Over the past few years, the Morgellons have been steadily building their reputation as one of the more intriguing bands on the London punk scene. Although they are very-much based in the Punk ethos, their sound has developed in its’ own way, prompting more than a few comparisons to bands that emerged in the so-called ‘post-punk’ era. The music is still loud and raw, but instead of just settling for the usual three-chord nostalgia that so many bands rehash, Morgellons add their own ideas to the mix to create something new. It’s this that allows them to be able to play alongside bands as different as Penetration, Menace or Ruts DC and always make a mark of their own. They don’t necessarily sound similar to the bands that they play with, but they certainly share that spirit of wanting to have their own voice.
The band have actually been around since 2011, releasing their first album, ‘The Memory of Echoes’ in 2013. But it wasn’t until the current line-up (Vince, Josh, Mark and Mannie) came together that the band began playing regularly and writing the new material that would eventually be released in 2017 as their self-titled second album. While the first album had been well-received and certainly impressed those that heard it, the new record has really benefited from the bands’ regular live outings and shows what a fine band they really are.
The band have actually been around since 2011, releasing their first album, ‘The Memory of Echoes’ in 2013. But it wasn’t until the current line-up (Vince, Josh, Mark and Mannie) came together that the band began playing regularly and writing the new material that would eventually be released in 2017 as their self-titled second album. While the first album had been well-received and certainly impressed those that heard it, the new record has really benefited from the bands’ regular live outings and shows what a fine band they really are.
After several failed attempts, I finally managed to meet-up with singer Vince and guitarist Josh before their recent gig supporting 999 at the New Cross Inn. Now, although a reasonably new band, the various members of Morgellons aren’t exactly naïve-teenagers, so we started talking about their musical exploits prior to this band…
Josh ; Well, the first band I ever played in was called ‘Graceland’, which was a kind of project with a bunch of mates when we were all around 16 or 17. That eventually progressed as we got better, into a band called Los Bastardos and we ended-up playing places like the Bull & Gate in the late Eighties and early Nineties. And while that was going on, I also used to chip-in with Auntie Pus and one of his spin-offs, called The Black Devils. But when those things sort of petered-out, I stopped playing in live bands for quite a long time. I got married and started a family, but I eventually got coaxed back in to it about five years ago, playing with a band called The Pests, who were originally an early punk band from the Twickenham area. I used to go and see them when I was a lot younger and they had decided to reform, so it was actually quite a privilege to be asked to play for them, given that they were one of my inspirations for playing guitar in the first place… It was playing with them which got me back into playing live music again, now that the kids had grown up and flown the nest, so to speak. Soon after that, Mark contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in playing with The Morgellons, which is pretty-much how we get to this point. We’ve been playing together for the last four or five years …
Vince ; I actually started-out as a drummer, but as much as I enjoyed playing, I couldn’t really do it and I couldn’t afford a kit, let alone somewhere to practice. But it turned out that when me and some friends started to try and put a band together, I was the only person who had the front to have a go at the vocals, so that’s what happened. The very first band I was in who actually went out and played some gigs were called Curfew, which is how I met Mark. The band did okay, we played a few gigs at places like the 100 Club supporting bands like the Urban Dogs and the Cult Maniax. But eventually we morphed into a different band called Body Swerve… the sound was sort of changing and I think we actually started getting pretty good, playing gigs with bands like the Senseless Things and Mega City Four. We were getting to the stage where people like Steve Lamacq were starting to get interested in us, but then it all fell apart. The drummer was having personal problems and split-up with his long-term girlfriend and the guitarist decided he wanted to be an archaeologist so he buggered off ! After that, I didn’t really bother with the band thing for quite some time and I also got more into electronic and dance music. I didn’t even go to guitar-based gigs for quite a while, until I caught up with some old friends and we started a band called Target Zero. We did alright and it got me back into playing live again. We played places like the 12 Bar pretty regularly, but we were quite shambolic. At the time we were all drinking quite a lot, so there was never any guarantee that we’d even get out alive ! That eventually came to an end, but around the same time it seemed that a lot of people started going out to gigs again and I caught-up with people like Mark, who I’ve known for well-over thirty years… I was from Harrow, so we were all originally from West or North West London…
Josh ; Although he’s now the bands’ token Hackney trendy !
