FIFTYNINEVIOLETS.com BAND

FREE MUSIC AVAILABLE FROM US @ MYSPACE.COM & PUREVOLUME.COM & ISOUND.COM

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http://www.purevolume.com/fiftynineviolets

" The music business is a cruel & shallow money trench, a
long plastic hallway where thieves & pimps run free & good
men die like dogs for no good reason.....
there is also a negative side."
Hunter S Thompson

Photo by Darren Rogers

NEW DRUMMER LEE

NEW ALBUM RECORDED - "Prime Numbers". Currently having some re-mixes done by Southside Freedom Fighters.

(THREE re-mixes -Yeah Yeah Yeah [space mix] ,

Steal From Me [bounce mix] & Time part 2 -available free) @www.isound.com

(ORIGINAL MIX OF YEAH YEAH YEAH AVAILABLE FREE + LIVE VERSION OF YEAH YEAH YEAH &ORIGINAL MIX OF TIME PART 2)@www.isound.com

4 TRACKS FREE @MYSPACE + NEWS & BLOGS

FIFTY NINE VIOLETS
stand for love, tolerance, loud guitars, raw emotion, dynamic control and passion.
Think the Who fighting it out with the Booker T, The Only Ones taking a kick up the arse from Bootsy Collins, or The Sweet having a love-in with Nine Inch Nails. They stand for integrity, honesty and a different kind of love song.
Their album 'Prime Numbers' is available at gigs now. The opening track 'Yeah Yeah Yeah' has been played on Radio One's Lamacq Live.
Their years together have also seen them release 2 EP's on their own imprint, as well as constant national gigging.
They have had several electric and acoustic sessions on various regional radio stations.
The band have earned gigs with Kasabian, the Paddingtons, Nine Black Alps, 10,000 Things, Mystery Jets, Thee Unstrung, the Mardous, the Ludes, and the 5,6,7,8's.
They were also handpicked by the Mean Fiddler to play the Unsigned stage at the 2005 Leeds Festival. One recent gig with the Paddingtons was broadcast in its entirety live by the BBC on radios Leeds/York/Sheffield/Humberside. February 2005 saw the band grace the cover of Hull Sandman magazine.
They also have a track featured on a cover mounted CD free with the October issue of Notion magazine

photo - Phillip Rhodes

FIFTY NINE VIOLETS have 2 EP’s (+3rd RELEASE -"PRIME NUMBERS", an 11 track album - All Out Records -AOR003CD :-SEE REVIEWS ON NEWS PAGE) on their own imprint - All Out Records. The first EP, TIME (All Out Records AOR001CDS) came out in March 2003 and contained the tracks TIME, WAY, ALL IN and a remix of WAY by splinter group The Southside Freedom Fighters. Two tracks, ALL and WAY found their way onto the Radio One Unsigned web site at One Music

Photo by Darren Rogers

Radio One said:-
“There is something about FIFTY NINE VIOLETS - in a kind of understated way that we like. With their Beatlesque melodies and lo-fi instrumentation on “All In” , while their journey on “Way” stumbles over the Stone Roses and says a casual hello to the Happy Mondays.” - Radio one extra (20-02-03)

Fifty Nine Violets “Time” CD EP (All Out) This four song EP by these Brits begins with, "Time", a highly appealing melodic rocker. Song two, "Way?", is a slow tempo, moody song that had me thinking Oasis. "All In" is a power pop tune reminiscent of something that might have been written in 1965. The last song, "No Way?", is a techno dance tune that I'm sure is good if you're into that time of thing which I'm not. All in all, if the band was attempting to show their range of talent, they have succeeded. It had as an overall feel of 80's alternative. Their one sheet has them likened to the Stone Roses, Dinosaur Jr. and Happy Mondays, bands that I am not all that familiar with but may give you a sense of where they are coming from. I found to it to be a very appealing release. -Willy Aadnoy (6/8/03)[www.punk-information.com]

PHOTO BY PHOTO GIRL

The second EP, DIRTY WATER(AOROO2CDS) was released in December 2003, another 4 track EP, like TIME this was again recorded at Fairview Studios in Hull by John Spence. Tracks include DIRTY WATER, SILVER SEA, RIVER BED and a Southside Freedom Fighters remix of SILVER SEA. All these tracks have had several plays on northern UK radio and several plays on German & Italian radio.

