Press
these are articles featuring OK HOTEL...
BOOK IN TO SEE OK HOTEL BAND
Ipswich Live, The Evening Star – 27/06/00
It can be tough going if you are trying to break onto the local live music scene without playing stuff people already know. As mentioned in these pages before, people seem prepared to listen to a live jukebox, but are not willing to be challenged by unknown material. Such is the case for OK HOTEL, a group of four lads (Tim Lamm – bass; Chris Lockington – vocals, guitar; Matthias Pierce – keyboards; Richard Woodhead* – drums) who started off playing Blues Brothers style stuff before branching out into their own brand of indie-rock. “It’s a lot harder to be accepted playing your own stuff, but were quite stubborn and that is what we want to do,” said Matthias “we do do the odd cover, but they’re not conventional ones. We’re just out to please ourselves” added Chris. The band are taking their music seriously, but – fortunately – they’re not taking themselves too seriously while they do it! (Even if they have named themselves after the last place Nirvana played live before Kurt Cobain cleaned his teeth with a shotgun!*). With influences ranging from Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Stereophonics*, Smashing Pumpkins, Beatles and Hefner – they prove and interesting combination live. And you, dear reader, will have the chance to find out when they support Out To Lunch at Ipswich Pools Club* on July 14th. “They’re friends of ours and we’ve played with them before. And after that, we’re hoping to get some gigs to keep us busy over the summer,” says Chris.
* Woodward, *the first place Nirvana played Teen Spirit, *Stereophonics…err…no, *Ipswich Premier Pool Club.
MISS:SPELT YOOF / OK HOTEL / TIME STOOD STILL
Ipswich Manor Ballroom – 06/07/01
from Real Overdose Fanzine
…the second band to take the stage were Ipswich indie-rock outfit (and gig organisers) OK HOTEL Due to a seemingly incompetent sound crew finishing the sound check late, and Time Stood Still refusing to play any less songs in their set as a result, OK HOTEL had to knock a couple of numbers off their set (unfortunately two of my favourites, ‘The Siege’ and ‘Hesitant : I Know’). Despite this it was one of their better gigs. Admittedly, due to the sound crew the sound quality wasn’t very good – in sound places it became downright appalling – but they moved on professionally, despite the fact that Chris often couldn’t hear himself singing (and sometimes we couldn’t either). This is a damn shame, because OK HOTEL’s lyrics (supplied by Tim the bass player) are amongst the best I’ve heard, certainly from an unsigned band. For an indie band OK HOTEL generate a lot of intensity, and this was perhaps shown best in the final song, ‘Frontcrawl’. The continual building up and dying away of the tune, coupled with Chris’s high, tentative vocals and Matthias’s keyboard meanderings lead to a constant expectation which isn’t fulfilled till the end, when they finally let rip. During the final playout, they indulged in an activity which has become something of a tradition; Chris and Tim crashing into each other, still playing their instruments, before Chris starts rolling around on the floor and Tim hurls his bass across the stage. Unfortunately, on this occasion said bass hit the fourtrack they had been using to play samples, which toppled off the stage and crashed on the floor. But hey, that’s rock’n’roll!
A BAND WITH A MISSION, OK
The Evening Star, September 12th 2001
Self-critical, pro-active and determined to get a message across, OK HOTEL are a band on a mission. They refuse to pay songs for the sake of it.* As they prepare to return to the region’s live music scene after the summer break, Jo MacDonald met up with them to hear what they had to say.
“We’ve probably written about eight songs that we like in the two years that we’ve been together as a band,” Tim said after pausing to ponder back over the last 24 months. “We write a lot of songs that a lot of bands would keep. We just chuck them away because we want songs that we’re completely happy and comfortable with.” Bassist Tim Lamm and his OK HOTEL bandmates are clearly their own worst critics, but it’s hard not to admire them for it. After all, if they’re not happy with what they’re doing and playing, they can hardly expect others to be. And, for a band who are still young – only drummer has celebrated reaching the legal drinking age, the others being a few months behind – there remains plenty of time for them to pen up a bumper catalogue of tracks that will avoid the bin. OK HOTEL, named after the now demolished Seattle club where Nirvana first played Smells Like Teen Spirit, are driven by ambition, not to become international superstars – although no doubt if this opportunity falls at their feet they won’t be quick to toss it aside – but to make music that gets people thinking. As a band willing to criticise themselves they’re equally quick to jump on the attack of many band who they claim are disaffected from their fans and make music with little point. “I hate bands who write songs for the sake of writing songs” singer and guitarist Chris Lockington said. Tim added: “There’s got to be something a bit more real to it that we can connect with. The last band I’ve connected with were the Smiths, and maybe Radiohead to an extent.” “I was listening to the Sex Pistols the other day and there are plenty of political comments in their music*. They had something to say.” The abundance of nu-metal bands on the music scene is a particular issue that gets the band’s backs up. “People like Fred Durst annoy us” said Tim,* in reference to the Limp Bizkit frontman. People like him try and talk like they’re from our generation. They’ve just taken it, re-packaged it, and sold it back to us though.” “They’re so apathetic to everything