Our Musical Journey

What if a simple school play could ignite a lifelong passion for music? Join us as we recount Hannah's remarkable transition from her first performance of the Ghostbusters theme tune in primary school to developing her skills with a vanilla-colored Fender replica bass and a cherished electroacoustic ukulele. Through personal stories, we explore how these instruments and experiences shaped our early musical journeys, making this episode rich with nostalgia and heartfelt reflections.

Discover the magic behind musical inspiration as we share how playing Guitar Hero and early keyboard lessons honed our coordination and timing. You'll hear about the pivotal moments when encouragement and positive feedback reignited our love for music, emphasizing the joy and confidence found in singing and performing. Listen as we discuss the influence of iconic cover artists like Kelly Clarkson and Johnny Cash, and how their renditions sparked our own creative expressions with instruments and voice.

From the thrill of unforgettable gigs to the camaraderie of band life, we share our most memorable performance stories, such as an acoustic set in a biker-filled pub and the vibrant energy of Ferryfest. Laugh along with us as we recount the amusing journey of naming Davey's band "Mammal Not Fish" and how live performances transitioned to home music production due to health challenges and the pandemic. This episode is a celebration of creativity, the bonds formed through music, and the relentless pursuit of passion despite the odds.

Transcript

Father-Daughter Musical Performance Journey

Speaker 1 0:00

Hello and welcome to Bonus Dad. Bonus Daughter a special father-daughter podcast with me Hannah and me, davey, where we discuss our differences, similarities, share a few laughs and stories within our ever-changing and complex world, Each week we will discuss a topic from our own point of view and influences throughout the decades.

Speaker 2 0:18

Or you could choose one by contacting us via email, Instagram, Facebook or TikTok Links in bio.

Speaker 1 0:24

It's Bonus Dad, bonus daughter time. That was shit, wasn't it that?

Speaker 2 0:29

was really shit, but we'll keep it in because I think it's funny yeah because I'm really not very good at these intros.

Speaker 1 0:34

Hannah, you're so much better. I think you should just do every single one.

Speaker 2 0:38

Yeah, but I feel like we discuss it like two seconds before we're about to press record.

Speaker 1 0:48

We do yeah. Two seconds before we're about to press record, we do yeah, and I'm like, well, I can't do them all I know, but then I'm just not, because as soon as I start, as soon as I start thinking about introducing them, I start immediately. My brain goes don't put on a stupid voice, don't go radio for, don't do this. And then my mind just goes blank and I don't know what to say yeah so this episode is about, uh, performing live music.

Speaker 1 1:02

Well, yeah, well, I thought we would because we are musicians. Yeah, we enjoy music. Yeah, our very first podcast was on music.

Speaker 2 1:10

Our very first podcast episode was on music. This is our first podcast and our only podcast.

Speaker 1 1:16

Oh yeah, our very first podcast episode was on music, yeah, and I thought let's talk about let's go back Back to, and I thought let's talk about let's go back, let's go back. Let's go back about the first musical instrument we played, how we learned and then going to perform a solo artist in bands. Let's talk about that.

Speaker 2 1:35

Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. That's what they all want to know. Yeah, we talk about it enough.

Speaker 1 1:41

Yeah, let's actually delve into our music careers and what we have done.

Speaker 2 1:46

Our career is a.

Speaker 1 1:48

Well loose.

Speaker 2 1:48

A loose term.

Speaker 1 1:49

Loose term, loose term. So, Hannah, what was your first introduction to musical performance?

Speaker 2 1:56

Musical performance would have been primary school play.

Speaker 1 2:01

Okay.

Speaker 2 2:02

We all sang the Ghostbusters theme tune.

Speaker 1 2:06

Really you remember this, do I?

Speaker 2 2:07

theme tune really, you remember this, do I? Yeah, do I remember this?

Speaker 1 2:08

yeah, of course I remember this, because I remember every single event of your life. Yes, and I was there. Did I feel you were there?

Speaker 2 2:14

I was there there is a film of it, but you didn't film it because they filmed it for you oh, you could just enjoy it.

Speaker 1 2:20

I don't think we were allowed to film, were we?

Speaker 2 2:22

no, I think. I think that's against rules yeah, children generally speaking?

Speaker 1 2:26

yeah, I don't think. Yeah, we were allowed to film it.

Speaker 2 2:29

Yeah, so, yeah, I remember being on stage in a little um primary school performance back in 2006, six and um yeah, did a little singing in that yeah as as a group, as a collective. So that's, I guess, my first. I picked up the ukulele around 15, 16 and started singing at open mic nights, doing covers.

Speaker 1 2:53

I think probably you chose the ukulele because it would have been about guitar size on you. Yeah.

Speaker 2 2:59

So I actually originally picked up a bass guitar you bought me.

Speaker 1 3:02

I bought you a bass guitar. Yeah, you bought me a bass guitar. You bought me. I bought you a bass guitar. Yeah, you bought me a bass guitar. I couldn't have bought you a bigger stringed instrument other than a cello.

Speaker 2 3:08

Or like a double bass.

Speaker 1 3:09

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 3:10

So electric bass, guitar, beatles, inspired.

Speaker 1 3:13

Yes.

Speaker 2 3:13

Vanilla colour. It was a Fender replica, but it was an Encore.

Speaker 1 3:17

It was an Encore.

Speaker 2 3:19

Fantastic piece of kit, still have it. Of kit still have it. In fact. I would never sell that in a million years. I love it. In fact, I want to display on my wall because it's so, it's such a nice looking guitar.

Speaker 2 3:28

I want to display all my guitars, yeah yeah, but I haven't got around to it yet. But anyway, vinnie, my vanilla bass guitar was the first instrument I picked up and then discovered that my, my fingers and hands were too small for the bass and ended up going for an even smaller, the smallest, one of the smallest guitars that you can get all guitar type instruments the stringed instruments. Stringed instrument it was a ukulele when I was 15 yes, and you still play the.

Speaker 1 3:55

You've got a couple of ukes, haven't you? No, I just have the one.

Speaker 2 3:57

Well did, because I thought you had two no, so I had, I had like a argos one oh, and then when I? Bought my, uh, my current one, which? I've just forgotten the make off the top of my head. Yeah, uh, when I, when I bought that one, I got rid of the other one yeah because I just needed the one and um yeah it's a lovely uke.

Speaker 1 4:18

Yeah, it is a lovely little electroacoustic little little number.

Speaker 2 4:23

She's cute. I need to take the battery out actually, otherwise it was gonna go all funny and corrode because I haven't plugged it in for such a long time. Got anything to plug it into actually, yeah. So I picked up my ukulele and then, um, and yeah, I guess that was, I would say, my first proper instrument would have been the ukulele although I picked up the bass and I could play it just about.

Speaker 2 4:40

It was a struggle for me in my hand. Yeah, size, uh, I look down at my hands now. I don't know how I ever did it, but yeah, ukulele was probably my first.

Speaker 1 4:48

Yeah Well, I think I bought you a bass because you said to me, six strings might be a little bit too much. Yeah, so I went with the bass, which has only obviously got four strings.

Speaker 2 4:57

Yeah, because again, I remember the guitar being a bit confusing in my head. I couldn't quite get around chord shapes and stuff. And then I remember, like learning on guitar, the bass lines wasn't I, I was learning oh, that's what was happening. I was learning one string bass lines and you were like perhaps I should buy you a bass then. Like yeah maybe that's your calling, rather than yeah, rather than that, but yeah um, and then you drop down from four strings to three well, no, ukulele's four strings.

