Having celebrated the 20 year anniversary of their incredible album, McAlmont & Butler took The Sound of McAlmont & Butler on a brief tour of the UK. David McAlmont is known for his flamboyant stage presence, and alongside the epitome of cool that is Bernard Butler they make for exceptional candidates for our photographer Greg Shingler.
More pictures can be found on our Flickr.
I caught up with Tina and Simon from Oh! Gunquit before they embark on their mini-tour of Scotland this weekend...
DS: You’ve been playing together for around 5 years now, with a couple of singles and your first album Eat Yuppies And Dance released in March this year. How did you feel about the wide positive reaction you’ve received to the album, and the radio play?
Well we're very happy that people are getting vibes from it. We feel sometimes we're in this funny place where we're too 'retro' for some and not 'retro' enough for others, which I guess we don't really mind at all...ha-ha. And it's always great to hear your music on the radio!!
DS: I’ve read about how you guys formed the band (being neighbours and visiting the same vinyl-only club in London), but can you tell me what your biggest musical influences are; and what was it that you had in common that really made you click and decide to go for it?
Simon: We started listening to lots more early '60s gritty r'n'b, girl groups, garage-punk, early surf instrumental bands, exotica & rockabilly records. I think the one idea was to really delve deeper into the older music but not try and sound like any one genre and lyrically make it relevant to today and also our sense of fun & imagination.
Tina: I used to work at this pub called The Constitution up in Camden and quickly came across a few people who were into good music including the Nitty Gritty crew (who still run a monthly night there) and a London-BlackCab Driver named Bob who I rented a room from. He was an avid Soul, Ska, R'n'B, collector and would also buy a lot of the ACE records reissue compilations. I remember that he had that album we instantly loved called Intoxica with lots of great 'strange & sleazy instrumental sounds', I think this was one of the reasons for deciding to get a saxophone in the band.
Simon: We wouldn't say we had any one specific single musical influence when we started; it was more of a mix of stuff that we were getting more and more into at the time and wanted to do a bastardised version of. As soon as we wrote our first song just for some drunken fun it clicked very naturally, there was no pressure to 'be a group' it was purely just for the buzz of playing without any plan. It also worked well in a way I think that Tina hadn't been in a band before, so she didn't have preconceived ideas about writing songs, singing, and performing, just pure gut instinct and good taste!
DS: Were either of you in bands previously?
Tina: I used to help run a warehouse venue in Denver US with some friends and put on touring punk bands, but my only other experience is playing trumpet in a marching band!
Simon: I had played previously in a sort of post-punk group who were into The Fall, Talking Heads, Liquid Liquid, Devo, etc. and also with Tina previously being a Crass-loving 'Crusty Punk-Rocker' we brought a little of these things into it too I guess...
DS: ..and have you met any of your musical heroes?
We've been lucky enough to meet Dick Dale, Wanda Jackson, Wayne Kramer, Penny Rimbaud, Viv Albertine, Ari Up, Davy Graham, Ray Davies, Mick Jones, Sky Saxon, Terry Hall and of course Adam Ant!
DS: Cool. What do you like the most about performing live, and what inspires you to keep playing?
The buzz of playing live is always addictive and I think that's where we really thrive best. It's a bit like Sex, eating your favourite food, and getting high all at the same time. To get a room to freak-out, howl, and get lost in some noise with us is fantastic fun. Life can be difficult, stressful, and full of pain and bullshit so you need to get your (high?) kicks when you can and when we all jump on a little weird juiced-up-octane trip together for a while it makes all the other crap you have to put up with bearable.
DS: The band are currently signed to infamous garage-punk rock n roll label Dirty Water Records, and have been embraced by that scene in general; playing the likes of Weirdsville, Hipsville, and the upcoming gig at the Franklin Rock ‘n’ Roll Club in Edinburgh. How does that feel; were any of you part of that scene previously?
It feels like a big kinda community or a large dysfunctional B-movie family which is great! It really becomes apparent when you play more of these events and nights etc. Other bands/promoters in that scene really help each other out and we have made some good friends from hanging out with all the assorted reprobates. We both went to the Dirty Water Club before the band started although not regulars and would cross over at certain specific gigs and nights. We briefly did a club at The Lock Tavern booking bands from that scene and we just got more & more immersed in the joy of it.
DS: What is next for the band?
