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22
February 2001 |
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- Friends
together is a nice little Irma
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- JOHN CLARE
puts the spotlight on another
up-and-coming Cambridge band.
LOCAL HEROES: My Friend Irma
- MY FRIEND IRMA got
their name the simple way. All
the band members put their ideas
into a hat and the one everybody
hated least was the one they went
for.
- The title of their
first album, Tom Bunning and Mr
Late, was chosen in much the same
way (it also happens to be the
names of their two roadies). In
fact, everything about the band
seems to be an example of
serendipity in action.
- Take the way they
met. Singer Jenni Thomas moved to
Cambridge and met lead guitarist
Guy Henderson, who was already in
a band with singer Tom Kendon and
bassist Tim Glasswell. With the
addition of drummer Dave Morris
the line-up pretty much chose
itself.
- How they came to
sound like they do, a heady
mixture of styles and sounds,
also seems to have been a happy
accident.
- Jenni said: "We
are five very individual people
and have different styles. I
listen to dance but also a bit of
rock, Guy is really into Herbie
Hancock and Led Zeppelin, and
Dave listens to stuff I have
never heard of before. Really
weird!"
- Ditto for
songwriting. "The whole band
writes the songs," said
Jenni. "We all sit down and
have a go. We have not had a
major bust-up yet. If we are
jamming something we will turn it
into a song. I don't think we
could sit down and discuss how to
do it, I would rather just get in
there and work it out."
- Even having two
singers has proved a bonus rather
than a problem, adding to the
rich sound which has made them
local live favourites.
- Although Tom Bunning
and Mr Late has only just had its
London launch, the band start
recording their new LP in March.
It too will rely on the band's
anarchic chemistry. Instead of
going into the studio with
complete tunes, they are taking
in loose ideas, hoping to forge
songs in the studio.
- If you want to see
for yourself how well their
technique works, then you can buy
Tom Bunning and Mr Late from V2,
Jay's Records, Parrot Records or
from the band's website
www.myfriendirma.co.uk
- To hear them live
get down to the Boat Race on East
Road on February 24.
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