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Ludes
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Article
written by Kev O
May 23, 2004.
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Interview by Paul M and Kev O.
Ludes
are a (hyper)active and engaging bunch of “r’n’b’d up swash-buckling South London skangsters” (ok, I made that up). Ludes music has been described as a mix of ska, rhythm and b(l)ooze, sea-shanty rock, swamp rock….silly phrases sure (but fun) and they do sort of make sense, as theirs is a passionate, exciting blend of all these things. Take a listen to the two terrific singles that they have issued to date: ‘The Luckiest Theatre / Walkin’ The Black Dog’ and limited double A side ‘She was just a girl / Your dog don’t bark’. What, you don’t own ‘em? Seek ‘em out!
Who are Ludes?
Ludes are South London based 20-somethings David Ashby (Vocals), Matt Allchin (guitar), James McCool (guitar), Dom Peach (bass - Camberwell via the outer London conurbation of, erm, Ipswich) and Chris Morris (drums). David (looks a bit like a young Rod Stewart in the light of the pub) and Matt (who looks like a bit like a youthful Keith Richards – if the chord-bard ever looked youthful) have been friends since childhood, playing in various bands and going on to Camberwell Art College. SoundsXP’s comment that Art School is “just drawing” elicits cries of “Peasant!” and “I did painting!” “We had to study this book,“ adds Matt, laughing, “Called ‘Exploring The Thinginess of Things’. Things being what they were, they decided to leave and get serious about their music, recruiting old pal James, Dom and Chris on the way.
So what’s in a (or the) name?
So does it really mean ‘crazy girl’ in Czech then? It seems it’s true. Matt explains,” We were leaving leaflets that we’d designed around the college bar and this Czech girl picked one up and told us that it meant ‘crazy girl’. So it must be true…”
So, if they didn’t take their name from that, where does the name come from?
Matt continues, “It’s from ‘quaaludes’. It was a 60s/70s drug given on prescription for depression. It made you a bit horny and touchy-feely. Like an early E, some early form of MDMA. It was quaaludes where the “cheeky half” came from….taking a cheeky half…” (We conjecture if this means the Barbs are named after barbiturates, a favoured downer of the beat generation, but move on……).”We just read it somewhere,” says Matt, “Me and David were in a band and we decided that we wanted to do something, get some proper musicians, and we needed a name and this had a sort of ‘thing’ to it. It’s not like we take ludes, we’ve never taken them, you can’t get them …”.
James offers (in six million dollar man type of statement) “...we have the chemical formula though so we can make them, we can rebuild them…”
Matt continues, “There’s references in music at the time, like Bowie (in Rebel Rebel) ‘..You got your cue line and a handful of ludes’’. David Bowie is a name that crops up again in the conversation and it is clear that he is one of their musical idols too. And then Matt is off again, “And like that song where it says ‘move like tigers on Vaseline’ ‘cos apparently they used to cover their apartments in plastic and smear Vaseline over it, or on themselves, and have sex…”
James adds, “And under21's in the US would neck ludes, ‘cos they couldn’t drink alcohol, and listen to heavy rock music, like Led Zeppelin…”
So definitely no ‘The’ in the name then?
There’s a tendency to want to say ‘The Ludes’ all the time (we’re sure we heard one of them say ‘The Ludes’ but drink may be to blame).
James agrees, “People assume that there must be a ‘The’ in a band’s name. There’s no ‘The’ though promoters tend to stick it on, even going to the extent of copying the typeface to make it look right. They go to that effort but it’s wrong. Funny thing is we were mentioned in an article in ‘Sleaze Nation’ about the new crop of bands with ‘The’ in their names. Not only is it like, WHY a feature about bands with ‘The’ in their names? It’s not anything new, it’s been going on for fucking years…like, ’The’ Beatles… But WE were in it, even though ‘The’ is not in our name! [laughter].” [So where’s Sleaze Nation now? Is it called The Nation? –Ed ]
So who’s Nanna Ludes?
James: “A woman who does the website. She spends her time between charity shops and the website work. We get a discount from charity shops from Nanna Ludes…and cheap gameboys”.
So she’s responsible for the, er,'unique' language?
