Alex Ware (lead vocals and guitar), Joni Belaruski (drums) and Aidan Banks (fiddle) talk about their music in an exclusive interview with Made in Shoreditch.
In 2012 The Great Malarkey took part in some of the most important alternative festivals such as Boomtown, Bestival and Bearded Theory and signed with Clearcut Records. After winning the single of the year award at the Pure Rawk Awards for “Marry Profits”, the gypsy-folk seven-piece band released the album “Badly Stuffed Animals” and toured the UK.
How did you start making music?
Alex: “Despite my mother wanted me to take piano lessons, when I was 12 I bought my first guitar. It was love at first play, but when I started listening to Nirvana everything changed and I become more serious about music”.
Joni: “I started playing the guitar at 14 in Limavady, my hometown in Northern Ireland, inspired by Courtney Love. I bumped into the drums by accident replacing the untalented drummer of my first band and realised that I could do much better with the drumsticks”.
Aidan: “I began playing the classic violin when I was seven and started to play the piano at ten. After several years of bass in the indie rock scene I am back to the fiddle”.
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Who are the other members of TGM?
Alex: “Jake Appleby is our bassist and a passionate Beatles’ fan. Despite being only 21 he is extremely professional and spends his time studying and practicing music. Jason Nash, on accordion, is the wiser member of the band able to calm down everyone in the most stressing situations”.
Joni: “Owen Evans is our multi-instruments man and plays the banjo, the guitar and the trombone. He auditioned for the guitarist position, but having a metal background was initially unsure he would have suited the band. When he came back to Café Oto in Hackney showing off his banjo skills we couldn’t let him go”.
Aidan: “Alex Newton, on trumpet, has a massive knowledge of music and comes from a theatrical family. His mother took part in a musical with Julie Andrews and in a way TGM has been influenced also by Mary Poppins”.
How is working with an independent record label?
Alex: “Clearcut leaves us the creative control on our music and at the same time tries to place our tracks in movies and TV”.
Joni: “We have the chance to meet many talented artists such as Guy Denning, the famous contemporary painter, who made a series of portraits for us”.
Aidan: “Working with an independent record label encourages self-expression and creativity. We worked all together at the scripts of the videos for ‘Merry Profits’ and ‘Whiskey Too Far’ (directed by Laura Henry) and Joni, who is also a visual artist, designed the cover for our album”.
What are TGM plans for 2013?
Alex: “In July we’ll return to Denmark for the Skaro Festival and we would love to play again at the Shoreditch Festival. Last year these events were fantastic thanks to a smooth organisation and amazing crowds”.
Joni: “In August we’ll play at Boomtown 2013 and we are planning to tour the north of the country taking our music to Scotland and Ireland”.
Aidan: “We have ten new songs ready to be recorded and we’ll start very soon to work on our second album”.
More about The Great Malarkey here: http://thegreatmalarkey.com