TALENTBANQ PRESENTS: COFFEEPOT DRIVE
Posted on February 3rd, 2018 by James GambleHi Peeps,
So, for the second piece from TALENTBANQ PRESENTS, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Nadine from CoffeePot Drive. Nadine indicates they’re now in the process of relaunching with TalentBanq, so what better time to bombard you with info? Call it CoffeePot over-Drive.
‘What’s CoffeePot Drive?’, I hear you say. Umm, rude. Secondly, okay, let’s get some education on the go. Grab yo cortado.
Firstly, let’s just say that if The Blues Brothers and George Thorowood and the Destroyers had a love child, it would be called CoffeePot Drive.
Now, let me introduce to you to the legends (in bullet point format, ‘cos I’m efficient like that):
- Nadine, lead singer
- Illy, guitarist
- Nichole, support singer
- Mikey, support singer
- Mark, keys and moog
- Chris, bass
- Jules, drums (N.B. Chris and Jules come as a pair – they’ve been playing together since they were fourteen)
Let’s start the at what I like to call the ‘babyccino’ days of CoffeePot Drive.
It was MPG awards triple nominee producer**, Andy Brook, who first introduced Illy and Nadine to each other in the murky depths of mid-2013. Based in and around Croydon, South East London, the founding members initially took to the London circuit with their “acoustic vision”. After which, it was a kinda snowball process that took the band into the effervescent ensemble it is now. Coffeepot Drive has kept all original band members, they just can’t shake each other off!
After completing their first record in 2015, Edge of Town, their track ‘Hey Suzy!’ reached number one in the iTunes Blues chart. They’ve kept up the momentum by belching in-your-face grooves to their loyal following around London. You can usually catch them in places such as The Bedford, The New Cross Inn and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.
Okay, now let’s delve into some deeper shit… What do they represent? Nadine explains the aforementioned Edge of Town is named after the band’s roots being on the fringe of London. In their track Warning Sign, they voice the frustration of the isolated and ignored, which resulted in the 2011 London Riots; an integral part of London’s modern history. Not only do they reflect contemporary issues in their song writing, they’re also advocates for mental health awareness and #diversitymatters.
In terms of musical influences, Nadine goes on to say they’re all heavily influenced by rock music – you can hear it in tracks such as Fallback. Despite the rock backgrounds, all members wanted to come together to make something different. I mean, Mark, their keys player, came from some crazy psychedelic bands, ya get me? So far, they’ve succeeded in their mission. You think you’ve heard something like them before, but then they throw in a rock or dub-esque twang and you’re like ‘nope, dis is fresh music’. Bringing it forward to 2018, their journey has taken them a long way from the aforesaid acoustic vision. Babyccino has morphed into Café Patrón. Think boozy rock ‘n’ soul, dude.
To be honest, they’re just the loveliest, coolest people playing shit-hot music that will blow your wig off.
So, you wanna see them play, huh? You wanna sweat out the Blues with them? Get your arses to their REVERBNATION gig on 27th Feb. If you can’t make it, please wake up and smell the coffee by checking out their YouTube channel.
DISCLAIMER: They just want to get you dancing and having a good time to some good fucking music, OKAY?! Happy crowd = happy band.
* btw = by the way (gosh, get with the lingo)
**a bit of a mouthful, soz.
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