Interview: Julian Gabriah from Slamm

by Michael Silvester

Dave, Jason and I formed a band at school mainly doing small local gigs. When Jason went to college he met up with Scott and John who were exactly the missing link we needed and so they joined the band.

We started doing slightly larger gigs and gained the attention of George Kimpton-Howe, a well-known figure in the musical world who decided to take on the precarious task of being our manager. The name 'Slamm' came from the title of an album by The Dan Reed Network.

What was your role in the band?

I was the lead guitarist, provided a little bit of backing vocals and also wrote some of the earlier material we performed at our live gigs.

Slamm did a couple of singles before PWL. How did they come about and how did you end up being signed to PWL?

The first single we did was called 'Hold On' the second 'Candybar Express' they were both self-funded projects released on our own record label 'Totally Norted Records'. We were touring the UK extensively; playing radio roadshows, doing live promotions, nightclubs etc. We sold our singles at these events and gained quite a following becoming infamous on the local radio roadshow circuit.

We met Pete Waterman during the promotion of Candybar Express when we appeared on the cult 'watch when you're drunk' late night telly show 'The Hitman and Her'. A few months passed and he appeared at one of our gigs in Islington shortly after we signed to PWL.

To start with there was a very positive level of publicity about the band, but then it suddenly tailed off and singles were released with very little promotion, what happened?

It was a very busy time in the pop world, with boy bands coming from every direction; there was a lot of competition for resources, appearances and promotion. Every time we released a single it was at the same time as someone huge like Take That and we were swamped, it seemed the music buying youth were not turned onto our type of band yet and were still craving the pretty all singing all dancing variety. In hindsight maybe we should have waited a couple of years!

Which other PWL artists did you meet or hang around with?

Undercover, who released a cover of 'Baker Street', we used to support them at gigs and they were really down to earth. 2 Unlimited we did a couple of gigs with so didn't really know them too well, but they seemed nice enough. Dave our keyboard player did a gig with Dead or Alive, which was quite cool. There were probably more but we met so many people around that time it's difficult to keep track!

Virginia Plain was the very last Stock-Waterman single to be released. Was it something you said?

I think we were one of last projects he worked on but I would doubt it was anything to do with us why he left! He was a really nice bloke, very genuine and an extremely musically talented man.

What was your favourite Slamm single? (Just for the record mine is That's Where my Mind Goes, though its hard to choose).

I think it's between That's Where my Mind Goes and Just Can't Stop my Heart. No, it's definitely our last released single Just Can't Stop my Heart, I really love the production of it.

Why was the release of Like Right Now cancelled?

It had come to natural break, we were at the end of our contract and we didn't really want to release it.

Was an album's worth of material recorded at PWL?

Yes, roughly about one album's worth of songs.

People who have worked with Pete Waterman have said that his input into the records is minimal. Did you find this?

Although he wasn't always there whilst we recorded, he was a strategic decision maker when it came to how the finished product sounded.

Did you find that your creativity or contribution to the music was stifled working in the PWL environment?

I think it is a well known fact that if you signed to PWL, you were signing to a certain style of music, regardless of what you were currently doing, so we knew what we were getting ourselves into and respected the decisions that were made and the songs that were chosen for us. However it was our ultimate goal to release our own material.

What caused you to leave PWL?

We had come to a natural end of our contract.

After PWL you gigged as The Children. How long did this last and what did you get up to?

It lasted about a year; we were performing our own material at a few gigs around London and had some interest from other record companies. Unfortunately the enthusiasm waned a little and we decided to call it a day.

Are you still in touch with the other guys and what are they doing?

I still see Jason, who has nothing to do with music anymore and is very successful in his chosen career. Dave moved away but still sends Christmas cards. John works for a small record label. Scott made it onto Top of the Pops, albeit as a session drummer for Boyzone! Last I heard he was training to be a stunt man!

Where are you headed musically? What are your plans for the future? (I'll end on this very professional and profound proper musical journalist question!)

I'm spending a lot of time in my studio at home writing songs and working on producing new material. I think there's still some good pop music to be had and believe this interest was borne from my time at PWL. At the end of it all I can't deny the fact I like pop music.

I have respect for artists such as Moby who aren't afraid to move pop into a different direction and collaborate with other writers. With this in mind I'm experimenting with new production techniques and styles of writing with my own pop material, it's a very exciting time for me.

Interview co-ordinated and arranged by Michael Silvester. Sincere thanks to Amanda Sheldrake and Julian Gabriah. (c) September 2003.