High Voltage

Dutch uncle (noun)
A stern, candid critic or advisor.

The world cup is here again. Sullen English faces are out in force; irritable and dejected. Burley middle-aged men yell at tele boxes, neglect their families and convince one another that they “could do a better job than that prick, Cappello. Wanker!”. England becomes infested with Dutch uncles. How then, does the Manchester musical outfit, Dutch Uncles, cope with all these impostors? Well, their world cup contribution is a typically complex musical skit, ‘Fabio Acappella’, which compromises of the players’ names being sung a cappella in several different time signatures. Each signature relates to a player’s shirt number. For example, Ashley Cole is sung in 3/4, and Arron Lennon in 7/8 and… No, this is not the emblematic banter of the Stella-wielding Dutch uncles, but the five non-brutish Dutch Uncles are far too couth and intelligent to become engaged with mindless degradation.

Stealing away some moments prior to a JD set with Mike Joyce and The Whip at Band On The Wall, Dutch Uncles frontman, Duncan Wallis considers the intricacies of his own band and the wider spectrum in which Dutch Uncles reside.

“We all originate from round here, Marple,” explains Duncan. “Our original band was called The Headlines, but with that, we were just writing music that we thought people wanted to hear.” Shifting uncomfortably, Duncan acknowledges, “We try and brush all that under the carpet a little bit”. Despite the slight awkwardness regarding this period of musical adolescence, the previous entity (which sported the exact same line up) is residual in current Dutch Uncles material. “’Face In’ was actually written as The Headlines,” admits Duncan. And if you look hard enough, you’ll find a version ‘Takeover’ on t’Internet. Anyway, that was then…

Dutch Uncles toured with The Futureheads earlier this year, something that Duncan seems surprisingly wide-eyed about. “That was our first proper tour really, one where we got to stay in Travel Lodges! And it was such a privilege to be on tour with The Futureheads; we’ve been fans of there’s for such a long time and they’re just really nice people.” It transpires that this refreshingly untainted approach to lack of serious experience (compared with The Futureheads) is often coupled with a healthy self-critique and frustrated concern. When asked about other local bands who ascend with haste, Duncan confesses: “Yeah, when I see another band who are in a similar position to us get signed or become big, I do question what we do; you re-evaluate things. But then within days you forget about it and get on with your own thing.”

This outward-looking conscience often serves musicians well but as is the case with Dutch Uncles, time is often better spent on crafting their own material as opposed to scoping competition. And this particular subject gives rise to another quirk: “Robin, our bassist writes most of our music on a computer. He’ll write the whole song and bring it to a rehearsal, we’ll all sit round and work out our own parts and develop the song.” Despite Robin taking the role of head songwriter, it seems to be Duncan who becomes most bullish when the five collaborate. “I would say it’s a diplomatic dictatorship,” says a timid Duncan. “Sped and Pete sometimes put loads into a song and it becomes too busy, so I just have to say, ‘you can have this bit, but that bit has to go’”.

And what about Duncan’s role on stage? There have been several comparisons with Manchester greats, something that Duncan is unmoved by. “I never really take notice of press that suggests ‘I have the croons of Morrissey and the yelps of Ian Curtis’ [cue mocking tone]. It’s just lazy journalism really.” And you can understand this mild frustration when he alleges his favourite frontman is David Byrnes, someone who is perhaps more akin to the manic idiosyncrasies of Dutch Uncles than any Mancunian legend.

So, as the summer gig drought turns Manchester’s city centre venues into arid reticent boxes and most bands either gather around the festival oases or hibernate, what are Dutch Uncles planning. “We’re just going to concentrate on writing the next album,” says Duncan. “It’s strange because, this should be the ‘difficult second album’ but a lot of people still haven’t heard our first, which means there’s less pressure in a way.” Granted, their eponymous debut didn’t see the band go ultra global: it still exists as an unearthed gem.

Latest single, ‘The Ink’ is also another sparkling display of wizardry, a teaser that pundits were keen to applaud. And based on this recent release, Dutch Uncles can be forgiven for bedding down in a studio for the summer, while the world cup Dutch uncles scathe over an unproductive English football team. No doubt, Duncan’s re-emergence (post summer discontent) will raise spirits and give the English something to be proud of.

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