Buffalo Summer – Uber Rock Interview Exclusive
Written by Rob Watkins
Sunday, 10 November 2013 03:20
Swansea retro rockers Buffalo Summer head off to play a series of German shows next week with The Quireboys, so before they set sail for the Fatherland I thought it was about time to catch up with guitarist Jonny Williams, vocalist Andrew Hunt, bassist Darren King and their rather eloquently named drummer Gareth Hunt. So picture the scene we are backstage at the EVI ahead of what would turn out to be a very eventful set from the band supporting Warrior Soul, the lights are dimmed, the josh sticks are burning and suddenly without warning I start my tape recorder….
Hey guys thanks for taking the time to chat with me today, so first question, what is the Buffalo Summer story?
Jonny Williams (JW): Has the interview started yet? (laughing) Well Rob we`ve been together 3 years now, we started jamming on like old blues standards then we started writing songs and here we are 3 years down the line here in Ebbw Vale today to support Warrior Soul.
So for the relatively short period of time you’ve been toge5ther you’re steamrolling along right now….how does that feel?
Andrew Hunt (AH): (laughing) Yeah it`s going alright, it`s been a year now since we`ve had a proper booking agent and since we got this booking agent we`ve never looked back really. We`ve been constantly touring the UK and Europe and we`d basically got the debut album released through Cargo Records after we`d released it ourselves initially, then it got picked up by Cargo for distribution so yeah it`s all going alright at the minute.
You’ve toured recently with the likes of Ugly Kid Joe, Skid Row, and of course you played Download too, so I guess you must have some wild on the road tales to tell?
AH: (laughing) We can tell you only certain things, we can though tell you about a near death experience we had in Spain. We were doing a tour of Spain in February and we were going to this place and we were coming down the mountain like 70mph in the van and we had a blow out with the back tyre and the van was shooting all over the road and we managed to stop – Jonny was driving – so we`re on this motorway in Spain we had to get all the gear out of the van cause there was too much weight in it to get it off the floor, it was so quite on this motorway it was a Sunday after all and anyway the jack that we brought wasn`t regulation size so that wouldn`t work, but we were saved by 2 traffic cops and we gave them some copies of our album and we all got on our way.
So you’ve managed to get on with all the bands you’ve toured with then?
Darren King (DK); Oh yeah no problem, all the bands we’ve toured with have been good as gold to us, I mean we had a real good laugh with Ugly Kid Joe, they are great, a really good bunch they were and the Heaven`s Basement boys and Walking Papers were great, Skid Row are still wild, that`s a band you want tales from.
Of course you played numerous dates with Walking Papers, that must have been kind of cool to play with Duff McKagan?
Gareth Hunt (GH): Yeah, we toured with Walking Papers 3-4 times and that was an absolute pleasure, and I mean first of all we were a little star struck for the first few days, then after a few days we started calling him ‘Uncle Duff’, and actually our sound guy Rob he`s not here tonight he`s been poached by Walking Papers, he`s doing some stuff with them in America, so we`ve actually reduced unemployment in Wales (laughing).
When can we expect the new record from Buffalo Summer then, and whilst you’re there who rules the roost when it comes to songwriting?
AH: Soon….It`s imminent, yeah it`s in the works…songwriting is all of us, well normally Jonny will bring a riff in and we`ll jam off the back of that and build the songs up like that really and in the studio there`s no real chief, but the first time around it was probably our producer which was again Rob our sound man, it`s a painstaking time being in the studio, you tend to spend a large amount of time sat on your arse.
So where are Buffalo Summer happier, in the studio or on the road?
GH: Some of us like being in the studio but mostly we love being on the road.
We’ve been trying to pin your sound down for a while, tell us who or what influences you as a band and why.
AH: Purely music? I mean when we started writing songs it was purely for fun and enjoyment, I mean there was never a point when we imagined we`d be going off touring with somebody from Guns N` Roses and stuff, we`ve always had ambitions to do stuff with music but we never set out to do this or do that, but it`s just knuckle down and write songs to the best of our ability and luckily we`ve had good feedback so far and we`ll keep rolling and see where it takes us pretty much..
