One of the main acts signed to Gilles Peterson’s zeitgeist-capturing Talkin’ Loud label in the 90s alongside Young Disciples and Omar, Galliano were jazz club kids who made records and played gigs around the world to adoring fans until they split in 1997. They reformed last year and with a new album released this August, we caught up with Rob Gallagher and Valerie Etienne to find out more about their surprise return, ahead of their appearance at this year’s Love Supreme Festival.
Welcome back (as Galliano). What was the catalyst that brought you back together last year?
Rob: I guess the actual catalyst, as whereby an actual action happened was, Matthew Herbert suddenly texted and said his friend he went to university with was, having a significant, let’s call it, birthday. And, would we like to play?
And I’ve never ever wanted to go back in time but, for some reason, probably unbeknown to me, we decided to do that and then met the other brothers, started playing the music, and it was enjoyable. And, also, something interested me about it, I suppose, as well. I got interested in, maybe, you know, as you as you kinda move through time, it maybe gets less linear and more kind of, going the other way as well.
So these memories and these tunes we used to play, and it takes a significant part of your consciousness that you don’t think is there. You keep moving forward, which I always thought was the whole point, you know, just keep moving forward. So that was the catalyst. And then I guess the interest came through – could we kind of use those ideas and get what we had then and then maybe try and put it in the current time? And it’s obviously interesting at the moment.
Val: But ultimately we enjoyed it. It was such a laugh.
Rob: Yeah, it was a nice thing to do..
Val: And everyone really enjoyed playing together again. It was very natural and it seemed like a nice thing to do. Maybe do an album and check it out, see how we feel about it, and then we sort of circled from there, really.
And how did it feel revisiting the old material?
Val: It feels the same, but it also feels different because we all have 25-30 years of experience now having worked with all these different bands. So we can bring all that experience, since we were young then and hadn’t worked together for that long then but now, thirty years on with more experience and confidence…
Rob: With everyone doing a million different projects it does feel very different doing it in your twenties than doing it in your fifties. You know? it’s a different thing.
But equally, it has its different kind of interests now, maybe there’s a different energy around it now than it was then.
What’s the drive behind continuing the project? And how also, how are you gonna fit in with everybody doing all the other, you know, side projects and day jobs?
Val: It’s a constant struggle. I’m on the diary all the time, and some of the members have to take days off. And, they have to book in their holiday time or their annual leave. And, it’s juggled around when people’s availability is. So that’s how we do it basically. I’ve got other gigs to do. I’ve got a gig next month. And this Friday. I’m off to Gasltonbury to do a gig with Asha Puthli. Then I’ve got to come back and do a function gig. So, yeah, we’re all really busy, so it’s got to be tied in and worked around what everyone’s got in their diaries.
So it’s a well-oiled machine?
Rob: No, It’s definitely not well-oiled. You need some oil.
Val: It’s okay, because of the experience, the less rehearsing you have to do, the less prep ‘cause we know it so well, it’s part of our DNA. So if we do one day’s rehearsal, that’s often enough, you know, just to top and tail, make sure everything’s on the same page. Yeah. So it works.
Rob: Basically, there’s another two singles to put out, the album comes out at the end of August. Then, we’ve got three or four gigs around Europe,and then there’s the autumn where we start doing kinda more serious gigging, and then I guess 2025 is where we’ll have to really get the well oiled diary together.
What are the plans for next year? Is it going to be worldwide domination again, or are you just going to ease into it?
Val: Ease into world domination., we’ll try. Again, it’ll be based on everyone’s schedule, but the idea is to go touring like we used to do.
Rob: We probably did about two albums worth of music, so we’ve got a load of music ready to go as well. I met Lonnie (Jordan) from War last week and he was talking about War being a jam band, and it was interesting because that’s almost the way we approached the album as well. So his thing was you always keep record on. And then you take those bits and edit, and then you could build a structure onto what was basically improvisation. You know?
It was interesting listening to him say that because that’s kind of what we did, in Ernie’s (McKone) attic studio that he’s managed to keep. And, you know, we used to do stuff there thirty years ago. So there’s a lot of music, ready to go. There’s a load more ideas, so I guess it’s to do more music and put that out and then, it’s touring.
There’s a lot of different ideas to route around so it can be less about just what it was in the past, which was make music, tour, make music, tour. And this time, it’s to bring lots of different ideas into that to make sure we’re stimulated and interested by the process.
Is it the same core band as before? So I know there’s you two, obviously, Ski (Oakenfull) and Ernie. Who else makes up the band?
Val: The drummer is still there, Crispin Taylor. And we have Booey, Rob’s brother, who was always around on the early albums and he’s playing percussion for us.
Rob: Constantine and Spry are doing their own thing but basically it’s the same core band.
Obviously, a different guitarist as Mark Vandergucht died but essentially the same rhythm section. So it’s got that North London funk groove.
Are you going to expand that for the bigger shows or are you going to keep it as a tight knit unit?
Rob: I think anything’s possible. We did Brawnswood at We Out Here last year. So we did the main stage as that unit. and then in Brawnswood it kinda changed. Ski had to go somewhere, so we didn’t have keys. Ernie went onto guitar, James was playing bass, and then we had saxophone as well. So introducing a horn in there kind of changes it up a little bit as well.
I think that might be the way to do it now as well, try things out and different instruments and make it more exciting to change so the whole thing is in a constant state of flux. You know, nothing’s ever finished, and it changes all the time.
Val: And it’s good to have a pool of musicians to choose from. Plus we have guests on the album: we have Jason Yarde, Bémbé Ségué, people we’ve known for years.
