Releases on British label Mo'Wax have tended to leap from the chunkier, experimental end of beat spectrum. Dr Octagon, Money Mark and DJ Shadow are all Mo'Wax aficionados. So when a trio of Madchester-sounding lads recently scaled the walls of Mo'Wax, wielding their guitars and Stone Roses influences, one wondered what prompted this striking out into new musical territory.
South insist that they are not another relatively-titled project with uncle James Lavelle calling the shots. "I think Mo'Wax were just looking for somewhere new to go to do something different," says singer Joel Cadbury. "It's a very eclectic label so our sound fits quite well because of the beats and the rawness of it. It's something that James was very passionate about."
The band are proudly protective of their sound, especially when asked if having such a well-known label boss is a help or a hindrance. "It's a bit of both really. Because he's been involved in the project, people want to talk about it. There are also a lot of people who are very cynical about what he does so it works both ways," says Cadbury. "The thing is, it never changed the way we thought about making the record, it's not like 'James Lavelle changed this record', it's still very much our record."
The group are far from opaque about the Stone Roses influences especially on 'Paint the Silence', where Cadbury is a less-charismatic Ian Brown. He maintains the bands that they most respect are "the ones that have stuck it out and carried on. When you make a great record people can get complacent and never recapture that." (While the former comment doesn't apply to Brown's former band of merry men, the latter is a synopsis of the Stone Roses entire career.)
"I suppose I'd have to say someone like Neil Young after seeing him at the London Fleadh this year," adds Cadbury. "He's nearly 60 and he's still, like, rockin' out hard, he's amazing! A band like Radiohead obviously inspires you just because of their whole ethos and the way they go about things. It's basically about bands or artists who keep coming back and doing things differently."
South's debut album 'From Here On In' is strewn with a variety of sounds and styles creating some interesting sound alliances. Cadbury puts this down to constant experimentation. "I think we always try and do different things. I don't think we'd ever want to get to the point where we just follow one route. It's also interesting to just keep it changing. We know how to achieve what we want out of the sound, and I think we've really got our sound."
Quite the musical chameleon, South flit from northern soul-influenced indie to muted splashes of electronica. They're equally at home playing an acoustic set in a small venue as playing to a big dance crowd (as they did on the Big Beat Boutique). "It's weird", says Cadbury, "because every time we do a club gig, you think 'this is bloody great', there's just so much energy. Then you do an acoustic gig and it's so powerful, so personal - but they've both got total merit. You forget how powerful each element can be so I think we're going to line up more acoustic gigs in the future because they're really personal."
That said, the boys will be forced to plug in those guitars and crank up the amps for the Summer ahead. Their live calendar over the next couple of months is crammed full of festival dates, including a trip to these shores. "Well, we're coming to Ireland, to Witnness which we're really looking forward to. We're also doing Reading, Leeds, Fuji West in Japan and festivals in Sardinia and Belgium, so there's quite a lot going on really." Not bad going for a bunch of relative newcomers (who are no relative of UNKLE of course...)
Sinéad Gleeson