JW: Influence wise Free, that`s a big one and just rock music (laughing)…nah we`ve been listening to allsorts really, we`ve been listening to ZZ Top on this last tour, but I mean everything from Chaka Khan and anything you can imagine, we`ve been listening to a lot of early ‘70s funk records, anything at all, blues, country, rock ‘n’ roll. I think it gets a bit boring if you listen to one specific genre of music and I suppose the roots of this bands are bluesy classic rock, but I think with this new record it`s sounding more like Buffalo Summer than say some of our influences that`s for sure, it was a bit obvious on the first record, but now I think we have our own sound coming together for this new record, and with the first album it happened so quickly, and we just went with the songs we had, but this time we`ve spent time and put a lot more thought into the songs.
How important is image to Buffalo Summer?
DK: I mean the band is a package, but you still have to have the substance to go with the image, I mean I think we look like a rock ‘n’ roll band but the music is the first port of call for us personally, but with things like the X Factor that`s for people who are hollow on the inside (laughing) although I mean you have to look the part too.
What do you hope the next year or two has in store for you guys?
AH: We`ve just heard off NASA that we are going to be the first band to play on the moon, well….Button Moon, no I mean our album which will be recorded and released shortly, more tours, more shows. That’s all we can do, get an album out there and keep working hard and then whatever will happen will happen just as long as we put the effort in keep touring and play to as many people as we can that`s all we can do unless some record label says “here`s some money boys”.
Realistically though what do you hope to achieve with the group?
JW: To make music that we like and if enough people enjoy the music where you`re able to earn a living from this but we`re all skint, but we do it for our love of music.
So some mansions overlooking Swansea Bay wouldn’t be bad then?
AH: We`re not bothered to be honest, yeah it would be a bonus but that`s not top of the agenda for us, if we can just live and play music all well and good, yeah and we have to listen to our music to so we`d love a vinyl pressing of our second album, if we can get the money together we`ll definitely do that.
Here’s one to get you thinking then. Buffalo Summer are headlining a major outdoor festival which 5 other bands alive, dead or dysfunctional do you have on the bill?
AH: Ooh that`s really good…Jimi yeah obviously Hendrix, it would have to be Band Of Gypsies though ,the problem with this question is how the fuck do you follow someone like Jimi Hendrix? AC/DC and you`d have to have Led Zeppelin at their prime when they were touring America and everything else, oh yeah Tom Petty and oh yeah I tell you Deep Purple with Tommy Bolan. ‘Come Taste The Band’, and ….can we have six bands?
Yeah, sure it’s your bill go for it.
JW: Ike and Tina Turner, oh yeah a bit of Ike and Tina that`ll do for sure, that`s one hell of a bill, that`s a great line up there.
Well go for it
AH: We`d better get the Ouija board out then.
Liberty Stadium?
DK: What about Kathmandu?
The next questions is a bit obvious, what the heck, what would your rider look like?
AH: Smoothies and lots of Heineken, Dandelion & Burdock, Refresher bars, pasties, and something we’d steal off Ugly Kid Joe. They have brand new fresh white cotton socks at each gig so you don`t have to take socks on tour with you. Yeah, pants, socks and vests. Y-Fronts from Marks and Spencer’s, we`re acting like a cool hip band now mind you. Really rare Star Wars figurines all sealed you know all the old school stuff and Scalectrix.
You could play Donington Park and set up your Scalectrix on the race track.
AH: And a unicorn you know a fully-fledged mythical unicorn and you know just booze really, Adidas trainers, Doc Martins and actually a Sunday dinner with everything on, and a rissole and a sausage in batter…Welsh cakes, Wi-Fi, crayons and some salt and vinegar crisps.
That’s it then guys, thank you from everyone at Uber Rock.
All: Our pleasure.
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Group photos courtesy of Anthony Shadrach
Live photography courtesy of Phunked Up Photography
