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enjoyblacksurf-blog · 6 years ago

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About A Band

PART ONE - LET’S MAKE A BAND

Many moons ago in a valley called Ilkley in sunny Yorkshire... I (@aliepstone) met my brother to be, Phil (@SpankeeJones). With only the influence of Queen, R.E.M, Nirvana, Lemonheads & Green Day, Spankee Jones created me a mixtape (Spank Me Up, Mr. Ali Vol. 1 & 2) that would change my little mind forever. Everything from Bjork, Everclear, Sublime, Veruca Salt, Pixies, Weezer and Nada Surf to name a few.

This mix tape blew my mind wide open to the world of the 90’s alternative and beyond. A bond was made. The dream of creating our own band was brewing.

Spankee introduced me to the world of The Leeds Music Festival in 1998 and we’d go every single year to follow. In one weekend we saw James Brown in a small tent and Iggy Pop humping a Marshall stack in see-through pants. Minds were blown again in many more ways than one, and our own band, Wendall, was formed. Wendall (named after Arrested Development’s Mr. Wendall) was short lived. 3 songs and only two gigs later, high school fame reared its ugly head and the band imploded. We grew up, left school and lost touch.

I made a metal band called Mishkin with teenage friends, Mark, Ben and now the infamous ‘Ramoss’ on bass. We grafted, went through the mud a few times and saw the world together. In the best part of ten tears, we toured the country up and down, went to China twice, supported Enter Shikari, Sepultura, He'd P.E & Letlive to name a few. Mishkin had been through 13 different members in order to keep that metal train in motion and it took it’s toll. We called it a day in 2012 but lifetime friendships were made and bands like Beyond All Reason, Pteroglyph, Delta Sleep & In Technicolour and were fully formed.

After giving my whole life to a band that dissolved in one band meeting... I was completely lost and and ready to shake off the best part of ten years of naughty water abuse. I needed to clean up and figure out what the hell my life was about. I’d always known I was gonna sort myself out. Might as well be now? So I flew to Australia to start a new life with his wife and study Meditation with my acoustic guitar in hand. I’ll go Solo and be one of those miserable acoustic dudes, I thought.

Spankee Jones married too and had an awesome little baby boy. This new life had ignited a whole new surge of creativity and he sent me some demos for a potential fun new project.

These demos shifted something within both of us and brought back those childhood memories. Spankee, a bass player, with a multi-instrumental heart had somehow learned to play guitar and merged a perfect hybrid of the essence of Weezer’s early classic albums, with a twist of Flaming Lips. Immmm YES! I combined my love for Evan Dando, early Billie Joe Armstrong and Art Alexakis as a starting point to explore my new found voice. I knew I had one, I just never found the right channel. The two of us never fully explored our musical abilities until now.

We dreamt up our version of a perfect band. Whatever ever styles we liked, we’d explore. This became, Black Surf. The only issue being that we were now 10,000 miles apart. Between FaceTime chats and dropbox files being sent, we wrote our first song ‘Army of Sheep’. This was enough to book a flight back to the UK, a rehearsal room and a gig at Leeds' Brudenell Social Club to kickstart this dream.

It all became effortless and a true joy to experience. Spankee explored the guitar, I enjoyed discovering my voice, Ramoss was brought back into the fold. He kept the bass phat and himself incognito in the shadows where he likes it best. This all leaving Mark, the glue, to keep it all together.

We followed up with a classic, Black Surf banger, Light’s Out. It received rave reviews from The BBC, Total Guitar, Classic Rock, The 405 and a feature in Rocksound Magazine. A label showed interest and a support slot with Lonely the Brave gave the band confidence to keep riding that Black Surf Wave. This all happened within a really short time and the band hadn’t caught up ourselves or figured out who we were or what this thing was. We decided to go back into the studio to capture the moment, achieve a life-long goal and create a memory in the form of an album before it all went tits up.

The result, Let’s Pretend It’s Summer, a 14 track album recorded with Lee & Jaime at Greenmount Studios and bits and bobs at Penthouse Studios and Chairworks studios, captured the band working out what we were capable of. We discovered our love for all things pop, rock, punk, fuzz, acoustic, psychedelic and straight up rock n roll. This collection of songs remains widely unheard as we didn’t really push it out to the world. The album was more of a personal victory for us all. All we ever wanted was to record a record. We did it! Now what? The band, now with four kids, work and life commitments to add to the mix, made the reality of dreaming further than the limits of Yorkshire an impossible task. The future of the band didn’t look great and something had to change if it was to carry on. But, this wasn’t just a fun project or flash in the pan, there was something in this thing worth nurturing, exploring and diligently committing too. It was just too damn fun to let go.

