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.

PADDY CONSIDINE'S MOONLIGHTING, AN UNEVENTFUL BRITS AND PETER, BJORN AND JOHN MOVE ON

SO THE Brits grew up? There was less silliness (bar James Corden), less rock ‘n roll and no irreverence – but is that what we want, or do we prefer the spectacle?
Don’t we watch these things for car crash moments, drunk speeches and offensive egotistical rock stars? Still, good to see Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons win awards, shame The XX were overlooked.

• Feeling Gloomy won’t let up with the “can’t miss” events. This time brooding Irish hardman Paddy Considine (of Dead Man’s Shoes, Hot Fuzz etc) and his band Riding the Low play the 02 Academy Islington (Feb 26). All I know is they describe themselves as “lo-fi, raw guitar rock with the fat cut out”.



• Don’t forget the Camden Crawl’s essential preview night CC Tips with Spectrals, Paris Suit Yourself, Patch William and Frontiers at The Bull & Gate (Feb 24).

• When your big hit turns up on Homebase ads, it's getting a bit old. And "whistling song" Young Folks was conspicuous by its absence when Peter Bjorn and John previewed new album Gimme Some to a crammed Old Blue Last in Shoreditch recently. Maybe they're sick of it, but probably not the royalties. Some good new songs though. See if it’s resurrected when they play The Lexington (Feb 23).

• It was the venue for Joy Division's first London show, a Stranglers live album, and has hosted everyone from Madness and Ian Dury to countless indie hopefuls. Now the Hope and Anchor, Upper Street, is getting a major makeover, reopening later this month. Just hope they don't get rid of the atmosphere along with the musty smell of faded glory.

• The Union Chapel’s free Daylight Music events are fast becoming the highlight of the weekend. This week see Chris T-T, Model Village and Padriag Whelan from midday.

FIND THE FLOWERPOT AND YOU WON'T WANT TO LEAVE

IT LOOKS like the dream student living room – couches and lamps, arcade machines with space invaders, table football, and a bar on one wall.
But how many students get to play host to Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling, Reverend and the Makers and The Drums?

In the 18 months The Flowerpot's been in Kentish Town, it’s become the unofficial social club for Camden musicians, creating a niche for itself quite possibly unrivalled in London – a respected bill of new and established acts every night totally free.

Although it’s known to those who know, in some ways it’s Camden’s best kept secret, just enough off the beaten track to avoid the paparazzi attention given to Proud and The Hawley Arms, yet with the pulling power to attract Madness, Jamie T and Florence and the Machine. 

You get the sense they want to keep it that way. 

The website is as low-key as it gets and getting manager and promoter Jay Sensible to gossip about the acts is tough.

“I’m not really a namedropper,” he said. “It’s more about looking after bands than promoters.”
Even so, Eliza Doolittle’s has told us she likes to hang out there, Kate Nash has spun records on a Saturday night and Damien Rice has dropped by for a quick jam.

Born from the disaster that was the great fire of Nambucca, bar staff, musicians and the remnants of those who lived over the fashionable Holloway Road pub clubbed together and moved into Camden.
Jay said: “People were homeless and jobless. We rooted around and got hold of the club.”
The staff live above the bar and do much more than serve drinks.
Jay said: “Seven of us live there. We DJ, book bands and promote it. We’ve a wicked back line, we provide guitars, drum kits and amps so bands can just turn up.”

Their listings boast an ambitious line-up from the newest talent to surprise appearances, after-show gigs and established acts – and the punters never have to pay for the privilege.
Most of the staff are in bands or have had some involvement with the music industry and it is these connections that form the heart and soul of the venue – and explain how they scoop the big names.

Jay said: “If you do nice things, nice things happen. We try and help out other bands by putting things on for free. All of us have worked with bands in the past and say we put on early gigs when they were small, now they’re selling records and doing better, they come back and repay the favour.”
He added: “We didn’t want to be a standard music venue. People trust that we’re going to put good bands on. We try and make it as welcoming as possible. Because the bar staff all know each other it’s got a kind of community atmosphere. Our crowd are young, fun, arty...and drunk. They like Jaegerbombs.”

Recently Mumford and Sons, Kill it Kid, The Joker and the Thief and others transformed the venue into a studio for a week-long project writing and recording tracks from start to finish, for a Communion Records compilation. Singer Damien Rice turned up to jam with them at one point.
Jay said: “The whole thing will to be put on vinyl and released in autumn. People had to write the songs here, it was all pretty off the wall. We’ve definitely got some exciting things coming up and New Year at HMV The Forum again with some big bands.”

• US indie girl band The Like play a pre Reading and Leeds Festival warm-up gig at The Flowerpot next week (Wednesday).