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| Sugarmen |
'Sugarmen' started in 2013 with Liverpool lads Luke Fenlon on guitar and vocals, Chay Heney ( 'The Farm') on guitar and Sam McVann on drums with Ali Horn on bass guitar being the token 'Southerner'. Formed by Luke (22) and Chay (19) after a drunken night in Milk, their old hangout on Bold Street, it didn't take long before they recruited Sam (21) and Ali (26) with Tom Shields eventually replacing Ali. They took their name from the Sixto Rodriguez song, 'Sugar Man'. Together they formed one of the most exciting guitar bands to emerge from Liverpool in a long time. Having been together for a mere five months, and playing only a handful of gigs, they created the kind of buzz which seemed to have bypassed many new bands for a long time. They stood out from the crowd with their high energy punk pop, a powerful combination of infectious melodies and angst delivered with a sonic buzz saw.
Aged only 19, Luke Fenlon had already notched up an impressive musical CV ; supporting 'The Wombats', signed a record deal in The U.S, won the Yamaha Songwriters Competition, played the MUSEXPO Festival in L.A, and recorded an EP in Matt Sorum's ( Guns N' Roses ) back garden. From the remains of several notable Liverpool music graves there rose up this new blistering offering with the same spicy fury of their previous guises but pocketing a carefully crafted nous and refined ideology missing in their former incantations.
They played their first gig as a band at District in the Baltic Triangle area and spent their first year playing mostly in Liverpool, becoming long-standing favourites for all those in the know on the Liverpool live circuit. Gradually becoming a band with bigger things in their sights, their highly anticipated debut single, 'Dirt', was released in April 2015, a major statement of arena-sized intent. With production courtesy of 'The Clash's' Mick Jones, who was so impressed by the band's demos he recorded ten tracks with the group in Paul Weller's own studio. The legendary songwriter's influence is evident on a sharp, propulsive edge to the guitars reminiscent of his former outfit’s finest work.
In 2015 the foursome were coming to the close of a tour with Paul Weller to be followed in June by the heady heights of Hyde Park twice, supporting 'Blur' and 'The Who' just six days later.
This period of transition also spawned two new singles, 'Plastic Ocean' released in December 2015, and 'Kool Aid', released in early 2016.
At the 2016 Liverpool Sound City, music industry legend, Seymour Stein, one of the most respected A&R men of all time, having signed Madonna, 'Talking Heads', 'The Ramones' and many other legendary artists, loved what he heard and immediately signed the band to Sire Records via Warner Music. He said, "I was blown away when I first saw 'Sugarmen' live, and then again when they opened for The Who and Blur, both at Hyde Park."
In Oct 2016 the band entered the infamous Parr Street Studios in Liverpool with Producer Chris Taylor to record their debut album, 'Local Freaks', which was released in late 2017 to enthusiastic reviews. Such as, "...packed full of the slightly melancholic swagger of the early 00's and is reminiscent of the feeling behind the indie movement at the time...it gives you everything you could ask for from both ends of the indie-rock scale... the album's Liverpool heritage can be felt throughout."
On the 1st of December 2017, at a gig at Magnet, guitarist Chay Heney turned to the audience to say, "We're Sugarmen, and that was our last ever gig." Bass guitarist Tom Shields stated after the show that personal and musical differences were the reason for band members deciding to throw in the towel and head their separate ways.
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