Lucem Fero | Interviews | The Fluffy Jackets (Part One)

“Crossroads” - Mainman Helge Rognstad sheds light on the rocketing fortunes of The Fluffy Jackets (Part One)

By Anthony Morgan

Whenever the hallowed Blues becomes a topic of debate, historians form a circle and share regurgitated tales as regards the mythical exploits of Robert Johnson and the rumours surrounding why he was so talented. Slide guitarists trace back their roots to the influential work of Mississippi native Elmore James, dubbed “The King of the Slide Guitar”. And which self respecting blues enthusiast would be without the gravelly towns of Howlin' Wolf, or Chicago's Muddy Waters who inspired a generation of sixties groups? The overtly Blues based Hard Rock found within the musical elements of such renowned groups as Cream and Lynyrd Skynyrd bear witness to that testament. The list is numerous, and goes on eternally. One such budding group adores the Blues, and bear the tools to carve a successful career in the music industry. They happen to hail from London, and go by the name of The Fluffy Jackets.

Spawning in the autumn of 2006, The Fluffy Jackets comprise the duo of guitarist / vocalist Helge Rognstad and drummer Ian Robinson. Both had spent time in Kingston based covers group Random, although musical differences meant that the two felt their fortunes would likely prosper elsewhere. Notching up live London shows to great acclaim, promoters began requesting a demo recording. The problem was that despite a number of bassists auditioning, none quite fit the bill. Wanting a great bass player to contribute towards the demo, the group began thinking of the ultimate bassists that have garnered a hefty reputation over the years. One such man was Neil Murray, having built a massive CV that boasted stints with the likes of Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Brian May and a host of others. Receiving the request via a MySpace message, Murray heard their music and promptly agreed.

North London's Cowshed Studios played host to recording in June 2007 via analogue, and Teo Miller (who had produced the likes of Blur and Happy Mondays) oversaw production duties on the three track effort. Murray suggested the demo should be recorded live in the studio, and that's how things transpired. First track “Salty Salty” was a Nazareth cover culled from 1986's Cinema, and it got nailed in the first take. Another Nazareth track called “Whiskey Drinkin' Woman” and a self penned southern Blues Rock tune called “Beale Street” rounded out the effort. In this first discussion of a two part feature, guitarist Helge Rognstad sheds light on the formation of The Fluffy Jackets and the reasons why he gave birth to the outfit. The motives surrounding his decision to leave Random provide context, sowing the seeds. Rognstad also reveals his heartfelt opinions on Blues music, and it's current status within today's music industry. Where he hopes to take The Fluffy Jackets in the future also gets a fair hearing, with the future of the bassist position and a possible recording deal being touched upon. With aspirations to record a full length debut, as each day goes by the prospect seems as though it's becoming more and more of a reality.

Hello?
Hello, Anthony.
Yeah, this is Anthony.
Hello, it's Helge.
Yeah. Sorry about that, I just missed the call.
Yeah, don't worry.
How are you?
Yeah, very good. I'm on holiday in Norway at the moment.
Alright. Are you from Norway then?
Yeah, I'm from Norway originally.
Oh right. How many years have you been living in the UK then?
I moved to the UK around twelve years ago. I've been in the UK for a long time.
Alright. Is it ok if I start the interview now?
Yeah, go for it.
Could you talk me through the formation of The Fluffy Jackets, first of all?
Basically, me and Ian (Robinson, drums) played together in Random. We played quite a lot of different things, and there was quite a few of us in the band. We played a lot of the material that I wanted to move away from, and that's why I wanted to do my own thing. I then decided to leave the band, and start up my own. It was a natural choice for Ian to be on drums, and this is because we used to jam quite a lot in that band. That's basically how we started out.
Would you say musical differences was the reason why you left Random?
Exactly. I would say so, yeah. I'm more into the Blues Rock and heavy Rock, whereas the other guys were more into Punk. It was a bit more mainstream as well, and that was in terms of the fact that we sometimes played completely different material.
You don't strike me as the type of person to be into Punk, to be honest.
No, exactly (laughs). Not at all (laughs). I love playing the guitar, so I'm just not a big Punk fan.
As you're into Blues Rock and so on, do you feel that you couldn't offer much to Random as they were a Punk group?
Yeah, exactly. It was a limitation in some respects. Sometimes obviously you get your own way, and you play the material that you'd like. Other times though, you have to be a bit democratic when you're in the band. As long as you're in a group of people, then you have to live by the common rules. Sometimes you then do things that you wouldn't normally do, if it was just you. I think starting up my own band is what I really wanted at heart, and also to be able to concentrate on my guitar playing.