Vince ; Although I'l have you know, it only got trendy after I moved there ! The rest of the band are just happy that I’m unable to grow a beard, ironic or otherwise, so they still put up with me… Anyway, I became involved with a band called Model Citizens and, again, things were going pretty well, but the singer and guitarist were also playing in another band, 16 Guns, who were starting to get more gigs, so eventually they couldn’t really commit to both bands and Model Citizens collapsed. But from that, Morgellons started to come together.
Only you and Mark have been together in Morgellons since the original line-up…
Vince ; I suppose we’re the core members as, at first, it seemed quite difficult to get other people committed to it. We went through quite a few line-ups early-on and everyone involved was pretty talented in their own way and certainly had something to offer the band, but they didn’t necessarily have the same priorities. Some people were happy to rehearse but didn’t really want to play live and others just wanted to play very occasionally. So for quite a while, it always seemed on the verge of falling-apart, until Mark got hold of Mannie and Josh. I have no problem in saying that they have completely and utterly made the band.
I think that’s the thing that makes the real difference between your first album and the new one. There’s a real sense of purpose and focus to the newer material and I think bands can only achieve that by playing together regularly…
Vince ; Yeah, although that’s just what happened, it wasn’t something where we sat-down and decided what we were going to do. It’s been more a case that, the longer we’ve been playing together, the more we know what each other is doing and the more we can rely on everyone, which is great. So what tends to happen at rehearsals is that these guys will kind of jam… Mark will always have an idea for a bass-line or Josh will have something on guitar, and they’ll mess around with it to try and put something together. If I can’t think of any ideas for lyrics at the time, we record it so I can take it home and then I’ll come up with some lyrics for it. That’s pretty-much how it works for us… we don’t have any one person that will come in and say, ‘I have a song, it sounds like this and this is how you have to play it.’ The songs evolve more organically, I suppose, and we all get involved in the way they come together.
I think you can see that when the band play live. There’s a real chemistry between everyone onstage…
Vince ; Well, I think from the very first rehearsal this line-up played together, I remember us playing ‘Monochrome Soul’ and it just sounded so right that I was standing there at the end thinking, please let this line-up stick together ! And, touch wood, it has, so I think we all must feel we’re doing something right. It just works !
Vince ; I suppose we’re the core members as, at first, it seemed quite difficult to get other people committed to it. We went through quite a few line-ups early-on and everyone involved was pretty talented in their own way and certainly had something to offer the band, but they didn’t necessarily have the same priorities. Some people were happy to rehearse but didn’t really want to play live and others just wanted to play very occasionally. So for quite a while, it always seemed on the verge of falling-apart, until Mark got hold of Mannie and Josh. I have no problem in saying that they have completely and utterly made the band.
I think that’s the thing that makes the real difference between your first album and the new one. There’s a real sense of purpose and focus to the newer material and I think bands can only achieve that by playing together regularly…
Vince ; Yeah, although that’s just what happened, it wasn’t something where we sat-down and decided what we were going to do. It’s been more a case that, the longer we’ve been playing together, the more we know what each other is doing and the more we can rely on everyone, which is great. So what tends to happen at rehearsals is that these guys will kind of jam… Mark will always have an idea for a bass-line or Josh will have something on guitar, and they’ll mess around with it to try and put something together. If I can’t think of any ideas for lyrics at the time, we record it so I can take it home and then I’ll come up with some lyrics for it. That’s pretty-much how it works for us… we don’t have any one person that will come in and say, ‘I have a song, it sounds like this and this is how you have to play it.’ The songs evolve more organically, I suppose, and we all get involved in the way they come together.