Photo by Michelle Dee

"TONY WILSON WAS RIGHT" Fifty Nine Violets "Dirty Water" (All Out)
Lost the press release, but it's a cool collage for a cover, so they might be
art students, or just cross about Vietnam and kittens, who knows?Still,
that's not important right now, what is is the noise they make. "DirtyWater"
itself is a real late 70's stoner riff kicking the door in so a Liam-alike can
sneer n drawl over some chunk n funk Happy Primal Carpets chords, lovely, turn it up, pass the puff and know that this is really worth hunting down.
Reassuringly derivative, suitably snotty and kicking arse nicely,specially on "silver Sea". Hull is the new Madchester, oh my, my.

Unpeeled 'zine.(11-05-04)[ www.unpeeled.co.uk ]photo - Phillip Rhodes

GUERILLA GIGGERS IN "LET'S MIX METAL AND JAZZ" OUTRAGE
FIFTY NINE VIOLETS "Prime Numbers" (All Out Records)
Since their last offering, it's all got more pointed, nasty and, well, good. Now flirting more obviously with speed metal stylings, so it's all a bit like The Sweet signing up with Nine Inch Nails. Some of the crankier stuff is favourite here, "Thugg" living up to its name with a brutally deliberate bass and concrete cored riffs while the 'space mix' of "Yeah Yeah Yeah" does the insane thing of chilling out in a jazzy n dubbed zone and ends up sounding like The Specials trapped in Hugh Hefner's recurring acid-drenched nightmares, very weird, very cool and if that's very you, go here...
www.fiftynineviolets.com - UNPEELED 'ZINE.(FEB., 2005) www.unpeeled.co.uk

Photo by Darren Rogers & Michelle Dee

“…The best outside broadcast we’ve done” Katy Noone Producer BBC Humberside / Leeds / York / Sheffield

FIFTY NINE VIOLETS TO BE PLAYED ON RADIO ONE, 07/02/05 ON STEVE LAMACQ SHOW

YEAH YEAH YEAH(TRACK 1 FROM THE ALBUM PRIME NUMBERS) BY FIFTY NINE VIOLETS WAS PLAYED ON LAMACQ LIVE 07/02/05. THE SHOW IS AVAILABLE TO LISTEN AGAIN FOR 7 DAYS ON www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/stevelamacq/index

Snail mail : 32 Westfield Road, Barton Upon Humber, N. Lincs., DN18 5ABTel: 07766351780

