THE POLYMATHS OF MELODICA, MELODY AND ME

THERE’S a lot to learn about Melodica, Melody and Me.
The Brixton six-piece have as many assorted facets as the eclectic range of instruments they employ.
Take singer Huw Williams.
On face, he’s a polite singer and musician who formed a band with his schoolmates – a band which has progressed to touring with Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling and Bombay Bicycle Club among others.
Inquire further and you find he’s a philosophy graduate and special needs teaching assistant.
But it’s not until much later that Huw reveals he’s just completed his tree surgeon qualification, is a bit of an environmentalist and used to grow vegetables on his own allotment – all at just 23.



He’s not unique, among the group are a mental health worker and a sports journalist student who’s somehow managed to rope eminent political philosopher Noam Chomsky into an email exchange on his thesis on the socialist nature of American sports.

Not a simple lot, Melodica, Melody and Me are tough to define.
They have at times referred to their music as folk-step “but it never stuck”, said Huw.
Central to their sound is the melodica, but the Kora and the Charango (a Latin American lute) are also in there as their harmonies and folk finger-picking are laid over Andean sounds, reggae skanks and African rhythms.

The work of legendary dub producer Augustus Pablo shaped their use of the melodica said Huw: “He plays it on dub and reggae tracks, that’s what defined our sound at the start. We played acoustic instruments but with the melodica playing reggae-ish melodies or sort of skank.
“When we first got the melodica we thought it was special but it turns out they’re used all over the world to teach kids how to play the piano. So in some parts of the country it’s like the most annoying instrument in the world – the equivalent of the recorder.”

They’re haunted by their choice of band name, inspired by Roald Dahl’s The Giraffe The Pelly and Me.
They wanted to use the word melodica and liked the alliteration but it seems no-one can get it right: “The amount of times we’ve had it in reviews and billings as something completely different like Medolica, Medallions and Me. They’re coming up with better ones!”

They’re lucky enough to be able to record in guitarist Rudi’s old bedroom, which has been converted into a home studio, with the help of Rudi’s father, Bafta-winning sound editor of The King’s Speech, André Schmidt.
Huw said: “It’s good we’ve got access to good equipment but without having to pay the hourly rate at a studio – it’d bankrupt the whole thing.”
The four boys only really began playing instruments aged 17, later bringing in Rudi’s sister Anna (vocals) and drummer Greta – they all attended the same school.

They’ve played Camden a few times: “Whenever we play there, we always try and find food first, struggle really badly, eat those cheap pizzas and end up feeling really ill. And we get enticed by the Chinese foods – it always seems like such a good idea.”

How does he compare the scene here with Brixton?: “Brixton’s a good place to come for music, there’s the Hootenanny and The Windmill, it’s one of the few places in South London where you get to see live bands play. Camden’s really good but there’s a bit more relaxed, gritty, grimy atmosphere I suppose in South London. But it’s changing. Brixton is getting so trendy these days that it kind of feels like east London sometimes.”
Growing up in Brixton “inspired us to be more open to exploring different types of music. There’s so much noise and vibrancy,” said Huw.



They’ve just toured with Johnny Flynn: “We did an acoustic line up with only four of us so we all crammed into one car and were driving round the country. Luckily in every town we had a friend of a friend who let us sleep on their floor. It was in the height of the winter and the snow and we were sleeping on kitchen floors, having the worst night sleep but it was good. I don’t think it’s ever glamorous – the most glamorous it gets is staying at the Holiday Inn. I think I prefer to be at a mate’s house.”

They also forged friendships with Bombay Bicycle Club with whom they toured in July: “We hung out with them quite a lot, they’re really young as well, really nice, quite not shy but quite quiet, they’re really gentle guys. The funny thing about touring is you get very few windows to actually hang out and get drunk because you’re always driving on to the next gig but we did our best. On the last night of the tour we had a big party at one of their houses.”

The band are working on their debut album but haven’t picked a name yet.
Said Huw: “That’ll be a big discussion, that might lead to a fight. You don’t want to name it after one of the tracks or maybe you do but then you don’t a name you’re embarrassed about for the rest of your life. Our band name gets derided enough, we’ll have to balance it out with a good name for the album.”
Melodica Melody and Me play the Lock Tavern on February 22.

ELIZA DOOLITTLE'S DRINKS BLAG, BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB'S ACOUSTIC MAGIC + ROCK ART COLLECTORS HEAVEN AT PROUD CAMDEN

POVERTY-stricken singers take note – Eliza Doolitle told me of a trick she stumbled across when playing the Cuban Bar at this year’s Camden Crawl. She mentioned her love of their apple crumble cocktails during her set, jokingly asking if anyone wanted to buy her a drink, and the bar staff promptly made one for her. Now she’s wondering how many other bars she can try it on with. I doubt she’ll need to use it for long, as she’s going to be able to command anything she wants on her rider soon.

• One of the most memorable moments of last year’s Mencap Little Noise Sessions at Islington’s Union Chapel was hearing the vulnerable cracked vocals and stripped-down acoustics of Bombay Bicycle Club. They plugged back in soon after, but I’ve played that acoustic show back in my head over and over since. Now there’s a chance to repeat the experience. Their acoustic album was released on Monday and their tour of cinemas and churches comes to the Union Chapel on July 22 and 23. It will be stunning.
I couldn't find any acoustic footage of Magnet on Youtube so here's Ivy and Gold at the Union Chapel last year.

• The Kenwood concerts are well under way and so far the weather’s been impeccable. But the climes are wavering so let’s hope it holds out for Will Young on Saturday and Jamie Cullum (August 14).

