SECOND SCENE ISSUE 10
SONIC BOOM KEELEY DONOVAN’S BRAIN COLIN MOULDING (XTC) CHRIS CONNELLY (MINISTRY/REVOLTING COCKS) THE SUNCHARMS GHOST PATTERNS & MORE NATTY BROOKER
HYPOSTATIC UNION
KLUUT GALBAK
BOLT DREG
MARK DIMARZIO
DOPE SAGITTARIUS Photo: Jana Jeroz
From Funk to Punk: Fusion Fun with Harlem’s Dope Sagittarius by Dave Franklin NYC-based rock-punk-funk fusion outfit Dope Sagittarius (aka producer and rocking music personality Luqman Brown) recently released the ‘Sacred Places’ album on 12” vinyl via Buddhabug Records. This rich tapestry of funky grooves, thoughtful synths, and rocking vocals features artists such as Ronny Drayton, Corey Glover, Mike Ladd, Marc Cary, and Roy Radics, Mazz Swift, and Micah Gaugh. The record also comes with a copy of the comic book ‘Dope Sagittarius In the Bumbaclout Strain,’ which was written by Luqman Brown with artwork by Tim Smith III. Let’s tap into the mind of one of New York City’s most dynamic creative minds. Q: If we can start with a bit of background. You were playing in bands from an early age and, with FunkFace, found yourself opening for the likes of 24-7 Spyz and Fishbone. Can you tell me a bit about the musical path which brought you to Dope Sagittarius? A: The musical path to Dope Sagittarius was a long one indeed. I have been in FunkFace for over 30 years and playing with the same guys since I was 17. And you know, after a time, my taste slightly changed in music. I always loved rock, punk, soul, blues, hip hop & reggae—especially roots rock and dance hall. However, I really got in to drum and bass in the ‘90s, which led me to UK Garage, which led me to electro music, overall. I could “chat” in a Dancehall style which got me into groups like the Wikkid Crew (with the not-yet-famous Idris Elba) as well as a small part in the documentary “Prohibited Beats” about JoJo Meyer (a famous drummer in the drum and bass world). I got a little fame in that scene, but UK Garage music didn’t last. So, I took what I learned from that experience and went to Europe—Germany to be exact—where I met a really amazing music producer named Phillip Preuss. He showed me electronic music in all its forms, really. He’s the king, in my mind, of all things electro. That’s where I felt comfortable enough to put out my first Dope Sagittarius release, “Ghetto Glitch.”. After going back and forth for five years, I had to leave Germany to reestablish my roots in the wild pastures of America.
Now, I had played trombone since I was a kid, so it made sense to start trying to use that skill more. I started playing with Burnt Sugar, an avant-jazz orchestra based on Butch Morris’ conduction system. After a time with them, I found that my trombone playing sucked (ha), but I learned to read charts better and understood the complexity of jazz a whole lot more than I previously had. So I decided to go to music engineering school and learn more about the stuff I had been doing for most of my life. Once I had an updated grip on recording, I decided to put out “Sacred Places.” And even though I’d come up with the name Dope Sagittarius 10 years before, it wasn’t until I finished that record that this project actually came to life. Q: Dope Sagittarius seems to blend a riot of sounds and styles, like a musical magpie. Can you tell me a bit about your influences? A: My musical influences are as eclectic as my sound. I love George Clinton from Funkadelic for his out-there recordings; David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen for their outrageousness; Ornette Coleman for his pure feel with the conciseness of playing beyond the consciousness of the mind; Bobby Womack for his cool; Bad Brains for the raw power; MF Doom for the lyrics; The Chemical Brothers and CX KiDTRONiK for the sound; and Greg Tate for showing me how to put an idea down an keep going and not to worry about it. Q: Does the writing process come easily? It can’t be easy to sound like George Clinton, David Lee Roth, The Bad Brains, and mix jazz with reggae with hip-hop with rock? A: Why can’t it be easy? I put my ideas down, and boom! That was easy. The only thing that’s not easy is predicting how other people hear or perceive it— when they try to make sometimes superficial comparisons and say it doesn’t sound like this one or that one. It’s very intuitive to me, it’s how I hear things, and it makes sense to me. And if it sounds good to me, then that’s how I want others to hear it. Q: Your own future as a performer was in question a few years ago when health issues brought everything to an unexpected halt. How tough was it coming back from that, and how much was music a motivation? A: It was really hard for me to accept that I might not ever play again. Especially when I was in the hospital bed, there were two years between the
