Hi Paul, can you please tell me a bit about your upbringing?

I saw out most of the teenage dream in Barnet, North London. Sweet suburbia. This was the mid 80s. so there were still quite a few hippies knocking about. The local rehearsal studio we used to go to was run by Steve Broughton from the Edgar Broughton Band who did ‘Out, Demons, Out!’ Little did I know it then, but they were one of the craziest of all the ’60’s underground bands. Needless to say he was totally cool with us. Even though we were stroppy teenage Mods!

What was the first music you can remember hearing?

Elvis’ ‘Greatest Hits’. The Shangri-La’s’ ‘Leader Of The Pack’, Mud “Dynamite’. Even at a really young age they made me realize you could leave the straight life behind.

What was the first serious music you can remember hearing?

The Sex Pistols. Out of this world. No one has ever really been close in terms of the scale of their ambition. Jamie Reid (Pistols sleeve designer) once told me he believed Malcolm McLaren was the greatest conceptual artist of the 20th century and I agree with him. Without him we’d be in even more of a mess, culturally.

When did you first start playing the guitar and who influenced you?

When I was 16/17. I’m still influenced by guitarists who play with feeling rather than by the book. Paul Kossoff from Free, Steve Jones, Danny Kustow from TRB. Less is more!

What about singing, who influenced you to start singing?

Rod Stewart and Steve Marriott although I’ve ended up sounding nothing like either of them, unfortunately!

You were a writer for the weekly music publication NME, how did you get into writing and reviewing for NME?

We were doing well with The Studio 68!, playing tours in Europe and recording our debut album ‘Portobellohello’, when I got a call from the NME asking if I wanted a job as a writer. It was impossible to turn down. I was signing on and totally broke. Within three months I was flying to Germany to hang out backstage with Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode at some huge festival. It was another world.

Can you name the top 5 gigs you reviewed for NME?

Great question! The NME forced me to look beyond the 60’s for inspiration. It broadened my horizons, The first 5 which spring to mind are Urge Overkill at The Garage. The Hypnotics at Water Rats, Girls Against Boys in New York, Green Day at the Duchess in Leeds, Nancy Boy at Smashing! But there are loads which stick in the memory. Everyone from Gil Scott Heron to Screaming Trees to The Gossip.

How did Studio 68! originally form?

We all knew each other from the London Mod scene in the 80’s. Will is from Southgate and Patrick is from Wood Green so it was like a North London Bermuda Triangle. I met Simon while working at the Law Courts on the Strand around the same time. We go back a long way!

How did the bands material come to fruition at the time of the band forming?

We always knew we wanted to form a rock’n’roll band with the same shared spirit as The Beatles, The Who and The Small Faces. Lyrically, we were (and are) inspired by the whole countercultural scene in London. Oz and International Times, the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream, the underground scene in Ladbroke Grove involving The Deviants and The Pink Fairies. I bought (Oz editor) Richard Neville’s book ‘Playpower’ at a flea market in the South of France in 1990 (mercifully the English edition) and that was a major influence. I could go on.

Was there an element of jamming the material together as ideas flowed?

To a degree. We’ve always been about the songs and seeing the world from a big city perspective. We come from a long tradition of London bands with the same kind of outlook- everyone from The Kinks to Rod Stewart and The Faces to Ian Dury and the Blockheads to Boys Wonder. There’s some shared London DNA you just can’t quite put your finger on, but it’s there.

Looking back at the bands material now are there any tunes you are particularly proud of?

There are a few which stand out. ‘Double Decker Bus’, ’Afternoon Sun’, ‘Get Out Of My Hair’. ‘Pop Star’s Country Mansion’. They’ve all passed the test of time. Great songs don’t age.

Studio 68! have a history of shenanigans and debauchery on and off the road between 1987 and 1991, are you able to elaborate on some of the infamous goings on you experienced at this time?

