As they collect not far away desk in Norwich’s Gonzo’s restaurant, it might be laborious to mistake the unique ensemble of huge hair, daring hats, flouncy shirts and leather-based trousers sported by the varied members of Dangerous Contact as belonging to something aside from a rock’n’roll band. “We’ve got all the time needed to be a feelgood rock band,” says lead singer Stevie Westwood. “You is usually a horny, moody rock band, otherwise you is usually a feelgood rock band. We’re undoubtedly the second.”
Fashioned in Norfolk by Westwood and guitarist Dan Seekings with bassist Michael Bailey, Dangerous Contact have just lately taken on two new members – drummer Brad Newlands and guitarist Pete Lance. The band have been impressed by a youthful love of laborious rock acts like Weapons N’ Roses and AC/DC, in addition to the showmanship of native heroes The Darkness.
The brand new lineup hits the street in March for an eight-date tour with The Mud Coda, which can see Dangerous Contact headline reveals in Newcastle, Nottingham, Glasgow and their residence metropolis of Norwich, in addition to taking part in London’s O2 Academy Islington. The band will play tracks from the three albums they’ve launched on Marshall, together with Kiss The Sky, recorded on the legendary Rockfield studio, and their most up-to-date file, Bittersweet Satisfaction, recorded at Marshall’s Milton Keynes studio.
Signing to Marshall felt like a homecoming for Dangerous Contact. After taking part in reveals round Norwich and close by Peterborough and Cambridge, Dangerous Contact entered Marshall’s Final Band competitors in 2013 and located themselves within the remaining 5, which meant performing reside in Milton Keynes in a showdown with their 4 rivals. Dangerous Contact received the occasion, which meant endorsement from Marshall and a spot on the Obtain competition lineup. The publicity gave Dangerous Contact a foothold exterior the Anglia area and was adopted by a UK tour supporting The Quireboys, the place their thrilling reside present introduced them to the eye of a wider circuit of riff-hungry rock followers.
“The competitors was a good way into the Marshall household they usually have actually taken care of us,” says Seekings. “Since then, I’ve solely used Marshall amps. We stayed in contact and once they began the file firm, they requested us to signal. It felt like we’d come full circle and we’re a part of the household. If I must borrow one thing, they are going to all the time assist. Final Christmas they despatched us all Bluetooth audio system and headphones. I received this field at residence and thought it was despatched to me by mistake, nevertheless it was a Christmas current from the label.”
Certainly, so shut is the connection between label and band that when Marshall needed somebody to check drive the brand new studio, they invited Dangerous Contact to Milton Keynes to file with producer Chis Sheldon, whose credit embrace Foo Fighters, Pixies and Remedy?.
Dangerous Contact recorded an upbeat model of Edwin Starr’s “25 Miles”, and their present reside set consists of an much more unlikely cowl – Alanis Morissette’s “Hand In My Pocket”. “Individuals actually don’t count on it,” says Seekings. “We began it virtually as a joke, however we do it a bit like The Black Crowes and it’s grow to be actually common.”
It’s a monitor that Westwood significantly enjoys performing because it appears like a particular second for followers – this isn’t a music they’ve dedicated to file, so the one strategy to hear it’s by attending to the present. That displays Dangerous Contact’s long-standing love of reside efficiency, one thing that after noticed them play 280 gigs in a single yr. The group work laborious at perfecting their reside present and embrace drums solos, guitar solos and moments of viewers interplay – all designed to ship a memorable expertise for followers.
Seekings highlights the significance of rising up with The Darkness because the native heroes. “They placed on an important rock’n’roll present in a approach that not many bands can do nowadays,” he says. “They play each gig prefer it’s Wembley Stadium and that’s what we aspire to. We work laborious on the reside act. We all know we’ve written good songs, however we don’t simply stroll on and play them the best way we recorded them, say goodbye and depart. We would like folks to come back, to become involved and go residence having had a good time.”
Metropolis To Metropolis: Norwich
Dangerous Contact sing the praises of the town’s busy reside scene
‘‘The factor about Norwich is that it’s about two hours from all over the place,” says Brad Newlands, Dangerous Contact’s new drummer and a resident of the West Midlands city of Cannock. However with three of the band nonetheless dwelling in East Anglia, Norwich stays Dangerous Contact’s important base and Uncut meets the band in Gonzo’s, a cool burger restaurant the place the partitions are adorned with popular culture memorabilia. The band are delighted to see Die Arduous is being silently performed on an enormous display screen, whereas Newlands faucets alongside to the soundtrack of basic rock and indie.
