Digital Tenderness

Ok bad news about this, unfortunately it has been cancelled. A dvd will possibly appear sometime next year is the official word. Licensing problems. This is bad news and frustrating cos we've known about the dvd for a long time now, and to get an actual release date and then weeks before to hear it isn't to be is very irritating, but nothing can be done until it's sorted out.

Also you will have noticed that Adam's book serialisation did not appear in this sundays Mail on Sunday, It is now set to appear NEXT sunday, 3rd september.

Let's hope the book still comes out in a few weeks and the best of cd I am assured IS coming out with a bonus dvd of 8 videos.
That can be pre-ordered here.

Mantra 2 and Terry Lee Miall Interview!

Ok folks, here it is, an EXCLUSIVE interview with Mantra 2 main man Matt and Terry Lee Miall!

Terry:

How did you get involved in Mantra 2?
met matt at the ants convention and just hit it off right away. He sent me the demo of a track and was i interested in playing on the album and of course i said yes

What is your favourite song on the album?
i love angels reminds me of the time period i was playing with the ants

Do you have any plans to drum for anyone else?
not right now i'm very much involved in the family business

What else are you up to musically? What happened to Mag 7?
Mag 7 is still going but everyone in the band is so busy with work or family it's really taken a back seat for everyone right now.

Have you been keeping up to date with the Ant stuff (remasters, book due soon, etc)?
i must be honest and say i haven't

Are you involved in the tv documentary that is being made about Adam at the moment?
That's news to me. Who's making it ?

Do you keep in touch with any ex Ants or Adam at all?
marco is the only one iv'e been in touch with recently

What do you think of myspace
brilliant idea

Have you seen my blogsite? (Music For A Future Age)?
embarassingly not

Do you have a message I can post on there for fans.....
Thanks for all the support over the years in keeping the Ants thing going... CHEERS

Have you heard any Wolfmen stuff? (What do you think if you have)
havent't heard anything yet. Tried to down load from their website a while back but no joy

Did Marco ALWAYS hate touring?
Marco used to love touring when we were in the models but that was the first tour we did together back in 77 but after tour after tour after tour can become a strain on anyone

What were the Ants like on tour- ie what was Adam like, what was Chris like, etc......
everyone was great. We loved to visit the local sites and clubs in the evening

What is your favourite Ant memory?
dont really have one but loved the early tours the best and what a rush meeting Kevin at the last convention for the first time since 1981

Did you see The Madness of Prince Charming? You were the only Ant (Apart from Tibbs) who wasn't on that- why?
no one had my new e-mail address or my new mobile number. Shame because i would have loved to have done it.

If Adam called you up and said we're reforming- what would you say? Is it now too late?
Are you kiddng i would do it at the drop of a hat. Playing with those guys would be excellent

Matt:
What plans do you have for Mantra 2? Live? More recordings? etc..
Well, my immediate plans are to fuck off on holiday! I need a rest man, 2006 has been absolutely fucking bonkers so far! Looking forward to a good break. And then we’ll be looking at the next step. Possibly more recordings yeah.


Are you pleased with the album?
Yeah, well chuffed. It’s a more focussed record than the first one, sticking to the genre. Although Fantasy is also something I’m really proud of.


How long did it take to write and record?
Well, basically it’s been a work in progress ever since we released Fantasy, so 18 Months or so. Bladdy hell that’s a long time!

Are there any plans to play live with Terry?
Well, Terry really DOES want to play live. But the cartoon band-ness makes it a bit more complicated! Maybe we will. It’s a case of never say never.


What was Marco's contribution to the album- did he do his parts in the studio or by post?
We just email WAVS back and forth. It’s a great way to be able to work, wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago.

When will the video for Werewolves of London be ready?
That’s a sore point at the moment! It was supposed to be done now. It’s a bit daft having our “promo” video come out after the album. But the animators have been dragging their feet I’m afraid. They’ve promised it within the next Month.


Why are there 2 versions (you also covered the song on the first album)?
Because it was originally going to be a single, but as the animation process is extremely long winded, we ended up recording a whole new album!


Why did you cover that song?
Well, that was Marco's idea actually. It was originally planned to be a WOLFMEN track, but we nabbed it!


How does this album compare to the last one?
Well, as I touched on earlier, this album sticks to our post-punk / new-romantic / electro-ness(!!), whereas Fantasy had a meandering style including rockier tracks, and finishing with acoustic styles.


Finally, both: What plans do you have for the future and what else are you working on if anything musically?

Well, I have to work on the release of another artists album (Hollie James) through Alexa when I get back off holiday. Alexa is growing as a label, which is nice. Also I do a lot of consultancy work in the midlands, helping out new talent, advising, mentoring, that sort of thing. We’ve got a new project coming up in the Autumn, so its all go!

Jackie Says TODAY!

Today is the day folks, you can buy the songs as downloads from the usual places (itunes etc) and the 10" Vinyl from Damaged Goods and online retail stores ,and smaller indie record shops. I had a browse through 2 London HMV's and a Virgin today, no sign of it. Try Sister Ray and places like that though. Damaged Goods online is the cheapest and best, they also accept paypal.

GO GET IT!

Marco and Chris were also on Gary Crowley's show last saturday. Until next saturday you can hear the show on the website (fast forward to the second hour to hear Marco and Chris talk about the Ants and The Wolfmen). This is a very entertaining interview and features some Ants songs and quite a bit of information about how some of them were written and recorded.