It was a long time ago…but yes by 1990 our live show was getting pretty out-of-control. Lots of guitars getting thrown across the stage and things getting smashed up. Will had covered the Hammond organ in silver foil by then and we started getting banned from venues- Will once single-handedly attempted to demolish the ‘unbreakable’ dressing room at the Rock Garden. We liked the auto-destructive ideas that the Who and The Move had taken from (Austrian pop artist) Gustav Metzke. It could cause problems. I remember a Mod Rally in Great Yarmouth where the manager of the venue decided the rally couldn’t continue as a flying guitar had smashed a window. Everyone at the rally was really cool with us- they understood what we’re doing. Off stage, we’d started experimenting with drugs, inspired by the Stones, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix.…just like everyone else. Those influences seeped into the music in songs like ‘Rolling Machine’. It’s a band’s duty to break down the doors of perception!

Why did the band split up back in the 90’s?

Things were getting really out of control during the recording of our debut album ‘Portobellohello’. I ended up in intensive care after breaking my leg on a night out and we had to cancel a big European tour. We hadn’t played a single gig together for 30 years before our ’68 Comeback Special’ show at the 100 Club last October.

Did you continue to write material in the hiatus of the band?

Will, Pat and I went on to form Regular Fries in the late 90s’. We signed to JBO/V2 and put out three albums. We toured with Ian Brown, played all the major festivals, and recorded our second album in America with Dave Fridmann. When that ended, we all need a break. It was the classic rock’n’roll burn out story.

Fast forward to 2022. Studio 68! reformed to play a couple of gigs and release material on the legendary Detour Records label. Why reform?

The ’68! has always felt like unfinished business. In 91/92 we were playing shows at The Camden Falcon alongside the likes of Blur, Suede, Verve and Dodgy and felt we were on the path towards something exciting. Fate had other ideas!

Did you have the material in place before reforming?

I’ve always been writing songs. But getting back together made us all work on new material which we consider to be the best we’ve done. Plus we are now working with the incredible Dani Turner. Like us, she loves bands like Free and the late ‘60s era. She is, to my mind, by far and away the best blues singer in England. We’ve been compared to Delaney & Bonnie and Vinegar Joe—huge compliments.

When the band started rehearsing again did the magic of the band’s sound instantly return?

Pretty much! Although to start off with it was a bit like when they first get back together in ‘Still Crazy’. We needed to knock the rust off!

You played an iconic gig at the legendary 100 Club, London to coincide with the band’s reformation along with new material. What are your memories of the gig?

That was a phenomenal evening. Fans had come from across the country to see us. A few had flown in from Ireland and mainland Europe. Dani’s grandad Bruce had played there with Humphrey Littleton, so that was cool. I think the best memory for all of us was that we’d finally go back to doing what we’re best at. That and the violin bow flying across the room!

Do you have plans to play any gigs further afield than London?

We’re playing the Shiiine On festival in Minehead on Saturday 16th November alongside Kula Shaker, The Farm, Embrace, Echo & The Bunnymen and lots of others. We’re also supporting The Buzzcocks at their two night residency at the 100 Club on November 29th and 30th. We’re looking to do lots more outside London in 2025. Get in touch!

Your latest single has just been released, entitled The Way It Is. What can fans expect from this new release?

‘The Way It Is’ feels like the first real release by the reformed band. It addresses life in Britain in 2024. It’s a place where hope seems to come in the form of a scratch card or a TV show appearance. We want to tap into the positive spirit that made the late 60s so exciting and inspiring.

What other plans do Studio 68! have for the future?

We aim to release a killer 45 every 3 months until we are number one on both sides of the Atlantic. Then the fun can really begin.

Finally, what’s on your turntable at present?

Paul: Boys Wonder Question Everything

Will: Daniel Romano’s Outfit Okay Wow

Simon: Paradise Lost by The Herd

Patrick: Queen Of The Night by Maggie Bell

 

Studio 68! can be found via their Instagram page