Gonzo’s is a perfect spot to speak in regards to the virtues of Norwich as it’s nextdoor to sister venue Voodoo Daddy’s, a basement area that hosts common reside reveals for Norwich’s busy reside scene. “There have been three reveals I might have gone to simply this weekend,” says metal-loving bassist Michael Bailey, who’s planning to see an area grindcore band that night at one of many metropolis’s golf equipment.
Like most bands, Dangerous Contact began native. Their first reveals have been of their nearest pub, the Cherry Tree in Dereham, a city about 15 miles exterior Norwich. The subsequent step noticed them be a part of the Norwich reside circuit with common gigs at The Brickmakers and King Edward VII. The Brickmakers, which as soon as hosted a younger Ed Sheeran, stays a mainstay of the reside scene having survived a hire elevate by way of the help of locals, together with Dave Rowntree of Blur, who was then on Norfolk County Council. Nevertheless, the King Edward VII has closed – and Dangerous Contact have been invited to play the closing night time, a bittersweet event that allowed them to pay respects to a landmark. “It had been essential to our improvement,” says Stevie Westwood. “It was the primary place the place we might play loud, receives a commission and get higher.”
Right here Norwich’s relative isolation proved to be a profit, because it gave Dangerous Contact a safe atmosphere during which to develop their reside present, whereas the notorious restraint of the Norwich viewers inspired them to work laborious at constructing rapport with the gang. Town’s location signifies that Norwich isn’t all the time on the touring circuit, regardless of the presence of the LCR on the College Of East Anglia, which holds 1,500 and has hosted acts from The Who to The Flaming Lips. Dangerous Contact have performed LCR as soon as, in help of a rapper. “It was a really unusual present,” says Westwood. “I bear in mind trying on the viewers of 14-year-old ladies trying up at us and having the worst time of their lives – however perhaps one in every of them ended up forming a band.”
One other essential venue is the Arts Centre, the place Richey Edwards as soon as carved “4 Actual” into his arm after a gig by the Manic Avenue Preachers. It’s been a staple on the indie circuit for generations. “Certainly one of my favorite gigs was seeing Towers Of London on the Arts Centre after I was 15,” says Seekings. “It was rowdy and loopy and thrilling. Norwich isn’t all the time on the circuit – some bands utterly miss it out – so when a good band comes by way of, it’s an enormous deal.”
When Dangerous Contact did start touring the nation, Norwich’s location meant lengthy hours within the tour van – which is the best time to take heed to music by way of the band’s Marshall headphones or the Middleton Bluetooth speaker. Dangerous Contact have grow to be so keen on Marshall gear that new guitarist Pete Lance is attempting to steer his spouse to have some Marshall amps within the bed room. “We might use a Marshall stack as a bedside desk or a spot to throw your garments,” he grins. “It could look so cool.”
Keen to indicate off the charms of Norwich – a metropolis that after had a pub for day by day of the yr and a church for each week – Dangerous Contact lead Uncut from Gonzo’s by way of the centre to St Benedict’s Avenue. This was as soon as a music mecca and nonetheless has a few file outlets and locations promoting guitars and drums. “After we have been rising up, St Benedict’s Avenue was nothing however music shops and file outlets,” says Seekings. “It was just like the Denmark Avenue of Norwich. It had two Money Converters and the massive one solely offered music gear.” As bassist Bailey notes, that’s the place he picked up his first guitar.
Vinyl continues to be king at file outlets like Soundclash, Round Sound and Press To Play. The window of the latter is adorned with basic LPs together with Sgt Pepper and Led Zeppelin II, covers eerily bleached as white as bone after a long time of publicity to daylight. Inside, the proprietor is celebrating the store’s twenty seventh anniversary that weekend, delighted to have seen vinyl come again into vogue since he opened the doorways in 1997. Because the band thumb by way of the racks, Seekings explains that close by Soundclash performed an essential function within the native scene because it was the place folks went to purchase gig tickets in pre-internet days.
The tour of Norwich takes in a few pubs and a church earlier than ending on the Waterfront, a blue-fronted 700-capacity riverside venue that has hosted Paul Weller, Nirvana, Arctic Monkeys and Amy Winehouse. It’s a house venue for Dangerous Contact who shall be headlining there in March throughout their UK tour with The Mud Coda. The band are trying ahead to the present, as they hardly ever play their residence metropolis nowadays. “We aren’t actually on the native scene as we at the moment are a nationwide band, so we are able to’t wait to play right here in March,” says Seekings, delighted by Norwich’s still-thriving music scene. “Irrespective of the way it will get crushed down, reside music by no means goes away.”
