The funky cheery soundtrack sounds of Corduroy gleefully return with scintillating new mini album entitled Men Of The Cloth, released on Acid Jazz records on 14th July. To mark this release, classic Corduroy LPs are available again directly from Acid Jazz:

http://acidjazz.bigcartel.com/product/classic-corduroy-lps

Corduroy are also set to play The Forge, Camden on 15 September, 2023:
https://www.seetickets.com/event/corduroy/the-forge/2638229

With all this action surrounding the band Gigslutz caught up with bass player Richard Searle to talk up all things surrounding the band including the bands formation, touring with blur and how the new mini album came to fruition:

Corduroy are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their iconic album Dad Man Cat, originally released on Acid Jazz records in 1992 with a new mini album Men Of The Cloth. Can we go back in time a little, how did you come to join Corduroy?

Three of us were already in a group, we recruited Simon from another local band. We originally formed to play a one-off show on New Year’s Eve in a club in Greenwich …. but we kept going.

Were you and the rest of the band intent on making an album of film soundtrack pieces, KPM advertisement segments and jazz/funk covers?

When we recorded Dad Man Cat, that’s the kind of music that we were listening to, so it was inevitable that those influences would be apparent… and it was f There are other influences too but less obvious. Men Of The Cloth is more of the same.

Were each of the original compositions on the album something that the band jammed together in the studio or did individual members have ideas for the songs which were formed into the finished song pieces?

Dad Man Cat was a mixture of tracks that we’d already had in our live set, plus others that were jammed together as a band using our influences at the time. We used to rehearse in Ben And Scott’s parents’ house so it was a fairly easy and quick process. I think one track on that album came together in the recording studio.

 

Was Money Is chosen specifically as a cover for the album?

We liked the film soundtrack of The Heist by Quincy Jones; we loved Money Runner so covered it. There’s two version on the soundtrack, one with Little Richard on vocal, the other instrumental. Corduroy’s version is a mix of the two. So yes, we chose to cover it.

What was the original reception to the album? Amongst the likes of the indie crowd I can imagine there might have been some head scratching?

If you mean Dad Man Cat, the reception was good as it was released when Acid Jazz Records was on the rise, we didn’t care much about the indie scene at that point; it was before New Wave Of New Wave and Brit Pop. Other than a few UK bands like Carter and James, the Music Press was all about U.S Grunge. We were part of the new.

From the period surrounding DMC do you have any particular stand out moments?

Japan was always a highlight; we went there seven times in the nineties.

Britpop kings blur asked Corduroy to support them at their huge Alexandra Palace gig, do you remember much of this gig and becoming associated with blur?

Dave Roundtree, Blur’s drummer, was a fan, he used to play our second album, High Havoc, on Blur’s Tour Bus. You can hear a few Corduroy influences on Parklife, especially in the bass parts. I think they asked Corduroy to support them at Alexandre Palace, with Pulp and Supergrass, not just because we were a profile band at the time but because they were fans of the cheeky London chappy sound which they appropriated. I remember little of the actual gig other than the after-show…which was great.

Since Corduroy have reformed the band have released some standout moments including Return Of The Fabric Four. Where would you place Men Of The Cloth?

Men Of The Cloth is similar to Return Of The Fabric Four in as much as both have much shorter tracks than our earlier albums – which were long and noodley at times. It has elements of all of our previous albums – it’s a short sharp ‘thank you’ to our fans.

Was there thoughts of doing another full album or was a mini album always on the cards?

We recorded the mini album during the lockdowns. We didn’t necessarily plan to make another album per say, we were just tracking new material, but Acid Jazz wanted a ‘release’ to mark the thirtieth anniversary so we used the six tracks that we had up our sleeves.

Listening to the mini album there are all the traits shown on DMC including Dave Allen KPM background tracks, Granstand big bouncy bass drum and other quirky funk jazz delights. How did the tracks come together?

We jammed ideas together at Scott’s (Simon & Rich), then knocked them into shape in the rehearsal studio with Ben. Band members presented home demos; Hypnotoad was originally one of Rich’s demos for example.

 

Why is the mini album called Men Of The Cloth?

Because we are male – and the band is named after a type of cloth. Duh!

Are the band hoping to go on another nationwide tour?

Possibly, if there’s enough demand; we’ve gigged a lot since we reformed. We are playing Forge in Camden Sept 15th.

Have you craved the likes of Tony Hawk to include a Corduroy track in one of his videos?

Despite being a keen skateboarder, with my own branded slalom deck, I’m not a fan of Tony Hawk. Skateboarding hero’s are Tony Alva, Tony Hestor or Stacy Peralta. Ben and Scott are also skateboard fans.

Finally, what’s on your turntable at present?

I DJ regularly, so I’m constantly playing original sixties R&B, Northern Soul, Latin, Ska and groovy garage-rock. I received a record from the postman this morning, which is currently on my deck at time of writing: Jimmy ‘Preacher’ Ellie – I’m Gonna Do It By Myself.  Tune!

 

Men Of The Cloth can be pre-ordered via the following link