Dave Newington, the brains behind Boy Azooga, talks to Music-News.com just after their tremendous Great Escape show on the beach in Brighton on the Doctor Martens Stage.
Check out the full uncut interview below.
Boy Azooga, the shape-shifting musical mystery tour piloted by Cardiff’s Dave Newington have shared the video to Jerry, the latest track to be taken from their debut album, 1,2 Kung Fu!, which is released on Heavenly Recordings on Friday 8th June 2018.
Announcing themselves to the world with the elastic-funk, Onyeabor-inspired Face Behind Her Cigarette in early November last year, which quickly became a fixture on the 6Music and Radio 1 playlists and also caught the attention of Mike D of the Beastie Boys who interviewed Davey for his Beats 1 show, the band most recently released, Loner Boogie, an infectious swampy-fuzz of an ear worm which made the A list at 6Music.
A prodigous musical talent, Davey Newington is a young man with a rich musical heritage. One of his granddads was a jazzer who played drums for the Royal Marines. Davey’s dad (violin) and his mum (clarinet) both played, and met, in the BBC National Orchestra Of Wales. Davey himself took up drums at the age of six and also enjoyed orchestral engagement, playing in various Welsh Orchestra’s and Jazz bands as a teenager as well at latterly finding gainful employment playing drums as part of Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon.
Inspired by his art teacher at school who sent him off to town to buy Can’s Ege Bamyasi, taking musical cues from the likes of Sly & The Family Stone, Caribou, Black Sabbath, Outkast, Van McCoy, Ty Segall and The Beastie Boys and with arrangements which carry the wonky tunefulness of The Super Furry Animals they nabbed their name from the 1994 film The Little Rascals.
With Davey recruiting friends Daf Davies, Dylan Morgan and Sam Barnes to form the Boy Azooga live quartet, an ensemble that swings smoothly from filmic instrumentals to a churning, rave-tinged rock that hints at both Can and their progeny, the Happy Mondays, the band recently played a run of shows with Magic Gang, made a much-talked-about appearance at this year’s Heavenly Weekender at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge and have sold out their own most recent shows in London and Cardiff.
They take their loose-limbed live show on the road later this year for their first headline UK tour including a show at the Scala in London, before which they head out with Rolling Blackouts and Coastal Fever and play a trio of Rough Trade in-stores the week of album release.
The list of shows is as follows:
MAY 17 – Brighton, The Great Escape 18 – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms (with RBCF) 20 – Glasgow, CAA (with RBCF) 21 – Manchester, Gorilla (with RBCF) 22 – London, Electric Ballroom (with RBCF) 25 – Amsterdam, London Calling @ Paradisio 26 – Manchester, Strange Waves Festival @ Albert Hall 27 – Swansea, Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend
JUNE 05 – Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete’s 06 – Middlesbrough, Westgarth SC 07 – Liverpool, Shipping Forecast 12 – Cambridge, Portland Arms 13 – Margate, Tom Thumb Theatre 14 – Leicester, The Cookie 15 – Carmarthen, The Parrot 16 – Newport, Le Pub 24 – Glasgow, West End Festival @ Oran Mor
JULY 14 – Southwold, Latitude Festival (Lake Stage) 21 - Topcliffe, Yorks - Deer Shed Festival (Main Stage) 22 - Jodrell Bank, Cheshire - Bluedot Festival (Nebula Stage) 27 - Tanworth in Arden - Lunar Festival (Main Stage) 28 - St. Germans, Cornwall, Port Eliot Festival (Caught by the River)
AUGUST 11 – Horncastle, Lincs - Joefest 16 – 19 - Glanusk Park, Green Man Festival 25 – Totnes, Sea Change Festival
SEPTEMBER 01 - Tollard Royal, Dorset - End of the Road Festival 14 – Hawarden, Good Life Experience
OCTOBER 05 – Dublin, Grand Social 06 – Limerick, Kasbah Social Club 07 – Belfast, Voodoo 09 – Bristol, Thekla 10 – Birmingham, Castle & Falcon 11 – Glasgow, King Tuts 12 – Manchester, Now Wave Venue 13 – Newcastle, Cobalt Studios 14 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club 16 – Nottingham, Bodega 17 – London, Scala 18 – Brighton, Green Door Store