stroke and the heart surgery and then another eight months to recover from the operation that put the LVAD system in my chest. It’s taken these last two years to feel normal enough to play out again. And still, I’m not too sure. I’m redebuting on August 1, 2021, and we will see if I’m ready, LOL! And yes, music definitely played a big part in my recovery. My lady brought a radio into the hospital room for me. After a time, she also brought in my ukulele, and I fiddled with that too. But most of all, I was thinking about this record. I promised myself that if I made it through, I would go fully into making this record a success. And so far, so good. LOL
PSYCHODAISY
Q: With this pandemic situation and in the absence of artists’ ability to promote themselves through live concerts and touring, things can be really difficult in terms of getting the word out about your music. And you’ve had a few singles, videos, a comic book, and now this album to push to people’s attention. How have you managed to deal with these challenges? A: Well, I can say I’ve been around the block if you know what I mean. Shameless Promotion PR has been the best thing to ever happen to me with regard to this album. They’re stellar in promoting and telling my story in a way that goes so much further than what’s on the album. I couldn’t have asked for a better PR firm to represent me. I must say that I’m exceedingly happy with them. Q: “Sacred Places,” the latest album, comes with its own comic book, Dope Sagittarius In the Bumbaclout Strain. Can you tell us about that? Is it just a bit of fun, or does it add new dimensions to the message, ones that work best in that medium? A: First of all, I love the comic book medium. I am an avid comic book reader and collector and have enjoyed comics since I was 7. I made the comic to tell the story of three musically gifted Tuskegee Airmen who were extracted from their space/timeline (in their B-29 bomber plane called the Dope Sagittarius) by the Great Bam Beyonder to stop the evil D’ Incredible from spreading mediocre music across the multiverse. It’s a story about true heroes who are doing right by the galaxy. In a way, that’s what I’m trying to do, taking music from different realms and putting forth my truths about race, power, gender, oppression, ownership, class, gentrification, cultural pride, community, and perseverance. So there is a sort of message in the comic book, though you can’t tell from one issue. You’ll have to wait and see. Q: “Black Empress” has been described as a “song for this Black Lives Matter age.” Are you intentionally political, or is it just up to others to find their own meaning in the songs? A: When I read that description, I was honored that someone described the song in that way. Because that is what I was going for. Yes, “Black Empress” is intentionally political, from the music to the lyrics to the video. I made sure that it’s clear that the oppression of Black and Brown people and our allies, no matter their gender identity in this country and around the world, is unfair, and it must be stopped. Q: And where next for yourself, the band, and also for music in general as we emerge into the “new normal” of 2021? A: Well, for me, I hope to live a nice, long and healthy life filled with new music, joy, and happiness. For the band, we’re hopefully going to tour a bit and put out another record where we’ll push the boundaries further than we—or even others—have before. And for music in general, I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. https://dopesagittarius.bandcamp.com/album/sacred-places
Photo: William Amenta
Psychodaisy Records is an extention of the Second Scene. New releases, COMING SOON. Contact: secondscenemagazine@gmail.com
THE SUNCHARMS After a sixteen year wait, The Suncharms finally release their debut album, Distant Lights. The second Scene speaks with Marcus Palmer about the group split and reformation and the time in-between. The group was active between 1989 – 1993. Why did the group decide to split, and what brought you back together in 2018? There was never a massive fallout, like Lemmy leaving Hawkwind or the band doing different drugs than each other. It seemed that we had been on a wave from selling out our demo tapes in our hometown to getting two EPs out on Wilde Club records (home of Catherine wheel) and appearing in the indie charts alongside the Pale Saints and strangely Kylie Minogue. The record label finished, and we were at the point in our lives when some of us were settling down or going off to college. Life took us in different directions. The cruel part which we put right in 2018 (releasing our comeback single Red Dust on Slumberland Records) was that as we were here
splitting up, Slumberland Records approached us to record a single, which we regretted not doing for years. What were members of the Suncharms involved in post-split (1993-2018)? After we split, only Richard, our Bass player, carried on with music and joined The Screen Prints. I jokingly say it’s like he had an affair or like John Lennon’s lost weekend away from Yoko. Matt and John let their guitars gather dust, and Chris put away his drum sticks for a quarter of a century. I can only imagine doing music with the Charm brothers as it’s the close friendship we have and the musical chemistry that works for me. First, however, Matt and I made a few short films, Matt as the director and cameraman
