FAIRPORT'S CROPREDY CONVENTION
August 7th. 8th and 9th 2025
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2nd Day
Cropredy Primary School Folk Class
Plumhall
Churchfitters
King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys
Skippinish
City Funk Orchestra
Urban Folk Quartet
El Pony Pisador
The Trevor Horn Band
The morning dew is still on the grass as I head to the showers. For those of you who have been camping but not glamping, I can recommend that this one thing is worth the extra money. Refreshed with hot water and various cleansing things, Gil and I walk up to the village again for breakfast. On the way, near the bridge, we pass a few stalls and one is selling rather lovely coats. I try a couple on and ask for Gil’s opinion. She’s not too sure about the green or blue but then her face lights
up when I try the one in the autumn colours. I’m undecided though. With a knowing ‘You’ll be back’ smile, the stallholder says she’ll hold one for me until tomorrow should I change my mind. Just the other side of the bridge is the Banbury and District Canoe Club and our breakfast destination. Once again, the queue moves swiftly. Another egg roll for Gil and another bacon one for me, mine comes with an angry wasp that plonks its stinger in my right hand. Fortunately, Gil has a tube of Wasp-eze which was quickly applied but not as quick as the wasp made its way to wherever wasps go when they unexpectedly die.
The bands start at midday today but before they do, there is a Fairport Convention press conference which I attend. Naturally, some of the questions are about this year’s festival and the fact that it has been scaled back due to spiralling costs, a problem facing all festivals in recent years and one that has forced the cancellation and even closure of some. There’s not much they can say about the future of the festival other than they’ll have to assess the outcome of this one before commenting on 2026. For my part, I let them know that the people I’ve talked to in the audience have their back and would be happy to pay a bit more as it’s become a part of their lives, an annual event that they couldn’t bear the thought of not having. Outside the tent, as they are leaving Simon Nicol approaches me and thanks me for my questions and comments; that was a good moment. I tell him that whatever I can do as journalist to help out, I’ll be there for them. There’s a genuine warmth in his eyes when we shake hands and says “Thank you.”
For the second day, we have another ensemble of kids, this time, the much younger, Cropredy Primary School Folk Class and once again the 6,500 people in the audience were willing them on before they even started. It was easy to spot the Mums and Dads in the audience and they have a right to be proud of their kids as teacher, Kate Harris, sporting a lovely red accordion, guided them through twenty minutes of traditional songs, encouraging the shy ones whilst letting the confident take centre stage. Needless to say, the cheers at the set were second to none and as I go backstage to have a few words with Joe Broughton, see excited kids running into arms of delighted parents. Good moment No. 2.
Joe Broughton
Q: A quick one about your formative years. Your website says that in 1981, the violin captured your imagination. This in a country and era when popular music was ruled by the New Romantics and Shakin’ Stevens. Why the violin?
JB: Yeah. Interesting isn’t it? (smiles) My dad was an amazing guitar player, not professionally but he played Rock and Blues and Jazz. He was a devotee of Hendrix, Clapton, Beck and all the classic stuff which was what I was brought up on but also, my grandma was a ballet dancer and had a school and my dad’s favourite record was Paul Torteller playing the Bach Cello Suites so there was a really big range of music. We went to some festivals when I was really small. At that age, I was playing saucepans and my brother was playing the guitar doing Dave van Ronk impressions and stuff like that and anyway, we went to festivals and someone said to my dad you should go to this folk festival as this band, called Fairport Convention, a folk band, are doing a reunion at Broadland Castle. He said it’ll be a really good festival to take kids to and my dad was like ‘Folk festival? What are you talking about? This person said they have got this amazing guitar player Richard Thompson, who was incredible. My dad again, was like, ‘Folk guitarist? Richard Thompson? What's going on? and he said, “Okay, well, we'll do it.” We went and lo and behold, Richard Thompson really was a spectacular guitarist. My dad was knocked out and went, “Christ, he really is good.” At that festival, I saw Swarb play and he was playing some stuff from, it was that time of his Smiddyburn and Flittin’ albums and I remember him playing “Orange Blossom Special” and “The Mason's Apron” and I can literally pinpoint the moment that I went, “I want to be a fiddle player!” That really fast fiddle playing was so exciting and so brilliant; I thought it was folk music…I didn't get the whole Folk Rock thing. I also didn't get the fact that Swarb sounds like no other fiddle player on the planet. I didn't sort of understand any of that but I just thought, I want to play the fiddle. So, I got a fiddle and I had played folk stuff, but also started imitating Stéphane Grappelli and having classical lessons. That all happened, you know, just like at the same time.
