The Call interview

It's a rare but joyous occasion when we mooch into a gig to cop a listen to an unfamiliar band and finds a previously hidden gem. And it's not often that we dive straight in as soon as a band leaves the stage, collar the manager and demand an interview there and then. Music has that wondrous ability like that, to make you do impulsive things but then again, so does lager. But when you're confronted by a band entitled 'The Call' thankfully not living up to the garage-rock stereotype their name would suggest and playing a poptastic blinder, there's little you can do. You watch ace tune after ace tune unfold in twisting, turning ways whilst clinging to essentially a straight down the line early 90's indie sound. Think Coldplay being less wet, The Stone Roses, The La's and a dash of The Coral. You just have to go and find out what makes them tick.

And all this has been coming to the boil in a place not noted thus far for its thriving rock scene. A few Leeds bands could do with some time out of the usual swim to get their act together if places not often noted for rock like Ripon can give rise to bands like this.

"It is small and there aren't many opportunities to play." Explains The Call's singer and rhythm guitarist, the effervescent Neil Chapman. "Our manager Daryl rated us and wanted to give us the chance to play a few places further afield than the odd gig in York or Harrogate for a Battle of The Bands."

Apart from a couple of pubs, there's little place for live music in Ripon apart from the occasional charity showpieces organised by Daryl called 'Ripon Music Live'. Which The Call put on an eclectic roof-raiser of a show in front of 400 fans. But before events like this there was next to nothing.

Bassist Stuart Corlett: "It's quite a sheltered place. It takes the effort of a big full live event to get people interested enough in coming out to see bands. A lot of people won't even go into a pub where there's live music on. You have to make events that get out those people who have made a conscious decision to go."

Not only have the band been handicapped by musical antipathy of their potential audiences but also the sort of lairy prejudices that bands in big towns and cities don't often get.

"The other day Joel (Hood, drummer) was sitting in the pub at the bar minding his own business and got accused of being a drug dealer by some abusive guy just because of his slightly long-ish hair. It was like 'err, no, I play drums in a band!' It was really stupid." Says Neil.

Until now, the band have been playing the East Coast, places like Darlington, Scarborough and Middlesbrough the four piece had not ventured down to Leeds. It won't be their last trip down the A1.

"It seems quite close knit in Leeds," ponders Stuart, "if you haven't played one of the decent venues then you can't play anywhere in the city. Though it's only our first gig in Leeds we've made a few contacts tonight so there'll definitely be more."

So what makes this band so special then?

"We all went to University about three years ago and within about eight weeks, all four of us had decided to quit because we were missing the band, the practices, the laughs and all that. We came back, got part time jobs and decided to make a proper go of the band." Explains Stuart.

"To be completely honest, we just have a great crack. We really enjoy playing. I don't think there's ever been a time when we've played and we haven't enjoyed it" enthuses Neil.

What influences them as a band?

"It's a hard question that," ponders lead guitarist Wayne Tench, "between us we listen to everything. We're always buying records. We're quite open."

"We do like The Cheeky Girls an awful lot!" Laughs Joel.

Neil: "I think we just like good sounding rock and roll. When we're writing songs we don't have in our mind a particular sound we're trying to achieve. One of us will bring in an idea but we won't force it. At first we took things too seriously in that way and now we're into writing songs that we enjoy and can give one hundred percent. We like to experiment."

At present the band have a rough four-track demo that has been receiving good feedback from record labels. "We've had a few nice letters from record companies," says Joel, "it's good to know someone's listened to you and just might remember your name. I'm not sure how long that will remain a novelty though!"

A headlining slot at a second Ripon Music Live in aid of Cancer Research UK on February 22nd and few more gigs back in Leeds and across the North plus a self-funded single release in May/June should enable The Call to find a fair few more fans along the way. Then maybe, just maybe, those nice record company letters could turn into even nicer contract offers.