Speaker 2 5:23

Oh, of course it is. Yeah, yeah, of course it is.

Speaker 1 5:25

Where are you in your head? I went banjo.

Speaker 2 5:26

It's four strings it's just a lot smaller.

Speaker 1 5:28

Oh, I had banjo. Banjo, the worst instrument. Oh God, I like banjo. Oh, no, no, no.

Speaker 2 5:39

Oh the banjo's awful.

Speaker 1 5:40

Yeah, I don't like the resonance of a banjo.

Speaker 2 5:43

Oh don't, don't, don't With the moonshine.

Speaker 1 5:50

I know it's got this weird kind of what I call aftertaste to it.

Speaker 2 5:52

What was your first introduction to music performance?

Speaker 1 5:55

So my first introduction to music performance would have been singing. Yeah, and that was obviously when I was at school. I was in the choir, I was in the school choir. Oh, I originally started off as a soprano, then went to an alto and ended up as a tenor.

Speaker 2 6:13

Yeah, you are for a male voice. You are quite high.

Speaker 1 6:18

Yeah, I'm a tenor. I'm not a bass, I'm a tenor, but my first stage performance I think I said this in the theater one yeah was when I, when we played laden, I played omar khayyam and it was a musical. Yeah, and that's first time me singing in front of people. I sang, I sang there.

Speaker 2 6:34

So that was my very, very first time yeah, so kind of both of us was school led.

Musical Influences and Vocal Styles

Speaker 1 6:38

Yeah, very, very much yeah, very much I, but my very first performance on my own was an open mic night. Yeah, we both similar paths, yeah it would be an open mic night and that was just me and a guitar yeah, me and a guitar, yeah. So why did you want to learn an instrument?

Speaker 2 6:58

I think a lot of the influence was probably yourself to be honest. You encouraged me to pursue that. I remember just coming from a place of enjoyment. More than anything, like I, I enjoy singing was probably what I enjoy most.

Speaker 2 7:14

I enjoy it more than playing an instrument actually, and if I could sing without an instrument all the time, my confidence would be so much better because, uh, my playing is is not great. I'm happy to admit that my my musical ability is is definitely more in the voice than it is in the in the instrument. But yeah, it probably was yourself, and also guitar hero, because we used to play that, and it was like the first introduction to maybe singing and playing at the same time as well, like the colored buttons strumming. Although it's not the same, it's, it's the same coordination.

Speaker 1 7:47

It's the same coordination, but also it helped your timings there, yeah, exactly your timings there, although, going back to guitar hero now, it kind of isn't.

Speaker 2 7:54

But yeah, yeah, at the time it felt real yeah, yeah yeah. What about yourself? Why did you want to learn an instrument?

Speaker 1 8:02

so I don't know if I've ever told you this. I've just. I just thought because I was going to say my well, guitar hero was what kind of re-kicked it off yeah the fact to me, wants playing. That's when I started to learn the guitar, but I already knew how to play the keyboard by that point, so I had a keyboard when I was quite young yeah we.

Speaker 2 8:20

We always had one in the house as well, didn't we? Yeah?

Speaker 1 8:23

so yeah. So I learned to play the keyboard, but I'd never two hands.

Speaker 2 8:27

Yeah.

Speaker 1 8:29

So I can't because I can play keys. I can play the piano, but I kind of, because I write a lot of songs on the piano, so I write melodies with one hand, so that's kind of what I use it for. So I don't really play the chords with my left, it's all kind of right hand. But I had a keyboard very, very young and the very first song I ever learned to play was Lattice La Bonita by Madonna okay that's random, random song.

Speaker 1 8:53

That, yeah, I could play the melody on the on keys for Lattice La Bonita. That was the very first song I ever learned to play and I would have been what? 11, 12 yeah 11 or 12, because my great-grandmother had a keyboard. Yeah, you see, I didn't have one. I, my great-grandmother had one.

Speaker 2 9:11

I used to I used to. That's why it was play we had one in the house growing up, though, didn't we? There was always one about yeah, and then, um, when you moved house, you got the the honky tonk oh, I had a proper piano.

Speaker 1 9:21

Yeah, you did not. Not a grand piano, not a grand piano stand up. No, that was. I think we got that 50 quid off um facebook marketplace yeah oh, that was a ball like that was, because that was a heavy yeah, well, they all are so heavy.

Speaker 2 9:33

We had to.

Speaker 1 9:34

We had to get um. I think sean helped us out with that, didn't he go in the van? Yeah, sean and asha, um helped us out with that and we got it into the house, but we had to get it tuned yeah, quite regularly and it cost more and more money. And so in the end we're like, look, this is actually costing us yeah, it's so. We got rid of the piano.

Speaker 1 9:50

It's taken up a lot of space in the house as well yeah got rid of it and I've had since then I've had two keyboards yeah again, but pretty much like just cheap off facebook marketplace yeah yeah, really, really cheap, but um, but I'd say what really kind of kick-started it back up for me?

Speaker 1 10:07

because I've always, as you, as you know, I've always wanted to perform and you know, acting, singing, uh, dancing, always been a performer, but then I didn't for many, many years, because you know how's a good job? Life yeah, life happens. Marriage, marriage, kid, kid yeah, bonus, kid, bonus, kid, um, but then what really kicked it off again would be guitar hero, I think it was playing. Life yeah, life happens Marriage, marriage, kid, kid, bonus, kid, bonus, kid. But then what really kicked it off again would be Guitar Hero, I think it was playing.

Speaker 2 10:29

Yeah.

Speaker 1 10:30

Although I do, because I do remember we were at a party and I'll never forget this because I hadn't sung for years, years and years and years.

Speaker 2 10:36

I think I know where you're going with this.

Speaker 1 10:38

And we were at a karaoke there.

Speaker 2 10:45

karaoke thing there, yeah, and it kind of kicked back off again and I can remember I was singing brown eyed girl.

Speaker 1 10:48

Yeah, van morrison. Yeah, and I was singing and somebody came in and they actually genuinely said they didn't think it was karaoke anymore. They thought it was someone had just put the music on wow, someone put a good. It's quite a compliment yeah, they walked in and saw me singing and was like oh well, the karaoke's still going and it's Davey singing yeah like. And then what? Everyone was like shit, boy, you can sing, yeah, yeah, yeah it's there's, there's something like behind that.

Speaker 2 11:12

Sometimes that makes you feel really good when someone's like shit, like I thought that's a cd like yeah yeah, but also now when I hear that I'm like, oh no, I want to sound like myself, not like the artist yeah when you're first starting out, when you're doing karaoke, you have to sing it in the key that it's in yeah, there's no movement there but when you become a musician, you can obviously change the key. You can make things lower. We've had this conversation.

Speaker 1 11:35

I've changed the key of so many songs, so many songs, you know I'm a female, but as a female singer I'm actually quite low.

Speaker 2 11:42

My range is. My range is low. Um, I would definitely identify, I guess, as an alto. I can hit some soprano notes and I can hit some tenor notes, which is crazy. You can go falsetto, I can do falsetto, but it's not as strong, um, and I have. My voice is often described as sultry I get that that a lot.

Speaker 1 12:04

Yeah, it is.

