PREACHER LOVER: We review Mamas Lips latest single and have a chat to Jack and Scott as well!

 

PART 1 - "THE REVIEW"

 

So, here it is, the return of Mamas Lips - a brand new single recorded at Abbey Road supported by a sold out launch party in their hometown of Southampton. The single features two rocking tracks - the A-side, 'Preacher Lover' and the B-side, 'She's Alright'. The two tracks provide a great continuation from Mama Lips' debut EP that was released earlier this year. They seem to delve even further into the blues rock psyche that they explored on the 'Take It Easy' EP. 'Preacher Lover' itself is a hard, fast rock 'n' roll song - fans of Led Zeppelin and The Who will be satisfied here. The track features some punchy, lightning pace drums from Christian Astridge backed up by a slapping bassline from Taz Ghalem. This is all topped off with some superb guitar work and an outstanding vocal delivered by singer and songwriter, Jack Birks. The B-side meanwhile has a short introduction that hints towards The White Stripes or The Jim Jones Revue. However, these comparisons are short lived as Mister Scott Kellaway takes centre stage with the finest example of harmonica playing of the 21st century thus far! Outstanding! This leaves the listener thinking more of the early R&B of the Stones and the Kinks. These two tracks leave us eagerly awaiting the next release from this Southampton four piece. Great stuff!

 

PART 2 - "THE INTERVIEW"

 

1 – What is ‘Preacher Lover’ about and what influenced the song?

 

Jack: "The song is influenced by southern American rock I would say. Not necessarily lyrically but definitely in the music. It's about being tired and desperate I suppose more than anything else. That's what all good rock 'n' roll is centred around."

 

2 – What is ‘She’s Alright’ about and what influenced the song?

 

Jack: "'She's Alright' is hugely influenced by fifties rock 'n' roll. Especially the Chess Records stuff. Muddy Walters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf etc. I haven't really thought about what the song means. I'll leave people to make up their own mind on that one."

 

3 – ‘Preacher Lover’ was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. How did this come about?

 

Jack: "A friend of ours actually works there and when he heard our music he liked it enough to invite us up when they had some free time and weren't busy. And it didn't cost us a penny so it turned out to be the cheapest recording session we have ever done strangely enough."

 

Scott: "Yeah, we were lucky enough to have a friend, Matt Jones, who has a job there as an engineer. He's recorded us before and has come to a few of our shows. It just so happened they had a quiet weekend up there and he invited us up for a day session."

 

4 – How did it feel recording in such a legendary studio?

 

Jack: "As you can imagine it was amazing. The track was done in Studio 3 which is the same room as 'Wish You Were Here' by Pink Floyd was recorded amongst many Beatles overdubs and so many other artists. So just to be there and soak up the atmosphere was incredible."

 

Scott: "Surreal! It didn't really hit me until I walked through the doors. I felt star struck just to be playing and walking around in the same rooms as so many of the greats that have recorded there. It was such a privilege."

 

5 – The artwork for this single and your ‘Take It Easy’ EP are both impressive. Is the artwork important to you?

 

Jack: "It was important for the artwork to stand out for us. We wanted them to be different, but similar enough to each other so that people can tell they are both done by the same band. It's our brand if you like. Something that many bands overlook."

 

Scott: "The artwork is done by another pal Adam Weekes who designed our logo. We gave him a general theme for the title track and he came up with the EP cover. Then when it came to the single cover we wanted to keep it a similar theme. We felt it was important to keep to the same fonts and borders in all our artwork so people recognise it as our work straight off the cuff."

Hope you enjoyed this feature on Mamas Lips! Check out our previous feature on DC Fontana!

 

Check out Mamas Lips new website here - http://www.mamaslips.com/

  

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