If The Glorias' rock doesn't get ya, life will

Self-described as playing '˜rock'n'roll so dirty you'll need a shower', The Glorias are no mere grubby urchins.
The GloriasThe Glorias
The Glorias

Comprised of members of the much-missed Good Time Charlies and Gosport punks Night of Treason as well as other seasoned scenesters, the band have made great strides in their 18 months together.

Bassist Andy ‘Nish’ Cornish says: ‘I was introduced to Den (Barry, drums) at an Archive 45 gig at The Golden Eagle - and then Adi from Archive said: “Bass player meet drummer”, and we sort of get together from there.

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‘I asked Bill (Gaynor) if he fancied doing it because Night of Treason weren’t doing quite as much at the time.

‘We started as a three piece, just sort of jamming, then we got Mark (Rogers) involved because we thought we needed a second guitarist. We did one gig with Bill singing, but we thought if we could, we should try and get a dedicated frontman.’

And for their frontman Nish turned to someone he was last in a band with some decades ago, called The Idol Rich.

‘Gez (Driffield) was the frontman of my first ever band when I was 18, so he’s lived in Denmark for about 30-odd years, married a Danish girl, but moved back from Copenhagen and now he lives on the Isle of Wight.

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‘I went over to the island on a 40th pub crawl around Cowes, and asked him if he wanted to come and join us. He did, and I asked him there and then if he fancied having a go. He hadn’t sung since we were all 20 but he’s taken to it like a duck to water.’

It was playing at the launch party of Den’s punk-themed novel No Way Out that the band realised they could be on to something good.

‘When we played Den’s book launch at The Loft last November, it was only the second gig with Gez singing,’ recalls Nish, ‘but it was packed out and it was a really good gig for us.’

Since then the highlights have kept coming, including support The Skids, Ruts DC and The UK Subs

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‘We’ve also played a couple of shows in London now – I hadn’t played there in a while, so that’s been a highlight for me.

‘I actually prefer to play outside the city because it’s more enjoyable getting people to like you who don’t know you.’

And now they’re launching their debut album, Life’ll Get Ya – 10 prime slices of chaotic garage-rock – with a release party at The Edge of The Wedge.

The five-piece haven’t released any singles or EPs – they’ve opted to jump straight in with a full album.

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‘It’s basically our live set – we’ve recorded everything we’ve got, which is the 10 songs, plus we do a couple of covers when we play live. I felt that everything was going really well, so while we were on fire, I thought we should get in the studio and do something.’

They recorded it at Southsea Sound studio with Tim Greaves behind the desk.

‘I’ve never recorded with Tim before but it was by far the easiest recording session I’ve ever had,’ adds Nish.

And the group’s DIY ethos extends to creating the album’s artwork, which features an unidentified person with a bag on their head, daubed with a sad face. The model is in fact Nish’s other half, Sally.

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‘She drew the face on it – it’s her artwork – it was based on that actor (Shia Labeouf) who went to the awards ceremony with a bag on his head saying: “I’m Not Famous Anymore”, it’s like hiding away from the world and hiding your head in the sand, but as the album says, Life’ll Get Ya.’

They play at The Edge of The Wedge, Southsea, on Wednesday, December 27, doors 7.30pm. Tickets £5.

Support comes from Crash Dive Sect and Electric Lemonade. Go to wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.