STRAPPING on a fake moustache and running round the streets of Edinburgh with a BBC weather presenter, set to a tune honed by a Scottish music legend… it’s all in a day’s work for funk band James Brown is Annie.
The Edinburgh band have just launched their latest video, Five Up High, featuring the acting talents of forecaster Judith Ralston and fellow broadcaster Grant Stott.
And they can’t wait to release their new album later this year, having worked and performed with original Average White Band member Hamish Stuart in crafting their unique sound.
“Fake moustaches, fake wigs, chasing people around in Corvettes… it seems a bit silly at my age,” laughs the band’s Barry Gordon, 41, chatting to The Sunday Post as the finishing touches were put on the video.
“It’s taken us across Edinburgh and it’s been a real adventure getting out and about. Every time we go out we get people wanting pictures with us and it’s amazing what you can get away with while wearing a fake moustache and a wig!”
Just as curious as the costumes worn in the video is the band’s name.
Barry explains that it originates from a Saturday Night Live sketch featuring Eddie Murphy singing songs from Annie in the style of, you guessed it, James Brown.
“I’m not saying I regret it now but at the time a name was a name,” admits Barry. “It’s kind of stuck with us. We usually abbreviate it which makes it a lot easier, but it’s a bit of a conversation starter.”
The current JBiA is the third incarnation brought together by Barry.
It started out as an instrumental trio back in 2006, before becoming a more conventional band later on, although still struggling to move forward and make a breakthrough.
The current sextet – Barry on guitar and vocals, Aki Remally on lead guitar and lead vocals, Brett Allan on bass, Eddie Miller on electric piano and vocals, sax player Jonny White and drummer Scott Jamieson – came together around 2010.
As a group, they took it a lot more seriously and things started to pick up with a number of festival appearances and slots on national TV and radio.
They’re hoping to hit the next level with a little help from a master of the funk genre in Hamish.
Having played at the Darvel Music Festival in Ayrshire, supporting 360, a band including Hamish as well as Steve Ferrone and Molly Duncan of AWB fame, they hit it off backstage.
With Molly having produced the band’s first album, new-found acquaintance Hamish was approached for the second.
Hamish, who was part of AWB from 1972 to 1982, says: “I knew them, we’d met and played a couple of shows together so when they asked me to produce the record I just jumped.
“We had a lot of fun. It was nice getting involved early on when they were starting to write the songs. You can see things from every gem of an idea all the way through to the end. That’s one of the fun things about making records, being involved from the get go.”
Barry admits that it was slightly nerve-wracking at first working with a legend of the Scottish music industry.
Hamish has not only had hits with AWB back in the day, but has also worked with the likes of Paul McCartney, Quincy Jones and Aretha Franklin.
“It was a bit surreal, but you’ll never meet a nicer, more down to earth guy,” Barry says. “He’s a real gentleman and he treated us like he’d treat anyone else. He’s so enthusiastic even after all he’s achieved.
“He wants to be first in the studio and last to leave. For him it’s all about the song and how we can make it the best we can. He was really passionate about it and had more drive and energy than all of us put together I think!”
Our new @CreativeScots album is released on Sat 15 Sep. Produced by Average White Band icon Hamish Stuart, we’ll be playing shows across the country (some with Hamish, too) to spread the funky word. So, come lay down the grooves with us. https://t.co/nkFIzKKBQe #funk #jazz #soul pic.twitter.com/eLcRAr42Xi
— James Brown Is Annie (@JBisAnnie) June 14, 2018
Hamish lent a hand with guitar and vocals, and also contributed the song Sandcastles – which he ended up taking lead vocals on because nobody else volunteered!
“I didn’t really want to impose myself on the record in a playing sense,” he says. “I ended up playing guitar on a couple of things just because I was there!”
Of course, Hamish’s influence extended beyond just playing on the tracks.
His guidance and wisdom from a lengthy career in music was vital in taking JBiA to the next level.
“Hamish has been a huge help to us in making us a more rounded group,” Barry explains. “Instead of making us a traditional funk group playing in clubs, our appeal can reach a lot wider this time.
“Vocally he’s helped us amazingly. Before it was just our lead singer and now we’ve got three people singing and it’s down to his work.”
Hamish adds: “I understand the dynamic of a band very well, because I’ve been in bands all my life. You have to include everybody, you can’t be talking to one person all the time.
“Once we got into the studio it was nice to work with everybody and find out what their strengths were and how their involvement works inside the group.
“It’s like managing a football team in a small scale. Finding everyone’s strengths and playing to it.”
Hamish will be joining the group once again when they play a series of live shows in September to promote the release of the album.
“It’ll be a blast,” says Hamish. “I’ve had a lot of fun making the record and the shows that we’ve done. It’ll be nice to see the record right through to the launch.
“That was what I really appreciated about the way Arif Marden worked with AWB. He stayed involved after the record was finished.
“When we did Soul Train for the first time in Los Angeles live and he came out from New York with Gene Paul who’d engineered our record and came to the TV studio to make sure the sound was right and kept it true.
“I feel that it’s not an obligation but a responsibility to see the thing through.”
The band are hoping to have the use of the classic car in the video for a triple header of shows in Edinburgh on the album’s launch night.
Barry says: “When we were doing the music video a guy very kindly let us have the use of his 1977 Corvette Stingray so we’re hoping he’ll chauffeur Hamish around on the Saturday of the album launch! It’s a lot to look forward to.”
James Brown is Annie release their album on September 15. Five Up High is out now at https://jbia.bandcamp.com/
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