Q: Fast forward 40 years, you've done more to encourage young children to pick up instruments and play together than certainly anybody in the UK, possibly the world…
JB: Well…
Q: Just take the compliment Joe…
JB: (smiles) Thank you. It's a very nice compliment anyway.
Q: The sheer joy on their faces yesterday when they're performing, that's payment enough, isn't it?
Q: Well, it doesn't pay your mortgage, (laughs) but yes, I see what you say. Yeah, I mean, it seems to be a lot of the battle is getting people to remember that you are actually supposed to enjoy making music. That's not to say I never say, “Oh, the best thing about music is its just fun.” I never say that because it's blindingly sort of like your life depends on how great music is. Music is important to me and it’s important that you play well but the point is, the way to play music in the best way is to express what's happening in the music. I'm sick of seeing people play jolly tunes and looking miserable. They don't tend to do it the other way around, play death marches with a big grin on their face. (laughs) so I don't know why that happens that way around. I do all these sorts of experiments I've done for years. I get the ensemble all to stand still and look really miserable and play the tunes and they just don't sound the same. Literally, the music doesn't sound the same so to make the music better, everybody has to actually feel it. If it's a happy tune, you feel happy. It’s part of like when you act, it's like when actors go, “Oh, I'm in my character, let’s be happy here.” They don't just put a grin on and do it. They feel happy and then it comes out as happy. The same thing happens with music. If you're trying to play something that is uplifting, has energy about it and you want to communicate it to an audience, you have to, you have to feel it. So they are actually out there having a good time but they're doing it in a very professional way. They learn how to express the music and to feel it and even if they don't feel like that, they still look like that and act it in the most genuine way so that the music comes across to an audience like that.
Q: What's your pep talk to them before you go on stage?
JB: I don't actually say anything by this point in the tour because we started touring back in April/May. We've done a lot of shows so by this point we sort of just know to enjoy it. We do a lot of jumping up and down, standing on one leg, standing on the other leg. We do a lot of work with energy levels where we pretend to sing through something at energy level one and then energy level 10 and just build it up and get ourselves going. Then they just get into it and look after themselves. I talked to them yesterday though and told them how important this gig is to me. I told them there'll lots of important people here and that we want to have a great time. We want to be at our best when playing on a big stage. I also said it'll be absolutely fantastic and I wanted them to really, really concentrate on playing it well, doing what we do. Then I said, “On the other hand, the worst thing to do is to treat it as a special case so just forget about all that. Ignore everything I just said. Just go out and have a great time and be your usual wonderful selves.”
Q: I've been to lots of music schools and seen teachers working. You somehow managed to create something very, very special and I wondered if that comes out of your experience or if it’s just natural.
JB: It comes out of my belief that without music, there'd be no human race - which is absolutely true and proved beyond doubt. Music was originally used to give a kind of group mentality to people, which meant they could have empathy and work together to, to hunt and build shelter. That's where rhythms and songs begin, right back then. I'm absolutely sick of the hierarchy and education of things like physics and maths being at the top of the tree and treating the arts tree as some kind of icing on the cake. Physics is great. Do it in your own time. It's a nice hobby but actually the arts and music is about understanding who we actually are. I mean, literally, who are we and how do we communicate with each other. I feel very strongly about it and I'm not at all surprised that the more music they take out of education, the more things like music therapy we need to get people out of the shit because they're having problems in life. Do you know what I mean? It's such an obvious thing. I do strongly believe it in a very serious way. I take that into everything that I do and without wanting to sound too pompous, I know that the way to get people to go is to give them lots of energy. It's no secret in the folk ensemble. They're really good. I just tell them they're brilliant all the time; I literally, just tell them. In turn, I expect people to really work hard and they do. I never have any problem with them. They never want to let me down, they never, they know how important it is and I, you know, I've loved them all. We have got so many people come through the ensemble who are just amazing. (smiles) So, it's keeping it always incredibly positive and just making it about what is important in music, which is the energy and communication rather than every note and that’s not because the notes are not important, but the notes are utterly meaningless without that other side to it. The music is a completely abstract thing, isn't it? Here are notes and what? There's nothing. So, what is it about music? If I want to express something to you or why my girlfriend left me, why do I write a song about it and sing it to you rather just telling you? It’s because if I write a song, I can make you feel how I feel about what's happening. Then we have a common thing: That's what music is and you can do it through this style of music or that style of music or with a few notes or many notes. You can do it with simple music or you can do it with something really complicated but the point is, are you achieving what you want? Are you communicating something with people? We'll listen back to the gig tomorrow and there'll be all sorts of little dodgy bits around the edge and the way to make it more accurate in that sense, would be to stand still, to concentrate, to think more metronomically but that would kill it all and wouldn't do the thing that music is supposed to do. So sometimes, you have to put your musical technique and your ego to one side to actually give music to people.
