Miles Hunt. Straight outta Stourbridge to a world tour.

Friendly Company! The Stuffies are coming to yours

 Miles and Erica Nockalls - from The Wonder Stuff pledge page  

Like a thousand other towns across the country, developers and lousy town planning have ripped the guts out of Stourbridge. The town is a tangle of road improvements and pompous corporate new-build. It's totally out of step with the charming, human scale of the unprofitable parts left behind.

I head along old streets of small terraced houses, down a clearly ancient pathway behind a church. I fetch up in a quiet neighbourhood boozer, one of several I'd passed. No piped music, no fruit machines, no Sky Sports; instead, a large affable dog and some excellent ale. 

And Miles Hunt of The Wonder Stuff. 

Your 10 Radio To Go most-read posts of 2014

This past year, as in previous years, I wrote, wrote and wrote, aiming for a post each week, sometimes more. It's a good exercise. 

Three years ago, I opted for music and music business as core topics, specifically from the West Midlands. There are a lot of dedicated people who work to better our local music scene. Their work and the challenges they face are fascinating. They deserve our support.

I do stray away to write about radio and broadcasting, of course. But thinking in that area, unlike in music, still evolves at a glacial pace. I think and hope that will change: soon and fast. New platforms are due to emerge out of left field. Unless the existing platforms can adapt, they will wither and die. This is nothing new.

The most-read about musos in 2014

While there are a lot of solid numbers for music posts, and these are trending up steadily, it's really interesting to see just which musicians get the big numbers. These four made the grand most-viewed top ten, which you'll find further down the post

1  Old Punks don't die: Neon Hearts go big in Japan 

Big numbers for an obscure 35-year old Wolverhampton punk band, rapturously received in Japan. Lots of numbers scored in the land of the Rising Sun.

2  Terry and Gerry

They came back, to a lot of love. Post-punk nostalgia, and an exclusive live recording. 80s loyalty rules.

3  The Other Campbell Brother 

While Robin and Duncan keep on with UB40 and Ali snarls at them with his rival band, brother David Campbell continues their father's grand tradition of old-school left-leaning folk.

4  Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls - The Stuff Of Wonder

What a team. Whoda thunk it?

After these four, the next six most-read music posts were:
5  Goodnight Lenin on Record Store Day
6  Electric Swing Circus go pro
7  Beat Goes Bang - all about the three Beats we got now
8  Simon Halsey - the CBSO Chorus Master, ahead of Crowd Out
9  Erica Nockalls - her new album and how she does business
10 Boat To Row - telling figures for a much-loved band

The basic conclusion? score one for the guys who build their audience relationships; score another for happy memories. 

The most-read media and business posts in 2014

So, having split the musicians out, it made sense to do the same for the rest of the topics. Interestingly, although I didn't write that many posts on broadcasting and the media, some did really well. These made the top ten

1. The Desolation of Smug

The biggest numbers of the year by a country mile, commenting on the BBC's hideous local underspend of license fee revenue collected from the Midlands. There is some movement, but the imbalance is still massive. If you haven't read it yet, do so now. Please. Then tell your MP.

2. BRMB: 40 Years ago

Launch day at the old BRMB in February 1974

3. The Wireless Festival in Brum

A chat with the man who ran the biggest music fest Birmingham has ever seen.
4. Thursday 21 November 1974

The night they bombed Birmingham city centre. I was live at the old BRMB when it happened.

5. Mellotrons

The men who still make Mellotrons. Midlands rock history.
6. Don't It Always Seem to Go: The Old Crown A lament for yet another historic music venue which used to grace the city centre.

And the next four most read were 
7  The Local YouTube Top 50 chart, February. I do this every six months.
8  Peaky Blinders - made in Brum? Er, no.
9  Promoting and how not to make money. With Bohemian Jukebox's Ben Calvert
10  How much is your music worth? Ever tried asking? Bluebeat Arkestra and their online honesty box.

I can't draw any great conclusions here - but my thanks are due to the many people who sat down with me and chewed the fat so interestingly.

The most-read posts of 2014

Finally, here is the top ten for the year, irrespective of categories.

