Twisted Wheel are a band fast-needing no introduction. And with so many quintessential British rock'n'roll bands ending their reigns at the head of the scene, including Oasis and more recently Supergrass, these boys have been working harder than ever to claim a spot at the top and mark their place in British music history. And too right.  Oldam trio Jonny Brown (vocals), Adam Clarke (drums) and Rick Lees (bass) hit the UK charts with their debut album Twisted Wheel in 2009, after forming just two years before. It's a showcase of what the band are all about: real lyrics, catchy, punky riffs and passion for the heart and soul of true British rock'n'roll. The album, which includes singles 'She's A Weapon', 'Lucy The Castle' and 'We Are Us', whilst receiving mixed reviews, gained the band an ever-growing and loyal fanbase (including Oasis' Chris Sharrock's daughter) - a crucial part of the touring life this band has become accustomed to. 

Currently in the midst of their headline tour, having played everywhere from Edinburgh to Swindon, Manchester to Leeds, the boys see this as their best tour yet and are proud of their cult following. "It's been a mint tour. We've done like four days on, one day off, four days on... pretty much the whole country in a month. Every gig's been rammed to the bone. In the last three months the fan-base has grown more than it has in the last two years. It's completely gone mad," grins lead vocalist Brown.  "We used to get a lot of press when the album came out and a lot more coverage than we do now but I think people would read the reviews and think 'nah, i'm not into these' before even listening to us but now their friends have got into us, started talking about us and coming to gigs, and word-of-mouth has made the fan-base just explode."  The band were invited to support the Modfather himself, Paul Weller, on his Forest tour last summer, which opened the door to the older generation of audience for the Oldam boys.   

Brown explains, "All the people that go and see Paul Weller are mostly fans from when he was in The Jam so I think they’re all excited to see a young band who’s like The Jam and who’s into Paul Weller so that’s why we went down pretty well. The amount of people we’ve picked up from his tour was crazy - a lot of them are a bit older.  "The main age group who listen to us used to be between 18 and 24 and since the Paul Weller tour, the age group 30 to 50 has gone up treble - so that definitely must have been from the Weller gigs. They're the people who can buy our records as well. Coz all these little kids now just download music for free so you need those old fans with a bit of cash."  The band were also hand-picked to support Oasis on their 2009 stadium tour last year, again going down a treat with audiences and running up a few bar bills with the Gallagher brothers along the way. With the recent launch of Liam's Pretty Green Spring 2010 collection, Brown tells us of how he almost became a model for the label.   

"That would have been a good plan. Liam promised he'd buy me a Lambretta an' all. He was like, "Come down to London and do the photoshoot - we've got all these fit birds on the shoot and i'll give you a Lambretta for your trouble." But it just never happened. Wish it did.  His stuff don't seem to fit me very well though. He's given us loads of stuff in the past and they keep ringing us to give us some more stuff from the new Spring and Summer collections, but I can't really wear it." That's where eBay could come in handy then. After forming in 2007 on the back of problems with Brown and Lees' first band The Children, the trio have done a lot to get to where they are today and become known as one of the hardest working young touring bands around.  Drummer Adam tells us, "We did our first demo - a five-track EP and got a real nice cover done for it - I don't think any of us have got a copy of it actually...Anyway, we used to stand outside peoples’ gigs and give ‘em out.   

Jonny would get everyone’s addresses off Myspace and we posted them all CDs with a letter in saying ‘This is the band!’  I remember doing that for about four days - putting CDs in envelopes and stuff...But it was worth it coz people remember that kind of stuff. Loads of fans at the gigs now go, 'Ah you sent me that CD years ago!'"  So the nights spent out in the rain outside other peoples' gigs, meeting fans and getting their name out the themselves seems to have paid off. Not only did they headline a huge tour last year, but also played with the likes of Ian Brown, Kasabian and Happy Mondays, and played the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury. These scruffy lads make it clear that they're here to stay, and their secret? 'Ard work and keeping it real. "A lot of the bands around seem to be fucking posh kids. Years ago it used to be kids and punks who were skint would go out and get a guitar from somewhere and start a band, you know. Not even know how to play it - only know four chords or whatever.   

"And now it’s all these parents who have a bit of money going ‘Oh, let’s get the kids guitar lessons...’ and that’s why there’s no fucking real heart and soul. These bands come out for like five minutes. We Smoke Fags - let’s give ourselves a shit name - and then they’re gone a year later. But we’re still going strong, three years on. Our fanbase is growing and that’s coz we’re real - not fucking fake. We’re all self-taught as well," says Brown.  But working on the new material has made the boys realise they could add a little more depth to their sound and are at the final stages of adding a fourth member. Brown coyly tells us, "Yeah, there’s a new member coming. We want an all-rounder really. We’re happy being a trio but in the back of your mind in certain songs you think ‘we could add a little guitar to this’ or ‘it’d be great to have this in that song’. It’s not definitely set in stone but i think we’re gonna give it a go.  We’ve got someone in mind. He’s someone i’ve known since I was about 16 - he went to my college and has been in bands all the time we’ve been doing our band. I always thought that he was good but i’ve never worked with him.  

He’s got a 90% chance of joining us. It’s just a case of us just finishing this tour really. We gotta sort money out, stuff like that - cos if you’re gonna get another member you gotta pay ‘em!"  "We're gonna finish this tour with a bang and get straight into recording all the new songs. Hopefully the album will be out in September - proper British rock'n'roll, you know - different stuff," says Brown. We look forward to the new stuff and the unveiling of the new member! In the meantime, the Twisted Wheel boys have been nice enough to give you an exclusive free download of favourite live track 'Tell The World'. Keep an eye on these ones.

http://twistedwheel.mp3signup.com/subscriber.aspx 

Words: Shelly Elcock

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