Q: That's the very argument I use against a lot of bands these days, who play to click tracks and play to backing tracks. There's just no feel there at all because they're concentrating so hard on trying to reproduce what they did in studio, which was done by a computer anyway.
JB: Yeah, it's a very, it's a difficult thing, isn't it because I think that there's a place for a lot of accuracy and re-recording like the great Trevor Horn who we have playing tonight. He’s an absolute master of things like click tracks, drum machines, the things that he put together in order to get a particular effect but he’s also a phenomenal musician, and I'm really excited about seeing him, seeing him play. There is a place for all of that immense production and accuracy and stuff but I bet he doesn't approach it that way for a live show, though.
Q: Well the difference with Trevor, of course, is he grew up through recording 16-track live and being inventive. Undoubtedly the greatest producer of the 80s, we all know that but he took that 70s experience in with it. Now people are going into the studio with 2010 experience and it's just, oh yeah, punch that button and that button.
JB: Yeah, it is tricky, you know. It's that whole question, people asking the question about what will happen, you know, when AI writes all the songs and things and quite simply, it will never happen. It will literally never happen. It might happen for some people who can't distinguish between a shit song and a good song but that's still an issue whether it's a computer or somebody just churning out something that's happened before on the computer. It really makes no difference. There's a massive difference between all of that area and when somebody has something to say and somebody's going to express something to people and communicate it to them. That is the human existence part of it and it's why I mentioned it on stage yesterday because I feel strong about it. It's why things like these festivals, people getting together and playing and experiencing music together live is utterly crucial. I have students and I say, “Oh, have you ever seen this band play live?” and they say, “Yeah, yeah…on YouTube.” I'm like, “That's not live! You don't understand, that's not live!” That's what we're talking about
Q: Your dedication to music Joe is unquestionable. Who's Joe Broughton away from work? Do you ever stop doing anything musical?
JB: I do love walking with audiobooks, but then the ones I listen to are music related. Trevor Horn’s, “Adventures in Modern Recording”, Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey's books talking about the inside of The Who, Chris Blackwell’s from Island Records. They've been all like fascinating audiobooks. I like to walk and I'm really into like cooking and Paloma, my wife who is in Urban Folk Quartet, is Spanish, and we love cooking and drinking wine and I'm devoted to my wonderful daughter, Sabella, who we got up to play yesterday. We've a close family, We’ve just moved to Stratford and like having a walk down the river. We go to Spain where Paloma's from and sit on the beach but talking music, making speeches about music, teaching music, playing music, having the folk ensemble UFQ, it’s sort of like my day job, really and I'm very fortunate to have never done anything else. I've never had a bar job or worked at a petrol station because we played our first paid gigs - me and Ben, my big brother - when I was 10, playing Edinburgh Festival. Well actually, I was in the circus as a kid. That was the only other job that I did.
Q: Joe Broughton: multi-instrumentalist, musician, teacher, actor, circus performer, magician, poet, actor, producer and composer. What's next, Joe?
JB (smiles) Yeah, I don't know. Retirement? No. I loved all those things. I was really into poetry as a kid. I've been trying to get back into it and encourage my daughter to do it as well and the circus thing was brilliant, but I had to choose. I actually ran away from the circus when I was about 14 because I was doing things like juggling fire on unicycles and stuff and getting injuries and then having a gig to play and you have to choose at some point, so I chose that I would, you know, like, play the fiddle. That probably makes me about the only person on the planet who opted to be a Folk fiddler because it was the most sensible career path. (laughs)
Q: Joe, thanks very much for your time. Whatever you do, just never stop doing what you're doing. You are an enormous asset to the music community in this country.
JB: Thank you so much.
