Wolfmen would "love to play" T in the park

Apr 22 2008

PUNK veterans The Wolfmen say they’d love to play at T in the Park - but fear they may have missed their chance this year.

Former Adam & The Ants members Marco Pirroni and Chris Constantinou, who are set to release the band’s debut album this summer, will only be making a handful of outdoor appearances in England, but insist that sneaking onto the Kinross-shire bill is firmly on their radar.

“Most of our gigs so far have been in London and we would love to come up and play at T in the Park,” singer / bassist Chris (formerly DeNiro) tells Music Scene.

“We are playing a few festivals this year but we’ve possibly left it too late for any others now.”

Making up for the lack of live action is the latest Wolfmen single - a stonking cover of the Brian Eno classic ‘Needles in the Camel’s Eye’ featuring production work from former Ant, Chris ‘Merrick’ Hughes.

“We were listening to Brian Eno’s version and thinking it’d be good to write something like that,” explains Chris.

“We tried coming up with something of our own, but in the end we just thought we’d do ‘Needles’ and the demo sounded pretty good

“When we went down to Chris’ place he drummed on it, then we got Alan Moulder in to mix it.”

What’s it like writing songs with a punk legend like Marco?

“It’s great, but thinking about it, there’s no formula,” says Chris.

“I do the lyrics, we sit around with a couple of guitars and Marco usually comes up with something and off we go.

“We’ve spent a lot of time in rehearsals and it’s helped us playing live in the studio because it all comes together when we’re on stage. Marco’s knowledge of music is so vast and he’s great at coming out with guitar hooks.”

Inevitably, I have to ask Chris about his time working with Adam Ant, and his memories of those heady days.

“When my first signed band, The Drill, fell to pieces, I did auditioned for the Ants just after Gary Tibbs left at the end of 1981,” he recalls.

“I got the job, but shortly after I joined, Adam decided to go solo. Being in the band felt like a novelty to begin before I started feeling a little bit lost in the big ‘Friend or Foe’ line-up.

“There were a lot of brass players and others at the time but I had always written my own tracks in a four-piece.

“Although I wasn’t one I felt like a session man, so after a while it wasn’t quite my thing. Then Adam started to strip it down and make it more like a band again and I started to enjoy it more.

“That whole period was fantastic and I loved the touring in America and Europe. I got a buzz from us having our own roadies and it was quite an experience doing the old material, which I really liked.”

One of the line-up’s final gigs was the era-defining Live Aid at Wembley, which Chris remembers as a bittersweet experience.

“I’ve still got my diary with an entry which simply says “benefit gig” under that day in July,” he says.

“Marco didn’t fancy it so we didn’t really think much about it at the time. It didn’t even occur to me the night before when we were going to Wembley for the soundchecks how huge an event it was.

“Only after we had done it did it and I realised how many people were watching on television did it suddenly dawn on me. It was a fantastic experience.”

Infamously, while other acts revived their careers on the back of the show, the Ant single ‘Vive Le Rock’ almost sunk without trace afterwards.

“We probably should have played ‘Antmusic’ or ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’,” Chris now admits.

“People perhaps saw us as being opportunistic and it backfired in some ways. It’s a shame we didn’t get to do three or four songs but nobody knows if things would have worked out differently if we had.”

How much has his time with the Ivor Novello Award winners influenced Constantinou’s own output?

“Lyrically I’m different, but being in the Ants has determined how I play bass and sing,” he insists. “Working with them was the first time I had ever done so many backing vocals.

“If you stay in a band long enough your voice often starts to sound like the lead singer’s, and I’m aware that in a certain range mine does a bit resemble Adam’s. Both he and Marco gave me confidence.”

Chris reveals The Wolfmen have yet to receive feedback from Adam, who has pieced his life back together after a lengthy battle with mental illness and a conviction for affray.

“I’ve not seen him since we started,” he confesses. “The last time was before he ended up in court when he was a bit ill, and I was helping him out as a friend by driving him to hospital.

“He’s been keeping a bit of a low profile and Marco hasn’t been in touch with him much either. I’d have loved to have seen the gig he played last year but unfortunately couldn’t make it along.”

After taking on frontman duties with his previous band, Jackie Onassid, Chris says he’s comfortable with his prominent role in The Wolfmen.

“When I first started out playing I was a singer then got sidetracked into guitar then bass with The Drill,” he adds.

“But it’s nice to get up front and do some singing. When I met with Marco he came up the studio and started playing and we worked on each other’s projects at the time.

“After a couple of weeks we thought doing separate things was stupid and decided to form the band.”

The Wolfmen are providing backing to Indian star Daler Mehndi on his latest album, ‘Thieves and Liars’, which has already spawned the pulsating Asian Network chart-topper ‘Two Eyes’.

“Daler’s publisher contacted our label with a notion that he wanted to crossover into Bhangra rock,” Chris explains.

“They played us some stuff and we both loved his voice so started jamming around the tapes. It’s pretty basic - Bhangra has just one chord - but people seemed to like it and we’re three-quarters of the way through completing his album now.

“There’s also been talk about touring India in September once it’s done.”

They’ve also shared a credit recently with rock legend Lou Reed - on a new version of his song, ‘Do the Ostrich’.

“It just exists as a chorus and we thought ‘Why don’t we finish it?’,” Chris says.

“We thought we’d be a bit cheeky and write the verses and Marco came up with some chords. We sent it to Lou’s management and thankfully he gave it his approval.”

Considering The Wolfmen’s past, their broad-minded approach and willingness to collaborate comes as no surprise.

Another of Chris’s former associates is Robbie Williams’ ex-songwriter Guy Chambers.

“I had a band in the mid-‘90s with Annabelle Lwin (Bow Wow Wow) called The Naked Experience,” he tells me.

“We signed to Sony and got together with Guy, who was struggling to find himself at that point. The idea was for us to collaborate and we worked with him in the studio on six or seven tracks.

“He’s very similar to Marco in the sense that he knows so much about songwriting. The difference is Guy’s from a classical background and a Beatles man, whereas Marco comes from a different background.”

Looking ahead, the veteran rocker insists The Wolfmen are out to prove they’ve got staying power.

“Our album, which is due out in July, is being mastered just now,” he goes on.

“I want to get out there and go round the world doing live work and promo around it, and then get stuck into writing the second album.”

* ‘Needles in the Camel’s Eye’ is out now on Damaged Goods.