Its No Accident....Part 2

 Andy Sharrocks...Continued.

    The stuff you are doing these days has a great vibe to it.
    What was the inspiration for this style of playing?

    Well a lot of it is not new, I was writing like this when I was playing with Accident,
    but it wasn’t the right stuff to present to them at the time. I didn’t know what it was
    – I had been digging the blues since I was five years old and heard The Rolling Stones
    second album. Then I heard Steve Earle in 87, and the jigsaw fit together. It’s Americana,
    the middle ground where blues meets country meets Cajun meets zydeco, with a
    sprinkling of soul for feeling. These days I love the sound of acoustic guitars, banjo’s
    mandolins fiddles,  organic sounds, there is such a history to it all. A music which
    travelled from Scotland and Ireeland, meeting up with French sounds in the swamps
    of Louisiana, and there meeting the blues.  There is nothing groundbreaking or new
    with my writing, but I like to think it is like an old friend, that’s why I called the album
    Walking In Familiar Footsteps. I write a lot. I have two albums worth of material
    ready to go, one of them was the one I went to The States to record .
    I am going to do an acoustic album now, same songs only with Rodney Culture on
    Cajon (Spanish for box, it sounds like a kick and snare) and Captain Bliss on blues harp,
    and of course The Reverent Paul Green on electric/acoustic guitar. I think it is the
    right time for it, think I might call it Banned In The USA. You asked about inspiration,
    I like to tell story’s in my writing, usually about underdogs, and one off the album about
    a real dog. A lot of people seem to relate to my lyrics which is good. One in particular
    about serial adultery called Dirt, I always get people coming up saying great lyrics,
    a lot of unfaithful people about I guess. I still like a rawness to the production, and I still
    go with punk ethic of do it yourself. Don’t wait for some wanker in a record company
    to endorse you’re your music, or you may wait forever, you need to get it out to the
    people, and with the internet the record companies are on the run anyway.

   

    Who have you played with recently, and where are you based these days?
 

    Well as I just said I play with The Reverent Paul Green, who has played with
    Screamin Lord Sutch and Suzy Quatro amongst others, and is one of the best
    blues /country players around. Rodney Culture on cajon, and possibly in the future drums.
    Rodney is a dread, who had played nothing but roots reggae before he started
    playing with me. I wanted a drummer with movement/swing instead of a rock drummer
    who just nail everything, I wanted a drummer behind and in front of the beat, and
    being a reggae drummer Rodney had the fluidity, a marriage of musical cultures
    and it really works. He was amazed at my knowledge of roots reggae which came
    from my good old punk days, I am now teaching him about blues and country and
    he can’t believe how much he loves it. Captain Bliss I met when me Paul and Rodney
    did a support for Alabama 3 in Brixton last year. He also plays with Hey Negrita, and
    Spotlight Cannibal. He loves playing harp with anyone and has got to be one the country’s
    top harp players. I sometimes work with Huskie Jack, who is a great slide and country picker.
    I am very lucky to be surrounded by such great players, all with a love for the music.
    We have a supported Alabama 3, Denny Laine, from Paul McCartneys Wings,
    Buddy Whittington (John Mayalls Guitarist) and we are about to support John Mayall
    at The Jazz Café in Camden town, and I’m just waiting for confirmation of an Alabama 3
    support at The Roundhouse in August, so all is good. I live in London these days,
    I was in Camden Town for six years but got fed up with being burgled (6 times in 6 years).
    I now live in Finchley. I love London, feel like I have come home.

    Any plans on recording the new album over here, seeing as the authorities in the states are
    completely paranoid these days?
 

    I am definitely going to record my new album, if only to say up yours to the American
    Immigration Bureau. It’s going to be good, more songs of death and betrayal.
    I am going to record it live in Sensible Studios in Holloway, where Amy Whinehouse
    and Duffy Recorded their albums, using the same engineer John Moon.
    He is a fantastic engineer, we have done some recording with him already, he instinctively
    knows what we want, and he loved it when we all set up in the same room and played.
    I hope to have it out by the end of July.

    Do you think you’ll ever return to Rochdale to play?

    I would definitely return to Rochdale to play, although I don’t know if there is anyone
    around who would remember me. I’d love to play at the college, I quite often have
    fantasy’s about it, yes I know I should get a life, but if anybody would like to offer
    me a gig, I’m willing and able.

   

    Where can our readers find out more about you, and indeed, Accident On The East Lancs?

    To find out more and to here new tunes and the odd video, and even a novel I wrote
    people should check out www.myspace.com/andysharrocks there is a link on there
    to Detour Records, for some photo’s of Accident On The East Lancs.
    Detour Records have helped re release both the singles and The cassette album
    Shotguns And Hotshots on vinyl, thanks Dizzy. For some good authentic punk
    check out their website www.detourrecords.com and I think www.binlinerrecords.com
    I am on various other sites, www.showcaseyourmusic.com/andysharrocks   
    There is also a good piece on Accident in Alex Oggies book No More Heroes,
    a great read for any punk officianado. Accident were recently featured in Record Collectors
    magazine – a punk special, It was number 74 of the top 100 rarest punk singles,
    up there with The Pistols and The Clash, I was well chuffed.

    Ok, many thanks for taking time out to be interviewed, I remember standing watching
    you play at the College gigs organised by Eddie Clydejs and Chris Hewitt from
    Tractor Records, and this has just taken me right back there…so thanks man!
 

    Ah Eddie Klejdis one of the fallen, so many people from back in day no longer with us.
    Eddie used to drive Accident around a lot. I remember opening my door on
    John Street to Eddie, who unloaded six bullets in to me a t point blank range,
    lucky for me they were blanks, although he nearly gave me a fucking heart attack.
    Once we were playing Outside Rochdale Town Hall, and Eddie got a wrecked ford
    Capri from The scrap yard, got it on stage somehow, and then blew it up whilst
    we were playing, again narrowly missing killing me, the boy was a maniac, but a lovable maniac.

    Chris it has been my pleasure speaking to you, it has brought some good memories back to me too.