Fairport Convention Press Conference
Having a laugh with Joe Broughton
Plumhall return this year as a four-piece, twice the size of their guest appearance with the Fairport’s last year. Given the full band treatment, their music is obviously fuller but it also highlights the talent that they are, especially their harmonies. Between songs, they joked about life together and reminisced about previous Cropredys. The love that came off the stage for the festival was obvious and coupled with such marvellous songs as “City Starlings” and “Way Down In The Well,” the band truly embraced the festival spirit and made everyone there feel like part of the same family. It was quite something to experience and a privilege to witness and they were followed by Churchfitters, a trio that has an eclectic line up of instruments to say the least. The sort of minds that make a bass called the Benzouki out of a Mercedes hubcap, add Magic Boots, a saw and other odds and sods from around the home to create music must border on genius. The music itself is just as creative, having Folk as its roots but expanding into areas both of this earth and seemingly, sometimes outside it. Mind-expanding it certainly is and Gil’s recommendation last night not to miss them went rewarded with our first pint from the mini-keg of Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter we had lugged into the field today. Next up, my recommendation not to miss but first, a chat with one of today’s acts.
Plumhall
Michelle Plum, Nick Hall, David Crickmore (k), James Crickmore (d)
Q: Well, that was fun!
NH: Thank you, yeah.
Q: Did you have a good time?
NH: Yeah, it was a bit of a stressful one because a bit of my pedalboard broke and we plugged everything in and just nothing we couldn't get anything out of my electric guitar but the crew were amazing and together we fixed things and that calmed me down.
Q: One Star Away your best album so far
All: Thank you.
Q: It's very different to your previous two albums. Was that a deliberate, conscious thing you did?
NH: I think so. I think the first one was a bit more Americana. We hadn't quite established our identity, I don't think and then the second one, we wanted to try and use a bit more electronic.
MP: We did that subtly and then we went a little bit further with the third one.
NH: And also, Michelle was really getting really into using some orchestral sounds as well. Michelle's been creating lots of beautiful orchestral sort of sample-y type things. So that orchestral element came in.
Q: Songs are credited to both of you. So how do you write?
MP: Well, actually, Nick is a more prolific writer than me but I'm a more prolific sort of melody writer. So Nick writes a lot of lyrics and then some of them I'll go “Oh, can I have those?" and I'll write a melody to that. (turns to Nick) But you write great melodies as well.
NH: Well, what's interesting is that sometimes it's usually a song where I think, I've got these words but I don't really know how to wrestle them into a song form and then it's great that we've got such great trust between us that I can just hand the song over to Michelle and Michelle will change words and move things around. Also, Michelle will spot that that's the bridge and that's the chorus and you don't need that bit. David is brilliant as well in the studio editing and producing the song. So it's a real team effort, actually. It works really well but I probably have more lyric ideas than we need, actually. I'm always in my phone writing lyrics down all the time.
Q: So when you write, because there are years between your albums do you tend to write and go, ‘Right, we'll record that in two years and it's exactly the same as when you wrote it, or do they morph?
NH: They probably morph through live performance, actually.
MP: I think so, yeah. These days, definitely, we tend to go out and gig them before we record them whereas, actually, I think on the first album we were writing on the fly, weren't we?
NH: Yeah.
MP: I seem to remember we had maybe eight songs or something that we wanted to go in with, and then we went “Well, we need three more so we'd better write them!” (laughs)
NH: I'm sort of writing into the genre as well. We thought we need something that sounds right, that's got this feel to it. So that sort of pointed us in that way.
Q: And how about this fellow? (gestures to David)
NH: Oh, he's amazing. He's a multi-instrumentalist, producer. Incredible.
MP: Juggler!
Q: A four-piece this time around. Does that give you license to change the set list and try other things?
NH: It sort of brings out... It's almost like trying to recreate the albums live.
DC: I suppose there are certain tracks that benefit from that more than others.
There are songs that you can do better acoustically and there are songs that are more transformational that you can do as the whole thing as it was recorded on the record.
MP: Yes and we also could have fun with them because they are of a certain length but we could jam out a little bit at the end. Nick could go crazy on the guitar as well so that was nice.
NH: What's great as well is, of course, the last album, One Star Away, this is the band that made the album so we could then take it onto the stage.
Q: There is a very healthy folk scene here. Whereas other genres, Metal, for example, are really struggling. There are so many folk festivals, so many people out here who want to keep this going. It's almost growing. What do you attribute it to?