I read there were nine members in Random, and I thought that would've made it difficult to make musical decisions.
Yeah, I tell you. The way it was run as well... Everybody was encouraged to write their own material, and also to put their stamp on it. If you have nine people though, there's too many people to be able to do that. Also, it goes off in all different directions. The band was pretty successful though, and we did quite a few gigs and tours; the best of luck to them. For me, I just wanted to concentrate on the Blues Rock.
Are you still mates with them then?
Oh yeah, definitely. We meet up still, and we're good friends. In fact, we're probably going to do a gig together in September time just for old time's sake.
So you're all friends and everything?
Yeah, yeah. There's no hard feelings there at all. In fact, Ian still plays with them from time to time to help them out. That's until they find a drummer.
In music though, Ian's number one priority is The Fluffy Jackets?
Oh yeah, yeah. Exactly. That's definitely the way it is, and since the record quite a few things have been happening. This means that both Ian and me are definitely concentrating on The Fluffy Jackets.
What were your intentions when you formed The Fluffy Jackets?
Surely to have fun, to be honest with you. We wanted to just meet up, and do some jamming from time to time. It's quickly moved further than that, and that's because we've gotten quite popular around our local area within London. People wanted us to do a demo, so I said “Well, it'd be great to do some more proactive marketing on this type of material.” On the record, we decided to do two covers as well. We have our own material which we think is very good. Rather than doing all original material on the demo though, we thought that we should find some material and put our own stamp on the songs which we thought were really strong. I think from that moment on, it became quite serious. Neil (Murray, ex-Whitesnake) obviously decided to work with us as well, and that was really the thing that made it more serious for us also.
Was it nice that promoters and so on requested that you make a demo?
Yeah, it's always good. I think you always know you're on a winner when people start talking to you about ideas for promoters, and ideas about things to do next. At the heart of it, it means there is something there that people are interested in.
When you're gigging, are you going to sell the demo at the merchandise table or something similar?
No. For us it's purely to give out, and to tell people about us. We're not intending to sell this at all; it's just for promoters, but what we hope to do on the back of this is obviously get a record deal. It seemed very far fetched initially (laughs) when we started doing all these things. Now though, we have a couple of labels that are interested in releasing this material, and obviously in us doing an album. It seems that there's definitely some interest there.
So you definitely expect to have a record deal sooner or later?
Yeah, exactly. We're definitely hoping to do this also, and there's some positive vibes from all the people who want to get involved in the band now. I can't talk about it to you at the moment, but there's quite a famous vocalist that might join us. If we do a full album, that could have a professional vocalist on there as well. This would be another successful person.
So I'm assuming if this famous vocalist does the album, would that mean you would concentrate on the guitar?
Yeah. I think I'll probably still do some vocals, but that depends on how things turn out. I've written the material myself, and Ian has written a couple of songs. I'm the main writer though, and I will probably sing on some of the material - purely because I feel I want to put my stamp on it. I think being on guitar is so hard though, and me as the guitarist is just to make sure that it sounds right. Some of the more personal lyrics I'd like to do myself.
Is this famous vocalist in a group at the moment, or is he a free agent?
He is already in a band; I wasn't too sure on whether to mention it, and that's because it's still early days. I just don't want to get too excited just incase nothing comes of it, but I'm very excited about it. Obviously, it would be another step forward from the demo. They become interested in working with you, but that's only if you get your group off the ground. It's another aspect that may spiral us into the next phase, so it's very cool.
If that person was to join, would The Fluffy Jackets be their number one, full time commitment? Or are they already a member of a group which they have commitments?
It'll probably be a side project, but that depends on how successful it becomes. I think even Neil Murray would be interested in working with us again, but that again depends on how the next phase goes. From his point of view, he's obviously a very busy guy. He works with the We Will Rock You musical, and still has commitments he is concentrating on with M³. I definitely think people will be interested though, but I also don't wish to make it a session group as you say. I really want it to be The Fluffy Jackets, and to have people putting their full effort into it. I don't it to be a part time group, but I also realistically think that you need to have people helping you out at the start to make it in music. Us going into the studio and having Neil there is one such example, something which helped so much in terms of getting the recording to sound the way we wanted. In retrospect, I couldn't have dreamt it better. He's obviously done so many recordings in the past; if I said “This is how I feel”, he could always say “Well, to get that kind of playing let's try this”. Credit goes to Teo as the producer, but Neil had a lot of things to say in terms of producing the record as well.
So he has his own opinions?
