Beggar Joe.
BY KELDA MANLEY.
‘I was ashamed that I’d written those songs’ admits Beggar Joe frontman Jon Kenzie. It’s not many bands who would admit being dragged into the murky manufactured world of music but Beggar Joe are not ashamed of their past.
After being flown to Italy by their former management they were persuaded to write tracks that would appeal to the commercial scene. Arriving home, awaiting the recordings Jon and bandmates Justin Shearn, Andy Brown, Rome Mosabbir and Chris Butler returned to the Manchester live scene. After settling back into playing the music they loved, the band finally heard their commercial tunes. Jon admits to feeling as if he didn’t write the songs and the band and management parted ways.
Unfortunately it’s not a new experience for the fivepiece, ‘In the past I’ve had different managers and they’ve all started off quite good and started off at that level and over the time they’ve been influenced by the music industry’ explains Jon. ‘It’s always got [to] the point where they say “Where’s the single? We need the catchy single” and that’s always been the frustrating thing for me in the music industry: the lack of faith to put into a band or artist if they haven’t got this stereotypical single.’
Jon is clearly passionate about the music he makes and his disappointment at the standard and targets of British music is obvious. ‘Personally if you’re aiming at a younger audience then it means your music is this processed pop stuff’ he explains ‘with all the hooks and little catchy things the teenagers can sing without really thinking about and there’s not much depth there. I personally don’t think is necessary. I think teenagers are just as able to get into deep, good music as anyone else but because pops music is so rammed down peoples throat by the media that very few people realise that there is all this good music out there because it’s easier just to turn on Radio 1 and bop their heads to this catchy stuff.’
The band are now happily back to playing and recording the music they love. Settled with CAT Records they have just completed their album and intend on touring for much of the year. ‘We went to a cottage in the South of France [to record the album]’ recalls the frontman ‘and set up all our gear and made this cottage into a studio. We stayed there for nearly six weeks in the middle of nowhere in this little village and it was absolutely fantastic. We all had a bit of cabin fever at the end of it and we hadn’t seen a woman in 6 weeks. It was amazing just to be able to spend so much time or thought on our music and getting it as good as we could possibly get it.’
The album is due for release later in the summer and is something Jon is clearly proud of, ‘it’s a live album, we recorded it all live. One of the things that was important to us when we started was that we keep it as raw and live as possible. To not be anything like the manufactured pop stuff that you get going on now that’s kind of stale and devoid of any sort of felling and passion. I would say it’s hopefully quite a passionate album and the rawness and the passion we wanted I think we captured.’
While many bands stress the importance of their album being personal and completely their own you get the impression Beggar Joe mean it more than most. Meeting at Salford University all five were and are heavily involved in the music industry. Bonding over a mutual love of music their varying musical influences meant the band are a wonderful mixture of genres, ‘Andy and Justin are quite accomplished Jazz players so they can go all jazzy on it’ smiles Jon ‘and then Rome and Chris the drummer and percussionist have influences from Latin and percussion sort of things, African rhythms and funk and stuff. I’d say my main influences are blues and soul and I write the majority of the songs so the foundations of the songs have that influence in it and then everyone elses input can bring it to another level.’
While for many major label bands commercial success is the be all and end all of a career Beggar Joe intend on always being in and around the music industry. Currently earning livings from cover, session work and teaching the fivesome are in the industry for one reason only, ‘I think at the end of the day it boils down to just [that] we fucking love playing’ explains Jon ‘and whether we can make fame and fortune out of that, that’s not the priority for us and if the industry goes tits up we’ll still be doing it in some fashion.’
24 May: Euro Culture Manchester 15.30
24 May: Night and Day Manchester 21.00
25 May: Stock festival Stockport
6 June: Zeffirellis Ambleside
18 June: Dry Bar Manchester
For more information on Beggar Joe click HERE
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