Page 40 - BiTS_10_OCTOBER_2022

BiTS: That’s very impressive, especially since I’ve listened to every track and I think it’s
absolutely terrific. I shall be playing it on air very shortly.

MC: That’s lovely. Thank you very much. Smashing.

BiTS: Tell me something about some of the tracks, for example, why is the album called
"Telegram”?

MC: Yes, that’s a good question. I must think of an answer for it. The concept that I had – I’ll
start at the beginning. I’d been thinking if there was like a new young guitar player that came
along like a young Rory Gallagher, that had that kind of energy and just straight, clean three-
piece and I know there are some very good young guys around, but with that kind of real blues
background. I think that’s perhaps what they’re missing these days. I thought they’d do really,
really well and if I could go back in time, I would try to be that person and just get a three-
piece and just go out and play that kind of thing. So I recorded one of the tracks, a version of
Elmore James, ‘Can’t Stop Lovin You’, and I just did that in that way, just three-piece, as raw as
I could get it. Initially, I didn’t even put any reverb on
it or anything. I just thought I’m going to make this
really stark and dry and clean and just drums and
bass guitar. And I thought, well I’ll do the whole
album. It will be a sort of a concept. A sort of three-
piece concept, but of course, then having done that, I

thought actually, I quite fancy doing, oh, I don’t know.
I don’t know what I did then, ‘Corina’ or something,
an acoustic, a completely different feel, so that’s the
way it went and then I just ended up doing all kinds of
different stuff, but originally I thought ”Telegram”,
and it is a title of one of the tracks, is that kind of stark
simple title that something like a Rory Gallagher
album would have had back in the day, back in the
60s, like “Deuce” or “Tattoo” or something like that.
It’s got that kind of starkness and, at the same time, it
kind of went with the photo. I thought I’m just going to do a real stark photo, so I took my
guitar out in the back garden one night. Held it at arm’s length and clicked a photo, a flash
photo. And that’s the photo. I thought I’m just going to make it really stark. A black and white
picture, black and white flash photo of the guitar. Simple title. Red lettering. Real basic.

BiTS: This is a guitar you call “Gnasher” is that right?

MC: Yes, this is “Gnasher”, named after Dennis the Menace’s dog [laughing].

BiTS: [Laughing] Okay.

MC: Yes, because it suits.

BiTS: From what I’ve seen of the photograph, obviously, I haven't seen the original, but only
online, it looks terrific.

MC: It’s sitting right here next to me. I keep it in the office because it’s a nice light guitar. I’m
picking it up. I can just reach round and pick it up without breaking my arm, whereas some of
the others are much heavier.

BiTS: Do you have a favourite track on the album?