It's time for an update.

Hi, sorry for no posts for ages....Ant fans know what Adam's been up to, so no need for me to post about him (check AntRap for news of Adam).

"We are Rema Rema..."

Months ago members of Rema Rema got together for a radio interview for an online radio station (sorry I can't remember or find which one it was for now!), where they talked about the band and many rare Rema Rema songs were played.
I couldn't find an online link to it anymore, so I have uploaded it for your pleasure here.
It's a great listen and if you love Marco's feedback guitar, this is the stuff for you! It's what Adam heard and liked in 1979. Rema Rema were like many bands, ahead of their time. Maybe we will hear some of these recordings on a CD sometime soon.

"For you... he did this all for you..." Horse Brothers.

Dave Barbarossa and Daniel Stewart have been playing one gig a month since last March across london, and have recorded a few tracks (available to hear on Soundcloud).

As their roadie I have had the good fortune to be at every one of those gigs, and have heard how they have progressed and gotten better and better each time. In my mind they were amazing from the very first gig I saw, so to get better than that- well, wow!

I asked them a few questions about the band.

1 How did you two get to know each other?

We were both asked to help a mutual 'friend' out by playing on his songs. When the others were taking breaks from rehearsals we would jam out some ideas, just dicking about more than anything serious. That project thankfully died off and Dave called me up some time later and asked if I would play along to some beats he had written with the premise of 'what's the worst that can happen'.

2 Were you aware of each other’s past work before you joined up, and was that a factor in you two getting together?

I have a vague knowledge of Dave's past bands, and I'm sure he has no idea of any of the many, mostly terrible, bands I have played in. I think that works well for me. If I knew more about Dave's past, there may be a temptation for me to try and play in that way due to the following he has.

3 How do you write songs- do you write the guitar/ vocals then add drums, or do you jam ideas, or what?

We have a team of songwriters locked under an old railway arch with rudimentary instruments and basic recording equipment...

It's actually all of the above and more. Some were little keyboard riffs, some were little things in our heads when drinking too much coffee, etc

4 How do you think it is going so far, are you happy with it all so far?

It's fun. Not enough things in life are this much fun without there being an element of guilt later on.

5 Are there plans to record an ep/ album any time soon?

It's tricky to know what to do. The current plan is to do a small run of CD's and either give them away, or sell them at cost price. My problem is that I want everything to be perfect; sound quality, packaging, design and that comes at a cost. Either way, they'll be done as a 'collectors item'.

6 Dave this is the first time since Bow Wow Wow that you have played in your BWW style of drumming- what made you start playing that way again?

Steve, although I can see how someone might think that the drumming in Horse Brothers is the same as BWW, it is, in fact very different in feel, swing, tempo and pattern. Just because I'm not playing kick/hat & snare straight beats, does not automatically mean I'm going back to BWW style. 

I play with far more abandon and adventure in Horse Brothers. I take far more risks.

 

7 Did you enjoy the short reunion with BWW and would you ever play with them again if they asked? Were there ever any plans or talk of playing more with them? (I’m sure for instance that a reunion BWW tour over here would do very well).

I played with BWW last year purely in Matthew Ashman's memory. I'm very proud of the work I did with BWW and other bands I've played for.

Horse Brothers continue to play about once a month in London and have a website you can keep up with here

I highly recommend you give them a listen, live if possible, because they really are a breath of fresh air amongst so many other bands who all sound alike after a while.

Blues Burundi, it's where it's at!

Until next time, adios muchachos.

Bow Wow Wow Matthew Ashman Celebration 21st November 2010

On a night that had been organised by Billy Idol’s guitarist Billy Morrison to celebrate Matthew Ashman, who died in 1995 from diabetes complications aged 35, Bow Wow Wow made their first London appearance in more than Twenty years. I have been a fan of all things Ant related since I was ten- Bow Wow Wow were of course Adam’s Ants before Malcolm Mcclaren instigated a mutiny. Fourteen year old Annabella Lwin was added on vocals and in 1980 they attempted to subvert the music industry by releasing a cassette only album and C30 C60 C90 Go!, a single that encouraged home taping off of the radio.

I wasn’t ever really aware that taping stuff off of the radio was wrong- I did it every Sunday, taping my favourites from the charts to listen to on what must have been one of the earliest Walkmans (It was HUGE I remember that much!). But back in 1980 the music industry was busy printing HOME TAPING KILLS onto album inner sleeves and worrying that consumers would stop buying records. Thirty years later they’re still worrying though this time it’s mp3s that worries them, cassettes having been long dumped in favour of CDs and MP3s. Whatever Home Taping was supposed to have killed, it’s still there.

I remember Bow Wow Wow’s chart hits Go Wild In The Country and I Want Candy, and later on after discovering the link to Adam and the Ants, bought up their 3 albums and various singles. So it was with quite a bit of excitement that I went along to the Scala in London to see them live, with original drummer Dave Barbe on drums no less. Bow Wow Wow have of course toured around America before this but with a different drummer, and this was a perfect opportunity for the three surviving members to play, with Billy Morrison and Will Crewsden on guitar.

I have to tell you, in these days of  X Factor karaoke, it is such a breath of fresh air to not only know that there are still great bands out there, but that even ones from 30 years ago can kick up such a storm live! The band came on and played a short set, starting with the instrumental Orang Outang. Standing not too far from the stage, the power of the drums and bass playing that Burundi beat that was made into great pop songs by them and of couse Adam and the Ants, was astounding. Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow to a lesser degree are what made me as a drummer pick up sticks as a fourteen year old and learn to drum. I knew that Bow Wow Wow would be special on this night if no one else would (also on the bill were a one song Agent Provocateur, Chiefs of Relief led by Billy Morrison, and later Adam himself).

Leigh introduced the band and the 2 guitarists standing in for the departed Matthew, and then Annabella bounced on, looking and sounding fantastic! A storming Louis Quartoze followed, then Aphrodisiac, Go Wild In The Country, I Want Candy and the one that sounds like an Ants song speeded up, C30 C60 C90 Go! You wouldn’t know that these songs were written 30 years ago or that they were for the most part ignored at the time. Bow Wow Wow fizzled apart in 1983, and just like the young need to know what and why Punk happened, they need to hear the early 80s stuff like Bow Wow Wow. Post Punk made some of the most interesting and enduring music, pop or otherwise, and Bow Wow Wow showed 30 years later that it still sounds fresh and astounding now.

http://rapidshare.com/files/434284479/Bow_Wow_Wow_Scala_Matthew_Ashman_Celebration_21st_Nov_2010.zip