Are you a regular reader of Breaking More Waves? If you are here’s a test for you. What album was our ninth favourite of 2009? What you can’t remember? It was Starsign Trampolene by Lucky Elephant. Still none the wiser? If you don't know the band or their music then the chances are that the one time you may have heard a Lucky Elephant tune is on this Danio yoghurt advert (also featuring comedy TV chap Harry Hill). Now finally Lucky Elephant are back with their second (no, no, not sophomore as it says on the Lucky Elephant You Tube description, we’re in the UK and the word second is perfectly adequate thank you) album The Rainy Kingdom and from it comes The British Working Man which has all the quirky nostalgic charm of tracks like the self-titled tune Lucky Elephant and the summery grooves of Reverend Tisley and his Magic Lantern that brought us to the band in the first place. In an odd way The British Working Man reminds us of the work of Public Service Broadcasting with its old fashioned vocal samples, even although musically it's very different. Like Reverend Tisley and his Magic Lantern the tune has a rather cute animated video that similar to the band’s music is a welcome alternative to the big budget butt shaking gloss pop pieces we’re so used to consuming these days. It’s this sense of being totally out of place and without a care in the world for fashion that makes everything about Lucky Elephant just that bit special. Lucky Elephant - The British Working Man (Video)
There are 2 major music festivals on the Isle of Wight. The first, is referred to by locals or 'caulkheads' as they are sometimes known as simply 'The Festival.' The second as 'The Bestival.' There's a big observational hint in the names as to which one is superior.
Exciting, eclectic, eccentric, Bestival (to give it its proper name - there is no 'The') is undoubtedly Breaking More Waves favourite festival in the UK. Rob Da Bank’s crazy village fete / rave / gig on the Isle of Wight is a ‘must do’ date on our calendar. From the first sparsely attended event in 2004 where we watched reggae band Ori-Jah-Nal battle with wind, cold and rain to a crowd of no more than 30 people on the main stage to the 2011 spectacular where 50,000 people will descend on Robin Hill Country Park and its surroundings to witness the likes of The Cure, Public Enemy, Bjork, PJ Harvey, Mogwai and Fatboy Slim (who incidentally appeared at the 2004 event), Bestival has come a long long way.
Bestival has demonstrated how it’s possible for an independent festival other than Glastonbury to increase its capacity, sell-out and still maintain plenty of character - an endearingly madcap music show – against the corporate behemoths such as Reading and V Festival. We mention Glastonbury because there’s no doubt that Glastonbury has inspired many aspects of Bestival. In fact if we were pushed for a succinct description of Bestival we’d describe it as a smaller, less mainstream version of Glastonbury. For example this year you can, like the previous two years, witness Glastonbury stalwarts Arcadia and their stunning arena – an industrial looking 360 degree DJ stage which shoots giant 30ft flame balls from its spire and is surrounded by 12 fire breathing lamppost tree sculptures, this time located in the far reaches of the campsite.
New for 2011 there’s also the Swamp Shack, which organisers describe as “a ramshackle Louisiana bayou juke joint, topsy turvy on rickety stilt-legs and wreathed in dry ice populated by an interactive cast of True Blood-style Deep South vampires, fading Southern Belles and a host of other unwholesome night-crawlers. The venue will also play host to some of the best bands and DJ sets from the UK underground, headline appearances from some very special big-name acts and late-night live drumming old skool Jungle sessions.” It’s created as collaboration between Glastonbury Trash City co-creative director Ruby Blues and Block 9, the set-design pioneers behind the legendary NYC Downlow Gay bar.
Add to this the new roller disco area ,the Rizlab arena where Friendly Fires will experiment and collaborate with artists that have influenced them both past and present, the Psychedelic Worm and Sailor Jerry’s Ink City hosting some of the best new bands (some of whom have appeared on this blog), and many more stages (we haven’t even mentioned the Main Stage or the Big Top the two biggest arenas) and it’s easy to understand why so many people are now choosing Bestival as their festival of choice.
As always with our festival previews, we’ve posted a few musical recommendations below in audio and visual form – all the choices are some of the smaller acts that may not be so well known.