Oh yeah, and that's because I asked him for them as well. I definitely respect him as a musician, and I think he's one of the best bass guitarists ever. He's obviously worked with a lot of different producers, and he's seen different ways of doing things. He knows what works and what doesn't work, so I asked him to draw from that experience. In fact, it was actually Neil Murray who suggested we record live in the studio as opposed to recording just drums, and then bass, and then guitar. Neil came in, and said "Listen guys, you play tight already". He's a professional obviously, so he can pick things up very quickly and remember it. So, we decided to do that. I just wanted to go into the studio, and maybe play each song three or four times and have fun with it. This was chosen instead of doing seventy takes, making it very laborious, sweeping over every single note and making sure that the vocals were right and this and that was right. I'd rather have it sounding a bit lively and a bit off the cuff, and I think it ended up sounding like that. It's fresh and raw, rather than overproduced.
I thought that would go across well with promoters, and that's because you're obviously you're hoping that they give you a live gig when you give them the demo.
Yeah, that's it. Also, I think that people who come to a gig recognise the band as well. We haven't changed our direction, or anything like that. It's just the same, and what you hear is what you get. I think that is good for anyone to have.
So you're hoping that The Fluffy Jackets get a record deal, and that the group does tours in different countries and so on?
Yeah, exactly. I think that many different things may come out of it, but I realistically think that the first step is to get some recording done. You can tour, and tour, and tour around the world for all your life, and really you can't get anywhere if you don't have a hit record - a hit record drives you, gets people there and gets you attention. It's very hard to do it the other way around. For both Ian and me, we're still doing it because it's fun. It isn’t work; it’s a fun hobby, and we do it because people enjoy it. If we feel it becomes work at some point, then that would be the time where we would have to say “Well, I don't know if this is what I want anymore”. I believe that if you have fun, then people will be attracted to it.
Do you feel that the music is better because you're all having a good time?
Yeah, exactly. If I go to a gig myself, I want to see people onstage smiling, having a good banter and just being themselves and relaxed. I think that's so much better. If people go onstage and take themselves too seriously, then I think a lot of people who go to gigs see right through that. If people see a band who's not enjoying themselves onstage, then they pick up on that very quickly. You're then off to a worse start than you should have had (laughs).
Has Neil given you some advice on the business side of the music industry?
Not really. We spent a lot of time chatting about music in general; things about sounds and the actual recording etc., but not music in the business sense. I guess Neil has had battles with the music industry in terms of making sure you get your money's worth, and all the legal aspects that go with it. I didn't ask him about it, but I think his view is that nobody is really in the music industry for the money. It's just for the fun of it, and then if something happens concerning the financial elements then it's a bonus. Yeah though, I think that's his view. He's a very humble person as well, and he doesn't brag about what he's been doing. He's just a really down to earth guy, and credit to him. He could go down the street and say “Bow to me, I'm the man” (laughs) because he has really done it. He's very humble in terms of what he's achieved, and I think he's a good example for us as well.
So instead of jumping at the first contract offer, you're waiting for the right offer?
Yeah. We're in discussions with two labels at the moment; there's one in Sweden, and one in Germany. Apart from thinking about whether a record company is the right or wrong label, there's so many things to consider such as practical ways of getting people together, timing and all the rest of it. That might have something to do with it as well, but I think the main thing for me is literally the music. Ideally I want to go into an analogue studio, and just make sure that we get a good producer - one who can use the knobs, and make sure that the studio records what direction we feel is the way we want to go. The rest I think is down to the publicity machine, but at this stage we haven't really gotten around to thinking about the other aspects. We are still working to get our first website sorted, and you saw that yourself. That's going to happen pretty soon once the other pieces fall into place.
You're looking for a web designer?
Yeah. We need to have some consultation on that, and it needs to look good. I think it's going to happen, but it's probably going to take a few months before it's online.
As you have to find the right web designer?
Yeah, that's right.
I know, as it took months for me to find one for my website. It's very difficult.
Yeah, that's right. It's hard as well to give up control, and let other people have their input. It's the usual problems really.
Do you have a regular daytime job?
Yeah, I have a regular job. I'm actually in marketing, so I do work full time while fitting the music in between that. It started off as a hobby, and it's still a hobby I guess. It's definitely a more serious hobby than I thought it would be when I started out though (laughs), so it's all fun.
Has your background in marketing helped you?
