History
Close Enough is an unsigned UK based band from Sowf London (Kingston area)
We started in the beginning of 1990 (ish) and we originally called ourselves Close Enough For Blues. We dropped the For Blues at the beginning of 1994 after we'd decided we weren't just blues anymore, and not wanting to confuse any potential new audience with preconceptions.
The main purpose of the band is to allow its members a regular excuse to get drunk, have fun and party. The music is obviously important, if we thought we were crap we wouldn't enjoy playing, but the main stimulus has always been fun and if we ever manage to become rich and famous for it, all the better. The band has always been self sufficient, no one has ever had to pay towards rehearsing, transport or recording and the concensus of opinion is that if the band became 'work' it would mean it was coming to an end. Every gig is a party.
That's all I can be bothered to remember for the moment.
This is what South London Live had to say about us in 1993:
|
Surbiton based Close Enough for Blues are an eight-piece band who blend reggae, soul, blues and funk into there own highly original and danceable sound, which is starting to earn them quite a following in south west London. Bob Murdoch talked to them to find out more. "We started as a four piece playing traditional Chicago blues" Said Roy Harlington, (bass player and founding member of Close Enough for Blues) at our recent meeting. "Our guitarist and lead vocalist Tim Royce had a massive collection of albums by people like Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Howling Wolf. We would turn up one night and say 'lets try this'. If it didn't work after fifteen minutes it was out." But while thinking their efforts were replicating the classic Chicago Blues sound, they were unwittingly laying down their own interpretations. "The dance element came in by accident." Roy continues. "Jem, the drummer and I have always liked dance floor stuff. We were rehearsing one night, and while the lead vocalist Tim Royce was out at the off licence, we started to mess about with a funk bass line. Tim strolled back in and started singing Mannish Boy to it, and that was it. The song has become one of the band's standards, and judging by the audience's reaction, a dance floor classic." |
Funk was reinforced by the brass section, describe themselves as 'A legend in their own lunch box' says Roy Harlington, laughing. But they've actually blown hard and long for such diverse interests as Joan Armatrading, club stars The Night Trains and dance floor giants Microgroove. Of the brass section Roy says "They were just friends. They came along one night, had a nice time and sort of hung around." Close Enough For Blues have just added a new horn player to their brass section, but what about their reggae influence? "That goes back years", says Roy, "Tim, Jem and I used to play in a reggae band, so the influence has always been there. Apart from anything else we found a lot of blues numbers work really well with a reggae back beat." The band actually managed to get away with their reggae sound at the Antiguan International Music Festival last year. "People were treating us like rock stars. It was like being in paradise for a week." Roy Harlington reminisces, still pining for the sound of blue water breaking on pure sandy beaches. "We were worried about doing that stuff in the Caribbean, but the audience loved it. We got a lot of respect for bringing their own music back to them. Anyway, they've asked us back next year, so it couldn't have been all bad." Close Enough For Blues have had a busy diary in 1993. Aside from partying, I discover they are laying down tracks for a forthcoming C.D. due to be released in Spring. A Summer tour of Holland is in the starting blocks and an excursion to Ireland is being mapped out. |
Sorry if you were expecting a band biography, to make up for it here's a picture of someone wearing a T-shirt a bit like mine.
Image copied and cropped from