#harry fricker

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Get away this weekend? Photo: Harry Fricker http://www.frickeruk.com/

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Downtown Vancouver, Canada. August 2012.

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'Oh, you beautiful creature!' said Tom . . .

Harry Fricker illustration, Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies (London: Foulsham & Co., no date [1863]).

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FALMOUTH MUSIC STUDENTS IMPRESS WITH VIRAL VIDEOS

This afternoon I made an old familiar trip back to Falmouth University, but not as a student, as a guest on an A&R panel. I'd been asked by Rick Rogers (Head of Pop Music at Falmouth and former manager of The Specials) to join himself and others on the panel. Fellow guests included Pete Genepool from Genepool Records, Louise Martin who is a Promoter and Band Manager based in Cornwall and the A&R legend David Bates, who has been my mentor and correspondent at Sony.

We were there to discuss and give our thoughts and feedback about the 2nd year Pop Music students' music videos. Their brief was to create and market a viral video aimed at a specific target audience and a commercial radio station of their choice.

[This is what I did in my 2nd year, surprisingly it hasn't gone viral... yet.]

The stand out videos were from Little Leagues (see previous posts below) Fondue, Boys' Own and Harry Fricker. Little Leagues with their stop motion trickery, Fondue with their TEED inspired pop-dance record. Boys' Own with their catchy Fratellis style songwriting (including a Goldie Lookin' Chain inspired verse-rap) and Harry Fricker with his festive looking, surf acoustic sounding disappearing act.

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Harry Fricker. He's got ideas running through his ears.

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Barefoot Sessions

'3 seconds' by Harry Fricker. Performed at Barefoot Sessions near Helston, Cornwall. (To read a full review of the gig, see my previous blog post entitled 'Harry Fricker * Tiger Years' - Tiger Years video coming soon!)

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THE HIP VILLAGE

A music festival In October, in England, is always going to be a gamble.

One week we're basking in record breaking temperatures (almost) hotter than the sun itself. The next, we're having to dig out the wellies and raincoats, reminiscing back to the days of burnt skin, cold showers and after-sun.

Well, cold showers weren't to be a problem. Saturday 8th October was a misty, wet, foggy, windy and reasonably cold day. What better way to wave goodbye to the summer - or in this case, see in the winter - than to be in a field, in the middle of nowhere getting wet. All in the name of fun. Luckily for me, I'd forgotten my wellies.

The Hip Village was the destination, situated on a farm just outside of Falmouth. The line-up a mix of bands and DJ's from all over. The majority of bands were Falmouth based and I'm told (not having a clue about DJ's) that the DJ's were very well renowned. Having got lost on the way, my pre-digital brain could not work the AA Road Map sufficiently, so it was a waiting game until Harry Fricker's iPhone got connected back to the Internet...

Ten minutes before Harry Fricker was scheduled to play, we'd found it. No sound-check, no warm-ups, just straight in with it, apologising to the audience (all seven of them) for being late and blaming it on a lack of road sign directions. Harry's set was of a good standard but understandably it was far from his best. After all, he was basically playing to a handful of friends. (See above video for Harry playing at the Barefoot Sessions).

'Flying Dog Walking' was next up and this man is literally a one-man-band. With a bass drum pedal on his right foot, a snare drum contraption on his left and a grungy over-driven guitar in his hands. I distinctly remember thinking "this guy (in the nicest way possible) is like a spasticated Carl Barat."

(photo courtesy of Rusty Gray)

His whimsical vocals walking the fine line between genius and terrible. I was and still am, unsure whether I liked it or not. I think I did, but I also think it was terribly linear and repetitive. If I were listening to a recording of the performance I'm sure I would've hated it, it just sounded like a bad band with a half decent singer. But watching this performance with my own eyes and seeing the co-ordination in action, you couldn't help but feel impressed regardless of the sound quality. I really enjoyed it in parts and despised it at others. I found it entertaining for the eyes but unfortunately not for my ears...

Tittering on the edge of absurd and out-right ignorant was 'Stereo Space Cat Overload'. What at first glance looked like a guest appearance from Fatboy Slim and a few of his cronies. These middle aged musicians were here to send a message! They started with a recorded introduction. Not only was it a spoken word introduction on the benefits of drug use, it was also the cue for the band to simultaneously light up their pre-rolled joints for all of us to see just how bad-ass they really were! But it didn’t stop there. The introduction continued and developed into a speech about how God had given us drugs to open our eyes to the world. And that one of the best things kids can do these days is to smoke crack-cocaine... I wasn’t convinced myself, but as the poppers were snorted and the wine necked from the bottle, you couldn't help but think that this band was a joke. Surely this was dripping in irony I hear you cry?!... Well, I wish it was, but the only thing dripping was my clothes. The saddest thing is that this band had some really nice beats and grooves if you could ignore the piercingly harsh electronic hi-hat blaring out from the speakers.