INTERVIEWS-- INTERVIEWS--INTERVIEWS-

59 Violets-Prime Numbers (Jason Karlson) www.sandmanmagazine.co.uk
It’s in the Linnet and Lark a few hours before the evenings Sesh is about to start, that I meet the 59 Violets gathered around a battered tatty brown table in what is quickly becoming the cities new midweek music Mecca. The nights football is blaring away in the background (Arsenal got thrashed) while Sesh DJ Mark mills about around the venue setting up equipment and pilling up CD’s for the evenings bands. The tape is rolling and the interview kicks into full swing with Guitarist Digsy and Andy the drummer leading the proceedings and being the most vocal members of the group. The band are relaxed and jovial, taking it all in their stride.Suddenly Pedgie from the now disbanded Raywells burts into the room and starts a conversation that cannot be repeated on the advice of our lawyers, and the Mexican government. Needless to say the ex-Raywell gets off lightly when five minutes later it turns out that the tape recorder isn’t actually doing what it’s supposed to be doing, i.e. recording. Guitarist Digsy relaxes noticeably and sighs in relief “I was a little worried there, my mums probably going to read this” he jokes “I suppose this gives us a little bit more time to think up some proper answers” By the time I get back with fresh batteries the Violets have disappeared leaving a trail of empty beer glasses and overflowing ashtrays in there wake and I start to worry that perhaps the band has got scared of all the career destroying headlines that could result from a bad interview, and legged it. Instead there in the capable hands of Phil Rhodes who has taken the opportunity to snap a few quick shots of them among the bricks and rumble of the derelict building next door with the band stood against the back drop of boarded up windows and a crumbling bomb shelter. Phil’s ability to sniff out derelict land is uncanny as Andy the drummer points out “Anyone who reads Sandman probably thinks Hulls derelict and war torn!”
Not a totally inappropriate image for a band who’s formation coincided with the attack on the World Trade Centre “we got together on September 11th with all the stuff going on in America which was slightly surreal” The 59 Violets came about in the autumn of 2001 after a year of discussion between Digsy and Andy who had always discussed getting together and forming a band, which finally came about when Digsy moved back to the region “I moved back from living down south and I’d always bumped into Andy and talked about getting a band together. Next to join Andy and Digsy was Chris on guitars which Andy jokes “we couldn’t get rid of him!” and finally Bill providing bass, brining together the greatest band the likes of Barton-on-Humber has ever seen. Which is where I have to reveal the dark and unspeakable truth that 59 Violets aren’t a born and bred Hull band in terms of location but after constant gigging, sometimes 4 or more times a month it’s safe to say that there as close to being a Hull band as makes any difference. It’s safe to say that they’ve escape from Barton for the bright lights of Hull. Hailing from a different city gives the band a unique perspective of the scene here in Hull and they’re pleased to be slightly out of step with the rest of the scene as Chris is quick to point out “It’s nice to be a part of it but at the same time we still have a kind of outsiders view of the Hull scene and we don’t get caught in any of the arguments or rivalries” However, even though the 59 Violets have managed to escape any rivalry and arguments that might happen with so many bands playing so closely in the same city and living out of each others pockets, they’ve also seen the benefits of it too. Being helped by a supportive group of bands and DJ’s keen to help each other out for the love of music “We’ve got a lot of gigs here through other bands and we’ve helped get them gigs in Barton” comments Digsy “We owe a lot to Mark (Sesh DJ) who really helped us out a lot in the early days by getting us gigs, and people like Alan Raw who first played our stuff on the radio” at that moment as if to emphasise the point Jon from Turismo walks in to collect the Violets empties “We also like Turismo” adds Andy loudly while he still within earshot. The band have even had the honour of performing a live set on Raw Talent which was recorded for a CD
“It’s like the album only played live and faster, we owe a lot to people like Alan Raw and Jim Caulson for playing us on the radio” Digsy nods and adds “There was a time about ten years ago when it was the hardest thing to get your music heard on the radio and now all that’s changed”