We've just recorded 4 new tracks with Jim Diamond which was a treat to do and we hope to put out soon. We're putting out a small release in the US, a new EP, & working on the next album. We're also looking to do a new video this month and playing more shows outside London with Spain and France in the calendar for next year so far....and always up for more, because as they say 'you're a long time dead!'...
Thank you so much to Tina and Simon for taking some time out to chat with us. There is a lot to look forward to!
You can catch Oh! Gunquit at The Franklin Rock n Roll Club in Edinburgh at 8pm on Friday 13th (wooooooo!!) November, only £6.00 on the door - you'd be mad to miss it, but if you do, they are playing for free! at McChuill's in Glasgow, 8pm on Saturday 14th November. Support for both shows is provided by The Black Needles, psychotic rock n roll from Sao Paulo, our recent interview with whom can be found here.
The Black Needles, one of Sao Paulo, Brazil's leading exponents of the garage punk sound, are coming to the UK this week at the end of a 20+ date European tour in support of their newest album SonicMass. In advance of their gig with Oh! Gunquit at the Franklin Rock 'n' Roll Club we got in touch with Jonas Morbach from the band to find out a bit more about them and the scene they're part of.
MG - Having not heard of the Black Needles before seeing your name on the poster for your Edinburgh show can you begin with a brief history of the band? With only two albums released over five years I’m presuming that playing music isn’t how you manage to make a living so I assume you each have a day job as well?
Fr 06.11 UK London @ The Gunners Pub w/ Raw Fun + MIG21 + DJs Katia Aprile & Betty Boom Boom
Sat 07.11 UK Birmingham @ Cold Rice w/ Black Mekon (UK) + King Brothers (JP)
Thu 12.11UK Liverpool @ Sound Food & Drink
Fr 13.11 UK Edinburgh @ Franklin Cricket Club w/ Oh! Gunquit (UK)
Sat 14.11 UK Glasgow @ McChuills w/ Oh! Gunquit (UK)
Dublin's Sour Seeds launch their second EP Always Never tonight, the follow up to last year's Find You First. Darragh Cullen, Seany Lay, Brian Reynolds, and Mikey Deasy formed the band in 2013. It is rare to see a band where the drummer sings, rarer still for the guitarist to also play saxophone.
The standard of bands in the Irish capital is as high as it has ever been and The Sour Seeds are no exception. The rhythm section is simultaneously solid and inventive, giving the lead guitar and saxophone room to manoeuvre. The band are effortlessly tight embellishing their bluesy rock ‘n’ roll with little flourishes that set them apart.
There is good banter in between songs and it feels like we're amongst friends. Some well chosen covers flesh out the original numbers to a full length set and get the crowd up dancing.
After the show we talked with the Sour Seeds about the EP, their future plans, and porn moustaches.
MG - What are your memories of recording the EP?
Seany - We were going to record an album. We recorded an album in two or three days, about 7 or 8 songs but it would have cost too much to get everything mastered. So we said we'll just do an EP.
Darragh - We have a few tracks left over for some singles over the next couple of months.
MG - Some of the stuff you played tonight?
Yeah. A few of those were recorded but didn't make the EP so they'll be coming out later on.
MG - So it was a prime set tonight of A-material?
Darragh - Yeah we’ve actually been going for about two years now.
Mikey - Except for me.
MG - How did you get into the band Mikey?
Mikey - I knew Darragh already. Steve, the old bass player, had to leave. There was a thing on Facebook saying Sour Seeds are looking for a bass player and I wasn't in a band at the time so I put my name into the hat.
Darragh - Then he messaged me and that was grand. Then about 4 months later it was “Oh yeah, we still need a bass player!” We sent Mikey a message as soon as we recorded it, which about this time last year then waited til about Xmas to get going again, so lazy! So we called Mikey again.
MG - That sounds like every band I’ve ever been in; “Am I actually in the band?...”
Mikey - That’s what’s going through my head right now! But I don’t actually have an answer to it yet.
Seany - Yeah, yeah, you’re in.
Mikey - Phew, thanks Seany! I’ve got the beard anyway.
Brian - If you can grow a beard, you’re in, that’s the rule.
MG - The only reason we're here tonight is for Mikey's hair.
Mikey - This is since the haircut! It used to be higher.
Seany - You should see him with the moustache, he’s like a ‘70s porn star. I used to play the wah-wah every time he walked into the room.
Darragh - We do a lot of porno soundtracks, some slap bass and wah-wah, we bring the boom chicka wah.
MG - You mix up the old blues stuff and more modern versions like The Black Keys and White Stripes. It's something that is coming back into vogue again.