If music isn’t your thing there are plenty of other attractions to keep you busy. From crazy golf, chilled treats in the ambient forest, a freesports park, comedy and cabaret, the tomorrows world area, the W.I Tea tent, heavenly healing areas and free tea for all (subject to picking up some litter) the list is endless. Even though it’s much smaller than Glastonbury, it’s simply not possible to do and see everything on offer in the four days that it runs.
Oh and we haven’t mentioned the now traditional fancy dress on Saturday which brings a stupidly happy vibe to every Bestival. This year the theme is pop stars, rock stars and divas – it’s going to be rather strange watching The Cure play to a field of Freddie Mercury, Lady Gaga, Elvis Presley, David Bowie and Robert Smith lookalikes.
Until you’ve been to Bestival it’s difficult to appreciate the sheer chaotic brilliance of it all. If you’re not going this year, we highly recommend you grab yourself a ticket as soon as they go on sale for next year. You’ll have the time of your life.
We recommend….
The Sunday Best Forum Allstars (Big Top – Thursday)
OK, we’ll admit this is a bit of a cheat. The Sunday Best Forum Allstars is a DJ ‘crew’ in which the author of Breaking More Waves is a major participant. Formed by a bunch of reprobates from Austin - Texas, Scotland, London, The Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, the Allstars were created on the forum of the Bestival website and opened the festival in 2010 with a joyously shambolic set that possessed no ‘proper’ DJ skills, but plenty of big tunes that got the party started (see below). Our aim for 2011 is simple – to do it all again.
Lucky Elephant (Polka Dot Tent – Friday)
Back in 2009 we named Starsign Trampoline by Lucky Elephant as one of our top ten albums of the year. Now with a new album on its way there’s a chance to see this very special and unique group in the intimacy of the Polka Dot tent on Friday night. Charming, beautifully crafted songs they’re a treat for your ears.
The third of our recommendations, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis like Lucky Elephant are signed to Sunday Best records, the label arm of Rob Da Bank’s musical output. Taking 50’s rock ‘n’ roll, swing, ska, Hawaiian styles and even disco on Messing With My Life this young brother-sister-sister trio keep it in their family with mum and dad on bass and backing guitar. Their sound is so authentic that if you close your eyes you really will believe that you’ve been transported back 60 years.
Whilst essentially a pop act, former Danish ballet dancer Oh Land’s live performances carry a punchy grit and energy that has endeared her to audiences across the globe, receiving rave reviews for her shows. If you haven’t seen her yet here’s your chance.
There are 3 bands on the Bestival line up that we would kill to see. The first two are the Saturday and Sunday headliners – The Cure and Bjork, the third is The Unthanks. If you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ll know that the sad miserablism of their gorgeous folk music is some of the most bewitching we’ve ever heard. A complete contrast to the hi-energy vibe of much of the rest of the festival, expect clog dancing, songs about babies dying and the most beautiful Geordie voices you’ll ever hear.
Bestival runs between the 8-11th September and is completely sold out. Stages and day information for the recommended acts are correct at time of publication.
Check back here shortly after the event for a review of all the important bits that make a festival, and the music as well!
After some very light early morning rain, by lunchtime Camp Bestival 2010 was experiencing unfaultable festival weather – sunny, but with some cloud and breeze to keep temperatures comfortable, especially for the thousands who garbed up in fairy tale costumes for the annual Camp Bestival fancy dress parade. It was like Snow Whites and the seventy dwarfs, a hood of Little Red Riding Hoods and although there weren’t quite 101 dalmations, there were certainly a good twenty or so.
Lucky Elephant was also perfect for the weather, their laid back Anglo-French grooves designed for days such as this. Asking the crowd to sing happy birthday to one of their children who was four that day, Lucky Elephant tapped into the family atmosphere of the festival, but also give food for thought with their song The Pier, the sad tale of the loss of a town’s landmark and identity.
