Five of Manchester’s favourite sons, alternative rock group The Travelling Band, are coming home next month to give fans a taste of their new album.
The band’s third album came out in August, followed shortly by the start of the group’s UK tour to repay the people who keep them ‘fighting the indie cause’.
MM spoke with their vocalist and all-round acoustic man Jo Dudderidge about the new album, what surprises they have in store and the possibility of a three hour gig.
When asked to describe the sound of their new album, The Big Defreeze, Jo joked: “It’s just more rocking really. The new album is sort of a natural progression for us.
“The new sound is more electric but at the same time it still has got that trademark vocal sound and feels like a natural progression from our live sets.”
Their new work was recorded and produced by Lestyn Polson (Patti Smith, David Bowie) at the iconic Church Studios in the Northern Quarter.
According to Jo, the unusual surroundings had an undeniable influence on the feel and energy of the new album.
“The record grows into its own naturally and that environment definitely had a profound effect on the record,” he said.
“We recorded in a big church with a proper studio and with the high ceilings and wood everywhere you can really feel the reverence of the place – and that comes across in some of the bigger dynamic tunes like Borrowed and Blue and 78.8%.”
He added: “I think writers and bands are always a product of their environment and we made a decision to write these songs in a really intense time in order to capture a moment in time.
“So we wrote the album, around 25 songs, in about three months which was pretty intense.
NEW HORIZONS: The Travelling Band have worked on collaborations with Grammy award winner Chris Lord-Alge
“Then we just stepped back from it and decided who we wanted to work with to produce the album so the intensity has definitely added to the sound of the album.”
The band’s second album Screaming is Something, released in 2011, was well received by both critics and fans.
Anyone who might have thought that the group’s three-year ‘break’ was because they wanted to take time off to relax and get away from the music industry for a while couldn’t be more wrong.
Jo, along with vocalist Adam Gorman, lead guitarist Steve Mullen, bass player Chris Spencer and drummer Nick Vaal have been hard at work on new and exciting projects – from crafting their own personal recording studio to forging a record label.
And the quintet had their horizons revolutionised after doing remix collaborations with mix legend and Grammy award winner Chris Lord-Alge after their 2011 tour of America.
“It was pretty mad really,” admitted Jo.
“He had heard about the band which in itself was amazing to get that recognition from someone who is so well known, sold so many successful albums, so it was great.
“I wasn’t even nervous I was just excited about what would come back and it feels good that a little band from Manchester, who started off as a little folk band, to then be working with one of the most successful mix engineers.
“It feels pretty good and it sounds pretty good as well.”
The band, who formed during a recording project in 2006 in New York City, performed at Manchester’s Gorilla bar on 04 October and gave fans a night to remember.
“We love our fans they kind of keep us ticking,” added Jo.
“There have been times when we’ve just not really known what to do and it’s our fans that drag us up and keep us fighting the indie cause.”
After the Manchester gig, the band will continue their tour visiting London, Edinburgh and Liverpool amongst other places.
And although no further plans are firmly in place yet, Jo has a peculiar gig idea in mind – performing all three of their albums in one night.
“We’ve not really discussed what we’re going to do next year but we will certainly be playing again,” he said.
“There’s talk of going over to America which would be really exciting. But we will definitely do some UK shows, maybe even playing all three albums on one night, which would be a pretty mad little project.
“It’s just an idea I had but watch this space as it would be quite fun – it would be a long night about three hours so we may need a few intervals.”
The Big Defreeze is available on Sideways Saloon/Republic on limited edition yellow vinyl, two disc deluxe CD and digital formats.
Main image courtesy of Secret Sessions, via YouTube, with thanks
Second image courtesy of Mix with the Masters, via YouTube, with thanks
