Jez Kerr hits the road with his live band starting on Saturday 19 February at Gullivers in Manchester followed by Saturday 26 February at Zanzibar, Seel Street, Liverpool and 28 March at the Heavenly Social in London in support of new single Play Sumthing Fast (available from iTunes UK now).

Cerysmatic Factory caught up with Jez with the tour about to unfold to talk about the new and the old:

CF: You've had offshoot projects before (e.g. Twenty Four Hours) but why is now the right time for a solo project proper?

JK: I think now is the right time, because I've written a good album and I want to play it live, and I want to actually get to play more than 5 times a year.

CF: What can we expect from you live? Will it be substantially different from A Certain Ratio? What is the live line-up?

JK: You can expect a great set, Simon Wolsencroft's powerful drumming, New Order DJ Tintin's synth bass lines, Keo Martin's Slits-like guitar, my bass and words. Not sure what it will be like, could be a bit like ACR, but that's not surprising really, I think it's a bit punkier.

CF: What was it like working with Simon Topping again after all those years on the Sum Ratios project? Is there anything else in the pipeline from the band?

JK: I enjoyed meeting up with Simon and Pete again. A year prior to the gig at FAC 251 we met up in St. Helens and had a rehearsal. Pete hadn't seen Simon for 25 years, and it was the first time in 25 years that Pete had played guitar. We jammed just one thing for about an hour. Unsurprisingly in the key of 'E'. As if we had never had a 30-year break.

CF: There was a large archive of demo and live recordings of Joy Division collected by Rob Gretton and Peter Hook over the years. Is there a similar collection of historic ACR recordings?

JK: There may well be, the Talking Heads track we recorded with Grace Jones? Also, I have got a cassette recording of my first rehearsal with Pete and Simon, from 78. It was 2 days before my first gig with them at Band On The Wall. It's from that cassette, that I reworked an unrecorded tune called Intro/Talk-in, into Teri.

--

Jez Kerr on Facebook | Twitter | Message Board

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, events, gigs, interview, Jez_Kerr, Twenty_Four_Hours

- - - -