Ant stuff on the way in September!

Coming on September 11th are the Very Best of Adam and the Ants Stand and Deliver. This comes with a bonus dvd with it, and on the same day we will see Digital Tenderness the Adam and the Ants DVD 1977-1996 at last!

On the 15th the Book Adam Ant Stand and Deliver is released in hardback. There MAY be a signing in London, but this has not yet been confirmed and won't be until much nearer the time.

The book is also being serialised in the Mail on Sunday on Sunday August 27th, September 3rd and 10th.

On monday 18th September the first 3 Remasters will be re-released in jewel cases (no extra tracks or anything, this is just the next batch, the first batch having almost all sold out). Also planned is a complete 7 cd box set of all the remasters.

Planned for mid November is the Fulcrum television Adam Ant Documentary, details to be posted when I have them.

Check the usual places to pre-order the Best of and soon the dvd.
The book is available to pre-order on Amazon and a few other places (HMV etc).

Or on the 11th and 15th, you can go buy them in the shops!

Mantra 2 Werewolves of London Review

Mantra 2 Werewolves of London

Ok, first of all this is an excellent album! I love all of it. And so will you.
I have to admit that I am not overly familiar with the previous album, but have heard a couple of tracks and I wasn't THAT keen, though I have always been hoping that Mantra 2 would do a gig someday so that I could go see them live! Anyway, that doesn't matter because this album is bloody great!

Now, I don't want to make too much of the fact that 2 ex Ants and the Wolfmen feature as guests on the album. In my opinion to do that would be to overlook the songs. It's true yes that Matt (Singer) is a HUGE Adam and the Ants fan, and for a lot of Ants fans the fact that this has Terry Lee Miall on cd for the first time since 1981 and also features Marco Pirroni (Currently a Wolfman) will be a huge selling point. But I think to think of the album JUST for that would be to do Mantra 2and Matt an injustice.

The songs then. The cd starts with Werewolves of London, an excellent cover of the Warron Zevon song, featuring the Wolfmen. This is a great opening track and one of the many highlights of the album. There is also going to be a cartoon video for this track, I can't wait to see it.

The next track is a Ramones tribute, Don't we miss you now. This track makes me laugh because it's as silly as the Ramones are, and you can even hear Matt laugh at the end!

The next track Honesty was written by Undadogz and features the drums from the A ha song Take on me, if I'm not mistaken! This is very singable (as is all of this album).

Wise Lies is next, a much more dancey sort of track. Again very singable!

Confusion is next, and this is the first featuring Terry Lee Miall on drums, and with those drums and the very catchy keyboard lines being boosted along by a very dirty guitar riff, this song is guaranteed to stick in your head!

And then we're onto Track 6- Angels are Forever, with more drumming of that ex Ant I mentioned before, Mr Terry Lee Miall, plus guitar from Marco Pirroni. This is a brilliant track, the drumming moves the song up a gear. It's very hummable (and if you've visited the myspace site you'll have heard it and should be humming along too!) Did I say it was very hummable?!! It's definately a highlight of an already very good album. If you haven't turned up your cd player by now, well switch off!!

Crazy Demons brings the album down a notch to a more chilled vibe, again with some excellent drumming from Mr Miall (he ought to try and make a career out of this malarky if you ask me!)

Chant Mantra sounds like earlier Mantra 2, much more dancey and keyboard led.

Star begins with a burst of guitar and a drum machine rattles away. This sounds very 80s to me, almost Harold Faltemeyer! Again not a bad thing in my opinion!

Mantra 2 Filthy remix is a mix with Kraftwerk's Tour de France's rhythm , a great remix by Mr Cartrouble.

And finally onto the final songs- Goodbye parts one and two. These are both excellent, bringing the album back up a notch at the end. It would have been ruined I think to have ended with the remixes on the end, but this two parter is again a hightlight of a great album.

The album does dip a little at the end until Goodbye 1 and 2, but all in all this is a very good album. I've played it quite a few times now and I haven't got sick of it yet! Great post production by Carty, and great songs by Mantra 2!

Do yourself a favour, buy this album!!
It's available to pre order on HMV now!

Strip/ Yours Yours Yours

Marco on Strip and Yours Yours Yours.
Me normal Text, Marco italics.

Strip: the first Ant song to feature vocals by anyone else (Frida from ABBA). Who's idea was it to add the female backing vocals?

Adams.

How did you get Frida to do it?

We got Benny to ask her.

What did you think of the whole water tank idea in Adam's stage show at this time?

I thought we were all going to get killed.

Why were there no UK gigs/ shows for the Strip album?

dunno.

Strip the single got to number 41 in the UK charts and the album didn't chart very high - were you and Adam disappointed at this?

yes

Why were Chris and Bob Wiczling not on Strip?

Because they were planning to kill us and take our places.

How much had your life changed in 1983? What do you remember from 1983 mostly?

We both started going with an enormous amount of girls and most of our time was spent doing that and avoiding tax.

Who wrote what for Strip the song?

It was based on a very old demo, that Adam had done most of, so we dusted that off and reworked it.

Yours Yours Yours- who wrote what for this song?

very much a 50/50 to and fro type thing.

Again was this specially written for the b side?

Yes.

What were you listening to and what influenced the music for Strip the album?

Abba and "The Idiot"

Wolfmen Channel 4 Interview

Click the picture to the left to go to a Channel 4 Interview with Chris and Marco.

You can also still play the Radio 6 Phill Jupitus interview here.