DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Lee O'Nell Blues Gang
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil's Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's not your average desert island and we'll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil's Island we find Lee O'Nell Blues Gang sat on the beach. The island is far from their home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil's Island?
Find out now...
Welcome to The Razors'e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don't worry about it's name I'm sure it's not as bad as that would suggest.
You're marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn't live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Lionel: 'In Rock' by Deep Purple. I grew up with this band, and for me it’s the best of their albums.
Gipsy: 'Handle Me With Care' by Jade MACRAE. Listening to this album makes me calm daw, it gives me peace of mind. Her voice touches my soul and enters my heart. It resonates in me like clear and limpid water. Each song seems so obvious but so worked to arrive at this obviousness… I can find myself in the lyrics, and would like so much to have been able to write such songs. I simply love it.
Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to stay in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose?
Lionel: An album of the band Rainbow, 'Rising' just because I love the group and because of the Rainbow.
Gipsy: Our second album 'This Is Us', because it’s a live picture, we are happy on it and working our passion together, looking in the same direction. It really represents our way of living, thinking. This is us.
There's also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What's your tipple of choice?
Lionel: Jack Daniels!!
Gipsy: Water, fresh and clear. Water is life! Or maybe sugar free coke, to get the taste of America, and sugar free to keep the diet !
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?
Lionel: A t-shirt of Joe Bonamassa merch !
Gipsy: Our mug with the band’s logo: Lee O’Nell Blues Gang, just because in case you need a mug can be really useful, to drink, to put some food inside, to use it to dig, to catch spiders. And our logo to remind this is the project of our life together, always together.
You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
Lionel: With my father, because I’ve got so many things to tell him since he died…
Gipsy: With my daughter, to protect her, and keep teaching how to survive in this world, hoping she could escape from this desert island and face the outside world with more strength.
There's a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
Lionel: The double live album 'We Want Moore' by Gary Moore…
Gipsy: An imaginary concert, with Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, Joanne Shaw Taylor singing 'Summertime', 'Bird on a Wire' and 'Sunday Kind of Love'.
You're getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
Lionel: Samantha Fox, "Please help me!!" and you will know what I mean!
Gipsy: Elvis Presley! Please take me back in the 50’s and in the USA, to really live in that era, and in this place where all is possible and where people don’t judge you and don’t catalog your music.
You've been stuck here for a while and food supplies are running low. There's only one thing for it... which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
Lionel & Gipsy: Sorry guys, but the diet is gonna have to go on! None of us, we are a team and everyone is essential to the group, otherwise we wouldn’t have chosen them!
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
Lionel: Fred CHAPELLIER, look at this French guitarist ! He’s my brother of heart, we started music together, lined the same vinyls, practiced together… And his Tribute to Peter Green if fabulous !!
Gipsy: Sarah Vaughan for the voice which inspired me, and for her typical way of singing and plying with words and sounds.
