Ray Wingnut recently spoke to the Last Mixed Tape about Live From Guerrilla Studios, a new alternative music programme he will be hosting and is launching this Thursday on Youtube with live performances from The Bonk, John Francis Flynn and Vicky Langan.
What’s the last song you listened to?
The last song I listened to was ‘At Last’ by Etta James because the man John Creedon just played it on Radio 1. I absolutely adore Etta James, I’d say she was tough out! Even when she’s singing a besotted love-song, she still sounds like she got so much power and poise.
What’s the last record you bought?
I just bagged Murli’s ‘Till The Wheels Fall Off’ EP on cassette. I’m a huge fan so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in! I genuinely think Murli should be president of Ireland someday. He’s got the poetry, intelligence and grace of a young, black Michael D!!
The last record-record that I bought was ‘New Appliance’ by Kutmah which was a 10″ put out by Dublin’s All City Records. Kutmah is from LA, based in Berlin, makes mega-weird, dope-as-feck beats. He played in Limerick a few years back and I’ve been a massive fan ever since. All City are continuing to absolutely kill it with the releases and the spin-off label stuff. They are far out, man!
What is influencing your music right now?
I guess the pandemic is influencing my music choices. I’ve watched a lot of music movies/documentaries lately, most notably the Talking Heads ‘Stop Making Sense’ movie. That was absolutely incredible. I had it blasting, had a few cans, and tried to copy David Byrne’s dancing in front of the television. I was exhausted!! But the energy and collaboration on that stage is incredibly infectious. I’ve also been listening to Charlie Bones’ ‘Do You Radio’ show on NTS lots too and that’s very eclectic. Radio is playing a big role for me these days.
Tell us about Live From Guerrilla Studios. How did the idea come about?
This is the next step for a group of us that have previously worked together. Myself and the camera crew but most importantly the sound crew, Spud and Ian from Guerrilla Studios, were all involved in The Parlour music TV show in 2015. Back then we all struck a chord and realised that we very much enjoyed the buzz when we were all working together. Since then we have come together for one-off sessions with the likes of Lankum, Rusangano Family, Fixity and Jinx Lennon. So with the onset of pandemic life, we decided it was time to get the gang back together and do it LIVE! We have the gear, the skills and the best, weirdest studio in Ireland, so it was a no-brainer. We recruited Zara Hedderman to keep everything in check, and she’s fit right in with the vibe.
How was the series curated and recorded?
It’s pretty democratic with the crew in terms of curation. We all have our favourites that we’d love to have on, but we’re lucky that everyone is amenable and we are all pulling in roughly the same directions. We simply want to present music and art in a way that no-one else is doing it. All of the crew are fired up by music and that hype is really feeding into the project. It’s great fun really. It will be shot on multi-camera by Thom, Knox and Seán, then Spud and Ian at the controls, Steve helping out as well on sound, Gavin on the visuals, Ray presenting. Then we have a resident DJ, Finglas skratchlord DJackulate and we have a mini-orangutan from Borneo via Glasnevin named Moojoo the Merch Monkey. We also have a short video production by Galway/Cork giant Vicky Langan. It’s pretty nuts really … you’ll just have to watch to find out what the hell I’m talking about.
With live music on due to the Pandemic. How do you see gigs taking shape in the months going forward?
I haven’t a clue, the pandemic has completely wiped out my ability to anticipate the short or long-term future. I really miss gigs and I really miss seeing friends. Life is pretty boring without gigs … but that’s fine too, I guess. With ‘Live from Guerrilla’, Spud is all about embracing the ‘apocalypse vibe’. But then again, he had an apocalypse vibe long before Covid was ever on the scene!! I hope that musicians don’t get too frustrated or lost without gigs. But in my opinion, the key is to keep going, and ‘Live from Guerrilla Studios’ is our way of providing a stage for some musicians to perform on.
Live From Guerrilla Studios will air weekly on Thursday nights from 10pm, for an hour-long stream. Episode One will air on Thursday, July 9th via the Guerrilla Studios YouTube channel and will feature The Bonk, John Francis Flynn and Vicky Langan.