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CORDUROY
"We used to want
to be the party band in all those films when you get a club
scene or a party scene, you get this groovy band pretending
to be playing in a corner"
They've been grooving
away for nearly a decade now. From their Mod roots, to their
successful stint with Acid Jazz, Corduroy have just recorded
their most wholesome, coherent dance record, capturing the
best of the modern, eclectic dance world. Techno, disco, pop
and big beat all stew in the melting pot that is Click! (Big
Cat Records).
Formed by twins Ben
and Scott Addison from the ashes of 80s pop combo Boys' Wonder
with former Dr and the Medics bassist Richard Searle and guitarist
Simon Nelson-Smith. Corduroy released three eclectic albums
on Acid Jazz before breaking away from the confines of the
fast fading chin stroking, goatee beard beatnik scene and
signed to Big Cat Records.
Ready
Steady Go! spoke to Richard Searle about the new Corduroy
direction, the album and the bands past.
RSG:
First of all tell us about the new album, Click!?
RS: "It is produced
by Rob Playford, who has worked with 'Goldie'. It is much
tighter than anything I have ever done before because it is
all recorded through a computer. Everything else we have done
was pretty much live. One track on our last album 'The joker
is wild' did venture into that kind of thing but that is the
only time really. It took 9 months - 6 months back to back.
That is the longest time I have ever spent on one album. It
took a long time because of the process of using the computer".
RSG: Despite the heavy
use of modern technology, it still has quite an organic sound
to it.
RS: "It has live instruments
on it - all it means is that you can manipulate anything on
a computer to how you want it. It is loud because that is
what Rob likes. We had two huge monitors, which cost about
£11,000 each. We do a track called 'Play Loud' on the album
and we melted the cone on one of them and blew the other one
up!! I was well impressed with that".
RSG: There is a lot
of things going on (Techno, Drum and Bass, even a Japanese
pop influence)?
"Future High Street'
- that was quite techno. 'Moshi Moshi' - that had a Japanese
influence. This was a single. We go to Japan a lot. You can
get an extra track on the Japanese albums, we have to do this
as part of the Japanese contract. It started off just being
an extra track for the Japanese but it turned up making the
album.
RSG: The Japanese
seem to enjoy your style of music and there is a big following
over there for cool bands that never seem to make the big
time in the UK.
RS: "They have a nice
outlook on music - very different from in the UK. They accept
pretty much anything. They like any western bands and now
a lot of western bands have started going there".
RSG: The new album
puts you into the current dance market? It puts you up there
with the Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim etc?
RS: "It does not really
compete with their music, but I do know what you mean. I guess
it is far more acceptable if you like dance music 'Future
High Street' is quite an aggressive track and I think there
is nothing in the charts which is as loud as that. It really
is heavy - but it does have a pop focal point".
RSG: One of the highlights
on Click! is the sexy groovy disco pop of 'Thing For Your
Love'. You can't stop your body from moving to this groove.
Get ready to glide across the dance floor to the classy hooks
that recall the upbeat splendour of Deee-Lite's sugar sweet
retro groove pop opus 'Groove Is In The Heart'.
RS: "Apparently, that
track is already being played in many clubs already. They
are playing it in different types of clubs and also playing
the other tracks from the album. The tracks are club friendly.
I heard 'Moshi Moshi' at a Indie club after a 'Soundtrack
of Our Lives' gig, a Swedish Rock/Indie band. That surprised
me. All our tracks on the album are club friendly".
RSG: Corduroy are
still pigeon holed with the Acid Jazz scene despite breaking
free from the label several years ago. The change in direction
may pleasantly surprise a few people.
RS: "Yeh - Acid jazz
has always been on the scene - but there has always been the
other stuff/ideas. The first album was pretty heavy and energetic
and it had psychedelic moments".
RSG: Corduroy plan
to re-release the hard to find previous albums in the near
future plus a live album. There is also a budget priced 'Best
Of' currently doing the rounds. I asked Richard to give a
few 'sound bites' on the first four Corduroy albums.
RS: "All of the 3
acid jazz albums are coming out. The first and the third albums
- you can still get hold of. The hardest one to get hold of
is 'High Havoc'. When the artwork for this album went to the
record company the photo was under exposed and so we coloured
the hair in with a biro. This went back to the record company
and they thought that this was our final artwork change and
all the copies were pressed up. If you can get hold of a copy
of 'High Havoc' on vinyl with Byroad/coloured in hair this
is the most collectable".
"The first one (Dad
Man Cat) was the most popular. It was loud, rocky, jazzy instrumentals.
It was really quick. We had only been together for a matter
of months. This album had energy. It was probably the most
successful debut album of its age".
RSG: Which year was
that released?
"1993 or it might
have been '92. It was the same year we recorded 'High Havoc'.
'High Havoc' was more laid back than the first album, really
60s, really kitsch. It was like a film soundtrack. We wrote
an imaginary film script and put the music to it. We used
to want to be the party band in all those films when you get
a club scene or a party scene, you get this groovy band pretending
to be playing in a corner. That's where we thought we belong".
"In 1994 we made 'Out
Of Here' (the third album). That was less energetic. Acid
jazz was at its height. We supported 'Blur' at Alexandra Palace
with this album. This was just before Brit-Pop. The new wave
was just turning into Brit-Pop. Brit-Pop kicked-in in 1995
and it killed off Acid Jazz. We could have ridden the 'Brit-Pop
wave' but we did not. We could have fitted into that quite
well but we decided not to".
"Then we recorded
the fourth album and then 'Big Cat' picked it up and put it
out. It was released on 'Big Cat' here - but it was still
without a Producer".
RSG: Corduroy have
been linked with the Mod Scene from their early days and their
vision has remained strictly modernist since the beginning.
RS: When we first
started we definitely had a strong Mod following. We were
always going to Mod clubs. A guy had a club in London and
helped us a lot in the beginning. There was only a small Mod
scene at that time and we would argue 'til we were blue in
the face that we WERE a mod band. Especially in the beginning
we very much relied on that Mod following. There were only
two places where we could play. Either in London night-clubs
or at the Mod stuff places".
RSG: Richard is the
psychedelic head in Corduroy. He is a big fan of Love, Arthur
Lee is one of his heroes. He also digs the retro garage rockers
MakeUp, Super Furry Animals ("I guess they are the band -
I like them a lot).
Click! is out now
on Big Cat Records.

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