and me playing an unhinged character filmed in black and white. How did it feel to get back together? It feels great to be back together. We met up in 2016 for the first time in over ten years after Cloudberry Records owner Roque got speaking to Richard at the indie tracks festival. He watched The Screen Prints and asked if The Suncharms would be interested in releasing a retrospective CD album. Richard had contacted Roque previously after spotting a blog that he had written about the band years after we had split where he was wondering whatever happened to us. The band met up in a pub in Sheffield with the sole purpose of gathering photos of old press cuttings for the retrospective CD booklet. It was at this meeting we decided to book a rehearsal room just for fun. The day of the rehearsal felt so bizarre but again so normal as though we’d rehearsed the week before, not a quarter of a century. It was amazing to see the same guitars and pedals appear again that I’d not seen since 1992. And also the same banter and in-band jokes. The old chemistry was there, and we all just loved the feeling of being creative again Tell us about the Sunday Records compilation that features “Liquid Through My Hands.” How did it all come together? After reforming in 2016, our sole purpose was to put together a debut album finally. It’s taken us up until this year to get the new songs written and recorded. When the songs were written, we approached some of our favorite record labels who had released stuff by bands that we all loved and asked if they’d be interested in releasing something. It just felt right to us and
seemed the perfect fit when Sunday Records liked our new songs. How has the group changed from its first incarnation? Also, has it stayed the same in any way? When Sunday Records agreed to put out the album, they asked if we wanted to be on the new compilation album. There are some amazing bands on it currently out to download on CD and lovely vinyl later this year. It’s a buzz to be alongside contemporary guitar bands. When can we expect a full-length album from the Suncharms? The band is still the original members from 1990, and all of the original guitars appear on the new album. The writing of the songs is exactly the same. Matt plays us a tune he’s been working on; we all add our parts, and it completely changes and becomes a Suncharms song. The debut album is coming out later this year on download CD and vinyl. Unfortunately, there is a backlog at the vinyl pressing plants, so that will hold it back a bit. What does the group have planned for the second half of 2021? The second half of 2021, we hope to get together in our rehearsal room, write loads of new songs, and play some gigs again. After all those years being split up, we feel like we are on a roll and want to keep doing what we love doing.
Photos coutesy of The Suncharms
The Broken Opium Table WHEN MOTORIK BEATS, POETRY AND PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDSCAPES COLLIDE. THIS IS THE BROKEN OPIUM TABLE. What are you trying to achieve with The Broken Opium Table? The Broken Opium Table began with me wanting to put my poetry with soundscapes, just as an experiment to see if I could make the two collide in a way that elevated the two forms. Having previously been in bands where I wrote the lyrics and played bass, I suddenly found myself free of others’ input and that I could follow any musical landscape that I saw fit. To my surprise, I began getting good feedback, gig invites, and some local label interest. This encouraged me to push further with the music and to heighten my lyrics/poems. There was never a game plan, just an instinctive thrust forward that I continue with now. To achieve anything I thought impossible, my main aim is to keep pushing everything forward, keep everything original and as much my own as possible. What influences do you pull from when it comes to songwriting. My main influence is to try not to show my influences. I have such a wide variety of musical tastes that to jumble everything together in my mind and see what spews out of the other end had always been my main aim. I’m a massive fan of the darker sounds of 60’s psychedelia, the motorik of 70’s Germany, and the wild abandon of the new wave era moving into to rave culture of late 80’s Britain. Yet saying all that, for my new album that I’m in the process of writing, I have attempted to stay with the same aesthetic of layered guitars, big drums, and chaos in the realms of Spaceman3, Wooden Shjips, Neu, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. For those who haven’t heard The Broken Opium Table, describe your sound.