except selling records.” Apathy is something of which OK HOTEL cannot be accused. They have strong views on a wide range of issues and, though they’re not about to force them down everyone’s throats, they’d like to tell people what they think “we’re trying to spread awareness of stuff” said Tim. “When we’ve got an audience we can speak to them directly and get our point across.” Chris continued “our early stuff never made any comments. We wrote music because we liked music, but we got annoyed with pointless lyrics. Now we want people humming along and then thinking ‘hang on, that makes sense’” Keyboard player Matthias Pierce added “We want to incorporate a more political side into our songs. It sounds pretentious but we don’t want it to be.” And the message they’re trying to get across? “It’s anti-establishment in a way” Matthias said “there’s too much apathy with British youth and culture”. Chris chipped in “Everyone says Labour is non-committal. We just wish people would stand up for what they* saying. It’s all deconstructive. No-one’s going anywhere*” “We’re worried that people will become as spoonfed as Americans, who are going to take on everything without cynicism.” Tim added, clearly passionate about the opinions they hold, and want to express. “I guess we’re into anti-capitalism as well. We’re not Communists, but we definitely have sympathies in that line.” Don’t go to an OK HOTEL gig expecting angry political and social tirades, accompanied by a bit of music, however. With a range of influences among them and a genuine love of music they don’t want to be that obvious. Theirs is indie-grunge with a subtle message. “We would like to be a bit more poetic so people think about our songs and make their own interpretations,” said Chris, expressing an admiration for Jeff Buckley. “That’s why we’re very critical of our own stuff and throw away a lot. If we put out a record we want a good one with which people can connect.” Matthias names Bob Dylan as one of his greatest influences, whilst Richard offers Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl as a musician to respect. Lyricist Tim, however, takes his inspiration largely from less musical roots. “Musically, I don’t have much input,” he revealed. “I write the lyrics and have been quite influenced by old Manic Street Preachers’ lyrics, but more so by books and poetry. Philip Larkin, Graham Greene, that kind of thing.” And while Tim focuses his efforts on the words for their songs, Matthias and Chris add the music, developing it between them. Richard, who is incredibly quiet, and seems happy to let his bandmates to speak on his behalf, piped up to explain his input and simply said: “and I drum”. For a band with so much focus on producing great and meaningful tracks it is surprising to learn that OK HOTEL’s origins are far removed from the ideology that they follow today. Bizarrely, Tim, Chris and Matthias first came together musically as a Blues Brothers tribute band, formed to play at a friend’s wedding. “It was a short-lived thing,” Tim said with a hint of relief. “We didn’t think anyone wanted to hear us again, but we reformed as OK HOTEL.” “We’d known each other for a long time, and friendship just evolved into us playing in this band” “We’ve never looked back,” Chris added. Tim continued the OK HOTEL story and said “we were quite aimless in the beginning, but then we wrote some half-decent songs and thought we’d push it a bit further to get some gigs,” Tim said. Added Chris: “Now it all seems to be doing quite well. We’ve been together two years now and it’s really gelling. It’s just got bigger and bigger.*” Things are looking particularly bright for OK HOTEL at the moment. They are returning to the region’s live music scene with a number of gigs around East Anglia over the coming months, the first of which took place in Bury St Edmunds last night. Their first EP, ‘The Siege’, had been recorded, they have a song included on the soon to be released CD of Ipswich bands called ‘Exposure Means Addiction’ and a chance for more recording sessions look promising as Ipswich-based Corndog Records have shown a strong interest in taking on the band. And from there, OK HOTEL, who have a second guitarist, Andrew Maunder, who they refer to as the “mysterious fifth member”, hope to take their music as far as they can. “There’s sort of a long-term plan” said Matthias. “We want to push everything as hard as we can for this year.”
* No, just for money, *we did not say this, *actually I called Fred Durst a cunt, *except those who are going somewhere, *wink wink!
INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD
Ipswich School Newsletter This week, Occasional resident rock critic Matt Tomiak starts a two part
interview with Ipswich School’s most prominent standard-bearer for alternative
rock, drummer with OK Hotel, Mr Richard J Woodward.
Richard Woodward (Year 13) is a member of a rare, and indeed highly admirable
breed. He is a member of an Ipswich five-piece whose repertoire consists almost
entirely of original material. This band is the OK Hotel. Rising phoenix-like
from the ashes of a “Blues Brothers’ tribute band”, according to Rick, a
drumming vacancy paved the way for the new incarnation. Influences are healthily
diverse, ranging from Jeff Buckley to the Smashing Pumpkins. However Rick
himself sites the former Nirvana drummer, (now Foo Fighters’ frontman), Dave
Grohl as his own personal drumming guru. Collectively an “indie-rock stroke
grunge” act, the band’s intriguing moniker is in fact a tribute to the venue in
which Nirvana first played “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, in their home town of
Seattle, Washington. The venue has since been destroyed in an earthquake and a
new structure has replaced it. As Rick wryly observes “So now we’re named after
a car park!”