Following the cancellation of Chipmunk, the grandiose pop of Breaking More Waves favourites Hurts (pictured) found themselves moved from the Big Top to the Castle Stage and introduced by the stage announcer as “next up – The Hurts,” missing the point that the lack of ‘The’ in the bands name is important. Dropping the ‘The’ gives a group a fashionable vagueness and emotional resonance that the gang mentality use of ‘The’ just doesn’t do. Hurts are the musical version of architecture. Carefully designed and with meticulous thought put into every grandiose expression or minimalist moment, it was difficult to see how such a band could succeed on an outdoor stage at a festival, stripped of atmospheric lighting or any sort of context to the space in which they are performing. Yet even if their form was incorrectly placed their basic function still worked - just. Theo’s calculated and suited posing – the outstretched upturned hand, the nervous playing with the microphone lead, the stance of one arm behind the back were all present, but the songs such as the pulsing electropop of Better Than Love or the Albert Hall sized Illuminated, complete with opera singer, were strangely passionate and euphoric. “This song is called Stay – remember that because you might need to use it,” suggested Theo strangely and certainly most of the audience did – Hurts even adding a few more onlookers by the end. They’re not for everyone and festivals may not be their design specialism, but Hurts still delivered.
Ellie Goulding’s late Saturday afternoon slot showed just how popular the lady has become – this was true crossover appeal. With her sun-blazed hair seeming all the more golden, Ellie squinted out at a big Castle Stage crowd of all ages – mums, dads, teenagers, kids; everybody seemed to want a bit of her. Racing through tracks from her album Lights plus a cover version of the Midlake song Roscoe this was an easy win for Goulding. It was a shame that she had to rely on so many pre-recorded backing vocal tracks to flesh out her sound – her rasping girlish voice was strong and distinctive enough to carry a set without polishing. A little more rawness would have been preferred.
Back in 2009 when Ellie Goulding was breaking through, Max McElligott aka Wolf Gang was bolting out of the same pop stable (Neon Gold Records) with his debut release. Pop success is a game, and with winners there have to be losers. Whilst Goulding played to the masses, Wolf Gang found themselves playing to a small mainly disinterested audience on the smaller bandstand stage. Whilst songs such as The King & All of His Men and the Talking Heads referencing Pieces of You still sounded like hooky pop anthems in the making, you have to wonder if Wolf Gang had drawn a raffle ticket with the word ‘lose’ on it. His guitar and keyboard led tunes were good, but not remarkable. The hot under the collar buzz generated by bloggers and industry types last year for Wolf Gang seems, for the time being, to smack a little of slightly exaggerated hype.
But brilliance shouldn’t just be judged by audience numbers. Sound Of Rum may have played one of their many sets at the festival to a smallish crowd, but were inspiring, creative and in Kate Tempest had a uniquely charming front woman. Hypnotic skittering rhythms, building layers of guitar and Kate’s street-wise poems were delivered over jazzy and rock sounds that were completely unaffected, natural and compelling to listen to, each track drawing you in. “True story, 22 seconds ago I was asleep,” Kate laughed before spitting out an incredible flow of lyrics, getting the crowd to come closer to the bandstand. “That’s nice innit,” she smiled. “A proper gig.” When there was a pause in between songs she rapped out poetry acappella and got the audience to create a vocal rhythm for her to rhyme over. Astonishingly good. “It’s all about the substance not about the image,” she rapped, and certainly Sound of Rum have giddying substance. They will never infiltrate the mainstream, but the leftfield is just fine.
Mass adoration is reserved for Madness, who draw the biggest crowd of the whole festival. Starting with One Step Beyond the Nutty Boys set saw huge giant white letters spelling the words Madness being wheeled out at the back of the crowd by men wearing glowing fez’s, and the bands name in sparkling lights to the backdrop of the stage. After indulging in some lesser known mid set-material and jokes with the audience “Ok parents cover your childrens ears, this one has a sexy guitar solo,” they really took flight at the end with a nostalgic, sentimental runway of greatest hits - Baggy Trousers, the tropical Wings of a Dove and many more, leaving mums, dads, kids and in-betweeners all happy, with a ska’d up frenzy of dancing and skanking.
