Latest Scoundrels News

  • FriAug 27th

  • Here’s George recording his solo for ‘Porno’ at Electrical Audio studios in Chicago. 

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  • ThuJul 8th

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  • SatJul 3rd
  • Great interview with Ned. Click here. →

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  • SunJun 13th
  • Q
    Hello! We are doing a Yacht Rock in North London in October. Would you like to play? We think you'd be perfect!

    Kind regards

    Jo
    jokendall@futurenet.com
    jokendall@blueyonder.co.uk
    A

    sounds interesting, what exactly is it?

    Scoundrels

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  • Leg 9, Cardiff

    Wales, what a place, and Cardiff, what a city. Having enjoyed a pleasant drive in the sunshine we Scoundrels arrived in Cardiff ‘neath a yellow sun with the heat on our backs. Full o’ beans and mood one of the first sights that greeted us on arrival was the sight of nude cyclists circling the castle walls. Had we have brought our bikes we’d have joined them, for in terms of a pre-gig ritual, nude cycling is probably very therapeutic. 

    It was also a sad day as it was the last of our tour dates with Murder By Death who have been awesome to tour with. All of them are really great people, and their live shows have always been top notch, a real learning experience for us. So a huge thankyou to those guys for giving us the opportunity to tour with them.

    The gig itself wasn’t that great in terms of how we played and our bad luck at coinciding our set time with the England USA game wasn’t exactly a masterclass in musical planning. As a result the crowd weren’t that big, the echo in the club like that of a French cave (without the neolithic paintings) and the set itself lacking a little in the balls, energy and tightness that has been a hallmark of this tour so far.

    Once finished we listened one last time to Murder By Death who kindly dedicated a song of theirs to us. Loaded up, ready of bong, ready of beer, ready of song we moved off slowly towards the M4 for one last trip towards London, home of Scoundrels.

    All in all it was a great tour, we’ve all had such a laugh and we’ve met a lot of cool people along the way, not to mention played in some awesome venues and cities. We hope to see many of you again on our next tour in July. Till then watch this space…

    x Scoundrels

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  • Leg 8, Plymouth

    What a place Plymouth is, and what a day to arrive there. Basking in sunshine the musical bandwagon rolled into the seafront city riding high on a wave of confidence and high spirits after the previous nights success.

    Having arrived way ahead of schedule we proceeded towards the beach, eventually settling in an old derelict beach front restaurant. Once settled we proceeded to bask in the sun, throw pebbles at plastic bottles and generally enjoy ourselves. 

    Soundcheck did nothing to dim our high spirits as the venue, The White Rabbit looked great, sounded great and all the staff working there were extremely great. 

    As the sun faded, and night set in we noticed a distinct lack of activity around the entrance to the venue. In fact but for the occasional tramp it seemed as though the entrance had been all but entirely ignored by the good folk of Plymouth.

    As the time neared we entered the club to find our worst fears confirmed. Even with the thick mist emanating from the smoke machine, very very few shapes could be distinguished on the dance floor. When eventually the thick cloud dispersed it only revealed four revellers in the middle of the large dance floor.

    Yet despite being small in number, outnumbered by the band, these four Plymouth natives did an awesome job of making up for the sparcity of human life in The White Rabbit that evening. In a weird twist of fate, the lack of people in the venue meant that those four fans could use the space allowed them to their advantage. As a result their dance moves intensified in nature, becoming more “limby” with each song and more furious in energy output. Thankyou, forever more ye shalt be known simply as “The Plymouth Four”.

    Although not the best attended, we thoroughly enjoyed playing that night and left Plymouth in good mood, ready for the last of our tour dates in Cardiff, home of the dragon and the leek.

    x Scoundrels

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  • Leg 7, Exeter

    As our musical bandwagon rolled west, careering round the ancient stones of Stonehenge we all mused in quiet contemplation. I wonder what the druids would’ve thought of our music? Would we have been booked as band of choice for the various sacrifices that took place on the centre stone? All important questions you would have to say, but with Exeter Cathedral towering into view, a brick shard piercing through the leafy wilderness, we had to adjust our brain thermostats to the job in hand, that of musically wooing the kindly folk of Exeter.

    And that we certainly did. The Cavern, Exeter is a great rock n roll venue, sweaty and vibey, just the way we Scoundrels like it. It also happens to be situated next to a hairdressers so no sooner had we unloaded than I decided to head off for a bowl-cut (the cut of kings, it’s never a bad thing resembling a 12th century monk).

    With my hair gently coiffed we resorted to playing a rip-snorter of a set to a packed Exeter crowd. Twas indeed sweaty atop the stage, but we were all in a great space performance wise that night and left the stage to rapturous applause and much patting of backs etc.