Seany - To be honest, I don't think that was a conscious thing. It's just our taste in music. We love Black Keys and White Stripes. We were jamming a Bob Dylan song and I started jamming ‘Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground’ and it was, “Yeah fuck it, let’s do that”.
MG - Your drummer is a singer, like Phil Collins and …?
Seany - Jack White did it, Josh Homme a bit in Eagles Of Death Metal ...
Darragh - There's a really good band called Jellyfish. They had a singing drummer. Phil Collins is ok though, I’m fine with that.
Seany - When we started the band it was just me and Darragh. I wanted to do something like The Dead Weather, synthy kind of stuff. And we were looking for a singer. We couldn't find a singer anywhere. So we said “Darragh, you sing. And I think you should play the drums as well”.
Darragh - I said “sure”. I’m a guitar player first so it's nice to get to hit things. I was playing guitar and the drumming was a hobby so it's nice to bash things around.
Brian - Darragh's just a multi talented guy.
MG - So no current album plans?
Darragh - I think for the moment we're going to stick to EPs and singles.
Seany - We’re going in to record the next EP next week. Then maybe another EP, or maybe an album. We’ll see how it goes. We usually write a song a day.
Darragh - The next one is definitely an EP, and maybe a few singles. Then after that we’ll think about an album but we like doing the EPs at the moment. It’s short and sweet.
Seany - We get to look like we're a lot more busy than we actually are.
Darragh - We're also very impulsive.
MG - Do you think EPs are the way forward?
Darragh - Probably, they're cheaper to make, for indie bands definitely. You get to hear what the band is about in a short amount of time rather than listening through a whole album. Plus the activity side of it. We say that messing, but it is true. We want to make it look like we're doing something and keep it in people’s minds. It’s good to look active. You need a fanbase before you can release an album. Keep the buzz going and keep the gigs going.
With the EPs, you can put out your best 3/4 songs, and then do that again for the next one, and you're continually putting out A-material.
Seany - Yeah, we still look at an EP like an album; to sound like an album does, like an experience from start to finish. Like a cohesive whole rather than a bunch of songs we like.
MG - With Spotify, Grooveshark and the like, do people still write an album from start to finish?
Darragh - I think a lot of the bands that we listen to still do that, like The Black Keys. But there is so much choice now. It’s so much easier and cheaper to record these days. There are so many avenues you can go down. You can do albums or singles, do EPs, do an album, do a triple album. Maybe we’ll do that. And then the greatest hits.
Mikey - The greatest hits tour will be just after Xmas, book tickets now!
MG - And the reunion tour?
Seany - Yeah, Brian has a drug addict thing going on, heroin or something?
Brian - Panadol, man, the hard stuff!
MG - How did you get together?
Seany - We met in college. There was a guy called Alex Jordan, who is still playing under the name Alex Jordan & Co.
Darragh - I was a Co. The bass player in & Co.
Seany - Darragh was playing bass, Alex was singing and Darragh was going to play drums too. We started the band with Alex and me and Brian decided to get Alex out of the band! And get Darragh in. No, he's a great guy. That was him leading the dancing tonight.
Darragh - But that band fell through. And then me and Sean decided to form a band, and Brian came along too with his lovely saxophone.
Seany - Then we found Steve, the old bass player. We started gigging. We did the first EP with Steve.
Darragh - We actually did this one with Steve as well. We recorded and he went to America. He’s still in America. He was going off and we had a week to find a studio before he left. The studio that we usually go to was all booked up. We recorded it on the Tuesday and he left on the Thursday. Then we did the overdubs without him. And we got Mikey in. And now he's our man. And we did this interview ...
MG - Anyone you want to give a shout out to?
Yes, Brandon O'Rourke who did the posters. He’s class. If anyone needs any artwork, he's cheap, he does great work and he's also a good dancer.
Always Never is available here.
Continuing my dig into the motivations of the bands involved in Buckfest 2015 here are the final interviews from the day. Firstly here's Joe, singer and guitarist of The Phlegm.
DS - Joe, why are your band supporting this event?
Joe - We love playing – I suppose there are a few reasons why we are playing Buckfest this year; we had so much fun playing last year that we jumped at the chance to play again! We are also playing because we love the other bands that are playing, and we know them very well. It’s a great chance to see a bunch of great bands, who are also our friends. It’s also a good opportunity to try and reach out to the Glasgow crowds and widen our fanbase.
DS - What can we look forward to from The Phlegm?
