HOOTON TENNIS CLUB haven’t slowed down since they first emerged a couple of years back, gradually amassing a steady following around the country with their hazy guitar pop, infectious melodies and lo-fi aesthetic. Wasting no time in bringing out the follow-up to last year’s well-received debut release Highest Point in Cliff Town, the four-piece will be releasing their highly anticipated second album Big Box Of Chocolates on October 21st on Heavenly Recordings, featuring latest single ‘Katy-Anne Bellis’.
In the run up to its release, our TTV Discover feature gives an exclusive insight into the band’s journey so far as they talk us through some of their most important moments to date, including gigs at the recently closed Kazimier venue in Liverpool, a trip to New York and their unique recording experience with Edwyn Collins in the north of Scotland.
1. A shot of an early gig in the Kazimier Garden, with lots of friends and Jeff Barrett in the crowd, which later appeared in the Bido Lito! magazine…
We played one of our first shows in the Kazimier Garden in 2014, that was a great show, we were just figuring out how to play our first EP, ‘I Was A Punk In Europe But My Mum Didn’t Mind)’. We probably sounded very raw; Velvet Underground-ish is what someone said. Carl Hunter was at that show, he was the guy that really kicked us up the arse and started ‘spreading the word’ about Hooton Tennis Club (him and Dave Monks, the DJ from BBC Introducing Merseyside), which is why Jeff Barrett was there. too. We were pretty nervous about that. Playing in the Kazimier Garden was a lot of fun though. We were amazed when we first found out we’d be playing in the Kazimier proper, we just couldn’t believe that we’d be going on the same stage which we’d seen a lot of our favourite bands on. It’s more than a shame that it closed, it was the last good, independent curiosity in Liverpool. Some say it was the best venue in the UK. Luckily, the Kazimier crew and setting up the Invisible Wind Factory. Let’s hope they don’t get flushed out of there, too. We don’t need anymore flats and student accommodation and Tesco…
2. CMJ Festival, New York City – Ramblin’ around, James took a photograph of Harry, Callum and (manager) Dan on the corner of Gem Spa…
Where do you start with New York? What an experience that was. From being shocked about opportunities in and around the Northwest – close to home, to basically being floored by the fact that we were off to the Big Apple! James took this photo on his film camera. It’s of Callum, Harry, and Dan (our manager) in front of the Gem Spa stand, in East Village, Manhattan. Gem Spa was known to be a hangout for beats and art types in the 1950s and ’60s. Jean-Michel Basquait named a painting after the place. Also, Allen Ginsberg and a few other beat poets mention it in theirwork. And there we were, like idiots.
3. A photo from the balcony at the last ever Kazimier gig, and the last gig of our debut album (‘Highest Point in Clifftown’) tour, 2015…
Another nod to the Kazimier, hey? Well it was great. The show was the last on our ‘Highest Point in Cliff Town‘ debut-album-tour. All our friends and relatives were in attendance. The Orielles played, Trudy played, we had Bill Ryder-Jones DJ-ing, and we’d had a banner made – the guys at Zap Graffiti tagged it up for us, it looked the bee’s balls! Bill got on the stage for the last song and bashed about with a tambourine and played some guitar and we all fell over and ‘trashed’ the stage… I’m sure there were Christmas trees on stage, too. We had our friend Rob Vibes doing sound and visuals, which worked great. He runs a milk company now named ‘Nuts About Milk’. He makes and delivers various nut milks straight to your door. A lovely man. Anyway, altogether it was extremely exciting and emotional. Afterwards we had a fantastic party.
4. Recording our second album ‘Big Box Of Chocolates’ in Helmsdale with Edwyn Collins – photograph of us all huddled against the town’s community van…
So here we all are (minus Grace, as she took the picture) with the Helmsdale community bus. The guy that’s not us or Edwyn is Dave ‘Cowshed’, the engineer working with us. It was an incredible experience working with Edwyn up in Scotland. We learned a lot about recording music. We’ve all been curious to investigate the goings-on within the confines of the ‘professional’ studio. It was the same in Parr Street, in Liverpool with Bill and Chris (engineer). Excitedly, we’d all huddle around the Neve desk, or the treasure chest of microphones, and begin to ask questions…
On some of the days over the three weeks, Grace (Edwyn’s wife) would take us out to explore the surrounding area. We went to the Whaligoe steps – 365 steps, one for each day of the year, leading us down into a fishing cove. The place was huge! This guy called Davie came along with us and told us (at great length) all about what used to go on down there – he was extraordinarily passionate about it all. It’s a beautiful place. Afterwards we went for food in a little café where we tried cullen skink: an incredibly tasty Scottish soup made with smoked haddock, potatoes and onions – it was delicious. We’d sometimes have dinner in the town’s restaurant, too – Thyme & Plaice. We had steak, venison, seafood… you should try the langoustines!
On the whole it sounds as if we barely did any recording. We were on holiday, we were very relaxed and so well looked after. It made it so easy for us to make the album. Of course there were ups and downs, arguments, and off-days, but that’s only because we like to challenge ourselves. Edwyn was driven and determined to get the best out of us, but he also knew when to say “move on lads, you’ve cracked it!” It was an amazing experience.
