Beach boys
Last updated 11:40, Thursday, 19 June 2008
Surf crashes as the warmth of Kontiki Suite’s sun-kissed melodies beats down.
It’s a beautiful sound, a melancholic feel-good of soaring harmonies and blissed-out psychedelia.
This is music made in Carlisle but inspired by faraway places and times; primarily California in the Sixties and Seventies, when music’s only agenda was reflecting an idyllic existence.
Kontiki Suite’s influences are not difficult to discern but the band distils its own sound from years spent drinking in the good stuff.
Big Star, Glen Campbell, James Taylor, The Byrds. It’s all in there somewhere, somehow, through a Cumbrian filter. The band started, appropriately enough, because of Brian Wilson. Craig Bright (percussion and backing vocals), Marcus Dodds (guitar) and Ben Singh (vocals and guitars) came together in 2006 following late night drunken discussions on the genius of the Beach Boys’ guiding light.
Ben’s brother Jonny (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) soon joined and for two years they have made beautiful music together, building an enthusiastic live following and attracting attention from record labels and DJs.
Kontiki Suite play The Brickyard, Carlisle, on Saturday night, confident that their future is as bright as their sound.
“We just love melody and harmony and good traditional pop music,” says Craig. “We never made a conscious effort to sound like we do. When we play together that’s the kind of music that comes out. It comes from Ben’s writing. He just writes great songs and he turns up every week with two or three new ones. There are 50 or 60 good enough to play live or record.
“When we first got together we didn’t all like the same kind of music but now we’re all pulling in the same direction. Jonny was working as a hip hop producer. He came round to mine, heard Nashville by Josh Rouse and hasn’t looked back. He’s gone from programming beats to playing lap steel guitar.”
Ben is the most prolific writer while Jonny and Craig also contribute. More than 30 songs have already been recorded, mainly in the basement of Jonny’s Carlisle home. Open Up and Smile was used on a compilation album by Manchester label Fat Northerner. Craig, Marcus, Ben and Jonny have played several stripped-down acoustic gigs while the full band, which features at Saturday’s gig, includes Stephen Hoolickin on drums and Mario Renucci on bass.
It took a while to find the right ingredients. No less than five drummers and five bass players have previously been with the band, for anything from 18 months to one rehearsal.
“People came into the band and struggled to make the commitment or weren’t inclined to play west coast, country-tinged music,” explains Craig. “We had a jazz drummer and a real rocker, which wasn’t really what we were going for.”
But right now all is well. It’s a good time for Carlisle with bands like Manatees and The Lucid Dream making beautiful music and Craig does not see being based in Cumbria as a negative.
“You can be a big fish in a small pond rather than one of many in, say, Manchester. Geographically it’s good because you can play Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester without going too far. And with technology it’s not necessary to be on people’s doorstep for them to hear you.
“The disadvantage is there’s only one venue [The Brickyard] and you need at least 200 people to make it feel good.”
Kontiki Suite’s members, aged mid-20s to mid-30s, all work full-time. One in a building society, a delivery driver, a plumber and a couple of salesmen.
A sun-kissed lifestyle to go with the music wouldn’t go amiss. The band is sending 200 EPs to record labels, DJs and magazines in the hope that good music can still make an impact.
“We know we’re not going to be fashionable at the moment,” says Craig. “Bands like us don’t get featured in NME. But bands like Teenage Fanclub have shown you can do ok. There have been points when we’ve been very frustrated, when we’ve had no bass player or drummer. Now we’ve got a strong line-up, we’re all best friends. It feels like exciting times.”
Doors open on Saturday at 8pm. Tickets £3 in advance or £4 on the door. Support comes from Fading Faces.
n For details of Kontiki Suite’s gigs and to hear the band’s music visit www.myspace.com/kontikisuite
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