I think you can see that when the band play live. There’s a real chemistry between everyone onstage…
Vince ; Well, I think from the very first rehearsal this line-up played together, I remember us playing ‘Monochrome Soul’ and it just sounded so right that I was standing there at the end thinking, please let this line-up stick together ! And, touch wood, it has, so I think we all must feel we’re doing something right. It just works !
Now, I know this is probably the corniest fanzine-interview question ever, but in your case, I really am intrigued as to why you chose to call the band ‘Morgellons’ ? The name itself refers to a disease that much of the medical world doesn’t actually recognise and is just as often referred to as a delusional state as a physical ailment…
Vince ; I read an article about it a few years ago and it just intrigued me. It’s not in any way to try to cheapen what people who identify themselves as morgellons-sufferers are going through, but I just thought it was a great metaphor… the idea of something going-on under the skin or under the surface that can’t be explained in regular terms. I’m a big fan of David Cronenberg and he’s always played with that idea of the melding of flesh and inorganic material… For me, it was really just a metaphor of the idea of things going-on under the surface that can’t quite be seen, can’t be explained and can’t be controlled. The whole thing just intrigued me, so it seemed like an interesting name… And it was certainly something different to the bog-standard names that so many bands end up using !
It works well, in that it’s the sort of name that you’d want to find-out about and, when you do, it gives you a whole other thing to start thinking about…
Vince ; Yeah… it’s like, the word itself is apparently a variation of an old French word, because there was an outbreak of something similar which occurred in France during the 17th Century. A lot of people consider it to be psychosomatic – I really don’t know what it is but I thought the whole idea was really interesting. We came up with a byline for the band, ‘Getting under the skin of the 21st Century’ and that’s how it came together as a metaphor in relation with what we’re trying to do. It just suited that kind of idea…’
Vince ; I read an article about it a few years ago and it just intrigued me. It’s not in any way to try to cheapen what people who identify themselves as morgellons-sufferers are going through, but I just thought it was a great metaphor… the idea of something going-on under the skin or under the surface that can’t be explained in regular terms. I’m a big fan of David Cronenberg and he’s always played with that idea of the melding of flesh and inorganic material… For me, it was really just a metaphor of the idea of things going-on under the surface that can’t quite be seen, can’t be explained and can’t be controlled. The whole thing just intrigued me, so it seemed like an interesting name… And it was certainly something different to the bog-standard names that so many bands end up using !
It works well, in that it’s the sort of name that you’d want to find-out about and, when you do, it gives you a whole other thing to start thinking about…
Vince ; Yeah… it’s like, the word itself is apparently a variation of an old French word, because there was an outbreak of something similar which occurred in France during the 17th Century. A lot of people consider it to be psychosomatic – I really don’t know what it is but I thought the whole idea was really interesting. We came up with a byline for the band, ‘Getting under the skin of the 21st Century’ and that’s how it came together as a metaphor in relation with what we’re trying to do. It just suited that kind of idea…’
You often seem to get referred-to as a ‘post-punk’ band. It’s a bit of a misleading phrase, as it seems to be used to describe so many different styles of music, although at the same time it does at least recognise that you are trying to create something different to the more standard punk style…
Josh ; I know what you mean and, if anything, I would consider ourselves to be a punk band. But if people want to refer to us as ‘post-punk’, I don’t have a problem with it.
Vince ; I don’t think it’s up to us to label ourselves in any way. For instance, someone recently told me that they thought we sounded like New Model Army. Now, I've never owned a single record by them, so if we do sound like them at all, it’s in no way deliberate. I just think that people will project what they like and what they don’t like onto a band they’ve just heard, to try and make sense of it. I mean, I’ll admit to a Joy Division influence so if people want to mention that, then it’s fine. But at the same time, there’s loads of other stuff going on and, essentially, I just hope we’re a good guitar band. We all came together with a shared love of British Punk from the Seventies and that’s the core of it, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to just stick to it. Josh is a mad Zappa fan, Mannie loves loud metal stuff like AC/DC, Mark loves bands like the Chili Peppers and I can enjoy listening to anything from Tom Waits through to The Idles, who are probably my favourite live band at the moment. We all have other stuff that we bring to the band so if other people want to say we’re one thing or another, that’s fine, but I think when you listen to us there’s a lot more going-on than just one genre.