MP: I don't know very much about folk. I feel like a little bit of a fraud (laughs) but I think Folk is about people and it's for people. It's not necessarily about historical figures or anything like that but it's about people coming together and I just feel like we need that right now. That's the way things are. I don't know much about Metal either but it seems very angry.
Q: Great observation.
NH: I think its angry trying to get feelings out so you're happy. It's a cathartic thing, isn't it? I think there's a real metal community out there a lot of Heavy Metal bands.
Q: There's a metal community but t's not like this.
MP: Is it not?
Q: No.
MP: I've never been to a Metal festival, I wouldn't know.
Q: I was talking to the Fairport guys earlier and I described them as the first Folk family of Britain. You have the Carters in America, which are the first Country family and I said, you're the first Folk family, not in the fact that you're all related but the fact that it feels like a family.
NH: There's a tribe isn’t there? There's a family tree, especially with Fairport, their family tree is incredible. All the different bands that fit around them, the hub that is Fairport is amazing.
MP: Also, thinking about Joe Broughton yesterday and learning from him that he's basically put a thousand kids through that process. No wonder the Folk scene is growing.
NH: We met a music teacher today who'd been in the band years before. So that means the mums and dads that support the kids.
MP: Yes.
Q: You are part of the Fairport family now…
MP: People keep saying that to us and it's still absolutely amazing to hear.
NH: It's incredibly flattering because they are lovely people and all the people around Fairport are supportive and wonderful and kind.
MP: They really are. They go the extra mile as well for the families and the people who have supported them and the people who are struggling as well. It's really moving to see that.
Q: I mentioned to the guys yesterday at the press conference that had I walked around and I think I talked to probably thirty people and I said that the festival's struggling. There's cutbacks, you can see that and I said, if they put up ticket prices by £30, how would you feel and all 30, or however many it was, just said yes. They said, they’d pay £50 to see Albert Lee
NH: Yes, that's a very good point.
MP: There's a lovely feel this year as well, I think. Especially with the young people performing as well. That's a really great thing.
Right, now, who is this quiet man? (gestures to James)
NH: It's his son!
Q: Oh right. Yes. How does it feel to be out there James?
JC: Yeah, great. I mean, I've been coming since 2014 so that's, what, 11 years now. So it's great to play. It's something I've always wanted to do so do it was brilliant.
Q: A bit apprehensive going on stage?
JC: Yeah, well, there was that.
DC: We were all apprehensive going on stage…(laughter)
JC: And then I made it worse…(laughter)
DC: I'm a producer so I have a studio and James has been doing drums for me. As soon as I worked out that he was better than I was then James has become the drummer of choice for doing sessions in the studio. So he's got a lot of experience of playing and playing tightly in time for recording but this is an early chance for him to actually play in front of a big audience.
Q: You did well.
JC: Thank you.
Q: Thank you all very much. Enjoy the rest of the day.
All: Thank you!
Plumhall
In years to come, if your kids ever ask you what the musical term ‘Swing’ is, just play them a King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys video. A hark back to the 1940s and 50s they certainly are but in today’s ever widening catalogue of music genres, a fantastic reminder of where many of those genres started and this afternoon, they were as hot as the weather. They Jump-jived, boogied, rocked and rolled until the sweat was pouring off them into their sharp-as-a-tack royal blue suits. King Pleasure himself is a barrel-chested frontman with a timbre in his voice that rippled the beer in our glasses a la the T.Rex in Jurassic Park. Infectious, good-time stuff. After that, it was back to traditional music for the next set. Celtic tunes and a selection of their own songs taken from their quarter of a decade of being together, Skipinnish pack Scotland in a van and take it with them wherever they go and when playing, evoke the Scot within you. They captured the essence of a place most of the audience have never experienced, brought it to Cropredy and made us all want to go there. Accompanying the singalongs and rousing vocals, there is lots of frantic fiddling, a selection of dexterous fine whistling and some of the best bagpipe playing you’ll ever hear. Tea-time approached, the perfect time for City Funk Orchestra grace the stage. To play good Funk and Soul, you have to have Funk and Soul within you and every member has it. Singers Imaani and Angelo Starr lead the way through a slick set with their incredible array of talent behind them. The collective CV of the band is jaw dropping to say the least - Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson and Donna Summer to name but three – and it’s easy to hear why they are held in such high regard amongst their peers. The crowd didn’t need much encouragement to get up and boogie and at the end of the set, demanded they come back out for one more song. I muse that it may be the first encore I’ve ever seen at Cropredy as I head backstage to meet the King.
