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WEDNESDAY afternoon at the Soundhaus is a confusing
melee of BBC6 Music bods, sound engineers and
hangers on like myself getting in the way. A guy industriously
fiddles about with two screens and a giant BBC6
logo on the stage in the ‘small’ room, while an alluring
snatch of Medium 21’s run-through drifts up from
the basement. The frenzied preparation is all in aid
of Steve Lamacq’s Live in the City series, which
thankfully isn’t too strict on the demographics of it’s
whistle-stop tour of the country, requiring only a venue
renowned for quality gigs without the notoriety of those,
ahem, cultural hotspots like Brixton Academy, the Scala
et al.
Prior to the Lord of the Bands’ seal of approval which
tonight’s gig confirms, the Soundhaus has undergone
a mysterious renaissance, notably helped by the transformation
of rival venue the Roadmender from a gratifyingly grubby
rock-band favourite to an arts centre of abattoir proportions.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Libertines, Brendan
Benson, Ed Harcourt, Soundtrack of Our
Lives, Mew, Hope of the States, Vendetta
Red, Athlete, the Bluetones, the list
goes on. And like YYYs and Har Mar Superstar,
most of them rocked the Soundhaus before landing on
the front cover of any music chronicles currently in
publication. But we won’t boast. It might just be a
Northampton trait – to hell with recognition, we’re
on to a good thing and we know it.
A sentiment shared by the band who are tonight billed
as ‘locals’, recently signed to Temptation Records,
and spreading the love from their superb debut LP
Killings From the Dial, to universal acclaim – Medium
21.
GRIM Reaper antics and ‘has-been’ paranoia aside, Jon
Clough (vocals, guitar) and Drew Kent (drums, vocals)
occupy the faux-leather seats in front of me with the
affability yet quiet confidence of the principal players
in a band on the up.
Theirs is a simple beginning – in early 1999 the then-line-up
of Jon, Drew, and Paul Thornton (bass) embarked on a
self-funded tour of the US. Returning for Manchester’s
In The City gig, they found a manager and keyboard/guitarist/vocalist
Craig Brown (guitars, keyboards, vocals) and released
In Awe Of Agriculture on Outafocus in November 2000,
followed by an EP, which landed them sessions with
XFM and Radio One’s Steve Lamacq.
Tonight continues their relationship with ‘the Mac’,
kind of a respected granddaddy figure for Jon and Drew.
“We just don’t want to let him down,” jokes Drew, articulate
and serene when he can get a word in edge ways. “He
seems to know every band that ever was, he’s so fanatical
about music, but he’s not pompous with it, he’s just
cool.”
“We’ve all got a lot of respect for him, he’s such a
nice guy,” adds the endearingly rambling Jon. “Tonight’s
good because we’re doing something with somebody we
actually like. I’m looking forward to it.”
Supporting Radio 4, trash punk rock disco New
Yorkers supreme, is a bit of an oxymoron for a band
who confess to hating over-hyped image-led ‘scenes.’
Hold on to your hats, media-monkeys, Jon’s on a trail-blazing
commentary of the industry, which surprisingly, makes
a lot of sense.
“A lot of the press is image based,” he grimaces, visibly
irritated by the thought of all that hype. “I refuse
to buy the albums of some of these hyped bands, I didn’t
get the Strokes’ album until like three or four months
ago. It’s a great album, but I think people get put
off because it’s forced down their throats.”
Drew picks it up as Jon trails off into his cigarette
smoke. “There’s an unwritten kind of element of cool
about something that’s from somewhere else. I remember
thinking Def Lepperd were some sort of real cool Hollywood
band. And they were from Sheffield,” he says, perhaps
still a little disappointed.
“It could even be counter-productive, because when people
see the White Stripes in the NME every week,
it gets to a point where that’s not going to do them
any favours.” (BTW, the boys are big Stripes fans, but
even they can’t stomach the press-saturation which preceded,
and followed, ‘Elephant.’)
BEFORE you panic, it’s not all press-conspiracy theories.
Medium 21 have their own tactics, highlighted by the
conscious decision to let Killings… become a ‘slow-burner.’
“I imagine us sort of sitting slightly in the background,”
muses Drew. “But it would be nice when loads of people
know who you are and you can get good attendances at
gigs but not be part of a really current, cool new scene.”
They compare their future role to ‘someone like Mercury
Rev, who when they release a single people go and
buy it because they love it, but they’re not part of
a really image-based scene.’ Artistic integrity is characteristic
of Medium 21, but then it could just be laziness. Stepping
away from ‘boring’ performance videos, the one for new
single By My Side features a 70-year-old guy
playing Jon attempting to impress a ‘meals-on-wheels
woman.’
“It’s a tongue-in-cheek piss take,” says Jon. “Maybe
it’s not as accessible as a band playing, but we’re
not a rock band, we can’t fake jumping about.”
He confesses: “I don’t like doing it anyway, it’s knackering.”
Just like headlining. “I hate headlining it’s horrible,”
says Jon, while Drew helpfully points out the worst
part is staying sober.
Who needs to anyway, when they can support people who’ll
do all the plugging for them? “We spent a lot of time
supporting some really good bands, so you are always
guaranteed a reasonably good audience,” says Drew, before
betraying their fear of playing to ‘one man and his
dog.’ “We got a bit of a surprise. Most of our headline
gigs were really good.”
Touring with Cooper Temple Clause and promoting
the next single with some ‘scary’ club nights will keep
them busy for a few months, but the next album looks
pretty much sorted with about twenty songs just waiting
to be recorded.
You might catch them at the festivals, but get there
early, or you’ll more likely bump into them watching
some ‘good bands’ with the great unwashed.
Jon will be the really tall scary guy waltzing around
in a dark cape with a scythe. “I’m going to walk out
as the Grim Reaper just as everyone’s coming down off
pills and stuff, and say ‘morning’ in a really deep
voice.”
Drew’s laughing, but I think he might be serious. Either
way, look out – like Death himself, Medium 21 are out
to get you. And they will succeed – it’s inevitable.
Relevant sites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/presenters
http://www.r4ny.com
http://www.medium21.co.uk
http://www.thesoundhaus.com
Natasha House for Crud Magazine© 2003
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