Shabby Rogue

Hi there, thanks for your time. To start off with then, how’s it going in the world of Shabby rogue? What’s the band up to at the moment? 

Hey Rob, this is Terry (drummer.) At the moment we’re getting ready for a great gig on Saturday at the 12 Bar on Denmark St. It’s a fantastic venue and the first time we’ve played there!!! Been jamming a lot in rehearsals recently, which is SO much fun!!!! 

For those readers new to Shabby Rogue, would you mind giving us some overall info about yourselves; where you’re from, who plays what in the band and so on? 

I’m from a small town called St.Helens (Merseyside) I’ve been playing drums for around 20 years and was in a band many years ago called Mazey Fade, we got quite a bit of radio play from John Peel and were signed to Domino (Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand etc.), came to London in 2000 and met the rest of the band in about 2003. 

Your new single ‘My Life as a Secret agent’ has been getting some impressive airplay lately… could you tell us a little about the background to the track? To an outside listener it seems a rather frantic, raw affair… was this in any way a reflection of the writing or recording process itself? 

I would say yes to that, the song was put together very live, everything came to fast and naturally in a rehearsal, Shaun kind of jammed the lyrics at first and then formulated them over a few weeks, the same thing happened with the instruments, it’s a very natural song. 

Having recently been compared to everyone from Bob Dylan to the B52s, what would you say are the primary influences upon you as songwriters and performers, be they fellow artists or other more esoteric experiences or sources? 

My influences would be the need to make a noise and be heard, musically I love German bands from the 60s-70s, Can Faust, Kraftwerk etc. I feel there’s so much emotion coming from them, hardly surprising I suppose given the generation!!! I also love experimental music, Sonic Youth, Captain Beefheart, the Fall, bands who try something a bit different. 

As your upcoming second album ‘By Hook or By Crook’ is due for release in the early part of 2010, have you any ideas as to where you’d like the album to take you, I.E., international or national touring, or any other ambitions? Or is it more a case of ‘see what comes along?’ 

I’d like to be able to pay my rent with a paycheck from it, pathetic I know but kind of a small recognition, also to get good reviews and be liked (hahaha). 

‘By Hook or By Crook’ was recorded on an extremely tight budget, in a converted Barn… how did you find the process of recording this time around… it sounds like a far cry from the archetypal sterile studio experience? 

It was hard work and endless fun, I wish we’d had 2 more weeks In the barn, we would have finished the whole thing. Steve Boyle (our producer) was very patient, we had to basically set up studio from scratch (separation, EVERYTHING) and we lost so much time in the process (logistics etc. sorry Steve!!!), it was cool being able to play when you wanted to though, there was so much freedom, was also a lovely feeling to step out of the barn and be greeted by the Brecon countryside!!!! The hard work came after, overdubs had to be put on when and where we could (parts of London and Glasgow, Steve’s home town) and that was the most time consuming, frustrating part of the whole process!!! 

It seems that you’ve a couple of shows in London this month; can we expect to see you on the road once more in the near future? Would you describe yourselves as primarily a live band? 

I think we’ll be playing a lot more again In the near future, we seem to get a good response when we play live and although we’ve been together so long, I think we’re still learning when it comes to disciplined recording. 

Returning to the new album, have you noticed any conscious or unconscious themes or lyrical/instrumental ideas running throughout? In other words, does the album seem to have an overall tone or style, or is it more of a mixed bag of songs? 

The overall tone is massive individuality, it was a real challenge to list the songs, in many ways it doesn’t make sense, I have to admit, I love this fact, it’s like we all compromise for each other and the 3 writers in the band make sure that each gets their fair share in the final product, quite touching really. 

With three songwriters in the band, and a degree of alternation when it comes to instrumental roles, how do you manage to bring it all together when recording or playing gigs? Do you set yourselves concrete positions for guitar, bass vocals etc when playing live? 

Patience, as a drummer its really difficult relating to 3 different bass players with varying degrees of rhythm, skill etc. but, its all part of the fun, live we try and put together as many songs as possible where we don’t have to change but in the end its inevitable, it’s good to watch the three of them running around the stage in front of me!!!! 

Finally, any closing thoughts or messages that you’d like to give readers? 

Hope you like the album, keep an open mind wherever possible. Cheers