The Sheffield Scenester

I recently went to see the Arch Nazards at their first ever gig in Sheffield at the O2 Academy a couple of months ago and I was blown away by the excitement and talent of this band, and as they announced another local gig, I thought an interview was in order...so, I came in contact with lead vocalist, Adrian Flanagan and it all went from there really.
For those of you who don’t know, Adrian is also the solo artist “Kings Have Long Arms” and in that guise, he has had 8 proper singles out, an album, been on lots of compilation LPs, played all over the UK & Europe, had singles of the week in all the music mags , broadsheets and features in the Style mags, been played on daytime Radio 1 and all the sister channels and done various tv and radio across europe .

Adrian has made records with iconic bands and artists such as Phil Oakey, Mungo Jerry, members of the Smiths and Primal Scream. (I guess you could say he’s sort of a D.I.Y version of Gorillaz/a subversive songwriter who gets interesting iconic pop people to sing or play on his records but without the help or budget of a giant label) .He had a top 20 in the official independent music charts with a single called “Big Umbrella” with Candie Payne. This was released by Domino records 2 years ago (it was even played on Coronation Street twice (“once in the Rovers, once in Kev’s garage”) Thus a genuine Outsider Pop Artist.

Unfortunately a year and a half ago, Adrian badly broke both of his arms. He was told he'd never play music again...During this time of physio, operations, rebreaks, pins & plates...he formed a group called The Arch Nazards. An eccentronic psych rock group, completely different from the daft Northern electro pop of Kings Have Long Arms. He wrote a bunch of songs & recorded them, the group all put their pennies worth in, and played a few shows in unusual places, like an under water venue in Copenhagen and a haunted mill in Manchester. Last month they played in Liverpool and the venue burnt down after they played. They also wrote and recorded a song called “Volcano of Awesome Force,” put it on MySpace, then a few days later the world’s airspace was grounded by a volcano...There's a lot that's Voodoo about The Arch Nazards...

As well as doing a Nazards album, Adrian’s been producing and writing some music for new Sheffield group “Black Horror” with Martin & Rachel who used to be in “The Ape Drape Escape”...
He’s also just finished recording an albums worth of material for his main side project “The Chanteuse & The Crippled Claw,” with Dean Honer from Imonster & Candie Payne, which he is very excited about, and will probably be his next record release...

So, we needed to set up a place to do the interview and Adrian insisted it took place in the middle of Hunters Bar roundabout astride two rocking horses...

Shirley: So, have you got any surprises for us in the Two S’s in my Heart tour?

Adrian: “It will be a Surprise if we make it to the stage to be Honest Shirley. There’s always a lot of other things that could get in the way of me turning up, such as stubbing my toe on the bed in the morning OR IF we hear a song on the radio on route to the venue in our Nazard Mobile that we don’t like, we slam on the breaks and immediately go straight back to our Guest house in Woodseats..(Laughs)

We treat venues the same, if they don’t look after us, we are off...The Sheffield part of our ‘Two S’s in My Heart Tour’ will be as guests to Focus, who we love by the way and that is the only reason you will you see us during the Tramlines weekend..We don’t need Tramlines, we just demand a reaction, good or bad, f*ck all indifference, f*ck festivals, f*ck local band mentalities...The Arch NAZARDS are THE SQUARE PEG in the Ars*hole of anything deemed trendy, popular or safe in this or any City..We will be going onstage at 8pm at the Leadmill on Friday 23rd July so we don’t miss part 2 of Coronation Street...”

Shirley: Will the toy pigeon be making an appearance on any of these dates?

Adrian: “It wasn’t a toy, it was a lovely piece of Taxidermy and It wasn’t a Pigeon it was a Northern Lapwing..Richard in my group loves all things Ornithological; he also loves dead stuffed animals and is a vegetarian (laughs)...”

Shirley: Does he/she have a name, this Lapwing?

Adrian: “He’s called Larry the Lapwing...Lapwings are slowly dying out, they will take on elephants and horses just to protect their young or eggs...Where as Pigeons are f*cking vermin and should die...I once had a song called Pigeons carry my news, I used the word “Pigeon” as a euphemism for Gossips/small town bores...People like I, you must understand, do get talked about...I can understand though, I plough my own path, I’m a very interesting Boy...ha”

Shirley: Have you ever had a supernatural experience?

Adrian: “Without coming over all Shirley Ghostman (la la land,) in my lifetime I’ve seen sh*t that would send you running to Castle Market for a cheap Exorcism..For me it’s the normal everyday stuff that’s more interesting/ frightening..for instance, Have you been on a bus recently, the drivers usually some suicidal alcoholic with bad B.O., no social skills and turns psychotic if you don’t have the right change, then just as you get settled, the mad fella in a 1980’s football shirt gets on and starts talking loudly and aggressively to himself, you see people getting off 3 stops earlier than they wanted just to avoid eye contact,..Then there’s the woman with the beard who sits at the back of the bus with a doll crying, its like Twin Peaks on my bus route...all for £2.10..i love it.”

Shirley: What is the funniest thing that’s happened to you at a gig?

Adrian: It would be probably be almost every Kings Have Long Arms show that ever happened. They were unique; not like anyone, always a riot, always a stage invasion, always nakedness, always a conga and completely absurd, loads of Sheffield bands bought synths after seeing KHLA but they would quite literally never have the balls to be Kings Have Long Arms..That band were f*ngered up the bottom, stripped, torn, bitten, bruised, bled just so people could walk away with a smile on their face..a very odd/funny moment was when we played in Barcelona, a girl climbed on the stage, sunk too her knees in front of my mic stand and pulled down her top, revealing her massive protuberances to me and 2 thousand people..Typical northerner that I am, I just said “Excuse me love, can't you see I’m busy..?”, ha ha..Arch Nazards have only played a handful of shows, we played in Liverpool a month or so ago, after we played, the venue burnt down..I’m not sure if that’s funny or just voodoo?”

Shirley: What is your opinion on Marmite?

Adrian: “I’m a big fan of Marmite; I’m so glad they’ve turned it in to cheese, crisps, crackers and rice cakes... I now eat Vegemite on everything.”

Shirley: What would you do if you found out your name was spelt incorrectly?

Adrian: “I’m really not bothered about such things, I know what they mean, some people can’t help it. Some people still use old typewriters and the dream side of their brain that doesn’t have a built in spell-check... (Laughter)
I bet you the majority of Britain’s Youth can’t actually spell their own name without using a spell check?..It’s like mobile phones, no one has to memorize phone numbers anymore...when I was a kid I was like rain man, I could remember practically every phone number in the Salford yellow Pages, now ask me what my own number is and I don’t know?..I very rarely call myself..ha.”

Shirley: What is the strangest thing you’ve written a song about?

Adrian: “I wrote a song about a ‘Volcano of awesome force’ one week before the whole of Europe’s airspace was grounded by a volcano...again, Nazard Voodoo or just funny...you decide?”

Shirley: Can you tell us something about yourself that your fans don’t know?

Adrian: “I’ve never appeared onstage at any of our UK dates, I always send a body double..”

Shirley: Do you believe weird is the future?

Adrian: “The future dates really quickly, don’t worry about it...there’s a place for everyone to fit in...”

Adrian Flanagan interviewed by Shirley Bell
Photo by Natalie Curtis

Larry The Lapwing
By Geoff Buckthorpe