Speaker 2 12:05

Because it's very full sounding and I guess another term would be sexy, but not in that sense. It's just that very like jazzy undertone kind of voice, nina Simone. Yeah, I get Etta James a lot, which is a massive compliment. That's a compliment, yeah, a huge compliment and I don't actually agree with it, but thank you.

Speaker 1 12:22

No, I can see that. No, no, no, yeah, I agree with that yeah, I, I think I get that.

Speaker 2 12:28

And then you know more people my age are like oh, you kind of sound like katie tunstall is another one. I get quite a lot because I cover black horse I get that one quite a lot, but when I actually sing by myself and when I sing in the car, who I think I sound like is actually more michelle branch yeah yeah, I think I sound more like michelle branch and I think that's because she was the person that I was singing you used to sing a lot.

Speaker 1 12:52

You and your mom used to sing a lot of michelle branch in the car on journeys and stuff.

Speaker 2 12:56

So when I sing along with her, our tones are very similar audibly if I was to hear myself and to hear her. I can hear a lot of her in me just from because I mimic her and I and I copy her style see that that's.

Speaker 1 13:08

That's so I did, um, I did a radio interview once, as it was with the band, when, when our first, uh, first EP came out and I got asked a question and said my voice is when you actually hear, I it's, there's a lot of American influence in my vocal and I'd never noticed this, never realized, realized that I thought, well, actually is there. But when we recorded our last single, even Jack Jack Murphy, he said to me at one point he went, davey, you're English, not American, mate. But he said you suddenly went on to this American accent. But I think a lot of that was growing up because again, mimicking things like Michael Jackson yeah and a lot of American bands and I think my voice is again the reason.

Speaker 1 13:47

So yes, I have been trained how to do accents. I can do that part of. You know did that in theater studies and you know I did study drama. I know how to, how the mechanics work to change your voice and do accents. But I kind of, when I was seeing like something about with van morrison, I mimicked van morrison yeah that wasn't me singing, it. That was. That wasn't david singing.

Speaker 1 14:10

That was me mimicking van morrison so whenever I sing a song, a cover, a lot of it, I am mimicking that person yeah, that's kind of what cover is.

Speaker 2 14:19

You know you are yeah you can make something entirely your own and it could be, you know, completely out there of from the original, and the best example of that is probably like sound of silence, for example you know phenomenal, you know they took that. Is it disturbed?

Speaker 1 14:33

disturbed that.

Speaker 2 14:35

You know they took that and completely put it on its head. Yeah I love that they understand the meaning behind the song and the themings, and they made it that way, you know yeah you know that's one of them times where someone will take something, but you have people that will cover songs all the time and it's just their version of of someone else's song again absolutely fine.

Speaker 2 14:51

That's how we all start and that's how you know we all do, and I know that busted, for example, have a covers album with other artists yeah, yeah so you've got like deaf havana covering like 3am, for example which is fantastic, by the way, and jonas brothers doing a track, and you know it's quite cool that they allowed people to come on and kind of cover it with them, yeah, which is which is very cool.

Speaker 1 15:12

I like it when they, when you get a song, that is where the where the meaning is it's quite a poppy song, because obviously it goes in, it's written by a record producer, it's quite a poppy song, but then the lyrics are very meaningful yeah and in the original version of the song the lyrics kind of can get kind of lost yeah so when someone covers it and changes the key, changes the um tempo and the whole composition, the whole composition, yeah, changes the composition of that song and makes it something that it isn't.

Speaker 1 15:42

I'll give you one example of this Last Resort.

Speaker 2 15:46

Yes, Papa Roach.

Speaker 1 15:47

Papa Roach Last Resort. I mean that song is. There's so much pain in those lyrics.

Speaker 2 15:54

I mean, the original has obviously a little bit of angst in it. It's angsty. But it's upbeat angst yeah it's angst, but when?

Speaker 1 16:02

who's it Falling in Reverse?

Speaker 2 16:03

Yeah.

Speaker 1 16:06

Falling in angst, it's, but when um who's it? Falling in reverse? Yeah falling in reverse, did their version of it. And what a song. Yeah, um, do you know he played it?

Speaker 2 16:10

to paparazzi.

Speaker 1 16:10

They cried yeah yeah, literally cried when they heard it. Yeah, so it does. I mean jamelia did it with numb and lincoln park. I mean there's a lot of emo songs actually thinking about where, obviously there is a lot of covers she done.

Speaker 2 16:22

And stop sam brown as well. She did cover that, yeah she did a lot of covers.

Musical Instruments and Cover Songs

Speaker 1 16:24

She done. Stop Sam Brown as well. She did, didn't she? Yeah, she did a lot of them, she did.

Speaker 2 16:26

Kelly Clarkson's another one that takes a lot of songs and it's apparently like among the music community if she covers a song, it's like, oh well, that's not your song anymore. She does such a good job of it, oh, johnny Cash and Hurt. Yeah, yeah. Another classic example.

Speaker 1 16:40

Yeah, Nine Inch Nails and then and Trent Rasner turned around and actually said didn't he say it's not our song anymore, it's Johnny Cash's song yeah, yeah, he can have it, yeah, he can have it. Yeah, it's phenomenal.

Speaker 2 16:49

Yeah.

Speaker 1 16:50

So what was? So I think we kind of we might kind of already covered this one, because the next question I was going to ask is what is the first instrument you learned? So the first instrument you learned was kind of the bass but we'll say ukulele.

Speaker 2 17:04

Ukulele would be like if you could say effectively play ukulele. And again, like you, I played a little bit of keyboard before that as well. But, ukulele is the first instrument where I could actually play maybe a full song and sing along to it and perform with, so I would say ukulele is probably top instrument.

Speaker 1 17:19

Yeah, mine was guitar.

Speaker 2 17:23

Yeah.

Speaker 1 17:24

So it was guitar. Yeah, so it was guitar. So, yes, like you say, yeah, keyboard, but guitar.

Speaker 2 17:28

What's the first song you ever learned on guitar? Well, mum cringes as we say it. She's probably listening to this episode now.

Speaker 1 17:34

She's already thinking of that song, the hairs on the back of her neck are already standing on end. It's Good Riddance by Green Day. That was the very first song I ever learned to play, and I just have to play those four notes. That's all I have to play, and your mum will walk out the room.

Speaker 2 17:50

Do you know what the first song I learned on bass was? Can you remember? Was it Paint it Black? No, no.

Speaker 1 17:58

The Kraken song, but no Iron man. No Smoke on the War, no. No Smoke on the Water, no come on, a bit more modern. A bit more modern, yeah first song you learnt on the bass oh. Seven Nation Army.

Speaker 2 18:12

Yeah, yeah gone to Wichita yeah, brilliant and first song on ukulele I'd probably say was Jason Mraz.

Speaker 1 18:19

I'm Yours. I was going to say Jason Mraz and an Avril Lavigne song.

Speaker 2 18:22

I think Jason Mraz and an Avril Lavigne song. I think Jason Mraz was the first song I ever performed live as well. I learned I'm Yours. And then I learned an Avril Lavigne song because I was, and still is, massively into Avril Lavigne at the time. Yeah, so I'd probably say, jason Mraz, I'm Yours, closely followed by Avril Lavigne. And then, obviously, I started playing Vance Joy quite a lot as well.

