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The Hamsters

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The Hamsters

The Hamsters are a UK band originating from Southend on Sea in Essex. They are a three-piece band comprising of vocalist/guitarist, drummer and bass player.

The Hamsters originally came together "for a laugh" with no intentions of ever turning pro. They performed their first live show at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, UK on the 1 April 1987. Due to a combination of humour and a desire to remain relatively anonymous two of the band decided to use pseudonyms as stage names. The original line-up was Snail's-Pace Slim on guitar and vocals, Rev Otis Elevator on drums and Andy Farrell on bass.

They didn't take themselves seriously at the beginning, likewise they don't take themselves too seriously now either, with a popular part of their regular act involving a lot of self-deprecating humour. Even the band's name came about as a tongue-in-cheek joke based on a pseudonym the Sex Pistols used when they were to perform concerts when they thought they would either be banned or were banned from towns. Slim and Otis are intensely private individuals, Slim especially, who prefer that their private lives remain a mystery. Accordingly, it's very rare that they are ever referred to by their real names, even off-stage.

Influences

They are usually described as being a blues-rock band, which is a bit of a misnomer. They prefer to be described as being influenced by American roots music rather than any one specific type of music.

They are considered by many to be the UK's leading interpreters[1][2][3] of the music of Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top. It is due to this fact that they are best known for their covers of Hendrix and 'the Top' that the description of being a blues rock band arose. In actual fact these covers only make up a small part of their playlist, the majority of their music coming under the Americana categorisation.

Work schedule

As of April 2007, they are in their 20th year and have performed more than 3,750 shows in that time. They have constantly toured throughout the UK and Europe and in 1991 performed a small tour in the US. On the British circuit they are known as the hardest working band in the UK.[4][5]

The Hamsters were voted the UK's best blues rock band by the readers of Blueprint magazine. They contributed a track for inclusion in the BBC Radio 2 series "Bright Lights, Big City". It documents the story of British Rhythm and Blues from the fifties to the modern day. It was presented by former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, and was broadcast in late 2001. They performed at the 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006 London Guitar Shows at the Wembley entertainment complex, attended by over 15,000 guitar players.

In 2003 they performed two live sessions on Paul Jones' BBC Radio 2 blues show. 'Whispering' Bob Harris frequently plays a selection of their music on his BBC Radio 2 show. The track "Taxi Driver" from their Open All Hours album was included in Classic Rock magazine's (August 2006 issue) '100 Blues Anthems'.

As their concert sets tend to be two to three hours long they rarely play with support acts though once in a while they are asked to support other bands, e.g. such artists as Albert Collins and Status Quo. During 2006 and 2007 they joined up with Wilko Johnson and John Otway to perform the The Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous tour.

Personnel

Snail's-Pace Slim

The Hamsters' lead vocalist & lead guitarist, Snail's-Pace Slim (Barry Martin)has been part of the Southend music scene for many years. He formerly played in various Essex-based bands including Dr Feelgood, The Kursaal Flyers and The Old Pals Act (with bassist Dave Bronze and Robin Trower's brother Brad).

Voted one of the top 100 guitarists of all time in a radio poll on LBC.

One of his trade mark actions is to regularly re-lube his strings using WD-40 between songs.

Slim also contributes technical articles to guitar magazines when he has time, and was featured in the September '94 edition of Guitar Techniques magazine. He was also included in the "Guitarist Magazine Book of Guitar Players", published in '94.

Slim was asked by Guitar Techniques magazine to contribute a monthly recorded lesson on how to play the blues, this was for inclusion on the CD which accompanied every issue.

Slim was recently interviewed for a new 3-hour video documentary about the Fender Stratocaster titled 'Stratmasters' - which will be released on DVD later in 2007.[6] Some guitarists featured in the film will be Ry Cooder, Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck, Chris Rea, Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Robert Cray, David Gilmour and Rory Gallagher, amongst others.

File:Zcolne1.jpg
Zsa Zsa playing at Colne Municipal Hall

Rev Otis Elevator

Rev Otis Elevator is the drummer of The Hamsters. He also provides back-up vocals and plays bass during the traditional Hamsters' finale.

Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist

Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist (real name Andy Billups) is the bass player for The Hamsters.

The pseudonym is based on the name of an incidental character from the BBC Radio comedy show Round The Horne.

The Hamsters have had three bass players since the band started in 1987, the first being Andy Farrell whom Zsa Zsa replaced shortly after the band started, but Zsa Zsa's is the face that Hamsters' fans know best of the three.

In 1992 he decided to leave the band after he was diagnosed with focal dystonia (affecting his right hand) and felt that he couldn't play to the standard fans expected. He was replaced by Dave Bronze.

In 1994, after literally having had to relearn to play the bass by utilising a custom designed thumb-pick and by re-educating his hand,[7] he rejoined the band when Bronze left to join Eric Clapton's band. Zsa Zsa has continued to play with them ever since.

Pseudonyms

Right at the very beginning Slim and Otis decided that as they were very private people they didn't want their public life to interfere with their private life. They also didn't want people to take them too seriously. They figured that they could achieve both by adopting humorous nom-de-plumes. Wittiness and silliness were paramount.

Slim chose his as a tongue-in-cheek jab at the names that were popular with early blues players.

Otis' came about when he saw the manufacturer's name plate on an escalater in a local shopping mall; the Otis Elevator Company. No-one seems to remember where the "Reverend" came from.

The original name selected for Andy was "Blind Boy", but as it wasn't funny... and he didn't wear glasses Andy didn't think it appropriate. Slim, being a fan of the 1960s BBC radio comedy show Round The Horne remembered a character's unusual name,[8] thus Andy became known as "Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist".

Discography

Taxi Driver
30 sec sample - 209kb
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Cassette

  • Revenge of the Killer Hamsters (1989)
  • The Night of the Rocking Rodents (1989)
  • Flasher Hamsters From Hell (1990)
  • Rodent Rock (1990)
  • Condensed Hamsters (1990)

Albums

Videos

The Hamsters' Winter 2007 gig guide mail out reports that they are planning to record footage for a new, yet to be named, DVD in March 2008. The planned venue for the recording is the Woughton Centre, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The DVD, possibly to be called, The Curse of the Killer Hamsters will be due for release in May 2008.

T-Shirts

The Hamsters have garnered a notable reputation on the UK music circuit by their release of customised and iconic t-shirts. Many releases over their twenty year history have included several zeitgeist references including 'hamsterfied' parodies of Freddy Kreuger, The Verminator, Hamsterhead and Jimi Hamster. The popularity of these themed t-shirts has prompted many requests for more releases. Additionally as some of the t-shirt releases have a limited release period a second-hand trade has developed, including sales on eBay. After many requests from fans, the band introduced a t-shirt 'museum' on their website which displays images and anecdotes about every t-shirt they have released.

They are also well-known for identifying themselves through the use of logos. The one most representative is the 'Pilot Head' which appears most prominently on Slim's customised guitar (a bright yellow 'Hamstercaster'). This is the logo that most identifies them to fans and others. It is supposed to represent, as appears on a t-shirt bearing the logo, their "never-ending tour of duty". It also represents the band's personal interest in British wartime history.

References

  1. ^ BBC Warwickshire review
  2. ^ Blakey Music Venue
  3. ^ Digital Blues website
  4. ^ Ents 24 website
  5. ^ Last.fm
  6. ^ Stratmasters
  7. ^ Dystonia Debilitation In Musicians A case study of musician Andy Billups from The Hamsters by Marc Sallis.
  8. ^ Round The Horne series 2 credits
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