No, to be honest. I started this band because I just wanted to play music, and play the guitar. Marketing is also the tricky part, and that will become trickier once things start kicking in especially. I could get a website up very quickly, and promote ourselves much more heavily than we have. I would then feel that it has become like my day job though, but again it's very to hard to bridge between that line and realise “Well, actually I'm doing this because I'm not playing the music” if that was the case. If I spent more time doing the marketing side, then it would feel like being back at work (laughs). It's ironic, but it's the way it is I guess. I obviously think there's opportunities that come up though; as long as you're being realistic, working in those opportunities and selecting the right ones, then I think things will happen themselves in many ways. I've seen friends of mine that are in bands, and they put a lot of time into their MySpace accounts by getting all their friends set up, working on flyers and promoting themselves. If their material isn't good enough though or if it's not up to scratch as such, then the people again see quickly through that at the end of the day. I think people are just tired of others trying to make a quick buck, and I'm not in music to do that. I'm in music because I love it. I think if we end up doing this album, then that's going to be great. I just want to make the best album that I can, and then I'm sure things will happen on the promotional side of things if the album's good enough. I know that due to Neil's involvement, lots of people have heard us that otherwise possibly wouldn't have. If they think it's good then something will happen, but if they don't think it's good then it probably won't happen. That's how it is. If you look at the European music industry and you think about how many people there release Blues Rock material, it's not that many. You could count them on one hand.
So basically you feel that you cannot market a rubbish band?
Well, you can. You can have millions behind you; if you have the marketing machine of the big record companies, then obviously you can put a lot of money into PR. The marketing machine can then definitely work for you. If you start out as a band itself though, then you initially try to do it yourself in some ways. I think you're far better off concentrating on writing good material, and doing good songs. That's as opposed to spending days on trying to get the flyers looking right, and sending them out to certain people. The argument is that one or two people probably couldn't care less unless they a hear a song that they really like, and only then they might go out and see you. I think a lot of different people love the marketing side. The thing about being in music as well is that once you have a little success, then you want a lot more success. You then put a lot more effort into getting towards the next level, and naturally I think many people are using their energy in the wrong way. They focus their energy on promotion, whereas if they possibly write another good song that might be the real thing that grabs them even more attention.
So you feel that if a song is really really good, then it will sell itself in some respects?
In some respects, yeah definitely. If you're selective and get the people that really matter to listen to your song, then people will go out to see you. The latest band I saw last week in my local pub have been playing locally for years, yet they have never done any proactive marketing. Everywhere they go though, people have a good time. Word of mouth spreads, and suddenly you have fifty or sixty people turning up to see you. Promoters then start turning their heads, and say “Well, if they manage to pull fifty punters every night then maybe there's something that we can cash in on here.” The next stage will then happen where you get a promoter to do the promotion for you, and suddenly you're playing bigger and bigger venues. That's the theory anyway. I think every band has done the toilet circuit, and grown from there. Some people have taken steps to progress towards the next stage. There's some sad stories, and some tragic stories in there. What we'll do though is definitely concentrate on writing material I think, and getting that right. Within the next six months there'll hopefully be some news on the record front, and hopefully we'll be successful too. We're happy, and want to get out a good record.
Have you been on the tour circuit for a few years in several different bands?
With Random, we played a few gigs around just London and South London. I'm familiar with playing onstage, and I've been a guest musician for quite a lot of different gigs such as charity events and so on. Now that I have this band though, I think it's so much fun for me to even go to a rehearsal and just develop new material alongside playing other material. it's very enjoyable, so that's why we're doing it.
Looking back, how would you summarise your time in Random?
It was a very good learning experience, but besides being a learning experience that was it. When you're in a band, you play with lots of different people; we had a saxophone player, and another guitarist. You learn how to play with other people, and also to feel as part of a whole. It's almost like a big animal, and that's due to the fact you have to play in tandem. You learn when your guitar soloing should be, and if the soloing is more quiet when in fact you should be fully out there so to speak. You develop that kind of thinking, and I think that's the main thing I got out of Random.
Did being in Random help you though with crafting songs and so on?
In that setting, we also wrote songs. If you are playing in a band, then you'll have probably have twenty odd songs in the set at any given time. You then have your work cut out anyway in order to to play those songs, learn those parts and then play them well. If you're going to play with other people, then you have to rehearse and make sure that you can do that well. That's very different to what we're doing now. Now I know the material I can play, and that's why I want to play those songs naturally. The Fluffy Jackets is a much more creative environment to work in. The less people there are, the more creative you can be. You don't have to think about where the saxophone is going to be, or where the keyboards will be coming in and all those kind of things.
So you want to keep The Fluffy Jackets to around say four members?
Yeah, exactly. That's the thing. When I started the band, what I actually said to Ian was that my band will never ever be more than three, or a maximum of four people. Eventually, we will have one vocalist, one guitarist, one drummer and one bassist. That's it, or I might do both vocals and guitar with there being three members. That's definitely the thinking pattern.
