Toby Jepson – Little Angels – Uber Rock Interview Exclusive
Written by Dave Prince
Sunday, 02 June 2013 03:00
When Brit rock favourites announced they would be calling it a day for the second time back at the beginning of May Uber Rock’s Dave Prince just had to find out what the reason behind this shock decision was. So who better to ask than Toby Jepson, the band’s frontman? Trouble was on picking up the phone to Angels HQ our Prince of Parp just couldn’t leave it there with one question could he? Nah he only goes and turns an initial five minute catch into a half an hour interview that not only answers the above question but also takes in what Toby thought of being punched in the love blobs in Tonypandy Naval a good few years back, what he thinks of the rock scene right now, and what his immediate plans are following these final Little Angels live dates at Cardiff Solus on June 13th, Cambridge Junction on June 15th and then finally at the Isle Of Wight Festival with Bon Jovi on June 16th.
So, sit back, relax, pour yourself a nice drink, and savour the fact that for the next few weeks at least Toby and crew are still ‘Too Posh To Mosh’ even after all these years.
Thanks for taking the time to chat with Uber Rock Toby. With your recent big announcement that Little Angels will once again be going their separate ways after the planned warm-up shows and an appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival – whilst I am sad, at least you are keeping the band’s legacy intact – is that what you intended from the start?
Yeah, a big part of our even considering getting back together was under that exact guideline. That we understand thoroughly that the reason why the Little Angels remain in people’s memories as one of their favourite bands. It’s because, we didn’t keep going in the face of adversity. We did stop the band when we knew we were facing a difficult road ahead, and that was because we wanted to preserve what we felt were our achievements. It’s very, very difficult to achieve success in a rock ‘n’ roll band in any way shape or form. We felt that we had done so much and crucially we had such support from the fans that we didn’t want to disintegrate. So when we kind of made the decision to come back and do Download last year and then the One More For The Road tour in December it was exactly within that bracket. One of the discussions was we wanted it to be a celebration by thanking the fans and remembering a time in all our lives where it was exceptionally exciting in the British music scene and we were part of that. And we didn’t want it to be pretence, we’ve all moved on, we’re all older and got different things going on in our lives and we were never going to make another record. Which I know a lot of people wanted us to do, but there was never a chance that that was going to happen because we knew that our time had passed. We felt that our time was where it was and what we’re doing now is different, and so, yes our recent announcement, we felt we needed to make this as we didn’t want there to be a misunderstanding on what our intentions were. It’s entirely generated by the fact that the fans have been incredible over the years.
How did you feel about playing Download 2012 and singing those songs again?
It was a different feeling doing it with Little Angels compared to when I was there with Fastway etc. I mean, I’ll never forget it, due to the rain and mud, we literally got there about 15-20 minutes before we were due on stage. When we arrived they raised the backdrop there was a massive cheer and I thought this is going to be okay, we’re going to be all right. It wasn’t muted it was a proper cheer and I was like “Thank God for that.” As much as our fans are incredibly committed and loyal, it’s a different thing when we have to face it that we’ve been away for 18 years and what’s the reaction going to be like. Thankfully it was an amazing reception and we had an absolutely fantastic time.
With regards to the warm-up shows and the Isle of Wight Festival will there be a farewell set?
We will do what we can. I would imagine we will play the same set on the warm ups as we did on the December tour, or at least of a similar nature. We have only got 35 to 40 minutes at the Isle of Wight Festival. Effectively we will play the big songs, the songs that define us. What we’re going to do is finish it all with massive smiles on our faces and pat each other on the back and give big thumbs up to the fans and say “thanks a lot”, and the memory is then what it is, a memory. Hopefully the music will live on and we’re going to keep the website open, it’s not going to close. We are going to keep in touch with everybody, so people can view this with the right values. This was never going to be a restart, this was always going to be a return for a short period of time and we are so chuffed that people have enjoyed it and welcomed it like they have.
Would you ever consider a career retrospective collection of live, demos and B-sides box set?