Despite increasingly been mentioned a number of times in the national press courtesy of the Paddington’s adventures in London there still seems to be a stigma attached to admitting your from the same place as the Beautiful South, a subject that Digsy is keen to talk about “There’s sometimes a weird almost apologetic feeling to saying where you’re from, like a collective inferiority complex. The upside is that the geographical isolation kind of results in bands not following fashions or trends. I reckon the area is one of the most independently-minded in the whole country though, and is reflected in people’s characters and attitudes whether they’re in bands or not. On paper at least this region is the perfect breeding ground for world class rock and roll, cheap rents and outsider status. It would be nice to think that in a few years Hull may be mentioned in the same breath as Seattle or Detroit. It Sounds daft at the moment but stranger things have happened!”
“I’ve never known it so good” offers Chris. The band have just finished there debut album “Prime Numbers” an album of ballsy, bass lovin, beer drikin, crunchy guitar riffin all out garage rock songs from the frantic album opener “Yeah Yeah Yeah” with it’s chorus of “When I get the feeling/ When I get the feeling/ and I don’t hear you say” to the dirty bass driven “dirty water”. Just when you think you’ve got the album pegged it throws up another surprise “A lot of reviewers cant put us in a category because we have such a great variety in out music” remarks Andy “We don’t like teeny music, there’s too many teeny bands out there, we like a lot of oomph! Turn up the bass” It’s the great variety that makes “Prime Numbers” so dammn good with the band being compared to everyone from Oasis and the Stone Roses, golden oldies like The Who and Led Zeppelin to a frankly insulting comparison to the Stereophonics (dull stadium rockers these guys aint) . So what has the band tried to accomplish in the lyrics on the album?
“We tend to try and write songs about a personal or social injustice, which makes us sound really pretentious but I think that most good songs have an element of struggle and anger to them” contributes Digsy “I hope people feel some empathy from them”
The 59 violets are no strangers to hitting the road and gigging. In the last year or so they’ve gigged in Hull at least a hand full of times every month. There first gig in Hull was actually at the Linnet and Lark with there defining moment being last years Sweet and Sour gig supporting Kill Bill band the 5678’s as Andy describes it
“The best gig we did was probably supporting the 5678s at the Welly last year, there was a huge crowd, a great atmosphere and they really seemed to get it” after hobnobbing with Japans finest the band have since scored themselves slots supporting the likes of Leicester band Kasabian in leeds when band approached the 59 Violets boys and inquired as to whether or not they might have any illegal mind altering substances about there persons that they could have, to which the band replied no. In so many words. “Needless to say we haven’t supported them since” which is Kasabian’s loss believe me. It hasn’t all been meeting famous bands and denying them drugs though, the early days saw them with a lot of empty rooms and small crowds, Andy Laughs “There was one at the Heritage, there must have been six people there. Including the bar staff.” Chris talks about how it’s essential for bands to keep on practising and suprising the crowd and the dangers of becoming complacent or believing you own hype
“There was a point towards the end of last year where we were getting a bit mundane and complacent, ya know?” Explains Chris “and it came out in a review. Everything that was said was fair and we just needed that kick up the arse. We worked on new material and put in some old songs we didn’t play much any more and it really helped” Digsy agrees with the sentiment “I think criticism or a bad review is essential for all bands, otherwise if everyone’s just telling you how good you are you start to believe it and then disappear up your own arse”
“It’s like that saying” adds Andy “Opinions are like arseholes, everybody’s got one”
Towards the end of the interview the conversation turns to what’s going to happen now that the band has finished the album with Chris reflecting “It’s like a closing chapter, you work at the songs and now there finished you’re excited about writing new ones”
“My favourate song is always the one we haven’t written” adds Andy thoughtfully “We have two or three new songs in the pipeline and whichever we finish first will be my favourate” Digsy
“I’d like to travel across a body of water and play” says Digsy
“But we do that every time we come to Hull” eager to point out his band mates mistake
“Okay, I’d like to cross an ocean and play, somewhere abroad”
Finally does the band have any advice for all those bands in waiting?
“Don’t do it for the girls or the money, there isn’t any!”
Jason Karlsonwww.sandmanmagazine.co.uk

