A Few Ditties Along the Way
If music be the food of...
First memory? Late sixties, maybe early seventies, a toddler: Dancing in the street in Southend-on-Sea, England, to Substitute by The Who. Years later, same again but this time as a teenager and lifelong Mod! My Mum had a collection of 45s that I used to play in the attic - everything from Elvis to The Everly Brothers, R.Dean Taylor and Martha Reeves & The Vandellas. As a kid, I used to dance and sing along before a mirror, holding a tennis racket as a guitar. And then I built up my own record collection, starting out with Blondie and The Jam and exploring their inspirations and discovering Blues, Motown, Soul, The Small Faces, The Who, The Stones, Kinks, The Yardbirds, Velvet Underground, The Move, Clapton, Cream, and Hendrix to name a few. Later, in the 90s, Blur from home county Essex, and all the other superb sounds of the Britpop years, too many to name. And more recently, digging deep into the groups who never quite made it to the top but whose songs became cult – Rupert's People, Plastic Penny, The Fleurs-de-Lys, The Creation, The Eyes, The Syn and I could go on. First real guitar – a Vox Standard 25 that appeared in an ad in the NME sometime in the early 80s and that I bought in London for £150 from working through the summer in Ramsgate and a helping top-up from mum. I still have it. At one time, I played a Rickenbacker 360 – a beautiful, iconic machine - that I had to sell to pay my taxes during a difficult period in my life. And in recent times, adding to the faithful Vox, a Fender Telecaster that I'm still trying to build a loving relationship with. First song? When I was fourteen, probably some punk rock-inspired ditty. And the last? Well, about a week ago. So, here are some ditties penned over the years, live or in demo mode. Hope you enjoy them!
An Ongoing Story
Groups? The Beltane (I was an awful drummer turned bassist and I think we lasted 3 gigs or something), Basement Blue, Closer Than Close, The Moodfield (with and without the lads), and now The Sway – although a UK group appears to exist with the same name, so while looking for another, let's say The Sway Fr – "Fr" standing for France where I live and work and... play. These are the names of the groups I've played in over the years and there have been some great moments, great laughs, and quite a bit of cool swagger! Now, the guitar is back in fashion, so I've heard, so that's good news. Out here, towards Normandy, there's always been a very dynamic pop-rock scene, many of the local mayors and administrators from small villages, to mid-sized towns and the big jewel of Rouen, having been bitten by rhythm themselves in their teens and keeping the flame going through festivals, studios, and showcase gigs. It's great to play, great to see the support and sheer fun and happiness of the all-ages audiences out here.
About a year ago, lucky circumstance brought together four people to form The Sway Fr. Yours truly, Tom Gamble, guitar and vocals, Nolwenn Ville Duboq, bass and vocals, Lucas Binard on second guitar, and Manu Cadot on drums. I suppose you could call it indie pop-rock. At times fast and furious, at others cool and thoughtful. Pushing out the sound through the unique and very cool sound of Vox amps, we could maybe say that we're a kind of, sort of, not exactly but maybe-could be psychedelic in style (a few sitar-influenced riffs in there), blended with a Britty poppy, Velvety-Undergroundy, Who-ish and... Well just us, in fact and what comes into life when the song pops out onto paper and we all get together for studio rehearsals. Are we looking for gigs? Well, yes, with pleasure. Pop me a mail and... let's discuss.
For more info, demos, and pix on thesway.fr ...
Some Noise & Melody for You
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TheSway.fr:
Tom Gamble, Guitar / Vocals
Nolwenn Ville Duboq: Bass / Vocals
Lucas Binard: Guitar / Effects
Manu Cadot: Drums / Sound / Recording.
More on the group & our sound? Visit thesway.fr
The Sway Fr live and having fun at the Bastille Day Festival, Genainville, France. Kids in the background while 200 parents or so take it easy in front of the stage. Here we're playing "Unlikely", most of us in "summer countryside attire"!
Opening up the Rock in the Barn Festival in Vernon, France.
