Fri, Jan 22 2010

Written by:Roisin Kiernan

Led by a Rod Stewart-sounding husky-voiced frontman, with all the pomp and front to pull off such a weighty nod, Marner Brown are your pretty typical old skool rock band. But that's by no means a dig - they've got the drive, ambition and talent to make it work. Having recently signed to an American label and with plans to record their debut album in March, it seems things are really looking up for these Twickenham-based lads. Singer Fiachra Kerrigan explains more...

Who are you and where are you from?
“We're Marner Brown, a rock 'n' roll band from south west London. The current line up has been together for about two and a half years. We're Fiachra Kerrigan (vocals/ rythm guitar), Aaron Grimes (lead guitar), Jacob Hollebon (bass guitar), John Wildgoose (keyboards/ backing vocals), Cozi Kerrigan (drums/ backing vocals). Until quite recently we've always rehearsed and hung around in and around Twickenham and Richmond with Filthys (The Red Lion) being our kind of HQ. There's a long line of legends that came from and played round here in the sixties and beyond and it would be great to pick up the baton.”
 
What have you done?
“Aside from writing, rehearsing, drinking and arguing? The highlight for me would have to be supporting Ocean Colour Scene at the London Astoria. On the strength of that gig we formed a friendship and also did two later tours with them. One of which was a hard rock acoustic tour, on the last night in Mayfair, where another huge influence and hero of mine, Sir Paul Weller was in the crowd. He [Weller] was gonna be in Japan and so kindly let us use his Blackbarn studios to finish our demos in while he was away.

“We've done a fair few festivals. We also did supports with Whitesnake, believe it or not, Towers of London, the Rifles and Babyshambles. We then began something new and got involved with brands such as Quiksilver, Lee Cooper and Eastpak for endorsements and sponsorship, which has seen us doing gigs and modelling in the alps in Italy, Biarritz on the coast of France and in a medieval fairground in Paris. And recently we also wrote and recorded a song called 'Open Road' for the new global Grolsch ad campaign. You can see the ad and the making of the showreel here.

“After getting this far, thanks to us just not giving up and the belief and determination of our manager, we were lucky enough to sign a record deal with a New York label called Road Warrior Entertainment.”
 
What inspires you?
“Writing and playing music basically. I love the whole creative process of it, and that there's no real right or wrong, set structure to doing it. I do try and write about things that are real to me, or a situation that's real to someone else, and try and steer clear of the old classic 'boy meets girl'.

“I think inspiration can come from anywhere at anytime. You can just meet someone random who just blows you away. Or love someone or something, or hate someone or something. Just watching the news or a documentary and being emotionally effected by it. Reading books, looking at photos and just listening to other peoples' music from the past and the present keeps you on your toes too.

"I love the feeling of excitement you get when you think you're on to something good or just getting a little idea messing around with a guitar and it evolves into something far bigger. Inspiration is whatever turns me on or off and it's everywhere and unstructured. That's probably why it suits me. My life's pretty unstructured.”
 
What makes you stand out?
“One of the things that will hopefully make us stand out, is that we have every intention of sticking around for a while. Especially since the whole internet driven, downloading stuff started really kicking off, a band's shelf life seems to have diminished and labels quite simply don't have the money they did before to inject into bands or real, long term projects. Everyone's in a band now, but they're here one minute and gone the next.

“Another reason for standing out is that we're a British band signed to an American label, which isn't happening a lot, as far as i know? They saw something in us that is true to the roots of all great music. Not a come-n-go product. A band with longevity. Very few bands crack the states or even get a toe in the door so maybe with our situation we can try and bridge the gap a bit, who knows?”
  
Where are you going?
“The next step for Marner Brown is to go to Spain at the end of March and record our first album at El Cortijo Studios. It's a studio we found that seems to tick all the boxes. It was really important to us to be away from everyone and everything to keep the momentum of the album going, to live together and just to keep in the right, focused mind set. After overdubs and mixing etc I suppose comes the massive task of letting the world know you exist! It'll involve a lot of touring including the US the U.K, also Asia and the Far East hopefully. But that's what we're best at and here to do. Play live, energetic gigs to promote the album, and have a great time doing it - then write more songs and do it all again!”

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