I first became aware of Mod/Powerpop band Stanley Road through my friend over at the Retroman blog and instantly upon hearing them was taken back to around 1978 and the mod revival period, a time when bands weren't swallowed up by TV shows like X-Factor and suchlike and regurgitated out to the masses, a time when bands made their own way down the road of rock 'n' roll and that is what we have here in Stanley Road, an honest hardworking band doing what they want to do........and it is good!
Last month I flew back to the UK to catch a performance of Len Price 3 at the Half Moon in Putney, what I didn't know when I booked my return flight was that the wonderful Spanish Mod/Powerpop band, Stanley Road, would be playing close by the following night, around about the same time as I would be flying back to my adopted home here in Sweden. However, unbeknown to me, also in the crowd that night, jumping about and having a great time, were Sabino, Pablo and Chusin from Stanley Road and I had a chance to chat with them over a beer or two. But before that, take a listen to "Nothings
Gonna Come" from their new E:P.
Stanley Road are: Sabino López: Guitar, Lead Voice
Chus Foxton: Bass Guitar, Voice
Pablo Álvarez: Drums, Voice
From: Asturies Metropolitan Area, Spain.
Q. How did the three of you meet and when did you form the band?
A. The band was formed in 2003. After three years Sabino got a job in Madrid, he stayed three years so the band just couldn’t carry on playing. Fortunately in 2010 we decided to come back together and play again. We have been good friends since we were kids.
Q. Who are your greatest musical influences?
A. The Jam, The Circles, Secret Affair, Small Faces, Housemartins, Green Day, Los Flechazos, Brighton 64, Northern Soul…
Q. You have recently played the UK in Cambridge, where else have you played and which is your favourite venue?
A. We played all around Spain: Madrid, Zaragoza, Santander, Oviedo, Gijón, Cáceres, Logroño, San Sebastian and much more…we played in festivals and mod rallies like October in Rain, Pop Art Weekend, Purple Weekend, Go Lleida… Our favourite venue was in Logroño and San Sebastian where we really connected to our fans.
Q. What is the funniest thing that has happened to you when playing gigs or recording?
A. Last gig in our home city, cops arrested Chuce for public disorder. Sabino tried to help him and he got arrested too…at that time Pablo was in a Pub playing darts. The fine was payed with Stanley’s money!
Q. You have recently recorded and released a 4 track vinyl E.P, why did you release this on vinyl and what is your preferred format when listening to music?
A. We prefer vinyl because its sounds better. It’s the way to listen Rock & Roll.
Q. What bands are you currently listening to?
A. We love The Movement(Denmark), Innocenti(Malaysia), Cooper, The Bite(Spain), Len Price 3, Universal(England),The Go Signals(Philippines), Rioji & The Last Chords(Japan)... We think that we are in a boom of new mod bands in all around the world.
Q. What is your favourite record of all time?
A. CHUCE: The Jam – All Mod Cons, PABLO: Marvin Gaye: What’s going on, SABINO: The Jam – Setting Sons
Q. The Mod/Powerpop scene in Spain seems to be very popular right now, why do you think this is?
A. Because there are a lot of bands and festivals, so people get to know them, and really like power pop and mod bands, but anyway we think that promoters are just interested in old bands so the new ones have no chance to get known…that could be a problem for the scene.
Q. If when watching a band, one of the band members was abducted by aliens and you had to replace them, who would you be?
A. C: John Entwistle P: Keith Moon S: Howlin’ Wolf or Paul Weller.
Q. What are your hopes and aspirations for Stanley Road?
A. We hope to become the mods and music lovers favourite band all around the world. We’re thinking about recording our first LP this spring.
Q. Finally, the most important question of all, what is your favourite ice cream?
A. C: I don´t like ice creams. I prefer meat and chips. P: Milk rice cream, S: Philadelphia cheese with strawberry.
Many thanks to Sabino, Pablo and Chusin for taking the time to talk to me, we, at Ice Cream Man, wish them all the best for the future with the band and the recording of the LP which we look forward to hearing sometime next year.
You can contact the band by e mail at: stanleyroadband@gmail.com to buy a t-shirt or the record and you can listen to the great tunes at stanleyroadoriginal@myspace.com you can also find them on facebook.
The band are playing live on the 19th of November at 22:00 with Squire at the Wurlitzer Ballroom in Madrid http://www.facebook.com/event.
L-R: Sabino, Rick.N.Baker, Chusin, Legendary rock photographer Paul Slattery and Pablo.
Photo: Steve Worrall
Great feature, great band and great guys!
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