Josh ; It’s the same way that people refer to Punk as being very a very basic, three-chord thrash… But when you look at it, that era had some really talented musicians. Captain Sensible is a great guitar player and, in my opinion, Hugh Cornwell is one of the best British guitarists there’s ever been ! But that’s the problem when the music press likes to pigeon-hole everything. I also think that, when you’re a kid, you do tend to think that everything you listen to and love exists in a vacuum, where nothing came before and nothing will come after it… But in my case, if I ever read an interview with a band that I liked and they said that they were into someone else, then I’d want to go and explore that. I’d be thinking, well, I really like this band and they say they like this other band, so that must be worth hearing as well. And it was through reading those interviews that I discovered bands like the Velvet Underground, The Stooges, the MC5… you know, all those great bands that came before Punk happened.
Vince ; I think the thing is, good music is just good music. I’ll admit that when I was a snotty little kid, I did buy into all that ‘no Elvis, Beatles or Rolling Stones’ thing, but nowadays I’ll listen to all three of them and think they’re fantastic ! Looking back now, I would even have loved to have seen the later, fat, cabaret Elvis, but when you go back to those early, primal Sun Sessions, they’re as close to Punk Rock as anything has ever been ! It’s just great music. What we’re trying to be is a good, live guitar band. That’s all that really matters and if people really do ‘mean it, man’, that helps, because there’s nothing worse than seeing a band just going through the motions. But I genuinely think we’re fired-up and enthused about what we play and people do seem to respond to it.
Josh ; I know what you mean and, if anything, I would consider ourselves to be a punk band. But if people want to refer to us as ‘post-punk’, I don’t have a problem with it.
Vince ; I don’t think it’s up to us to label ourselves in any way. For instance, someone recently told me that they thought we sounded like New Model Army. Now, I've never owned a single record by them, so if we do sound like them at all, it’s in no way deliberate. I just think that people will project what they like and what they don’t like onto a band they’ve just heard, to try and make sense of it. I mean, I’ll admit to a Joy Division influence so if people want to mention that, then it’s fine. But at the same time, there’s loads of other stuff going on and, essentially, I just hope we’re a good guitar band. We all came together with a shared love of British Punk from the Seventies and that’s the core of it, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to just stick to it. Josh is a mad Zappa fan, Mannie loves loud metal stuff like AC/DC, Mark loves bands like the Chili Peppers and I can enjoy listening to anything from Tom Waits through to The Idles, who are probably my favourite live band at the moment. We all have other stuff that we bring to the band so if other people want to say we’re one thing or another, that’s fine, but I think when you listen to us there’s a lot more going-on than just one genre.
Josh ; It’s the same way that people refer to Punk as being very a very basic, three-chord thrash… But when you look at it, that era had some really talented musicians. Captain Sensible is a great guitar player and, in my opinion, Hugh Cornwell is one of the best British guitarists there’s ever been ! But that’s the problem when the music press likes to pigeon-hole everything. I also think that, when you’re a kid, you do tend to think that everything you listen to and love exists in a vacuum, where nothing came before and nothing will come after it… But in my case, if I ever read an interview with a band that I liked and they said that they were into someone else, then I’d want to go and explore that. I’d be thinking, well, I really like this band and they say they like this other band, so that must be worth hearing as well. And it was through reading those interviews that I discovered bands like the Velvet Underground, The Stooges, the MC5… you know, all those great bands that came before Punk happened.
