mickoc
06-02-2007, 12:48 pm
The Duke featured in the North East edition of Metro News before his gig at The Cluny in Newcastle tomorrow. Short article including one of the pictures of him on the Tram. Reproduced by retyping because no access to a scanner at work, enjoy :) :
Five Questions for Duke Special
Incorporating elements of vaudeville, Gershwin and orchestral swing into pop music, Belfast singer song writer Duke Special AKA Peter Wilson, is touring to promote his acclaimed major label debut album Songs From The Deep Forest.
How would you describe what you do?
I think essentially it?s soul music, but it has an element of theatre and playfulness. It?s like the love child of Tom Waits, Elliot Smith and The Sound of Music.
Would you agree that your appearance is somewhat at odds with your music?
Yeah. I think people expect me to maybe look a little less strange, but I like keeping them on their toes. People always say I look like a mixture between Robert Smith and Bob Marley. I?ve had dreads for the past five years. I?ll probably do something different in a while. Maybe have a dread comb-over when I go bald.
This will be your first tour with a full band. What effect will that have on your live show?
My intention is that it will be as much of a visual experience as a sonic one and that hopefully the audience will be amused, surprised, moved and then entertained. That?s the plan anyway. It?s just been incessant touring really for the past four, five years and this is the first one where there?s actually going to be four people on stage, so that?s very exciting.
Why do you always have a gramophone onstage with you?
When we did the first EP we deliberately put gramophone crackle all the way through the recording, just to give it a lot of texture. So when I was attempting to do it live I started using a gramophone as a backing track. It can play anything from a lecture by various professors recorded in the 1930s/40s, to a symphony, or maybe the Danish National Anthem.
Have there been any particular low points in your career?
I once had to sleep in the dressing room of a venue in England and I got fleas. That was pretty horrible. I was locked in overnight with an empty margarine tub as a toilet, in case I needed to go. I?d like to go back and redeem the situation a little. Donate them some dressing room toilets or something.
Article by Richard Smirke Metro News 06/02/07
Five Questions for Duke Special
Incorporating elements of vaudeville, Gershwin and orchestral swing into pop music, Belfast singer song writer Duke Special AKA Peter Wilson, is touring to promote his acclaimed major label debut album Songs From The Deep Forest.
How would you describe what you do?
I think essentially it?s soul music, but it has an element of theatre and playfulness. It?s like the love child of Tom Waits, Elliot Smith and The Sound of Music.
Would you agree that your appearance is somewhat at odds with your music?
Yeah. I think people expect me to maybe look a little less strange, but I like keeping them on their toes. People always say I look like a mixture between Robert Smith and Bob Marley. I?ve had dreads for the past five years. I?ll probably do something different in a while. Maybe have a dread comb-over when I go bald.
This will be your first tour with a full band. What effect will that have on your live show?
My intention is that it will be as much of a visual experience as a sonic one and that hopefully the audience will be amused, surprised, moved and then entertained. That?s the plan anyway. It?s just been incessant touring really for the past four, five years and this is the first one where there?s actually going to be four people on stage, so that?s very exciting.
Why do you always have a gramophone onstage with you?
When we did the first EP we deliberately put gramophone crackle all the way through the recording, just to give it a lot of texture. So when I was attempting to do it live I started using a gramophone as a backing track. It can play anything from a lecture by various professors recorded in the 1930s/40s, to a symphony, or maybe the Danish National Anthem.
Have there been any particular low points in your career?
I once had to sleep in the dressing room of a venue in England and I got fleas. That was pretty horrible. I was locked in overnight with an empty margarine tub as a toilet, in case I needed to go. I?d like to go back and redeem the situation a little. Donate them some dressing room toilets or something.
Article by Richard Smirke Metro News 06/02/07