James: “I guess. Erm, it’s a strange website.” [The website has been revamped. See the new look Ludes website at www.ludesmusic.com ]
Influences
As boring as it may be, you can’t but help wanting to ask the old chestnut about influences (well we all gotta start somewhere). Unsurprisingly early ska is mentioned, along with 80’s Two Tone ska-faces The Specials, the r’n’b rock of The (Rolling) Stones, the punk passion of The Clash (“They’re the canvas really…the spray can of the Clash”, says James. Matt has just bought the DVD of ‘Rude Boy’ as if to prove the point), the chaotic vitality and drunken romance of The Pogues, the beauty of Tamla stuff … and ”anything that’s good, really” …
Matt pipes up, ”We went through a big phase of writing polkas, eastern gypsy music…”. Is there a Penge polka scene then, we ask? James chips in “Yeah….right by Safeways.” [laughter]
They like Bowie too (another South Londoner). They used to go to the pub above which Bowie used to live, for Bowie nights. It wasn’t just for the music though. “We used to go there every weekend to get our pharmaceuticals,“ says James. “There’d be a guy there who tested the stuff, and there’d be a menu up there!”
Matt sighs, ”That’s what happens when you grow up in South London: you go away, and come back to find everyone you knew is a drug dealer.”
James: ”Yeah, all the one who didn’t make it into the Crystal Place youth team.” [laughter]
Matt tells us his uncle used to go to school with Bowie, and says they used to smoke pot at the end of the garden. SoundsXP sense a scoop. “Like, David Bowie does drugs shock?” remarks James, raising an eyebrow. Er, perhaps not. “But there’s a photo of them, with Bowie with a blond quiff.” James adds.
Matt continues, “My other uncle was mates with George Underwood, the guy who stabbed David Bowie in the eye…” (hence the different iris/pupils of Ziggy Sane) “… apparently over some girl, who turned out to be the mum of the girl I used to go to school with…perhaps that’s too much of a coincidence.”
Is there a South London Scene?
James: “I think there’s always been bands but the problem is the lack of decent venues. They’re mostly in pubs with half a stage where you can put a gig on. It’s a bit like Del Boy in a way, trying to beg or borrow gear to get a gig put on and keep the band going; we’re just doing the same. When we started we had half a drum kit, a guitar, half a stage…if we had a gig then we’d contact other bands about borrowing equipment. The places that we play – The Windmill (in Brixton), the Paradise bar (in New Cross – under threat of closure – sign up to save it http://www.petitiononline.com/paradise/ ) are awkward as fuck ‘cos they’re pubs really with a little space to put a stage in…not a proper venue. Like the Metro….Even though some say it was purpose built”….
Matt: “It was – for strippers. That’s why all the mirrors!” [laughter]
Are you friends with other local bands?
James: “Not really. Though we’ve known Metro Riots for some time, we used to rehearse at the same place. They’ve really improved”. SoundsXP agrees. We’ve seen them a few times, and the last time they were terrific, really tight and rocky.
What about a Penge Music Scene?
James: “Well there’s a scene…but it’s not necessarily a music one…” [laughter]
Recorded the album?
Matt: “We’ve been doing some home recordings, demos really, just having fun, a bit of slide guitar, acoustic guitar. We just got bored doing studio rehearsal. Recording with acoustic guitar is a good way of testing songs – if they sound good on that you know it’s going to work. James got a digital 8 track for Xmas but hasn’t got around to reading the manual yet….He can’t read [laughter]. We got 100s of tunes and write regularly and so we don’t want to record just yet; we don’t want to put something down and then write an even better song two weeks later! But we’re gonna have to decide sometime soon and just get down to it…..Sam the Man(ager) tried locking us in his garage at the end of last summer (though felt like winter) but we were better at basketball than at concentrating on songwriting! He locked three of us up in Dalston in some mates compound with £5 a day to live on…we went mad… We were drinking some poison…anyone who saw that bottle said ‘Whoa! Must…Be...Mixed…With…Water.’”
James: “But it was worth for it for ‘Wagon Crash’: a beautiful instrumental from a week of pain!”
How has the last single been received?
Matt: “Well it’s a double A side and most people seem to go for ‘Your Dog Don’t Bark’ and at gigs you can see that people really respond to it as soon as we play the intro.”
