The Clanger recently got to talk to with Graham Lambert – guitarist & founding member of indie legends Insprial Carpets. Part of the Madchester scene in the early 90’s along with The Stone Roses & Happy Mondays, they confused dads with their Top of the Pops appearances (to the delight of the kids). They’re back with original singer Stephen Holt, doing some gigs prior to their T in the Park appearance, including Bedford Town.
C: Have you been to Bedford before?
G: Yes, bizarrely saw Bloc Party at Esquires about 10 years ago.
Are we playing Corn Exchange?
C: Yes
C: Anyone else you’re up for seeing at T in the park?
G: Yes, We’re quite into Arctic Monkeys, plus London Grammar. We’re still into other bands and music generally, so good to check some out…
C: you’re recording new material, any clues of the sound?
G: The same Inpsirals sound – organs, lots of guitars & shouty choruses…
C: Who came up with the ‘cool as…’ tee?
G: Martin Price (of 808 State) back when he was working in Eastern Bloc Records in Manchester, describe us as ‘cool as…’ it was a bit of a catchphrase,
C: Favourite country you’ve played?
G: Well, Japan was a bit of a mind opener… I liked Austrailia, that was laid back, with people playing cricket by the road…we drove through the Cheq Republic recently… This is the beauty of touring, seeing different places. South America was good too, seeing the Oldham (our humble background) equivalent of Chilli, going through the backstreets – was an eye opener!
C: recommend a book?
G: Good question. Erm, I quite like sports autobiographies, football, cricket. I’ve just read about the history of London underground (chuckles) and one I got from the library about Railways round Rochester. Plus A Pubs in Oldham book.
(went off on a tangent then about British islands; Kilda & Lundy island, which I’d read about)
C: Was Noel (Gallagher) any good at humping gear about? (he was a roadie for the Inspirals pre Oasis)
G: He worked with us from ’88 – 92’
C: That long?
G: Yeah, good to work with, typical Mancunian wit, bit of a low work ethic though. He loved guitar tech-ing and playing the other instruments. He also loved cooking too, he was actually a great chef!
C: Best pub in Oldham?
G: Ah, The Grey Horse on Union Street, great for gigs back in the day, bands like Kasabian, Bluetones & Mani’s old band Atholl K (heavy psychedelic punk) played there. It was about 100 years old and has sadly been bulldozed now. It had the old Robinsons brewery logo on it…
C: Is it easier being in a band now than it was in the 90’s?
G: Well, it’s different! There’s been so many changes in the music/arts industry since we began – you have to adapt. An example: we’re working with producer Jim Spencer (The Charlatans, amongst others) and he’s sent mixes of the recordings by e-mail. Our first time round we’d be listening to them for hours in a sweaty little studio in London, bickering about what’s right and what’s wrong with it…
Ispiral Carpets play Bedford Corn Exchange on Friday 11th July. Their new album is out September 2014.
