The Egg
“I suppose Glastonbury is our spiritual home,” admits Ned Scott, one of the twins at the heart of the Egg’s creative apparatus, “We grew up there, in a way. We first went when we were four and our Mum and her boyfriend used to go – Dad went as well because they were all friends. Mum’s boyfriend would be naked backstage and then he’d go and play on the acoustic stage with his band Mr Spratt’s 21st Century Popular Motets.” This taught Ned and Maff the joys of jamming. Such jamming became the heart of the group they formed in their native Oxford in the early 1990s. When the Big Chill organization took a poll on their web-site to find out which band their festival goers would most like to see at the next festival, The Egg led the field by a distance.
Having grown out of The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon in their late teens, the brothers developed a love of the Doors, who, according to Maff proved, “that you can still have ride cymbal heavy drums leading a groove from a live band.” They soon got into Madchester lynchpins The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses, both of whom paved the way for their loosed limbed club-funk. On citing LTJ Bukem’s liquid, deep drum and bass, their influences can clearly be heard.
Naturally ‘the funk’ is the solid foundation on which they’ve built their sound. Two tracks in particular had a lasting effect on the guys; ‘Money Spider’ by The James Taylor Quartet and ‘Shifting Gears’ by Johnny Hammond (also a favourite of Gilles Peterson.) Any accusations of being a lightweight English version of their funk heroes are put firmly to bed by (amongst other things), bassist Ben Cullum’s stints working with Lonnie Liston Smith and Herbie Hancock.
Bristol’s tiny independent Cup Of Tea Records signed The Egg for their debut ‘Shopping EP’ single in 1995, featuring mixes by Fila Brazilia amongst others. China Records immediately saw the potential of the band and signed, putting the group in Cornwall’s Sawmills studio at once. The result was ‘Albumen’, 70 minutes of raw, outrageously catchy, yet very British, instrumental funk.
By now word of mouth on The Egg’s live show was spreading like wild fire. The group, in white shirts with the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 in black on their respective chests, would play on a whited out stage while bizarre slides and film images were projected over them. It was as if Syd Barrett’s ‘60s Pink Floyd had collided with contemporary piano-led house, a hefty does of Clinton-esque funk thrown in for good measure. Gigging everywhere from Austin, Texas, to the Third Post-Apartheid Festival in South Africa, The Egg were on a roll and would end up jamming with everyone from marimba musicians to… well, let Ned tell it: ‘We went to that
Woodstock reunion thing. It was really cheesy – peace’n’love pizzas, Pepsi, no alcohol, Salt’n’Pepa greasing up bare-chested male dancers saying, “Let’s see how much love there is at Woodstock.” We went down the road to the original site where there was a free festival happening. There were 100,000 people there but the media stayed away. One day we were jamming in the mist of the early morning when the Sheriff of Woodstock turned up, picked up an electric guitar and started doing this mental Hendrix solo. Everyone started getting out of their tents and playing Tupperware boxes. After about twenty minutes he said, “OK, I was never here,” and disappeared…’ Meanwhile, they also cemented their connection with dance culture in the same year by putting out a remix collection entitled ‘Get Some Mixes Together’.
Their next studio album, ‘Travelator’ in 1998, aimed to expand their appeal. Produced by Tim Holmes of Death in Vegas, who had worked with the Chemical Brothers, it contained the occasional vocal, such as the effervescent ‘Getting Away With It’, and tipped its cap to the big beat movement that was huge at the time. The band blew up in Turkey and Israel, of all places. They also recorded some chill-out tracks as ‘Stuff’ which ended up on various high profile compilations, including house label Twisted’s ‘Backroom Beats’ series, the subsidiary run by their tour manager Ed Bigland. By 2003 Squarepeg picked up on The Egg’s potential, resulting in the ‘The Venice Beach EP’, a new century Balearic classic steeped in memories of The Orb’s finest moments.
Since the release of the acclaimed ‘Forwards’, The Egg have been busy boys; they remixed Freddie Mercury’s ‘Living on my Own’, which was approved by Queen themselves. The Egg also found time to co-write ‘For Lovers’ by Wolfman with Pete Doherty (for which they were up for the Ivor Novello award in 2005 and performed on Top Of The Pops).
