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Franklin Fest 2016 - Pre Festival Interview - Fanny Pelmet and the Bastard Suits

 
Fanny Pelmet And The Bastard Suits will be playing as part of the Franklin Fest Saturday afternoon showcase at Leith Depot (from 1.30pm) with Geek Maggot Bingo, The No-Things and The Fnords.

Debbie: What's going on with Fanny Pelmet & Bastard Suits at the moment?
 
We've had a quite year so far due to other commitments. Hope to do some recording before the end of the year, before or after our jet setting drummer goes on her travels to save the world.
 
Debbie: What's the bands backstory, and what is a Bastard Suit??
 
We've been together for about five or six years originally to cover Driving Stupid songs and other food based tracks but we ended up stopping to eat biscuits and cakes all the time so changed direction. This is what happens when you have chef in the band. We eventually found our way to do what we do now.
 
We're all Dr Feelgood fans and used to play a couple of their numbers and still do on occasions, anyway, our name comes from the description of their bass player Sparko Sparks suit as described in Oil City Confidential, the Bastard Suit part that is, which I think in turn was named as the Sweeney wore then in the TV show of the same name, and they were all bastards!
 
Debbie: Why should we come and see you play at the Franklin Fest?
 
We'll be playing some top songs: Freak Beat, Fuzz and harmonies, and a little snottyness. If that's your thing, then come and see us.
 
Debbie: What you are looking forward to the most about the weekend?  
 
This is our fist time playing the Franklin Fest, but we have played the Franklin R'N'R Club several times over the last couple of years and the audience, atmosphere and bands are always great. Really looking forward to seeing Thee Jezebels whom we've never seen and Oh! GunQuit who were fantastic fun the last time they played The Franklin, even if I couldn't get a note out of the trumpet!! Most looking forward to being there again, last year was a blast.
 
Debbie: It was indeed-y.  
 
Tickets for the Franklin Fest can be found here tickets-scotland.com 
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Franklin Fest 2016 - Pre Festival Interview - The Sine Waves

 
The Sine Waves will be playing on Saturday 25th at The Franklin Fest from 7pm with the likes of: Oh! Gunquit, The Embrooks, Thee Jezebels and The Mindreaders. 
 
Debbie: Earth calling Planet Sine Wave... please explain yourselves... 
 
SW: Well, funny you should ask that. It's an interesting time in the Sine Waves Lab. We are currently cloning a new guitarist with interesting modifications of the original model, the Deltron 2000. Early tests suggest this has been wholly successful. The new model is called Molecule aka The Mighty Atom. We are extremely happy with it, having carried out a recent field test in San Sebastian at the Medway Legends Weekender.
 
Debbie: Wooo, sounds intriguing... and releases...
 
SW: The band released a mini-album in Compact Disc format last year and this will be available from the Franklin Fest Official Souvenir Boutique for a nominal sum. An expanded vinyl version of the album has, alas, been delayed in the post-production process. 
 
Debbie: ...and gigs?...
 
We are very much available for bookings, having previously visited places as far afield as Liverpool, Brighton, Bristol, Bath, Livorno, Liege & Middleburg. We all love to travel - exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations etc.
 
Debbie: Please tell us a bit about the band (interesting and maybe irrelevant facts - all are welcome!) 
 
The band was formed in 2013AD and is based in Hastings, on the Sussex coast. The sea air makes us much healthier than other bands, especially as bassist Spectrum LG is an avid marathon runner, so does more than enough exercise for all of us. She is also a Mathematics teacher and Jezebel. The band strongly advocates the study of maths and science for pleasure. 
 
Debbie: eeeeeeeek! >_< (maths is like torture for me!) 
 
SW: Keys wizard Project X is the band's boffin, who spends most of his time in his workshop (or on the dining room table) tinkering with electronic components and building his own collection of bespoke organs, theramins and time travel capsules. He is a man of uncompromising musical tastes and he and Spectrum are responsible for the superb monthly Fratcave in Hastings, which extends a warm welcome to fuzzed-up, high octane garage, psych and surf bands worldwide.
 
