Thee Ones speak to Eyeplug

admin November 7, 2016

175 3 minutes read

This entry is part 19 of 19 in the series DozenQ 4

THEE ONES – BACKYARD BOOGALOO

Thee Ones come from the five valley delta of Stroud. Raised on a diet of Dr John, The Meters and Captain Beefheart they’re all about the groove. With clever story telling lyrics their sound is infectious and will move your mind and body in equal measures. They can be dangerously wild live, whipping a crowd into a frothing frenzy, then soothe them with a delicate Latin-tinged vibe. If you catch them out-and-about we highly recommend you take your dancing shoes and a voodoo charm. Their new album, ‘Backyard Boogaloo’ is coming out in November 2016.

01 Tell us about Thee Ones in a short potted history?

Myself and Greame started the band around 2010. Writing material that crossed our interests in early rhythm & blues and 60’s latin music. But it’s not easy to blend Howin’ Wolf and Willie Bobo while not trying to make a pastiche of either, so we ended up just sounding a bit like Thee Ones.

02 How do you create or write new pieces, what’s your process?

I tend to walk about muttering to myself a lot. I tend not to write anything down as I hope that if I can remember it I can class it as ‘rememberable’. So a lot goes by the wayside. Most of the time I feel like a lazy collector of mumbo jumbo, or trapper of daydreams, hoping they make some kind of sense. But generally, I guess a lot is the mix of nostalgia and foreboding. Paint pictures of what was great to warn of what we are losing. And alway a bit of Rock n Roll nonsense stuff as I can’t be glum for long.

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03 What are some of the influences that form your own sound?

With this last lot of songs, I sat with a cheap Spanish guitar playing along to lots of cheesy latin. And I guess it rubbed off with things like ‘The Moon’ and ‘77a’. There’s also a lot of Ska and Rock Steady going on. We have alway listened to a lot of Jamaican Music but not used it so much as an influence before.

04 What is your local music scene like?

Everyone around us, here in Stroud seems to be an Artist or a Musician and this corner of Gloucestershire seems to punch above its weight in terms of alternative culture. The likes of Low Chimes (who were Hotfeet unto a month ago), Pete Roe and Emily Barker have been shining brightly for a while now of the new Folk scene and there is some great Latin/Ska/Calypso stuff coming from Dave Andrews new band Solomento. We have also been loving some of our festival stablemates that we’ve been brushing shoulders with, especially Bristol band, Mama Jerk and The Lady Fingers. Not sure what they are but it’s good stuff.

05 Tell us about your latest LP?

With the first album, we recorded the whole lot with the most basic methods we could. This the help of Eve Studios fantastic knowledge and vintage kit. We did the lot all in one and no over-dubs, like something from the early fifties. But this time we planned to work a bit more conventionally and record in a modern studio and make the songs as luscious as we could, without losing our rough edges. Although ‘Dirty Stopout’ is the demo/live room version and was sneeked onto the final cut.

06 What were the ups and downs of this Studio visit?

I alway have a bit of trepidation before recording. I guess no-one likes looking in the mirror too long. But it was great. We had been playing the new songs out a lot and so were very gig fit, so getting everything down was pretty painless. Though I had a belter of a blocked nose to contend with.

07 What other current bands do you all dig?

We listen to a lot of Mod-Jazz and African music in the van on our way to gigs these days. Current ‘van hit’ is, Fela Kuti – ‘Coffin Head of State’.

08 What can folks expect from your live shows?

We alway give our all. Sweat, blood and full power ahead. And now with added Organ! (And maybe Baritone Sax in the near future, but keep it under your hat).

09 What types of themes run through your songs?

Well a lot of my songs are memories of growing up in London. ‘77a’ tells of the bus journey from Lavender Hill to Clapham Common and all the things that are no longer there. I don’t think the bus route even runs anymore.

10 What pieces of kit do you hold dear?

My Black Epiphone Sheraton from the easy 80’s. I got it re-fretted the other day so it has a bit of a chance of getting near tuned but I love it. It changed the way I played more than any other guitar. It was a right bitch.