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Mamas Gun – The Cheap Hotel Tour + Antigoni
“Wonderful music that combines classic soul influences with a distinctly modern production approach…” The Sunday Times
“As heart-warmingly catchy as anything from Stevie Wonder’s purple patch” –Uncut
After 3 years of touring worldwide and releasing albums ROUTES TO RICHES & THE LIFE & SOUL, Mamas gun present their third studio album ‘Cheap Hotel’ on global release. This release sees the band back with the ‘dream team’ who produced their debut (Routes to Riches) – Julian Simmons (Ed Sheeran, Guillemots) and founder member Andy Platts. The album is a huge sonic step forward; at the same time arguably more experimental than previous work, yet full of timeless song writing, it is laced with a mixture of modern and retro sounds, pure pop sensibilities and the kind of musical clarity only heard in a band who have truly cemented their bonds.
The first single from the album ‘Red Cassette’ achieved A list status on BBC radio 2 and achieved top 15 airplay chart positions both home and abroad. The band were also invited onto Chris Evans breakfast show to perform to his 9.7 million strong listenership. The track has been described as a nostalgic summery tune, echoing the synth pop sounds of Prince and Daft Punk. “It’s a song about nostalgia, life choices and tracing the roots back to when I first started making music – when I was around 8 or 9 years old,” says lead singer Andy Platts, “staying up late and recording fake radio shows and making up songs which I recorded onto cassette…I also like the idea of uplifting songs which revolve around one simple chord sequence.”
‘Cheap Hotel’ contains a range of moods from the mellow Bob Marley influenced track ‘Midas Touch’ through to the lifting melodic sounds of ‘Hello Goodnight’, a nod to Electric Light Orchestra. “For me ELO combined fantastic Beatlesesque song writing with a bit of the flavour of American soul / R & B and the bombast of Queen,” says Andy, “three musical ingredients I personally really identify with.”
Mamas Gun are a five-piece band, fronted by the charismatic and striking singer/composer/producer Andy Platts, who blend Motown, soul, funk and rock influences to stunning effect. Having released two critically acclaimed albums, toured with the likes of De La Soul, Raphael Saadiq, and Beverley Knight and played to tens of thousands of fans worldwide, their third offering, ‘Cheap Hotel’ is a landmark release that will surely take Mamas Gun to a whole new level. As Andy puts it:
“I think this is our coming of age record. There was a consensus this time round to take our time, to try to examine every riff, every melody scrap, every chord change and indeed every song that any member may have to put on the table. It was a very democratic process”
Mamas Gun’s debut album ‘Routes To Riches’ picked up support from the likes of Sunday Times Culture, The Guardian and Billboard as well as BBC Radio 2, amongst others. It was the band’s unexpected impact in Japan that really made the world sit up and take note: Mamas Gun were heralded as the most played international act in the country that year (beating Madonna to the No. 1 airplay slot), also achieving the No.3 sales slot on the Japanese Billboard charts
The second album ‘The Life & Soul’, produced by Grammy Award winning production team Martin Terefe and Andreas (noted for success with artists such as Jason Mraz, Train, James Morrison, Jamie Cullum, and KT Tunstall) categorically cemented the band’s reach and reputation both in the UK and internationally.
During the period between ‘The Life & Soul’ and the recording of the new album the guys concluded the long search for the bands new bass player, spent months as a group writing the new material, and toured the world including headline slots and sold out shows around the world from Java Jazz in Indonesia (alongside Stevie Wonder) to 14 date runs throughout Germany and Europe.
Most recently Mamas Gun have been approached by some major sync placement companies based in North America who have picked up on the bands’ music through the internet grapevine (having seen it used by several influential Vloggers) and will be working with them on placing their music to the wider Film/TV world from 2015.
Their return to the Jazz café on March 1st sees them perform the second leg of the CHEAP HOTEL tour and kicks off the bands touring activities for 2015!
For more dates and info go to www.mamasgun.co.uk www.facebook.com/mamasgun