Debbie: WOW.
 
SW: At the bongo end of things is Dr Magnus Psyke, who has been transmogrified from previous incarnations in bands such as The Dentists, Armitage Shanks, Ye Ascoyne d'Ascoynes and Auntie Vegetable, to play a surf beat with a reasonable degree of competency.
 
 
Debbie: Other than by cosmic mind manipulation, how would The Sine Waves go about persuading mere earthlings to come and see you play at the Franklin Fest? 
 
Well, I wouldn't necessarily advocate going out of your way if you've already got other plans, simply to see us. If the prospect of seeing the Mindreaders, Jezebels, Embrooks and Oh! Gunquit, isn't going to tear you away from Kojak and the Generation Game, or whatever is on the box on a Saturday in this century, then the prospect of a half-hour of science-based garage surf instrumentals is unlikely to tip the balance. On the other hand... Where else can you see a half-hour of science-based garage surf instrumentals at a festival named after one of the world's bravest, craziest and unluckiest explorers? (early polar exploration is one of my pet subjects)
 
Debbie: Surely they beta-max Kojak for a later date? Best of both worlds! Lastly, what are you most excited about for the Franklin weekend?
 
Meeting up with old chums and new chums in one of the finest cities on the planet - What could be better? Reacquainting myself with haggis, pound notes and blue-headed matches, and wondering if I'll see the ghost of the girl who smiled at me once on Cockburn Street in 1993...
 
Thank you, and thank you again, to The Sine Waves. If you're still wavering about buying that ticket, then stop it already! Here is the link... tickets-scotland.com
More info on The Sine Waves can be found here... https://www.facebook.com/TheSineWaves/?fref=ts
 
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Franklin Fest 2016 - Pre Festival Interview - Geek Maggot Bingo

On the back of their rambunctious debut album, Geek Maggot Bingo surely have exciting times ahead. Certainly no less than playing as part of the Franklin Fest afternoon showcase at Leith Depot (from 1.30pm, lest you forget).

Debbie: Please feel free to sell yourselves... 

Andy: We’ve just released our debut album, 'This Is This. This Ain't Something Else. This Is This.'

We'll have copies with us at Leith Depot on the 25th. You should all buy it. It will make you happy and not sad. We may even play a couple of songs from it in between all the songs from the next two albums.

And we recently recorded a few more songs and plans are now afoot to shoot a video.

We're also looking at how soon we can get back into the studio to record the next album (or two).

Johnny: We released our first album a couple of weeks ago. It's a festival of garage rock n roll joy and everyone should buy a copy.

Pease tell us a bit about the band (interesting and maybe irrelevant facts - all are welcome!)

Debbie: What are Geek Maggot Bingo - aspirations and dreams... 

Andy: We're a three-piece rock 'n' roll band, just trying to make the world a better place, one song at a time.

I’d really like us to appear in an episode of Doctor Who. Preferably one featuring Cybermen. So if anybody has an in, let us know.

Will: I just read Reg Presley’s Wild Things They Don't Tell Us and you should too.

Debbie: Why should we, the people, come and see you play at the Franklin Fest? 

Andy: I'll be putting new strings on my guitar. Second time this year. Come along and see them sparkle.

Debbie: Fair do's...

Johnny: The Franklin Fest has a ton of amazing bands this year so you can be pretty sure all of them are worth seeing. We will be doing our thing on Saturday afternoon. You may well find that our thing is your thing too. I look forward to every gig with these guys and Franklin Fest is no exception. People seem to like what we're doing and we love doing it, so it's always a thrill to get up and play. Add in a bunch of other great bands to watch and I reckon if I can't get inspired and excited then it would be time to chuck in the towel!

Debbie: Well said... 

Will: I like Les Grys-Grys a great deal! 

So, if that's not good reason enough to drag yourself along, then I can only suggest that you check your pulse.

