The Longcut

Comprising of singer/drummer Stuart Ogilvie, bassist John Fearon and guitarist Lee Gale, The Longcut formed in December 2001 while the three were studying at The University Of Manchester. From the very first practice, at which Lee arrived with a rough demo of album-closer Spires, it was clear that they had something special. They de-constructed the conventional ideas of what a guitar band should be, playing purely instrumental music until Stuart realised the potential for programmed beats to release him from behind the kit. When he began singing, it was in a guttural, shamanistic yell that seemed to come from another realm. ‘Buying that drum machine was the biggest step that we took,’ says Stuart. ‘That was April 2003. We got a Boss DR202 cos it was the only one we could afford, but we fucked around with it to make it do things it probably shouldn’t do. Indie bands usually use drum machines as a background thing. For us, it’s a percussive, in-your-face thing.’

After an inauspicious debut gig at a local battle of the bands competition, The Longcut went on to build a reputation for intense, adrenaline-fuelled gigs in their home city, and label interest quickly built. Signing with Liverpool’s Deltasonic, the EPs Transition and A Quiet Life followed. After that, there was nothing but more gigs, more travelling and an impending sense that something huge was looming on the horizon. ‘We decided to take it slowly until we were completely ready to record the album,’ says Stuart. ‘Now it’s finished, I can’t wait for it to get out there. We thought of all these titles but they were all too flowery and pretentious. We settled on A Call And Response cos it’s direct, immediate and attention grabbing. It seemed to sum up the album pretty well.’