DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Pearl Handled Revolver
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 Pearl Handled Revolver 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?
Chris: If I was restricted to one album it would need to cover a lot of bases so I’d go for a mix album, either Cold-cuts‘Journeys by DJ: 70 Minutes of Madness’, David Holmes ‘Come Get it I Got it’ or DJ Andy Smith ‘The Document’ (I won’t be pinned down any further than that choice-wise, and would have to wing it in the moment)
Lucas: My answer to this question changes every week, this week I would say Talking Heads – Remain in Light
Andy: I’d probably have to grab a Black Crowes album. I would probably drown trying to decide which one.
Lee: Joni Mitchell – Blue
Simon: That’s a really difficult question… Probably LA Woman by The Doors, it’s an album I listen to very often and never get tired of.
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?
Chris: Charles Mingus ‘Mingus Ah Um’ I have a print of that album cover up in my flat, it’s abstract, I find it fascinating to look at and it would bring a touch of class.
Lucas: Even though it is not strictly the album cover, I would go with the inner sleeve of Yes - Close to the Edge.
Andy: Are there any album covers that have survival advice on for being stranded on a desert island? If so, I’d put that one up.
Lee: John Martyn - Solid Air. It’s such a creative use of photography, achieved at a time when there was no photoshop… you had to be incredibly inventive to produce images like that.
Simon: I like the cover of Santana (the first album – Santana). Quite appropriate for a desert island. It’s an illusion around a Lion, when you look closely you can see two ladies in grass skirts and various heads. A clever piece of art.
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?
Chris: Margaritas… Tequila and Vodka for the fun and Limes to stave off the inevitable scurvy
Andy: Guiness or water, depending on how long we’re staying, I guess.
Lucas: Coffee would be useful to stay alert while we come up with a plan to escape the island.
Lee: Isle of Jura single malt, of course.
Simon: I think I’d struggle without my coffee machine to be honest.
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?
Chris: The ’10,000 Days’ album by Tool, because the stereoscopic lenses on the album cover would be useful for starting fires
Andy: Any band that has lighters as merch. Easier to start a fire than rubbing two sticks together.
Lee: a PHR vest. Maximum tannage!
Lucas: If if gets cold an PHR hoodie will be good for staying warm
Simon: The PHR hoodies are really ideal. I’d recommend one to anyone concerned about being marooned on a desert island.
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?
Chris: Francoise Hardy and/or Serge Gainsbourg, for the doubtless fascinating conversation and to brush up on my French
Lucas: Danny Elfman and an orchestra would be a great musical accompaniment to my descent into madness from being stuck on this desert island.
Andy: My wife.
Lee: Bob Mortimer
Simon: Obviously my wife, being marooned on an island is probably something we will actually choose to do one day. Plus, I have shared rooms with the band and I still have nightmares about it.
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?
Chris: I don’t think you can capture or re-live the true magic of a live show on tape, so I’d sooner not try. Having said that Nina Simone ‘It is Finished’ is an incredible live album and contains the song ‘Funkier than a Mosquito’s Tweeter’, which might be the best song title ever
Lucas: Santana live in Japan 1973 (the album ‘Lotus’)
Andy: ‘Freak ‘n’ Roll…Into the Fog… The Black Crowes.
Lee: John Martyn live at the International in Manchester (1994) - supported by Roy Harper. I was there. An art student in my final year, I made my way right to the front. Both were sublime performances.
Simon: Miles Davis – Live at The Isle of Wight 1970. It was a masterpiece performance in experimental Jazz by the world’s finest musicians and a turning point in the development of music.
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?
Chris: George Clinton or Sun Ra, for their presumed access to modes of space travel
Lucas: I would ask Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr “HELP! Could you send A Little Help from Your Friends and Let It Be known that we are stranded on this island.”
Andy: Sting, he’s got a can de do do attitude
Lee: has Ringo still got a yellow submarine? I bet he has…
Simon: Either Gary Numan or Bruce Dickinson… who are both pilots.
You've been stuck here 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?
Chris: That’s pretty slim pickings to be fair and only reinforces my belief that I was right to go vegetarian
Lucas: Andy and Lee will probably survive quite a while on the island as they are the only members of the band who eat meat.
Andy: Si because one of his thighs could feed a village for about a year.
Lee: I don’t need a lot. I’d be happy to nibble on all of them. But I’d start with Chris. Get him drumming topless for twenty minutes and he’s pretty much basted himself.
Simon: Being one of the three vegetarians in the band I’d probably sacrifice one of the meat eaters for our own safety.
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?
Chris: I can’t think of a musician who’s had that kind of impact on me, it would have to be the artist Leonora Carrington… she was utterly uncompromising, self-possessed and by all accounts brutally funny
Lucas: It's hard to choose just one musician who has influenced me the most. Brian Eno’s innovation, Stevie Wonder’s musicality and emotional expression, Richard D. James’ experimentation, and David Bowie’s ever evolving artistry have all influenced how I think about music and creativity.
Andy: Not that he plays much anymore but, it would be my dad.
Simon: As an organist, it’s between Ray Manzarek (The Doors), Jon Lord (Deep Purple) and Goldy McJohn (Steppenwolf). I met Jon and spoke to Goldy, both very inspirational people. Ray always came across as very driven, methodical and structured, genuine, musically experimental with an appreciation of the important things in life like family and freedom. All things I seemed to have based my life on.
Lee: my Grandad. He played all sorts of instruments, piano, harmonica, violin… but he was self taught out of a true need to make people happy. He just knew he was the one who could raise the roof when needed. In his time, everyone needed it. So when I grew old enough to understand the impact that he had on so many lives, just by being the best of himself that he could be through music, I realised two things. If you have a talent, be it for music, art, laughter.., whatever it is, you have a duty to make the most of it. It not only enriches your own life but the lives of those around you. That’s inspiration.
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