Roller Trio are a striking example of Leeds’ diverse music scene. Equipped with an innovative and inventive sound positioned ‘somewhere in between jazz and rock’; they represent a powerful force capable of putting rock aficionados in jazz clubs and vice versa. Already one Mercury prize nominated album behind them (and a lot of bewildered Ben Howard fans from the ceremony concert); Luke Wynters (guitar); James Mainwaring (tenor sax) and Luke Reddin-Williams (drums) have finished work on their second album. They ‘wish they’ll be more attention focused on the second one’ and so do we. Believe it; it would just be fantastic if they managed to pinch it this time.
The band met while studying jazz at Leeds College of Music. However, despite their undeniable, acrobatic jazz chops, the three don’t regard themselves as a jazz trio. Their influences probe much further than jazz. It is exactly this amalgamation of tastes that first brought them together; a collision of contrasting, yet open minded, dreadlocked heads. This has resulted in a refreshing constellation of musicians that surprise and excite each other. ‘You play with everyone and you find people that you enjoy more’, concludes Wynters.
Like many of their song titles, the band’s name was conceived in a moment of humorous spontaneity. On this occasion from a friend’s Photoshopped rendering of them sat upon a roller coaster in a toaster. Initially resulting in the song ‘Roller Toaster’, it was later adopted to Roller Trio for the band. This is a band that easily could, but don’t take themselves too seriously.
Adventuring deeper into their influences, Wynters, very much the loop-de-loop of this so-called roller coaster, talks of ‘textures I’d put on a hip-hop beat’, ‘bits I relate more to prog rock’ and ‘the three Johns’; John Schofield, John Abercrombie and John Coltrane. He even recites the rhythmic concepts of Indian music as an influence i.e. counting with syllables instead of numbers. However, humbly, Wynters clarifies that ‘those things will probably be head slapping territory for people that properly play Indian music’. Listen to numbers such as ‘Howdy Saudi’ or ‘Deep Heat’ and you’ll hear the sophistication and prowess of jazz, the riff-orientated grooves of rock and the coolness and strut of hip-hop. Or feel the endorphins rush through your veins in the emotive, atmospheric and sentimental ‘ROR’’. Of course, as Wynters points out himself, how you perceive something depends on ‘where you’ve come from, what’s your experience and what you’ve got to relate it to’. For jazz heads, this could be the rockiest thing in your collection, it works both ways. It might sound like a lot to take in, but relax – it sounds like Roller Trio.
Such eclecticism has also worked in their favour. From playing jam-packed, adrenalized gigs at Leeds’ established Brudenell Social Club (famed for putting on secret shows for rock giants Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs), to polite, sit down concerts at prestigious jazz venues; they feel welcome on miscellaneous line ups. ‘There can’t be many bands playing the range of venues we have’, considers Wynters. However, when compelled to compare the two, he prefers the former, feeling ‘sit down gigs are more like art’. Although, admittedly he still sneaks in the odd head bop.
In fact, RT has been quite lucky all round in reaching an audience thanks to the early exposure brought to them by Mercury Prize. Appreciative of the surprise success this has brought them, Wynters graciously considers how they ‘wouldn’t have been able to do [European tours] without that kind of exposure’. However, with such sturdy foundations already laid out and a reputation wobbling the roof tiles, this has accounted for ‘pressure that we’ve put on ourselves to make a second album better than the first’. The band’s hard graft must not be undermined. After being presented with sneak previews of the new album, it is clear this is pressure they can handle. After all, the first album was recorded in forty eight hours on a ‘shoestring budget’. This time round they had a full five days at the internationally renowned Real World Studios, founded by none other than Peter Gabriel in the eighties. And you can tell it’s from the eighties.
Real World is a flagship for excess and proportion, with more gear than you can shake a stick at. ‘If there’s only three of something, they’ve probably got one of them’, remarks Wynters. For a young and resourceful band like Roller Trio, it was like throwing Simba at a pack of hyenas. Enough time to experiment, improvise and create, yet not so much that they lost drive or focus. The days were long; the nights were short and labouring fingers were quite literally worn ‘back to nail bed’. Compare it to living with your parents again, only louder. The mundanities of everyday life were covered in the form of an in-house canteen, allowing focus on what’s important; the music. There is even a picturesque lake overlooked by the mixing desk for added inspiration. In retrospect, Wynters fittingly describes it as ‘pretty ridiculous’. The added bonus being that, as all this time was awarded to them by Real World in return for forty minutes of material for their subscribed compilations, there is now ‘two albums worth of material’ to look forward to. It’s safe to say, this album has been realised under the perfect conditions to successfully follow up their eponymous debut.
Due for release on the 1st September, Roller Trio’s second attempt solidifies yet elaborates on the sound, surprising yet familiarising at every corner. This is the kind of music that should be winning awards. At the next Mercury Prize ceremony, instead of people coming ‘to see Ben Howard and going, ‘what is this?’’, let it be Roller Trio fans gawking upon the next Ben Howard and saying ‘what is this’?