We possibly would, we have talked about those things over the last 18 months since we’ve been back in touch with each other. Lots of things have been suggested and considered. Obviously we all know where the record industry is in terms of people’s ability to release records and make any note of them. So to preserve the quality of what we’d done over the years. I don’t think we’d want to do it half-arsed, we’d want it to be complete, considered and organised. I’m not personally in favour and we’ve all said this, we’re not in favour in the old adage of money for old rope. It would have to be something special. We would have to find a way of delivering a package that was all encompassing and brought something new to the cannon. I get sick to the teeth of seeing things in the arts being resold with a different poster on the front. So would have to be careful on how we did that, although I wouldn’t rule it out.
With the release of the limited edition DVD ‘One More For The Road’ do you think you have covered everything with that particular visual document?
To a degree, the DVD was the most sensible way of releasing something fresh. Because there was nothing else to release in terms of recordings, it had to be about examining what the previous recordings were, what they were all about and how we got to where we got to, what we had all been doing and all that stuff in-between. That was the reasoning behind that release and we obviously included them, plus the videos and stuff from the past. We’ve been trying to release and upgrade the longform videos ‘Big Bad Video’ and ‘Jam on Film’. We’ve been trying to get the licensing rights from those, but we’ve hit a brick wall with Universal who had been nothing short of flipping rubbish in terms of trying to figure that out how to do that. I don’t really blame them as so many years and water has passed under that bridge, it is very difficult to make those things happen. As a result of that we decided to do the ‘One More For The Road’ DVD, we’re really pleased how it turned out.
Moving on then, you’ve personally spent time involved with the likes of Gun, Fastway and Dio Disciples and of course your production work. Is there anything from those you can see yourself doing more of in the future?
I took a very different view of myself as an artist once I got back in the game, around about the time I started working with Fast Eddie and Fastway. That was because I’d been out of the game for a while, done my solo stuff and it was incredibly exciting to do that and produce my own music and to try different things out. I’m not stupid, I knew that my market was limited. Little Angels wasn’t just me, it was all of us and so as a solo artist, I was climbing a very steep hill. I did it to get out there and have some fun. Quite frankly I wanted to just play and engage with an audience and have some fun and see what happens with it. When the Fastway thing came along, I thought “What do I enjoy doing the most as an artist?” and what I enjoy the most is performing and singing. I love to sing, there’s nothing better for me than to stand on a stage and sing for an hour an a half to two hours, or even just forty minutes to half an hour – just singing my heart out. That’s what I did it for, that’s what got me started in this business in the first place. Watching Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant and all these guys and wanting to do that. So when I got into Fastway I realised I could sing someone else’s music. I then produced that record with Fast Eddie, even though we haven’t had the chance to play that stuff live as yet. It was still an incredibly exciting thing to do, just to work with different people.
The way that the music business is now, it is a very wide market and all I love to do is write and perform music and when I went into Gun it was the same thing. Those guys were amazing and I have such respect for Joolz and Dante specifically, they were wonderful to me. We had a great time together, but it was short lived because we all wanted to do different things. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with that. I feel that me going forward as an older person now. I’m in my mid-forties, whatever I do now creatively, I want it to suit the clothes I’m wearing now. I don’t want to recapture a past identity. I want it to be something different and try different things. So I’m open to suggestions.
As for Dio Disciples, I’m not with them anymore as logistically it was impossible to carry on, as I was about to start making James Toseland’s record, then I went and started the Answer’s new record. They were about to tour America so I had to drop out. I’m still great friends with them. There is a possibility I may go back to them at some point. I’ve been talking to other people about doing other things in the U.S. as a singer. I’m excited for the future and as long as something excites me, that’s what art should be – something that gets your juices flowing and you’re compelled to do it. I don’t want it to be a gravy train, it’s got to be about the right reasons.
Speaking of your production work then, what is it that you look for in new bands?
