DC Fontana

DEBUT ALBUM SCHEDULED FOR AUTUMN 2008 (watch this space)!!
Turned-on music to quake your bones & pluck your heartstrings with rhythm & bruise from deep within their collective soul . . . . DC Fontana are a mighty musical massive on a mission.
A big-demand attraction in the UK & further afield, the DCs ride the cusp between the hip 21st century mod scene & the earthier scooterist movement, tumbling, twisting & turning as sonic groove gymnasts to produce a vibed-up sound that defies those who would pigeon hole them.
Make no mistake: this is magical music tailor-made to move you…and to make your feet move.
DC Fontana’s art & soul is an all-embracing, celebratory thing, not a myopic regurgitated slice of good-time retro music for a narrow audience of people only content to look back over their shoulders…
The DC Fontana band stirs its own sonic stew of essential original songs that draw on a myriad of influences and flavours.
It’s that precious collision of opposites that conjure up the magic…as they capture a sound that is young & old, modern & retro, light & dark, fierce & gentle & they paint an aural picture that is rich from all the spectrum of colour. It’s an expression that’s versatile, heart-felt & it’s a true testament of a band that’s in a state of constant evolution & revolution.
Through circumstance DC Fontana has had to consistently re-invent itself & is currently building success on top of, having evolved into a mini psychasouladelic orchestra!
At the core of the band are founding members Mark Mortimer & Neil Jones together with Hammond organ sculptor of sound Scott Riley.
Currently fronting the DCs is superb singer-songwriter (& guitarist!) KARLA MILTON. She has been occasionally joined by a guest vocalist here and there while other contributions come from two other regular members of the band in the shape of SCOTT RILEY & NEIL JONES.
Behind Karla stands a band that, like Sly & The Family Stone, is more than a pop group...it's virtually a family. And then some...
They come together to create a huge sound that’s rich in instrumentation & depth: horns, Hammond, guitars, reeds, flute, drums & percussion all combine without the need for the kitchen sink.
And the band has once again redefined, regenerated & emerged from its latest underground metamorphosis to great acclaim with undoubtedly its best sounding incarnation yet.
Having regularly wowed audiences as a headline act at oodles of events, scooter rallies & festivals in the UK & Europe, the future has never looked so good for this never-say-die band & with offers of shows flooding in, the group has firmly cemented its rightful place in the musical fabric of the mod & scootering culture while ever branching out further and beyond to nip in the bud any unfair pigeon-holing.
Bass guitarist Mark Mortimer was the original founding DC Fontana member.
But it was back in the mid '80s when Mortimer had initially emerged from Tamworth with his band The Dream Factory.
That group started off with a paisley-patterned psychedelic soul blueprint and its first demo had won praise & encouragement from ex-Teardrop Explodes singer Julian Cope who Mortimer had become friends with during Copey's return to the Midlands town following the split of the Teardrops.
In its earliest line up the Dream Factory featured school friend Donald Skinner who would soon find critical acclaim as Cope's guitarist.
The Dream Factory evolved into a punchy northern soul influenced band with attitude who had a huge following of mods and scooterists and who tore a hole in the outer mesh of the UK charts with their highly-respected indie hit “Wine & Roses” in 1985 on Neil Rushton's indie label Inferno.
The Dream Factory were tipped for big things and almost reached those dizzy heights only to falter at the final hurdle but even today the band is fondly remembered in scootering and mod circles.
As well as being with the Dream Factory Mortimer has played bass with several bands including a very brief stint in the mid-'90s with former northern soul legends The Volcanoes who were better known as chart-hitting 70s disco stars The Trammps.
The bass player appeared live on BBC TV with the Trammps when they reformed to play their hit “Hold Back The Night” for the “Children In Need” charity appeal and this was followed with a number of live gigs with the American soul singers.
Mortimer also played with The Space Seeds in the late '80s, a musical pot pourri of bizarre proportions which also featured -on filthy fuzz guitar soundscape creation- Rob Cross (who later went to Liverpool and played with the wonderful Mr. Ray's Wig World) & also helping out was ex-Primal Scream drummer Gavin Skinner.
Majestic Walker Brothers-esque joint lead vocals came from DeHavilland and Martin Kelly but it was a band born out of tilted juxtaposition.
After the Space Seeds, Mortimer carried on with other projects which eventually metamorphosed into The Lovebirds by which time Nigel Horton joined on drums followed shortly after by ex-Dream Factory guitarist Lloyd Barnett and fellow guitar player Neil Jones.
One or two singers later and a quick name change to DC Fontana followed.
The group's first lead vocalist was Frazer Douglas who had a distinctive Scott Walker-styled voice married with the attitude of a frenetic 60s garage singer.
The group has evolved with various different line ups over the years to what they believe to be their finest incarnation today.
Mortimer is joined in DC Fontana by a host of other superb musicians drawn from a very wide background including former Spectrum and E.A.R. man Scott Riley.
Riley recorded and toured with the indie spin-off projects of The Spacemen 3 main man Sonic Boom (aka Pete Kember) as a guitarist but when he joined DC Fontana in the summer of 2006 Riley began learning the art of playing the Hammond organ.
It is something of an enormous feather in his cap that the quietly-spoken Riley has managed to become such a high quality organist in such a short space of time. And he has brought with him from his Spectrum days a tune called "Take Your Time" which was re-sculpted for the '07 demo CD "Soul Soup."
Riley is now a major contributor to the band's material, boasting a treasure chest of tunes.