King Pleasure
Q: From your website: “King Pleasure evokes eating, drinking, spending money, chasing chicks and having a good time. Overdoing it more than somewhat, and explaining the events of the night before to the judge on the morning after.” Where do I sign up?
KP: (laughs) I'm going to say, I've never come across or read that before. I should know that off by heart. Oh, it's so much fun, really. Yeah, I want to join that band.
Q: I didn't realise how many swing bands were actually out there in the UK. I've been in Japan 25 years, so I'm kind of catching up on a lot of stuff. You seem to be spearheading it all.
KP: Well, I can only remember when we first started, it was about 40 years ago. We just wanted to be a kind of Bill Haley and The Comets, Rock and Roll bands. So we did that and it's kind of took off from there, really. Some people have always said we are a Jazz band or a Swing band but, mate, I was just always into 50s rock and roll.
Q: Which comes from a lot of that stuff anyway.
KP: Yeah, of course.
Q: You said you've been doing this 40 years. I reckon you're having more fun now than you've ever had.
KP: Oh, absolutely! I loved it as a kid. I never believed I'd still be doing it 40 years later, which is amazing. When you’re younger, you want to be cool, you want to be this, you want to be that. Now I've got to an age where it's just kind of a relaxed enjoyment and you have to pass on that enjoyment, which is always the great thing with a crowd. It's that thing that, they love it because they can see us loving it - hopefully.
Q: You were too young to remember this music first time around so what was your intro to it?
KP: My parents were big into music but it wasn't really listening to their music. For some reason, when I was a kid, I really got into this 50s Rock and Roll thing, I just loved it, and it just went from there. I just couldn't get enough of it. I don't know why but, you know, for some people, a certain type of music just clicks and this thing and then as I grew older, I wanted to recreate it a little bit.
Q: It's an instant party when you go on stage. What do you do to warm up as a band?
KP: Not much. Well, apart from drink, that's pretty easy. (smiles) I'm a drinker because it's social, and it's legal, and it's okay. I can't wait to get on stage and give everyone a good time, as I enjoy it, and want to pass it on. I really, genuinely do want to pass it on to you.
Q: My mum named me after Glenn Miller. You've played at Twinwoods Festival many times. What a museum!
KP: It is! It's one of those things that's weirdly... Obviously, he’s a big name, but Glenn Miller doesn't mean such a big thing in America as he is in Britain. For Britain, he’s our wartime, musical hero and then with Twinwoods, there was Glenn Miller's younger brother, Herb Miller, he used to have the band, and his son was John Miller, so John Miller used to play but, yes, for us, Glenn Miller is the man. It just summed up that wartime music.
Q: A lot of talk about AI these days. Do you think AI could ever recreate what you do and what Glenn did?
KP: No, I'm sure it could recreate it in some way on vinyl, but a live band requires a live band to create that excitement. So, although sounds could be done and they might even be able to do better than we do, you've got to be there and smiling and having fun rather than just a video. Even if you're on stage and not smiling, - which is never going to happen of course - there's a feel that you can't fake.
King Pleasure
Another pint of Harvey's Glenn? Oh, go on then...
Gil and I’s decision to crack open the keg of Harvey’s today was a very good one as it’s now going down very well. Likewise, the decision to make this year’s festival more about its Folk roots has so far looked like a very good idea and it’s reinforced by the music supplied by Urban Folk Quartet. It’s another one of Joe Broughton’s contributions, another one of his seemingly never-ending alternative creative outlets. It’s essentially Joe on a few instruments, Paloma Trigás on the fiddle, Dan Walsh on a few other instruments and Tom Chapman, a bloke who sits on a box and hits and shakes things. If that all sounds a bit thrown together, I assure you it’s not, quite the opposite in fact. Their music is intricate, uses odd time signatures and most of all, fun as can be seen by Paloma’s ever-present smile. Their arrangement of Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill is simply inspired. Gil suggests another pint but I decline (postpone really) as I have one more interview to do today.
City Funk Orchestra
Imaani (v), Angelo Starr (v), Geoff Dunn (d), Carl Hudson (k)
Q: I've seen a lot of funk soul bands over the years. Some good, some bad. You guys are top draw.
I: Thank you.
Q: Big question. Are you born with it or could you learn it?
AS: Well, that's a good question. I mean, you never know…
GD: I think you've got to love it.
AS: You might be born with it, but if you don't love it…
CH: Or you're born with the enthusiasm.