Speaker 1 18:41

Riptide, riptide Again. Joy quite a lot as well, because a riptide, riptide again, very, very kind of um. Ukulele songs, yeah, yeah, although do you know one thing? But there's one, you, there's one song actually that I'm surprised you haven't learned on ukulele, and that's, uh, somewhere over the rainbow. Is this version not again? That's it. That's another song where, yeah, that, where the original, where the, the cover, is way better than the original yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 19:05

Or judy garland. I know she went through such a rigmarole and, oh, that's an understatement yeah, yeah, um asbestos and all I know, bless her.

Speaker 1 19:14

Yeah, yeah, that that is his version of um somewhere over the rainbow on uke.

Speaker 2 19:19

Gorgeous phenomenal, that's beautiful he's passed away, isn't he no longer with us?

Speaker 1 19:24

isn't he? There is a. There's a youtube video and they're playing that, as they're spreading his ashes in the sea all the surfers beautiful, beautiful video. Yeah, mine was good riddance yeah by green day, and then I kind of went, still went down that kind of route for a little while playing those type of cover songs, indie kind of yeah, those kind of indie yeah, that, that kind of kind of thing, yeah, I can't remember what else.

Speaker 2 19:49

I feel like I heard you singing like tears of a clown a lot I did a few 60 soul stuff.

Speaker 1 19:54

Yeah, you don't tears of a clown.

Speaker 2 19:56

I remember you singing that quite a lot. And the robin hood, one ocean color scene I did a lot of ocean color scene.

Speaker 1 20:00

Yeah, I remember. Yeah, I do remember you covering that quite often actually yeah, and then I started writing my own.

Speaker 2 20:07

Yeah, you started writing and then uh, got into the scar.

Speaker 1 20:09

Yeah, scar stream but yeah, I was. Yeah, I did play a lot of easy nirvana songs as well yeah I did some beatles stuff. I tried to play some beatles stuff quite early on.

Speaker 2 20:20

This is difficult, but beatles is fairly, yeah, very.

Speaker 1 20:24

But I I remember when I was um, when I learned I, when I learned guitar, I focused so much on my left hand and as in like the, the chord progressions, and so my, my right hand was so I was, I, yeah, the strumming pattern I only know one strumming yeah, down, down, down, down, down, down, up, up. I don't even know what it is now.

Speaker 2 20:46

Down, down, up, up, down, up down. Yeah, and I actually had to.

Speaker 1 20:50

I had to physically stop myself Automatically going to that strumming pattern.

Speaker 2 20:54

Yeah, it's very easy to do.

Speaker 1 20:56

So what I ended up doing in the end Was I would get drum tracks, yeah on YouTube, just drum tracks, nothing else, and then playing along with the drum track.

Speaker 2 21:06

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I can't read music unless I sat there and actually studied it and had to pick it out. I can't just be like oh, that's a B or that's a C, I can't now Notation-wise, I can't sight-read music. I can, if I really focus and really concentrate. I learnt how to. But when I look up, say someone's like oh, can you play this on ukulele?

Speaker 1 21:32

I'll go on to uketabscom and just get the core progression Every good boy deserves fudge Every.

Speaker 2 21:34

Good boy deserves fudge Every good boy deserves fudge.

Speaker 1 21:37

That's there, see, and then in the middle face, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 21:41

I'm like you, oh yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 21:42

I'm like you. I can read it, I can work it out, I know what crotchets and quavers and all of that are, because I learned it at school. But I can't read and play at the same time.

Speaker 2 21:53

No. I have to look at it and go Look at it, write down the notes yeah, exactly, come back to it.

Speaker 1 21:58

Yeah, and then come back to it, yeah.

Speaker 2 22:01

Easy, piss, easy actually.

Speaker 1 22:02

Yeah, one might say Well, do I do a lot? I do a lot of it by ear. So I will say, for instance, if I'm learning a cover, I'll go on to ultimate tabscom. Get the, just get the chord progression. That's all I need.

Speaker 1 22:16

I don't need any more than that. I just need the chord progression or what key it's in, and so a lot of lincoln park songs running four chords. Yeah, it's genuinely e, minor, c, d, g and f, maybe or g, g. Yeah, so all of that and I'll look at the chord progression. Okay, so it's that it goes from e, minor, g, d, c okay, no worry, and then I'll listen to the track. Yeah, okay, that's what and yeah, that's how I play I am not gifted in that area at all.

Speaker 2 22:44

I I really struggle to pick out melodies and I struggle to pick out keys, um and things. I have to properly look at it and and just use the same chord progression, uh, same uh strumming pattern that I've used for everything, because on ukulele there's kind of only one that's generally that same.

Speaker 2 23:02

It's always that one, yeah and because it's a ukulele it doesn't even sound like a guitar anyway. So they all sound different to what they actually should sound like anyway. And then I just try my best, or I just use four chords for everything and just make everything. Try and fit the four chords. Well, you can. Essentially, I mean there are C, g, a minor F.

Speaker 1 23:19

Yeah, we all did it when we all did it when we were solo missions. There's me, barney Grant. Barney still does it now. Me, barney Grant, loads of us would do the mashup yeah, we'd all do it when you get the four chords and you can play hundreds of songs.

Speaker 2 23:36

Yeah.

Speaker 1 23:36

And switch between them.

Speaker 2 23:38

Yeah, absolutely. And you know like Axes of Awesome made this quite famous.

Speaker 1 23:43

Yeah.

Speaker 2 23:46

And then, most recently, ed sheeran has come on and said because he got a lot of um, you know he was covering other people's songs on his sets and things and the whole sort of marvin gaye situation where his family tried to sue him for that, but you know you can't.

Speaker 1 23:57

You can't copyright chords there's only a finite amount of them, and that work and it has to be in a certain progression in that progression and order yeah.

Speaker 2 24:04

You know if you actually looked at all songs in the charts pop songs. You know, because most chart songs in the UK are pop. They're pretty much all the same chords so technically they're all copying and copyrighting each other anyway.

Speaker 1 24:15

Exactly. I mean, I know you guys don't like this when I do this and both you and your mum don't like it when I play this particular song, but I mash this particular song, but I'd like mash up fresh prince of bel-air with hit the road jack, yeah, yeah, and switch between the two.

Speaker 1 24:32

Yeah, and I've done, um, mashed up thrift shop with something as well, haven't I? Yeah, so, uh, yeah, it's, it's so sweet, and I did a performance here with, actually, where it was, now it's in one bar and I did like a five. Now, that's longer than that. I think it was a 15 minute version of just flitting between all these songs. Yeah, and that's it.

Speaker 1 24:44

Yeah, but I think it was a 15 minute version of just flitting between all these songs yeah and that's yeah, but I think barney still didn't barney play at your christmas do, your christmas do did he do it?

Musical Instrument Skills and Preferences

Speaker 2 24:54

uh, to be honest, I was outside most of the time, oh okay, it was really hot in there that particular night and I was outside in the cool air, it was quite. It was quite a small venue and there was a lot of us in there. So, yeah, okay but, yeah, I mean I danced to bohemian rhapsody when he did that yeah so yeah but yeah, I tend to.

Speaker 1 25:13

So I, yes, I can read music, but I tend to just look at chord progressions yeah, I look at tabs, yeah, anything, yeah, tabs yeah, I do find it.

Speaker 1 25:22

You know I I'm not very good again like reading tabs. I can so like obviously, with guitar, um, tablature it's very much well, threes and zeros, one, nine, seventeens, where, depending on where, yeah, the fret is, and then shows you the string. Now peach is very good at looking at a tab and just like, okay, yeah, and off he goes Again. Like with reading music, I still struggle a little bit. That's why I do it by ear so much.