1. The Desolation of Smug

2. BRMB: 40 Years ago

3. Old Punks don't die: Neon Hearts go big in Japan 

4. The Wireless Festival in Brum

5. Terry and Gerry

6. Thursday 21 November 1974

7. Mellotrons

8. The Other Campbell Brother

9. Miles and Erica - The Stuff Of Wonder

10. Don't It Always Seem to Go: The Old Crown 


I wish you a peaceful and optimistic 2015.

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Erica Nockalls - she's going to melt your iPhone

"Music isn't free, it takes time, effort and energy, training and all the rest of it. I want to see something for it."

In the September sunshine, backstage at Moseley Folk, Erica Nockalls was all smiles. She'd just played a breezy set as half of Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls – see this earlier blog post. Sunday was her birthday; the MoFo boys had given her a cake, which she cheerily shared around. 

But now we're already, suddenly, deep into Autumn. Things are getting more intense, with a new solo album coming up in October: EN2. Erica is selling the album directly from her site.

It's a world away from her work with Miles Hunt, The Wonder Stuff or the Proclaimers: self-financed, self-produced, self-distributed and self-marketed. And it's punchy as hell. 

It's a move on from her first, Imminent Room.

Erica explains: "The music is more progressive, more quirky, still maintaining melody and pop sensibilities. My first record came out on a record label, and I was very happy with how it went. But I'm not a fan of doing things twice. I wanted to self release to have complete control over my rights. It's not going to be on iTunes for now. It shan't be available on Amazon."

That's very precise. 

"Once you realise that every aspect of the music industry is seemingly totally sewn up, it's liberating to not have to ask for permission, validation or approval from anybody to make my own music. Why should I? Once you stop trying to please or impress people, then that's when the good stuff happens. 

"I started writing EN2 on January 1st this year. I wanted to create a record and release it within the year. I get bored of my own ideas quickly. I wanted a more urgent sounding record. I also wanted to make as much of this album by myself, so it's a true representation of what I'm capable of. It's entirely self produced, though I called in a huge favour from guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite on five tracks. I also sought the opinion and assistance of a record producer/sound engineer friend, Simon Efemey. He works with Napalm Death and produces heavy metal bands. It's completely undiluted, which is what I wanted." 

What about distribution and sales?

"I'm pressing up 1000 CD copies of EN2 and for now, these will only be available to pre-order through my site. That's to generate income to pay for mastering, manufacturing and distribution. Once those copies are sold, I may consider the usual bullshit iTunes route. If a label shows any interest after that, then I'll consider my options. I'm doing it my way first. A basic version of crowd funding! It feels like right, and most importantly, it's fair to everyone involved. 

You said specifically it shan't be on Amazon. 

"You just get ripped off left right and centre. Everyone takes their little percentage and before you know, you've just spent seven or eight months toiling over something for very little in the way of reward. And I'm not being greedy. I'm not being a bread-head about any of this - it's just music isn't free, it takes time, effort and energy, training and all the rest of it. I want to see something for it. If I do break even, the extra money can help fund my live band, which costs an absolute fortune. Everybody's band does. 

You present a very precise image. I think that reinforces the online loyalty you've generated: you have an unusually passionate following. 

"We do have some very nice fans. Mainly Wonder Stuff fans! I don't think I've particularly got my own audience yet for the Erica Nockalls Band, but this may change. 

It's very nice that The Wonder Stuff audience has taken to you.

"It's incredibly nice. I'm overwhelmed that they've taken to me, and I really appreciate their support.

When you're running your own band, do you have to be a bastard?

"Absolutely not. You have to be fair, you have to be kind and you have to give praise where praise is due. And surround yourself with musicians who are smart, intelligent, kind, fun and who like your music.

That's an ideal. How do you achieve that?

"It's not easy. I'm on my second line up already, and the band haven't been playing live for much more than a year. It's hard keeping a relationship going with four other people. It's hard enough with one other person. If we had to spend a lot of time on the road together, it would be more difficult. It's not yet an issue. We're all getting on.

From the first Erica Nockalls album, Imminent Room                          

Tell me about the extras: the bundles and packages. Your marketing strategy.

"So. The videos made for Imminent Room: there are nice things used in these that I have no further use for. Take Serpentine City: I have some ex-Soviet gas masks that we used in the video. If anybody wants them, they can buy them along with a record from my website. I'm going to have a nice menu: interesting, quirky prizes that you can buy.

That's almost crowd funding.

