MARK MORTIMER: Bass guitar
SCOTT RILEY: Hammond organ / Fender Rhodes elec piano /guitars / vocals
A big-demand attraction in the UK & further afield, the DCs tumble, twist & turn as sonic groove gymnasts to produce a vibed-up sound that defies those who would pigeon hole them.
Make no mistake: this is magical music tailor-made to move you…and to make your feet move.
DC Fontana’s art & soul is an all-embracing, celebratory thing, not a myopic regurgitated slice of good-time retro music for a narrow audience of people only content to look back over their shoulders…
The DC Fontana band mixes their own essential original songs together with cool, deluxe soul, beat and mod-jazz grooves from yester-year to create a piping hot sonic stew.
It’s that precious collision of opposites that conjure up the magic…as they capture a sound that is young & old, modern & retro, light & dark, fierce & gentle & they paint an aural picture that is rich from all the spectrum of colour. It’s an expression that’s versatile, heart-felt & it’s a true testament of a band that’s in a state of constant evolution & revolution.
Through circumstance DC Fontana has had to consistently re-invent itself & is currently building success on top of, having evolved into a mini soul orchestra!
It’s an expression that’s versatile, heart-felt & it’s a true testament of a band that’s in a state of constant evolution & revolution.
At the core of the band are founding members Mark Mortimer & Neil Jones together with Hammond organ sculptor of sound Scott Riley.
Currently fronting the DCs is the superb singer-songwriter (& guitarist!) KARLA MILTON, a fantastic recent addition to the DC fold.
And behind Karla stands a band that, like Sly & The Family Stone, is more than a pop group...it's virtually a family. And then some...
They come together to create a huge sound that’s rich in instrumentation & depth: horns, Hammond, guitars, reeds, flute, drums & percussion all combine without the need for the kitchen sink.
And the band has once again redefined, regenerated & emerged from its latest underground metamorphosis to great acclaim with undoubtedly its best sounding incarnation yet.
Having regularly wowed audiences as a headline act at oodles of mod events, scooter rallies & festivals in the UK & Europe, the future has never looked so good for this never-say-die band & with offers of shows flooding in, the group has firmly cemented its rightful place in the musical fabric of the mod & scootering culture.
Bass guitarist Mark Mortimer was an original founding DC Fontana member.
But it was back in the mid '80s when Mortimer had initially emerged from Tamworth with his band The Dream Factory.
That group started off with a paisley-patterned psychedelic soul blueprint and its first demo had won praise & encouragement from ex-Teardrop Explodes singer Julian Cope who Mortimer had become friends with during Copey's return to the Midlands town following the split of the Teardrops.
In its earliest line up the Dream Factory featured school friend Donald Skinner who would soon find critical acclaim as Cope's guitarist.
The Dream Factory evolved into a punchy northern soul influenced band with attitude who had a huge following of mods and scooterists and who tore a hole in the outer mesh of the UK charts with their highly-respected indie hit “Wine & Roses” in 1985 on Neil Rushton's indie label Inferno.
The Dream Factory were tipped for big things and almost reached those dizzy heights only to falter at the final hurdle but even today the band is fondly remembered in scootering and mod circles.
As well as being with the Dream Factory Mortimer has played bass with several bands including a brief stint in the mid-'90s with former northern soul legends The Volcanoes who were better known as chart-hitting 70s disco stars The Trammps.
The bass player appeared live on BBC TV with the Trammps when they reformed to play their hit “Hold Back The Night” for the “Children In Need” charity appeal and this was followed with a number of live gigs with the American soul singers.
Mortimer also played with The Space Seeds in the late '80s, a musical pot pourri of bizarre proportions which also featured -on filthy fuzz guitar soundscape creation- Rob Cross (who later went to Liverpool and played with the wonderful Mr. Ray's Wig World) & also helping out was ex-Primal Scream drummer Gavin Skinner.
Majestic Walker Brothers-esque joint lead vocals came from DeHavilland and Martin Kelly but it was a band born out of tilted juxtaposition.
After the Space Seeds, Mortimer carried on with other projects which eventually metamorphosed into The Lovebirds by which time Nigel Horton joined on drums followed shortly after by ex-Dream Factory guitarist Lloyd Barnett and fellow guitar player Neil Jones.
One or two singers later and a quick name change to DC Fontana followed.
The group's first lead vocalist was Frazer Douglas who had a distinctive Scott Walker-styled voice married with the attitude of a frenetic 60s garage singer.
The group has evolved with various different line ups over the years to what they believe to be their finest incarnation today.
Mortimer is joined in DC Fontana by a host of other superb musicians drawn from a very wide background including former Spectrum and E.A.R. man Scott Riley.
Riley recorded and toured with the indie spin-off projects of The Spacemen 3 main man Sonic Boom (aka Pete Kember) as a guitarist but when he joined DC Fontana in the summer of 2006 Riley began learning the art of playing the Hammond organ.
It is something of an enormous feather in his cap that the quietly-spoken Riley has managed to become such a high quality organist in such a short space of time. And he has brought with him from his Spectrum days a tune called "Take Your Time" which was re-sculpted for "Soul Soup."