I: Yeah, but you've got to work hard to get to where you are, you know, to do your homework and, you know, practice your craft. You know, all the musicians have worked so hard to be as amazing as they are.
CH: It doesn't feel like hard work; sometimes it feels like just a desire.
I: Yeah, not after the time has been put in. Then it stops being hard work.
Q: But you guys sound so free on stage but tight as well. How do you achieve that?
I: It's been going a while. Geoff, how long's the band been going? Geoff started the band.
GD: Probably 10, 15 years now but I mean, the thing about it is all the guys are... everybody is here because we kind of communicate well on stage and everything else and we like each other and we like each other's playing and singing and what we do. So, you have a kind of just a feeling with everybody where you, you know, intuitively a lot of the time, if you're listening, then you can just react to what's going on. It's a kind of a communal thing that everyone enjoys. Everyone contributes, everyone's listening, the conversations go different ways. Everyone's just comfortable enough and good at what they do to be able to do it.
AS: I think I would certainly parrot that. I remember one artist I was working with one time and he said, you know, a good show starts offstage, backstage. And that's never been a truer statement said because if you like the musicians, if you like the people you're working with, you communicate well offstage, that will translate onto the stage and you don't have to worry about that bit. You can just go out there and have fun.
GD: There's huge respect with everyone and everybody kind of wants to be good and everyone wants each other's respect as well. So there's a healthy need to be good and be respected at doing what you do.
Q: So literally every night will be slightly different.
AS: It is, yeah. That's the beauty of it.
I: Yeah, and also, it's dependent on the audience. What we get from the audience is what we give to the audience; today, it was absolutely incredible.
CH: With a really discerning crowd, people that would know a melody. It gives you a reason to play with dynamics. People are going to listen properly and not just have a rave.
Q: But surely you don't get bad crowds because everybody comes to see you because they want to see you.
GD: No, not really but we get different crowds. We get different crowds. Sometimes you get like a crowd that are just all real Soul heads and know every word to every song. And then you get other people that have never heard us or don't know the stuff but they're still into it because you're still delivering to them.
I: Because it's infectious and I think it translates well to any audience.
Q: You mentioned that the gig starts off stage. What do you do to warm up?
AS: Well, exactly what we were saying before. We laugh. We tell stories. There's always stories from the gig road. We reminisce on the stories. We talk about desires. We know each other's families. It's that! We become friends.
CH: We become friends, become family. We're not just colleagues anymore. We're making a record at the minute. We meet up at each other's houses and we make dinner have barbeques…We're just friends.
Q: There's a new album coming out?
All: Ah…ermm…
GD: It's in the pipeline, yeah.
I: We've got a few great tunes.
GD: We've got a few great tunes already and we're sort of building it up.
CH: And the ideas are coming thick and fast as well.
Q: So you've got an ETA for it?
I: No.
GD: We should have something out in the fall. So, you know, a single at least. So definitely October, November.
Q: How do you record? Are you all in the studio together?
GD: We do rhythm section things together and then we do vocals after. And we sort of write in the same room and do our kind of demo thing and then we take that away and then we do the rhythm section thing and it evolves again.
CH: I'll add a few keyboards here and decorate a little bit. Add a couple more guitar parts and that kind of thing.
Q: Producer?
GD: We all are really. All mucking in together, all arguing with each other. (smiles)
I: Yes.
GD: Imaani's always right though (smiles)
I: And it's taken me a while to get them to see that but they're there now. (all laugh) It's there now so life is better for all of them. (smiles)
CH: But in truth, I think we all converge on the same ideas. Because we all like the same kind of music so much. This music, we listen to it and we all have the same tastes.
AS: And influences. Growing up, we are professional musicians and singers and whatever now. But at the beginning of that process, we were just like everybody else. We were consumers of the music.
CH: This is the music I listen to in the car.
I: That's right. So we're just trying to make music now that we still love.
CH: I think that's the thing I like most about the band. Because we all share that, it makes this band very joyful to play. People that like the same music as deep music.
Q: Your level of musicianship is great. I mean, professional band, obviously. There is this thing about, dare I say it, AI at the moment...
GD: It can't really do what we do, that's the thing. I mean, yes, it can make a pastiche of a certain style in a certain area as long as you brief it to that. But it can't really, you know, the nuances and the improvisation and the kind of spirit isn't there. It's not the same thing.
I: Yes.
