By Sarah J Lewis-Briggs

Sarah Lewis-Briggs caught up with Carlisle-based jazz and blues band, No Soap No Radio following the release of their debut album. It has been 25 years in the making, but was it worth the wait?

Cumbria has a habit of keeping its treasures slightly hidden, wrapped amongst her curving fells, which is perhaps why No Soap No Radio is not (yet) a household name throughout the UK.  The band has performed widely locally at festivals and other venues – they speak fondly of Nuts in May and Lanercost cricket club, and most recently performed at The Old Fire Station in Carlisle – but world-wide recognition has proved elusive.

Cumbria has hidden in its folds a professional, high-quality and relatively unknown band: and it’s only recently that No Soap No Radio have produced a full-length album, While You Were Gone, of which they are rightfully proud. Discussing this and song-writing with Mark Wilson (lead singer) and Tim Appleby (bassist) makes you realise that they care passionately about what they do and about sustaining a high standard.  All their material is original and written by Mark – sometimes over months or sometimes in the space of a few hours – and then the band works together on the overall arrangement. Mark comments that he may have a certain idea for a song in his head and then one of the others will hear it and may put a fresh interpretation on it, seeing something different.

Mark and Tim enthuse about their fellow band members: drummer Paul Taylor is “a great talent… he’s a musical drummer… interpretative.” While Steve McCormick, “is a lead guitar genius with a huge musical vocabulary… very imaginative, and importantly listens and responds to the words.”

The song lyrics are intelligent and speak of semi-biographical situations to which we can all relate: the time your life feels so impoverished that you want to escape abroad (‘Smile on my Face’); the overwhelming love which hits you between the eyes, even if it’s not to be (‘Sneaking Up on Someone’).

Likewise the musical styles are eclectic, varying from the lyric qualities of Valentino to the sultry walking bass of Out of the West, although Tim and Mark agree to ambivalent feelings about a homogeneity of style on the album, which doesn’t reflect their full range when performing live.

At a gig they may put an entirely new musical interpretation on an old favourite – you only have to hear the two very different recorded versions of ‘Sneaking up on Someone’ to see how varied they can be. But fundamentally, there’s an energy to their songs which makes for compulsive listening – and often for dancing.

No Soap No Radio are performing at Zeffirellis in Ambleside on Friday 18 May (free entry) and later in the year in Preston. Meanwhile they have ambitions for more gigs in Cumbria and have their eyes on Newcastle, where Tim and Mark both have roots, and on finding the wider recognition which has so far seemed to have undeservedly eluded them.

The new album ‘While you were gone’ is available through their website www.nsnr.co.uk