Tickets for the Franklin Fest can be found here tickets-scotland.com & here... https://www.facebook.com/events/887127007990280/ ... More info on the Geeks here... https://www.facebook.com/GeekMaggotBingo/?fref=ts

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Franklin Fest 2016 - Pre Festival Interview - The Fnords

The fnormidable (groan...) Fnords will be playing at the Franklin Fest 2016 afternoon showcase on Saturday 25th at The Leith Depot from 1:30pm with other Scottish based bands The No-Things, Fanny Pelmet & The Bastard Suits, Geek Maggot Bingo, and the mysterious The Nettles. I spoke with the band to check out excitement levels, and take a wee peak into their secret psychic world...

Debbie: What's imminent for The Fnords?

We're still working towards the notoriously difficult second album.  Fnordstime runs at a much slower pace than reality, so it's to be expected that it's us taken a long time, but we've got enough new material written now (about soviet spysex, horror movie icons, victorian seance tricks and some other stuff...) that we're gonna be thinking about recording soon (hooray).  Whatever soon means... Gigswise, we've playing at the Flying Duck in Glasgow on July 23rd, and we're playing with teen riot grrrl sensations Bratakus in Elvis Shakespeare on August 14th!

Debbie: What makes The Fnords, The Fnords? (please show answers numerically)  

Number of Fnords: 3 - Caz, Derek, Sarah

Number of years together: 10

Number of cats owned by various Fnords: 4

Number of Fnords albums: 1 (Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Fnords, 2010, Kovorox Sound)

Number of gigs played: over 100, skewed by the fact that we only played once in the first 2 years in a village hall in darkest Stirlingshire.  On bonfire night.  We ate in a hotel that looked like the Overlook, but with added taxidermy.  Spooky.

Number of horror films seen by various Fnords - at least 2000 (probably)

Number of mistakes in the average Fnords show: 5

Number of fucks given about said mistakes: nil

Debbie: Have you been rehearsing tirelessly for your stint at the Franklin Fest?

 

We may rarely rehearse (it keeps us 'fresh'(ahem)), but we have been in special psychic training as part of a secret governmental control scheme.  We'll know if you don't come and see us, and will instigate a bizarre form of telekinesis that will cause you to lose small but important objects from your home.  This will prove annoying.  So it's probably in your own interest to come and watch us play.

Debbie: Big up the organisers...

Franklin Fest is putting on some of the best current wave of garage bands, it will be a joy and a pleasure to be part of it this year. Plus, it's always good to catch up with friends in Edinburgh!

Main photo copyright Liz Tainsh 2016

With many thanks to The Fnords for their contribution. I can't exactly remember the price of the afternoon show as a separate entity, but you can buy tickets for the whole weekend here... tickets-scotland.com details of further upcoming shows can be found on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/The-Fnords-182418645133589/

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Franklin Fest 2016 - Pre Festival Interview - The Embrooks

I did a calculation the other day, and alarmingly it's been around 20 years since I last saw The Embrooks play at The Narrow Boat in Nottingham. I chatted with guitarist / vocalist Alessandro and asked, apart from other things, what's up with those flares? 

After our first reunion show on Dec 31st 2015 as part of Hipsville NYE party in London (Camden), we have been committed to a few shows in the UK (Norwich, London, Bristol, etc.) in the summer and the Gambeat Festival in Barcelona in September this year. We recorded a new original track backed by a brand new version of our classic 'Helen' for a 45 release on State Records. We are looking forward to do as much as possible in the near future. There are already offers to do more shows in 2017.

Debbie: How did you guys meet and evolve?

We met in the summer of 1995, when Mole’s group at the time, The Mystreated, played with the group Alessandro was playing then, Head & the Hares, at the Italian beat festival in Castel San Giovanni (Piacenza). In September of the same year, Alessandro moved to London to study and stayed in touch. Mole and Lois first created The Lyds (Lois on drums, Merv on guitar and Mole on bass and vocals), they released one single as Lyds then Merv left and Alessandro was invited to join. The group really began to exist at the end of 1996 and lasted until the summer of 2005 (our last show was in Liverpool as part of The International Pop Overthrow Festival). We have reformed since September 2015 with the same lineup (Mole, Lois and Alessandro).

