RawPowerMag' : First of all, could you introduce yourself for our readers ?
Aled Clifford : Aled & Brennig clifford . Aled plays guitar and sings. Brennig plays drums and percussion.
RawPowerMag' : Henry's Funeral Shoe.....seriously, what does it mean ?
Aled Clifford : Its a long story. Its based on a black comedy I was trying to write about an 80yr old man called Tom. Tom and his wife had been married since their late teen and never been apart. While 80yr old tom was in hospital his wife had an affair with the postman. When tom found out, he was heartbroken. He killed his wife and buried her in the garden. He went to all his wife's friends houses and hid their one of their best shoes, because everyone wears their best shoes to a funeral. When Toms wife was found dead her friends had no time to go shoe buy new ones and they all had to attend the funeral with one good shoe. Hence, Henrys Funeral Shoe.
RawPowerMag' : What are the bands that inspired you ? How did you get to the blues ?
Aled Clifford : Blues music is the most important music of the last 100 years. Its, jazz, pop, rock n roll, garage. Anything, and still sounds fresh. There's so many bands that inspired us. For Bren, he's a Who fanatic. For me, its Peter Greens Fleetwood mac, Little Feat, The Band, CCR, The Allman Bros. I got into the blues when I seen the film Crossroads. All my friends were into Stevie Vai's playing but the sound of Ry Cooders guitar gave me goose bumps and it went from there.
RawPowerMag' : Is it hard to play with his own brother ? Sure, it may be comfortable...but aren't you afraid about the Gallaghers' syndrome ?
Aled Clifford : There have been more Kinks moments than Gallagher. But from all the bands I've been in this feels the most natural. We love it.
RawPowerMag' : It seems that "Donkey Jacket" has given to you the opportunity to unbridle yourself...How can you explain the evolution between your two LPs ?
Aled Clifford : As a two peace we're always getting compared to the Black Keys or White stripes but, it was never our intention to be a duo. Our goal was to write some songs and record them with other people. Yet, when we started jamming we found we didn't need them & that's why we remained a duo. Plus, we've both been in bands with other people and there was never enough commitment. We're both 100% behind this. So, with this album we wanted it to be more eclectic, to show that we're nothing like those bands, we're HFS. We have our own style and way of doing things. We may listen to the same people as those bands but we don't sound like them. The Walking Crawl is a guitar loop with a hip hop beat. Anvil & Chains is a hard boogie with mandolin & Across the sky has piano and as close to a balled as there can be. We couldn't sound more different. People can put any of our albums on and instantly know its us. We have our own sound. The evolution was a natural one and we haven't alienated our audience, they've embraced it and we've gained a bigger fanbase. Job done.
RawPowerMag' : How can you describe the Jim Diamond's mix ? What's the gain to your sound ?
Aled Clifford : Jims mixes took the album to another level. It made it sound like an album rather than a collection of songs. It has a real vibe to it. And its LOUD.
RawPowerMag' : About the "Donkey Jacket" 's features...You have choosen John 'Ned' Edwards, well known for his work with Van Morrison...How did you get to this collaboration ? And what about Pete Hurley, from Lone Star ?
Aled Clifford : Ned taught me guitar for a while when I was around 15. He introduced me to some amazing music and showed me all the open tunings for guitar. When I sit next to him I know I'm in the presence of an amazing musician. He played harp for Bo Diddley too for a while. Started out as the van driver then ended up playing harp. I go to his house and he plays me music all night. He plays banjo, mandolin, piano, fiddle, drums and beautiful harp. He's got that touch and feel. Not flash, just perfect. Listening to his stories of playing with Dr john and Solomon Burke is wonderful. I could talk about him and the stories on all day.
Pete & Ned we're both in a band together called the Red Hot Poker's who have backed Gregg Allman, & jerry lee lewis and eventually went on to be Vans backing band for a few albums. It was an obvious choice. We'd have liked more bass on the album but it was important to keep it true to our sound.
RawPowerMag' : The presence of Justin Beynon from Broken Vinyle Club is quite surprising...Their music is pretty different from yours. How did it happen and what did he bring to you ?
Aled Clifford : I've known justin for almost 10years. I used to be in a band with him and the drummer Meirion of BVC for about 6 years. Scott the singer was in another band and we'd do gigs together all over the country travelling in one big van. It was a blast. Me & justin used to write songs then go to his house, drink some whiskey and compare them. Across the sky and heart on fire we're both written a while back. They just needed to be brought to life using other musicians. I'd have loved string on across the sky but we didn't have the budget.
RawPowerMag' : By the way, these guests are all Welsh...You know that Alive Records' bands often play together : Reverend James leg with Cut In The Hil gang, Left Lane Cruiser or Buffalo Killers...Can we imagine your collaboration with some of them ?
Aled Clifford : We've done some gigs with James, he's a top man. Really nice guy. Would be nice to work with any of those guys.
RawPowerMag' : What's the next step ? What are your dreams when you think about Henry's Funeral Shoe ?
Aled Clifford : We're desperately trying to get more festivals here in the UK. The dream is to take this as far as possible. I think we've got a great new album and a strong live set. We'd love the oportunity to develop further.
RawPowerMag' :What's your opinion about downloading music ? Good for fame, bad for sales ?
Aled Clifford : Its a great idea to sample music and discover new music. The problem is its human nature to get greedy. Its killing it. There was a survey between 12 to 25yr old and the majority thought music should be free. Which is fine, but how can you turn do music full time. Not everyone wants to be a millionaire but its hard to do it full time and make a living. Going on the road is where its at but its impossible to stay on the road. It'll kill you.
RawPowerMag' : Vinyl is back : sales are increasing, it's more than a fashion, don't you think ?
Aled Clifford : It certainly is. And everthing looks and sounds better on that format. We have friends who have record shops in Holland & France and vinyl is paying their rent.
In wales we have the world oldest record shop.
RawPowerMag' : Thanks a lot for this interview. Hope to see you soon in France !
Aled Clifford : Thank you for asking us to do this. We really appreciate it.
: Aled & Brennig Clifford . J'assure la guitare et le chant tandis que Brenning est à la batterie et aux percussions.
: C'est une longue histoire. C'est basé sur une comédie plutôt noire que j'essayais d'écrire à propos d'un type âgé de 80 ans nommé Tom. Tom et sa femme étaient mariés depuis la fin de leur adolescence, sans jamais se quitter. Pendant que Tom était à l'hôpital, sa femme a eu une liaison avec le postier. Quand Tom l'a découvert, ça lui a brisé le cœur. Il a tué sa femme et l'a enterrée dans le jardin. Il s'est rendu ensuite chez tous les amis de sa femme et a pris à chacun juste une chaussure de leur plus belle paire.
Quand on a découvert le cadavre de la femme de Tom, ses amis n'avaient plus le temps de racheter de nouvelles paires et ils se sont tous rendus à ses funérailles en portant une seule belle chaussure. Ainsi donc...Henrys Funeral Shoe.
