Howlin’ Circus

So you guys just had rehearsal. How did it go? Sonam: It was good. As usual. Working on new songs.

How do your songs come about? Jamie: Different guys will write different kinds of songs and then we try to bring it together and kind of bring it all together to make a common sound.

So you prefer to write songs first and then play. Jamie: Yeah, but we always start rehearsals with a jam. Jafar: Yeah, sometimes something will come out of just jamming and we’ll hold on to that. It’s always good to know you can just improvise if you ever play out all your songs in a set. I think we know each other well enough that we could just jam a bit after the set.

Have you been going after a special sound? Alan: If it sounds cool... it works. [Stroking exam beard] Jamie: Alan is classically trained! Alan: I’m the most classically trained member of the band. I even studied how to play notes on drums.

What? Alan: No seriously. Jamie: Jafar plays the harmonica

Oh that’s cool. Harmonica sounds good. Gotta buy them all - that’s the problem. Jamie: Yeah, hardly anyone plays them in bands. Sometimes some one plays the harmonica but you hardly hear them on albums. Hey Jafar, remember that guy in that band who bought a harmonica after seeing you play it at one of our gigs? Jafar: Who...? Oh right, that guy... yeah...

Who? Jamie: We don’t want to say any names. Jafar: Yeah, no [mumble].

How did you guys meet actually? Jamie: It was beautiful. Jafar and me met out of fate... I saw him play one day and I thought “what beautiful music”. Jafar: I was fronting my own open mic night at uni, which was happening every week. Jamie: So that was that and then we got a bassist and a lot of drummers.

How many drummers? Jamie: 4...5...6...? I don’t know.

Drummers... Jafar: So even though we had songs we didn’t play live for months and months because every time the drummer would flake before a gig.

A drummer flaked on me once because of his grandma’s birthday... Jamie: You should have told her to come.

Yeah, it would’ve been a ball. Playing Rage and Nirvana covers... Alan: I remember playing Nirvana when I was like 13, playing in front of assembly. Jamie: Is that on YouTube? There’s a video of you on YouTube... Alan: Naked. Jamie: ...playing in front of.... Alan: No, not that one. Jamie: There’s that as well. I’m talking about the one where you’re playing a drum battle in front of assembly. And there’s the other one where you’re playing a really beat up drum set and all the comments are like “aw man, you’re drumset’s shiiiit”, “this is absolute bollocks” and all that – and then there’s one dude, Mr. Nice Guy, “hey guys, you should stop! This guy’s really good. I wish I had a drum kit.” Alan: 50,000 views it had! It’s just a shitty drum kit! And just a really simple thing, just really fast. Jamie: It blew me away. That’s why you’re in the band.

So you met through YouTube? A modern romance... Alan: haha I sent my video through the Jazz & Rock mailing list for an audition... Jamie: You were late for the audition.

He’s the drummer. Jafar: I wasn’t there. My house got burgled that day...

Alan was telling me about your gig at Archangel next Saturday the 21st. Do you have any other gigs lined up? Jamie: We’ve got a lot of gigs lined up actually. There’s this, then 333 on Old Street and Roadtrip Bar. We’re playing a couple festivals too. One’s a beer festival. Hopefully we’ll get free beer but I don’t know...

You’d hope so. Alan: We played at the last Silfest recently. That was really good. Jamie: Ah yeah, I missed that one.

What happened? Jamie: Well... I burned down my dad’s shed in the garden. The whole thing just went up in flames. I ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung.

Alan: Hey Jamie, didn’t your dad direct some episodes of Doctor Who? Jamie: Well his dad sells drugs and Moroccan women! xxx: No he doesn’t! Jamie: Well, what does he do then? xxx: I don’t know...

Eventually, the conversation wandered towards Bhutanese economics, Thomas the Tank Engine and onion ciabatta.

(Un)fortunately my recorder ran out of steam and failed to capture those words, like bad tumbleweed.

Perhaps for the best.