Have you ever thought how many of the good things
in life that you enjoy, you stumble on and discover completely by
accident? No, well please take a bit of time to think about it.
Recall some of your best nights out, some of the best records, the
best drug, whatever. Then think about how you came by it? By accident,
completely unintentionally I wouldn't wonder?
Hmm. perhaps, perhaps not.
THE LINE UP
VOCALS … Rachel Horner (19)
BASS … Ian Rea (21)
GUITARS … Guy Mitchell (23)
GUITARS … Neil Walker (22)
DRUMS … Marty Collantine (22)
My point is though that I don't really know or recall how my path
crossed with VELMA, a gloriously tuneful and energetic six piece
from the North East of this fair isle. I don't know how, but I am
really glad we did. You should be as well, because now I can tell
you all about them, and you too can share in the wonderful infectiousness
of their songs.
So VELMA then. Who, what and why? Well, actually VELMA as you are
possibly thinking is the lass in the dodgy green sweater and milk
bottle specs that coverts around finding ghosties and goolies with
our hero Scooby Doo. Not in this case though. Y'see VELMA, the musical
version are currently creating quite a buzz around, not only their
local scene, but more so on a national basis. Sounding somewhere
in-between ELASTICA and THE DANDY WARHOLES, VELMA are a band to
put a smile on any miserable bastards face. Good time, music. Music
that entertains, music that makes you feel a bit better with your
lot.
Obviously we are more than a little taken with this lot then. So
in an attempt to convert you lot to their brand of infectious melodies,
we decided to pin them down and ask them a few questions about them
selves. Unfortunately it would seem that they have a pretty similar
sense of humour to myself, and as a result my attempts at sarcasm
are basically brushed aside to make way for much piss taking and
merriment. How dare they!!
So then, lets kick off with an obvious one. As you hail from the
Tyneside area, you must be pretty excited about the imminent arrival
of this years Sound City circus. Have you much planned to coincide
with this event?
"We are actually from Teeside..."
Oh fuck! Now there is a good start to an interview!!
"...but we do have plans to transport the whole Sound City
Circus to Middlesborough via the all floating, all dancing Tuxedo
Royale Nightclub which is actually a boat with a revolving dance
floor, honest. We also plan to sell crab sticks to foreigners..."
Okay...good start. Let's try another one. I understand that you
have recently been working with Andy Carpenter who was the man behind
the knob twiddling on the KENICKE records. What made you opt to
use him?
"No, you've got that wrong..."
Oh, surprise surprise!!
"...we've actually been working with a carpenter who has just
carved us some life sized KENICKE statuettes for our entertainment"
Erm, yeah right...now tell us about the producer you're using to
record some stuff?
"At this stage we can't choose who we want to work with so
we wait for them to call us..."
And Andy called you I take it?
"...Andy Carpenter is great. He is a real nice bloke, a sound
geezer. He is very good at his job and makes the vocals sound fresh
and new. He produced the first KENICKE album and some of the early
singles".
Now I can't quite make out if they answered that or not...whatever.
When I first got in touch with you the band was a five piece. Now
there is six. Care to explain why?
"VELMA's new member is Chris Mackin who is a drummer. We have
brought him in and moved Marty (the old drummer) to the front to
provide co-vocals with Rachel"
Why did you decide on this new approach then?
"We were bored with the old line up and sick of certain comparisons,
so we wanted a fresh new approach...we are not followers"
So who is actually in the band and who does what then?
"The line up is as follows: Marty C (co-vocals/samples), Rachel
H (co-vocals), Neil and Guy are still on guitars, Ian is on bass
and Chris as we said is the new boy on drums"
Right. That's the line up sorted out. Now then, you seem to be
courting quite a lot of interest from the indie labels at the moment.
What product have you had released so far and how well has it been
received?
"With the previous line up (as a five piece) we featured on
a few compilations 'North Of London', 'Ouch' and 'Pitch'. The 'Ouch'
compilation through 25 Records was the first ever VELMA release.
We had the first track on a CD through the hardworking South Coast
label with some excellent response from various European fanzines
and it also sparked off a little bit of industry interest. This
was followed by the 'North Of London' compilation which was born
out of the Newcastle Arts Centre. This was received with some fair
reviews but not all the bands were 'up to it', if you know what
I mean? The best offering for us though has to be the 'Pitch' compilation
through Big Complex World Records, which brought us some Radio One
airplay. VELMA had two tracks featured which both got played by
John Peel (Sir, if you don't mind) and a mention from Steve Lamacq.
This created quite a bit of interest from industry bodies as well."
And what of future releases?
"Wait for the CD EP, which should be a corker"
You said that Steve Lamacq took an interest in you. What has his
feed back been like thus far?
"Steve NicNak is interested in too many bands to mention.
If we are one of them, then that's great. If we aren't then that's
fine as well because he is pretty short isn't he?"
Now come on, serious questions deserve serious answers...