Founded in 2008 by Bestival head-honcho, Radio 1 DJ and all round quality music connoisseur Rob da Bank, Camp Bestival is the smaller sister festival to its big bro Bestival. Whilst Bestival has always attracted a wide range of ages and types, as it has grown from just a few thousand attendees to over 40,000 it has become too big and too loud for many who used too attend - particularly families. Camp Bestival is the obvious and logical next step for those groups as well as those who have found other non-family friendly festivals too daunting.
Camp Bestival still contains the eclectic mashed-up village fete / party vibe of the early Bestival festivals back in ‘04’ - 06. However it’s smaller capacity site set in the grounds of Lulworth Castle, Dorset, complete with sea views and a strong visual styling gives it a strong boutique feel. Whilst most festivals set aside a small amount of space for ‘family camping’ at Camp Bestival this small space is labelled ‘non-family camping’ with the rest of the site being occupied by families - giving the event a very safe and relaxed atmosphere.
One of the most magical areas of Camp Bestival is the huge kids garden, right next to the castle. Here adults and little ones combine in a utopian society which you simply don’t find in the real world. Adults can grab a beer in the Wonderland Inn, food from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Cafe, or cakes courtesy of the Women’s Institute Tea Tent, whilst they watch acts perform on the bandstand. Meanwhile kids can have the time of their lives watching the Insect Circus, attending the mini pamper lounge, participating in the kids dressing up and catwalk, crazy bikes, puppet shows, book tent and much much more. Elsewhere on site there’s jousting, the house of fairytales, the Bestival institution that is the Bollywood Bar, Pink Flamingo cocktail bar, Literary tent (where Breaking More Waves will be making an early morning Saturday appearance on stage as part of a show entitled “ A Chapter In My Life”), a mesmerising firework display (a clip of last years can be found here) and plenty of live music.
Unlike many other family orientated festivals that seem to assume that your interest in music stops the day you become a parent, Camp Bestival provides an eclectic mix of bands and DJ’s from nostalgic singalongs to fresh exciting acts. Five of Breaking More Waves Ones to Watch 2010 are appearing at Camp Bestival (Ellie Goulding, Hurts, Beth Jeans Houghton, Stornoway and Unicorn Kid) alongside old favourites such as Billy Bragg, Madness, The Fall and The Human League. More recent chart toppers Calvin Harris, Example, Friendly Fires and Chipmunk bring a youthful vibrancy to proceedings and DJ action comes from Annie Mac, Mr Scruff, DJ Derek plus of course Rob Da Bank himself, amongst others. Below are 5 of the newer acts that Breaking More Waves will hope to catch, line up clashes and too much cider permitting !
Hi-de-hi campers -check back here next week after it's all over for a full Camp Bestival 2010 review, plus if you're on Twitter follow us as we attempt to Tweet our way around the festival (internet access permitting).
First featured on Breaking More Waves in May 2009 here.
The finest acoustic pop band from Oxford received a rave review from us for their debut album Beachcomber's Windowsillhere. They’re a band that the phrase charm your socks off was invented for. Beautiful songs, beautiful melodies - simple.
First featured on Breaking More Waves in June 2010 here.
A mix of Cocteau Twins vocals, tribal-electronica and ambient gurgles, this exciting new London duo create atmospheric washes of ethereal danceable rhythmic wonderment.
First featured on Breaking More Waves in August 2009 here.
Delivering chiptune and big beats, Unicorn Kid has already knocked out one of our singles of the year with the mighty Dream Catcher. Expect a high energy, sweaty, fist-pumping, ravetastic show from the Scottish wonder kid. Oh, and possibly the odd lion hat.
First featured on Breaking More Waves in December 2009 here.
Hurts blend of high-pop electronic melancholy has a glossy pretentious feel to it that worked superbly in a dark London old fashioned music hall (here). Quite how they will fare at a summer festival is another matter, but it will be intriguing to find out.
First featured on Breaking More Waves in March 2009 here.