After contributing to a forthcoming compilation c.d. featuring the best of
Ipswich’s live original bands, gigs are lined up for Bury and Norwich. Sadly
home-town shows have been limited. “There is no serious venue for original bands
here” Rick says, adding that at the moment our live scene is “insufficient.”
Hopefully Rick and those who share his beliefs will be able to change that soon.
POST DILLUVIUM+ CALICO + OK HOTEL + HENTAI
London Kentish Town Bull and Gate – 12/12/01
from www.aboutthemusic.co.uk
I must admit to missing most of HENTAI due to the marvellously confusing London UnderGround. They are one of an increasing number of bands that are instrumental, not really my thing, so I can’t comment on if they were good or not. I couldn't pick out much of what they were doing, but they certainly seemed to make the most noise of any band tonight! Next up were OK HOTEL, they started off a bit stilted, but had soon drawn their boundaries and filled the space with some really atmospheric tunes. Imagine MUSE and BOB DYLAN doing a cooking programme, with an audience full of JESUS AND MARY CHAIN bringing on the noise! This band has a good amount of cool on stage, with members like Matthias having to stop playing every now and again to move his pint off the keys of his keyboard, and singer Chris jumping around like he is trying to escape a football field of snakes that he has been dropped in the middle of! One of the best songs tonight was "For Fathers Sake" which swooped violently between full on foot stomping chorus, and a gentle JEFF BUCKLEY type verse. By the end of the set Chris was on the floor and bassist Tim was walking up and down the neck of his guitar. Very Entertaining! CALICO were next up and hammered through a very HOLE/PLACEBO/maybe even TELEVISION type set. The songs sounded very complex, but at the same time didn't leave you too cold as bands like this can. The only thing that made me feel like an outsider was a comment from the guitarist who said "this,,,,,next,,,one,,,is,,,for,,,,,,,,all,,,,,you,,progressive,,,rock,,,,,fans." I kid you not! Didn't see it myself, but despite his patronising ways the leather clad bespectacled axe master did look cool! I did feel a bit sorry for the bassist though, who had his pedals wrecked early on in the set by the enthusiastic twelve string guitarist. The gurl singer had a good pair of lungs on her and did justice to the cover of "I love Rock and Roll" by JOAN JET AND THE BLACK HEARTS. To summarise I wouldn't mind seeing them again to see if those songs will stick with me! Scottish punks POST DILLUVIUM were soon on stage and to be honest my first impression was pretty bad. But then it all changed when they started up. This was the tightest band I have EVER seen play. Sound wise they were hard to pinpoint, definitely punk, but there was some other ingredient there that I couldn't put my finger on. By the end of the set I was pretty impressed, I know this because by the end of the set it only seemed that they had been onstage for about five minutes! I caught up with the guitarist after the show who informed me that their new single was produced by none other than STEVE ALBINI, so could be one to watch out for.
by Andrew Culture
MMM...JUICY REVIEW OF 'THE SIEGE E.P' Incoming!
New (and not so new) releases, straight from the horse’s mouth…..
OK Hotel: The Siege EP.
3 Track CD EP. Track listing: ‘Our Father’s Sake’, ‘Over The Edge’, ‘The Siege’.
We in the Mmmm, Juicy! sound bunker like this one a lot. It’s a melancholy thing of beauty, with the sound being from the middle point of a triangle sided by U2, Muse and Strangelove. And Nick Cave. Oh alright then, a square. Either way, it’s a fine piece of work. It’s actually been out for some time (the sleeve says it was recorded during Christmas 2000) but various excuses have meant that it has taken this long to get reviewed. It was worth the wait, however. The songs are soulful and expressive, with swathes of guitar, piano and Hammond organ (an instrument which always gets a warm reception on the Yalson stereo) washing over much more harshly recorded vocal and drum tracks to give a lovely, expansive feel. The production, which is usually nothing to write home about on self-financed releases, is remarkably good. There are even some interesting backwards vocal and cymbal effects on ‘The Siege’, which along with the quiet/loud structure and chainsaw guitar in the chorus makes it sound very Muse-esque indeed. Which is a good thing. In fact the whole package seems to have been put together with great care and attention to detail. The sleeve is similarly well worked out. The front cover picture, of a small girl walking towards the camera, away from a large, dark tower, has an oddly 1980’s feel to it, in that it seems to be very profound without really meaning anything at all. In this case the sleeve (including the hazy 1940’s/50’s street scene which is on the back cover) adds to the whole wistful atmosphere of the thing. But that might just be me. Some might call it pretentious. I have a fondness for 1980’s record covers, though, so I’ll just say that it looks like something The Chameleons would have put out in about 1983. You can make up your own minds from there. Whatever you decide, look out for them, because this is lovely.
OK Hotel can be contacted at: 20 Ivry Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 3QW. Tel. - (01473) 255662. E-mail – ok_hotel@hotmail.com
HOME
DIARY
GIGS
PICTURES
RELEASES
LYRICS
CONTACT
OTHER
STUFF
LINKS