f'ldERS
From Going Places to chart success, Fred Deakin has always got his just desserts. And his future looks sweeter still as LEMON JELLY become a live band. vii/mas; Mark Robertson
ow many people have made gory 'l'-shirts for a cult Japanese an
l'lick. l)Jed in the popcorn concession til a cinema and
soundtracked the queen's jubilee‘.’ l‘red l)eakin for one. .\'ot content with itching feet on the dancel'loor with his legendary club nights and warping our tiny minds with the visuals from his own design agency. the pop culture polymath is also the mouth and part of the trousers behind Lemon Jelly. And now those very same wobbly pop daiidies have a top 20 hit to their name. Yes indeed. it is very nice weather l'or ducks.
So. l)eakin has his lingers in many pies — surely enough to deserve a slap l'rom the wee wilie at (ireggs ~ but the main reason we are l'rothing at the speakers right now is that Lemon Jelly are poised to make their Scottish live debut. And we're expecting a multi-mcdia caravan ol' l'un.
Be sure though. l)eakin is no one-man army. l"or said Lemon is a duo. a twosome. a pair: he and fellow Jelly'ist Nick l-'ranglen have been carving otit their singular niche ol' timeless quirk since 1998. And it's a case ol' opposites attracting. ‘We have very dil'l'erent skills which gives its a more diverse palette.' says l)eakin. who made his name on the lidinburgh club scene as the man behind (Boing Places. ‘.\'ick is basically a studio rat who has been making music all his life. He plays a huge number ol' instruments and has worked with loads of bands [including Pulp. Primal Scream. Bjork. Hole and Blurl and has seen the musical process evolve. Because ol' this. he's the driving force behind our musical process. My role is very much l'rom a l)J's perspective: that ol' digging in the crates trying to listen to what we're doing and direct the llow.'
Lemon Jelly"s music encourages rather than delies description » the more you listen. the more you hear and the more it can excite or bewilder. l"ranglen's and l)eakin's music has an innate sense of humour. not in a ('has'n'l)ave quaint kind ol' way or smart-arsed teenage
TO DO
'IT WAS ALWAYS OUR GOAL
SOMETHING WITH MORE DEPT H'
American 'l'enaciotis I) kind ol~ way. but in dare I say it‘.’ a British kind ol' way. It's wry and fun without resorting to bratincss or smut.
This is reflected in the pair's methods. l)eakin bubbles with analogies. ‘When we're in the sttidio we go track hunting with big nets.' he says in rapid-lire l.ondiin-tw'anged babble. ‘We'll get stuck again and that's frustrating because you can't l'orce it. 'l'herc's an illusion that you're in control of it all when you're clearly not. You have to wait and it pops tip and goes: “This way gentlemen? Over here?" ll' you're lucky. it's good and il' it's not. you stait again.'
ll' all this sounds like run. then that's because it is. ('hildlike without being childish. Lemon .lelly retain the sense ol'joy' shunned by all but a levy artists. Yoti see it in Supergrass. Mr Scrul'l'. Ben l‘olds and .\lori'issey: people who inject humour into their music without being irritating or smug. Lemon Jelly do this and more. bringing a mish-mash ol' shtil'l'ling beats. skipping breaks. l'tllllltl sounds and hooks culled l'l'tilll songs that could have been made eight or eighty years ago. The l'eel is timeless. so good even the queen liked it or. at least. they got the nod to do the intermission music dttring the jubilee concert. The best act not on the bill.
The band started out as a modest twinkle in l)eakin's and l"t‘altgletl's collective eye: a proposal to work together that took over ten years to come to l'l‘llllltm. l-ii'st l)eakin skipped ol'l' to lidinburgh l'or a decade with his decks. dropping into the hearts and hips ol~ lidinburgh's clubbers with (ioing Places. a deliglitl'ul aural adventure that combined the easier side ol' music with some peculiar twists. The final nights ol' (ioing Places went down in lidinburgh clubbing l'olklorc: unexpected musical turns l'i'om country to techno to pop. karaoke. movie screenings and the DJ sets in the .»\B(' cinema's popcorn stand.
'l'hcn. laying (ioing Places to rest. l)eakin held an exhibition ol' his
Trace the rise
C O O—O—O—O—
and rise of the
FRUITS OF
. 1630 1845 1901 1939 1952 1965 TH E 'nterSteI'a': Lemonade The table ielly Clark Gable Gable plays Her majesty Nick sampladel'c is invented IS invented by born 1 Rhett Butler in Queen Franglen electro pop in Paris. Peter Cooper February in his career- Elizabeth ll's born. practitioners and patented Cadiz. Ohio. defining role in coronation. Fred in the USA as Gone With the Gawd Deakin Lemon Jelly° Jell-O. Wind bless 'er. born.
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