John Fell Interview

John Fell

!_Archive Post_!

Doncaster Live February 2008 Edition

With The Fontanelles album Three Finger Salute out in February, what better time to catch up with Font’s frontman and elder statesman of the Doncaster scene, John Fell for a nice cosy chat?

“Statesman implies some kind of achievement or power, but thanks” laughs John as we settle down with a pint in his local. Perhaps he hasn’t yet achieved all of his goals in music, but he certainly can’t argue with the ‘elder’ part of our description, having had some sort of involvement with the scene in Doncaster for the best part of 15 years. “Yeah, I started playing in bands around ’93/’94, and the bands I was in slowly evolved into Thumper. Our 2nd gig was Henri’s Music, a big festival over a weekend at Cusworth Hall. It felt absolutely huge at the time”.

With University beckoning, Thumper dissolved, but John kept up his song writing, committing a handful of songs to tape under the guise of The Fontanelles. And this is where an interesting cross-pollination of the Doncaster music scene takes shape. “I was back in Doncaster and saw a band called Fake Ideal at the Tut’n'Shive. I vaguely remembered their faces from school, and so I drunkenly approached them and asked them to help me out with starting a group. They agreed so Danny and Whitlam (now of I Am Bandini!) started rehearsing with me. Danny left, and Dan Jennings came in on bass, who’d actually practiced with Fake Ideal a couple of times as rhythm guitarist.” The musical crossovers don’t end there either. Rob Malton replaced Whitlam on drumming duties for a time, and both Rob and Dan ended up playing for BeachBuggy.

After the band split in 2000 John spent a few years living in London, but they reformed in 2004. The album is made up of a series of demo recordings taken from ’04 onwards, and as a result feels like a ‘best of’ rather than one coherent album. “Well, the fact is that we’ve done a lot of recording over the past few years, but we’ve always held back from releasing them, for various reasons. I’ve always wanted to put a record out, and this seemed like the best way to do it. And we’re giving you 15 tracks as well, so you’re getting plenty for your money.”

The production values over the course of the album do vary quite a lot, the opening three tracks sounding the most polished (unsurprising, as these were recorded at a high quality professional studio, AXIS in Doncaster). Other studios in Doncaster have also been used (Analogue Recordings and Higher Rhythm), as well as studios in London, and even a friends flat. John discussed each track on the record in detail, but space dictates we can’t put it all down here. Highlights of his stories include ‘DC Soap’, (“Phil Jupitus said it was a hit in waiting!”), ‘Ambidextrous Monstrous’, (“Dan came up with the title when he was drunk, I tried to rip off Toto’s ‘Hold The Line’, and it quotes ‘Withnail & I”) and ‘Picture The Scene’ (“about when I was a victim of sexual harassment!”). Final track of the album ‘Darren The Lion’ is possibly the most surprising song on there, a slow burning instrumental number. “We’d been to the pub to watch England Vs Argentina, came back to the studio drunk and did it in one take,” says John. “We put it as the last song on the album ‘cos it doesn’t really fit anywhere else, and it’s kind of a nod to Nirvana, who used to end their albums with a bit of a jam.”

So what does the future hold? With no Fontanelles shows booked for the foreseeable future (and rumours of a split), John is taking it easy, helping out a few local bands in the studio, playing the odd solo show (as John Fontanelle) and concentrating on his song writing. “Writing songs is the thing I enjoy the most about being in a band. I’m hoping to set up a little idea of mine in the next few months. The idea is to get something set up in a studio, recording things and then letting other local musicians come and add parts, and just join in with the whole process. No pressure that anyone has to be there every week, people can come and go as they please, it’s just a chance for me to hopefully work with lots of other people in the music scene. I’m quite excited about that.” And does he envisage a new band rising from this project? “If a band does materialise, and wants to play live, then that’s fine, but that’s not the focus at all. It’s all about the recording and song writing process, and maybe the challenge of writing songs that I think would suit some of the other people I’ll be working and recording with.”

John seems genuinely affectionate and enthusiastic towards other bands in Doncaster, so it’s no surprise to see him setting up a project to work with as many of them as he can. “Some of the bands in Doncaster are fantastic at the moment,” he exclaims. “I Am Bandini! are an amazing live band, Ego Parade write great tunes. I think Peo (of Kenneth) is a genius. OFM are good, The Carousels are a lovely, poppy, Beach Boys type band. If Sugar3 were based in London they’d have been all over the press, and (frontman) Rob would be starring in some hideous reality TV show!”

With last orders being called at the bar, we’ve got time for one last question. John has recently become a father with the birth of his daughter May Louise. How does he feel about author Cyril Connelly’s quote, “A pram in the hall is the enemy of creativity?” “Not if you’re a pram designer” grins John.

The Fontanelles album Three Finger Salute is out in February, and is limited to 100 copies. Check www.myspace.com/thefontanelles for more details.

Words: Adam Irwin
Photos: Andy Cook