Debbie: Walk us through your main influences...

We are influenced by the aggressive '60s pop (Easybeats, The Who, The Small Faces, Move, The Yardbirds), '60s freakbeat/psych bands (Eyes, Creation, Game, Smoke, Open Mind, The Koobas, anything on the Rubble compilation series), the rock of the late '60s early '70s (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath), classic pop (The Beatles, Zombies, Left Banke), the US garage rock (Love, 13th Floor Elevators) but also lots of European and Australian beat. Many different things as you can see!

Debbie: The Embrooks are playing on Saturday evening of the Franklin Fest weekend, what can we expect to see? 

Our shows are known to be loud and highly energetic. Freakbeat is no longer in ‘fashion’ these days and there are not many bands that sound like us around. In addition, we believe that our music has potential to be appealing outside the usual niche of '60s aficionados.

Debbie: What you are looking forward to the most about playing at the Franklin Fest?

One of us (Mole) played the Festival last year so we know that it will certainly be a lot of fun. We expect to re-unite with some of our historical fans who live up North and Scotland but also to conquer ‘new generations’ of freakbeat-ers and rockers who have not heard or seen us live before!

Debbie: Last question, where did you get those flares? 

Ha ha…..I stole those from my ex-wife!

More info (and less personal questions) about the band can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/theembrooks/

The Embrooks will be playing on Saturday 25th June at The Franklin Fest from 7pm with the likes of Oh! Gunquit, Thee Jezebels, The Mindreaders and The Sine Waves! Tickets can be purchased here... tickets-scotland.com

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Franklin Fest 2016 - Pre Festival Interview - The Reverse Cowgirls

I caught up with excitable frontman Hugh McLachlan in the lead up to the The Franklin Fest 2016.  The Reverse Cowgirls will be playing at the Voodoo Rooms on Thursday 23rd June supporting Kid Congo And The Pink Monkey Birds along with Rosco (aka Sterling Roswell).

Debbie: So what's happening in Reverse Cowgirl land just now?

We have had a reasonably busy time of late what with supporting The Blind Shake, Dan Sartain and the legendary James Leg (Black Diamond Heavies) in Weegieland, and our various other side projects.

Not always being the bridesmaids, we have a couple of shows down Engerland way booked in for 9/10th September so far, which we are thoroughly ganting for also.

Not content to rest on our gilded laurels on self-releasing our two albums on Northern Cowboy Recordings. 'Hokum' and follow-up 'Outskirts' we are recording our first vinyl E.P. 'Lost Tribes' next month which has made us tres excited and beside ourselves in anticipppppation!

Debbie: How do you feel the RC slot into the whole Franklin vibe? You played at the Franklin Rock 'N' Roll Club in 2015, and of course at last years Franklin Fest afternoon show at The Parlour...

Like all good country garage bands we want to make a cool racket and have fun. The Franklin Fest knows this and caters to our particular sonic nuances and always have Angus at hand, on sound, to make this a thing. We have been involved with Calvin and Colin throughout the years in various musical outpourings and not managed to piss each other off much, which is a good sign, if not, a blossoming relationship, in our eyes.

Debbie: Are you excited about playing with a legend like Kid Congo? (previously of The Cramps / The Gun Club / The Bad Seeds / Knoxville Girls)

We are of course looking forward to playing alongside our hero Kid Congo, which we all dreamed about as small children. Also, can't wait to see Les Grys Grys again. a sight and sound to behold. The whole thing should be fab! If Edinburgh is good to us we'll be good to them, it's only fair. The Reverse Cowgirls are champing at the bit! 

Please note that this night requires a separate ticket to the Franklin Fest Weekend ticket (which is for Friday night and Saturday afternoon and night) details about tickets can be found here, and as their last show in the 'burgh sold out, it's advisable to buy now: https://www.facebook.com/events/790167527755692/ 

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