Sunday Best recording artists Lucky Elephant produced one of our albums of 2009 and were due to play Camp Bestival last year, but their bandstand set got rained off. We will be praying for better weather this year from this engaging group who provide sensual vintage summertime vibes.
It is an inevitable fact that end of the year album lists will invariably be somewhat homogenous. If an artist has put out a great album it gives us faith in human ears if as a species we are collectively able to detect this greatness. The evidence is end of year lists showing some degree of consistency with each other. However our different make ups will mean that understandably some albums that are enthused about by some will be less loved by others.
Sometimes however wonderful albums just don’t quite get the exposure they deserve and are not therefore placed up for consideration at the end of the year. Starsign Trampoline by Lucky Elephant is one such album.
A beautiful treasure trove of organic, vintage sounds created from wurlitzers, melodicas, pianos, acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, and organs all topped off with the romantic sound of lead singer Manu’s wonderfully French accented nasal tones, Starsign Trampoline deserves a bigger audience than it has obtained. Every song on it is perfectly and tenderly crafted with real attention to detail. On this album you will find songs such as the melancholic The Pier where Manu laments the coming of the commercial tide to his seaside town and the destruction of its identity. Further on the dusky glowing chimes of the environmental Call It The End (The Beginning) sound sweetly sagacious as Manu sings “The iceberg is our ageing dreams, and if you let go don’t fight the windmills.” Starsign Trampoline also features a number of superb instrumentals - the cartoon like self titled Lucky Elephant, the laid back Burn Down The Acres and the restful and comforting When You Fall To Earth. These instrumentals are not mere filler, but key tracks in the albums construction.
Starsign Trampoline is an utterly charming album that earlier this year we compared to a summer evening. It works equally as well in the winter, such is its timeless quality. It’s our little secret, but we don’t mind if you tell the rest of the world.
Last month we called the album Starsign Trampoline by Lucky Elephant ‘Very special and unique.’ Now the group are about to release their second single, the warm off kilter Rev Tisley And His Magic Lantern. With a cute stop motion video created by Ruth Barrett the song brings grooving wurlitzers and keyboards to create a nostalgic rich sound nourished by the ability to pen a good tune. Lead singer Manu Labescat produces his distinctive French accented nasal vocal to the almost reggae tinged vibe of the song which shimmers with catchy hooks. Listen to the way he sings the word lantern as ‘lonturn’ - it’s positively delicious. Four minutes of musical bliss.
As the UK summer festival season slowly draws to a close, with just Bestival and End Of The Road waiting in the wings to finish things off, the good people at Sunday Best have recently posted up this lovely little video of this years Camp Bestival. It sums up the beauty, colour and relaxed vibe of the family friendly festival better than any words could. It also gives us an excuse to bring to your attention the song Edgar by Lucky Elephant, taken from Starsign Trampoline reviewed here , one of our favourite albums of the year so far. Enjoy.
For a full review of Camp Bestival click here (overview), here (day 1), here (day 2) and here (day 3).
Starsign Trampoline by Lucky Elephant sounds like a vintage summer evening, carefully wrapped in a timeless blanket of warmth. If that sounds pretentious then listen to the album and then find yourself agreeing. For Starsign Trampoline is something that you seldom hear these days; a record that cannot be easily compared to any other artist or recording.
Formed from the emotional spectrum of Frenchman Emmanuel ‘Manu’ Labescats vocals and the music of Sam Johnson, Paul Burnley and Laurence Clack - two of whom were previously part of lush organic electronic group Boomclick, Starsign Trampoline is a gorgeous record that casts mellow sunny vibes in a way that probably only a band from the Isle Of Wight could. A beautifully flowing piece of work cast out of pianorgans, wurlitzers, glockenspiels, melodicas, bass, guitar and drums, Starsign Trampoline is subtly melancholic and touched with beauty.
