LAZY SAVIOURS

THE LAZY SAVIOURS

A new band - comprising of Jim Hughes (aka The James Clarke 5) and Paul McNulty at its crunchy core. Round the outside you'll find a chewy collective of guest stars and vocalists, among them Martin Grant-Hudson, Gayle Haddock, Sean Macreavy and Chris Kilby.

What started with Paul offering to produce the JC5s GET OUT OF BED single blossomed into an exciting album - recorded at RMS Studios and released as Chartstuff's 4th album in May 2003.

This band is so new that they don't have any glowing reviews as yet - although  doubtless they will have some soon. In the meantime they've written their own...

'Think of us as a heterosexual Pet Shop Boys' says Paul, 'with the irony gland in remission' adds Jim.

Feste's Song

PAUL ON JIM

The first thing I remember about Jim is his stripey pendleton shirt and spikey hair looking out from the sleeve of the Exhibit B single "Who Killed The Smile". This was in 1986 I think. I recall not liking the song very much at the time, a poor assessment, since the album it came from - "Playing Dead" - has since become a huge favourite of mine.

It wasn't until 1998 that we met. A mutual friend invited me to the "Acoustic Café" to watch Jim do a solo set. I vaguely remember chatting somebody up during his first few numbers, but then my attention was distracted by the arrival of "Lucy Daydreaming", a superb song that I immediately wanted to get my hands on productionwise. This duly happened, and it was 'Lucy' and (the ultimately even fabber) 'Get Out Of Bed' that led, eventually, to the Lazy Saviours.

Needless to say he's a Beatle nut too. At times he can make me look like the Australian surfer I once met who said to me 'Hmm- The Beatles - I've heard of them. They were a "brit" band weren't they?" At others, we see in each other signs of a misspent youth - and after - following the fabs. Once at the studio an undated, uncaptioned picture of the Beatles appeared. Jim and I looked at each other and nodded. "John passing his driving test" we said in unison.

JIM ON PAUL

I first encountered Paul McNulty at a Beach Boys convention somewhere around the late 80's? He appeared onstage at a piano and had the audacity to perform a version of the Beach Boys' masterpiece Surf's Up. I sat in judgement, stroking my chin and thinking 'Ha! He played G minor7 instead of B flat 6th!' Despite such nit-pickery, I saw that here was a chap with spunk, as well as damn fine taste in music.

We met properly in 1998 when he came to see me playing at the Acoustic Café in London. This time it was Paul's turn to indulge in the chin-strokery (and possibly even a touch of eyebrow raiseage) as I ploughed through my solo set. Paul was particularly keen on a a song of mine called 'Lucy Daydreaming', which at the time I had only recorded as a home demo. The following year saw our first studio collaboration, with Paul producing (and playing on) 'Lucy…' and also 'Get Out of Bed', which in turn led us to collaborate on the Lazy Saviours album. (on which both tracks are featured).

The contrast in our approaches makes for interesting collaborations, e.g. Walking the Earth, a good example of Paul's structuring combined with my whimsy-ness.

I'd say that Paul is the SECOND best songwriter in the world whose name starts with 'Paul Mc…'

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