AWOOGA
Amplifier-approved, Red Dwarf-loving space rockers from Sheffield.
“I MESSAGED SEL BALAMIR AND SAID, ‘CAN WE COME ON TOUR WITH YOU?’”
AlwAys meet your heroes – that’s Awooga’s advice. Not only have they toured with one of their favourite bands (twice!), they’ve also ended up being signed to the frontman’s record label.
“We’re all big Amplifier fans and [drummer] Taz noticed they were touring, so I messaged Sel [Balamir, Amplifier’s frontman] and said,‘Can we come on tour with you?’” reveals singer and bassist Tam Ali.“This was in 2014 when we’d just released a five-track demo, and he messaged back saying, ‘I really like your sound – yeah!’ We didn’t know him but Sel took the time to listen to us, liked what he heard and here we are.”
Serendipity is a recurrent theme in Awooga’s world. It’s been nine years since brothers Tam and Taran ‘Taz’ Ali teamed up with their childhood friend James Borrowdale to form the band. Their onomatopoeic name is from sci-fi comedy show Red Dwarf, and their aim is to boldly go!
“James was originally playing saxophone so it was bass, drums and sax when we started,” Tam reveals.“That didn’t sound too good so James picked his guitar up, plugged into his pedals and it worked. I know it sounds really cheesy but it just gelled from the first note.
“Taz is really into his jazz prog – that’s how he learned to drum – and he’s a big Alan White fan. We all like Yes, Rush, Tool, Frank Zappa… We’re into that dirty, dark, grungy stuff as well, but with a bombastic overtone – maybe a bit of The Mars Volta to give it some edge.”
The results of their shared musical passions come through on the intergalactic post-grunge grooves that grace their 2016 EP Alpha – a reworking of material from their early demos – and their debut studio album Conduit, which is out via Balamir’s Rockosmos label. In keeping with their philosophy, they found producer Iago Lorenzo purely by chance.
“He’s an exceptional talent and when Sel heard him, he said, ‘I want him to mix my record,’ so he worked on Amplifier’s Trippin’ With Dr Faustus as well,” reveals Ali.“We were in Spain for a month recording Conduit and most of that was spent with Iago sat over our pedal boards suggesting things about how to open up the sound and make it expansive.
He had quite a bit of input. There’s even a section in the song Bandit where we tortured a guitar and ran it over in the car. It sounds pretty monstrous!”
Although Awooga’s wheels are running very smoothly, they have also had their fair share of disasters. The so-called Awooga Curse struck several times during their most recent shows with Amplifier, leading to two dates being rescheduled.
“We’ve literally had the wheels fall off the bus on the first day of the tour before,” admits Ali,
“and Amplifier had two buses break down when we last played with them, so obviously we had to get the worst weather possible as soon as we started this tour!”
Prog really hopes the universe restores the balance soon. Nrs