New punk supergroup WINGMEN have unveiled a first taste of their forthcoming debut album.
Conceived and created under Covid lockdown, this all-star band - Baz Warne (The Stranglers), Paul Gray (The Damned), Legh Hegarty (Ruts DC) and Marty Love (Johnny Moped) - came together digitally while the world wasn't looking. Now it's time for them to reveal the fruits of their labours.
“I called Paul and suggested to him that we should have a go at a new project after enjoying working together on The Sensible Gray Cells record and if so, did he have anyone in mind,” explains drummer Love on how Wingmen came to be. “And we both wanted to work with Leigh, and he was interested in the idea. I asked Leigh if he knew any vocalists that may fancy it and he said Baz Warne could be worth a call, and to my surprise Baz said yes! So, then there were four. We all started sending song ideas to each other. The first was 'Brits' from Baz and then 'Starting Blocks' from Leigh. After that the songs just kept coming…”
“Although we'd recorded various parts at our homes for our respective bands before, none of us had employed this process to make a complete album!" continues Gray. "Only Marty and I had worked together before, so it was a complete leap into the unknown. We all had loads of ideas to throw into the pot - some songs arrived completely fully formed that we simply added our own parts to, and others were more akin to musical sketches that ended up as co-writes. The album is a true collaboration inasmuch as none of us knew what parts or melodies or lyrics might be added by anyone else - it was an immensely exciting process! No rehearsals, no pre-production, just us winging ideas to and fro, with the drums going on last of all in the studio - which is completely the opposite of how things are usually done, of course.”
Stream the single 'Down In The Hole'...
The album Wingmen is set for release through Cadiz Music on 27 January. A launch event featuring an exclusive album playback, acoustic show and meet and greet is confirmed to take place on 11 December at the Triangle Café & Bar, London SE8.
Pre-order the album here.