Mamas Gun in Murcia
“MAMAS Gun are masters of modern soul music.” This is the bold statement made on the fivepiece, London-based outfit’s Bandcamp page… and by jove for once a band is not over-egging its pudding.
With statements such as ‘You must buy the Mamas Gun album’ from Peter Gabriel and ‘No doubt - they're amazing!’ by Brian May, it seems that even the industry big-hitters have taken a shine to the band fronted by singer, composer, producer Andy ‘AP’ Platts, which was formed in 2007.
Named after the Erykah Badu album, Platt was joined by bassist ‘Professor’ Rex Horan, keyboard players Dave ‘Eighties’ Oliver and Terry ‘Spiller’ Lewis and drummer ‘Union’ Jack Pollitt after he placed an advert on Myspace seeking musicians.
AP was born in a military hospital in Kowloon, Hong Kong, to a ‘nomadic’ father who had landed in the Far East as a police recruit in their battles with underground triad organisations.
Young Platts ‘soaked up’ the music that surrounded him (which included the Beatles, the Doors and ELO from his father, and a Filipino mother who played Spanish-influenced guitar), and eventually won a place at Paul McCartney's Liverpool based LIPA institute.
From here he went on to play on Corinne Bailey Rae’s acclaimed debut release and, in 2006, landed his own publishing deal with Zomba Music.
This led to collaborations with such luminaries as the rudely-talented Rod Temperton (who wrote the likes of Thriller, Off the Wall and Rock with You for Michael Jackson), John Oates (of Daryl Hall and… fame), Jed Leiber (son of Jerry) and former Gil Scott-Heron collaborator Brian Jackson, before he took up the mantle of Mamas Gun.
The band’s first release, Routes To Riches was co-produced by Julian Simmons (Ed Sheeran/Guillemots) and mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig (Black Eyed Peas, U2, the Rolling Stones) and is said to ‘combine the euphoria of soul and Motown music with the spirit of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Lewis Taylor and the Average White Band at their blue-eyed-soul best’.
BBC Radio 2 aired some of the tracks from the release and Smooth radio awarded it Album of the Week.
Interestingly, the Japanese embraced Mamas Gun, where they became the most played international act in the country, beating Madonna to the airplay No. 1.
2011’s The Life and Soul received attention both nationally and internationally and saw them headlining tours in Germany, Holland, Korea, Japan and the UK.
Cheap Hotel, released in 2014, is the band’s coming of age. On it they confidently embrace more of an eclectic soul, funk, and groove sound. The single Red Cassette is a catchy little critter that once heard is never forgotten, the title track hints at Prince, and overall the band continues to push its blueeyed soul envelope to tremendous effect.
The success of the album led to sold out dates in Germany and Holland and continued to expand their popularity throughout Asia.
February 23, 2018 saw the release of Golden Days, which is without a doubt Mamas Gun’s most established and complete album yet.
Almost like coming full circle, the album features a definite nod towards the heyday releases of Hall & Oates, the effortless funk of Stevie Wonder, plus a sort of homecoming with undertones of British acid jazz stalwarts, Incognito.
On the Bandcamp page for Golden Days, the outfit claim that the album is the ‘culmination of a musical journey that spans ten years and has helped fuel the vanguard of 21st century soul alongside the Dap Kings, Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, and Mayer Hawthorne’.
For the first time the band took control of the production and, as current bass player, Cameron Dawson notes: “Everything is live on this whole album, it’s all analogue”.
“It was really important for us that this album was a consistent listening experience from start to finish,” adds Chris Boot.
Mission accomplished there Chris, as Golden Days is as steady as a Costa Blanca summer sunrise… incidentally there is far worse music to listen to during that sultry period of the year… or throughout the entire 12 months for that matter.
Give Mamas Gun a Spotify and a YouTube to really get into their vibe and when you like what you hear, fill yer boots at the Teatro Circo in Murcia on March 14.