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Acid
Brass is the name given to a pioneering style of music inspired
by Turner-Prize award winning artist Jeremy Deller. As the
title suggests, it is a fusion of Acid House anthems, with
its minimalistic, pounding rhythms performed by a Brass Band.
How it Began - By Jeremy Deller
My
first contact with the Williams Fairey Band was through telephone
conversations with John Cresswell. I'd been given his number
by Brass Band World but I have to admit that I was nervous about
approaching him with the idea for "Acid Brass". I had expected
the Brass Band community to be totally dismissive of the project
and I couldn't believe it when he happily agreed to the idea.
Admittedly I didn't mention the words "Acid House", I called
it "a new commission for Brass Bands involving contemporary
dance music". What I also didn't tell him was that not one note
had been transposed and the budget was around £2,000 short.
Minor details as far as I was concerned, I'd managed somehow
to get myself the best Brass Band in the country through a single
phone call.
The first face to face meeting was at Kenwood Bowl on a wet
Bank Holiday weekend. It was also the first time that I had
met Rodney Newton, sheltering under an umbrella. His enthusiasm
was such a lift and everything that night was falling into
place. This was especially the case when the Band struck up:
I was blown away by their playing, and I'm not ashamed to
say that it brought a tear to my eye. seeing and hearing them
reminded me why I had wanted to do this in the first instance.
I later found John and he took me backstage to see the Band.
I didn't really meet anyone at this point, I just stood in
a corner with my cup of tea and digestive trying to be invisible.
I have to admit that the first few times I was around the
Band, I was petrified by them as I felt such an outsider,
it seemed to be such a tight knit group of friends like a
football team or army brigade even. Also I thought they might
resent playing the songs - what if I caused a mutiny in the
Band?
The next time I saw the Band was in Birmingham, it was there
I became aware of what the Brass Band movement is up against.
The Band was playing beautifully to a respectably sized audience,
but in the front row there was an elderly woman doing her
knitting, hardly rock and roll! It was at this point that
I began to realise why John was so up for taking a risk with
me and "Acid Brass".
Click
here for a profile on Rodney
Newton, the man behind the arrangements
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Jeremy
Deller
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Flyer
for the Edinburgh Festival 1997 gig
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