What could have been a really fun, exciting and interesting performance was unfortunately marred by the continuing use of drug references. I was actually quite disgusted to see a group of musicians condoning and inciting the use of such illicit drugs in this way. In previous blog entries I have joked about how it’s a musicians coming of age to consume such illegal substances, however, that was said tongue in cheek of course, and the only tongue in cheek happening on stage with 'Stereo Space Cat Overload' would be them gurning their own faces off.

The evening was just getting started and the bands still to play were Mantis Opera, Choy Dragon, George Club, Black Tambourines and Tiger Years, respectively. Not to mention the DJ's that kept the party going 'till 4am. Harry was my lift and his work time-table was far from 'festival friendly'. As the rain came down harder and the numbness in my toes became surprisingly bearable, we decided it was time to leave - missing a number of good bands as we did so. (most of whom have been previously mentioned on this blog, which was my reasoning behind it, by the way!)

(Photo courtesy of Rusy Gray)

My overall thoughts on the festival as a whole were that it was a highly professional looking and sounding event. I'm convinced that given the right weather and promotion, this festival would have been absolutely incredible. And at £10 a ticket, one of the cheapest too! Some really talented bands, good professional set-up and a intimate yet manageable size. It ticked all of the boxes for a small festival apart from one thing... the weather. It was a shame that I couldn't stay for the whole event but (hopefully) it'll be back next year. If possible though, please bring a bit of sunshine with you next time yeah?!

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LITTLE LEAGUES * CANALS * HARRY FRICKER * 5*BELOW

  5° Below is a pub in Falmouth that’s fair to say, has become ‘the local’ to so many of the Falmouth students (probably because it stays open later than anywhere else). Although I preferred it back in the ‘any graffiti in the toilets is good graffiti days’, it’s had a bit of a make-over, or as some would say, a lick of paint.

Thursday 15th September. It was a ‘Your Habitat’ event and there were some new boys in town, ‘Canals’. Canals are a band from Canterbury who have just finished a reasonably modest South Coast tour of England with Falmouth’s very own ‘Little Leagues’.

Harry Fricker opened the night’s music with his acoustic-surf-chilled-percussive-tapping-innovative-capo-use-folk. It was again, a great set from him resulting in actual 'groupies' queuing up to chat afterwards wanting to get hold of his recordings… and probably a bit of him as well. (see previous posts for more on the Frickster)

  Canals followed Harry and I have to say, I was mildly disappointed. The sound was pretty weak and the on stage banter wasn’t much better. Informing the tightly packed crowed at every opportunity of how drunk the drummer was became a bit boring and not very Rock ‘n’ Roll. I mean, isn’t that the unwritten rule for ‘Rock Stars’ that has been passed down for generations? The more fucked you get on illegal substances (preferably heroin, acid, cocaine and marijuana. All washed down with copious amounts of strong spirits and beer) the cooler you are? I’m not condoning the use of such drugs but c’mon have a few beers and enjoy your gig! Don’t stress about it!

Both Canals and Little Leagues are similarly matched in terms of genres. ‘Indie Rock / Math Rock’ seems to fit but neither one could be said to stick to the boundaries of such genres. Canals reminded me more of typically Indie British bands like The Young Knives, Hot Club de Paris and The Maccabees, with strong influences from bands across the pond in America such as Minus the Bear and American Football. The singer’s quintessentially English accent gives Canals that Indie-ness however the lack of guitar boost pedals makes the sound weak and weedy. I found the tapping sections throughout the set were at times inaudible and also a bit unnecessary. The possibilities of two hand tapping on a guitar is pretty insane, so to witness it being done without much imagination or any real conviction was a bit disappointing. Canals had some great moments live and their recordings are well worth a listen! But on the night, their sound wasn’t great and it was a bit awkward to watch.

With respect, 5° Below is at best a packed-out pub full of pissheads who really don’t care what or who’s playing. The layout of the place is pretty awful and the acoustics aren’t much better. So with no disrespect, I wasn’t expecting much from Little Leagues.

The sound they had was in a different league to Canals. Jo Bené Morris’ big punchy guitar riffs must have blown the cobwebs out of Canals’ amps. The vibe in the place was a lot more fun and lively and the combination of Sam Gillbanks’ vocals with front man and trumpeter Lawrence Willoughby was spot-on. The development of this band – like a lot of Falmouth bands this year – has been remarkable. They seem to have the ‘coolness’ about them… I mean, how many other bands do a dance-off for a free EP?!

Little Leagues with a big sound!

(Photo: Olivia Bohac)