Riley is now a major contributor to the band's own material and is a keen song writer.
Neil Jones was another founding member of the DC Fontana band together with Mortimer and is a prolific song-writer of note who wrote most of the band's early output as well as contributing heavily as rhythm guitarist and vocalist.
Jones spent a two-year hiatus outside of the DC set up when he embarked on the ill-fated indie-rock project The Glory but now restored to the fold he is a vital and driving force behind the band.
Also in the group is red-hot drummer Ben Jones who adds swing and drive to the group’s dynamic sound.
One of the main features of DC Fontana is a sizzling horn section which has plenty of experience and youth cast across its ranks and it’s this brilliant sound, rich in texture and harmony, which plays a large part in the DC aural attack. The section is a flexible group of players and can range from being anything from three to six in size!
Young sax maestro Jamie Ryder
from Derbyshire plays both tenor and soprano saxes. A jazz-head, Ryder is just as comfortable locking into a
groove within the section or soloing.
Trumpet & flugelhorn player Steve Trigg is a long-time mod and a top player who has
worked with a number of big names in the music world including Stevie
Winwood.
In recent times Trigg was asked to perform on the much-publicised “Mod Aid”
charity single for victims of the 2005 tsunami.
On the recording he starred alongside a veritable “who’s who” of the mod
scene from the 1960s through to the modern day including names like Ron Wood
(Rolling Stones, The Faces, Jeff Beck Group, The Creation, The Birds), PP
Arnold, Chris Farlowe, Reg Presley (the Troggs), Steve Craddock (Ocean
Colour Scene, Paul Weller), Mike Evans (The Action), the late Art Wood (The
Artwoods), Ian Page / Dave Cairns / Dave Winthrop (Secret Affair), Jimmy
Winston (The Small Faces), Billy Nicholls, Roger Dunbar (The Untamed), Simon
Stebbing (The Purple Hearts), Andy Ellison (John’s Children), Buddy Ascot
(The Chords), Fay Hallam (Makin’ Time & The Fay Hallam Trinity), Mark Le
Gallez (The Risk), Chris Philpott (Small World), Steve Rinaldi (The Moment &
Rinaldi Sings), Rod Spark (Modus), John Wratten (Small World) plus Steve
Marriott’s daughter Molly.
Trigg has played all over the world and is one of the most vibrant trumpet
player on the mod scene today and as well as contributing his playing to DC
Fontana he is also one of the DCs’ song-writers.
Also in the horn section is the excellent Hertforshire-based saxophonist
wizard Tim Nightingale,
another cracking musician of the finest quality.
Mike Holden is DC Fontana’s other trumpeter and joined the band in the
spring of 2007 after a long spell out of music and he quickly settled in to
become another vital cog in the group machine. Also featured in the section
are brilliant baritone sax player Nick Smith from Staffordshire and the
classical Conservatoire-trained Kate Furlong on trombone.
In recent times the band has expanded its horizons playing to a much wider
audience and visiting several countries across Europe.
At Christmas 2006 they played alongside Kula Shaker and Pucho & His Latin
Soul Brothers at the prestigious Purple Weekend Festival in Leon in Spain.
The band has also headlined the Paris Rare Groove Day Festival in France,
played at the Athenaeum Cave mod party in Greece while also headlining the
Beat The Clock Mod Weekender in Köln, Germany recently.
In the past been the top attraction at a whole list of big scootering and
mod scene events including the internationally famous Isle of Wight Scooter
Rally (UK), the Paris Mod Weekender (Fr), the National Scooter Rally of
Scotland, The Lambretta Day Festival, the Great Goo-Goo-Magoo Scooter Rally
(Ireland), Camber Sands Scooter Experience, the Morecambe Scooter Rally, the
Great Yarmouth Scooter Rally, the Run To the Shires Scooter Rally, the Great
North-West Scooter Rally, the Sticky Rock Skegness Scooter Rally, the
Bridlington Scooter Rally, the Scarborough Scooter Rally, the Phoenix Nights
Scooter Rally, the Veteran Vespa Club of Great Britain Scooter Rally...the
list goes on and on and on and on!
Now firmly ensconsed as one of the best known and much loved groups that
appeals to both the scooterist and mod scenes, DC Fontana continue to evolve
and move forward, refusing to stand still.
Well known British promoter Tony Class described them as “the
best band I’ve booked in 15 years”
& touted them in the magazine, Scootering International as “the
best soul band in the country,”
while global mod promoters the New Untouchables described the band as “Midlands
mod sensations!”
Out in 2007 is the group’s “Soul Soup” CD, recorded live in rehearsal and on
stage at various concerts to add to the previous successful limited edition
singles: “The Snake” and “Father’s Name Is Dad” but the band is currently
working on new material for a proper album in 2008 filled with their
original material.
A tour of the USA is also planned for 2008 and the future has never looked
so bright for this never-say-die band!
And don't forget to peer through the looking glass. You may be pleasantly
surprised.
The REV DELIRIUM, 2007