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Franklin Fest 2017 Interview - Chrome Reverse

Last up for this years Franklin Fest 17 special is Lili Zeller of grease monkeys Chrome Reverse, who will be headlining on the Saturday evening. 

DS: Bonjour Lili, could you tell us a little bit about the background of the band?  

LZ: We're Iwan (bass), Dave (guitar), Yan (drums) and myself (guitar and vocals). We're four music lovers and rock'n'roll fans and we obviously all met through music, I think it was at gigs. Iwan and I already had teamed up for a punk rock band in the '90s called The No-Talents. We all share a preference for the raw and greasy kind of rock'n'roll from the late '50s and early '60s.

DS: What it is about that period in time that particularly appeals to you?

LZ: Because it's between two eras, it's a sort of mutant. It's not yet THEE '60s and still pure rock and roll. We have a weakness for the untamed, dirty sounding rockers that weren't necessarily the top virtuosos. Lots of fun and exciting sounds. 

DS: I can't argue with that. Could you pinpoint a few songs that stand out for you?

'Doggone It Baby' - The Rock-A-Teens

'Red Headed Flea' - The Caps

'My Mind's Made Up' - The Renowns

DS: It's great that you can take inspiration from both eras. Most bands just seem to stick to either one or the other. Do you write most of the songs for the band, or is it more of a collaborative effort?

LZ: Yes, I do.

DS: Fab. Will this be the first time in Edinburgh for the band, and who are you looking forward to seeing play?

LZ: Yes, it's the first time. There are so many bands I don't know, and I'm looking forward to seeing them all! But I'm really thrilled to see Russ & Saskia as BIG RUSS WILKINS & LIGHTNING HOLLING. I think everything they've done in their previous projects is brilliant! I also know Los Coyote Men from the old days, and MFC Chicken sure will be fun, I love The Wailers. Earlier this year we played with The Bucky Rage and Professor Baba at Weirdsville in London so it will be nice to see them again. Hope to see you all at the Franklin Fest!!

The latest Chrome Reverse album is available both here and here, or directly from the band's bandcamp page here

Photo credits: V Berazeth and Alain Marie.

Tickets for the Franklin Fest can be obtained here

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Franklin Fest 2017 Interview - Nervous Twitch

Ahead of this years Franklin Fest (where did the last 12 months go?), our very own girl in the garage has managed to have a good old fashioned gossip with few of the participating acts. They'll be an article each day this week leading up to the opening night - Thursday 29th  - so you can look forward to intimate tête-à-tête's with MFC Chicken's Spencer Envoy, Chrome Reverse's Lili Zeller and Los Coyote Men's Sir Randy 'Captain Dynomite' Hornknocker! no-less.

 

Up first is Erin Van Rumble, front woman and bassist of Leeds pop-punksters Nervous Twitch.

DS: ようこそ Erin, please introduce yourself..

EVR: We've been together for about four or five years and after a few lineup changes etc. we are currently a three-piece. Myself, Erin, on bass and singing, Jay on guitar and Ash on drums.

 

DS: Okay, and how did Nervous Twitch evolve, and did you know each other beforehand?

 

EVR: Jay and I are a couple and we met through music and going to gigs. Jay was in a different band at the time, and has been in bands since he was a teenager. I originally came on board as a drummer and it was my first proper band! In our early days we made the decision for me to move to bass which vacated the drummer position which is where we're introduced to Ash through a friend.

 

DS: So what kind of music drives the band?

 

EVR: We are all fans of various types of music but I think what we all share is a love of a catchy pop song and playing punk rock... so I think that's how we get our sound. Music that inspires our writing is bands like The Ramones, Billy Childish, Nobunny, amongst many many others!

 

DS: Care to mention a couple of tunes that have inspired you?

 

EVR: I would find it hard to pinpoint inspiration down to a particular song but album wise Nobunny Love Visions/First Blood (or maybe the song 'Chuck Berry Holiday'!) Ramones Rocket To Russia, or maybe just them all! Billy Childish has A LOT of great songs and far tooooo mannnnyyy albums ha ha!

Also big fans of '60s girl groups like Shangri-las and The Ronettes and the Girls In The Garage comps which has inspired our songs such as "Johnny's Got A Gun" 

DS: You certainly can't go wrong with a bit of Mr Childish. Any particular incarnation of his that you prefer?

 

EVR: I personally love The Delmonas. Today we had Thatcher's Children byWild Billy Childish & The MBE's on the turntable, which is awesome. Also a fan of the Headcoats, Headcoatees, Milkshakes, so most of his music! He just has a great knack with writing songs!

 

DS: Turning to output, how many releases to date?

 

EVR: Two Albums: both released on Odd Box Records on cassette, and then the first one “Get Back In Line” re-released on Vinyl on Middle Ear Recordings and our second “Don’t Take My TV” re-released on Vinyl on Odd Box Records. We’ve also had two singles out on Punk Fox Records and various CD EP's along the way.

 

DS: ..and what are the band up to at the moment?

 

EVR: Just finished album Number three “I Won’t Hide” (which we are all very excited about!) which will be released in October on Odd Box Records, as well as a single on Punk Fox!

 

DS: Will this be the first time you've played in Edinburgh?

 

EVR: We played in Edinburgh when we toured spring 2016. Awesome gig, so much fun! So we’re all excited to be back!

 

DS: Are you sticking around for the whole weekend, and who are you looking forward to seeing?

 

EVR: We are, and can’t wait to see all of the bands really! Sad to be missing The Fnords on the Thursday (I will catch them one day!) but otherwise looking forward to MFC Chicken, Coyote Men, Das Clamps, and The Sensation Seekers.

 

Many thanks to Erin for taking the time out to chat.

You can catch Nervous Twitch on Friday evening at The Franklin Fest 17. More information about the band can be found here.  

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