(The 45's are: Left to Right - Joe Wyatt (Bass and Vocals), James Green (Lead Vocals, Harmonica and Sax), Bailey Claringbold (Drums) and Tom Hamilton-Hughes (Lead Guitar and Vocals)
I can't thank the lads from The 45's enough for taking some time out of studying for their exams to this interview. Big thanks as well to Karl Parsons for setting it all up. All photos are courtesy of The 45's Facebook Page and their Website.
S4L: So, you have been together for just over a year now, how
did the band come together?
Tom: There is a great band scene at our school, Nelson
Thomlinson in Wigton near Carlisle. In fact that is the reason I went there.
Having been in different bands we got together as The 45s over a few months
with the aim of being an R 'n' B band – the only one at the school and as far
as we knew the only on in the County.
S4L: Are you all at the same school by the way? Back when I
was in school (so many years ago now!) there were a few bands formed and they
got to play at the school assembly, have you guys had the honour of doing that
yet?
James: Yes, we are all in the same year at school and have
been sitting our GCSEs. Joe and Tom are leaving to go to college in Kendal in
September where they will study music performance. Bailey and I are staying on
to do our A levels. We haven’t played at the assembly but we did play at the
school prom this year which was great with everyone dancing along and girls
screaming!
S4L: I've been looking at your website and noticed that you
have a lot of shows booked for the coming months, mainly at the weekends, have
you intentionally done that so you can focus on school work during the week? I
take it that you obviously get some band practise in as well during the week?
Are you doing at that at one of your houses or do you have a studio or hall you
get to use?
How do you find getting the balance right between your
school work and wanting to get out and play?
Joe: We have had to turn down lots of gigs in order to free
up time for studying. Also, many of our gigs have been late night events where
we start at 10.30 and play through to well after midnight. We would be
shattered the next day. We are open to all offers of gigs over the summer. It’s
just that it’s easier to find gigs at the weekend. We practice in the attic at
Tom’s house every week and it is the ’Number 34’ of the song we play. We also
arrange a few more formal practice sessions at the Brickyard, a great little
live music venue in Carlisle.
S4L: It seems quite unusual for a group of kids to be playing
music that in essence is so "old", what drew you to the blues, rock
and roll and r'n'b?
Bailey: Tom arrived at our school a couple of years ago
playing and listening to all these old tunes. I was immediately turned on to
the Beatles and Tom kept going on about Wilko Johnson and Doctor Feelgood. We
started playing all the stuff that the Beatles played in the early days –
Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Barrett Strong. Then we got into the Feelgood’s
music and played their own stuff and the great songs they covered such as Route
66.
S4L: When was the first time you played live together? How
exciting was it getting up on the stage and unleashing your sound for a crowd?
After so many shows do you still get the buzz? The music you play is full on
energy have you been surprised at the response to the band?
Tom: Our first proper live gig was at a club in Workington
called Bar 32 in May last year. It was part of a 2 day festival and we were the
support act doing a couple of sets. We went down so well that the owner asked
us to come back on after the headline act had finished. We have played so many
gigs now that I don’t get nervous but we all have different reactions to it.
James has a bit of a ritual to do with toilets before every gig! The buzz when
you go onstage and the audience reacts positively is just fantastic. It ends up
being a virtuous circle with the audience feeding off our energy and us picking
up on that and giving it back to them.
The audience response has been getting better and better.
Every place we have played has wanted us back and we really enjoy playing to
bigger crowds. Personally, I have always been convinced that the sort of music
we play, and the way we play it, would resonate with a wide audience, I think
they call it our demographic in the business. Young people just love dancing to
our music. They don’t know the difference between a Chuck Berry classic and one
of our own songs. They just love the beat.
S4L: Did you enjoy the process of making your video 'Around
and Around'? It's not even been up a month and you've had over 3,000 views are
you keen to do some more videos?
James: I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was really easy
and a lot of fun – just us goofing around really, having a laugh. It’s the sort
of thing we do even when there isn’t a camera there! We will definitely be
doing more videos as lots of people told us that the images really bring the
music alive. Sean, who made it was brilliant.
S4L: What about recording? You've got such a great sound that
I'm sure is going to propel you to some success. How aware are you of a band
like The Strypes who are playing a similar style of music to The 45's and they
are around a similar age to you? Are you excited that there are two young bands
out there introducing this great music to a younger generation?