Vince ; I think the thing is, good music is just good music. I’ll admit that when I was a snotty little kid, I did buy into all that ‘no Elvis, Beatles or Rolling Stones’ thing, but nowadays I’ll listen to all three of them and think they’re fantastic ! Looking back now, I would even have loved to have seen the later, fat, cabaret Elvis, but when you go back to those early, primal Sun Sessions, they’re as close to Punk Rock as anything has ever been ! It’s just great music. What we’re trying to be is a good, live guitar band. That’s all that really matters and if people really do ‘mean it, man’, that helps, because there’s nothing worse than seeing a band just going through the motions. But I genuinely think we’re fired-up and enthused about what we play and people do seem to respond to it.
You’ve played with quite a wide range of bands over the past few years and most audiences seem to have been pretty open to your music, regardless of who you’ve been playing with. But when you first started playing live, did you ever get an awkward response ?
Josh ; The first gig I played in Morgellons was supporting a band called No Lip, who are basically a Punk covers band. It was down at a pub in Staines and it almost got cancelled because there had been a lot of flooding down there during that week. But it went ahead and there was a really good turn-out. We weren’t really sure how it would go, but we played and everyone seemed to love it ! Afterwards, we almost got carried away because it had gone so well and we all had to let ourselves calm down a bit. Since then, we’ve played with loads of different bands and we usually seem to get a good response. I don’t mind playing with older Punk bands because I still enjoy a lot of them and I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad time playing with any of the bands we’ve supported. For me, when it comes to playing with bands like Ruts DC or Penetration, that’s something really special. And there’s a lot of other bands that we’ve played with a few times, like Menace, who are really nice people and I’d consider them to be friends now.
Vince ; It’s weird because there’s been occasions like when we had a gig about a year ago at this kind of trendy basement bar in Fulham. It turned out that we were playing after this kind of indie jazz-funk band, so we were thinking, this is never going to go down well. But when we played, the crowd loved us and it went really well. I think it’s just the case that if you get a crowd of people who want to enjoy live music, then nine times out of ten we tend to go down alright. I don’t think we’ve ever played a gig where we’ve really bombed. I think we’ve acquitted ourselves and proved that we’re an interesting live prospect. I’m sure some people don’t get it and some people don’t like it, but that’s fine. It’s the same with the album… some people have told me they like some tracks but don’t like others. I sort of prefer that, because if everybody said they enjoyed every track, maybe that would mean that everything was sounding more or less the same. I’d rather be in the kind of band that did things that made people think, well, I don’t really get this, or I’m not sure about that one. At least that means you’re making an album with different ideas rather than just putting something together where everything sounds the same.
Josh ; The first gig I played in Morgellons was supporting a band called No Lip, who are basically a Punk covers band. It was down at a pub in Staines and it almost got cancelled because there had been a lot of flooding down there during that week. But it went ahead and there was a really good turn-out. We weren’t really sure how it would go, but we played and everyone seemed to love it ! Afterwards, we almost got carried away because it had gone so well and we all had to let ourselves calm down a bit. Since then, we’ve played with loads of different bands and we usually seem to get a good response. I don’t mind playing with older Punk bands because I still enjoy a lot of them and I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad time playing with any of the bands we’ve supported. For me, when it comes to playing with bands like Ruts DC or Penetration, that’s something really special. And there’s a lot of other bands that we’ve played with a few times, like Menace, who are really nice people and I’d consider them to be friends now.
Vince ; It’s weird because there’s been occasions like when we had a gig about a year ago at this kind of trendy basement bar in Fulham. It turned out that we were playing after this kind of indie jazz-funk band, so we were thinking, this is never going to go down well. But when we played, the crowd loved us and it went really well. I think it’s just the case that if you get a crowd of people who want to enjoy live music, then nine times out of ten we tend to go down alright. I don’t think we’ve ever played a gig where we’ve really bombed. I think we’ve acquitted ourselves and proved that we’re an interesting live prospect. I’m sure some people don’t get it and some people don’t like it, but that’s fine. It’s the same with the album… some people have told me they like some tracks but don’t like others. I sort of prefer that, because if everybody said they enjoyed every track, maybe that would mean that everything was sounding more or less the same. I’d rather be in the kind of band that did things that made people think, well, I don’t really get this, or I’m not sure about that one. At least that means you’re making an album with different ideas rather than just putting something together where everything sounds the same.
