Currently scaring the living Bejaysus out of the sterile London-centric indie clones, fantastic refuseniks ONE MORE GRAIN are whipping up a rancourously rhythmic and individualistic racket just now and their new (second) album 'Isle Of Grain' shows just how far out and far ahead they are of the creative competition circa 2008.
Having been busy assaulting W&H's eardrums with all manner of arcane sonic brilliance over the past five years - first as a solo artist and then briefly with The Rough Ensemble - Grain frontman DANIEL PATRICK QUINN has long been threatening to present us with his perfect combination. And now, with drummer Laurie Waller, bassist Merek Cooper and trumpet player/ sound manipulator extraordinaire Andrew Blick he's found the ideal troops for the job.
In part two of our in-depth feature, Andrew Blick will be telling us why the late, great John Peel once suggested he should be removed from the BBC's Maida Vale studios and why he's happy for journalists to compare his playing with "woolly mammoths indulging in a mass suicide pact off Beachy Head". Firstly, though W&H editor Tim Peacock placed a call to Mr. Quinn himself and if you'd like to know why London's closer to New York than Carlisle stylistically and also why a ready supply of whisky, a pen and paper are all you need to get ahead in this game, then I'd suggest you read on.
At present, the thoroughly affable Quinn is shuttling between his family HQ in Cumbria and the East End's mean streets, juggling part-time work and explosive live performances with OMG. How's the vibe right now, then, Dan?
"Yeah, it's alright actually," Dan replies. "I'm repeatedly getting the train down or driving down to London, but I don't want to live there permanently just now. I really don't fancy doing a boring job and trying to survive in total squalor like I was doing before. I'm working with a good crowd at the moment, but we'll see, y'know...maybe I'll move back to London before the year's out. I'm the Yo-Yo Man at present," he laughs.
Of course, if you've been tuning in for any length of time round here, you'll know that Quinn is a voracious hill-walker and his time rambling and conquering the most inaccessible peaks in Cumbria, Scotland, Ireland and Wales has insprired many of his previous career bests such as the wonderful 'Ridin' The Stang' album from 2005.
Moving to London from Edinburgh during 2006, though, brought something of a sea change in Quinn's work and 2007's excellent debut album 'Pigeon English' sent us rather more urban semaphore signals. He still takes to the hills as often as possible (indeed, he's only just returned from an hour in the wild before I call him) but does it affect his creative modus operandi so much these days?
"Maybe not so much, lyrically-speaking," Dan considers.
"But it's certainly true that I still get my best ideas when I'm out wandering around," he continues.
"I don't reference the environment as much as I used to do, perhaps, but being outside always helps me formulate ideas and it's an element that will always fuel my work."
I had wondered if 'A Town Is What You Make It' refers to a desire to escape from the urban environment, as there are lyrics in there about wanting to "live the high life" in a different place, but that's not necessarily the case as Dan tells us:
"Well, the songs aren't necessarily from my point of view and in 'A Town..' the narrator's fairly...insane!" he laughs heartily.
"Though it's true that there's some autobiographical stuff in there. It's partly from living in New Cross in a ridiculously tough financial situation, so the song sort've both takes the piss out of having a comfortable life while needing it at the same time. Sit on the fence time, really," he finishes, laughing slightly ruefully.
The other main upheaval since OMG made 'Pigeon English' is that bassist Merek Cooper and drummer Laurie Waller have replaced original rhythm section DuDu (bass) and Gal Moore (drums). The new incumbents certainly prove they are more than able replacements on 'Isle Of Grain', but does Dan feel the OMG dynamic has changed dramatically as a result?
"I don't know about dramatically," he replies.
"I think one of the great strengths of the new line-up is that as a unit we're now better at seeing what we're aiming for...we're four people happier to sacrifice individual ideas for the greater good. I mean, I like both DuDu and Gal very much, but the first version of the band was perhaps more of a case of four people doing their own thing and not being able to compromise a little."
"For example, while DuDu's technically brilliant, Merek's also very talented, but a far better team player, same with Laurie. Gal was and remains an amazing drummer and because he's from Israel, his influences are from all over the place. His drumming was amazing, but he wanted to go off and do other stuff, so that's fair enough."
