Day two of the tour, and up to Newcastle to play at a lovely venue, The Cluny.
“The Cluny2 in Newcastle for me last night to see indie band Red Guitars, and I don’t have enough superlatives to describe just how good they were. Simply outstanding!
Not only did they breeze through rousing versions of old favourites from Good Technology, along with a few new tracks, but they also oozed charm throughout, with each member displaying true enjoyment at being on stage and really engaging with the audience.
A huge plus for the 6-piece from Hull is the quite wonderful sound from their four-guitar set-up. Some of the nimble playing from the barefooted lead guitarist was just mesmeric and could easily have stopped you in your tracks – if it wasn’t for the sensational beats coming from all angles to make the most stubborn of limbs shuffle, sway, rock, dip and swagger.” Darrell Aspery
“Thanks for an exceptional gig tonight. You clearly show how much you are enjoying playing together again – including the new songs which sound great. I picked up the Good Technology CD from the merch table and played it full blast in the car on the way home. Fact! Thanks Red Guitars.” Kyle Calvert
“Guys, the gig tonight was sensational, one of the new songs (Beyond the Blue) was brilliant, reminded me of Calexico, but with a Hull twist! Hope the rest of the tour goes well.” Eric Hindmarsh
Red Guitars talking heads feature in last month’s Record Collector magazine. Thanks to Tim Naylor for the questions, we had fun with the answers
Politically charged 1980s indie stalwarts and proud citizens of Hull, Red Guitars are back to celebrate 40 years in the business.
Red Guitars: Jeremy Kidd – vocals, Hallam Lewis – lead guitar, John Rowley – rhythm guitar, Lou Duffy-Howard – bass, Matt Higgins – drums
What film could Good Technology soundtrack?
Matt: Threads.
Hallam: The latest Chat GPT promo video.
JR: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
What is planned for Red Guitars fortieth anniversary celebrations?
JR: A red vinyl 12″ remix, a terrific gig in front of our home crowd, and a few surprises!
Matt: Lots of fun, nostalgia and also new stuff.
You’ve re-recorded Good Technology and Fact for a limited 12” single – any other plans in the pipeline for recording?
JR: The new material is sounding fantastic and we’ll start recording tracks for the new album very soon.
Is there anything unissued and languishing in the vaults?
JR: There are some old songs but they have curses put on them and must never see the light of day.
Matt: There is, but some of it needs to stay there!
What have the various band members been up to in the intervening decades?
Hallam. Languishing in the vaults
Lou: Rockin’ in the free world.
JR: Mostly International banking and the weapons industry
Matt: Too embarrassing to mention.
As one of the most successful independent bands in the mid-eighties would you rather be a big fish in the indie pond or an aspiring act on a major label?
Hallam. Big fish – the illusion of success is preferable.
JR: Is always good when you’ve never really made it. Your credibility remains high.
Lou: The former with the possibility of an exciting future over the horizon.
Who are your favourite indie bands or artistes from the last few years?
Hallam. Michael Kiwanuka’s ‘Cold Little Heart’ was one of my fave tracks from the last decade or so.
JR: Ren stands head and shoulders above most things Ive heard in a long while. I still listen to local musicians. Bitmap are very good and deserve more exposure.
Lou: Gina Birch has a brilliant new single out. Bob Wayne, The Yawpers, North Mississippi Allstars, nearly everything on Fat Possum.
Matt: I love a band I heard recently called The Lathams.
The eighties were turbulent and political themes infused your work … if Red Guitars were starting out today, what would be grinding your gears?
JR: Jesus Christ! Where to begin? We thought Thatcher was crap!
Lou: The same, unfortunately.
Kier Starmer asks to borrow Good Technology as his walk-on music for a major conference speech… do the ayes or the nays have it?
Hallam: It’d be an ‘Aye’ from me – literally anything to rid ourselves of the current lot.
Lou: ‘Aye’ if he selects Jeremy Corbyn for Islington North.
JR: I’ll refer you back to the question about credibility.
Matt: Probably not.
Collaborations are all the rage – who would Red Guitars like to work with?
Matt: With the Matt Higgins band on his new triple album with the London Philharmonic and Rick Wakeman.
What were you listening to when you started out in the early 80s?
JK: As a teenager I was an avid reader of Zigzag magazine. John Tobler lived across the road from my school in Knaphill. Consequently I became a big fan of the British “pub rock” bands like Graham Parker and the Rumour, Kilburn and the High Roads and Bees make Honey as well as American West Coast bands like Clover, Love and Quicksilver Messenger Service. The Zigzag Fifth Anniversary concert at the Roundhouse in 1974 was amazing and certainly inspired me join a band myself.
JR: We all had very diverse musical tastes. I think that comes across in our material. It’s what made the band so special.
Lou: Velvet Underground and Hal’s Soweto compilation.
Matt: Public Image, The Clash, and of course, Sonya.
What was the last album you bought?
JR: Bob Log III, Log Bomb.
Lou: Hespèrion XXI – Codex Las Huelgas.
Hallam: Lost in the mists of time.
What was the first record you bought?
Hallam: Black Sabbath – the ‘Paranoid’ album
Lou: Ride a White Swan
Jeremy: The McCartney penned “World Without Love” by Peter and Gordon. It was a duff pressing and I had to take it back to Maxwell’s on the corner of Heathside Road and Station Approach in Woking.
JR: Kaiser Bill’s Batman by Whistling Jack Smith. Banging tune!
Matt: Joe Cocker With a Little Help From My Friends
Does anyone in the Red Guitars actually own a red guitar? And if yes, what?
They all have to be red. It’s stipulated in the band contract. Page 24 subsection 9.
Hal: Proud owner of cherry red Gibson 335, with P90s.
JR: Mine is a Gretsch Electromatic.
Jeremy: A 1964 Hofner Verithin, which I’ve had since 1982.
Lou: My orange Mustang bass has red go faster stripes.
Matt: I do & I can play it, unlike the likes of Lewis & Rowley who just twang. Who do you think REALLY played in the studio?
Red Guitars video shoot photo by Richard Duffy-Howard
In 1983 we went into Fairview Studio, owned by Keith Herd, where we recorded all our singles and album Slow to Fade. This was so exciting for all of us – a life changing time. Yesterday, 40 years on we had a lovely afternoon with Keith – a great catch up over pizza and cake in his garden in the sunshine. Here we are in Keith’s mastering studio, where we listened to music and looked through the original 1983 studio diary.
Whenever anyone in the music biz wanted to meet up we always invited them up to Hull. We spotted visits from Arista and Brian Morrison & Dick Leahy in the diary. Needless to say we weren’t impressed by any of them. The 40th anniversary remix of Good Technology is released on our own Self Drive label.
Good Technology 2023 – pre order your copy now!
June 24th marks 40 years since Good Technology was released. We are issuing a limited edition red vinyl 12” extended remix to celebrate the anniversary. A radio edit and remix of second single “Fact” is included along with a digital download of the tracks.
