This interview was originally published in 'The Ark', a national online music magazine with several regional outlets. This piece was edited by Jamie Nelson, editor of 'The Ark, Edinburgh'.
On their humble website, Jen and the Gents describe themselves as a ‘pop/rock combo’. This a refreshing change from the plethora of small artists who shy away from mainstream classifications, citing their act as ‘alternative’ or ‘eclectic’ to get themselves noticed in the competitive local scene. However, when Ark Edinburgh met up with the band before their gig at Bannerman’s in the Cowgate, it was plain to see that the musical originality of Jen and the Gents extends far beyond the bold claims made on their website.
The band is led by Jen Ewan, who’s wholesome vocals and melancholy guitar rhythms are so sweet they could easily induce tooth ache. Jen’s light tones are contrasted with the slightly more sinister plucking of Martin Beer on double bass, and the percussion styling’s of the groups enigmatic drummer Stuart ‘Pockets’ Crout, who tells me that he’ll ‘literally bash anything that makes a sound’ and that once whilst being interviewed for Leith FM he used a ’bloody suitcase as a drum!’. Having all lived in Edinburgh for a number of years, the band are well acquainted with the music scene here. In her friendly Ayrshire lull, Jen tells me that she used to play local venues alone, going from place to place with just her guitar. However she asserts that she much prefers playing in a band as even at open mic nights in the capital she was often ’the only girl getting up on stage, and it‘s a little bit lonely by yourself‘. It was at one of these nights, at the now closed Susie’s Diner in Edinburgh’s South Side, that Jen met Martin and Pockets who were already playing together in The Tuberians, a band that Martin describes as a ‘Cajun music and Ukulele Rock effort’. Thus Jen, Martin and Pockets clicked ‘immediately’ and any ideas of pseudo Cajun-rock were abandoned in the favour of the candy pop meets charming folk rock sound that Jen and the Gents now sport.
As we sit in the corner of the dimly lit Bannerman’s lounge I can’t help but query as to where the bands fiddle player, Ben Errington, is, I was expecting to meet the whole outfit. ‘Oh, Ben?’, Jen asks casting a wry smile Pockets’ direction, ‘Well he’s only fourteen so he can’t play in any pubs with us or anything like that – he’s still too young’. Martin explains that since Ben can’t play everywhere with them that they have to be quite creative about changing their style slightly when the young fiddle player does get to join in, ‘We have two different types of sets, ones for café’s and stuff that’s a lot more folksy due to the inclusion of Ben’s fiddle. Whilst if we play in pubs and venues like Whistlebinkies then we adopt a louder sound. We just have to be versatile.’ For many small bands the prospect of changing a line up and set depending on where they were playing that night would be daunting. Although, this concept doesn’t seem to phase Jen – or her Gents – with Pockets chipping in, ‘He’s a musical genius! His age doesn’t hold him back, I met him whilst we were both busking on street, he can pretty much play anything from ukulele to violin and fiddle’.
Jen and the Gents are familiar with the concept of busking, having performed on several of Edinburgh‘s largest streets. Jen in particular is keen to talk about their involvement in Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival this year, ‘There’s nothing anything quite like it, it’s an amazing feeling to be playing in the middle of the Royal Mile to an audience composed of people from all over the world- you just don’t get that opportunity anywhere else’, she adds, ‘It’s quite regimented though, you pay your £10 and get a half hour slot. We busked most weekends for the duration of the festival, I’d love to get the chance to do it again next year’. As she says this, both Martin and Pockets are nodding in agreement and grinning, it is evident that the band find Edinburgh’s unique capacity to showcase it’s young musical talent on the streets both exciting and fun. I suggest that this is fantastic as it gives them an international fan base, Pocket’s chuckles, ‘Yes, we do get a lot of people coming up to us and buying our CD’s during the fringe. But the down side of that is that now we’ve got one fan in America, one in China, one in Ukraine and so on…you get the picture’. Martin makes clear that the band would like to build up a name for themselves locally before branching out, and that Edinburgh Festival is a great way to do this. They do, however, have small aspirations to play at notable Scottish festivals such as ‘Wickerman’ and ‘Perform in Perth’, Pockets admits would be ‘challenging’ but thinks that Jen and the Gents sound ‘would fit in well at festivals’.
Jen and the Gents seem quite content with what Edinburgh has to offer musically, acknowledging that there is a good mix of clubs, bars and cafes in the area to keep them going gig-wise. Pockets tells me that ‘The sense of community in Edinburgh is great. Our favourite Edinburgh bands such as the Outback Eskimos, and New Urban Frontier help us to network and vice versa. We give them guitar strings and an extra ten minutes on stage, they give us support slots and phone numbers’.
The band’s enthusiastic approach to music in Edinburgh is encouraging, it is refreshing to see local bands supporting their musical peers – there is little sense of competition, as with other larger Scottish cities. Although, the one negative Jen does pass comment on how sad it is this venues which they love playing, such as the Forest Café, are facing closure due to the lack of local support. The place where the band formed, Susie’s Diner, has already been shut down due financing issues, of this Martin muses, ‘In comparison to the Glasgow music scene there is a really concentrated sense of team spirit in Edinburgh, the closure of these place affects this. Bands here don’t rely on promoters – they rely on each other and the venues to keep the musical community in Edinburgh thriving.’
This attitude, combined with their on-going backing of local music and local bands, will hopefully allow the talent of Jen and the Gents to be showcased further throughout Edinburgh, if not Scotland. When I ask them where they see themselves in 3 years time, Jen responds with a modest answer, ‘I hope we’ll be still making music that we enjoy but just more established, that would be nice’. Pockets laughs at her response, justifying his reaction, ‘Jen…Ben’s still not going to be old enough to play in pubs in three years time’, she puts her head in her hands and responds, ‘Well hopefully we’ll be doing a world tour around café’s then!