Bailey: It was a little strange when we came across the
Strypes around the end of last year. It was if we had a shadowy reflection of
ourselves in another dimension. We’ve seen and heard their stuff on You Tube
but our paths have yet to cross. It would be interesting to meet up with them
to share notes. They are ahead of us in the music business right now but there
is plenty room for two great R 'n' B bands and we certainly intend to be one of
them!
S4L: One of the questions I'd thought of asking you is how
many of your Dad's CD's or albums are currently living in your own rooms? Who's
responsible for what cover tunes you play or is it a full band decision? What about
writing your own material, have you done much of that yet?
James: It started with Tom getting us all to listen to CDs
and LPs of his own or his dad’s, but we would also watch these legendary acts
on You Tube where you could get a feel for what they were actually like. We sit
around in the attic at Number 34 listening to loads of stuff and we’ll think,
“that’s one we could make our own” and just pick up our instruments and play
it. Once we’ve got the song down we will play around with it to give it a ‘45s’
feel. We have got eight of our own songs in our set at the moment and have
loads more in the pipeline. Tom comes up with the melodies and he and I will
work on the lyrics. Joe has written one great song – Little Black Shorts, and
we are expecting some more good things from him.
S4L: I looked at your list of influences on your website and was blown away. Real quality guitarists, bluesmen, bands, do you
enjoy discovering more and more of this quality music? What are your sources
for discovery?
Tom: We are always exploring new music, mostly from the
past. Films and TV documentaries have played an important role in helping us
understand not just about the music but the social conditions that gave rise to
this music. ‘Backbeat’ tells the story of the Beatles in Hamburg and ‘Cadillac
Records’ is all about the rise of Chess in Chicago. Wilko is fantastic in ‘Oil
City Confidential’ which shows what a great band Dr Feelgood were. I was lucky
enough to visit Memphis and Mississippi last year when I went on a Blues
harmonica course, staying on an old cotton plantation. I got to play at the
Ground Zero blues club in Clarksdale and listened to the blues being played in
some of the last juke joints.
S4L: We live in a very technological age these days and so
how vital to spreading the word of The 45s are things like Facebook, Twitter,
and You Tube?
Joe: It’s absolutely essential these days. Its one of the
first things people ask. How many likes do you have on Facebook? We have now
had over 3,000 views of our video and most of that has been the result of our
Facebook presence with nearly 14,000 likes. It’s also important these days to
understand how all these forms of social media are connected and how one drives
the other.
S4L: Soundtrack4Life
always likes to find out the music that moves you and is part of your own
musical journey. So if you could pick three songs each that you think sum up a
little of who you are as band that would be great and I'll put together a you
tube playlist of those twelve songs for our readers to enjoy.
Tom
• Texas
Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan
• You Need
Lovin’ by The Small Faces
• Sugar
Sweet by Muddy Waters
James
• The Last
Time by The Rolling Stones
• My Girl
by Otis Redding
• My Babe
by Little Walter
Joe
• Sweet
Home Chicago by Robert Johnson
• Junkie
Doll by Mark Knopfler
• Think it
Over by Buddy Holly
Bailey
• Shake by
Sam Cooke
• Tin
Soldier by The Small Faces
• Can’t
Explain by The Who
S4L: One last question, just stumbled on videos from Wilko J gig
in Glasgow with The 45s supporting, wow, how good was that getting to play with
one of your influences (I believe you ended up using Wilko's telecaster?)?
Tom: I met Wilko after a gig he played in Kendal a couple
of years ago. I went backstage and ended up jamming with him and receiving a
master class in how to play his licks. We kept up contact and were due to
support him at a gig in Carlisle which was unfortunately cancelled when his
illness was announced. We were all going to see Wilko’s farewell gig in Glasgow
when his manager got in touch and invited us to open the show. This was the
best news we had ever heard. On the night we went down really well and Wilko
was watching from the wings. But then I broke a string and when I went to pick
up my spare guitar, Wilko’s manager stepped forward with his iconic red
Telecaster. The crowd cheered when they saw what I was playing! I now have
Wilko’s autograph on the headstock of my own Tele. It was a magical night and
we’ve got some great memories and mementoes.
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