(added July 2014)

INTERVIEW WITH PAUL HARWOOD

( BASS SLAPPER FROM THE JACK O'BONES  )

 by John McVicker

Tell us a bit about yourself. Where were you born and brought up ?

I'm a born an bred Leamingtonian ( Royal Leamington Spa )

When were you first interested in music ? How and when did you discover Psychobilly?

Strangely enough I first got in to Rock'n'Roll when Elvis died, my dad used to listen to old records all the time and I couldn't stand it but in 1977 I must have had an epiphany or something, loved it ever since going from listening to old Rock'n'Roll ,Gene, Eddie, Bill , Little Richard and so on , to Cavern and Matchbox and The Flying Saucers then The Jets, Polecats, Stray Cats and so on then I borrowed my mates Wreckin' Crew album and when the Old Man said "what is that crap your listening to" I fell in love with Psychobilly.

When did you first pick up a double bass and how did the jack o bones get together?

My first blast with a double bass was when I was asked to play for The Renegades, Leamington's first Psychobilly band, incidentally that's where I first met Rich, our drummer in The Jack O'Bones. I wasn't too clever on it but played basic stuff for a couple of years with The Renegades and a Rockabilly outfit called The Rayders, after that Rich and I formed the Scatsville Busters and had a bit of success with that but gave it up in the early 90s. That was it until I reformed The Busters in 2010 , really just for a laugh. that lead to The Jack O'Bones and the rest is history.

What are your favourite slap bass players?

I really loved watching Sam Sardi from The Guana Batz, and love watching Choppy now, but early on Bill Black was a favourite and you could not beat the sound of Marshall Lytle's bass in Bill Haley's Comets.

How did you get the deal with Diablo Records and are you happy with the results?

We recorded our first full album "Wreck Ya To Death " at Diablo Records after being approached my Mr Phil 'Doyley' Doyle, and I have to say we had a great week doing so, he made it really easy and we love what he has done, plus Camden is a real cool place to hang out any way. Our EP was recorded at a local independent studio "14 Records " in Leamington, he did a great job but we felt going to an established label would be better for the band.

Since its release you have changed guitarists. What happened there?

Since the recording we have changed our lead guitarist, ( Mark Bending from Sgt Bilko's Krazy Combo ), didn't even know he could play it when we met but he is doing an awesome job and has fitted in well , his style is more the sound we were looking for, although Gary was an amazing musician, he wasn't a "Billy" he was rock orientated and we felt it was not quite what we were after, we do wish him all the best with his new band though.

Have you played abroad yet and any funny tales to share?

We are playing The Psychobilly Earthquake this year, our first jaunt abroad, and we are playing with eight other bands on The Diablo label ,can't wait, we keep hearing great things about the people and the festival.

What are hopes for the future of the band? More gigs and will be there a new release with Mark on guitar?

We are looking at recording an EP at the end of the year now we have Mark so we are in the process of writing some knew material, we have a couple in the bag already, might even do it on vinyl.
We looking forward to loads of gigs, we are booking into next year already so we are very busy plus we are holding our own all day event in Leamington , Psycho Santa, on 13th December, ten bands for a tenner with The Guitar Slingers headline, look out for the posters. My wife Margot, passed away from cancer a couple of months back but the music really helps me to focus on the good things and give me something to look forward to. It helps having really great mates in the band too, we argue like we are married at rehearsals but it's constructive and we have beer after to chill out.

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