Could you describe to me the musical chemistry both you and Ian have?
It's difficult to describe. We basically go into the studio, just start playing though and then we just feed ideas off each other. If I play something, he just fits the right kind of style and feel to the song. He's so easy to work with, and that's because you don't have to stop playing to say “Can you play a bit more like this?”. It happens naturally with Ian. I think maybe that's why we talked about it, and starting up our own group was the right decision as well. That's the key thing about us playing together.
So Ian's definitely a very important group member?
Oh yeah, definitely. I think I probably wouldn't have started a band without having Ian there. I think you need a couple of people at the start to feed off each other, and say “What if you do this? I think that'd be quite cool.” I think Neil isn't always going to be available, so we are auditioning bass players at the moment to replace Neil Murray as bassist. Thinking about that now, it's actually very hard to figure out a performer which has the same kind of chemistry with us that we already have with Neil. Some people come in, and they're very good. They also want to put their stamp on the material though, and their style doesn't sound right. It's almost like asking what characteristics you would like in a friend; it's hard to describe, but you know when you have one.
Are you looking for a bassist to play just live shows, or also to record with?
Both, actually. Once we find a permanent bass player, we'll then have that third band member. It's that's simple. Neil obviously helped us out a lot, and from my point of view he's such a great bass player. You immediately know why he's a professional when you're in the studio with him, and that's because he's so good. At the same time though, we need to have a bass player who can be with us and rehearse with us regularly. Neil obviously can't do that because he has a lot of other commitments as well, though I think getting that person to fill the void so to speak would be a natural step forward. That'd be quite good. It's hard to find, but it's a matter of looking. We have some good people coming in during September actually, and our hope will be that it's going to happen for us. We'll see.
I thought you may possibly keep Neil for studio recordings, and then hire another bass players for gigs.
No, because that wouldn't be fair on the guy we got in for gigs. I think it would be good to get in a supergroup if you will, and we are in discussions with this one vocalist which I mentioned earlier. If that happens, and if you have Neil in the same band, then people will definitely sit up and take notice. I wouldn't know if Neil would want to do another recording though, as he obviously wants to concentrate on the music he does as well. Neil doesn't want to be spread too thinly across the projects that he's involved with. I think the way to look at it is that Neil definitely helped us out a great deal at the start, but now we're standing on our own feet and we need to move on from here. I also understood your main points in the review you wrote in a sense. We need to release our original material, and to be able to go to the next step. That's going to happen, but it's just a matter of time. I think that's important for any band.
If The Fluffy Jackets was deemed a supergroup, do you feel that would detract from the music?
Yeah, sometimes it would. I've seen a few bands coming up, and they've been built up as the next big thing due to the fact they've included people who have done great in the past. If you've done great in the past though, it doesn't mean that you're going to be great in the future. It leaves many people disappointed as well, and that's because a lot of people have expectations. A few people obviously like Neil, and they feel “Oh yeah, they should do so and so”. You then may release something that is different to their overall expectations, and so you end up disappointing people. I think as long as we can create music that will delight people, then that's the thing we will go for.
With having guest musicians, there's the danger of the given band being misinterpreted as a side project of that famous person.
Yeah, that's it. In one way, I do care about how we are percieved obviously. On the other hand though, the music is the key. I wouldn't be without the experience I had with Neil Murray, though it goes both ways. I think many bands have had more famous people during the start of their career who have helped in the background. Those famous people quickly see the potential, and that's because they've been in the industry for a long time. They've seen successful bands, and they've been in bands that have made it. That's why it's awfully flattering that Neil wanted to join us on this project. When we asked Neil, he basically said; “I'll do it on one condition, and that condition is that you're not crap” (laughs). He heard us, and said “Well, you're not crap so I'll definitely do it”. That's a good attitude to have, and it makes us think “wow, what we're doing is definitely going somewhere”. We wouldn't have people asking us for demos otherwise, or we wouldn't have people like Neil coming to play with us. It's good to have that as a start, but then what we're doing now is developing it ourselves. This is what we're both writing and working for, and that's going to be the next step.
Would whatever material you recorded with Neil resurface on a debut album, or not?
It's hard to say. It might do I guess, though it depends on the deal we end up with and so on. I don't know the answer to your question (laughs).
You may possibly have some other tracks which you recorded with Neil, and you could release them as an EP.
Yeah, that's right. There is some other material that we recorded with Neil which we haven't made public. It's good material, but obviously we picked three tracks for the demo to draw interest from promoters and so on. Yeah, you can never say never. We just have to cross that bridge when we get to it I think.