Joe - We're playing at the Banshee Labyrinth in Edinburgh on the 30th (October) with Random Scandal supporting the Devil Jocks on their Halloween tour – which we are really looking forward to! In addition to that, we are hoping to get into the studio very soon to do some recording.
Later on I sat down for a few words with Becca' guitarist and vocalist of The Creeping Ivies. 
DS - Hi Becca, what decided you and the band on playing Buckfest this year?
Becca - We've played the event before and it’s always a great time. McChuills is a good venue and the crowd are always really into the music so that makes it enjoyable for us!
DS - And what does the near future hold for The Creeping Ivies?
Becca - We're playing McChuills again for a Halloween show on the 30th (the Witches' Sabbath 2015) with Fanny Pelmet And The Bastard Suits. We're also playing London on 11th November at Oslo supporting Shannon And The Clams so we're very excited for that!
Recording-wise, we're currently planning a new album. We have a huge amount of new tracks so hoping to get them recorded over the next few months.
Stevie, Organist of '60s garage punk combo The Kosher Pickles was next on the list for a blether.
DS - Evening Stevie, why are the band playing this year’s Buckfest?
Stevie - It’s an invitation to play that you don’t turn down without a really good reason. We’ve know The Rage a good few years so if you get an invite to play with them you say, “yes please”. I think we did the first one and maybe the second in the 13th Note.
I guess the main incentive is knowing you’re going to be playing to a receptive crowd. The Rage pick all the bands. You pretty much know that everyone’s going to be on a similar wavelength. I think all the other Pickles had heard the Phlegm before but I hadn’t - I thought they were ace. So you hear new stuff and it’d be odd if you didn’t like it.
DS - Anything in the pipeline for The Pickles?
Stevie - We’ve got a gig in McChuills on Halloween. I think we’ve bought giant cobwebs and we have our lights and stuff so that’s a fire waiting to happen! It’ll be a good laugh. Really we’re just in this for good times.
Recordings, well we’re really slow at putting stuff out. We did a split 7” with The Bucky Rage a couple of years back so that’s kicking about and there’s the odd track on the internet. We’re hoping to get some recorded stuff finished off soon and we’ll probably put that on bandcamp, do some CDs to hand out at gigs etc.
Last up I had a sit down with Carl Brick, who performs as The Locarno Big Beat.
DS - Carl, could you tell us why you are supporting the Buckfest this year?
CB - I've been playing Buckfest for what must be at least 5 years or so however this is the first time I've played as The Locarno Big Beat - in fact that's the first gig ever. 
I suppose that's the attraction of Buckfest - it gives a platform for artists that want to do something slightly outside the box. There's also the fact that I've a lot in common with the guys who organise it, they are a good bunch who I've shared stages with and performed with for many years. My first gig in Glasgow as Charlie Rivers And Thee Boatmen was at a night organised by The Bucky Rage - some 10 or 11ish years ago.
The Locarno Big Beat is a recent wee side project to my main musical ego - Charles Randolph Rivers' Slim Rhythm Revue.
DS - And what does the future hold for you right now? Can we expect any recordings in either of your guises?
CB -I'm playing Kilmarnock next Saturday [October 24, The Granary, 8pm] and have just finalised some recordings which I'm currently looking to put out ... So watch this space as they say!
Thanks once again to all of the acts at Buckfest for great performances and for taking the time to submit to questioning.
I wasn't just sitting around watching the bands & drinking tea in McChuill's at the weekend, oh no. Interviewing the bands was all part of the day and first off I caught up with Alan Gemmel, guitarist of The Bucky Rage, bassist of The Kosher Pickles, and one of the organisers of Buckfest 2015.
DS - Alan, tell me about Buckfest i.e. how it got started and why you think it is able to carry on year after year? Also, as it's a free event, what are the incentives for the bands involved to come and play?
AG - Buckfest has been running for the last five or six years, it’s basically an annual all day party. We invite a bunch of our favourite bands to come play and get messed up with us. We started it with a view to getting some out of town bands over to play with the bands we played with loads, looking to forge links with places a bit further away so that all the bands involved could get to meet each other and all benefit from travelling to new places for return gigs. It’s quite an easy affair to organise, and depending what the Bucky Rage have been up to kind of decides for us who we book. It’s basically a big excuse to get a bunch of our friends together and listen to the kind of music we all like!