I’d describe the sound of The Broken Opium Table as the sound of instruments being thrown down the stairs and landing onto a nice soft feathered bed. My words tend to veer down dark alleyways, tackling my many demons from past and present, yet hopefully telling a story that is universal in context. I mean, it’s 2021. Who hasn’t struggled with mental health problems, addiction, death, and corrupt governments? Is The Broken Opium Table a solo effort, or do you collaborate with others? The Broken Opium Table is most definitely a solo project. It was born out of my wish to merge my writings with sounds, which has now developed its own life, kicking and screaming at the world. Though I have had some interest from other people looking to collaborate, I’ve never found the time to do so. But without naming anyone and jinxing a project, I have had contact from someone recently that I admire hugely that has made some outstanding records and music through the years. What do you have planned for 2021? Well, 2021 was the year that I was intending to finally make my live debut as The Broken Opium Table, yet the fates and gods and inept governments have pretty much-laid waste to those plans. So in the meantime, I’m finishing writing the words to album number four, called ‘Static Electric.’ I’m constantly fiddling with tracks and creating new music looking for the next way into the next project or album. So despite what the world throws up, the best thing to do, I find, is to keep moving. Stay creative, lose myself in waves of sound, and await what comes next. As what comes next might just be the best thing you’ve ever done. So 2021/22 is going to be hard, beautiful, distressing, and amazing, whatever the outcome may be. Roll the dice, flip a coin, throw the cards and cares to the wind and let’s see how the land lays after that. PS… My new single is called “I See Colours” and is available from Bandcamp.
Paul Den Heyer
Photo: Ian Holmes
Liverpool’s Paul Den Heyer releases his first solo effort, talks about collaboration, songwriting, and influences. Let’s start with what has influenced you as a songwriter? Firstly, I think it has to be other songwriters. It’s an amazing thing to hear a song that moves you and makes you feel something. It might be uplifting, dark or mysterious, or just plain beautiful in the way it affects you. I’ve listened to music all my life, and still, nothing compares to that feeling when you discover a new songwriter or band that sends the shiver up the spine, and you connect with them completely. You instinctively know it’ll be a permanent addition to the Waterloo Sunsets and Dear Prudences that are already the soundtrack to your life. Everything So Far is the first release under your name. Why did you decide after all these years to step outside of a group lineup and do a solo release? Ha! Well, ironically, it’s still very much a collaborative effort. There’s no way the record would’ve been made without everyone else’s involvement and support. You probably already know that these are the first songs I’ve written in almost 20 years, and I suppose with them being a bit more personal than songs in the past, it felt quite natural to release it under my own name. At least, no one else seemed to mind, haha. Also, it felt like a milestone record, for me at least, being able to produce it myself too. I’m really, really pleased with how it turned out - very proud of it. Do you mainly write on your own, or do you collaborate with others? I guess writing has been mainly a solitary thing for me over the years, but I enjoy collaborating too. I’ve been really lucky to have worked with some great and like-minded musicians in my time, and their
contributions can’t be overlooked. More recently, I’ve relied more and more on Chrisy Jones (of Sunstack Jones) for help with ideas. We’ve been friends a long time, and I can always trust his honest advice and input. He should take as much credit for the album as I like to do. What is your writing process? Where do you find inspiration? To be honest, I try not to think about the process too much. I guess there’s a fear that if I understand how the songs come to me, maybe they’ll stop. An idea can pop up any time and any place. I’ll always try and scribble down the chords or words or even just the feeling or mood until I can get a moment with the guitar. These days there is the wonderful voice memo app on my phone that’s really handy for not forgetting things. Inspiration, I suppose, comes from everyday experiences and feelings. I remember reading somewhere about why we sometimes jump like we’re having an electric shock as we’re falling asleep. The writer suggested it was our nervous system’s way of reacting to events of the day that we may not have reacted to at the time. I wonder if writing songs is a similar thing. What are you currently working on, and what can we expect from you in the future? Since Everything So Far, I’ve been mostly producing more music for Sunstack Jones and recording new songs that will hopefully make up my second album. England, like everywhere else, is fucked up with the pandemic but also with the added disaster that is Brexit. It’s hard to say when any of this music will see the light of day hopefully, sooner rather than later - we live in very uncertain times. Ideally, the music will come out, and there’ll be the opportunity to get out and play some songs live again. There were offers of some gigs in Europe and the U.S last year and, if they are still there when the world returns to some kind of normal, I’ll be on a plane with some friends and guitars. Hopefully, there’ll be a few people at the other end who come along and listen.
BOLT DREG