Getting all sorts of weird and wonderful with you today…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re from the North West. Kinda Chester, kinda Manchester.
How did you meet?
Ross (drums) and I (Mike – guitars and vocals) played in a post-grunge band way back in the day called Flacid. I moved down south approximately 15 years ago but tracked him down shortly after moving back up north. We met Andy (bass) through myband and he fits in perfectly.
How long have you been playing as a band?
Ross and I had been quietly working away for some time but we met Andy in September of 2017 and started gigging from January of 2018. It’s been a pretty busy year for us!
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Many years ago when Ross and I were in Flacid, we had a drunken night in with the rest of the band. We got hungry and decided to go out and grab some food, not before raiding Ross’s wardrobe. I ended up wearing a dressing gown with a pair of slippers stuffed in the pockets and took on the name ‘Slipperface Two Jones’ which I think was conceived by our bass player at the time. It seemed pretty funny and it’s just one of those things that’s always stuck in my head.
What are your influences?
Ross loves The Who and some good old classic rock. Andy loves American punk. We have common ground in our love of Nirvana. My first musical love was grunge and it still holds a special place in my heart. From that I had a huge crush on everything Sonic Youth for quite some time, some of their stuff is so nasty like Confusion Is Sex, hearing that album for the first time was actually quite scary. I also really love some of the more beautiful stuff they’ve done like NYC Ghosts & Flowers. Slightly off the guitar music map, I’m also a big fan of experimental electronic music, particularly stuff made using modular synthesizers.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
A swash of loud, soft, noise and melody! To date, everything we’ve done has been 100% DIY including the recording of our album Low Noise. We put an awful lot of hard work into it and I think initially underestimated how mammoth a task it would be. There’s no drum machines or amp simulators, everything was done the old school way, loud with lots of microphones. We’re really proud of how it’s turned out! It’s on Spotify/Apple music etc – go have a listen!
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Lyrics tend to be the last part of the puzzle and for me, they’re a bit like automatic writing – I don’t set out with a theme, I tend to just open my mouth and words come out and eventually a pattern will emerge. I often spot themes long after the lyrics have been written but I hope that listeners will work out their own themes.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
I’m guessing we’ve played approximately 30 gigs this year and we’ve been lucky to play some cracking venues. Some have kicked off, some have been pretty quiet but it doesn’t matter if we’re playing to 15 or 150 people, we play like our lives depend on it. Both sonically and visually, we’re loud.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
I’ve fallen over a few times, guitars get damaged fairly regularly, drums take a lot of abuse. I guess everything pales in comparison to Ozzy biting a bat’s head off and Keith Moon loading explosives in his kick drum….. how can you beat that?
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Ross has an old Arbiter kit that uses one lug. It sounds immense!
Andy rocks a Jaguar bass – such a modern classic.
I’m a big fan of shortscale Fender Ofsets, I’ve got a bunch of them and they’re all heavily modified. I have 2 early 70’s Fender Musicmasters, a 90’s Jaguar with Firebird pickups and I’ve just finished building a custom guitar loosely based around a late 70’s Musicmaster. All apart from the Jaguar have Barekuckle Pickups in them, I think their pickups are fantastic. Amp wise, I play through a ‘77 JMP Super Bass – same amp Lemmy used!
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Our album, Low Noise. It’s out on all major platforms.
What are your plans for 2018?
2018 is nearly over, we have a handful of gigs left but we’re gearing up for 2019. We’re hopefully going to play some festivals next year and get some slots with bigger bands.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be ing and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
I’d love to open up for a band like Autolux or Warpaint – that’d be unreal! If we could bring our mates Sparrowhawk and Roots to Nowhere along for the ride, that’d be even better!
Slipperface: facebook | spotify
