It's nice to see siblings get along, isn't it? Brother-and-two-sisters rockabilly trio Kitty, Daisy & Lewis joined forces as a band around 2000 and their blend of Western blues and rock n roll is impossibly great considering the eldest of the group is just 20. In fact, Kitty, who wrote their latest single '(Baby) Hold Me Tight' is a mere 15.
Almost as if they travelled to the 21st century in a time machine, the band never use computers or digital equipment in their recording process, opting instead for vintage recording equipment from the 40s and 50s. If you are wise, you will keep an ear out for double A-side single '(Baby) Hold Me Tight/Buggin' Blues', out on 15 Dec through Sunday Best.
Middle child Lewis has answered the Same Six Questions.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
Well, we started out by going to gigs when we were kids and watching people play, all kinds of music, a lot of it was not really to our taste. But after we got back from one club on a Sunday night, someone would put on the food, then we would jam songs because we were kind of fired up to play music. Then the guy who ran the club asked me to come up and do a song with him. I played the banjo, by learning the piano chords a few days before! Then, when we turned up, there was a drum kit so Kitty joined in on drums. We played 'Folsom Prison Blues' by Johnny Cash. The next time we played, with Kitty on harmonica this time and Daisy on accordion and drums, and I got the guitar out. We did a few songs. We were not a band, we were just making music, being in a band never crossed our minds.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
For our album, we recorded most of the songs from our live set. I don't think it was inspired by anything, it felt good to get all that music recorded and to move onto writing other tunes and making new singles. I prefer making singles, I find them more exciting and they are a lot better for DJing. People don't generally take LPs along to DJ, it's easier to take the 7''.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
When we record a track, we all play in the same room together, everything is mic'd just simply, not multi mic'd, with mostly ribbon microphones. The mic's go into pre-amplifiers, of the valve kind, which then record into an eight-track 1" tape recorder. Then, we will keep recording the track until we get one that rocks, regardless of mistakes. Then we mix through a homemade mixing desk made from a wardrobe door with paint-on silver contact pots. If you look in a modern mixer, or any piece of modern gear, you will find very small very cheap plastic pots, which are made overseas and probably cost under 1p to make. The ones used in our desk are made from solid metal, silver contacts, wire wound resistors, no plastic and are physically big, made in the 1940s. Then we go through 1940/50s RCA pre-amplifiers to make up gain and the mix down onto an Ampex 350 twin track. That tape is then our mix down and that will be used to cut the record and to make the CD. We have tried out modern pieces of equipment in our studio but it never has that bollocksy sound of the old stuff.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
We are influenced by loads of people from different eras. From people like Louis Jordan, Muddy Waters, Wynonie Harris to artists from the 1960s. There's always different kinds of music playing in our house, one minute my sister will be playing Louis Prima and the next track will be UK Garage. We are always messing about when we jam playing all sorts of music from swing to funk!
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Well, I wouldn't say anything, I would let them listen to the record. You can't tell someone what to think.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest single, and for the future?
Our latest single was written by Kitty and features a xylophone for the first time. It's also the first record where I play drums. It's a sort of Dixieland/trad jazz vibe, if you know what I mean. We don't really plan or hope for anything, we just want to make music and enjoy it as much as possible. As long as people dig our music, we'll keep rockin for em.