Kurt Baker is the very definition of “cult hero”. He’s played in various bands since the 90s and been a very active member of both the punk and power pop scenes. He knows most of your punk heroes personally…and yet, chances are, many of you will still be unfamiliar with his work. In July 2017, Kurt completed his first UK tour in several years, promoting the Kurt Baker Combo’s first studio release ‘In Orbit’. Real Gone met him at his Brighton stop for various drinks and a lengthy chat. Nothing was taken down formally. It was decided that upon Kurt’s return to Spain, we ought to get something on record for posterity, since the visit was an important one in his ongoing musical journey.
Category Archives: Interviews
Four Chords & Twenty Seven Weasels: Real Gone meets The Radio Buzzkills
You’ve probably not heard of The Radio Buzzkills. Chances are, even if you’re a big punk fan, the band have still slipped under your radar. In 2017, the St Louis based band celebrated their fifteenth anniversary and they also achieved a career high point when they shared a stage with one of their all time heroes. In January, they stopped by at Real Gone to tell us all about that soon-to-be legendary gig…and more besides.
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Reviewing the Reviewer: Fraser Marshall talks to Real Gone
Frank Zappa once supposedly claimed that writing about music was “like dancing about architecture”. For many, though, writing about music has become an important part of pop culture. From the listening notes on the backs of old jazz albums from the 1950s and the great Rolling Stone essays during rock’s 70s boom, to the punk fanzines and the many essays filling the twenty-first century’s super deluxe box sets, writing about music has taken many forms, which sometimes can enrich a listening experience. A good music review can inspire a new purchase or even make a listener seek out forgotten treasures. Maybe Frank didn’t understand. Maybe Frank didn’t want to understand (and depending on whom you believe, he borrowed the phrase from any one of about five people, including actor Martin Mull). Whatever, the importance of music scribes hasn’t escaped music fan Fraser Marshall.
In an age where we now have access to more music than ever and the rise of the internet has meant there are now more budding scribes out there, Fraser hit upon a plan… A plan not only to highlight some of the best independent music websites, but to also sit down with prolific reviewers and find out what makes them tick.
Not all good ideas come to full fruition, as Fraser explains below. For the first time, you can now read the full interview Lee Realgone gave Fraser back in June ’16. Our many thanks to Fraser for not only being interested in what we had to say, but also for allowing us to publish the interview at Real Gone.
Maybe one day Reviewing the Reviewer will become a reality but, in the meantime, it’s over to Fraser…
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Big River Blues: Real Gone Meets guitarist Damo Fawsett (Slight Return)
For most people, the arrival of a new year often means a time of change, of looking forward; a time to embrace new ideas and new projects. This is especially true for Damo Fawsett, a hard-working guitarist who recently parted ways with his band Slam Cartel. He already has various new projects underway. At the beginning of January 2016, he stopped by at Real Gone to tell us all about them…
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Five For Silver: Real Gone meets Daniel Tashian
The Silver Seas released their third album, ‘Chateau Revenge!’ in 2010. It quickly became one of Real Gone’s favourite albums of that year…and indeed since. …And to think we’d discovered the album almost by accident, off the back of another release which was actually one of the worst things we’d been sent for review that year! The band’s retro pop talents did not go unnoticed by others either, since they were also championed by a couple of legendary figures from the world of UK radio. From then on, we kept a close eye on things happening in the Silver Seas camp and plans were made at the end of 2014 to catch up properly with their frontman Daniel Tashian. Busy schedules meant that the proposed interview did not happen straight away and, in fact, it would be almost a year until we could actually sit down and have Daniel spill the beans with regard to any future plans…but in December 2015, he joined Real Gone for a look back and a look forward to all things musical.
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