A debut EP may be a great plug for a debut album.
Yeah, I think you're probably right. I don't know to be honest with you, but we do have a lot of material written. We think they're great songs. I think it's probably natural to have some of Neil's material on the record. Yeah, definitely.
How long have you known Ian?
I don't know.. probably around four or five years.
Do you hang out and socialise a lot?
Yeah. We mainly socialise around the music, but we go to gigs now and then too. We rehearse every week, so that's the time when we hang out. We also go out for beers now and then, and we're good mates.
Could you talk me through how you got the group name?
It's a funny story. We thought about various names, and Ian came up with The Fluffy Jackets. I didn't think much about it, but we spoke to a lot of our friends about our ideas and every person said “The Fluffy Jackets really stands out”. Everybody we asked said “Well, I like that the best”, so I thought “Well, ok”. From that we then said “Well, alright. Let's call the band The Fluffy Jackets”.
Has Ian said where that came from?
No, he hasn't actually. I'll have to ask him (laughs), so I'll email you if I find out a story behind that.
It sounds like an interesting story to be told.
Yeah, exactly. It's a funny name, but it sticks in your brain definitely.
Were there any other names considered?
Yeah; we spoke about This Machine. It's derived from an R. E. M. song (“The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite”), and the line goes “This machine can only swallow money” (laughs). We thought about This Machine as a proper title, but that was discarded in favour of The Fluffy Jackets.
I don't think you would've had as much success with This Machine to be honest.
No?
No, I think The Fluffy Jackets stands out in your mind more than This Machine to be honest.
Yeah, that's right.
Was there a message behind that name (This Machine) which you discarded? Was you trying to send out a certain message about the band?
Yeah, exactly. First of all, I just loved that phrase and the way that the song goes. I just thought that “This machine can only swallow money” is a good analogy for quite a few things. That was the thinking behind that one.
Could you give me some background on the demo, say an introduction for people who possibly haven't heard of it?
It's our first kind of recording. It basically tries to tell people exactly what sort of music we are playing, and what we are into. This is the introduction to us, and we've gone back to what influenced us in terms of songs and where we draw inspiration from. “Beale Street” is a song about Beale Street, and that's the heart of the Delta Blues region in Memphis, Tennessee - the lyrics are about my first visit there. Both the lyrics and the song itself literally delve into what we are about really, which is Blues Rock in the Delta Blues tradition. I think there's a huge market out there for people who really like the Delta Blues. There's also the heavier covers of Nazareth’s “Salty Salty” and “Whiskey Drinkin’ Woman”, both of which are very powerful and more guitar driven. They go back to the seventies classic rock style of music; that’s where I get to turn the Gibson up to ten on the Marshall Amp and rock out (laughs). People love hearing that live, and if you can translate that feeling onto a record then you're onto a winner. I just love that feeling, and I think many people really like it when they hear it. Artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd and all those kind of bands were popular around thirty years ago, and people are coming around to it again. They obviously don't want to hear about old groups like Skynyrd (laughs), and that's because they want to hear something new and interesting coming through which draws on the same influences. I think The White Stripes managed to do it in many ways, and Jack White is obviously a fantastic exponent of Blues Rock. People have started picking this up, and many people who buy a White Stripes album don't understand or don't know that it draws on the Blues and the Delta Blues. Jack has really studied his homework, and knows how this type of music should be played and what to do with it. He definitely has talent.
So you have a lot of respect for The White Stripes?
Yes, definitely. The White Stripes is one of our favourite bands for both me and Ian, at the moment anyway. There's so much crap out there. You have The Spice Girls, and you have the same...
Eww..
Yes (laughs). There's all this crap, you know? You then hear a musician who knows how to play first of all, and secondly has really catchy, clever material. Thirdly, he is making a living out of it successfully. So, respect to that. I definitely have a lot of respect for him.
A lot of the artists in the charts nowadays are more like karaoke singers, more or less.
Exactly, yeah. You need a nice looking face, and obviously a good singing voice. Sometimes, you don't even need that (laughs). Having lots of money from the record company behind you will get you places.
Though if you hand them an instrument, they don't seem to be able to play for shit to be honest.
No, exactly. I think it's very obvious for many people that come to our gigs, and people that go to a lot of gigs. They've been to gigs by people, and they've said “well, you hear them on the record and it sounds great”. If you go to see them though, then yeah they can dance but they can't really sing. They can't do any of the things that bands should be doing; going out, entertaining people and having fun while doing it.
Is that why the demo sounds really raw and live?
