Bear necessities: Led Bib explore the outer fringes of the British jazz scene…
Video Killed The Radio Star
BRAD BARRETT speaks to Led Bib bandleader Mark Holub about how television is curbing the exposure of exciting new experimental music and how a jazz band copes with the Mercury Prize nomination curse.
ed Bib are one of those few jazz acts that have had the slightly dubious honour of being one of the renowned Mercury Prize music award’s guaranteed losing jazz nomination. Not because of any failing on their part – they’re particularly wonderful – but because the award seems to offer jazz little more than a token nomination every year. “It’s kind of sad that mainstream journalism,
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particularly on television, is really not supporting new music,” laments Mark Holub. “(We had) to get the Mercury Prize to get on television. They should be putting weird music on television! There was a time they did. When Captain Beefheart died people who don’t cover weird music were saying ‘oh man he’s dead’ - which is obviously super sad – but there was a time Captain Beefheart was on the Letterman show in America. What happened? Pink Floyd improvised live on BBC for the moon landing! Imagine if, when David Cameron became PM, we could’ve had Led Bib live improvising,” Mark suggests. A short pause: “We wouldn’t have done that obviously!” Led Bib’s fourth album, Sensible Shoes, is a
cerebral shock and one that the Mercury Prize panellists agreed was one of 2009’s best records in their twelve-strong shortlist. But 2011 is about Bring Your Own, Mark’s latest attempt to steer his band into careening pogoing melodies and sonic chaos. It’s a memorably scattershot collection that plugs two alto saxophones into your aortas and proceeds to pump groove-strewn jazz improvisations around your body and into your cranium. Mark is, in reality, a little more sober in
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his intentions… “There was a bit of trepidation I guess,” admits Mark, unsurprisingly after the sudden interest of new listeners after their surge of press following their nomination. “But then from my own perspective as band leader, that made me think ‘well, let’s try and make the situation as nice as possible’, so we did it in a residential studio in Wales because I think it’s nice to get a bit of space from London and be able to breathe the country air. So it was stressful in the run up but I think when we got down to it, in a way it was the easiest record to make.” Compared to the making of Sensible Shoes where “the whole fi rst day we didn’t get anything that we liked (and) didn’t get much of anything until the last three hours of the session, which essentially is the record” Bring Your Own seems to display a rejuvenated Led Bib whose batteries are fully charged. But sometimes, it can be diffi cult labouring in
relative obscurity. Though Led Bib are a popular draw, and Mark is able to make a living from playing drums for other bands alongside his central concern, there’s still the dispiriting struggle to get heard by those who are unlikely to dig deeper than Later...with Jools Holland. “I think it’s a constant source of struggle for me that I think there’s a lot of music that could get out there and people could really like but they don’t have access to it. Yes we got a Mercury nomination and I’m sure that means a lot, but we’re not selling millions of records, so there’s way more people to communicate with. It’s a slow process for a band like us. If you’re signed to
Warner or whatever and you put out your fi rst record, like this James Blake
record...now I don’t actually know much apart from he came out the same week as us, but it’s like ‘Oh who is this guy?’ No one really knew who he was. Almost overnight he became something big. Whereas, for a band like us, it’s more of a slow burner. When we play gigs, especially after the Mercury prize, you get people down who probably would never have come to a jazz gig and people who had an idea of jazz as a sound that came from the 40s or 50s. They come to these gigs and go ‘Wow! I never knew jazz could sound like this’, which is great that they’re able to have their ears open to it.” But Mark’s point still stands; the modern British jazz scene is in rude health. Polar Bear, Portico Quartet, Basquiat Strings, Kit Downes Trio, Empirical and plenty more where they came from are all excellent examples of modern jazz, inspired as much by the modern electronic sounds of Venetian Snares and the experimental qualities of an artist such as Björk as by the jazz greats. This is essential modern music that needs more attention and Led Bib represent a fantastic starting point. PM
“It’s sad that mainstream journalism, particularly on television, isn’t interested in supporting jazz…”
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