I was checking Discogs recently, and alongside your albums, they had a cassette release listed from 2012. As I read more about it, I began to doubt it was the same band , as the music was being described as ‘electronic drone’…
Vince ; I didn’t even know we were listed on Discogs ! But no, that’s definitely not us. The first thing we ever released was a four-song CD called ‘Incubation’, which was by the very first line-up, which included Lou from Stone Heroes on guitar and Matthew, who now plays drums for Lost Cherrees. I think that line-up only ever played one gig together but we did record some demos which we released as an EP. We didn’t really start playing live until we met up with Dan and a different Matthew, who both played on the first album. But again, that fell apart because they weren’t so keen on playing live. But, as I said before, after that, it was when we hooked-up with Josh and Mannie, that everything really started to come together.
Both of your albums have been released by Flicknife Records, who seem to have become more active again recently. How did you get involved with them ?
Vince ; Well, it was actually through a friend called Nick Medlin, who was originally the bass player in Manufactured Romance. He was a really nice, very helpful guy and, unfortunately, he was killed in an unprovoked attack at the end of last year. But one of the things he did was to introduce me to Frenchy at Flicknife Records… This was actually when I was still in Model Citizens and Frenchy was interested in doing something with us, but that didn’t last long enough for anything to happen. So when Morgellons came together, we sent him a CD of demos and he liked them, so everything went forward from there. And we’ve been very happy with them, they’ve done really well for us. Frenchy is a great character and he’s happy to let us do what we want… we’ll write the songs and record the albums and he’ll just release them… it’s a very nice and easy-going situation. He puts a lot of work into it and he gives us a lot of support and encouragement, so it’s been great for us.
The first album did get a good response but on a more limited scale. The latest one seems to have had much wider coverage and a lot more people are taking notice of it…
Vince ; I think the main reason has been down to the amount of gigs we’ve been playing. As I said, the line-up that recorded ‘The Memory of Echoes’ hardly ever gigged. But since this line-up came together, we’ve been gigging solidly for three years or more, and that’s really made the difference. When it comes to releasing an album, if you’ve got a solid-history of gigging behind you, then it will help the record to sell. And at the same time, as we’d played live so much before we recorded this album, we really knew what we were doing with the songs and the recordings came out a lot better than the first one.
Vince ; I didn’t even know we were listed on Discogs ! But no, that’s definitely not us. The first thing we ever released was a four-song CD called ‘Incubation’, which was by the very first line-up, which included Lou from Stone Heroes on guitar and Matthew, who now plays drums for Lost Cherrees. I think that line-up only ever played one gig together but we did record some demos which we released as an EP. We didn’t really start playing live until we met up with Dan and a different Matthew, who both played on the first album. But again, that fell apart because they weren’t so keen on playing live. But, as I said before, after that, it was when we hooked-up with Josh and Mannie, that everything really started to come together.
Both of your albums have been released by Flicknife Records, who seem to have become more active again recently. How did you get involved with them ?
Vince ; Well, it was actually through a friend called Nick Medlin, who was originally the bass player in Manufactured Romance. He was a really nice, very helpful guy and, unfortunately, he was killed in an unprovoked attack at the end of last year. But one of the things he did was to introduce me to Frenchy at Flicknife Records… This was actually when I was still in Model Citizens and Frenchy was interested in doing something with us, but that didn’t last long enough for anything to happen. So when Morgellons came together, we sent him a CD of demos and he liked them, so everything went forward from there. And we’ve been very happy with them, they’ve done really well for us. Frenchy is a great character and he’s happy to let us do what we want… we’ll write the songs and record the albums and he’ll just release them… it’s a very nice and easy-going situation. He puts a lot of work into it and he gives us a lot of support and encouragement, so it’s been great for us.
