passed onto different owners they have all inherited an amazing musical legacy but haven’t run the label in a way anyone gets paid. There must be classic records, which have sold thousands of copies, and the artists who recorded them haven’t received their dues.
Are there three records that have changed your life or inspired you?
The Specials – Ghost Town, I remember watching the video on Top of The Pops as a kid and thinking ‘wow, what is that?’ the imagery was so dark and it has such a memorising tune.
I’d have to pick a Madness track because as a kid I was a huge fan and was even in the Madness fan club.
I would have to pick some old soul track it would have to be something by Otis Reading, he was the greatest singer of all time. These Arms Are Mine or Pain In My heart, one of those two, they’re both brilliant.
Who were the last band you went to see?
For pleasure I saw the Skatalites, I hoped it would be great but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. There were only two of the original band left, the drummer Lloyd Knibbs and the Sax player Leicester Sterling. They were nowhere near as good as when I last saw them back in the nineties. For me, because I love them so much it was disappointing, I usually try and manufacture bills to get support bands on I like as that’s the only chance I get to see people play.
Who would you recommend checking out?
Not too sure on new acts, obviously everything on Rockers Revolt, we are going to put out something by Dave Wakely from the Beat. his first ever solo single is great and I’m playing a lot of that, I’m also playing some keys on a few tracks on the next King Blues album so I’m listening to them and they’re sounding amazing.
The first of last shows was in Newbury yesterday?
It was a kind of hometown show, I used to go to school there and our singer Finney still lives there. It was very enjoyable, a great venue and good crowd.
How come now after ten years it seemed to be a good time to take a break from Pama International?
I’ve been working solidly for the last ten years, twenty four seven, on Pama International and over the last couple of years we haven’t really done ourselves justice as a live band; we’re a good band but live we haven’t improved as much as our recorded sound or at the same rate. It’s also getting much harder for us, venues and promoters to make the money we each require from live shows as purse strings tighten. Ten years is a long time, I need to sit back and relax for a while.
Are you going to be focusing on your other projects?
Yeah Rockers Revolt will be releasing an album a month in 2011, it seems mad that no one is buying records anymore and we are releasing more than ever, but it’s good as long as we keep realistic about how many we expect to sell it’ll be fine.
I’m also concentrating on writing a lot more and will be doing some bits for the BBC, some writing with Lynval (Goulding) for his solo work and writing with a few of the older Jamaican guys we have previously worked with. So I’m going to be busier than ever.
How hard is it to balance the band and record label, does music end up dominating your life?
Yeah pretty much, Rockers Revolt was set up as a vehicle for Pama so we could cut out the middleman and would only have ourselves to blame if things went wrong. We did an album for Trojan Records and we sold more of them than they did but we have never had a single royalty from them. We have now started to sign more bands to the label so things are starting to look exciting.
Are there new signings for the New Year?
The first release will be by a band called Intensified who are celebrating their twentieth year. They make ska rocksteady and the album will include a documentary of their twenty years. Maroon Town are ska meets hip-hop meets funk meets latin. Lenny the Pama guitarist is in a band called the Sidewalk Doctors, which is a rocksteady thing. Babyhead and Pama International Meets The Mad Profesor (rewired in dub) have just come out making a strong end to this year. It’s been good we’ve got Pama meets Ron Tom on the way and he has just done an album for Roots Manuva, which was Mojo’s seventieth album of the year.
I heard you’re organising a ska Festival next year too?
The London International Ska Festival next Easter is taking up a hideous amount of time at moment. For the four days I’ve booked over a hundred and thirty flights and had to sort ninety visas and work permits for the artists from all over the world. It’s something ska music has needed for a very long time and I’m aiming to put it back on the map.
Do you listen to the newer breed of ska music or do you stick to the more traditional styles?
It’s an incredible music style, the festival aims to show where it came from with the early R and B through to the Jamaican innovators through to ska punk through to the people who are taking the influence on further.
How was being the first band in thirty years to release something on Trojan Records?
It was a real honour to be able to release something on such an iconic label. My only demand in the deal was to be able to use the Trojan logo on the release, that was the only thing I wanted to see. It doesn’t matter what the music sounds like the Trojan logo will encourage people to buy it as the label has such a strong reputation. It also opened some doors in the way of collaborations. It was an honour, but the business side was terrible, as the label has been passed onto different owners they have all inherited an amazing musical legacy but haven’t run the label in a way anyone gets paid. There must be classic records, which have sold thousands of copies, and the artists who recorded them haven’t received their dues.
Are there three records that have changed your life or inspired you?
The Specials – Ghost Town, I remember watching the video on Top of The Pops as a kid and thinking ‘wow, what is that?’ the imagery was so dark and it has such a memorising tune.
I’d have to pick a Madness track because as a kid I was a huge fan and was even in the Madness fan club.
I would have to pick some old soul track it would have to be something by Otis Reading, he was the greatest singer of all time. These Arms Are Mine or Pain In My heart, one of those two, they’re both brilliant.
Who were the last band you went to see?
For pleasure I saw the Skatalites, I hoped it would be great but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. There were only two of the original band left, the drummer Lloyd Knibbs and the Sax player Leicester Sterling. They were nowhere near as good as when I last saw them back in the nineties. For me, because I love them so much it was disappointing, I usually try and manufacture bills to get support bands on I like as that’s the only chance I get to see people play.
Who would you recommend checking out?
Not too sure on new acts, obviously everything on Rockers Revolt, we are going to put out something by Dave Wakely from the Beat. his first ever solo single is great and I’m playing a lot of that, I’m also playing some keys on a few tracks on the next King Blues album so I’m listening to them and they’re sounding amazing.
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Pama International @ Soundhouse 28th November 2010
Despite having the services of Sir Horace Panter and Lynval Goulding of the Specials for their live shows, Pama International deserve to take all the plaudits as a band and after ten years of hard work they have earned the right to this.
After two reasonable support acts Pama International took the stage and caused the room to instantly fill out. The sign of a good band is to attract a vast range of fans, and the age range within the venue was great to see and showed that, despite being relatively young for a reggae or ska band, Pama had obviously balanced their sound perfectly.
The blend of soulful vocals, heavy bass, choppy guitars and smooth keys was enough to make you forget about the cold weather outside and transport yourself to warmer climates and better times. From the off it was apparent that despite it being time to take a break Pama International wanted to go out with a bang and everyone put their all into the entirety of the show. As tracks flowed into each other effortlessly I realised just how many great tracks the band have released during their extensive career. It was also interesting to hear how the bands sound has developed throughout the years and managed to stay fresh and exciting.
It is always a mixed bag of emotion watching a band play a farewell show, and this was no exception, no matter how intense the live set was everyone knew it would be one of the last. However, with such a talented group of musicians on a stage together it can only be a matter of time before they decide to record something new, either as a band or with other projects.
It was an honour to see one the most underrated bands in the country again, and a shame that it will be the last time for a while, but as far as live performances go this was the highlight of the five I have been lucky enough to see, each with a different line up.
I can only wish everyone involved in Pama International every success in whatever they choose to do in the future and hope for a reunion sooner rather than later.
Many Thanks to Andy Hall for the Pictures
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