Mamas Gun are a five-piece band, fronted by the charismatic and striking singer/composer/producer Andy Platts, who blend Motown, soul, funk and rock influences to stunning effect. Having released two critically acclaimed albums, toured with the likes of De La Soul, Raphael Saadiq, and Beverley Knight and played to tens of thousands of fans worldwide, their third offering, ‘Cheap Hotel’ is a landmark release that will surely take Mamas Gun to a whole new level. As Andy puts it: “I think this is our coming of age record. There was a consensus this time round to take our time, to try to examine every riff, every melody scrap, every chord change and indeed every song that any member may have to put on the table. It was a very democratic process.”
Mamas Gun’s debut album ‘Routes To Riches’ picked up support from the likes of Sunday Times Culture, The Guardian and Billboard as well as BBC Radio 2, amongst others. It was the band’s unexpected impact in Japan that really made the world sit up and take note: Mamas Gun were heralded as the most played international act in the country that year (beating Madonna to the No. 1 airplay slot), also achieving the No.3 sales slot on the Japanese Billboard charts.
The second album ‘The Life & Soul’, produced by Grammy Award winning production team Martin Terefe and Andreas (noted for success with artists such as Jason Mraz, Train, James Morrison, Jamie Cullum, and KT Tunstall) categorically cemented the band’s reach and reputation both in the UK and internationally.
During the period between ‘The Life & Soul’ and the recording of the new album the guys concluded the long search for the bands new bass player, spent months as a group writing the new material, and toured the world including headline slots and sold out shows around the world from Java Jazz in Indonesia (alongside Stevie Wonder) to 14 date runs throughout Germany and Europe.
‘Cheap Hotel’ sees the band back with the ‘dream team’ who produced their debut (Routes to Riches) - Julian Simmons (Ed Sheeran, Guillemots) and founder member Andy Platts. The album is a huge sonic step forward; at the same time arguably more experimental than previous work, yet full of timeless song writing, it is laced with a mixture of modern and retro sounds, pure pop sensibilities and the kind of musical clarity only heard in a band who have truly cemented their bonds.
The first single from the album will be ‘Red Cassette’; a nostalgic summery tune, echoing the synth pop sounds of Prince and Daft Punk. “It’s a song about nostalgia, life choices and tracing the roots back to when I first started making music – when I was around 8 or 9 years old,” says lead singer Andy Platts, “staying up late and recording fake radio shows and making up songs which I recorded onto cassette...I also like the idea of uplifting songs which revolve around one simple chord sequence.”