CH: Have you noticed it's becoming a bit of a dirty word?
Q: Yes.
CH: I think just generally. I think the reaction has been quite negative to AI music. I'm noticing, I'm just sitting back and watching. Have you noticed when people share AI pictures, people go, oh, did you do that? It's like people are starting to say, I didn't make this with AI, I made this myself. I think the truth is going to come out.
AS: I come from a technical background and when I was young, I was an electrical engineer and I was at the start of all of this stuff. We called it robotics back then, blah, blah, blah. There will always be a moment for the next big thing, for the newest thing or whatever it is, but beyond that is where we live, longevity. The ability to exist.
CH: Honesty.
AS: Yeah, to exist and surpass those trends. The longevity is what's really important.
GD: An AI can't be at a gig.
AS: Yes and it won't be longevity, it will have its moment. Some people will suffer, some bands will suffer as a result of it, some songwriters will suffer as a result of it. But ultimately, the person who's in it for the long haul, which we all are, will be okay, because it's just a moment and it will pass.
CH: If you write a song, and you could get an AI prompt to write something of a similar thing, that really means your song is not as strong as you think. It's just generic and throwaway. So just go back to the drawing board and try harder.
I: I think consumers are going to, we've had a little rush of AI and certainly the younger generations are really, really enjoying it. But we're already, we've been to the peak of it. That's my feeling. And we're coming off of it and people just want the real deal now. They want to go back to the real deal now.
AS: Simply put, you know, AI is just a human being, it's an animal. It's that classic, it's the classic thing, you know. We have all those little nuances in between everything. It's hard to simulate.
I: In a musical world where, you know, pride was coming back. People want the real deal.
Q: So, last question. You've all worked with some of the greats. Got an anecdote you can share?
I: Oh my goodness. I once sat down and had a drink with Dionne Warwick and she was, I know, I realise what I'm saying. It was after a gig, I was with Incognito. I can't even remember where we were. But we sat down and had a drink and I said to her, when I was growing up, my dad had one of your albums and Message to Michael and all those tunes. That's part of the beginnings of my singing. That's how I knew I wanted to do it. I feel a bit starstruck. She said to me, girl, stars are in the sky. I thought, what a bloody lovely person. And I've lived by that kind of ethic all the way through. Because you stand on the stage, and people perceive you in a particular way and maybe you're too good to speak to them or whatever. It's like, no, stars are in the sky, you're a musician, we're all here together. She was just the realest, kindest person I've ever sat down with. And I'd love to be like that.
I: Well, you probably are like that. Is she like that?
GD: Not really. (all laugh)
El Pony Pisador (The Prancing Pony before you ask) are Spanish so you wouldn’t expect them to perform English Folk, let alone a sea shanty or some Celtic music but they do all that and more including a bit of yodelling. This septet took the award for ‘Best Audience Participation’ when they taught us a dance from scratch. Starting it very simply with instructions about the steps and a slow melody played on the violin, it was somewhat chaotic at first but three minutes later, the entire band were all playing at full flight and the field was stepping forward, stepping backwards and turning in unison. – Extraordinary.
Rounding out the day, the eagerly awaited Trevor Horn Band. We had been waiting a year for this as Trevor had to cancel last year due to health issues. I had caught him for a quick chat backstage earlier and Gil and I, along with the rest of the glampers, had been privy to his soundcheck this morning so we half knew what was coming. That said, we were not prepared for the sheer power live of the opening song “Two Tribes” nor him playing his ace “Video Killed The Radio Star” for the second number. It was a brilliant move as were all then on a voyage of discovery rather than expectation. It was hit after hit after hit, all meticulously performed and punctuated by great anecdotes. Lol Crème is a regular in his band from Producers days and the banter and stories between the two of them added great humour to the set which included 10CC’s “I’m Not In Love”, and “Rubber Bullets” as well as Godley & Crème’s, “Cry”. Marillion’s Steve Hogarth guested and sang Joe Jackson’s “It’s Different For Girls” and Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose” and we even got some Prog with Yes’ “Owner Of A Lonely Heart”. It was a great end to the day. An hour and a half of music that evoked memories of the eighties, all connected by the man at the front on the bass, the illustrious Trevor Horn. The Harvey’s keg was empty but had served us well and we walked back to the tent looking at the full moon with the opening line of “Downtown Train” echoing in our minds, safe in the knowledge that tomorrow would bring our favourite opening and closing acts. Damn, life is good!