Yeah, exactly. Before any of us met up, I said to the producer that I wanted this demo to sound like early 70's records such as those of Free, Led Zeppelin and Nazareth. I wanted to have the same rawness and feel to it. I wanted to let people listen to it, and have them thinking “Well, here's a guy who knows how to play the guitar. And that guy's a bass player, and he knows how to play the bass. Also, they have a good drummer”. If we can achieve that, then we have done our job.
You mentioned Lynyrd Skynyrd and so on, so I'm wondering if you're into the Blues artists which are even older like Muddy Waters and those kind of musicians?
Oh yeah. I love John Lee Hooker; when he plays just by himself on the electric guitar, it sounds so powerful and raw. His voice is just wonderful as well, so I love him. I love Elmore James, and that's because the slide guitar there is just incredible. I just love all Blues people. Last year, I went to Memphis and there were just so many natural born talents there in playing the Blues. Blues is very easy to play for many people really, and you don't have to be a scientist to play three bars. The feeling needs to come from the heart though, and if the feeling isn't there in either the guitar or in the voice then you won't go anywhere with the Blues. You need to really really understand how it all works, and that's the clue. It doesn't even matter if you only have an old and weathered acoustic, or if you have the latest and greatest guitar. You must know how to convey that feeling. I think guitarists like Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen play great, and when you see one of them live you think “Wow! This guy has really really practiced”. They can play so fast, but then many songs leave me cold.
Yeah, I agree.
I think it's not about how quickly you can get from A to B, but the journey in between. That's what I feel in terms of guitar playing. I think all the guitarists that I like and whom I draw influences from concentrate much more on the feel of the guitar, as opposed to the speed.
Yeah, I agree. With guitarists such as Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, I feel as though it's more about being technical rather than the passion.
Yeah, that's right. I think that's how it is, but then again some of the more melodic influences come largely from Country and Bluegrass. They're all from the same part of the world as the Deep Blues, which is the Mid South. Internationally, I think there's many people who do Crossover music which is a mix of the Blues and Country - a lot of it uses the slide guitar. It's so amazing if you can combine the two, but at the same time it only works if you have that raw power behind you.
When I read about Blues music, I see it repeatedly said that Blues is the true form of music.
Yeah, I agree with that. I think you can get into whatever music you get into; you can get into Pop, Thrash Metal, or Death Metal. There's nothing better for me than listening to Motörhead when I've had a bad day, and this is because it's really really aggressive. I love playing guitar though, and I know a lot of their music draws on the Blues influences. You can hear that in their music, and it all comes from that kind of thing. For example, there's a style of music which is like Thrash Metal. Having said that though, it's more inspired by the classic artists such as The Beatles and so on (laughs). It's all swings and roundabouts. I think music is great, and that's because so many people have so many different ideas through just mixing different influences. First of all though, I think it's not about us wanting to be a Blues band as we like playing the music that we play. We don't try to fit into a category, but people who've listened to us have said “Well, it's Heavy Rock, it's very Blues based influences and there's slide guitar occurring”. Comments like that make people say it's Blues based, but it isn't something that we actively think about.
Although you're into the Blues, The Fluffy Jackets are still open to other musical venues?
Oh yeah, for sure. The only thing we will never have in our band are any sort of blowing or string instruments, like the saxophone or the violin. I can never see us doing that. There'll definitely be no keyboards, which is another pet hate I have. I try to avoid anything that's fake and technically produced, such as a keyboard sound. Piano might be ok though. As far as the technology goes, we just record straight out of the guitar amp and then bass up the amp. That's it. It's more down to earth and stripped down, and that's why people call it raw and meaty.
So you think that some bands are overproduced nowadays?
Oh yeah. Yeah, I think you're right; people sometimes get lost. I saw a great band the other night, and they were just fantastic on stage. It was a group of fifteen and sixteen year old kids, and this guitarist was running across the stage. He was just incredible, and they sounded great. I bought their album, but I didn't like it at all. I was so disappointed, and it was obvious they got totally the wrong advice in the studio. It sounded totally different to what they sound like live.
So you feel that if that band went down the road The Fluffy Jackets did and recorded what they sound like live, it would've been much better?
Oh, yeah yeah. For sure, yeah. In the early days during the seventies, you had examples of bands going out and getting a record deal on the strength of their live shows. They got a record deal, and got a producer who didn't know what they were doing because they were used to producing completely different musical material. These producers weren't successful though, so groups had proper musicians recording them instead.
So you feel as though getting the right producer is really really important then?