Speaker 1 25:50

Yeah, I don't like to read, but just give me, say well, there's these four chords, I'm fine.

Speaker 2 25:55

Yeah, I'm the same. I'm the same. Sometimes I have to read the chords that are there, try and play it and think, oh no, those chords like because they're normally above the word that you're changing. What where the chord change is? But, then sometimes I have to listen to the track and be like, actually that's in the wrong place yeah you have to figure out where, exactly where which word the chord changes on sometimes oh yeah, on timing and things like that, but fairly simple.

Speaker 2 26:19

Once you've got a musical ear you can like very basic musical ear. You can usually pick it out and get by.

Speaker 1 26:26

I mean, I did it the other day, you can certainly learn.

Speaker 2 26:28

It's not something that has to be intuitive.

Speaker 1 26:30

No, no. I mean, the other day I was playing something on Spotify and I was like, oh, I wonder what. And I just picked up the guitar and I was just working down the fretboard thinking, is it there? No, there, just listen.

Speaker 2 26:45

And then I got to a certain point.

Speaker 1 26:46

It's like there it is, it's it's there, it just clicks, it just get there. And then I just did a little solo over the top of the song whilst in the in the living room, once you get it, because it's very the certain patterns that you can do and it's, it's gonna fit which is.

Speaker 2 26:58

It's very strange to me that you say that, that you can pick that out on an instrument. I can't do that, but vocally not a problem yeah with my voice I can. I can pick out a melody like that. I don't even really have to think about a song that much. I can just hear it in my. I guess I can hear it in my head. I don't know if that's the the correct phrasing, but and I can just come out.

Speaker 2 27:18

It might not be the the correct pitch or the correct key, but I can certainly get it out and it's fine.

Speaker 1 27:23

Yeah, so you laugh talking about that being in the wrong key. So there's one of our songs. Uh, everyone but me yeah I start it off, so I, I, I. The vocal is what starts it. I wrote this bloody song, right, I wrote it. Every time we perform it, I start off in the wrong key every just change it to the key that benji said to me at that point he went should we just change the key of this?

Speaker 1 27:46

and I'm really stubborn, like nope, I wrote it in this key, this is the key that's gonna stay in. And it's got to the point now where I'll play the first. I'll play the first chord on my guitar so I can hear my own key. Yeah, oh yeah, it's in a all right.

Speaker 2 28:02

And then, like off we go I am better in the key of d. I've noticed the more and more I practice singing, the more I'm like. Every time I struggle with a song I'm like, why can't I sing it in this key? I'm like, oh, okay, I'll just put it in the key of d then and just go for it. It's just my key, my preferred key. Yeah, again, but I guess maybe, being in a lower voice, I don't know if that that has any effect on it, but yeah, it might do. Yeah, I mean, most songs are in c. C major is kind of normally like the, the general generalized key.

Speaker 1 28:31

So d is just I guess I don't know yeah, it's your go-to key, my go-to go-to key of d so how many instruments can you play? So I can play. I can play guitar yeah I can play bass. Um, I can play. Not, I can't play the bass very well. I'm definitely no, benji. Benji is just yeah you know phenomenon on the bass and I say I'm gonna play the guitar benji's here in spirit today he's here and I can say I can play the guitar.

Speaker 1 28:56

Uh, I can play the guitar, but again, put me in a room with james or peach yeah you know, I'll never forget when the first day we came into the studio and because obviously we've been friends for years, me and peach, but I've always known peach is playing the uke you never heard peach playing the guitar. Really well, I had, but when he walked in and he did this solo out of nowhere, I was just my mouth just dropped open. Yeah, I felt like putting my guitar down and never picking it back up again at that point um so can be encouraging, but also discouraging at the same time.

Speaker 1 29:26

Oh it really, can it really?

Speaker 2 29:28

can? People are very skilled, Peach being one of them.

Speaker 1 29:30

Peach is a phenomenal guitarist.

Speaker 2 29:32

Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

Speaker 1 29:34

Absolutely phenomenal guitarist.

Speaker 2 29:35

I hope he listens to this podcast and knows how much we're gushing about him.

Speaker 1 29:39

Well, I mean my entire band. Yeah, very talented people In in fact I'm probably the least talented out of the everybody in there. Yeah, I mean you look at some.

Speaker 2 29:49

Look at what joe does on the, on the I mean, I've never had the others sing, so I guess you've got that oh yeah, in your repertoire, not that I don't, I don't know. I've never heard them sing because it's never come up.

Speaker 1 29:59

But but I mean, yeah, we'll come on to how we structure songs and that later on, but so the original question was how many instruments can I play, wasn't?

Speaker 2 30:06

it. Yeah, sorry, you went off. Right tangent, you went off piste.

Speaker 1 30:08

Yeah, so guitar bass harmonica.

Speaker 2 30:13

Oh yeah, I forgot you could play the harmonica. I can play the harmonica and keyboard.

Speaker 1 30:17

Nice, oh, I can play the cajon. Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 30:21

I can keep a beat on the cajon can't play the drums.

Speaker 1 30:23

I'm no very good at independent coordination on the drums. I can play the drums if I was to just have foot one hand. But once you start bringing the other hand into it, that's when it all goes horribly wrong. My independent coordination isn't great.

Speaker 2 30:37

Honestly, if I'm being truthful, I think I can really only play the ukulele. I am not gifted in instrument playing. I've picked up a bass. I can play a few things on the bass and I can play a few things on the keyboard, but I wouldn't actually say I could play them to a to an acceptable standard yeah say, whereas a ukulele I can pick up and find my my vocal ability is norm, is is surpasses any of my my instrument ability umfold.

Speaker 2 31:05

I'm just not very gifted with my hands at all. Hands and fingers, yeah, not great, not great.

Speaker 1 31:14

Oh, your mum bought me a violin. Did I tell you?

Speaker 2 31:16

Oh, what recently.

Speaker 1 31:17

Yeah, I've got a violin upstairs.

Speaker 2 31:18

No way, have you tried it?

Speaker 1 31:20

No, I daren't.

Speaker 2 31:21

I kind of want to.

Speaker 1 31:22

I know I think I'm going to do it when there's no one in the house.

Speaker 2 31:26

I assume it's an acoustic one.

Speaker 1 31:27

Yeah, it's an acoustic violin. Yeah, If I play it there's going to be no one else, Because, again, you know, with guitars you've got frets.

Speaker 2 31:33

Yeah, Whereas a violin you haven't.

Speaker 1 31:38

Guess what you have to be, spot on on that string where space uh, it's gonna sound like a cat dying.

Speaker 2 31:43

I know it is, I know it really is, but oh yeah, I feel sorry for the dogs, yeah, so what do you prefer? Singing or playing? Singing yeah, I'm the same singing I think that's quite clear, that I'm the same.

Speaker 1 31:57

Yeah, I mean yeah I mean the real, I mean the only reason. Well, you could argue, the only reason why I learned the guitar is so that I could go out and perform on my own yeah, yeah why I learned the instruments to begin with.

Speaker 2 32:07

That's why you're saying that yeah, it's one of the reasons why I sing with backing vocals and or have a guitarist, like I've done in the past yeah because I I'm just not confident in my ability to play. I think mine's more of a confidence issue more than anything, but I'm not confident in my ability to be able to play an instrument where I don't think I'd ever do solo anymore, unless it's a backing vocal, yeah, but that just seems like cheating yeah, that just seems like karaoke yeah, it does.

