With a focus on 50s to 70s rock, Scraping The Barrel are a four-piece cover band with roots back to the 70s themselves, covering such giants as the Blues Band, Wishbone Ash, The Who, The Beatles and plenty of Dr Feelgood; to name but just a few.
CommunityAd had the privilege of talking to band members Martin (vocals and lead electric guitar), Ian (vocals and bass), Dave (vocals and rhythm guitar) and Annie (backing vocals and drums), to find out a little bit more about the band and how they’ve handled the last 18 months.
Members Martin and Ian take the top spot for longevity, having played in a band together in the 70s and regularly from the 90s, whilst Annie joined in 2016 and Dave was recruited during lockdown 2020 after their harmonica player had to unfortunately isolate the entire time.
From Ian being inspired by the music programme on The Home Service, Martin picking up the guitar after seeing The Beatles, Dave wanting to be Rick Parfitt, and Annie shifting from piano to percussion and finally to drums, the band’s musical inspiration is drawn from a range of real-life experiences.
You can read our interview with the band below:
Where did the name ‘Scraping The Barrel’ come from?
“From not taking ourselves too seriously! The ethos always was, and remains, to have fun. We’re not a fee-chasing function band. We play the songs we love at parties and pubs we like for people we like.”
How would you describe your typical setlist?
“Mostly 50s – 70s with no glam, except maybe at Christmas. A couple of more modern songs that we particularly liked have slipped through the net, like ‘Design For Life’ but in the main it’s Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Rock; music that reminds us all of school in the 70s. Music that you hardly hear played live anymore.”
What are some of your favourite venues?
“Before the pandemic we had residencies in The Cricketers, Mill Green; The White Horse, Coxtie Green; The Bricklayers Arms, Stondon Massey; The Prince Albert, Blackmore; The Prince of Wales, Mountnessing; The Queen Vic, Maldon. All great pubs precisely because they host live music.
“The 2021 tour is looking much more varied. We got two more back garden parties, pub gigs (Inn On The Green Billericay 6th August), a Dance Club in Clacton (The Grove 4th September), a sports event (Nuclear Races 11th September), and on 12th November we are playing for the Doddinghurst Village Pop up Pub – a not-for-profit which relaunches in the Autumn.
What’s your favourite song to play?
“Since we play mainly for kicks, some of our favourite songs we never actually play at a gig. Over lockdown we challenged ourselves with SWLABR (Cream) and Jailbait (Wishbone Ash). We had a foray into swing jive with Twenty Nine Ways (The Blues Band) which we love and after literally months we think we have conquered La Grange an old favourite by ZZ Top and My Sharona (The Knack).”
How did the pandemic affect Scraping The Barrel?
“Positively, it has to be said. We were forced to adapt. We rehearsed whenever we could wherever we could, a back garden, a garage, music studios and when we couldn’t meet, we each downloaded software, bought audio interface gear and learnt how to record and mix tracks remotely, create videos and post them online. We Zoomed!
“We spent the lockdown winter learning new material, changing our existing songs to optimise the new sound Dave brings, and setting ourselves ‘challenges’ like the songs listed above.
“We reluctantly started the Facebook page ‘ScrapingTheBarrelEssex’ in August 2020 to post our recordings and keep in touch with the 20 or so pub friends who – like us – were missing the music nights like hell. In mid-June 2021 that page hit 200 followers!”