The Sheffield Scenester

Just recently Sheffield Scenester saw Jackson Caged perform their amazing set at the O2. So I was really looking forward to meeting them in the travellers Inn at Ecclesfield for an interview. So Guinness in hand I got ready to meet drummer Mike, bass player Woody, guitarist Big M (Rich) and singer Fraz;

Scenester – How did you all get together?
W – Basically we (pointing to himself and Fraz) were in a couple of bands before but they weren’t very much, I used to hang about with Tez who used to play guitar and then we met Fraz who used to play in clubs so he was a right good singer, got together, wrote a couple of songs didn’t we?
F – Weren’t very good.
W – We needed a drummer really, and our guitar teacher said he knows a drummer so we got in touch with Mike and met him at The Wagon And Horses. Then basically we went back to my house, watched a couple of videos and said “Can you do that?” and he said “Yeah”.
M – I had like a Frat House Initiation, like an American thing when they ‘paddle your arse’, and you’re finally allowed in the band. But we all had the same guitar teacher Pete Childs who works in Chapeltown and me, Rich and Woody all had guitar lessons off him.
BM – I only joined in March last year as well, replacement guitarist wasn’t I?
M – Good replacement in fact.
BM – In fact I think it’s the best thing that ever happened to the band really....
W – I’ll let you off with that one, you can have it. Yes so... we all just got together, Rich joined later on, we did a few gigs and then when Rich joined we got stuck in and it’s taking off now.
Scenester – How did the first gigs go?
W – Alright, the biggest one we did was the Leadmill.
M – When we were doing the gigs we thought we were great but thinking back you think ‘Oh Dear’. What were the songs about?
F – I used to be embarrassed to sing them...!
BM – Now we’re really happy with the set we’re playing, we love every song, if anything we’ve got new songs coming out and we have to argue which song we’re taking out to put a new one in.
Scenester – The name Jackson Caged, where did that come from?
F – Jackson Caged is a notoriously bad prison in America that’s its nickname in Jackson.
BM – It’s also a Bruce Springsteen song...but it s nothing to do with that.
W – I don’t think we really know...but we like to think it’s the hardest prison in America.
Scenester - You’ve released three EP’s and have this new one due to be released, which was the most satisfying to make and why?
BM – The new one easily cos we went to town on the production, one of the songs we did in Sheffield, Jaws, took two days to record whereas with the other EP’s it took us one weekend to do three songs. The other three songs which were done in London we did Monday to Friday, working long hours.
Scenester – More of a professional production team behind you then?
W – The guys down there were awesome really weren’t they? They were in a punk band until the early eighties so they really know what they’re doing.
M – Plus when we recorded one of the tracks, the rude one ‘Pardon Me Miss’, we had a girl come in and sing some of the parts for it. She had to sing “Harder, harder don’t you stop” and she was like “Don’t you start laughing at me!!”
BM - She was in a band called Yellow Brick Road and appeared on The X Factor.
M – Yeah, Simon Cowell kicked them out of boot camp though, but she came into the studio and did some dirty parts for us!
BM – There’s also a sample of a lesbian porn film in there, that’s what really happened... but we could say we got a load of porn stars in the studio and touched them up..?!
Scenester – Which was the best gig you’ve done to date?
M – Breast Cancer Research, one of my friends Amy Casbolt, she works for Breast Cancer Care, organised a pink gig at The Boardwalk so basically a load of bands played and raised money for cancer care and we all dressed up for the show. Woody was dressed up as some kind of white faced pink thing..?
W – I don’t know what I was thinking!
BM – I wore pink fish net tights, a pink tutu, a pink wig....
W – You enjoyed it a bit too much really.
BM – Yeah, I looked very sexy!
M – Woody had pink hot pants that said save the boobs and a pair of pink glasses and Fraz had the almighty costume of...
F - The Pink Panther, I had to put the mic through the head to sing but took it off to sing the last song before I passed out.
M – On the night we were the only ones that dressed up and we actually went round afterwards doing a bucket collection, I think they raised about a grand and a half on that night as well.
Scenester – What was the worst gig?
BM – When I do the old walking off stage thing, I didn’t always have a wireless guitar that allows me to do that, and once in Mansfield I jumped offstage and I pulled my lead out so I looked a right pr*ck!
M – I think what it were was he climbed up on the speaker to jump off, but stepped on the lead as he jumped... pulling it out, landed and tried to play, but just stood there saying “where’s the sound?”
W – Though it were still a good gig...cos we don’t really have bad gigs, we have bad sound checks, Mike has ‘offered the sound guy out before’..!
F – We were in the final of this Battle Of The Bands thing, there were loads of bands setting up, the sound guy is telling us to hurry up and Mike is trying to set his stuff up. Can’t remember what he said but something like “F*cking come down here and say that!” the whole pub went quiet.
BM – The Vintage Rock Bar in Doncaster, we were due to play second, but they kept saying “Do you mind if you go on third” so we said yeah cos at least we weren’t headlining. If you headline and you haven’t got anyone along with you, everyone clears off and you end up playing to nobody. We got ready to go on third when another band started setting up before us so we’re like “Hold on we’re up next” then we found out they’d moved us again so that was it...we walked.
M – Thing is basically we all work and this is a full time job doing the band, for example Fraz is a sparks and I work at the gym and with their opening times...and I was on an early the next day, so basically I need to play the gig, drive back to Sheffield, set everything down, have a shower, something to eat, get to bed and get up early the following morning. So it got to the point where it was “No you’ve messed us about too much” If they’d said in the first place, then we could’ve arranged to swap shifts about so we got to the point where we just went home. Apart from that we don’t really have a lot of bad gigs...just bad sound guys.
BM – We supported someone at The Leadmill, a signed act, the sound guy made us sound bad so the headlining act sounds good basically.
M – I don’t think it was that...he made us sound bad on purpose, I think it’s just that they don’t care, it’s just like they figure “Oh that’ll do, they’re nobodies let ‘em sound whatever”. If it’s a signed band then they put a lot more effort in cos this is who everyone has come to see and this is what the gig is all about.
BM – That’s band politics for you isn’t it though!
Scenester – How does the writing process work within the band?
BM – Mike writes all the songs. Mikes a guitarist and a drummer so basically does a CD in his bedroom with a drum machine and then we adapt it really...don’t we? He also sings the words in quite a humorous way....but he sings it like he wants it to sound and Fraz picks up on that. We start to jam it, play it for a couple of months and then add it to the set.