Live performances are as much a part of the Egg experience as their recorded material. All very tight musicians, they posses a fluid, robust and structured revue. At the same time they’re the not afraid to take chances and jump into the abyss, knowing they’ll all land at exactly same time. Maff gives example; “We thought we’d ‘reclaim’ David Guetta’s bootleg by performing a cut up version of the Tocadisco remix live. We weren’t sure if it would work and were advised against it by half of friends, but we did it anyway and it did, plus the crowd loved it and that’s what counts.”
Live, their songs are often very different from on record and a more ‘indie’ based track can become more ‘dance’ and vice-versa. Forthcoming single ‘Nothing’ morphs into a more clubby version live and at Cargo in November they split their set between a live instrument-based first half and a more midi-based second. The Egg’s unique amalgamation is down to this very dichotomy, as Maff states; “We always have two processes – songs aimed at the radio and live, instrumental groove-based dance culture.”
With friends stretching far and wide, the Egg like to moonlight in various incarnations. They have being playing for Sophie Barker, formerly of Zero 7, there is the Wolfman band and guitarist Matt White occasionally plays with kindred spirits The Bays.. Maff has laid down the drums for The Oralic Phase, a leftfield/krautrock act signed to DC Recordings, who’s ‘Respond In Silence EP’ has won a big fan in monsieur Laurent Garnier.
This time round The Egg brothers Ned and Maff Scott’s classic album ‘Forwards’ comes with something for everyone – the somber/euphoric moodswing of new single Nothing, the original album for new converts as well as a remix disc for fans wanting an eclectic selection of breaks, downtempo, house and electronica by the likes of Mylo, Tocadisco, Fila Brazillia and Oliver Koletzki.
The original album is a coherent body of live, organic funk combined with uplifting and searing melodies – each track unique yet part of the whole. ‘Funky Dube’ takes a lurching bassline, jazz-funk groove and fuses it to delicate synthesized vapour. The combination shouldn’t work but completely does. They throw in a bit of melodica for good measure – another Egg favourite. ‘Forwards’ hints at what was to come, with a rockier groove underpinning the thoughtful, gentle vocals, something later present on newie ‘Nothing’, marking a subtle sound shift sideways, proving The Egg’s ability to look, erm, ‘forward’. The rising presence of guitars in their sound – bigger and more emotive instead of bubbling along with a wah wah pedal, can be attributed to guitarist Matt White, whose influences include what Maff calls the ‘moody rock’ of Elbow and Muse, plus the brothers’ own re-discovery of nineties indie band Slowdive and Ride. Ben Cullum (Bass) has also contributed to the forthcoming Darren Emerson album, further cementing their live/dance crossover credentials.
Whilst some tracks are decidedly downtempo, several have back-room dancefloor credentials that pick the album up from the sofa, take it for a night out down the disco (and maybe buy it a Lambrini or two.) The bouncy drums and bass of ‘Always There’ form the base for a big, repeated vocal and a huge expansive mix, which builds throughout the track. Similarly, the Coldcut meets Red Snapper, sixties-espionage- movie vibe of ‘She’s Terrific’ is a case in point - ‘deep’ and energetic, the tight funky rhythm section and ultra-bright ride cymbal carrying the groove. The title of ‘Venice Beach’ more than suggests a certain ‘relaxed’ state. An audio picture of all things tropical, lush and blissed-out, it takes a meandering acoustic guitar, combines it with what sounds like another almost Hawaiian ‘guitar’ and tops it by using a stretched acid pulse, normally associated with more frantic styles of electronic music.
On the remix tip proceedings are kicked off with David Guetta’s bootleg of the Tocadisco remix of the original of ‘Walking Away’. And keeping with ‘Walking Away’, Dusty Kid’s Ga Ga takes the track on a camp, euro vacation. Atomic Hooligan use ‘Wall’ and beat someone up against it, with a growling, walking bassline and dirty, rock-tastic guitar riff, combined with a clear production and energetic two step. Fellow festival favourite Mylo ‘drops’ a couple of disco biscuits and raves with glow sticks, atop the very same ‘Wall’. Berlin-based sonic explorer Oliver Koletzki takes the same track, creating an abstract ‘Wall’ of perception. Over a rumbling, reverb soaked kickdrum, cowbells, organ and acoustic guitar; Koletzki uses the English, kitchen sink vocals to create a brilliant, absurd abstract-funk meets sensitive – indie hoedown. Bookended by more ‘Walking Away’ related business is the killer, galvanized house remix by Tocadisco.
2008 sees the release of Forwards in the US, and the band start recording their 4th studio album, which is scheduled for release by the year end.