Well, yeah. Teo (Miller, producer) set up the equipment, and set up the mikes; he made sure that it sounded great on the actual track. Apart from making sure that the guitar was loud enough and that the bass was at the thickness we wanted it, the production was down to earth. If we used a producer, I would definitely want to use a guy like Neil Murray who could tell you how to make it sound the way you want it to. When he met up with us, he understood what we're about. When we went to look at different studios to do this recording, some people didn't know what we were trying to do. They said “We can do this, we can do that, we can have an organ here”, and that wasn't what we wanted. I think what we ended up with was a studio that is obviously very good at what they do, and a studio that knows how to create a good sound. At the same time though, they were able to make the production sit in the back seat and let the band take the major role. At the same time though, they also made sure that it sounded ok coming out of the stereo.
I'm just wondering how much time do I have left with you? How much time do you have free?
It's up to you basically. I probably have around fifteen minutes or so, though I don't know.
Alright. You got fifteen minutes left?
I can be flexible, so if you have things to do through then it's up to you really.
I still got a good few questions here, and was just thinking that maybe we could arrange another interview for those other questions? If you were interested, of course.
We can carry on a bit now if you have time.
Yeah, I have time. It's just that I got a good few questions.
We can agree to talk tomorrow for example. We'll go through what we can now though, and that's no problem.
Alright. How did you approach your vocals on the demo?
I literally didn't want to do the takes more than four or five times, and that's really the way I did it. I just put myself in front of the mike, closed my eyes and then transported myself to that place. I tried to get feeling in the lyrics for example, rather than making it sound technically correct.
Would you say that's the same for your guitar parts as well?
Yeah, I think. It's slightly different with the guitar, and that's because the guitar is... it's a hard question to answer. In some ways that's more pre-rehearsed. A lot of the parts were done live, and some of that came naturally. For example, the solo in “Whiskey Drinkin' Woman” was just done off the cuff in that recording. That solo just came out out of jamming almost, and there weren't really any thoughts other than that behind it.
Do you feel that music which comes naturally can sometimes be really really great?
Yeah, I think that's it. That recalls an interview I read in a guitarist magazine somewhere, and the guy said that he had played the most boring things in his own opinion. The audience were just amazed because it came naturally to him though, yet it was boring for him to play. As he knew it inside out, the audience really loved it though. It's the same thing for me when I play the slide guitar, and that's because slide guitar comes completely natural. To many guitarists slide guitar is really difficult to play, so when I play the slide guitar people say “Oh wow!! That's really really awesome!”. I don't think it's awesome, as to me it's just a standard thing that I play. It's likewise with me and other guitarists; when they play amazing solos, I feel like “Wow! That's incredible!”. Then again though, different people have different talents.
Do you consider yourself a slide guitarist then?
I'd love to. When I put myself next to other slide guitarists that I admire and respect though, I would say they are on a different planet altogether. I'm just a humble amateurish slide guitarist in comparison (laughs). All I do is play the music that I like, though the way we play at the moment is mainly guitar and drums. It's hard to play as much slide as I want; at the same time you play some lead guitar while needing to play rhythm, and it's hard to do that with slide guitar. It's impossible to do that and slide in many ways, so you need to have at least a bass in the background. We'll become a full three piece, and decide on the bass player. That will be the time when I can concentrate on slide guitar.
Are there any slide guitarists you really look up to?
Oh yeah, there's so many. Ry Cooder is obviously a natural slide guitarist, but there's also Lowell George from Little Feat and Duane Allman from The Allman Brothers. Manny Charlton out of the Nazareth is such a great slide guitarist, and very underrated I think. Eric Clapton is obviously a very good slide guitarist. There's so many, and the list goes on and on.
You said you prefer the natural feel, so is there sometimes the danger of pushing yourself to venture off into strange experimentation?
Yeah. As we play the Blues Rock, that's at the heart of what we do for me. Sometimes we get carried away, and go off into different directions. Most of the time though, it comes naturally. What comes naturally isn't far from what you'd like actually, and that's because you don't end up very far from the starting point. I'm on a train at the moment, so I'm just arriving. What we can possibly do is agree to hook up again tomorrow, if that is ok with you?
Yeah, that'd be ok. Are you able to access the internet tomorrow, or not? I could arrange a time through MySpace. Would that be ok, or not?
It'd probably be better to do it by text as I don't know if I'll have access to the internet.
What I'll do is text you tomorrow then. Would that be ok?
Yeah, that's great.
Alright. Thanks very much for the interview, I really appreciate it.
Yeah, thanks a lot Anthony.
It was nice talking to you, and I look forward to speaking to you tomorrow.
Yeah, same here.
Take care.
Cheers.
Have a good night as well.
Bye bye.