Speaker 1 32:34

Yeah, it really does. It's a cheat. Yeah, in the band I don't even play some play guitar at all yeah literally just singing. It's only it's a lot of in our early stuff that I would be, I would guitar and again in the band I'm a rhythm guitarist, I'm not lead.

Speaker 2 32:49

Yeah, that's James, that's Peach.

Speaker 1 32:52

Peach does all the great stuff. I'm just laying chords underneath, that's all I do. But also it allows me to then concentrate on singing more.

Speaker 2 32:59

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's where I come from. I'd rather concentrate all of my efforts in getting the correct pitch, key, tone and everything, rather than worrying about what my hands are doing as well.

Speaker 1 33:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, I play with. I mean even I'm going to make another little confession here now as well, because when we perform because there's only five of us, there's, you know, Pierre on sax, benji on bass, joe on drums, peach on guitar I'd love to play the saxophone.

Speaker 2 33:29

I'd love to be in Pierre's.

Speaker 1 33:30

The bendy sex whistle.

Speaker 2 33:31

The bendy sex whistle.

Speaker 1 33:32

The bendy sex whistle, Pierre, is again. I mean, he's a grade eight.

Speaker 2 33:38

Yeah.

Speaker 1 33:39

He's a classically trained grade eight the stuff I was going to say, the stuff he can do with his mouth. Careful grade eight the stuff I was going to say, the stuff he can do with his mouth careful now. Yeah, you're old enough to be his dad, I know, but the stuff that that boy can do on stage with that, with that, with that saxophone is just yeah.

Speaker 2 33:58

You have an incredibly talented pool of musicians around you in that band they're insane you probably in terms of bringing the talent pulled down.

Speaker 1 34:05

Yeah, yeah you know they are absolutely, absolutely insane. So yeah, but even even later tracks, because there's only there's only the five of us to get the full band sound, because we've got an excellent producer and we've got a lot of stuff going on on this. We're not only playing like there's there might be three or four guitar parts in the tracks, so we do have backing yeah so, joe, we do have the click track in our ears while we're performing and joe does have a backing track.

Speaker 1 34:34

So we have to be spot on, because if that backing track is out now, in the last few gigs that we did, I don't play guitar at all, but you can still hear my guitar parts on because we left we left the originals in yuck.

Speaker 2 34:46

So so your guitar parts live on in memory but yeah, so I, so I they're still there.

Speaker 1 34:51

I mean there's still some songs I have to do live like wake up. I have to do that live, because a lot of that is my guitar that carries that. But, um, yeah, like in break my stride, yeah, that one, so that that guitar part we perform that on stage. That's me playing the guitar, but I'm not playing it live yeah that's on the backing track.

Speaker 2 35:08

I see, yeah, that's on the backing track, yeah so, uh, kind of moving on to kind of gig and gig playing, I'd say we've covered a lot of our other points, really, that that we were going to talk about um through just going off on tangents, I guess, yeah. So I guess let's kind of bring it to kind of a funnier side of it in terms of gigging. Gigging is great fun, oh yeah. But what's the most disastrous gig you've ever had?

Speaker 1 35:32

Do you know what?

Speaker 2 35:33

I think I know which one it is.

Speaker 1 35:34

Go on, go on. You tell the story.

Speaker 2 35:36

Well, is it the soap and soap and taupe rope or whatever it was in Hunstant?

Speaker 1 35:45

it was that one. Okay, I'm so glad we're thinking of the same one. Yeah, please let me explain.

Speaker 2 35:47

I thought I was gonna die. I thought I was gonna die. Uh, so mine, mine. My disastrous gig story is actually quite similar, so we have both been fortunate enough to be asked to play at certain venues and for certain things. Mine was a charity event, so of course I just said yes, it was like for cancer research, it's for our friend becca, and you also played a gig at a pub, um, in hunstanton.

Speaker 2 36:06

So mine was at a venue in norwich, yours was at a gig, um, and very similar vibes. Basically, what's happened is these venues are, let's just say, they have a different caliber of people of the songs we're playing. So we're going there as a folk kind of indie, like you know a little bit. You know us and our little guitars. You know me doing jason mir, you doing your, you know your.

Speaker 1 36:28

I did, carly Rae Jepsen, you did.

Speaker 2 36:29

Carly Rae Jepsen covers Right, and this is no disrespect to this clientele of these people, but obviously these places were for a crowd that were more into, let's just say, heavy metal, yeah, punk, stuff like that. So us kind of turning up doing our little covers doesn't make them disastrous, and I think they all had a good time you know, they still were buying drinks at the bar, having a good time.

Speaker 1 36:53

They just weren't expecting us it wasn't their style of music.

Speaker 2 36:56

It wasn't their vibe, but they were respectful, I think as well they were.

Speaker 1 37:00

They were great, they were great.

Speaker 2 37:02

But you can imagine that sort of clientele they do come across maybe as a little bit intimidating even though they are super lovely, and they were really lovely both occasions, but I remember. Sorry to just jump on this bandwagon of your story but, when I went, so it was the Blueberry.

Speaker 1 37:18

Oh I love the Blueberry. Yeah, but it's more of a punk scene.

Speaker 2 37:22

Yeah, I played the Blueberry loads there was there was this group of lads and I don't know if it was a stag do, and they were like um. So I was, I was playing the ukulele and they were like oh, like, we're not really like into like this, but if I sling you 50 quid to, if I give you 50 quid um, will you do 50 cent on the ukulele?

Speaker 2 37:39

and I was like the only 50 cent song I know is candy shop yeah, I was like yeah, I think I can do it, Like if you lads want me to do it, but can I say up it to 100 and put it in the charity pot? I'll do it Did you really yeah.

Speaker 1 37:53

Cheeky bugger.

Speaker 2 37:53

Well, it's charity mate. You're all done with charity mate. Also, I'm a bit of a you know bargain. Yeah. I didn't take the money, I was like go on then pop it in the pot.

Speaker 2 38:02

And they did bless their lads and there was me just doing candy shop and one of the lads was like rap in the rap bit, because I only know I'll take you to the candy shop. It's the only bit I know. So it was a bit inappropriate for me as well, because I was a teenager singing to a group of lads saying I'll lick your lollipop, it's. But they were decent lads and they did put the money into charity, so I'm all cool about it.

Speaker 1 38:26

Oh, brilliant, brilliant.

Favorite Gigs and Festival Memories

Speaker 2 38:28

Yeah, same with Soap and Taupe.

Speaker 1 38:29

I don't know what the pub was called, I can't remember what it was called, but I just remember walking in because I was actually supporting a rock band.

Speaker 2 38:36

Yeah, Well, they were kind of rock covers, weren't they?

Speaker 1 38:39

They were rock covers yeah, so of course they asked me if I could just do a 30 minute 45 minute set for them and of course I walked in just with my acoustic guitar and I kind of looked around the pub and I looked at you Big burly like bikers tattoos.

Speaker 2 38:54

Lovely people, this is not a reflection of people.

Speaker 1 38:57

It was to do with the sound of music. It was more to do with the fact that this is not going to go down.

Speaker 2 39:01

well, no, but it did.

Speaker 1 39:03

It did and it was fine, yeah, so it wasn't really a disastrous gig.

