Because every Dog has its day

The ‘five-piece soon to be six-piece’ Preston outfit was formed in 2010 by Mick ‘Deadwood’ Stokes, once with Pike, and multi-instrumentalist Daevid Goral ‘Dog’ Barker.

Three years on, they’re set to release debut album United Colours of Bigotry, headlining UCLan’s 53 Degrees the same night (Saturday, October 19).

The launch gig includes support from the acclaimed Belfast singer-songwriter Dan Donnelly, who found success with Irish acoustic folk-rock band Watercress, since playing prestigious support roles with the likes of The Levellers, Oysterband and Seth Lakeman, and a regular on the UK summer festival circuit.

The album was recorded at Jafaf House Studios, near Wigan, produced by John Kettle and released on Preston’s Dumbdown Records.

And Mick, currently waiting on the first copies of the album to arrive in the post, is thoroughly looking forward to the release-day experience.

He said: “We’ve grown up a lot as a band this past year, our new drummer helping pull it all together in a sense.

“Although we only finished recording the album a short while ago, we’re very pleased with the result. We’ve nailed the songs!

“We did some recording a while ago but weren’t happy, and as a result we tried John Kettle instead. I think he got us, and our sound.

“We were down to a few late night recording sessions, when the studio was free, which could be frustrating when we were getting into it, but somehow it worked.

“And although there’s a bit of production on there, there’s not much more than when we play live.”

The band have become well known on the county circuit, their homecoming gig at 53 Degrees in June supporting Bruce Foxton’s From The Jam proving a revelation.

The set that night included their bouzouki-driven cover of Kraftwerk No.1 hit The Model, their Men They Couldn’t Hang, Bellowhead, Clash and Levellers style set – all delivered with a broad Lancashire accent– proving a hit.

The band label themselves ‘a supergroup made up of the Levellers, IRS-years REM and the ghost of Joe Strummer, all jamming in a Baltic bar’.

But despite that cultural mix and Dog’s World Music influence, Mick revealed: “We’re all Preston lads really. Three of us went to school in Lostock Hall, I was at Brownedge, and another’s from Ashton.

“The lyrics and melodies are me, the music’s Daevid, and maybe because we like a lot of different music, it’s led to a right mash-up!”

Mick, 48, said he had no great ambitions for how well the album sells and what it might lead to, but added: “I just want people to like it, and if it sells well that will help us carry on.

“We’re doing it for experience really, and we’re still doing it because we can’t stop doing it!

“If Simon Cowell came to see us, he’d probably put his hand up pretty quick and say ‘thanks, but no thanks’, but there you go.

“The people at 53 Degrees have been very supportive and appreciate how many tickets we sold for From The Jam. And for this show we’ve already sold getting on for 200 tickets and a few more will pay on the night.”

For more details check out the band’s facebook page.