New Band - Killing for Company
STUART CABLE'S NEW BAND GIG WITH THE WHO AND PLAN TO RECORD AT MONNOW VALLEY STUDIOS by Jeff Collins
Stuart Cable’s new band are to record their debut CD at Monnow Valley studios in Monmouth.
The band, called Killing For Company have also secured themselves a high profile gig with The Who. The former drummer of the Stereophonics got his band onto the bill of the prestigious concert at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium on June 1st simply by calling his old friend Roger Daltrey. Killing For Company also comprise of brothers Steve Williams on guitar and Andy Williams on bass, who were both formerly with the hotly tipped Sheershock Revival. Also in the line up are Ritchie King on rhythm guitar and Greg Jones on vocals.
I met up with Stuart in Cardiff and he told me how the band got together.
“It was through a mutual friend really. My Ex-drum tech Swampy as we call him - or Chris Stone. When I left the Stereophonics we were still friends and he said to me one day as we were sitting and having a pint “I know the guitar player for you!” Andy! I was in college with him. So I asked for his number. I called him and he came up for a jam and a chat. And then he told me that his brother was a bass player. So I though ‘This is great’. So then Steve came up and we had a jam and it worked really really well. So for a long time - about eight months - It was just Steve, Andrew and myself -- and Steve was doing the vocals. But no disrespect to Steve - I like his voice - but I don’t think it was quite right for us. We needed something with a bit more balls in it really. Then we had this audition.”
Stuart groans as he recalls the audition.
“About 20 singers came. It was awful. Terrible! Some of the worst singers I’ve ever seen in my life were there. Not just from Wales but the whole country. So then I went to do this thing for the BBC, which was basically a talent search for a band. We started off in North Wales and worked our way down. And the last one we did was in the little theatre near where I was born and bred. It a nice big stage with about 300 seats and this band came on and all I could see was this guy running round the stage like an idiot - he was all over the place - and he had a great voice. I thought “He’s the man I want”. So I talked to him afterwards and he said saying he’d love to come up and have a jam. So he did and we went through a few songs. The songs we had already written we gave to him and asked him for a melody line -- and we liked what he did. He also recommended a guitar player from a Cardiff band called The Teeth. Its mad, because I was saying how its crazy how we’ve come together and how its worked so quickly. We went into the studio about a month ago with ten songs and picked six. We did a demo tape and the next thing we know eveyone’s raving about it.
HOW DID THE WHO GIG COME ABOUT?
“From me phoning Roger Daltrey!!! ( He Chuckles) I knew Roger from my days with the Stereophonics and the teenager cancer trust thing which we’d always do with him. He’s a really cool guy. When I got sacked from The Stereophonics, he rang me and said how appalled and disgusted he was about the way things were handled. And thought the band should have worked out its problems. He’s very old school in that way. He then said that anytime I needed any help I should just ring.
So I remember someone saying I should ring up Roger and ask him about playing with the Who at Swansea. In the back of my mind I was thinking he’d answer the phone and say “Stuart who?” So I plucked up enough courage, which took me about two days. I rang him and his wife answered. I introduced myself and she said he was away on tour but gave me his email address, as it was the best way to contact him on the road, So I put an email together and attached one song Say About Me. I sent the email and didn’t have anything back after five days. So I though he’s just deleted it!! So then in a bizarre series of events I had a phone call from a mate of mine in Swansea - wondering how he could get a box for the Who gig as it was his 50th birthday on 1st June. So I though ‘The only person I know at the Liberty Stadium is the former Welsh rugby international Scott Gibbs, who is a director for the Stadium sponsors Liberty properties.’ So I called Scott straight away. He was in the pub and said ‘yeah we can sort that out’. He also said ‘You know the Stadium are promoting themselves.’ So then he phoned this guy Andrew Davies who is looking after the Stadium on the Monday. We had a meeting and he was happy to have us on the bill. He said he had to confirm it with the band so rang Live Nation who are looking after them and they said Roger Daltrey already been on the phone and told him wants Stuart’s band playing there. And when I got home there was an email from Roger saying ‘I really like the songs, great to hear you back - its a band decision - but I’ve done my best to get you on the bill.’ So hats off to Roger!
GREAT START. GREAT SHOWCASE FOR YOU.
Its bizarre because one of the first major bands we (The Stereophonics) supported in 1997 was The Who in Earl’s Courts on The Tommy Tour. Roger had liked our first album. We were in Edinburgh with Kenickie. Remember them? I love lauren Laverne (Their singer) - she’s great, but I did an interview with her a couple of weeks back and I said something about Kenickie and she said “Oh we don’t mention those days!!” So yeah, we left that tour to go to play with the Who. So it’s gone full circle. The first big gig for Killing For Company will be the Who. We’re hoping to get back into the studio soon and do some new songs. But of the six we’ve already done we’re going to release one of those as a download only at the time of The Who gig. That’s the plan. Lets hope it can chart.
Jeff Collins has written ROCK LEGENDS AT ROCKFIELD which is published on September 15th 2007 on University of Wales Press.
It's now available for pre-order on Amazon and from all good book stores.