This fetching hat could be yours.   

"It's my own version of Pledge but I don't have to pay 15% to someone who's not doing anything. I don't think Pledge are ripping people off. I'm not saying Pledge is a bad thing, it's not for me. And to give percentages away before you've even sold your first copy just seems counter-productive. 

Ok. Apart from the gas masks, your hats...

"...necklaces, clothing, paintings, yes. 

I have an album art exhibition coming up in October. It's a new gallery - Havill and Travis - that's opening in Harborne in Birmingham. The launch night is Friday 17th October - invites only - and it then runs for 10 days.

I'm going to paint a piece for every track on my new record . These oil paintings will come in album order as you walk around the art gallery; there'll be listening booths where you can listen to a piece of music, with a pair of headphones, and view a piece of art that's directly inspired by a track. It's not an easy thing to do.

Closing Of Day: a  painting by Erica Nockalls, available in print form from her site    

"And it's invitation only, with a limited amount of guest passes available from my website. So when you pre-order an EN2 copy of the physical record you can also get tickets to the exhibition."

Some of your online stuff is sweetly candid. You put personal stuff up: it's charming... but here, there's a slight aloofness - red carpets and such... is there a conflict there?

"I don't think so. It's important for people to see you as approachable if you want them to buy the music. I don't have any issue there – I'm not that personal. You have to be careful of negativity. If you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

"I do try to be engaging, and I enjoy watching people discuss their points of view. I share my personal interests publicly, mainly for my own amusement. I talk a lot about food, booze and art."

Smartphones in the crowd: I really dislike audience videos. You have a technique for that...

"Yes. My band are quite heavy. Simon Efemy does our sound. He knows what I want. If it feels like you're being hoofed in the stomach by a raging horse, and your head feels like it's going to crack open cause it's so loud - then that's what I'm going for. It's quality loudness. I have it so incredibly loud that poor little camera phones can't deal with it."

Ha! Melt those microphones! But there is volume and volume.

"Yes there is, it has to be quality and it has to cover all the different frequencies. My band doesn't sound like me playing the violin with backing. Everybody is as important as everybody else."

Links
Erica Nockalls website

The Album
EN2 is available directly from Erica's website, initially in a limited edition CD run. 

See more posts on music and musicians on Radio To Go

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Making it pay: consider being a hard bastard; definitely get a lawyer.

2013: the Steve Harris memorial gig      
 Photo from Rob Campbell      

Four re-mortgages and counting – but Madhouse's Roy Davis is cautiously optimistic

At Madhouse Rehearsals last month, Jaci Davis startled me by revealing that she and husband Roy had had to re-mortgage their house four times to keep the business afloat. I've known Roy since his Shy days: late period NWOBHM. They had a pretty good run. Since then, I've seen Roy and Jaci build up their business against the odds. Lots of PR and charm; lots of graft. But they haven't exactly got rich.

That said, the place thrums. Twelve busy rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, two venues, two record labels, a Rock club night that promoters would kill for. A diverse roster of clients rehearsing and recording. And like all good music workplaces, it's got a calm and business-like vibe. 

So I'm curious. Let's start with what Jaci told me: you've actually re-mortgaged your house four times to keep thise place afloat? 

Roy Davis: We have. When we started, we re-mortgaged to raise the money. As things went along, we need to re-mortgage again, to get more money... and again... every time we needed money to expand or build, we re-mortgaged. 

The Stuff of Wonder: Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls

Twenty seven years of solid songs, changing line-ups and killer on-stage monologues

Convention says: if the bastards grind you down, your youthful exuberance will be drummed out of you, and your bright shiny work will be damned and spurned by the new breed. The new breed will, in turn, will be spat out by and swept aside. But they don't know that. Yet.

Durability and craft can work for you long after the business boys write you off. Look at the headliners at this summer's festivals: they're vintage acts. Later this year, the 47 year old Fairport Convention headline their 38th annual festival. High up on Fairport's bill? The Wonder Stuff who started in 1987.

The Wonder Stuff, like Fairport, are sustained by an adoring and loyal audience. They come for Miles Hunt's songs and brilliant on-stage patter. The repertoire works with a full band, and in a duo with partner and fiddle player, Erica Nockalls. That tells you the songs are solid enough to take a whole range of treatments. And it says a lot about on-stage presence.