PREACHER LOVER: We review Mamas Lips latest single and have a chat to Jack and Scott as well!

 

PART 1 - "THE REVIEW"

 

So, here it is, the return of Mamas Lips - a brand new single recorded at Abbey Road supported by a sold out launch party in their hometown of Southampton. The single features two rocking tracks - the A-side, 'Preacher Lover' and the B-side, 'She's Alright'. The two tracks provide a great continuation from Mama Lips' debut EP that was released earlier this year. They seem to delve even further into the blues rock psyche that they explored on the 'Take It Easy' EP. 'Preacher Lover' itself is a hard, fast rock 'n' roll song - fans of Led Zeppelin and The Who will be satisfied here. The track features some punchy, lightning pace drums from Christian Astridge backed up by a slapping bassline from Taz Ghalem. This is all topped off with some superb guitar work and an outstanding vocal delivered by singer and songwriter, Jack Birks. The B-side meanwhile has a short introduction that hints towards The White Stripes or The Jim Jones Revue. However, these comparisons are short lived as Mister Scott Kellaway takes centre stage with the finest example of harmonica playing of the 21st century thus far! Outstanding! This leaves the listener thinking more of the early R&B of the Stones and the Kinks. These two tracks leave us eagerly awaiting the next release from this Southampton four piece. Great stuff!

 

PART 2 - "THE INTERVIEW"

 

1 – What is ‘Preacher Lover’ about and what influenced the song?

 

Jack: "The song is influenced by southern American rock I would say. Not necessarily lyrically but definitely in the music. It's about being tired and desperate I suppose more than anything else. That's what all good rock 'n' roll is centred around."

 

2 – What is ‘She’s Alright’ about and what influenced the song?

 

Jack: "'She's Alright' is hugely influenced by fifties rock 'n' roll. Especially the Chess Records stuff. Muddy Walters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf etc. I haven't really thought about what the song means. I'll leave people to make up their own mind on that one."

 

3 – ‘Preacher Lover’ was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. How did this come about?

 

Jack: "A friend of ours actually works there and when he heard our music he liked it enough to invite us up when they had some free time and weren't busy. And it didn't cost us a penny so it turned out to be the cheapest recording session we have ever done strangely enough."

 

Scott: "Yeah, we were lucky enough to have a friend, Matt Jones, who has a job there as an engineer. He's recorded us before and has come to a few of our shows. It just so happened they had a quiet weekend up there and he invited us up for a day session."

 

4 – How did it feel recording in such a legendary studio?

 

Jack: "As you can imagine it was amazing. The track was done in Studio 3 which is the same room as 'Wish You Were Here' by Pink Floyd was recorded amongst many Beatles overdubs and so many other artists. So just to be there and soak up the atmosphere was incredible."

 

Scott: "Surreal! It didn't really hit me until I walked through the doors. I felt star struck just to be playing and walking around in the same rooms as so many of the greats that have recorded there. It was such a privilege."

 

5 – The artwork for this single and your ‘Take It Easy’ EP are both impressive. Is the artwork important to you?

 

Jack: "It was important for the artwork to stand out for us. We wanted them to be different, but similar enough to each other so that people can tell they are both done by the same band. It's our brand if you like. Something that many bands overlook."

 

Scott: "The artwork is done by another pal Adam Weekes who designed our logo. We gave him a general theme for the title track and he came up with the EP cover. Then when it came to the single cover we wanted to keep it a similar theme. We felt it was important to keep to the same fonts and borders in all our artwork so people recognise it as our work straight off the cuff."

Hope you enjoyed this feature on Mamas Lips! Check out our previous feature on DC Fontana!

 

Check out Mamas Lips new website here - http://www.mamaslips.com/

  

You can also like our Facebook page to keep up to date with all future interviews at the following link - https://www.facebook.com/aldorabritainrecords

 

AB RECORDS

TAKE IT EASY: Jack from Mamas Lips has a chat to us about their debut EP, their new single to be released in October and much, much more!

 

THE 'INTERVIEW'

 

1 - Had you been involved with/been in any bands prior to Mamas Lips?

 

Yeah, the four of us have been in bands together before Mamas Lips and a couple of other projects separately.

 

2 - How did Mamas Lips begin?

 

We were all in a band together and when one member left we decided to change the name and write a whole new set worth of songs.

 

3 - Where did the name Mamas Lips come from?

 

It was a name we threw around when a couple of us were in college but we didn't end up using it and we thought it fitted with our music fairly well.

 

4 - How would you describe the sound of Mamas Lips?

 

It's a healthy mix of old school blues/R&B with a little bit of soul and country too. Heavily Americana influenced but a little heavier than that.

 

5 - Your debut EP is called 'Take It Easy'. Why?

 

We decided that the opening track was the one we wanted to lead with so it felt right to name the debut EP after the leading track.

 

6 - On your debut EP you achieve a very bluesy sound. Was this always the direction you wanted to go with the band and what is it about the blues that has drawn you towards this sound?

 

Yeah we wanted the rawness/edge of a live blues band to come across in the recordings. It was very scrappy, mostly 1-2 takes of each instrument. We didn't want to overproduce the sound and not be able to pull it off when we played live, most importantly.

 

7 - Who would be your dream collaboration?

 

We're all big fans of sixties soul music so to work with anyone who was in/around that scene at that time would be a privilege.

 

8 - Any new songs in the pipeline?

 

We never really stop so I'm sure there will be some new ones in the live set before too long.

 

9 - Any new singles or EP's that fans can be expecting?

 

We will be releasing our new single, 'Preacher Lover', on October 11th at the Cellar in Southampton. We had the pleasure of recording it at Abbey Road Studios so we're looking forward to showing people the results.

 

10 - Any live dates coming up?

 

The aforementioned on October 11th is our next big local show for the next couple of months, so we're really going to throw ourselves into that. 

 

THE 'QUICK FIRE ROUND'

 

1 - Favourite band?

 

Kings Of Leon.

 

2 - Favourite new band?

Catfish And The Bottlemen are good. Not normally my sort of thing but I caught them live a couple of times and they're fantastic.

 

3 - Favourite song?

It changes every week but at the moment probably 'Young Americans' by David Bowie.

 

4 - Favourite album?

'Moondance' by Van Morrison.

 

5 - Vinyl, CD or download?

 

I like vinyl but it depends what the kind of music is. Old blues and soul is best for vinyl but if you were listening to something much more modern then it doesn't have the same authenticity, in my opinion.

 

6 - Style icon?

 

I don't really have one. Being perfectly honest.

 

7 - Favourite clothing brand?

 

I'm not really big into fashion so couldn't say.

 

8 - Favourite film?

 

Reservoir Dogs.

 

9 - Favourite TV show?

 

The Sopranos/Breaking Bad.

 

10 - Who would you like to play you in a film of your life?

Jack Black as everyone so graciously compares me to him!

 

11 - Favourite food?

Mexican all the way.

 

12 - Football team?

 

For me, Liverpool FC...only speaking for myself though!

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this feature on Mamas Lips! Check out our previous feature on The Harrington Blues!

 

Mama's Lips new single 'Preacher Lover' will be out on October 11th, for now you can here 'Take It Easy' here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oPVFWarF4Y

 

You can also like our Facebook page to keep up to date with all future interviews at the following link - https://www.facebook.com/aldorabrittonrecords

 

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