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Influences
Stax and Atlantic Soul / Memphis & Muscle Shoals Sound / 60’s Southern and 70’s soul funk and jazz, 90’s Rock-Grunge-Metal, Queen, The Move, ELO, The Police, Joni Mitchell, Jason Feddy, Jellyfish, Radiohead, Neu!, Ray Barbee, The Beatles, Herbie, Shuggie Otis, K-os, Lewis Taylor, Grant Green, James Brown, Prince, Stevie, Sly, D’Angelo, Joe Pass, Marvin, Aretha, Bill Withers, Don Blackman, Curtis, Sam Cooke, The Meters, Jimmy Scott, Dusty Springfield, Scott Walker, Jeff Buckley and Kurt Elling are just a few of the influences over the years....the list never ends, it just keeps growing...
Biog
"One of the best things you can do on radio is play a good record. Today someone bought this little gem into our studio and played it and I thought well, it really doesn't get any better than this..." Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2 6.5.08
“Mamas Gun, led by über cool vocalist Andy Platts sound fabulous on record and go down a hoot live too!” BBC Radio 1’s Steve Lamaq
"Mamas Gun offer up fabulous, toe-tapping grooves and are no doubt able to compete with the recent work of Mark Ronson." Drowned in Sound
Mamas Gun is the brainchild of extraordinarily talented new singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, designer and animator Andy Platts.
Debut album ‘Routes to Riches,’ chalked for release in September 2008 will be the first release by new label Lockout Music. Andy’s song-writing skills are already receiving recognition on both sides of the Atlantic and have led to a world-wide publishing deal with Zomba Music. Named after an Erykah Badu album, Mamas Gun have been making a big impression for some time. Incendiary live shows and irresistibly catchy tunes mean Andy has become a much-coveted writing partner to some of the biggest names in the industry. Now with Mamas Gun’s debut release, Andy is ready to step into the limelight.
Andy was born to a Filipino mother and English father. His father came to Hong Kong while backpacking and ended up working for the police force in the fight against Triad gangs. Andy’s family moved more than 20 times before he was 18. His earliest memories are of playing the piano and he wrote his first song when he was seven. Andy found an identity and voice by immersing himself in music after discovering Queen, ELO, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Sly and the Family Stone. Later, Andy’s family came back to live in the UK where due to his background he stood out from the crowd and experienced bullying and racism. However playing the guitar and piano offered a way of escaping and helped eventually to break down the barriers.
Andy won a scholarship to Liverpool’s prestigious LIPA McCartney institute after which he cut his teeth writing for a 10-piece band. Andy caught the eye of A & R talent spotters whilst playing in a band with Steffan Halperin (now the drummer in Klaxons) and performing on Corinne Bailey Rae’s mulit-platinum debut album. The publishing deal with Zomba Music followed and Andy was plucked from the UK live scene and given the chance to indulge his love of song-writing and talent by collaborating with the likes of Rod Temperton (who wrote tracks for off The Wall and Thriller for Michael Jackson), Jon Oates (one part of the legendary song-writing duo Hall & Oates), international pioneering DJ and film music composer King Britt and Toby Smith of Jamiroquai. He also had the chance to meet with Jeff Barry who wrote ‘River Deep Mountain High’ and Brian Jackson who collaborated with Gil Scott-Heron. The list of legends who have seen something special in Andy grows by the day, with this year The Average White Band asking him to record a cover version of one of their tracks.
During his trips Stateside, Andy also stayed at the infamous rock star hangout The Sunset Marquee in LA where he rubbed shoulders with Aerosmith, Madonna and Led Zeppelin. He has also been handpicked by Adidas, Budweiser and Jack Daniels to tour the world and these world-renowned brands all wanted to be affiliated with one of the UK’s most exciting new bands. ‘Routes to Riches’ was co-produced by Julian Simmons (The Guillemotts) and is set to be the soulful soundtrack to the summer. But aside from writing and co-producing his album Andy is a 360 degree artist responsible for all elements of his output and ahead of his debut release this June of ‘Pots Of Gold,’ he has also been involved in the creation of an animated series and exclusive podcasts where Andy has created and voiced alter egos to promote and explore his music. These will be available digitally throughout the campaign feeding into his already active online presence.
‘Routes to Riches’ evokes universal themes that everyone can relate to; love, chasing your dreams and making your way in the world. It is laced with music that pays homage to the dance-floor-filling funk and soul of the 1970’s, while also injecting a freshness and vibrant musical originality that makes this album so irresistible. Indeed Andy says “I believe you cannot create in the future without looking to the past but this does not mean being ‘Retro’. I consider what I write to be simply good pop music and though many people are afraid of the word ‘pop’ I’m not and I am determined to leave my musical footprint on the world”.
Because though Mamas Gun are destined for greatness, the ‘riches’ alluded to in the album title are not in fact financial, but spiritual and musical and these are qualities that Mamas Gun possess in abundance.
To see what all the fuss is about, check out Mamas Gun at the following dates:
15 April – The Barfly, CAMBRIDGE
18 April – The Brook, SOUTHAMPTON
28 April – Pressure Point, BRIGHTON
1 May – BRISTOL University
4 May – Oakford Social, READING
21 May – Soho Revue Bar, LONDON
22 May – Night & Day, MANCHESTER
23 May - Scala with Taio Cruz
5 June – DUBAI with De La Soul
6 June – BAHRAIN with De La Soul
11 June - THE LOCKOUT @ Dingwalls, London
13 June – BIRMINGHAM with Craig David
14 June – SOUTHAMPTON with Craig David
16 June – SALFORD with Craig David
17 June – LONDON SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE with Craig David
18 June – CAMBRIDGE with Craig David
1 July - HEADLINE @ The Enterprise, London
4 July – Blissfields Festival
6 July – Blissfields Festival
25 July – The Secret Garden Party Festival
+ more dates coming soon…
‘POTS OF GOLD’ THE DEBUT SINGLE AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD FROM 9/6/2008 ALBUM ‘ROUTES TO RICHES’ COMING AUTUMN 2008!
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