"Don't fight boys , try doing something productive" ................. " Go fishing , climb some trees , go play in a f**kin' band or something , just get out of my kitchen!" The words of Ermanno Furlanis . Those words changed the lives of 5 young lads forever ....
Texas Radio Band all grew up in a small town in West Wales called Llansteffan . At that time , they were all at a bit of a loose end . Having recently finished school they found themselves jobless and stuck in a beautiful , picturesque village full of retired people . It was fun for a while , hanging out in the bars , going to Ermanno's Pizza Parlour , smoking the draw . It was as it should have been , quite idylic .
But Ermanno's words struck a chord with the boys . It wasn't immediate , it was more something that grew on them over time . One evening in April 1999 Tony turned up with a Datuari Keyboard to the castle dungeons , where the band used to make little fires and look at Taschen art books. He started playing a tune called " Llawn Ceg " . It was never used , but gave them some ideas . They all decided there and then on the roles they would play . It was also then that they decided on the name of the band that was taken from a poster in Squids's room ( he was a big hitchcock fan at the time).. . . . .
After scraping together a batch of rickety pop songs they went and played a few concerts and did a session for Radio Cymru . They then went on tour with a band called Nanny Granny , a band from a nearby village . They played at about 20 different venues all over West Wales . It was snowy when they played a gig in Ceinewydd . It was there that they met Alex , who was from Llansteffan but , until then , had always kept himself to himself . As it turned out he was a keen guitarist and he became the fifth member of the band..
Over the next few years the band travelled out from the village to perform at various festivals and to go to some studios to record sessions , singles and an album . Texas Radio Band recorded Baccta Crackin in 2004 at a mountain village studio in North Wales . The boys were looked after by a couple of furry , rugged blokes called Dylan and Marc . They showed them the sights of North Wales and allowed the band to record in their studio at the same time . It was a fun couple of weeks for the band sleeping in the studio which was a big converted barn . Gruff met a North Walian Rat for the first time there too .
After that , they went on tour , and met a lot more North Walians , and then it stopped ..... Mini , the selfish type that he is , found a girl and left the group to go to Spain . The break was sudden , the effects were profound . Squids sat at home , venturing out of the house only to fetch the shopping for his mother , or deliver christmas cards . Tony , went back to playing organ in the Chapel . Gruff was forced to find a job and consequently found some work in Ermannos kitchen . Alex was not so badly effected , as he was always a bit more independent .
Two years had passed when on one summery day Tony recieved a knock at the door . It was Mini . At first , Tony was lost for words , but then he managed to open his mouth " Dick" He said . By this point Squids had become quite a success through selling clothes he designed over the interent . Gruff was still at the Pizza Parlour but had fallen for Ermanno's daughter and was about to get married . Alex did what Alex does. They all met up that night and went back to the castle dungeon to try and regain what they once had
They decided to write an Album dedicated to Sammy Slipper's late Grandfather , Gavin . he was one of the more interesting characters in the village , always perched on his wall , one leg up one down . Watching ; They watched him sometimes ......... So they set about re-learning their instruments and sampling forest , village , city and castle sounds . Whilst walking through the forest they bumped into a man in a long coat called Iwan who claimed to have a studio in a shack at Scott's point . He did have a studio , and the band settled in to start creating Gavin
They are presently still in the village working away . I recieved a phone call the other day . Apparently they are close to completing their second studio album . There have been some complications , a bust water mains flooded the studio and set things back a few months . One night they listened to Iws's recordings of ghosts and were too scared to go back for two months . However , now they seem confident that it is near completion . We await.
Here are some links you can check out:
- More Videos and Blog on TexasRadioBand.comSome of our Back Catalogue on Kimberley RecordsLive performances on Bandit247Album snippets (and shop) courtsey of SlacyrMinisite on bbc.co.uk