Corporal Mythical Bird

Captain Phoenix

Captain Phoenix are one of those few.

But small town hell has its upsides. It instilled a sense of defiance in the boys, and saw them through several early incarnations. Playing together since they were knee-high to a Marshall, they grew up on 70s rock, air drumming and covering Supergrass tunes. It was a tight community: “I was taught drums by Ben’s brother” sticksman Ross Curnow admits.

Ah yes, Ben’s brother, Andy. As in Andy Burrows, drummer for Razorlight. So how does being related to indie aristocracy affect them? “We’ve chosen not to exploit Andy’s contacts,” Ben declares, “We don’t want to be in a place we’re not ready to be. If we were offered a support tour now, we’d turn it down. We’ve only played with them once, back at The Railway {Winchester}.”

This fierce independence, along with a burning ambition, saw the driving licence-less band fare-skipping round Hampshire and playing wherever would have them. Honing the songs in a soundproofed garage, the music-obsessed teenagers made beer money by selling demos. “They all sold out” declares Ben proudly, before admitting with a smile, “it only took a year to sell two hundred!”

The band relocated to London and moved in together. Bad move. In a period that sounds like The Monkees on industrial strength lager, they created much of the forthcoming debut LP. “We were getting pissed every day, and there was a heatwave when we wrote the album. There was many a fight…” Fortunately legendary producer Steve Cooper, a man whose mortgage was paid by the handclaps on Supergrass’ ‘Pumping On The Stereo’, was there to keep things together, and the boys are rightly very excited about the results. Ben: “It’s awesome, it sounds really fresh and way above our expectations.”

Read more at www.captainphoenix.com

Have a look at their myspace and listen to tunes at myspace.com/captainphoenix

See Captain Phoenix live at the Winchester Guildhall as part of the Oxjam week on Monday 8th October – Its free.

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