Universal Records (left to right) Tim
Walker, Simon Petty, Sid
Jordan and Malcolm Cross make up the
rootsy, blues-influenced London band Minibar.
By David Holmberg
Daily Bruin Contributor
Four guys with shaggy hair, acoustic guitars and a tendency to
play folk music is probably a normal sight in Nashville, Tenn. Even
in Los Angeles it’s not altogether unusual. But there’s
something not quite normal about Minibar.
What sets this band apart is that its four members, whose style
is undeniably American, are not from the deep South, or even the
United States; they’re from London.
“To call us an “˜American Roots’ band is a
misnomer, because we don’t come from here,” lead singer
Simon Petty said in a phone interview from his new residence in Los
Angeles.
While few bands are easy to musically classify, this aspiring
new British quartet has complicated the issue even further. By
retaining its homeland’s pop structure while infusing a
definitively American country roots style, Minibar has found a
niche it can assuredly call its own.
Seven years ago, London gave birth to this illegitimate, hybrid
band. Minibar, while firmly rooted in its European beginnings, may
have more in common with American music than most bands born and
raised in America. Whether they meant to or not, the United States
and Britain jointly hatched a unique child.
Like many bands, Minibar has seen its share of member changes.
Today, the band consists of four core artists. Although all
members sing, Petty is the lead and plays acoustic guitar. Sid
Jordan plays bass and piano, Tim Walker is on the pedal steel
guitar and banjo and Malcolm Cross plays percussion.
Together, the four British musicians played bars and pubs
throughout London for several years. But it was not very rewarding
since Minibar’s music does not fit into either of
Britain’s two main musical genres, pop and punk.
“It’s a bit odd,” Petty said about
Minibar’s sound. “We have strains of country, perhaps,
but still a pop structure ““ if by pop you mean the genuine
term as accessible.
“But I think that we don’t label well is a good
thing. We start playing and writing and we do what feels right.
We’re not self -consciously American and we didn’t
start out to become the British Eagles,” Petty said.
“We just try to write interestingly about the same things
people have written about for decades, but in a self-referential
and confessional way.”
It is no surprise, then, that after struggling in London for
years with its decidedly un-British sound, Minibar left its native
home to seek out its musical holy land. In an
it-could-only-happen-in-Hollywood success story, the four Brits
found a home here in Southern California.
After playing only two gigs in L.A. at the Troubadour and the
Viper Room, the band was signed by producer T-Bone Burnett, who is
well known as the force behind numerous albums, including the
recent Americana roots soundtrack for the Coen brother’s film
“O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
As would be expected, the West Coast offers a completely new
world to the once London-based band. Jordan talked about the
group’s move into this more fitting musical haven.
“There’s really more of a sense of community
here,” he said. “People aren’t back-biting, which
never made sense to me anyway. Elbows, maybe. But there are these
social differences that result in the English being born with this
innate sense of underachievement. Americans are born with
everything, and maybe they can go down a bit but they aren’t
trying to prove themselves all the time. So people are willing to
help more here. Besides, London is full of bars and rolling
hills, so people there mainly just drink and roll down
hills.”
Petty seconded this feeling of new found belonging.
“Here we are more musically understood, because our sound
is more American. Our mythology is here on the West Coast,”
Petty said. “It’s our musical homeland, here in the
1970s. We are less country now that we’re here and have been
jamming more together with less structure. We’re actually a
bit more English now that we’re in America.”
It was also here in L.A. that the group recorded its first album
“Road Movies” and its pop single “Holiday From
Myself.”Â
Recording a single can be a defining experience, as many bands
face compromising their artistic integrity for producers who force
groups to play uncharacteristic music in order to reach radio
airwaves.
“We were fairly forceful and said “˜no,’
because we didn’t want to play fast, dumb pop songs,”
Jordan said. “Our sound has changed since we’ve been
here, too. We doodle more, “˜space jam’ a bit more. This
album is very precise. We’ve relaxed a bit now.”
Although Minibar has come a long way from playing Neil Young and
Beatles tunes in British pubs, it still finds inspiration in music
from many different genres, ranging from Bob Dylan to Elvis
Costello and even some Joni Mitchell.
However, Jordan acknowledges that there are downfalls to being
in Southern California.
“I was trying to write the other day, and couldn’t
so I went for a walk on the beach. It was sunny and all and that
just isn’t good for songwriting inspiration,” he said
with a laugh.
Ultimately, whether Minibar is Americana roots, pop, folk or
some hybrid of all three, is irrelevant. Minibar is Minibar,
and will play whatever music feels right, which is all there is to
it.
MUSIC: Minibar will be playing at The Mint
tonight at 10 p.m. and will have several more shows in the Los
Angeles area in the next few weeks. Its debut album “Road
Movies” was released April 10 by Universal Records.