Neil Jones was another founding member of the DC Fontana band together with Mortimer and is a prolific song-writer of note who wrote most of the band's early output as well as contributing heavily as rhythm guitarist and vocalist.
Jones spent a two-year hiatus outside of the DC set up when he embarked on the ill-fated indie-rock project The Glory but now restored to the fold he is a vital and driving force behind the band.
Also in the group is red-hot drummer Ben Jones who adds swing and drive to the group’s dynamic sound. Bolstering the DCs' connection to the psychedelic past is the fact their ex-drummer & friend Rob Moore was once a member of the Deram recording act World Of Oz.
One of the main features of DC Fontana is a sizzling horn section which has plenty of experience and youth cast across its ranks and it’s this brilliant sound, rich in texture and harmony, which plays a large part in the DC aural attack. The section has a flexible line up and can range in size from as small as three to as big as six when on stage with the band.
Derbyshire based saxophonist Jamie Ryder plays both tenor and soprano with the DCs. A jazz-head, Ryder is just as comfortable locking into a groove within the section or soloing.
Trumpet player Steve Trigg is a long-time mod and a top player who has worked with a number of big names in the music world including Stevie Winwood.
In recent times Trigg was asked to perform on the much-publicised “Mod Aid” charity single for victims of the 2005 tsunami.
On the recording he starred alongside a veritable “who’s who” of the mod scene from the 1960s through to the modern day including names like Ron Wood (Rolling Stones, The Faces, Jeff Beck Group, The Creation, The Birds), PP Arnold, Chris Farlowe, Reg Presley (the Troggs), Steve Craddock (Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Weller), Mike Evans (The Action), the late Art Wood (The Artwoods), Ian Page / Dave Cairns / Dave Winthrop (Secret Affair), Jimmy Winston (The Small Faces), Billy Nicholls, Roger Dunbar (The Untamed), Simon Stebbing (The Purple Hearts), Andy Ellison (John’s Children), Buddy Ascot (The Chords), Fay Hallam (Makin’ Time & The Fay Hallam Trinity), Mark Le Gallez (The Risk), Chris Philpott (Small World), Steve Rinaldi (The Moment & Rinaldi Sings), Rod Spark (Modus), John Wratten (Small World) plus Steve Marriott’s daughter Molly.
Trigg has played all over the world and is one of the most vibrant trumpet player on the scene today and as well as contributing his playing to DC Fontana he is also a song-writer.
Superb Bedford-based musician Tim Nightingale adds further colour to the DC spectrum by playing either alto or tenor sax and he also chips in with flute.
Mike Holden is DC Fontana’s other trumpeter and joined the band in the spring of 2007 after a long spell out of music and he quickly settled in to become another vital cog in the group machine.
The very talented Staffordshire-based baritone saxophone player Nick Smith is another contributor to the group's rich horn section sound and is a highly respected and accomplished jazz musician in his own right.
Helping Nick with the bottom end of the DC sound is teenage trombone player Josh Large from Birmingham, a genuine young talent.
In recent times the band has expanded its horizons playing to a much wider audience and visiting several countries across Europe.
The DCs played alongside Kula Shaker and Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers at the prestigious Purple Weekend Festival in Leon in Spain.
And they've also headlined the Paris Rare Groove Day Festival in France, played at the Athenaeum Cave mod party in Greece while headlining the Beat The Clock Mod Weekender in Köln, Germany.
Other recent international trips have included shows in Italy and France.
In the past been the top attraction at a whole list of big scootering and mod scene events including the internationally famous Isle of Wight Scooter Rally (UK), the Paris Mod Weekender (Fr), the National Scooter Rally of Scotland, The Lambretta Day Festival, the Great Goo-Goo-Magoo Scooter Rally (Ireland), Camber Sands Scooter Experience, the Morecambe Scooter Rally, the Great Yarmouth Scooter Rally, the Run To the Shires Scooter Rally, the Great North-West Scooter Rally, the Sticky Rock Skegness Scooter Rally, the Bridlington Scooter Rally, the Scarborough Scooter Rally, the Phoenix Nights Scooter Rally, the Veteran Vespa Club of Great Britain Scooter Rally...the list goes on and on and on and on!
Having been firmly ensconsed as one of the best known and much loved groups that appeals to both of those scenes, DC Fontana continue to evolve and move forward, refusing to stand still & broadening their fan base, reaching out, stretching on.
Plaudits have come from far & wide with Scootering International citing them as “the best soul band in the country,” while global mod promoters the New Untouchables described the dcs as “Midlands mod sensations!”
Recent expansion of the band's horizons have proven their appeal is much broader than any one particular youth cult or scene.
Released in 2007 was the group’s hurriedly-recorded “Soul Soup” CD, which features live rehearsal & gig recordings to add to the previous successful limited edition singles: “The Snake” and “Father’s Name Is Dad.”
This stop-gap CD continued to cement the group's growing reputation but more exciting times lie ahead with the DCs planning to record their first PROPER album of original material for a release in 2008.
Watch this space for an announcement SOON!
A tour of the USA is also planned for 2008 and the future has never looked so bright for this never-say-die band!
More information on the 10-track SOUL SOUP, including ways of getting your mitts on a copy, can be found by contacting the band at [email protected]
And don't forget to peer through the looking glass. You may be pleasantly surprised.
The REV DELIRIUM
PS: the video clip below was shot by someone in the audience while watching the DCs play the Purple Weekend Festival in Spain, Christmas 2006...... ..
MANAGEMENT & BOOKINGS: Jazzfish Promotions: Telephone: 00 44 (0)1827 709804; Email: [email protected]