The band had a achieved an almighty goal against all odds. Mark went back to his main band, Spankee and Ramoss remained in Yorkshire to bring up their kids and run their respected business and I was back to square one. Again. Great. It all came to a natural end with a great feeling of accomplishing an album to be really proud of. I mean, it’s a total banger of a record!

Check it out - https://enjoyblacksurf.bandcamp.com/album/lets-pretend-its-summer-

PART TWO - LET’S TRY THIS AGAIN

So.. I moved in with my wife in London with the intention of keeping this dream alive with Spankee. Now only 200 miles apart between London and Leeds, we could still make records together. I went back into the pub trade and met Tom Moore at The Duke's Head pub in Highgate, North London. We drank damn good beer and started a bromance rooted in music. An instant connection was made.

Listen to Thoughts & Talks Podcast for a glimpse into the ramblings - https://www.blacksurf.co.uk/podcast

Tom played in his band and they were going through changes too. Having never heard Tom play, I asked him to join the Black Surf fold based on his stories of Download festival and tattoos alone. That’s all one ever really needs, right?

Spankee had another album’s worth of material up his sleeve. This was a new sound, full of life, synth and dare I say maturity. With the inspiration of Ballvenie, early R.E.M albums and a Pavement documentary... I wrote most of the lyrics and melodies in one big writing session. It literally all just poured out. The flat was tiny and I couldn’t be too loud, so the words came out quiet over the heavy tunes. This formed a new style I got to play with. The three of us went back to Greenmount Studios to give these songs a life. The Greenmount guys ripped the songs apart and created a whole new vibe and sound for the band. These songs needed to be heard this time. So, the band needed a new line up that was free to tour the world. Indefinitely. No biggy.

A collection of songs was recorded, mastered and ready for the world to hear. The only problem being, Black Surf, now based in London, didn’t have a line up. Tom & I set off to Leeds to play one last show with the boys and hooked up with long time buddy and multi-instrumentalist, Bryan Diggle. We went for a cheeky pre-gig steam and sauna. Tom and Bryan hit it off instantly. Bryan and I had couch surfed together years ago and had a brotherhood bond from the days he rocked it in Leed’s finest jam band, Ego Killer.

This all seemed too perfect and so a throwaway comment was made to sack off his whole life in Leeds and move to London and start the band from scratch, then tour the world and all live happily ever after. Diggle said yes and the new version of the band was created. Instantly.

We spent the whole of 2018 creating a new version of this band. A version that has actual foundations and is set for longevity. We ironed out all the creases and spent countless hours creating and preparing ourselves for a life on the road. Diggle had a personal... moment and quit the band just before started releasing the new music. This took us back to square one, again. So what, now we’re a chuffing two piece!? Why oh why am I still pushing this thing!? In all honesty, from the moment we tried to make this thing a band that tours and creates output on top of our day jobs and living in London... it’s been completely bruuuutal and disheartening trying to keep this thing alive and together. Writing and recording is by faaaar the easiest and most enjoyable part of the process.

I didn’t realise that to keep this thing alive, just writing and creating music, simply wouldn’t be enough. I learned how manage the band and still remain friends with my friends. This ain’t easy but it’s just about possible. Babysitting, mediating at times and calling the shots, booking the tours, keeping promoters sweet, designing stuff, creating videos etc. It just goes on and on. I need a band that shared all this between us! I ain’t no solo project. But that just wasn’t an option. It was completely gnarly and like pulling teeth at times. One last shot. so I called a meeting.

BAND MEETING

“What is this thing? Does anyone actually care and want to pursue it? What part of the band would everybody be happy doing? I’m in this for the long game and I need to know what everybody else wants.” I know full well that I can get whatever I want if I help others get what they want. That’s my philosophy and I’m putting it into action.

Spankee - “I want to write and record. The rest of it is of no interest to me”. Ramoss - “I love the band but I can’t commit to all the shit”. Tom - “Yeah, let’s do this! Whatever it takes”. Diggle - “I wanna play and tour but don’t want to do all the band stuff” Myself - “I’m willing to steer the ship and do whatever it takes so I can keep making music”.

PART THREE - LET’S TRY THIS ONE LAST TIME

Finally, everybody was honest and real. We now know what everybody wants to do and doesn’t.

Tom and I are dead set on touring our asses off, seeing the world and running the show. Whatever that entails at all costs. Spankee and Diggle are doing what they love too and are prepared to come along for the ride. And Ramoss... Well, he’ll be back.

After a solid 4 years of pushing through the mud, watching other bands quit along the way or go on to bigger things. We’ve made friends with hell and accepted our cards. We’ve figured out who and what we are, we finally have something that we can call a band that we’re proud of it. But most of all... we’re ready to set it free. Finally! This year is gonna be all kinds of hell yeah.

See you soon,

www.blacksurf.co.uk

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