The first album did get a good response but on a more limited scale. The latest one seems to have had much wider coverage and a lot more people are taking notice of it…
Vince ; I think the main reason has been down to the amount of gigs we’ve been playing. As I said, the line-up that recorded ‘The Memory of Echoes’ hardly ever gigged. But since this line-up came together, we’ve been gigging solidly for three years or more, and that’s really made the difference. When it comes to releasing an album, if you’ve got a solid-history of gigging behind you, then it will help the record to sell. And at the same time, as we’d played live so much before we recorded this album, we really knew what we were doing with the songs and the recordings came out a lot better than the first one.
Do you have any plans to follow-up the album as yet ?
Vince ; Well, the biggest problem is always just getting all of us into a rehearsal studio at the same time ! We’ve all got jobs and other things that we’re doing, so it’s always difficult to just find a time when all of us can get together… although when we do manage it, it’s always very productive. So what we want to do next will be to work on some new songs and seeing where it goes from there. We’ve got the old songs and the live set pretty-much down-pat and we know what we’re doing with that, so we really want to write some new stuff now. And as far as playing live, we’ve been playing all over the place in this country, so maybe it would be nice to try and get to play abroad at some point. I’d love to play in places like Berlin, just because there’s so much history in the place. It’s too easy, these days, to just live in one place and end-up thinking that there’s nothing else outside of Zone 3, so playing further afield is always a good thing to do. But in the immediate future, I think the main thing is that we all want to start working on new material…
Vince ; Well, the biggest problem is always just getting all of us into a rehearsal studio at the same time ! We’ve all got jobs and other things that we’re doing, so it’s always difficult to just find a time when all of us can get together… although when we do manage it, it’s always very productive. So what we want to do next will be to work on some new songs and seeing where it goes from there. We’ve got the old songs and the live set pretty-much down-pat and we know what we’re doing with that, so we really want to write some new stuff now. And as far as playing live, we’ve been playing all over the place in this country, so maybe it would be nice to try and get to play abroad at some point. I’d love to play in places like Berlin, just because there’s so much history in the place. It’s too easy, these days, to just live in one place and end-up thinking that there’s nothing else outside of Zone 3, so playing further afield is always a good thing to do. But in the immediate future, I think the main thing is that we all want to start working on new material…
And just to finish with (particularly as he isn’t here at the moment…) Your drummer, Mannie, seems to have a reputation all of his own. It seems that most of the people I mention the Morgellons to already seem to know Mannie and usually have some sordid tale or another involving him ! As such, what’s your favourite story about him…
Josh ; Well, the time I’ll always remember was when we were asked to play at a friends’ wedding, down in Crawley. We’d all booked into a hotel for the night and I was sharing a room with Mannie. Well, after we played I’d had a few drinks and was stating to feel off-my-face, so I decided I’d better go back to the hotel as otherwise I might not make it. When I got there I thought I’d better wait-up to make sure Mannie gets back, so I went to the bar and had another couple of drinks before eventually going to bed. Anyway, I got woken-up several hours later by this banging on the door, and when I opened it, there was Mannie. Apparently, he’d come back to the hotel, didn’t have a key, and he’d been there, banging on the door for ages ! So by the time I woke up and let him in, he was standing there literally growling at me !