As Gal has since gone off to work with Gronland Records, our talk temporarily turns to the label's output and Dan has recommended a live Harmonia album recorded live in a German railway station circa 1974 before we return to the new album's many highlights, not least the hilarious 'Lad With A Balloon': a great tune with a wickedly amusing lyric from Quinn ("I'm not off me rocker, I'm just tryin' to have a nice time!"). That's one thing I notice writers and your audience in general seems to miss: the inherent humour in OMG'S work.
"Yeah, I agree with that," says Dan, quite definitely.
"Unfortunately, well...let's say that there's maybe too much American influence in London just now," he says, diplomatically.
"I mean, there's lots of humour in our stuff, but it's Northern humour - you get it because we're both Northerners - but a lot of people don't because Northern humour's different. In that sense, I feel London's a lot closer to New York than Carlisle from my point of view."
A-ha, yeah, I know where you're coming from there alright...
"Yeah...or maybe I'm just a sick bastard!" Dan guffaws.
"No, but it's true that in London you daren't take the piss or look like you've lost the plot, that's just not seen as cool."
And that might backfire on One More Grain?
"Well, let's face it, commercially we're not exactly presenting a lifestyle option that most 18 year-olds are likely to look up to, are we?"
That one may have all the hallmarks of a rhetorical question, but OMG's new single - the eminently catchy as well as wholly distinctive 'Havin' A Ball' - demonstrates that their potent rhythmic stew (yes, the Ubu, Miles Davis, Fall and Krautrock tags are accurate enough, but are ultimately only pointers) is not only original but threatening to do for them what 'Creep' once did for The Fall.
Having suffered several years of severe commercial and critical indifference while in isolation up in Edinburgh, it would be hard to criticise Quinn for scoffing at the sudden press attention he's receiving (with even the Sunday Times Culture recently affording them 'Record Of The Week' for 'Isle Of Grain') but he's both sanguine and pragmatic about it all.
"Well, it's nice to receive it and it's good obviously," he says evenly, "but it doesn't really make a huge difference in a sense. Sadly we live in an age where there's like a billion different websites instead of three weekly magazines and you're forced into pandering to them. For me personally, I'm trying to find a happy medium between making interesting music on the one hand and trying to break out of London on the other...which is proving difficult."
"It's a sad fact that the industry's in crisis and it's always the case that the stranger bands who can't be banked on - or banked upon in terms of making huge amounts of cash for their backers - are the first to go."
Dan says this remarkably matter-of-factly and while many of us would hate such an ignoble fate to fall upon One More Grain, it's not only Dan who shares this rather gloomy - or perhaps realistic? - viewpoint. Many seasoned campaigners are coming at this from a similar angle: not least one of Quinn's long-term musical influences, Pere Ubu's David Thomas. The two met when OMG supported Ubu at Islington Academy during 2007.
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"Yeah, it's true that it was a brilliant night and one of last year's major highlights for us," says Dan, "and also it was packed and they were the sort or crowd who appreciated what we were doing."
"I really liked David Thomas, too, he's a really nice guy, but he's got very jaded by the whole music business really."
How does that manifest itself?
"Well, in the sense that he just thinks giving up's the best option," says Dan, laughing ironically.
"I asked him for his advice and basically he just said "quit- get out while you can". I felt struggling away for the past 30 years or so had really taken its' toll on him."
People just wanting to hear 'Non-Alignment Pact' and 'The Modern Dance' instead of anything else he's done...?
"Yeah, exactly," Dan agrees. "We supported James Chance too, and he had a similar vibe about him. I don't blame them at all...they're guys forced to live off the reputation of seminal records from three decades back but people don't give their more recent releases a chance. I mean, a lot of David Thomas's stuff with Two Pale Boys is wonderful."
Absolutely, but such is the short-sighted world the NME and their ilk inhabit these days. Still, we're not here to tar and feather the afflicted, so we push on and discuss the fascinating artwork adorning the sleeve of 'Isle Of Grain': an oil painting of a shipwreck in the sand featuring a single set of footprints leading away: intriguing stuff, especially after discussing David Thomas's advice in terms of "getting out while you can".