Although the album has had a relatively low key release it really deserves more exposure. It is full of wonderfully earthy instrumentation and lovely songs that are just asking to be soaked up this summer. The opening self titled instrumental has a groove that sounds like a kids lost television show, complete with shuffling percussion and catchy piano riff. After this African guitars and wurlitzers lead us into the jaunty Edgar with its rural lyrical landscape. Other standout songs are The Pier, an epic soaring highlight where Manu sings in his most unusual accented voice of the destruction of his hometown for commercial gain. “The pier isn’t worth an eyelid in a business plan,” he suggests. Then there’s Modern Life where an almost dub sounding bass and reggae like riff echo along as Manu sings “We used to climb the waterfalls every morning.” Another favourite is The Reverend Tilsey And His Magical Lantern, it’s the musical big brother of the opening tack with its tilting plodding organ sound and Manu’s charming enunciation of words. In fact it is Manu's vocals that are fundamental to the Lucky Elephant sound, with their emphasis on accented elegance leading the songs to places you wouldn't expect.
Starsign Trampoline will probably never sell huge numbers of copies, or be picked up by the media as a buzz album, but for those who are lucky enough to hear it, they will know that they have discovered something very special and unique.
The Isle Of Wight. The Garden Isle. The home to three quarters of Lucky Elephant. A place where plastic dinosaurs, crooked houses, steam railways, castles, and scary wax works all sit in a charming and unique way with a large number of old age pensioners and two very different music festivals. The Isle Of Wight Festival is a big mainstream beast which this year features the likes of The Prodigy, Razorlight and Neil Young. Bestival is the smaller, cooler, more eclectic festival set in the beautiful grounds of Robin Hill Country Park which this year hosts Kraftwerk, Massive Attack, Seasick Steve, Klaxons and Little Boots amongst its many attractions. Breaking More Waves chooses Bestival over the Isle Of Wight Festival every year, although this time we will be praying for dry weather following last years horrendous wash out.
Bestival is run by Radio 1’s Rob Da Bank, and it is his record label Sunday Best that have signed Lucky Elephant. The band are due to release an album this June. They will also be playing at Bestivals smaller sister festival Camp Bestival.
The bands sound, rather like the Isle of Wight, is unusual, eclectic, sunny and old fashioned mixing retro synths, tape delays, Wurlitzers, harmoniums, drums, ukuleles and guitars in a warm, sensual and beautiful way with wonderful heart grabbing French accented vocals supplied by Emmanuel Labescat. Breaking More Waves caught up with Emmanuel and found out a little more about the band. Emmanuel has an alluring use of the English language that adds a certain romanticism to the interview that also comes across in the bands music. Over to Emmanuel.
Tell us about Lucky Elephant and where you are from?
Half of the elephant is from the Isle of Wight, however a third elephant has also just moved to Ventnor, this beautiful little town in the very south of the pie. The home of the elephant is actually London, on Leonard Street, Old Street. Tall Paul, who plays the bass, runs Treacle Studios with a couple of other friends. It's a wicked place, really really not the traditional "studio" you can find in London - those places are awful - everybody who went to one of those big commercial studios knows that. You would have to pick a number and get in the queue it'd be the same. The home of the elephant is different, really low-fi, just a real and very inspiring place. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and another big act too, don't remember the name, came down there because it feels like a place to play music. And they don't rob you too. Which makes everyone agree about it. We very lucky to somehow being a little part of this place. Personally, I'm coming from a town by the sea in the south west of France, on the Atlantic Ocean, very close to Biarritz. A little town called "Capbreton". It's quite famous for its surfing conditions, and for being a place where people for the major cities come and spend their summer holidays. In a way, it's very similar to the Isle of Wight if we consider the contrast between the busy summers and the long and empty winters.
What do you think, as musicians, are the benefits of being located where you come from ? And what are the bad things ?
I guess it depends where you come from. If you love playing music and you are coming from a place where people are very enthusiatic about music in general, with loads of live venues to go out and play or hear other people play etc etc...then why move? To be really honest, I'm not sure the place where you make your music has any importance, what really counts is where you meet the people you choose to make music with.
At Camp Bestival last year Breaking More Waves had a ʽfestival moment' when we saw you play. Your music was just perfect for the atmosphere. Have you had any ʽmoments' when you've played live? If so what were they and where were they?
