Liverpool

Tomorrow we play Hannah’s Bar in Liverpool as part of Sound City 2010. The band have a long history with the city but remarkably, we’ve never performed there. It’s one of the most soulful cities there is and it has a grand reservoir of musical DNA. 

People i’ve known there have always been really helpful with us, loaning us gear or working on our songs with us. Our first demo recordings were made in Liverpool and these songs found their way to Los Angeles and were played on KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic by DJ Nic Harcourt. It’s still a port town despite what anyone might say. We later worked with the string section of the Liverpool Philharmonic who performed on one of our songs. It was the first time the band met David Fletcher of Colorama who was working in the orchestra. Liverpool is where we first recorded with John Leckie, spending a week in The Motor Museum. Carwyn Ellis worked on that session and later introduced us to Toe Rag Studios for our single and an EP for Verve. It’s also home to Dave Scott who we work with now and then n’that.

The last time we visited was November 2009 when we met up with Herbie Flowers to talk about our recording sessions for ‘I See Cathedrals’ in Los Angeles. Herbie offered to play on one of our songs and he’s played on most of our favourite records, notably Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘Histoire De Melody Nelson’, Harry Nilsson’s ‘Nilsson Schmilsson’ and Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer‘. The gig at Hannah’s Bar commences at 6 and we’re on at 7:15. First ever gig in Liverpool.

Scott