    Once finished we headed out to discover what Exeter’s finest drinking establishments had to offer. We discovered a classy joint not far from the venue that was said to have been the last place in England where witches were hung for their crimes. Safe in the knowledge that not one of us was a) guilty or b) a witch we drank on, Billy enjoying each and every sip of his £2 ale that had all the flavour of a sodden jock strap.

    A good night had by one and all, we retired to bed excited at the prospect of our solo headline gig without Murder By Death in Plymouth.

    x Scoundrels

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  • Tour photo blog. →

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  • ThuJun 10th

  • Leg 6, Oxford

    Home of the dictionary and the words “whelk” and “gusset”, Oxford truly is a magical place. The O2 Academy is no exception to this reputation. And despite losing £1 under a door frame in a Chinese reputation, nothing could blight our general cheeriness, not even the slightly smaller crowd.

    We were given an amazing dressing room, one that’d been used by Goldfrapp the night before and all the amenities a band of five guys would need. An iron, some plastic forks, a couple of napkins and a piece of Ginger ensured that we were well prepared for the evenings events.

    We didn’t play too well but were ok, nothing more and nothing less. Tomorrow nights gig in Exeter will put us back on form and see us play “All On My Own” for the first time on the tour.

    Till tomorrow folks…

    Scoundrels x

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  • Leg 5, Manchester

    Home of Joy Division, The Happy Mondays, Oasis and The Stone Roses. None of whom have had an influence on us in the slightest. Nevertheless Manchester is an awesome city and The Deaf Institute, our venue for the evening is an amazing place down to the smallest of details. Just have a look at the wallpaper and the “speaker wall” behind the bar for proof.

    The gig itself was a good ‘un, with a good and enthusiastic crowd up for an ear-shatteringly good time. The only low point in the gig coming at the end of “Little Red Riding Hood”. All of us missed our cue and the resulting musical mellee sounded like five solvent abusers on a penny farthing cycling trip in the Brecon Beacons.

    The gang headed out later that evening to fifth avenue to display the bands incredible dancing abilities. All five members of the band being graduates of London’s prestigious dance Academies.

    Scoundrels x

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  • Leg 4, London

    Like Napoleon returning to France from Elber, we Scoundrels returned home to London to play The Luminaire. And, much like the short, stumpy Emperor we were met with open ears and arms. Was a really great gig to a packed house and with each bead of sweat dedicated to ensuring a top performance it made for the gig of the tour so far. Post gig we headed for Soho with a record 14 people wedged into the tour bus. At the back of the bus people struggled for air but soldiered on, smiles etched on their blue faces. Whilst those wedged into the glove compartment seemed ready for an eye-poppingly good evening. And eye poppingly good it was. We hit the sack that evening excited at the prospect of playing at the home of the dictionary the following evening, perhaps we’d even meet the man who wrote the bloody thing. Needless to say we’d all brought copies with us in the hope of getting them signed.

    Scoundrels x

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  • TueJun 8th

  • Leg 3, Glasgow

    Last nights gig at legendary venue King Tuts was the best yet of the tour. With a good, ol’ fashioned rowdy crowd in attendance we produced a pumped up set, slipping in tougher tunes like “Loud and Proud”.

    Our good mate Rupert Turner showed up too with his new bandmate Adam. Both were up in Glasgow to play the ABC with their new band fronted by starlet Leah Mason (watch this space) as support for belle du jour Ellie Goulding.

    Our thirty minutes of musical glory cemented, we decided to venture out and experience what Glasgow had to offer. And by heck, glasgow has a lot to offer. Most of our night was spent in Nice n Sleazy’s, an awesome bar where the kindly Scottish folk served cheap White Russians and told of misdemeanours with cheese. Post Nice n Sleazy’s was spent wandering aimlessly and mildly dyspraxically around Glasgow singing cockney versions of such classics as “A Change Is Gonna Come”. Never before has Sam Cooke sounded so damn cheeky.

    Merrily and full o’ beans we made for our hotel. Ready for some snooze-time and rest before our trip down south.

    Manchester here we come…

    Scoundrels x

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  • SunJun 6th

  • Leg 2, Birmingham

    Last nights gig in Birmingham was a right ol’ banger. Although the first leg gig in Leicester was good this was certainly a notch up. We threw caution to the wind and popped in “Little Red Riding Hood” (a tune we’ve always found impossible to play well live) which, with the addition of Moogy’s keys sounded great.

    The Birmingham crowd were very friendly and had we have had cd’s for sale i’m sure we’d have sold quite a few. We’d also like to say a huge thankyou to the chefs at Pizza Hut in the Bull Ring who made every possible effort to destroy George and I with a meal that would’ve brought fear and apprehension to even the hardiest of gluttonists (Rick Waller for example).

