Introducing the band... Bumblepuppy
Interview by R. Sutton
The S.U. bar doesn't really seem the best place to interview a band, and yet any music journalist of note will tell you that if you get a band in a bar and ply them with a few drinks you'll get a cracking interview. Sitting around about four tables the first notion that sticks in my mind about Bumblepuppy is that they are a band of immense proportions. Altogether they are an eight piece band with about as much individuality as could possibly manage to stay together without killing each other.
Saying that they come across as a pretty together bunch whose combined egos are unlikely to lead to a split before the band have even made a real go of it.
The way the band files in reminded me of the scene in 'The Hobbit' when Bilbo Baggins is having a peaceful night at home and one by one the dwarves begin to arrive in intervals. Once the band are all together the interview begins in earnest.
Getting the introductions and customary niceties out of the way first, the band are from left to right (see photo below) Keith Green wood, bass, alias 'Dr Bollocks'; James Gardner, guitar, alias 'Maharishi Rogan Josh'; Simon Willey, guitar, alias 'Sir Titus Oates'; Chris Townson, vocals, alias 'Tin Tin Tinitus'; Jamil Shehadeh, drums, alias 'Rev Isaac Tongue'; Emma McGeachy, vocals, alias 'Shaka Yoni'; Jim Watson, bongos, alias 'Captain Cobbler, the faceless front of sixteenth century revolution; Hannah Thomson, saxophone, alias 'Dame Suzy Groove' and finally but not pictured James Lowman, guitar, alias 'Hey, Hey, It's Electric Russell' (who apparently is only an occasional member).
I soon realise that from the way they talk and dress (on stage they have a habit of dressing up outrageously, I didn't realise they'd come to the interview like that - oh that's the way they dress normally!) that very little seems to link them together, initially, apart from their music.
After pointlessly trying to get the band to admit that they have any influences, except Gong who they cover in their set, I ask them how such a diverse bunch of individuals ever met each other in the first place let alone form a band.
James: " Well I knew Simon, Keith and Chris from the first year and we originally formed the base of the band, everyone else got into it because they just kind of fell in, different friends introduced us and we all got together and formed the band"> Their music is difficult to pigeon hole or pinpoint but a funky jazzy poppy rock hybrid is a pretty good attempt.
They admit that rehearsals can be a it hectic as Simon testifies to "well, basically me, James and Keith will come up with a riff and play it to the others who will add to it and it develops from there. Everyone has their own idea on how they want the band to sound, and we all try and encourage that, we all add to the sound of the band and it wouldn't be the same if things didn't come together in the way they do".
Emma has a word to say about the lyrics, which along with Chris she writes "If you want to sing in this band, you'll just get given a tune and be asked to put words to it, the words are not about anything specific but they fit the particular sound of the song. You mentioned earlier the way Chris and I sing doesn't follow exactly the form of the music, that's intentionally done. The singing becomes an instrument in itself as you said">
Chris is eager to elaborate in this point, despite the fact that I constantly try and get him to admit to a Morrissey fixation. "I don't try to sing like anyone else, I sing like me. Emma and I don't tend to sing at the same time as our vocal styles are so different. That diversity in the singing adds a lot to the way the band sounds.
Jamil believes that "The way I play drums adds a lit to the band, it gives the songs texture and depth that they wouldn't normally have".
And he's right, the band when they play live are a total musical experience, in some ways they resemble an experimental acid crazed band of the late 60's and no that isn't meant as an insult. The music Bumblepuppy play constantly changes rhythm and style within the same song, not in a manner of a slow bit then a fast bit, but in the way the songs change with it. When I put this to the band they seem quite delighted.
The saxophonist, Hannah is annoyed by the interviewer in numerous occasions, firstly when I suggest that the only bands I can remember having a saxophonist in them were Wham and Haircut One Hundred, and even more so when I attempt to get the band to dig the dirt on other campus bands such as Bumper and Scene and when I try to establish who is sleeping with who in the band. After being put firmly in my place on all counts - I don't get to find out about sex lives, they all have a lot of respect for the other campus bands and there have been good groups with a saxophonist in them, Hannah is keen to explain the nature of the bands sound. "With so many people playing in the band there is a lot of scope to experiment with how a song will sound, a song will never sound the same two nights in a row, its not exactly a case where we improvise every night, but we all try and add something new to the songs so as they remain fresh".
Although mad, the bass player Keith is an engaging fellow despite being a Burnley supporter "I'm not in this band to make money or be amazingly successful, I'm in this band because I love playing my bass and this band has a really good sound to it. No-one tries to tell any of the others what to do, we just get on with it".
After a quick question and answer session that gets lost on my tape in the noise of the ever filling bar, Bumblepuppy do a rendition of the Gong song that they cover, accompanied only by the melodies of their voices, the tables and a lot of air guitar. They are without a doubt a band who know how to enjoy themselves and a band who, if they wanted to, could make it big. If you have a love of music and you need something a bit different to tickle your fancy then you could do no better that catch up on a Bumblepuppy gig at a pub near you very soon.
Extract from Bumblepuppy Live! - Rave Review by Martyn Jordan
Bumblepuppy were first on stage, a strange band that to be honest shouldn't haved worked but strangely did - both musically and in style. The nine piece band included the usual guitars (Rhythm James Gardner, Lead Simon Willey, Bass Keith Greenwood) and drums (Jamil) but also had Saxophones (Hannah) and Bongoes (Tony and Jim Watson), this mix of music was only upstaged by the costumes, three people in hideous shirts, a bay city rollers lookalike, the female vocalist Emma McGeachy looked resembled the vocalist out of Sleeper, the male lead Chris Townson danced around the stage like Jarvis Cocker and the saxophonist was wearing a very tasty number in red PVC - you see what I mean about being a mixed band. This aside the band worked well with a music range that stretched from the typical "student" type songs to a fantastic acid jazz piece. The highlight of the performance was a number called Summer Song written by the aforementioned Ms McGeachy, this song would not have looked out of place on a Sleeper album.
Extracts from Parklife: The Newspaper of Essex University. Issue 9 - 28th February 1996