• Rock art collectors head down to Proud Camden on Wednesday for a live and online Teenage Cancer Trust charity live and online auction of prints shot by six of the world’s leading music photographers. Captive subjects Dave Grohl, The Libertines, Muse and many more have signed the work. Live music and the official launch of the gallery’s biggest ever exhibition Six Shooters complete the night.

REVIEW - NME AWARDS SHOW TOUR - THE MACCABEES, 02 ACADEMY BRIXTON

THANK you Tubelines. I had big plans on Saturday and they did not involve maniacal drivers and snarly abusive teenage passengers on packed rail replacement buses.
The disastrous state of the weekend’s transport set me back a good couple of hours and I missed the first three acts on the NME Awards Tour’s final show at Brixton Academy.
No Big Pink, The Drums or Bombay Bicycle Club for me.
So it was fitting compensation when the sublime Maccabees took control. Any fears they may not have reached headline status quite yet were allayed in seconds as track after track was sung back to them in some mass choral tribute. Their rounder sound filled the Academy in a way they failed to at the Roundhouse last year.
Orlando Weeks’ deceptive vocals, apt for the faraway love song Toothpaste Kisses, expanded to impossible heights for the rousing Can You Give It, establishing just how accomplished the boys have become.
High points – their chef-d’oeuvre No Kind Words, the surprise appearance of Edwyn Collins for Rip It Up, and the impromptu multi-band stage invasion as the tour closed.

THE MACCABEES ON EASTENDERS, FULHAM FC AND CLEAN SOCKS

THE Queen Vic’s jukebox, long-harboured desires to be Fulham’s official chippie and the virtues of clean socks – this is what’s on Felix White’s mind as he speaks to me from his tour bus.
The Maccabees are in the midst of their NME Awards tour, which culminates in a much-awaited headline show in Brixton with Bombay Bicycle Club, The Big Pink and The Drums on Saturday.
But Felix is thinking about other things, like how he’s going to deal with his mischievous bandmates.
“Our only actual form of recreation is that Nick, our tour manager, has bought a bouncy ball so we need to find better things to do,” he says. “We’ve known each other for such a long time now that pleasantries go out the window a little bit. I think we still get on great.”

But he admits, they can wind him up: “(They) sometimes try to make as much noise as they possibly can – there’s the ambulance song. When they feel like it they get a piano and make it go ‘nee-naw, nee-naw’ for as long as they can. I still haven’t worked out how to get over that because if you ignore them they keep doing it louder, if you tell them off and say please stop it they keep doing it louder, if you leave they keep doing it louder so you can hear it from the other side of the bus. Sometimes I do sound a bit like a granddad.”
Right now, Felix is trying to read Cormac McCarthy’s All The Pretty Horses.
“I’ve read the first page about 40 times so I’m going to try and actually read it this tour,” he says. “I don’t know what stopped me – probably short-term memory loss.”

We last saw The Maccabees at Islington’s Union Chapel, one of my top gigs of last year.
Felix says: “It was one of the most foreign experiences for us. When we’re doing it properly you can cover nerves or being timid with noise. It’s so stripped bare that it’s terrifying, but I really enjoyed it. For some reason we decided to do the acoustic thing so quiet, at the level of what mice would speak, so that just adds to the tension.”
The band have been played in the background in EastEnders, a sure sign they’ve arrived, but Felix isn’t happy yet.
“Eastenders – that’s the money shot,” he says. “That’s when you know you’ve made it, but we’ve only been in the caff, we need to be in the Queen Vic. If anyone who works for EastEnders reads (this) then please have us in the background in the Vic when Ronnie’s arguing with Peggy or something.”
Felix says they didn’t have to convince actor Mat Horne to appear in their video for No Kind Words.
“He’s been coming to shows and we sort of became friends through that,” says Felix. “He wanted to be in a video. We had a small budget to do No Kind Words and Mat was just happy to do it for nothing. That was that really – a favour both ways.”

If he hadn’t been a rock star, you might have spotted Felix outside Fulham’s infamous Craven Cottage stadium.
“I wanted to be a football manager, then I decided it would be better if I ran the official mobile fish and chip shop for Fulham Football Club,” he says. “I’d be outside the grounds and it would follow the team everywhere. Everyone would know if you’re a Fulham supporter you’d eat that fish and chips.”
So, any strange requests on their rider? “The most important thing we ask for is socks,” says Felix. “You can’t really put into words how panicked you can be if you’re halfway through a tour and you haven’t got any clean socks.”

* The Maccabees’ Wall of Arms re-issue with five bonus tracks including Empty Vessels with Roots Manuva and a cover of Roy Orbison’s I Drove All Night is out now.

PAUL WELLER AND SEASICK STEVE HEADLINE HAITI CONCERT AT CAMDEN ROUNDHOUSE

THE line-up for the Roundhouse's Haiti Earthquake Fundraiser on Feb 25 is shaping up nicely.
Paul Weller, KT Tunstall and Reverend and the Makers, confirmed this week, join Bombay Bicycle Club, Seasick Steve, Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly, Magic Numbers, Mr Hudson and The Futureheads for a night of comedy, music and most importantly to raise as much as possible for Haiti.
Due to the success of the night, a sister event has been set up at Proud Camden, including The Hoosiers, Adam Ficek Charlotte O'Connor, Example, The Strangeways and Stornoway. And Faithless' Maxi Jazz, Zero7 and Stereo MCs are amongst the list of DJs booked for the night.
All money raised will go to Medecins Sans Frontieres and ActionAid.
Tickets from www.haitiearthquakefundraiser.com