Thank you ;o) . Camp Bestival was wicked! What a site that was!! From that stage we could actually see the sea! What a day. It was such a different concert to the other ones because the audience was made of different people, very different ages, and from that stage we were worried about all those little toddlers dressed up as little flowers, or lions or ladybirds , trying to stand on their feet while we were trying not too play too loud... Concerts are so different all the time. That's one of the very humbling things of making music. You never know how good it can be until you go there. One of my favourite gigs was playing at the Windmill in Brixton, for maximum ten people. We would have had more space on a Valentine's card, and there was hardly nobody there, but somehow it felt like everyone was having the best unexpected "moments" ever, on that night! You have some very cool moments, but also some very "special" ones -like having one of our harmoniums down on the third song of a set!! "Shit". ;o)
Talking of Bestival / Camp Bestival, how did you come to be involved with Sunday Best?
Sam and Paul have released an album in the early days of Sunday Best - under the name of "Boomclick", an album called Halfway Between. It's a lot more "produced" and different in a way to Lucky Elephant. I was lucky enough to have to sit next to Sam at work. That's how we met and then I met Paul, his mate from Boomclick. They took me to gigs, festivals, had really good fun. The good thing for me too was that i genuinely loved some of their music, specially songs like Must Have Been Crazy and Fire By My Side. I was very happy to be part of their gang, because I respected who they were as people. The bond with Sunday Best started from Boomclick, and it felt very natural for Sam and Paul once Lucky Elephant started to keep Rob Da Bank and Sunday Best in the loop of what they were doing.
Manu you are one of the most unusual and engaging front men we have seen in a long time. What is your approach to performing on stage ?
I naturally start by looking for the people who seem to be into our sound, it gives me a kind of trampoline to bounce upon! Then you become immerged into what you're doing on the moment. It'd be weird not to be...
Can you tell me a little bit about some of the sounds you make, as once again they are very unusual ?
First of all Lucky Elephant is kinda of a trio, because in the end it's three people playing instruments and someone singing. A trio always end up sounding bit different to more traditional set ups where you have a second guitarist, or an additional keyboard... I guess there are spaces that you can't fill, so it forces you to make the best music you can with what you have in terms of instruments available on the moment. The instruments are also kinda "vintage" as Sam plays an old wurlitzer, while Paul plays a Roland synth for the bass sound and a old Farfisa Pianorgan from 1964 that i bought originally for myself on Ebay!! Lawrence, who plays the drum, has been trained as a "jazz drummer" so he's as much into the rhythm/tempo than the tone of what he's playing. It's hard to say if he does it on purpose or if it's just totally natural, but he really approaches his drums like a piano.
We hear there is an album on the way. We're very excited about this, what can you tell us about it ?
It's very exciting. The album is called Starsign Trampoline and will be released on the 1st of June. It was confirmed just a few days ago. 2 tracks will be also released on I-tunes as a single on the 18th of May. The album has 11 songs, and each one of them took loads of care. And we also put loads of care into everything related to the album, from the beautiful artwork to the sound of the snare over this very chord - right there - listen!!... ;o) We had to drop some other tunes, not many, but about 4 or 5. Purely because we tried to put a collection of tunes together, to create something, more than just the "best" or more "catchy" or whatever tunes we had.
And are there plans for any more live shows ? We've yet to see you play at anything but festivals and want to see more....
We've spent most of the summer and autumn rehearsing the songs, recording and mixing the album. So we stopped playing live for three or four months. Since early January, we've been working on putting a new set together, and getting "stage fit" again as a band. Our first concert of the year was on the 7th of March at the Orange club in Canterbury and we were all really looking forward to it.
As this article is called Welcome To The Beautiful South, what is your favourite Beautiful South Song ?
Woman in the Wall
Thanks very much !! That’s been a brilliantinterview.
No Thank youuu!!
Here is a sweet little video from Lucky Elephant. It's a self titled instrumental that is just screaming to be used as backing music for something wonderful. Breaking More Waves highly recommends that you make Starsign Trampoline an essential purchase this summer.