I think it manages to do well and keep going because it’s a simple concept, and brings together a bunch of like minded people and has always been organised with a good, fun day out as the most important aspect. The bands are always looked after, treated with the warmth and respect that The Bucky Rage look for when we are playing.
A lot of these bands we have been playing with for years, and like ourselves it’s great to see how everyone progresses. As everyone gets more gigs further afield and releases new records and CDs, as well as their own lives moving on, having kids etc., it can sometimes feel that Buckfest becomes the time of the year when we all catch up. Years ago it would not be uncommon for The Rage to play gigs with a lot of these bands a few times a month, certainly speaking for The Bucky Rage we play less gigs than we used to now that 3 of us have young kids, and jobs that are a bit more full time etc. that kind of limits how much time you can spend away from home.
DS - And so to The Bucky Rage. What can we look forward to in the not too distant future?
AG - We have a new EP coming out fairly soon. It’s all been recorded, just finishing the mixes. We’ve started organising gigs for next year, got a couple of shows booked down South and looking to organise some more European gigs. Got a few things booked up for the rest of the year, and just getting on with the usual stuff. Practicing, writing and bamming each other up!
Next in line for a chinwag was guitarist and singer of Geek Maggot Bingo - Acid Maggot. 
DS - Can you tell me why your band are supporting Buckfest this year?
AM - The Bucky Rage are good pals of ours - they may deny it to keep their street cred but they love us really! Hey, they must at least like us as they keep asking us back to Buckfest! Between my old band and Geek Maggot Bingo, I've played at most (if not all?) Buckfests and it's always wild, riotous and sometimes (always) a bit (a lot) on the chaotic side. We wouldn't have it any other way!
DS - And what are Geek Maggot Bingo are up to at the moment, what can we look forward to? It sounds like you have a lot of exciting things happening just now ...
AM - We recorded an album's worth of material last year at Angus McPake's Ravencraig Studio and we're still looking at how to release it properly. We've had some label interest and that's definitely the road we'd prefer to go down for the sake of releasing on vinyl and having some distribution.
One of the songs ('Where It's At') we recorded was written as a thank-you for Elvis Shakespeare [the Edinburgh book and record shop] and we self released that on CD along with four covers. There aren't many copies left now but if anyone wants one (we're not making any more once they're gone), they can get a copy from the New Hellfire Club shop (Glasgow), Elvis Shakespeare, our gigs, or our Bandcamp page.
Another of the songs from the Ravencraig session has been used as the theme tune for a documentary called ‘42nd Street Memories’ which is available on the DVD and BluRay of ‘Anthropophagus’ from 88 Films and is getting an American release on the BluRay of ‘Pieces’ from Grindhouse Releasing.
We've got enough songs ready for another album so we're looking to record that as soon as we can and we've also got some film related things happening but that's all very hush-hush for now.
The next gig that we're really looking forward to (we look forward to all gigs but this one's extra special) is with The Bonnevilles at the Franklin Rock 'n' Roll Club (Edinburgh) on 28th November. Tickets are on sale from The Parlour Bar in Edinburgh. Last time we played there with The Bonnevilles, it sold out and a fair few people who turned up to pay on the door were unfortunately turned away, so anyone who wants to go should get in there and buy a ticket right away.
Later on in the day B-Side Boy was happy to answer a few questions.
DS - B-Side Boy, please introduce yourself ...
BSB - Well basically B-Side Boy is just me on my own. I'm a one man music machine who makes music because I have to or my brain will explode. I sing and play along to specially prepared backing tracks while jumping about in a dress and heels. Oh and I wear a top hat too :) Having been in and out of bands for many years, I thought I'd give going solo a try. I've been doing B-Side Boy for a year and this will only be my fourth gig. Also I've put together two albums in this time (The Other Side of B-Side Boy & Throw Enough Shit, Some Of It Sticks) and am midway through a third as yet untitled one. They can all be streamed or downloaded (name your price) from my bandcamp page.
DS - And what does playing Buckfest mean to you?
BSB - I've known the Bucky Rage for many years and I especially love playing Buckfest because of the consistent quality line-up they procure. I feel honoured to be a part of it, that's probably the primary incentive. It's always a great night! Secondly I honestly do love playing music, I tend to be rubbish at everything else.
DS - What is next for B-Side Boy?
BSB - As for gigs the only other one I have at the moment is Sinister Wink at The Bungo bar on Sunday 29th November where I may throw in a Serge Gainsbourg or Technotronic cover. That will be an acoustic show so I may wear a slightly more informal dress at that one!