Speaker 2 39:05

It was more like ah, we have come a little underprepared for this.

Speaker 1 39:08

Yeah, exactly exactly, and I think did I think they were actually singing bloody, call me maybe. I think so, I think yeah, so I kind of switched it and kind of had that kind of guilty pleasure like vibes, wasn't it?

Speaker 2 39:18

kind of did that and um by the way, guys, we have an episode on our guilty pleasures, so we do indeed, so if you want to check that out if you haven't listened to it already.

Speaker 1 39:25

Okay, little Radio 4 that came in then.

Speaker 2 39:27

Sorry, it's a shameless plug.

Speaker 1 39:29

Yeah.

Speaker 2 39:30

So what's your favourite gig?

Speaker 1 39:31

Fairy Fest Easy. Fairy Fest 100%. I mean, we've played a lot of gigs. Well, I say that. I say that I think the reason why I love Ferry Fest is because of the love that we get, because everybody there is our friend. Yeah, you know, it's because it is a musician's festival. Well, it's not a musician's festival, we've said this before, but it's the last festival of the festival season, or it was the last festival of the festival season. Everybody's been doing the circuit for the year. We're all there. We always play different festivals year. We're all there. We always play different festivals, but we're all there at that one. As me, as a musician, as a local music community, but also just the vibe, everything about it is just brilliant. But so I would say that's my favorite. But on the back of that, I'd also say my favorite gigs are when our own shows yeah when we do our own ep launches, uh, single launches, because we've done everything.

Speaker 2 40:26

Yeah, it's all of you in it.

Speaker 1 40:29

Yeah, and we've done the marketing for it. We've done, you know, we've done the because we've just we will be releasing a new EP. Yeah, and whether it be at the Waterfront or Epic Studios because they're generally the two venues that we go to They've both got their brilliance about them. I mean just the light show, epic that we have, you know, when you walk in and you see mammal, not fish, across the whole back of the stage on an electric board flashing up and going in and out and on, that are, yeah, there's no benefit. And then the light show of that and the sound, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 41:07

So I'd say my favourite gigs are festival-wise let's do this so festival-wise. Fairy Fest, without a doubt, hands down my favourite festival, but my favourite gigs are to perform either Epic or Warfront. Your music, yeah, Is our. When we release something, yeah, when we release something new.

Speaker 2 41:26

For me. I've not been as fortunate as yourself and I don't have a repertoire of music, never bought an EP, even when I was with the, with the duo Nuisance that I was in as well, so that was our duo band name. By the way, we're not a nuisance.

Speaker 1 41:38

We were called nuisance. Yeah, tell the story of why you uh, why you were called nuisance.

Speaker 2 41:43

So, um, so me and my friend alfie at the time we'd met up for the first time. I'd actually found him on facebook, so I asked mum to come along with me, just in case he wasn't a creep. So I asked my mum to come along and be like can you just meet this guy with me? Because I'm scared? Um and uh, and she was like, of course. So we went to the Walnut Tree Shades in Norwich and met.

Speaker 1 42:03

Did you know? That's where I was my very first house. I do know that Because my granddad used to own the Walnut Tree Shades.

Speaker 2 42:09

And whilst we were meeting and we were talking outside and we were talking about what we want to do music-wise together, we were just going to start a band up together. Basically, I put almost like a lonely hearts column on Facebook saying is anyone looking for a female vocalist? I would like a guitarist, at the very least.

Speaker 1 42:25

S-W-A-L-K.

Speaker 2 42:30

Yeah, yeah, and Alfie kindly said yeah, sure, I'll give it a go. So we met up, brought my mum along, just in case you know, meeting up with some random guy off the internet, yeah, and outside the pub there was this gentleman who was quite drunk he perhaps wasn't quite all there either, bless his heart and anyway he kept. He, he had this dog but he couldn't take it into the pub because dogs weren't allowed in the pub, so he just left the dog with us outside these, these complete strangers to him. And it was a little dog and it was ever so cute and it was sitting on mum's lap and, uh, anyway, he just left this dog. So we were just like looking after it and hoping to dear God, he came back.

Band Name Stories and Set Lengths

Speaker 2 43:04

He did come back and we were like, oh, by the way, what's the dog's name? And he was like, oh, the dog's name is Nuisance. So we just ended up calling the band and we just thought, because that was, the'll call the band Nuisance after the dog that we had to look after for that night, without being asked. So, yeah, that was why we became there. But you know when I was, my favourite gig and I think Alfie might agree with me actually is that we were doing a gig for Grant Grant Lee actually in Mr Apostles actually.

Speaker 2 43:39

Oh yeah, yeah, actually in. Um, uh, mr apostles, actually, oh yeah, yeah, and we played, uh, probably one of the last gigs before covid, because we haven't played since. Uh, I haven't got together since actually because, um, because I've been a bit, a bit poorly, but, um, you know, I think it's probably one of the last gigs before covid and I remember singing our song flowers and it was. I remember turning to him and he turned to me and he was like, well, that that's the best that's ever sounded.

Speaker 2 44:01

And it was one of those moments where like like shit, like we've done this so many times, We've practiced it so many times, We've sang it live so many times, but that was the first time it was ever like shit. That sounded really good. Like that's the best we've ever done that no-transcript partner anymore, but also doing covers and making them my own and like like.

Speaker 2 44:35

you've heard a couple of my things that I've done yeah you know I like taking things and turning them on their heads a little bit and getting my own creative flair and just getting my vocals, you know, up to the range that they were prior to COVID. Yeah, so I guess nowadays I'm more enjoying kind of the production side of it than I am actually the the gigging side, and I haven't gigged, obviously, since COVID. So it's been, yeah, four years, four or five years now. So, yeah, it's got to a point where I guess my favorite gig was live performing and I missed live performing.

Speaker 2 45:05

It's just having that the time to dedicate to it and not being poorly is another thing, and, yeah, and doing things, it's just having to put that on hold and having the comfort of my own home and doing just music by myself. I guess, yeah, um, maybe it's now I've lost the confidence, maybe as well, I guess, I don't know you said I've been out of the game for a while.

Speaker 1 45:22

I know, but I think you know the second you get back up on that stage, I should be fine, they'll come back I mean nothing's going to stop me from jumping on the karaoke, exactly.

Speaker 2 45:30

I'm always there. I've got confidence there.

Speaker 1 45:33

It's just more in my performance just quick because you said about how, because naming of bands is very difficult. Yes, to get the right name and the right vibe of your band is an incredibly difficult because we didn't have a name no, I mean, and you know, while we call ourselves nuisance, we were probably the least nuisance yeah, exactly. So I don't know if people ever got the wrong idea that we call ourselves nuisance because we're a nuisance.

Speaker 2 45:56

It wasn't that. It was just a funny story.

Speaker 1 45:58

Uh, yeah we had I mean we we went through loads of different name changes to start. We we had. We had no name for for ages we could not think of a name.

Speaker 1 46:08

I mean, even at one point I even turned around and thought well, you know, like, how did fleetwood mac get their name? It's like, well, they went with fleet, with mick fleetwood and john mcv. It was like the um, the drummer of the, the you know the drummer and the bassist. So I turned around to Joe and Benji and went right, okay, why don't we? Why don't we have Greenacre, greenacre Park? Yeah you know, not Greenacre Park?

Speaker 2 46:34

yeah, because that's like, because it's Parker isn't it.

