ELEMENTARY MUSIC
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Miss
Halliwell
Miss Halliwell is a dangerously addictive rock group, one of those bands that you could easily get obsessed with. Based in the Black Country and Birmingham area, Miss H are a truly original outfit that makes what can only be described as passionate, humorous and eclectic music. The current line up consists of Matthew Philip Hale (vocals, lyrics, guitars, effects), Sarah Fleming (the drums), Chris Nicholls (the bass), Nicole Berne (guitar, vocals) and Fi Hodgeson (keyboard).
The band was originally formed in 2006 under the name "The Racists" which was a joke band name that confused, offended and delighted people in equal measure. The original line up only played live once due to stage fright.
This was mainly because front man Matthew Philip Hale was the only member with any real previous live performance experience.
Future drummer Sarah Fleming put on a brave face whilst she grappled with bass duties but guitar player Tristam "VIV" Adams (Matthew's then song writing counterpart) hated the whole ordeal.
Regardless of the shaky first gig the original three-piece (who had been good friends for a few years beforehand) gelled together well because of an enthusiastic weekly routine of long improvised jams – played over a basic drum machine.
After a couple of months of experimentation "The Racists" made rough recordings of some truly original compositions which helped establish the eclectic nature of this fascinating group that would later become Miss Halliwell.
The next evolutionary step was the inclusion of a live drummer. VIV and MPH took a gamble and invited their friend Richard "Marky" Smith to come along to a practice and have a bash at the drums.
Marky had no musical experience of any description but he whacked those skins like some kind of jazz inspired punk drummer, needless to say he was made a full time member shortly afterwards.
MPH and Sarah played a one off gig at the end of 2006 as a two-piece; although the gig was well received it was obvious that the band would be much more powerful live with a bigger line up. The new four-piece line up worked well and even produced a very catchy stand alone recording "king for a day" in December 2006.
MPH and VIV had worked together on various recorded sound experiments and demos before but "king for a day" was to be their first and last studio collaboration.
Sarah and MPH were and still are a couple, they too had made demos prior to this first studio effort – Sarah had a decent musical training unlike the rest of the group, she always added vital contributions to the early demos.
At this time the band was packed full of influences and possible musical directions. MPH was still the natural leader due to his love of Beefheart, The Fall, Radiohead etc but the rest of the group added elements inspired by the likes of Modest Mouse, Sonic Youth and also more electronic, dance and even hip hop styles.
VIV moved back to Reading at the start of 2007 which left MPH and Sarah with the daunting task of training up the new drummer Marky while VIV was away. It turned out to be the start of something very special.
Now a three piece the band worked hard at becoming a definite live act, it paid off because by the spring gigs were booked and there was a whole new attitude to their playing.
Marky gave the group a sense of chaos and joy, which added to MPH's already confrontational approach and Sarah's genuine amusement / bemusement by it all.
This brief but important period lead to early studio & live masterpieces "Rule The Roost" and "Smelly Oak". This period also lead to the hilarious first victory at the infamous "Railway Hotel" battle of the bands first round in Evesham.
"The Racists" became local heroes in Evesham, even though it seems trivial that single event is what made the inexperienced three-piece realise their potential to become great live entertainers.
With VIV out of the picture it was time to bring in another guitarist, this time an older, experienced rocker called Jeff Stuka. Once again they rehearsed as a four piece with Marky improving on the drums with every practice.
After a storming debut performance as a four-piece at "The Bear Hotel" in Bearwood near Birmingham this confident line up was prepared to go back to Evesham to win round two and get closer to the much needed prize money.
Unfortunately and to everyone's devastation Marky died in May 2007 of an overdose. He is still sorely missed and will go down in history as the greatest rock n roll performer who never got the chance to be famous in his lifetime. He was 21 when he died.
The group continued and won the next round in Evesham through pure grit and determination and in tribute to the great Marky. Sarah had to learn the drums (like Marky did) in about two weeks to prepare for that gig, Jeff moved to the bass and MPH was still leading everyone through it.
They lost in the final to a band that sounded like the nu-metal band "Stained" (it was a fix but the less said about that the better).
Over the next few months it was tough for the band to carry on without Marky, a couple of gigs were done as a three piece but things were not to improve until the unlikely recruitment of MPH's long time good pal Chris Nicholls aka CN SUPPORT.
Once again they had to train Chris up as he had never played an instrument before either; however he took to it like a duck to water and was soon on stage doing improvised keyboard solos and wowing a prostitute during his debut gig.
The new four-piece worked well for a time and climaxed in the summer of 2007 when MPH refused to cut the set short at a gig in Birmingham and kicked the whole keyboard setup off the stage.
Jeff got married, MPH wrote loads of new songs and that was the end of "The Racists"…but the beginning of the already legendary Miss H.
The third gig as "Miss Halliwell" was a high profile support slot at the Barfly in Birmingham - supporting The Fall. Everything since then has been an exciting if occasionally frustrating mix of regular live performances, studio recordings, infrequent radio play, self releases, two new female band members and a bit of film-making thrown in for good measure.
Get obsessed, there's a lot more to come.
By Johnny Big Bananas (Miss Halliwell's biographer)
February 2009
Links:
www.myspace.com/misshalliwell
Miss Halliwell @ iTunes Store.