Vince ; I do remember one occasion when we were playing a gig at the Holroyd Arms down in Guildford. During the day, QPR had been playing a pretty important match, one of the play-offs to get in to the Premiership, and they’d won. So by the time Mannie turned up, he was pretty well-oiled… to the extent that he almost had to be carried to the drum-stool when it was time for us to play. But once he was there, I don’t think he dropped a single beat during the entire set ! Once he got behind the kit, he was like pure energy. You know, I’ve seen him in various states of drunkenness over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever really seen him seriously embarrass himself ! He can get really drunk, but then he just becomes a kind of primal force of nature and he always gets through it…
Josh ; Well, the time I’ll always remember was when we were asked to play at a friends’ wedding, down in Crawley. We’d all booked into a hotel for the night and I was sharing a room with Mannie. Well, after we played I’d had a few drinks and was stating to feel off-my-face, so I decided I’d better go back to the hotel as otherwise I might not make it. When I got there I thought I’d better wait-up to make sure Mannie gets back, so I went to the bar and had another couple of drinks before eventually going to bed. Anyway, I got woken-up several hours later by this banging on the door, and when I opened it, there was Mannie. Apparently, he’d come back to the hotel, didn’t have a key, and he’d been there, banging on the door for ages ! So by the time I woke up and let him in, he was standing there literally growling at me !
Vince ; I do remember one occasion when we were playing a gig at the Holroyd Arms down in Guildford. During the day, QPR had been playing a pretty important match, one of the play-offs to get in to the Premiership, and they’d won. So by the time Mannie turned up, he was pretty well-oiled… to the extent that he almost had to be carried to the drum-stool when it was time for us to play. But once he was there, I don’t think he dropped a single beat during the entire set ! Once he got behind the kit, he was like pure energy. You know, I’ve seen him in various states of drunkenness over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever really seen him seriously embarrass himself ! He can get really drunk, but then he just becomes a kind of primal force of nature and he always gets through it…
Later on, Mannie finally arrives and I bump into him, perhaps not surprisingly, at the bar. Over a couple of pints of IPA and in the sense of fair-play, I thought I’d give Mannie a chance to redeem himself and provide his defence. I’m not sure if this really went to plan, he was more than happy to relate this story of his own…
Mannie ; This is a story called ‘Mick’s Black Jumper’. This happened back in Acton, probably in 1983 or ’84. I’d been out with friends and had a skin-full the night before and then met up with more friends the next day. We were in this pub having a few more drinks and we’re all sitting around this table. Then, all of a sudden, I realised that I was going to be sick. I was trying to get out from there but at the same time but I couldn’t say anything because I already had a mouthful of vomit and I was trying to hold it in ! I was waving my arms around, but no-one seems to realise what was happening. So suddenly, all the sick comes out at full force and goes right across the table, hitting the middle of my mate’s new black jumper ! All he could do was stand there going, ‘Awww, Noooo !’ So, I’m afraid to say, if you ask most people who know me, what’s the most embarrassing story they have about me, they'll usually ask, 'How long have you got ?’
So there you have it… a full and frank discussion of the various aspects that make the Morgellons one of the best bands you’re likely to catch live this year. Be sure to investigate… but perhaps keep your distance from the drummer !
www.morgellonsband.com
www.facebook.com/Morgellons
Mannie ; This is a story called ‘Mick’s Black Jumper’. This happened back in Acton, probably in 1983 or ’84. I’d been out with friends and had a skin-full the night before and then met up with more friends the next day. We were in this pub having a few more drinks and we’re all sitting around this table. Then, all of a sudden, I realised that I was going to be sick. I was trying to get out from there but at the same time but I couldn’t say anything because I already had a mouthful of vomit and I was trying to hold it in ! I was waving my arms around, but no-one seems to realise what was happening. So suddenly, all the sick comes out at full force and goes right across the table, hitting the middle of my mate’s new black jumper ! All he could do was stand there going, ‘Awww, Noooo !’ So, I’m afraid to say, if you ask most people who know me, what’s the most embarrassing story they have about me, they'll usually ask, 'How long have you got ?’
So there you have it… a full and frank discussion of the various aspects that make the Morgellons one of the best bands you’re likely to catch live this year. Be sure to investigate… but perhaps keep your distance from the drummer !
www.morgellonsband.com
www.facebook.com/Morgellons
