Tuesday afternoon, late January. On a motorway road somewhere within the United Kingdom, a van full of questionable individuals is barrelling along with no sign of stopping. Amongst the clientele sits Clams Baker , a cowboy hat sporting, shade wearing son-of-a-gun out of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Band biographer Dr. Everett fits us in whilst the band are travelling to Manchester for their first show of tour, with a pitstop scheduled at Media City in Salford for a session on BBC Radio 6 Music.
He surveys the room, thrusting the microphone out into the front row on occasion. The room is packed with punters, their Manchester date being one of many sold out shows. Last November saw yet another sold out show to add to the collection, this time down south at the Village Underground in London. A room stuffed with loads of people, as expected, it ended up being one to remember, culminating in a stage invasion from the revved up audience, swarming the stage at its close.
Elsewhere in the room in Manchester later that night was resident BBC Radio 6 Music bod Marc Riley , no stranger to the many gig venues littered throughout the Northern Quarter, often making a dash across town to catch the show of whatever band he has in session that evening. Shirt weary leg-end Iggy Pop was another, the megastar even lending his voice for the opening track off the new record.
We just passed Whale City and are heading straight to the back rooms of your minds. Visions of Iggy Pop making cups of tea or nipping out to Cash Converters. The new album was put together in just four days, essentially a live recording, with each side made in a day. Jack tells me this time around they worked possibly even quicker, recording straight to reel to reel tape and tracking ten songs on day one minus overdubs. Piecing it all together was the in demand Dan Carey, Speedy Wunderground label owner and producer of such flavour of the moment records from the likes of Black Midi and Fontaines D.
Other than being a riot, the video highlighted that this black metal garb could be a new direction for the band. You know what I mean? Like wearing an Indian headdress to Coachella. The type of thing you might have caught in the early hours on Channel 4 back in the day. Maybe next album. With lots of different flavours in the mixing pot, Warmduscher usually have a little something for everyone on their menu.
