Steve Cradock forms new band with Mani

Ocean Colour Scene guitarist also wins fans in Liam Gallagher and Richard Hawley

Ocean Colour Scene guitarist Steve Cradock has told NME.COM he plans to tour his new solo album ‘The Kundalini Target’ with Primal Scream bassist Mani.

Cradock has already played one gig at Camden, north London‘s Prince Of Wales pub on January 20 with the bassist, and he said he enjoyed himself so much that he’s planning to take the project on the road for a proper tour this summer.

“We had a great band when we did that gig in Camden,” he said. “And it would be a shame just to do it as a one-off and not to get stuck in with that lot again, I think.”

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The guitarist, who also plays full-time in Paul Weller‘s band, compared his new musical outfit (which includes his wife Sally) to ’70s duo Peters And Lee.

“I was using Stevie Pilgrim (Weller‘s drummer) and Paul‘s keyboard player Andy Crofts, Mani on bass, Andy Bennett from Ocean Colour Scene on guitar and Sally on vocals. It’s like a modern day Peters And Lee! Hopefully June time were gonna go out properly.”

Speaking of the album, which was released last week on Ocean Colour Scene‘s label Moseley Shoals Records, Cradock revealed that he initially found it difficult writing complete songs rather than just guitar parts.

He admitted: “I’ve not really written songs before. And I started out trying to write a song about my children and not make it too saccharine. I thought ‘If I can pull this off, I’ll have the confidence to go on and write more serious songs.'”

However, some famous faces helped to calm the guitarist’s nerves when it came to actually releasing ‘The Kundalini Target’.

“I played it to Liam [Gallagher] and Gem [Archer] and Andy [Bell], the Oasis lads, and I think they liked it!” he laughed. “Richard Hawley, Mani, they’ve heard it too. So it’s all good, feedback-wise.”

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The album, which features Weller on backing vocals and guitar parts, was recorded in the former Jam man’s studio after he had given Cradock a boost by praising an early version of the album’s standout track ‘On And On’.

“I recorded it all – all the instruments and tracks – in six days. He [Weller] had a few days when he went back to the smoke or went home,” Cradock explained to NME.COM.

“I initially had this song called ‘On And On’ for about a year and half, and I played it to him [Weller] and he really liked it and was really supportive over it. So that was kind of a relief I suppose!”

The guitarist says he isn’t concerned with how well the album does, stating simply: “It’ll go where it goes.”

Cradock also confirmed that he plans to start work on a new Ocean Colour Scene album this May, as well as play a series gigs with Amy MacDonald in Germany, in between touring with Weller.

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