Named after the Chuck Berry song, Rochdale punk rockers BYE BYE JOHNNY have spent the summer setting festivals alight with their blistering blend of indie/punk, including dates at the V festival amongst others. W&H caught up with the happy-go-lucky 5-piece prior to a show at Bolton’s premier live venue KICO, in order to discover where the hidden appeal lay. The obvious starting point was the inspiration:
Russ Davies: “There was a band called the Side Effects from Rochdale, who are about 4 years older than us, they were like a punk band who did quirky covers, things like the Shirelles – catchy pop songs, but they turned them into punk – they were kinda like our idols I suppose. We’re all into The Clash and The Rolling Stones too”
Is there much of a scene in Rochdale
“No-oo-o” laugh the band
Russ D. “They’re trying to build one up now. There’s a thing called ‘Roch Revolution’…but it’s hard – there’s not any venues, there’s a new one just opened called the Twist club
Johnny: “It’s hard, there’s not really a lot of interest”
How does one get from a backwater like Rochdale then, to a national stage like the Vfest? According to BYE BYE JOHNNY, it's all about capturing live energy:
Russ D: “We went to a place called ‘Studio Studio’ in Whitworth, and that was really good…I think with the new material, it’s a case of the best songs we’ve written coinciding with the best recording place, so we’re all really happy with that…The recordings really captured our live sound, which is pretty much what we’re about”.
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Though it's largely been a case of D.I.Y. management and promotion thus far, the group are quic to namecheck those who've lent a helping hand along the way:
“There’s a company in Rochdale called Zen music, who we might be releasing a single through, or they’ll be helping us at least…A guy called Simon Harrision, he’s helping us out a lot at the moment. Apart from that we’ve done everything ourselves, we’ve booked gigs, got ourselves on Clint Boon’s XFM show…The way we look at it is as long as we’re happy with the songs we’re doing, we’ve just played V, we’ve got a single coming out, and the songs we’re doing are steadily getting better, then that’s a positive for us”
Johnny: “One thing with us, is that it’s always been an upward spiral”
Russ: “The single will be coming out sometime in October/November….when we get the single released, we want to back it up with a lot more gigs around the north of England…Places like Leeds, Bolton, Newcastle….”
Johnny: “Try and blast out the north, and do the odd trip to London, and see how it goes”.
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