I’ve got a long-term goal with new artists. I was very lucky, and all the Little Angels were. We came out of a small town in the North East of England and we were helped enormously by a couple of very key people in the early years of our career, and that I never forgotten. So I want to try and do that for other bands. My feeling about music has never changed, it really hasn’t. I still feel the same character, and as an aspiring creative person as I did when I was 13 years old and now at 46, or about to be 46. To me, it’s the same thing. I just wanna get excited. I wanna meet and work with young people, I wanna find great music and help develop that music. That’s what is incredible about working with bands like The Answer and The Virginmarys – who have been an astounding band to work with. I think they’re gonna be huge, given time. Same thing with James Toseland, you know James came out of the motorcycle scene and we made a record together, which I co-wrote with hm. Which is incredible exciting for me. To watch this young artist, aspiring to be a rock artist with all this verve, passion and creativity, and if I can be involved in helping bands do that, then I’ll be a very happy man. Now that doesn’t presuppose I’ll do it with anybody. I’m very keen to find unique things, what I don’t want to do is work with bands and artists who are the same as other people. I want to try and find new things and push the boundaries as much as I possibly can. That’s what is so exciting is that out there somewhere in this country, or the world even, is a young bunch of musicians who have something very unique that we haven’t heard yet. That’s what keeps me going.
Is that why you appeared on the reality show ‘E4 School of Performing Arts’?
Well yeah, there was a bit of that. I kind of got suckerpunched into that. They came to me and a friend of mine Dave who I was doing it with, they came to us and said that they were the antidote to the X-Factor, they were going to be the real deal. Bringing real people from the music business and the arts and generating this proper examination of what it took to become a successful singer/songwriter or actor. But in actual fact they didn’t have the courage of their convictions and the show was a pale imitation of what they sold to us. Which was a shame, although there have been a couple of people who came out of that show, Boog, who left early on, she’s having a burgeoning career now and there’s a couple of people that I’m still in contact with through various people that have come out of that. The one thing that it has to be about and always has been about is raw talent, those who have something unique to say. I don’t care what the record industry pretends it is. The fact of the matter is that you got to have exciting, vibrant people that bring something new to the table.
Looking back on your own career and the people who helped you, are you still in touch with Kevin Nixon? (For people who do not recognise the name, Nixon was essentially the 6th member of Little Angels, who managed and co-produced the band.)
I’m not, no. I don’t have any contact with Kevin. He’s been working very closely with Bruce Dickinson (Little Angels guitarist) for quite some time on their music college that they have. Which has been incredibly successful for them, and they are partners in that business now. Although in saying this I haven’t really had any contact with Kevin since the band split up originally.
Okay, now onto the question that I’ve asked you before via your forum etc., the infamous Tonypandy Naval Club. Can you explain in your words what happened at to you at this once legendary Welsh venue?
(Laughing), Tonypandy Naval Club was an amazing place and we used to love playing there. The long story was that, we had an agent in the North East of England, who for some reason or another was in contact with the South Wales rock scene. He originally got us a show at Bogiez in Cardiff and what we ended up doing, which happened to a lot bands that came down to the Valleys was – you played Bogiez, Tonypandy Naval, Llanharen Rugby Club and sometimes Maesteg Four Sevens. There were these four shows that everyone used to play. So we would often go off and do a long weekend, where we play all three and sometimes all four. We never forgot that, because those clubs absolutely supported our band when no one else did. We would literally play the North East of England and then travel down to the Valleys and Cardiff, which was amazing. So we got very, very attached to South Wales and we played those places all the time. And it was that particular infamous show you refer after we had played Tonypandy a couple of times. I can’t remember what tour it was; it might even have been on the ‘Don’t Prey For Me’ tour I’m not exactly certain, I can’t remember. When we first played there we quickly got accustomed to the whole thing about people sitting down and banging their glasses on the table which meant that they liked you. We’d never encountered this in our lives. But we won over the audience and the people used to stand up for us and watch us play. Well this particular time you refer to, and I think I was doing ‘No Solution’, this kid got up from the back of the hall, walked to the front of the stage and looked me square in the eye, as the stage wasn’t very high if you remember. And he just fisted me in the bollocks! I just hit the deck like a sack of spuds, I couldn’t breathe and they had to drag me off the stage.
I can’t remember her name but the woman who ran it (Princey’s note – Her name was Joan – and has since sadly passed away, R.I.P.) She gave it one over the PA – about what a disgrace it was and how dare you do this. From that it has become this infamous tale of one of my less glossy moments as a rock singer.
