Son Of Dave...A Rough Guide
How often does it happen that you go to a gig and are completely mesmerized by the performance? These days it can seem like we've seen and heard it all before. That is not the case with Son Of Dave.
So it happened that one night in 2002, I went to the 12 Bar Club in London, more to meet a friend than to listen to o.k. singer/songwriters. All went as expected unti Son Of Dave took the stage. I was captivated at first by the way he looked. He was decked out in a three piece suit from the 1950s, two-tone brogues and a hollywood tie. His expression humble, until a grin told us there was a dark sense of humour that the Devil himself would be scared of.
Son Of Dave started his set with Mannish Boy... He sang in a high squeaky voice, telling us all ‚I’m a Man!’. In his left hand he worked a shaker, slow and sexy. In his right hand held a harmonica picked up by an old Astatic microphone and ratty vox amp, making the sounds that dissappeared in the early sixties...
Suddenly he starts humming the bass and drums! Not just doing the hip-hop beat-box routine, but breathing and moaning the rhythmn... stomp on the foot pedal and the beat was captured and looped. He sung again, dropping his voice down two octaves while this primal loop played on. Howling and growling, the tune climaxed with setting his harmonica on fire. I was a fan.
My first instinct was that I wanted to work with him and try to capture this unique vibe on record. I invited him to the studio to guest on the Martina Topley Bird album ‘Quixotic’, which we were making at the time. He mumbled something about hating Fulham and taking the tube, but eventually gave me his number.
A few months later we started recording this album, ‘O2’. Capturing the essence of his sound, this record represents him as a musical milestone and will hopefully help to make him the idol he deserves to be.
He’s played over 200 shows on four continents and I’ve seen many of them. Still enjoy every one. The word ‘legendary’ is reserved for men like this.
Alex McGowan, producer of Son Of Dave's O2 album.
Professional enquiries or curious folk should go to the website at: http://sod.ward404.com
Manager Charles Kirby-Welch: [email protected]
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Son Of Dave and Jon Spencer on stage in Rouen, France.
Photograph by Mathieu Olingue