    Post gig, loaded and ready we made our steady way to Preston to our hotel, narrowly missing out on the late night karaoke at a nearby pub. I’m sure we could’ve done justice to any number of club classics but feel that our real collective strength lies in recreating the memorable tunes of “Five” or the “Blazin’ Squad”.

    With slight sadness in our hearts at not being able to fulfill our karaoke potential we slunk off to our beds to ponder what could’ve been.

    As I write we’re 20 miles from Glasgow, ready to enjoy battered mars bars, haggis and all that King Tuts has to offer.

    Till tomorrow y’all.

    Scoundrels x

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  • SatJun 5th
  • <p>Ned and G hanging out in Bosworth.</p>

    Ned and G hanging out in Bosworth.

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  • Leicester, Leg 1

    The roadshows a’rollin. Last nights gig in Leicester was a right ol’ cracker and marked Moogy’s first gig as member of Scoundrels. Needless to say the “Lord of the Ivories” was a revelation, adding punch to a short but sweet set bookended by “Just Can’t See It Through” and “Porno”.

    The set over, our clothes soaked through with perspiration we retired to the comfort of our travel lodge and some well deserved beauty sleep.

    Having dreampt of private jets, jacuzzi’s, roll royce’s, Brazilian models, champagne, Ivor Novello awards and hall of fame induction ceremonies we awoke to the sweet fumes of cheese and onion Ginsters pasties wafting in through the tar stained curtains of our humble abodes.

    On our way north we stopped off at Bosworth battlefield, with it’s awesome interactive museum. We felt very at home there, pausing momentarily to ponder the “musical battles” we will have to undertake before establishing our own “Tudor dynasty”…

    We aim to continue that battle tonight in Birmingham at the 02 academy. I’m sure we’ll knock em dead…

    Scoundrels x

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  • FriJun 4th

  • Tour begins...

    Having spent the morning loading up, starching underpants, filling plastic vestibules with water and ensuring that all the “i’s” are dotted and all the “t’s” are crossed we 6 preachers of “Cruddy Soul”, sellers of “Crag Rock” and providers of the finest merchandise that both cotton and nylon has to offer are on our way to beat the people of Leicester into musical submission.

    We’ll constantly keep y’all updated with tour devlopments. Tomorrow it’s Birmingham’s turn to be aurally assaulted.

    X Ned/Billy/Genie/G-String/Moogy/Tom

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  • ThuMay 27th
  • [Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

    Ned gives us a quick round up of current goings on from a bus in Chicago. 

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  • FriMay 21st

  • Questions we get asked: how was America? What was it like working with Steve Albini? Did you really live in a swamp? 

    So, to answer those questions we made a film about the whole trip. Here’s a preview. 

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  • SatMay 1st

  • Scoundrels presently...

    Hi y’all,

    Just thought I’d write a little blog filling y’all in on what we’ve been up to over the past month.

    Since our return at the beginning of April life in Scoundrels HQ has been pretty much non-stop. Aside from completing our debut album, organising artwork, mixing and mastering we’ve been hiding out in the confines of our musical mecca Face Studios writing and jamming with our esteemed pal Jon “Moogy” Moody aka Lord Of The Ivories.

    It’s been a very fruitful period and several “musical love children” (songs) have been born as a result. Some of which we intend to give away for free on the website. All you’ll have to do to obtain these downloads is sign up to the mailing list which’ll mean you’ll be informed of upcoming gigs, videos, merchandise, releases and of course more free downloads.

    We’re also delighted with our impending tour supporting Murder By Death, the dates of which are on both our website and myspace pages. We’ll make sure we’re on top form for the tour and tighter than an ant’s nostril. We’re also midway through confirming dates for our own July tour so we’ll keep you posted when we know the exact dates.

    As I write this I’m mixing “Loud und Proud” in Sublime Studios with Charles “Chicky” Reeves who is doing one heck of a job. The tracks sound brilliant, and we’re all very much looking forward to sharing them with the general public. Mixing and last minute overdubs should be done and dusted by the end of next week at which point it’s time for mastering and last minute tweaks.

    Ned x

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  • MonApr 26th

  • Video of us jamming in our rehearsal studio in Lafayette. 

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Meet the band

Ned Wyndham
Lead Vocals, Guitar
‘Guitar’ George Elliot
Lead Guitar,
Vocals
Billy
Bass
Josh ‘Genie’ Martens
Drums,
Vocals
The Band

The band: Ned, Josh, Billy, George

The suburbs of London are a long way from the swamps of Louisiana, and crossing the musical space between is the stuff that dreams are made of. But sometimes, when you concoct the right potion of talent, work, and magical circumstance, you will find that those dreams can come true. This is the story of Scoundrels, and how they got there.