Has everything on the new album been written since last year, after you got together for that party.
Rob: Yeah, it was all recorded over the last year at Boogie Back Studio.
I’ve only heard the 2 singles that have come out so far, both of which I love. ‘Circles Going Around the Sun’ is, I would say, vintage Rob Gallagher going off on one riffing and running around name-checking people. It made me think back to Mark Murphy’s ‘Ding Walls’, so I wondered if the Mark Murphy style was an influence on you in the early days?
Rob: In the early days, yeah, ‘Stolen Moments’ and that. I remember I used to drive a brown mini around the place, and I’ve got a weird memory of Mark Murphy in the back of it with Gilles going to his gig. I think the way to get into his gigs was to give him a lift there. You know, pick him up at his hotel, drive him to the gig and then you got in. But, yeah, he was definitely there in those early days doing gigs, and he was a kind of link into that beatnik thing. He had those kinds of licks, and I remember him giving singing classes.
He was definitely one who was part of that whole West Coast thing and linking into that and he had stories of the Beat Generation, which was funny. He was around and at the same time as Jalal from The Last Poets. We were getting a lot of those influences that maybe hadn’t got the weight in America,and weren’t able to earn a living in America as they were coming to the UK and doing it. It’s weird.
You’re coming to Brighton to play an instore show at Resident, which got me thinking back to the Brighton Jazz Bops that Russ Dewbury used to put on at the Top Rank Suite (now Pryzm). One of these featured you and Hammond organ legend Charles Earland, one of many musicians who were more appreciated in the UK than at home will come in and play to these massive crowds, but now that kind of generation is gone. So, if Russ was to put on another Jazz Bop, would you be stepping up into the role of elder statesmen?
Rob: I guess that’s as well where the interest comes in and doing it again because you got stuff like International Anthem, etcetera etcetera, all the stuff going on down the road at the Total Refreshment Centre. So there’s this old scene that is two generations down from what we were doing. So I guess it’s not really elder statesman, well, I mean, obviously, agewise it is, but it’s learning from them and what they’ve done. And seeing where we can fit in as well. Learn from seeing great stuff from Jamie Branch to whoever’s coming over and doing their stuff down the road.
So it’s basically that whole sensibility, and what the Jazz Bop was, has morphed into different things in different directions. And that’s one of the interesting things with now doing Galliano again. Maybe that was at the beginning of something. It’s completely gone through various revolutionary cycles, and doing it again now means that we take the essence with what we were and then learning from what they’ve done and coming again. So that’s what gives it the interest.
I’ve been to Brighton and there’s a lot going. I’ve done gigs with Gilles and there’s Jim Lister etcetera etcetera. So, I know there’s loads going on. We’ve done New Year’s Eves at The Concorde 2 not so long ago so Brighton’s always been a big musical hub of things going on as well.
You’re playing the main stage at Love Supreme on Sunday afternoon. Have either of you been to the festival before?
Val: I’ve been a couple of times to see the headliners. I tried to see Anita Baker but that was the year it was cancelled. Chaka obviously, I will be there.
Rob: I’ve never been but Jez Nelson, who I know, hosts some stuff there.
Have you checked out who’s playing on the same day as you?
Rob: Not completely apart from Chaka. Eddie Chacon is playing on the Saturday and we think he is gonna hang around because we’ve never actually met, but we’ve got a nice thing going on at the moment. I saw him perform ‘Pleasure, Joy, and Happiness’ at We Out Here and thought, God, that would make a great kind of proto housey funky number. So when we came to do Galliano, it was one of the first things we just jammed out as an idea. He likes our version, so we’re gonna send that back to him and then he and John Carroll Kirby are gonna do a mix, and then we might kind of deconstruct their mix and just so we just get in a circle sending ‘Pleasure, Joy, and Happiness’ back to each other and see where we’re going.
His video of ‘Pleasure, Joy, and Happiness’ is set in New Zealand, with a lot of alpacas and it’s wonderful. We’re gonna do a video next week and have written a whole script and we’re doing it with a guy called Jordan Copeland. It’s about two kids who are picking things up, and they realise that they’re a pantomime alpaca so they go to find real alpacas. So we’ve riffed on the music and now we’re riffing on the video and we’ll see artistically where that brings us all.
Do you think you’ll be able to get him on stage for a duet on Sunday afternoon?
Rob: I’m not sure he would wanna come on. I’ll have to stop making the lyrics up as well. In fact his lyrics were one of the main things I love about it. And, apparently, he wrote them very quickly. so don’t give him a lot of time. Just make him do it there and there. As you get older, those kinda lyrics lighten up and it’s almost better to be kind and be right or whatever. You know, it’s those kinds of sentiments that are great.
Val, what are you up to? I understand there’s an EP coming out soon.
Val: Oh God! That EP’s been coming for three years, maybe more. I’ve been working on it for years but I’ll get it done. It’s definitely coming by the end of this year.
And are you working with Ski again on that or somebody else?
Val: Yes. I’m working with Ski and I wanted to work with the guitarist Shirley Tetteh. There’s a few people in the back line. I always wanted to work with interesting musicians but it’s difficult finding the time.
It’s been great to speak to you. Have a great gig at Love Supreme, I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully it’ll be a glorious day, and you can get a lot of love back.
Val: If the sun’s shining, everyone’s happy.
Galliano play Love Supreme Festival on Sunday 7th July. Remaining tickets are available here.
They will also appear at Resident Records Friday 30th August for an instore show and signing session. Tickets are available here.