INTRODUCING EAST MIDLANDS BASED JAZZ/BLUES SEVEN PIECE CRANBERRY FLICK....
Cranberry Flick are an East Midlands based 7 piece band playing a cocktail of Swing, Jazz and Blues. With years of collective experience in the music and entertainment industry their mix of both standards and more contemporary numbers is suited to pretty much any venue or occasion.
Musicmuso met up with Glenn, Angie & Ken from the band in the Long Eaton branch of 'Save the Children' where we were scavenging for rare Roger Whittaker, Russ Conway and 'Mrs Mills' LP's, here's how we got on....
Please introduce the band and your music in one sentence....
Glenn; A cocktail of music like a fine vintage wine bursting with flavour.
You’re called Cranberry Flick how did you come about choosing this name?
Angie; We were debating over what our name should be for a few months!.. Nothing was quite feeling right, one name, we almost went with was ‘Mouldy Fig’s’ (glad we decided against that one!) Then, during one of my singing lessons, my brilliant teacher Elly referred to the Inflection I have in my voice as a ‘cranberry flick’ the second she had said it, I said “That’s it!” The rest of the band loved it and we had our name!
Being a seven piece how did you all join forces/find each other?
Ken; Serendipity, Past Lives and sheer fluke.
Angie; The internet played a huge roll, Ken (sax) was looking to start a small band, and came across my profile on a musicians available website, Ken, by fluke, found his old friend and Drummer Mike, and me having links to a brass band found Ted our trumpet player.. and from there we slowly grew to the seven of us.
Please describe a Cranberry Flick gig?
Glenn; Exciting and contagious
Angie; A fun journey through time! Listening and dancing to songs written in the 30’s all the way through to this century, with our unique retro feel and brilliant friendly atmosphere… Come see my gig blog
Favourite venue to play at?
Ken; Usually the last one.
Angie; Its always fun to play at our ‘home’ and practice venue, The Long Eaton Silver Prize Band Club.
What is the best advice you ever received and who was it from?
Ken; You either grow or decay. You can never stand still; my very good friend and guru, Jay Rossi
Glenn; My Dad. He said ‘never get married. Why make two people unhappy?
What does music mean to you?
Glenn; The world. It will be my first love and my last.
Can we have three words that best describe you as a band?
Glenn; Friendly, Exciting, Entertaining
Would you rather live with a dog that sings lullabies or a gorilla that can do sign language? Explain your answer
Glenn; The Dog as the poop bag for the gorilla would be massive.
Angie; wow, I’d choose the lullaby singing dog every time… (Britain’s got talent here we come)
Ken; Ermm… Which one buys the beer??
In your opinion, what is the BEST album/record ever released?
Ken; Abbey Road
Tell me a fascinating fact about you or one of your band members?
Angie; Ooo… well, one of us is an undertaker!!
Do you own a record that you wouldn’t like to admit you have?
Glenn; Yes. Roger Whittaker
Ken; Jim Reeves Greatest Hits
Angie; *is not admitting* tee-hee (we bet it's Nana Mouskouri - MM)
Is there something you would like to tell each of the band members that you haven’t told them before?
Ken; Don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun in a band before.
Glenn; Yes. That I am proud to be part of such a talented group.
Angie; wow… I’m agreeing with the others.. so so honoured to be singing with such talented amazing people… (awww, how sweet are we!)
What classic song would you have liked to have recorded and why?
Glenn; The Bolero. because I have always wanted to do the Trombone bit at the end.
Ken; Jacque Brel’s ‘If You Go Away’ but I can’t sing
First gig you ever went to?
Ken; Cliff Richard and The Shadows at Derby Gaumont
Glenn; Syd Lawrence (you’re to young)
Name three people (alive, dead or fictional) that you would like as dinner party guests?
Glenn; John Candy. Marilyn Monroe, Sandra Bullock.
Ken; John Lennon, Albert Einstein, Elizabeth II
Angie; Johnny Depp, Ella Fitzgerald… oh and… Johnny Depp J
There are many good bands and musicians out there, who would you ask the readers of musicmuso to look out for?
Glenn; The Ockbrook Big Band
Ken; Athena Andreadis
If you could describe your music in the form of a fictional character, who would it be?
Ken; Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (except there’s only six of us and we’re not that short)
Do you think we can ever live in a world where a chicken can cross the road without having its motives questioned?
Ken; We already do; we just choose to be nosey!
Glenn; Yes when we all have dementia.
What are your plans for what remains of 2014?
Ken; To be here most of the time
Angie; Music and gigs!! #exciting
Ken and Glenn were having a rather heated debate about whether Roger Whittaker's baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability was enough to 'trump' the Nashville Sound of Jim Reeves, before they started trading blows, I asked Angie some quick fire questions....
Coffee or Tea? Coffee
Coke or Pepsi? Coke
Drum machine or the real deal? Real deal
Live or in a studio? Live
Mac or PC? PC
Fry up or Sunday roast? Sunday Roast
Lemmy (Motorhead) or Ozzy (Black Sabbath)? Ozzy "Sharonnnnn".....
CD or Vinyl? Vinyl
Car or Motorbike? Car (chauffeured)
Acoustic or electric? Acoustic
Shower or Bath? Shower
Tattoos or Piercings? Tattoos
Robert De Niro or Al Pacino? De Niro (you talking to me....YOU TALKING TO ME?)
God or Google? God
SOCIAL MEDIA
For upcoming gigs, please check HERE
Musicmuso would like to thank Ken, Angie and Glenn for sparing their time to answer our questions, we wish them every success in the future and look forward to seeing them live one day in the not too distant future....
Interview by Mark Wincott