Interviews

Interview: Twisted Wheel

• 1st Apr 2010

Oldham upstarts ‘Twisted Wheel’ woke up the new music world when they released their self titled debut album in April 2009. Their punky Jam enthused sound battered across the airwaves and they have been hell bent on continuing to spread the sound across the country.

The band have impressed by the manner in which they have gone about their business – playing smaller packed out shows in corners of the country where perhaps not many people can access new live music and then ploughing more recognisable venues. This meaning in the deepest corners of the UK there is sure to be a Twisted Wheel fan dancing manically in their bedroom to the likes of ‘She’s A Weapon’.

Twisted Wheel have played with the likes of Paul Weller and supported Oasis at their massive Heaton Park gigs.

Now a year on the band are in the middle of a headline tour calling at all manner of places from Blackburn to Harlow, Leeds to Carlisle with many dates sold out. Glasswerk managed to catch up with the band ahead of their Liverpool Academy date:

So guys as an up and coming band you have certainly been very busy…..brought out a great debut album, supported Oasis must feel like its been a whirlwind from when you first started off?Yeah it has been a whirlwind but this is what we always wanted to do and we knew it was only a matter of time before we were doing it

Twisted Wheel – is that taken after the famous club in Manchester?

Jonny saw the name somewhere in a Paul Weller track “Into Tomorrow”

“Round and round like a twisted wheel Spinning in attempt to find the feel” and thought it really suited the music, we all agreed.
Although, its good that people relate it back to the Twisted Wheel club in Manchester
as it helps keep a piece of Manchester's history in the limelight so people can trace it back

How did you get together? Was it a mutual liking of certain bands etc?

Jonny and Rick were in a previous band called The Children but always wanted to start a band with Adam because we had such a similar taste in music. Jonny had been doing acoustic gigs on his own then one day we turned up to a gig he had booked as a full band, after practicing for 4 days and from then on it has escalated pretty quickly.

Are you all from Oldham…what’s the music scene like there do bands have to go into Manchester a lot….although I guess Oldham Castle would be a favourite venue of yours??

We played round Oldham a lot when we were starting out, there are lots of young talented musicians around and some decent bands play at the Castle. It’s good because people were nice enough to let us put our own club night on and gave us a chance to make a name for ourselves, now we return the favour by having local bands support us on tour.

Are you Oldham Athletic fans?

Actually none of us are into football, we're full time music heads! I don’t mind watching and enjoy seeing everyone get so worked up about it.

What are your favourite bands that have influenced you?

We listen to such a broad scale of music, with our tunes we take a lot of influence from bands like The Clash, Sex Pistols and The Jam. But we listen to anything from King Tubby to Davy Graham to The Beatles and Oasis. Most of the music we like is from the 60s and 70s, there hasn't been many new bands that excite us recently.

Any new bands you like yourselves?

Recently we've been listening to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, I think we have that same dirty rock and roll feel to our gigs as they do. Also check out a singer songwriter from Manchester called Danny Mahon, he's got a single out called Beat Me Up which is something special.

So first album out of the way what are your plans for the next release?….is it a process of taking time or have you tunes already notched up in the locker?

We're currently working on new tunes and testing them on the road, we'll throw a few different ones in every night. We think its important to play them live a lot before you record them to see which bits work best. We've got about 12 new tracks altogether and new ones are coming through all the time, its just a case of whittling it down and picking the new album tracks.

Live wise you are currently on tour how is it going? Any incidents to report?

Its been a great tour, the majority of dates sold out well in advance and has proved there is a huge demand for a band like us. Every night is full of raw energy and the crowd go mad.

How was the Weller supports and what was it like supporting Oasis at Heaton Park….bet it was a bit surreal?

It was pretty surreal, these are people who are a massive influence and to have them say that they like our band and ask us on tour is brilliant. The Weller crowd really enjoy our stuff because there are elements of the Jam in it. The Oasis crowds are great too, you cant beat that feeling of walking out infront of 70,000 people to play your songs.

How was FAC251 gig?

The FAC gig was top, we feel privileged to be asked to play there in a place that meant so much to previous Manchester bands, its great to be a part of it. We felt like Happy Mondays or Joy Division in the early days. Great atmosphere that made us proud to be from Manchester.

Where is your favourite place to play?

The hometown shows are always a huge night, but every so often you play in a small town where not many bands play and the people love it. They really appreciate you playing there and become life long fans, so its completely random which gigs we enjoy the most.

Finally which are the tracks you like best off your album?

From different ends of the spectrum – Oh What Have You Done and Bouncing Bomb

Be sure to get to one of Twisted Wheel’s gigs to witness the energy for yourselves. Whilst you are at it educate yourself by buying their debut album!

For more info on dates etc visit:

www.myspace.com/thetwistedwheel