We at SoundsXP think ‘She Was Just A Girl’ is fantastic…
James: “Can’t remember when we did it but basically we went into a studio to record some demos for a publishing company. We did a load of demos, and we were busy playing gigs at the same time with Electric 6. It’s a good honest pop song, with basic lyrics, nothing to read between the lines and short: but we have much more scope than that. It got reviewed twice in NME”. Twice?! “The first was a shit review….We went around there and…uhm, they did it again [laughter]. First review was like, ‘sounds like The Coral = shit’. Then Paul Moody, who chooses single of the week and is one of their best writers, not a young dickhead with too many badges on their lapels, said that they got to do it again: he mentioned something about us being ‘Rod Stewart’s love children in S E London’.” At which point we look at David, who bears a passing resemblance to the younger Rod – but that may be the haircut and Ludes’ penchant for scarves….
So what’s the deal with Double Dragon? Are they putting anything more out? Isn’t it part of Sony?
James, “It’s like Sony’s Primary School – they pay for the tour, get first refusal on the album. They were the first company interested in us who came to see us on our own patch, met us in the pub, and had a drink. That impressed us. But though we’ve put two singles out, are now part of Sony, we’ve got fuck all man…But we’re used to it, we’ve been fucked for so long now…”
How did the World Disorder Tour go (with My Red Cell and Future Kings of Spain)?
James, “It went really well, 18 of us on a bus, working together, loading, unloading gear etc, like a family, no egos, didn’t matter who played when, and no possibility of being a wanker…well, there’s no opportunity on a bus [laughter]. We got a two hour release for a shower [and a wank] but when I heard the others talking about Richard and Judy outside… well it’s not gonna happen is it? [More laughter, as one of the eds offers that Judy’s a big girl and would’ve finished him off].
James carries on, “We toured with Electric 6 and they kept to themselves pretty much, but the crew were good. Franz Ferdinand were really nice. One of ‘em came home to London with us one night…he’s girlfriend lives here. It was, erm, interesting…” Why’s that? Quiet.
Matt, “Well, we always seem to have a lot of booze and skunk on board…”.
James changes tack, “Actually, we picked up on some of their stuff. Listen to the disco-pop element of their songs – it’s a good element, a groove. Which bands have had for years – listen to the Clash. The bass is playing different notes to the guitar, off beat.”
Matt, “Dan plays different to FF…He blew their bass speaker!”
James, “I’ve been trying to tell the guys that the ska rhythm came about through people trying to play along to bad copies of imported records, which would skip and jump. But also heard it was because of bad radio reception…well, according to the back of a Skatalites CD I have…to do with radio waves and radios cutting out the treble frequency.” We get into some discussion about the roots of ska and it’s clear that there’s a passion about music and history in Ludes. [We recommend 'Bass Culture' by Lloyd Bradley]. It’s interesting, the competition of the dancehalls and sound systems where the search was on for the wicked tune, the sense of immediacy, fun and excitement, where records worked and grooved.
“A bit like us when we do DJ nights,” says James, “you got to have the best record – that’s why Dom never wins!”
You do a lot of DJing?
James: “We do a night at the Joiners Arms in Camberwell every other week. Started doing it because it was really annoying asking a DJ to play a record and they wouldn’t, so this is an opportunity for us to play our favourite records.”
Who’s the DJ in the band?
Matt: “Chris is a good hip-hop DJ..but usually me, James, Dave and a couple of other friends.”
James:” Did St Patrick’s day but starting at 3pm was not a good idea…”
James:” I had this great link bit between Fine Young Cannibals track to Bob Dylan, something like from the FYC to a fine young writer but something happened with the headphones and there was a load of feedback.” [laughter]…oh hum
Heroes and villains?
Unsuprisingly, Ludes’ heroes include Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan…..but Brunel?
Matt: “He built bridges, boats, railways…”
SoundsXP: But how clever is that? Building a track and then waiting for someone to invent the train! [laughter]
James: My dad invented illuminous pens!
Matt: No he didn’t! ….. Well, my uncle invented something, he worked on the buses, but then someone came and bought the idea off him… THEY do that, THEY buy up the patents to keep things from being invented…[sounds of X-Files being closed, and at this point the tape conspiratorily runs out…..]
More information: www.ludesmusic.com
Link:
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