"Okay. He wanted to see us at Manchester (Radio One Talent
2000) but I think he saw two minutes then had to rush off and host
a Manic's gig. He chose us third in the Manchester thing though
so we must have impressed him a bit. We're not sure if he has played
anything by us as of yet, but if you want to write and ask him to
do so, please feel free."
What about heading down to London to play gigs for those dreaded
industry pigs then?
"The music industry is like a giant pig, everyone's trying
to suckle from it but there's just not enough teats. But, yes we
have played down there. All the usual Camden haunts and know doubt
will do so again but only when the time is right"
Why VELMA? After all Shaggy was the coolest?
"Shaggy!! He should stop hanging around with talking dogs
and get himself a proper job, preferably off Daphne"
Now then as we are all getting a little silly, I think it is time
to cut things short there. VELMA are a band in the accendance. Do
yourselves a huge favour, latch on to their coat tails straight
away, they're going on a mind-blowing ride, one which we recommend
you tag along with.
ON THE TRAIL……..
The gathering of five very individual and yet diverse musical
characters began approximately 1.5 years ago, rising from a
patchwork of local bands. And you could say ‘Scooby-Doo’
had a
mysterious hand in naming the band - could velma be the brains of
the bunch?
These Northern tunesters certainly gained plenty of early interest
and support from all areas of the Music Industry following their
first demo. The Teesside five are also continuing to build up a
growing portfolio of excellent reviews throughout the country, along
with media coverage that has included Radio 1, Melody Maker, local
radio airplay and endless excellent written reviews… with plenty
more to come! Along side this the band have also picked up plenty
of friends along the way following various dates around the country
in late ‘96 and now ’97.
Pre-eminent performances at Fibbers York, locally in Newcastle &
M’Boro and at the Lancaster University Extrav’ (which
included the Super Furry Animals) soon put Velma on the map. Whilst
even further afield the ‘mystery tour’ continued at The
Cathouse in Glasgow and followed on by stirring up the Fringe Club
at the Edinburgh Festival. On the Capital front the band had a couple
of fine away
days that took in a very charged and busy Laurel Tree, Camden and
The Swan, Fulham. Late ’96 also saw exciting support slots
with Gretchen Hoffner and Subcircus. The band have also recently
had a support slot with China Drum at the Stockton Riverside festival.
Recently described as "Four boys and a sublimely voiced girl
… cooking on gas, full heat!" (RN Sounds, Teesside) and
a band showing "good form" (SL, Radio 1, Evening Session)
the band have already featured on a couple of indie compilations
and are determined to further display their own individuality! The
‘North of London’ CD put together by the Newcastle Arts
Centre set out to promote and highlight the rising talent in the
North East. And more recently the band have contributed to the ‘Pitch’
Compilation from Liverpool’s new label ‘Big & Complex
World Records’ (distribution - Pinnacle/promo - Red Alert &
Excess press - release date mid Sept.) The album features 12 of
the country’s hottest unsigned bands as the CD will undoubtedly
prove over the next year. Reviews and mentions have already appeared
in Melody Maker and countless other mags … watch out for this
one.
One of the bands last gigs on Teesside, aptly titled ‘This
is the Future’, clearly showed why they are the ‘Talk
of Teesside’ This was also backed up by Radio 1 choosing Velma
to feature as part of Music Live ’97 in Manchester. The gig
was part of Talent 2000 which saw Velma being further picked by
Steve Lamacq and friends to feature in an additional ‘best
of the best’ gig at the Manchester Roadhouse. Also more recently
John Peel has played a Velma track on his Radio 1 show which he
said brightened his evening when he wasn’t
feeling too good!
…. MYSTERY SOLVED
Velma's Latest News - Gossip
Velma - Six!
Steve Lamacq picked Velma's demo as one of the top three of '97
as part of Radio 1's Talent 2000, and John Peel played several tracks
following their first national release on the Rising Starlets comilation,
'Ptich'.
Superlative reviews throughout the UK and Europe from fanzines to
national press with an ever growing fanbase, and record company
interest was constant throughout 97.
However, the Teesside tunesters feel that the training is now over
and the best is yet to come. There have been changes in all departments
whilst still concentrating on new material. The only thing that
has remained constant is the name... for now!
There is an addition to the original line up - five has now become
six, and there's been an instrument reshuffle that cannot be missed.
Plus new cracking tunes and the introduction of samples in the form
of MrS20. There's a determination to take ehing one step further
in
98.
There will be an EP release in June under the guidance of Andy
Carpenter (Kenicke production), and more details will be available
soon.
Feel free to contact any of the bands at
25 Records anytime for interviews/Band features/ gig info etc. at:
25 Records 60 Tollard Close, Poole, Dorset, BH12 2AU, England.
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Meanwhile you can hear a song by Velma called 'Velma' on
a recent 25 Records compilation CD 'Ouch', priced at only
£5 including post.
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