Thinking back to The Naval’s sitting down and glasses treatment of bands, did this inspire the ‘Radical Your Lover’ promo at all?
No, not specifically, and I never held any discord with the club at all. It was just one of them things. We had similar things happen, we had a riot in Middlesborough once. This is the thing about being in a rock ‘n’ roll band and especially when you’re young. It doesn’t get any better than that in a way….in a creative way. What you’re really doing is experiencing life as young people. You see everything in a rock band, you travel so much, meet so many people and enter in to so many different situations. Some of them are really fantastic and some are absolutely dire. But the point is, if you don’t survive those things, then you don’t make it. You have to get through that stuff, you have to be punched in the bollocks and sleep in the back of a van the same night after you suffered that sort of indignity. You have to get through that and pick yourself up in the morning and go “You know what, fuck it. Who cares? Let’s do another gig” and that’s what it’s all about.
Obviously it has made you the person you are today
Absolutely, it certainly hurt my bollocks at the time. (Laughing) But I was fine, it just makes me chuckle now as you can tell, and the fact is that in a way those incidents are the ones I think of the most these days.
I started a group on Facebook about the Tonypandy Naval Club and the Little Angels incident along with the bottling of UK glam titans Wrathchild are the most talked about on there
Fantastic, you know what. Thank God for that, that’s brilliant. That just means that in the fabric of a lot of people’s lives we’ve been woven into that and I love that. It’s absolutely killer! The one thing we loved about Tonypandy and the South Wales clubs was that, despite the time which was very difficult for everyone if you remember, back in the late eighties. Economically it was incredible difficult for everybody. The North of England was on its knees. And we used to go down and play and it was the same in Newcastle, Middlesborough, people just wanted have something to help them rise up out of their lives, you know. We used to play these venues and they would be packed with people having a ball, having a great time. That’s what we remember and we would talk about it quite a lot, because that’s what mattered to us. We knew that we were working class people just playing rock ‘n’ roll and that’s what it was all about. People came out on a Friday night, drank beer, listened to a rock band and took their minds off everything else.
So, back to the here and now Toby, with the warm up dates looming, will it be just you and Toseland playing? As you have in the past held contests to give new bands a helping hand via an opening slot.
No, it’ll be just Toseland and us. We felt that, we wanted to do it our way. I produced James’ record; I wanted to help him out. His band is fantastic and we feel that. With the December tour we felt that we delivered a package for the fans, with Skin who were a band we gave a helping hand to back in the day and we love playing with, plus we had Chrome Molly, a band who were on our record label, when we were on an independent label called Powerstation Records years ago. We gave those guys a helping hand too. We have always tried to give somebody a break in the right circumstances. With these being our last shows we didn’t want to complicate the matter.
I have mention that back on the Jammed Every Night tour at your date in Newport Centre you had a band open up for you called The Wild Family whose singer is a certain Johnny H-Bomb – one of the Uber Rock founding fathers – So thanks to you having them open for Little Angels, it was my introduction to John and here I am now interviewing you for this website. So I need to thank you for being able to write for Uber Rock I suppose (Laughing)
No worries, it’s all part of a rich tapestry of this business; it’s all about the people. It is what I keep saying to folk, this isn’t about anything other than human interaction. I got inspired to be in a band to create music that people would like. By consequence of that, people get inspired to do their own things and that’s what I always loved and why I love being a producer and writing songs. Hopefully somewhere down the line that work will inspire somebody else. My heroes inspired me. It’s all about paying it forward.
Before we bring this to close Toby I have to ask, have you thought about doing a solo acoustic tour?
I have, in fact I was intending to do something this year but times got away from me a little bit. So I’m taking a bit of a back seat on the live stuff this year after the Little Angels shows. I’ve been playing a lot live. I’ve done a lot of work as a live singer over the last few years in various bands. So I’m going to be doing more production wise, and hopefully scoring my first film, which is exciting. There’s also got to be a real reason and finding the right way to tour. I’ve got to make people want and come to see me and whatever I do next.
Toby, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I’ll look forward to seeing you in Cardiff.
No problem Dave and thanks for sticking with us throughout everything and I hope you enjoy the shows.
http://www.littleangelsofficial.com/