Speaker 1 46:36

Yeah, greenacre Park, benji Parker and Joe Greenacre. I was like, well, why don't we do that? And they were like that sounds a little bit like Linkin Park. It's a bit shit.

Speaker 2 46:43

Yeah.

Speaker 1 46:43

And you know it went through. But then I was relaying Benji a story to Benji and we were in Earth Studios and I'd rung up the I think I'd rung up an insurance company or whatever and my name, last name being whales, as in the mammal. Yeah, yeah, and we were. I was talking to this person on the on the telephone. Uh, they went, oh, oh, how are you spelling your last name, mr? Whales is, as in the country, or the fish, and I've heard that all my life and that my entire family we always refer to as mammals. And I just happened to say it's a mammal, not a fish, yeah, and I was relaying this story to benji and benji just went. That's the band name mammal, not fish. I's a mammal, not a fish, yeah, and I was relaying this story to benji and benji just went. That's the band name mammal, not fish I went.

Speaker 1 47:23

Well, mammal, not fish. That's it. That is the band name, we've got it, so it completely came by accident yeah, did you, isn't it, dave?

Speaker 2 47:31

dave grohl, that doesn't like foo fighters. Like he said, it was like something that just came out out of nowhere yeah couldn't think of a name and I can't remember who. Is it christopher name? And I can't remember who is it? Christopher Walken? Oh, I can't remember who it was. And he goes. Where do I put the stress? Is it on the foo or the fighters?

Speaker 2 47:44

Full fighters, yeah, full fighters it was like he couldn't wait for him to say it yeah, yeah, just come out of nowhere. But yeah, band names, yeah, they do come out of nowhere. I I don't know if there's anything out there to say where Fallout Boy got their name.

Speaker 1 48:01

Fallout Pit Boy. Oh, it was out there. Yeah, it's from Fallout, yeah what about Panic at the Disco.

Speaker 2 48:07

Did someone just have a panic attack? At a night out and they just thought woo-hoo-hoo, panic at the Disco with the exclamation point yeah yeah, but yeah, it's quite so.

Speaker 1 48:18

If you think about, if we were thinking about a band name, we couldn't come up with anything. It comes out of the randomest place at the randomest time. And Mammal Nutfish for us worked really well because it sounded a little bit like Real Big Fish, which is ska punk as well, and again it's that kind of jokey kind of when people go what do you mean Mammal Nutfish? It fitted in really well with our style of music. It really did.

Speaker 2 48:40

Yeah, nuisance didn't really fit with the style of music. It was just a funny story. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 48:44

So set length. How long are your sets, Hannah?

Speaker 2 48:53

They vary depending on what the venue was and what we were being booked for. I mean, if it was just us on a showcase we tended to play, sometimes for two hours, covers you know, with a break in between or two breaks in between, done three sets at once.

Speaker 2 49:04

That was quite tough on the vocal cords yeah towards the end you're like, yeah, depends on the venue, depends on the. Yeah, I think when you're doing covers in a, in a social club, you tend to play for longer because you're just there as the entertainment or background noise.

Speaker 1 49:19

You also end up being a little bit of a jukebox, don't you? Yeah, people come up to you and start going oh, can you play this song, can you play that?

Speaker 2 49:24

sometimes, I invite it like oh, I used to invite it just like oh, what do you want us to play? And then someone just said, oh, skrillex. I was like we can't do that exactly.

Speaker 1 49:33

Yeah, within reason. Yeah, that does that. That did used to annoy me uh, I know I used to annoy grant as well is that we would? You know people would just shout songs at us and like we're not jukeboxes I mean every just because we're a musician doesn't know, doesn't mean that we know every song in the world.

Speaker 2 49:49

It doesn't work like that every musician will cringe when anyone ever says wonderwall like it's just like yeah, yeah, yeah, no, wait, no, I don't even know how to no I've never heard of the song not heard it once. Oasis who?

Speaker 1 50:05

yeah, exactly I don't.

Speaker 2 50:07

We used to cover.

Speaker 1 50:07

Don't look about, look I never have done, never covered an oasis song don't look back in anger. It's quite a good one well, I did, I did do one classic. I did do wonderwall once for fear of getting beaten up yeah, I was gonna say that guy was getting quite aggressive.

Speaker 2 50:19

To be fair, I would have done as well yeah, so I did.

Speaker 1 50:21

I did play just to shut him up. Yeah, to be fair, I didn't even really play, I just played the first four chords and he carried on singing the rest of it so I didn't really have to do a lot yeah so, yeah, yeah, but we, my sets were so, as a solo artist, used to kind of 45 minutes sets but used to play for sometimes three hours yeah three hours and um, but in the band an hour, yeah, an hour hour and 15 minutes I think it does depend on the venue, depends on the festival.

Speaker 2 50:51

Festivals are normally like half an hour slots, so half an hour, so you just put your best tracks on yeah but if you're playing, if you're doing a gig where you're, you are kind of the background noise and that's not being horrible. That is just sometimes what you're, what you're paid to do. Yeah, just paid to, people won't necessarily listen to you, you're just. You're just a little bit noise in the background and that's fine. Um, I've done a few birthday parties as well.

Speaker 2 51:09

Play for a little bit longer a few parties when you do birthday parties as well, you tend to take requests, so for example like the birthday person will be like oh, is it cool if we have a bit of taylor swift in there or whatever. Like, yeah, sure, like I can learn that for you. Like it's not an issue never been fortunate enough to be a wedding singer or anything like that, but I guess it would be the same situation yeah, for a long time.

Speaker 1 51:29

I mean what it's like with um, with your wedding, with with bear club. So you know, sam, sam and jay asked you is there any particular songs that you wanted for your wedding, didn't you?

Speaker 2 51:37

well, we just said actually, just play, play what you want but, please put chelsea dagger, because I know it's already in their set yeah it's like, yeah, we, we would love chelsea dagger, that'd be great I mean, I mean, they're again phenomenal musicians, yeah, incredible.

Speaker 1 51:47

Yeah, jay sam very fortunate to know them yeah we yep to be fair, we we know a lot of very good musicians yeah you know, there are a lot of good musicians in this county.

Speaker 2 51:57

A lot, yeah, very, very talented people wow, we could talk for, oh well, a lifetime.

Speaker 1 52:05

This could be a six hour episode because I was looking at our talking points and we've still got about another 10 to go yeah, we've, uh, we've glazed over a couple of them.

Speaker 2 52:15

Uh, we have spoken about them, so, um, so so, yeah, anyway, we'll probably stop it there, just just for your boredom, more than anything, because we could go on.

Speaker 1 52:23

We love talking about music.

Speaker 2 52:24

We do, we do um, but yes, we have episodes about lots of things, so please do check us out if you haven't already and you've just stumbled upon this particular episode. Yeah, just um, just just join, join, join the hype. We're on, we're on instagram, join the hype.

Speaker 1 52:39

Join the hype. We're on Instagram join the hype we're on.

Speaker 2 52:42

Facebook, instagram.

Speaker 1 52:43

TikTok, get on the bonus. Dad bonus, daughter train yeah, choo choo.

Speaker 2 52:48

Oh, come on, you went with the train. Yeah, join us. We love you. Thank you for listening. Thank you to all our avid listeners so far liking commenting, sharing everything on socials as well. We love you all. So thank you so much and if you're new, us enjoy and check out our other episodes. Goodbye, outro Music.