"We
got together in November 1996," says Lisa, flautist and trumpet player
with L'augmentation. "But we did not play our first gig until the following
August. We started doing French cover-versions, some really classic pop and
some Jacques du Tronc. We were going to play the Moseley festival last year
which was, as usual, the Glastonbury weekend. It rained so much that it was
called off."
"It ended up being lovely weather on the day we were supposed to play," says Angela, the drummer.
"Our first gig was eventually with Avrocar at the Jug of Ale," says Lisa. "We were in no rush, we were happy with what we were doing, we still feel like that."
"It took us a while to get going for one reason or another," says Simon, keyboard player and occasional vocalist. "We had some bass player problems initially, we played without one for our first gig and Matthew from Pram stood in the next time when we supported Novak. He did not feel that he could commit himself as a more permanent band member but he still does our sound for us."
"Even after being together for over a year I'm not entirely sure that there's an idea behind the band," explains Simon. "I think it's fair to say that Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques du Tronc are a very big influence on the band. We're named after one of Jacques du Tronc's songs!"
"It's
a most awkward and unusual pop song," adds Lisa.
"We also admire soundtrack musicians and, to some extent, jazz musicians," continues Simon. "I think that there's an attitude that people like us can't say that because we've not had much in the way of a musical training. I see no reason why we can't."
Angela is self-taught on the flute : "I saw it in the Rag Market for £35.
I loved the look of it and thought I'd have a go," she explains.
Jim, their so far silent bass player, admits to two guitar lessons and Simon
thinks that he might have had a single exploratory piano lesson at the age of
six!
Simon talks about the current situation in Birmingham: "At the moment there seems to be a sort of wish amongst Birmingham bands not to want to play music in a traditional rock way. I don't know if there's something in the water but there does seem to be a kindred spirit. Whether there's an actual movement I'm not sure."
"I think that it's been bubbling under for a long time," adds Lisa. "I hope it gets noticed and that people start coming to Birmingham to write about it."
"Pram
have been around for donkey's years," continues Simon. "What they're
doing now has been the result of a steady development. It must seem laughable
to them to be lumped in with young whippersnappers like Plone, Novak and us!
Most people think of Ocean Colour Scene when they think of a Birmingham sound
- dad-rock and retro-rock. We are the home of Steve Windwood after all! Birmingham
has got a good tradition of guitar bands though."
"There were all those bands around the time of the Nightingales and Vindaloo Records," adds Lisa.
"Personally I found it very exciting growing up in Birmingham in the early 80s," continues Simon. "I played my first gig on October 2nd, 1982 as the singer in a band called M's Telegram! There have been Birmingham scenes before, they always seem to be underground scenes - it's a weird one!"
"We've all got used to indulging ourselves," says Lisa. "A lot of that comes from our DJ-ing Sunday nights at the Trafalgar in Moseley. I think that you need the confidence to play other people's music before you can move on and play your own stuff. We were always able to play what we liked and without worrying how many people were there. I could make you a great list of some of the comments that we got! We did a French pop night on Bastille Day, decorated the place and gave away French food!"
"There
were onions hung up everywhere," adds Simon. "We're aware that there's
a certain amount of comedy in what we do. I'm quite happy being regarded as
a comedy band as long as we don't have to play stag-night piss-ups! "Before
we started doing gigs loads of people assumed that we would go on stage and
do a cover version of Je t'aime or A Man and a Woman. We encouraged that a bit.
French pop's such a massive blanket term anyway. Gainsbourg and Jacques du Tronc
are very different. People like John Barry also inspire us. It's a natural thing
for us to play music that we like but also to play music where there's no defined
parameters."
"Yes, it's more than just playing the music we like," confirms Lisa. "We could just listen to our music collection if that was the case. It's seeing what you can do yourself, seeing your possibilities and seeing if people like what you come up with."
"One of the things that I've found when we've been playing is that new things happen which are impossible to classify," suggests Simon. "Things evolve. That's why I love playing with these people so much."
"We're on this course called MASK," explains Lisa. "We get free recording time, rehearsal time and some really dodgy gigs arranged for us."
"It's run by Phil Savage", continues Simon. "He used to work at Outlaw Studios, which was quite a respected place until a certain band got their hands on it! He was involved in some of the UB40 records and Dexy's Too Rye Aye era. He's one of the elder statesmen of the Birmingham music scene and a good man."
"He's
really lovely," confirms Lisa. "He came along and saw what we were
doing and gave us some helpful comments. He also got us one free day at the
Radio Two recording studio at Pebble Mill. We recorded two songs and they came
out really well. We discovered a vibraphone but had nothing to play it with.
We ended up wrapping some masking tape around one of Angela's drumsticks and
using that. Some of the people there were taking the mickey out of our music
but generally it really went well. We also had to turn up twice a week and look
at the business and production side of things. They also organise gigs for us
- we've done three for them so far. The gigs that MASK got us worked out very
expensive for us to do. We had to get all of our stuff, including the drum kit
to all the venues. They were not advertised and we'd end up playing to a couple
of old men. Initially it was supposed to be once a fortnight but it's quietened
down now."
"It brought us down to earth a bit though," says Simon. "A lot of the other bands on the course gave up. They've been talking about reviewing the idea behind the gigs and trying to get us supports with more established bands. We've heard nothing as yet. I think we're loathe to say anything in case we end up back down the out-of-the-way pubs again with our drum kit dragging behind us! The live shows have been going quite well otherwise. We like to make them a little bit special. We use a lot of films and slides, it gives the audience something to look at. It's not that we're boring to watch - well we might be, it's not for us to say."
"There are no rules about what you can and can't do," comments Lisa. "We think about performing and we also think about entertaining people. The audience wants an experience; it's not just about listening to music. Bands are very arrogant if they think that. We found the slides we use. They were bits of film in a tin outside the Electric cinema. They're cut-outs of where the sprockets were damaged at the ends of the reels. We've no idea what films they come from; we just chose interesting images, the ones that match the songs. It's nice, it adds something extra. A lot of the bands playing electronic music are getting away without a vocalist but people are always asking us when are we going to get a singer."
Simon has firm views on the subject: "I'm very loathe to put singing on things just for the sake of it so any vocalist would just be rattling a tambourine for half the set! On some of the songs there are definitely vocal lines but I'm really into them just being 'la la la' or 'da da da'. We've no guitar either and that bothers some people!"
"In our short existence so far we've had a bit of a charmed life - it's been a blast. But that's not to say all manner of misery is not just around the corner!"