Band members (left to right):
Jake Taylor - vocals
Hugh Maguire - moral support, dancing and general Bez-style nonsense
James Sutcliffe - piano / keys
Justin Marshall - guitars and programming
The idea was dreamt up at an Alice-in-Wonderland themed fancy dress party (see picture above), although Jake and Justin had been playing together for a while now and had been putting off starting a band for equally as long.
After that, we're not quite sure what we're doing, but it involves putting Jake and Justin's tunes (mostly written for the guitar) to electronic, computer based backing, but keeping the live singing, live guitars and James layering some piano sounds. Where Hugh comes in is anyones guess. But a vital member all the same.
The geographical difficulties of having one key band member living in Manchester and the others in London will either prove that when inspiration and talent are harnessed with the right amount of commitment and determination, anything is possible, or that our band name really does sum us up and we should just quit before we make a fool of ourselves too badly. Although posting the above photo on the internet has kinda already bollocksed that one up.
So when the CDs have been sent back and forth and the different parts have all been recorded, (tunes have, amazingly, actually been written) we will post them on this site for you to listen to and you record company bosses can sign us up then. We're splitting the royalties equally four ways. That critical issue was decided at the Alice party.
Justin has varying degrees of musical talent on the guitar, bass, piano, trumpet, decks, computer, drums and digeridoo. Some of which he has had lessons in, some of which has been self-taught. He cant sing for toffee though, but unfortunately, that doesnt stop him trying. He does a spot of DJing which could be useful for filling in time when we get booed off stage.
Jake has been singing in bands for a while, and has a wide range of vocal styles and microphones to suit (from studio quality to ropey) - his band at uni was the rival band to Coldplay as he was in halls with Chris Martin. But dont mention that to him. Jake and Justin's first public performance was at the Fish and Fiddle in Cheltenham, where they covered a handful of tunes by Blur, Oasis and the Bluetones, then outstayed their welcome by refusing to leave the stage and doing as an encore, a song called "F**k Off". Well we had to leave our mark...
James acheived grade 8 piano at the age of 10 and attended the Royal Academy of Music whilst simultaneously taking a maths degree at King's College London. He regularly plays in the swankiest jazz cafes of Soho, and has filled in for Jools Holland at the Royal Albert Hall when the former Squeeze man called in sick with a bout of scurvy. His second proudest moment was buying an electric piano "with weighted keys!" for his bedroom. His proudest moment was buying a stand from Ikea to put said piano on.
Hugh is a great cook and rolls a mean spliff.
When we're not making music, we can be found on the ski slopes of France (if you come at a particular week in the year anyway.)(actually this is the first year we've been - another idea dreamt up at that momentous Alice party!).
Jake enjoys drawing fannys in the snow on cars bonnets...
and 3-d penises on the rear windscreens...
and huge forty-foot shlongs on a frozen lake...
... right under the bubble lift for everyone to see!
This is us at a recent gig in a cheese-restaurant in our on-stage uniform with a couple of fans
I think this is what we pay Hugh for...
This is the crowd at a recent gig in a primary school in Latvia. They mature quickly, those Latvian kids...
And finally, our esteemed manager, King Chet!
D O O M E D F R O M T H E S T A R T !
JM, London, April 2005