Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
STU: The Carpenters and ABBA were on the radio a lot and a loved the vocal harmonies. I sang in choirs and had piano lessons as a kid and this helped me to understand the construction of music as well as an appreciation for classical music. I wasn’t into pop/rock until I discovered Queen, then a mate showed me how to play Jonny B Goode after seeing Back to the Future and I was off! I played bass in loads of bands over the years: blues, funk, jazz, wedding and pub covers, and taught myself drums about 20 years ago, learning to sing while drumming was tricky at first.
DEBBIE: My 16 th birthday present from my grandparents was a transistor radio so I listened a lot to Radio Luxembourg. I’ve always loved to dance so anything with a groove works for me too! With two older sisters I had access to albums like ‘Aladdin Sane, ‘Innervisions’ and ‘Led Zeppelin Volume IV’, to name my three favourites and the first album I owned and played to death was ‘Dark Side of the Moon. I am a self-taught guitarist, learning out of a picture chord book but struggled as it was a right handed guitar and I am left handed so it wasn’t until my 30s that I picked it up again in earnest. My first 12 string led me to write my first song inspired by John Martyn’s ‘May you Never’. REM and Crowded House around that time were also my musical inspirations when it came to songwriting. Meeting Stu and being in a duo with him playing covers helped me develop my guitar playing and singing. I’m now proud to be in a ‘proper’ band playing a lovely, resonant (and not overly heavy!) Gibson SG Tribute.
GARY: Like Debs, I remember listening to Radio Luxembourg on an old Radiogram and being madly into The Police. I stayed up until 3am to watch the documentary, ‘Police In The East’ on an old black & white TV and later, stared for hours at their album cover ‘Ghost In The Machine’ trying to decode the hidden message! In 1983 my mind was blown when I chanced across Level 42, Live at The Ace and have remained a massive fan ever since. It got even better in 1986, whilst watching The Old Grey Whistle Test, I saw It Bites and wow! Just WOW! These three bands have been very influential to me ever since.
RICH: There was a lot of good music around when I was younger, and I picked up on it at a young age. My first musical love was Queen – which is a pretty good starting point! I was a teenager in the 90s (well, at the start of them at least) and was all over the whole 90s music scene, from Grunge, through Madchester and then on to Britpop.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “no ordinary fish”?
A: We’re already getting brilliant reviews on blogs all around the world, appearing on several dozen Spotify playlists, radio interviews and airplays. We have written 2 quality songs for album number 3 and will probably release all new songs as singles before releasing the next album some time in 2024. For anyone new to the band – don’t expect any one genre of music as we’re quite “eclectic but accessible”
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: The 4 of us have wide ranging musical tastes, though we rarely disagree on the “good stuff”.
STU: It changes from week to week but this week it’s Ween as they are catchy as hell, interesting and very weird!
DEBBIE: Wet Leg. They arrived out of left-field, fully formed and catchy. My inspiration for making music comes from a) experiences and themes from real life when it comes to song writing and b) working with Stu, Gary and Rich to shape and ‘NOFify’ our songs.
GARY: YouTube! – Rather than being spoon fed music by the commercial radio stations, you can dive down the rabbit hole and find people such as Charles Berthoud and Rick Beato who expand your musical horizons and give you the motivation to pick up the guitar.
RICH: Contrary to a lot of ‘muso’ opinions, I think there is a lot of good music around at the moment, especially a lot of talented vocalists. Musicianship is taking a back seat at the moment when compared to the big guitar bands of the 80s and 90s. I like the way new technologies in music production are taking sounds In a new direction.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the album, “Adverse Camber.”?
A: See the answer to ‘did you face any challenges while writing or recording ‘Adverse Camber’. It is an entirely apt album title!
Rachel* if you’re listening… Gary loves you xxx
*Riley
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
STU: Catchy
DEBBIE: Eclectic
GARY: Four people having fun making music
RICH: Heartfelt
*Gary has issues with mathematics.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Adverse Camber”?
A: To put it mildly: YES! Drummer Stu went through a 4-year diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in which time he decided to quit teaching Physics after 25 years of (mostly enjoyable) career. This started the month our debut album came out so we were unable to promote it at the time. Recovering well now, though, and can function as long as he follows “the programme”. Bereavements. Some kind of nasty virus going around…. Making the album at home gave us a mission to focus on and really helped with the mental health side of things for sure.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as a band?
A: A musical appreciation of our influences, mainly from the 70s and 90s. The songs are often stories of real or imagined situations eg “Snarky” and “How It Lands” may (or may not be?) about disagreements within friendships and relationships. Our immediate goal is to reach more people and grow our following as we feel that our songs would be appreciated by a wide range of people, more specifically the kind of people who listen to 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 but music fans in general, of all ages. We want to play bigger and bigger festival stages next summer and have some good gigs already booked in Southwest England. We have far too many ideas for our new album so recording that is a priority. We will keep developing our craft and enjoying songwriting and performing. Album 2 was a quality jump up from album 1 so we aim to keep progressing. And keep having more and more fun of course!
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
STU: Rush – I would take a bullet for this band.
DEBBIE: Can’t decide between David Bowie, Crowded House and Elbow.
GARY: I know my band mates already know the answer… Francis Dunnery
RICH: Tough one… I’ll go for Reni, drummer from the Stone Roses – his drumming on its own would make a good show.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
STU: Do the research/reading first and choose who you work with very carefully.
DEBBIE: Do it for the music, fun and contact with good bandmates rather than fame and fortune.
GARY: Don’t do it for money or fame. Do it because you love making music with good friends.
RICH: No idea – I am an engineer!
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
STU: Take all musical opportunities eg play that gig with the BBC big band instead of working a double shift at a fricking petrol station – you didn’t need that £50 as much as you needed to get out there and play, you idiot.
DEBBIE: Persevere with your guitar playing – practice really does lead to improvement.
GARY: Tell your music teacher they should be aware some people are left-handed and not force them to learn right handed.
RICH: Get lessons – as many as you can from wherever you can get them (Youtube is great) – and choose the bits you like to help form your own style. I had my first guitar lesson after 30 years and wished I had done it sooner. Also figure things out by ear – don’t use tab unless you really have to.