Photos by Darren Rogers

Fifty Nine Violets at the New Adelphi
By Michelle Dee www.thisisull.com
Their Christmas card lists run to half a dozen names, they have a penchant for blowing up amps; they are a thrilling live experience; they are of course the Fifty Nine Violets: from Barton upon Humber, North Lincolnshire.
For the majority of this interview one or more of the Fifty Nine Violets: were in fitful mirth. And I hadn't prepared a damn thing so was very much winging it. Thankfully they saw the funny side.
Come to think about it, they seemed to find a funny side to almost everything; in fact, I think the very notion of interviews amuses them greatly.
The Violets fondly remember a gig some of their number played at Baysgarth School when they were still pupils there. They only played three songs. Some one nearly broke their neck slam dancing so they hastily removed themselves; then were probably sent to the Headmasters office for provoking unruly behaviour. You couldn't ask for a more laidback clean living band. Okay you could, but these guys would probably get up and volunteer their services anyway.
After producing a number of demos, the Barton four have completed their debut album. Prime Numbers: was recorded over five days at Fairview Recording Studio.
Then a further two days were needed to mix the recording to produce the eleven-track masterpiece.
Once again the extraordinary talents of John Spence were utilised to create a distinctive sound. The Violets all wax lyrical about his extensive knowledge of the engineering desks and technical arrangements.
You can go to some places and they might have all the latest gear but it's useless if they don't know how to use it. John is always good for a Happy Mondays story anyway. I suspect these cherished tales help pass away the time in between takes.
The Fifty Nine Violets: have a fondness for Scrabble and book reading that occupies them on tour and don't get up to rock n roll shenanigans, so they tell me. They laugh at the likes of Kasabian: and their tour troubles: like when the youngsters complained to our bookish lot that the DVD and telly had packed up on their no doubt huge tour bus.
The Violets don't even have the room for every one to sit down in their touring van: no wonder they told Kasabian: to push off when the singer asked them for contraband substances. So these are the straight men of Rock n Roll then? Lots of laughter followed then some desperate attempts to deny the pipe and slippers image they were fast creating for me...
The Violets have an ongoing challenge every time they play out of Barton; that is getting the fans from home to the gigs. If they play a gig in Hull the cost of ferrying a whole load of Barton folk over the bridge would be astronomical. Likewise for Hull fans to travel to go South side.
There are only a few venues in Barton where the Violets can play, so out of area gigs are a necessity. There is a certain pub in Barton that has a special late licence called The Red Lion:. At about ten past eleven you can see the people queued half way down the High Street to get in, just for that extra half hour of drinking.
It's hard to believe that no one has thought to open up a club there.
There is also the Carnival Inn up near the Tate Shopper, where the Fifty Nine Violets: headlined at the Raw Talent: live broadcast on the eighteenth of December last year. Over three hundred people turned out for that special gig, so they are far from being a group of Billy-no-mates, and there can be no question as to their popularity. Alan Raw has said that, that night in the Carnival Inn was the best BBC live broadcast he had done in seven years.This accolade should be seen as quite a feather in Barton's cap, considering Raw Talent: has, in the past, staged shows from much larger places such as Leeds and Sheffield. I managed to listen to the first hour and it sounded like it was shaping up to be a top night. I was really sorry to have missed it, but fear not because the Violets in their infinite wisdom have yet another 8 track CD called Fifty Nine Violets: Live and Rawe.
This is a completely live recording of their gig that memorable night, and is available for a song.
Some years ago fate or fortune took Digsy to London, he then promptly disappeared; Seduced by the pavements of gold and the bright city lights, he made few return visits. After an undisclosed amount of time Digsy came back to the quiet Lincolnshire town to settle down and met up with Andy.
Together they decided to start a band. The Violets came together after several conversations in Barton hostelries.
Some of the band knew each other already: it's hard to go out in Barton and not get to know everybody worth knowing with in a year or so.
After a year or so and Digs finally plucking up the courage to ask Bill, a bassist of note to join the group, the Fifty Nine Violets: were ready to embark on their musical quest. During their first rehearsal the amps blew up and that seems to have been quite a regular occurrence ever since.
They made the decision to rehearse for six months to perfect the sound and gain confidence in each other's abilities. They started gigging, playing original material and a few covers. Nothing startlingly new in that you say. The Violets, cunning to the last, did covers of really obscure tracks that nobody knew.
Songs like Mess Around by Red Cross some MC5 numbers and maybe a few Hard Ons would find themselves slipped in at the last minute. They could well have been playing their own stuff and nobody would have been any the wiser.
Since those heady days of ambiguous tracks in The Red Lion:, they can now, quite easily, play ninety minutes of prime Violets numbers. The Fifty Nine Violets: are still the only Barton band doing their own material, but The Favours, Turismo, The Paddingtons, as well as the Violets, have now entertained the crowds over the water.
Their most recent record purchases include Biffy Clyro, Kasabian:, Ian Brown's latest not Lamar at all, and The Killers. This would suggest a healthy interest in what some of the signed bands are up to: when they are not bathing in Schnapps, rolling in spliffs and being a bit 1995. Always Coca Cola.
I asked whether they get out to see many other gigs whilst they save up for a new power amp. Yeah you guessed it, that too was blown up. By my left ear a soft chilling voice, accusingly whispers we saw you at the Fonda 500 gig. Digsy can be really unnerving sometimes. He's like, really cool and that, but every so often he takes you unawares.
The Fifty Nine Violets: have a number of new songs after what seems like years, to certain members, of touring the same set they have decided they need some fresh ideas. If it is anything like the sheer power and intelligent rock n roll on Prime Numbers:, then it will be worth the wait.
The songs on the album all stand out for different reasons; the dark undertones on Fields; the ferocity of Thugg; the easy feel of Steal From Me or; the rhyming lyrics and vocal change on Yeah Yeah Yeah. After a few listens this album will play in your head when you least expect it. Just don't start singing Thugg in a crowded Chav pub - you might not get out alive.
The songs are borne from a chord progression discovered in the rehearsal room, or maybe a certain catchy riff, sometimes Digsy will bring in a song he has written by himself; that hasn't happened for a while though. Andy, the Violets drummer has begun to write some of the songs: he brings a fresh non-clichéd aspect to the group's song writing, which will serve to improve them further.As a band they try to avoid any kind of formulaic sequences, they endeavour to make every song different from the next. They are all very individual and their influences come from a wide musical spectrum, everything from punk: proper punk mind, to Drum and Bass, as well as a bit of dub thrown in for good measure. Digsy goes for anything that's cheap; he is often to be found leafing through the Scots Dragoon Guards compilations in charity shops, in a bid to find a bargain.
There is also a passion for the dance genre within the band; this is evident from the various different mixes of the regular Fifty Nine Violets: tracks to be found. After playing around with Wav files on the PC, and prior experience DJing and producing, Chris has been experimenting on creating a totally different side to the Fifty Nine Violets: sound. The result has been a number of top quality remixes. Yeah Yeah Yeah on the Prime Numbers: album, a totally awesome reworking of Silver Sea on the Sesh CD and just recently an 8 track E.P which features more of The South Side Freedom Fighters mixing and sampling.
I think any DJ worth his fat salary would be pleased to spin Silver Sea Space mix. It has all the elements of a great dance anthem: Digsy's vocal is sampled to create an intoxicating atmosphere; the break down of all the different parts; the yearning hook line repeated over and over; then a huge stormy crescendo. A good few slices of Paul Oakenfold style euphoria, I wait with barely controllable anticipation for Chris's hand to turn the ear once more.
The Fifty Nine Violets: are nothing short of one of the best bands in the Humber region:
Digsy- vocals and guitar
Chris- vocals and guitar
Andy- vocals and drums
Bill- bass
Prime Numbers: is released on All Out Records www.thisisull.com

Photos by Darren Rogers

Snail mail : 32 Westfield Road, Barton Upon Humber, N. Lincs., DN18 5AB Tel: 07766351780