The Llamas are Daniel Childerley on drums, guitar, and vocals; James Andrews on trombone and vocals; Chris Brown on saxophone; Roger Cawsey on drums; Simon Cook on bass guitar; and Gloria Lawrence on vocals. Where in Somerset are you from? Watchet, Glastonbury, Bridgwater and Minehead When did you form?
| Chris from The Llamas on saxophone |
January 2005. Some new members were added in September 2005. How did you get together? James and Daniel have been working in the same school for three years, and have been writing and jamming regularly. Chris showed an interest in the band, and started jamming and gigging with us in 2005. Then recently, Dan's drum teacher, Roger the Boy Wonder, joined, and brought along Simon, Gloria, and Mick the Roadie for the ride. How would you describe your music? For the most part, it's lively two-tone stuff with strong melodies throughout. On occasion, we will delve into funk, blues, and even swing etc, but the two-tone thing is really our sound at the moment. How did the band gets its name? We were discussing ideas and talking about how disgusting James' spittle valve on his trombone is. This led us to liken the act to camels, who spit, and then llamas. It was like "The Llamas" -听 that'll do! Who are your musical influences?
| James from The Llamas on trombone |
Dan: HHH, Lightyear, Evil Macaroni, The Beat, The Specials, and Madness aka The Danger Men. James: David Bowie, Pulp, Divine Comedy, The Killers, and Mighty Mighty Boss Tones. What is your most memorable gig so far? Playing at the Watchet Football Club on the 15 October 2005 to a capacity crowd. I've never seen so many people dancing to our music - it was great! Where would you most like to play? Bristol on a regular basis. The Louisiana, and The Fleece and Firkin. We are have just finished our debut album, Ancillary Control, and it's currently selling in Martian Records in Taunton. Hopefully we can play the carnival next year, if our other Watchet gigs go down well. We have already been asked to play at the football club again in Watchet, and we are looking forward to a return visit. We have secured some more dates in the autumn and new year. We should be playing the Stroud ball this Christmas if all goes to plan, and we have just secured the Tacchi Morris Arts Centre for April 2006. The Somerset Arts Council also want us to play at Blenhiem Gardens in Minehead next summer. So, all looks very rosy for The Llamas right now. Finally, tell us some interesting facts about yourself:
| Dan and Gloria from The Llamas |
James Andrews is the cousin of a member of Keane, so we have seen them really take off over the last few years. We are all involved in the world of teaching, apart from Simon who is into computing. We treat our music the same as our teaching lives - we like to grow and help others to develop as well. Music is great for bringing people together, and to share the same experiences with others. Don't worry - the youth of today aren't being taught by Jack Blacks. We rarely perform any air guitar in our workshops! |