For Ned Wyndham (26, vocals/guitar), Alex ‘Billy’ Hill (23, bass) and Joshua C Martens (24, drums) the journey had inauspicious beginnings. Being friends since their schooldays, they already shared the first magic ingredient of band chemistry, and a shared a love of 50s soul, roots, doo wop and classic rock led them all to London’s LCCS music college where they were able to hone their skills, putting on rootsy nights at Notting Hill Arts Club and The Borderline and recruiting the final piece of their band jigsaw George Elliot (20, guitar) along the way. “College equipped us and it helped with our confidence,” admits Ned today, but they will admit that then, only two years ago, they had tendencies to play hour-long single-song jams peppered with renditions of the Batman theme. They picked their name simply “because it was better than Carpet Lickers.” Nothing wrong with that of course, but the real dream at play was to find and authentic British version of the kind of soul, rock and blues that existed in their record collections and their imaginations. And when they managed to do that, they would find things moving faster than they could ever have imagined.

Being enterprising types, the band had compiled a list of industry figures to which to send their demo. And in a moment of brilliant serendipity one of the first (in all likelihood one of the only) people to take the time to listen to it was the A&R legend of Sire Records, Seymour Stein, the man responsible for the careers of no smaller names than Madonna and The Ramones. Stein passed the tape to swamp pop production pioneer CC Adcock, and the dreams of these four English boys became the business of these two American heavyweights. The pair hatched a plan, as Ned explains:

“Within Seymour’s mind he came up with this idea, because he heard Cajun-ny vibes in there, and he waxed lyrical about South Louisiana, the scene and the music there, how it was this melting pot of blues, gospel and soul. He goes down there every year to get his musical hit. He said ‘you guys have got to go down there and work with a friend of mine, this fantastic producer/guitarist called CC who’s really into it.”

A few weeks and feats of management money-making magic later, and the band were on their way to their Beatles-In-Hamburg moment. They flew to the town of Lafayette (population 60,000) and were collected by a long-haired roadie with one tooth called Hart, he would become their ever present confidante, driver and general do-gooder, ferrying the band in his 22-foot Lincoln Continental called the Cream Puff, accompanied at every stage by “a slightly bedraggled old stripper.”

There, they slept on a houseboat in the Louisiana swamps, lived on a diet of Crawfish and Gumbo, watched two or three bands every night, most of which invited them up onstage with them and gorged themselves on a diet of zydeco jazz, blues and modern rock. And by day they laid down the songs that were growing and evolving with every minute, growing rich in the Louisiana spirit. Some tracks, most obviously ‘Louisiana Song’ were written out there, but as Ned remembers “all the songs were played a certain way at home and every single one of them, when we got out there, was played a different way. One of the things was laying back on the groove. Everyone was so laid back, it was infectious the way they played beats out there.”

The sessions with CC at Studio in the Country and La Louisianne might have opened out their music, but the warmth and hospitality of the people there had an effect on a band raised on the uptight London music scene that will stay with them forever. And this was not even to be the end of the Scoundrels American adventures. Having two legends have a hand in their debut album was clearly not enough. After six weeks in Louisiana they headed to Chicago to work with Steve Albini, whose organic approach of letting bands do things for themselves gave the record another flavour again.

The cat-loving lo fi impresario and cult rock Godhead left another indelible impression on the foursome. “He’s a really clever guy who knows so much about so many different subjects,” offers Ned, “he was a proper eccentric but really friendly. He wears a boiler suit to the studio with pens in his top pocket, round glasses and spiky hair. He’s very clever and quietly dry. After all the recordings he’d come and hang out and watch TV.”

Taking songs born from a British sensibility and stirring in two distinctly American approaches, Scoundrels’ debut mines a virgin sound. And saying a lot for the band’s unique identity, it is not immediately apparent which songs came from which sessions. The songs speak of youth and love and hope and hopelessness, putting an arched spin on the myth of sex and drugs and rock’n’roll.

‘Red Riding Hood’ puts a sexy, swampy spin on the predatory subtext of one of our most popular fairytales. ‘All On My Own’ channels the most legendary of bluesmen in a timeless tale of unrequited love, while the louche ‘Sexy Weekend’ is as satirical as it might sound self-indulgent. “I suppose a lot of the lyrics are a bit tongue in cheek. Some of them are ideas, some of them are true, some of the have bits of truth in them. I guess they are naturally quite English.”

So would the band really class themselves as Scoundrels? “It’s nice to have a certain amount of ambiguity about stuff like that,” laughs Ned. “Without being purposefully offensive, we’re just a little bit cheeky maybe. We’re well-meaning scoundrels perhaps. We always have the best of intentions.”

A film documenting the making of the album by director Wyatt Garfield may be able to answer that one a little more accurately. But that the band have come up with a record that lives up to all of the classic rock rebellion they set out to encapsulate is undeniable.

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