"Yeah, well I actually woke up with that image in my head one day," Dan reveals.
"I don't like to get in too deep about what these things mean, though I will say it relates most closely to the lyrics from 'Walking Off The Map' from the album. I dunno if you've spotted the mathematical figures on the ship's hull?..Well, it relates to a formula, but suffice it to say it's broadly about having peaks and troughs in your life and it's better to have those than just have a flat, uneventful path through your life. Actually, I really like the sleeve as an image, it's very Werner Herzog...like 'Fitzcarraldo'...the idea of a boat washed-up, Ark-like on the top of a mountain."
Indeed, such snatches of images often fuel the fertile Quinn imagination, even unexpected sightings of birds.
"Mmm, that's often the way my imagination gets fired up," he says. "For example, with 'A Shout In The Street' (opening track from 'Pigeon English' - ed) there's a line on that about a crow shouting fire (laughs) and that came from me hearing this crow outside the window and the way it was cawing...it really did sound like it was shouting "fire! fire!" repeatedly."
"That's why I always like to keep whisky, a pen and paper handy," he finishes. "You never know when the inspiration will strike!"
Absolutely and it sounds like a method to be trusted if OMG's output thus far is anything to go by. Having said that, though, the next Grain release is mooted to be a 10" EP featuring 'A Town Is What You Make It' as the main track but with the majority of the content being made up by OMG versions of three traditional tunes from around the world. Tell us more, Dan.
"The three tracks are from very different source material," he replies.
"There's 'Scarborough Fair', which everyone knows and of course, you can't get much English than that. Then there's 'South Anerican Folk Song' ...Jonathan Richman did a version of that and the title's pretty self-explanatory...and then there's 'Giriana Wedding'...a Kenyan traditional tune, so it's three tunes from very different locations."
I remember Dan had once been very keen to cover the Trad. Arr delight that is 'A Sailor's Life': a Cecil Sharp house treasure that Fairport Convention moulded beautifully into their own image on their 1969 album 'Unhalfbricking'. But this wasn't in the running then?
"No, although it was one we considered," Dan admits.
"But we were really pleased with the version of 'Scarborough Fair' we worked up in the end. Andrew's trumpet really soars on the breaks and it sounded just right. We're actually working on mixing it this coming weekend at a great studio in Wapping. I really sing on it too...for a change I might not get Mark E. Smith comparisons because they've got really good mikes in that studio (laughs)."
Excellent, well I think that just about brings us up to date, but of course One More Grain isn't the sole conduit for all things Quinn, as there's also a solo album in the works mooted for - hopefully - some time this year. This will bring us a follow-up to 'Ridin' The Stang' but what kind of territory can we expect Dan to be exploring here?
"Well, Andrew's on it, so it'll probably sound like a less commercial version of One More Grain," he laughs.
"Also, there will be some longer tracks...weirdly danceable in a Fela Kuti kind of way. Plus, unusually for me, I'm actually using a computer, though in a very amateurish way. Oh, and there's certainly the influence of some Indonesian music I've been getting into...a metal plate, a little gong, unusual brass instruments like French horns and so on. Plus Andrew's dad Robin plays on it and there are harmoniums too. At present I don't know when it'll be finished, but I'm trying to push on with it."
Judging by the fruits of Quinn's past labours, the wait will surely be worth it. Typically, though, standing still creatively is the last thing on Dan's mind. He's already got the outline of the third Grain album - provisionally entitled 'Grain Fever' - sketched out in his head.
"Things are changing," he reveals, with the relish of a man still thirsty to quaff down the shock of the new.
"There's gonna be more chord changes the next time round because it becomes hard to sustain just with drones over the space of five minutes, so the next time round there'll be melody but interspersed with drone and spoken word. It's exciting. After all, why hang around when you can keep moving forward?"
Why indeed, though with 'Isle Of Grain' this singular sonic climber and his trusty band of sherpas have conquered a height they'll be pushed to better. They'll make it on their own terms, of course, but for now we should enjoy them at their current pinnacle, for they're breathing air at a rarefied altitude where few bands can survive and thrive. Long may their quest continue.
(**'Isle Of Grain' is out now on White Heat Records)
(www.myspace.com/onemoregrain )
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