LS spends an evening in their company

Last Friday saw the pair making their Leeds debut headlining the critically acclaimed New Bohemia at the Faversham, and in anticipation of their arrival I took it upon myself to find out a bit more.

The duo consists of Mr Chuckles, the DJ and producer, and Mr. Bruce, the effervescent vocalist and dancer. On meeting them, the contrast in style and personality of the pair is marked. Mr. Chuckles, sporting casual clothes, a beard and glasses, is definitely the less extravagant of the two. Mr. Bruce meanwhile, with his slicked side parting and full moon spectacles, rarely leaves home in anything less than a three-piece suit and polished brogues.

The old adage that ‘opposites attract’ is perhaps applicable, but these two have been friends for some years, both hailing from the leafy suburb of Wandsworth, South West London. Their musical journeys have been fairly contrasting however, with their time at their respective universities important in shaping their current musical exploits.

Whilst Mr Chuckles plied his trade at our beloved Leeds University, Mr Bruce could be found further North, dancing around stages whilst attending Edinburgh University. He recalls his time in the Scottish capital: “I was the MC for a crew of DJs called ‘Trouble’ who played a mix of Funk, Breaks and D’n'B. By the end of my time up north I was craving something a little more classic and felt that my insistence on wearing a three piece suit for gigs was a little incongruous with the general vibe.”

Mr Chuckles interspersed serious academic study by making jazz rooted Hip Hop, remixes and DJing, “playing the Hyde Park house parties and a few other bits and bobs here and there.  You know, that irritating DJ playing Ugly Duckling before the DnB/Dubstep comes on and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.”

The birth of The Correspondents is attributed to a time around November 2007, when the two men returned to London and decided to start working on some material together.

There has been some debate as to how to classify the sound that the Correspondents are creating, with a number of names being suggested. Mr Chuckles, when asked how he views it, responds in a typically modest manner. “I didn’t realise there was a debate! In fact, I was having a chat about this to a few people after a gig the other day. Things have been thrown up, Electro Swing, Swing’n’Bass, Swingstep, but we decided Swing Beat kind of described it best.  Swing with a contemporary drum beat.  Funnily enough I’m not a huge fan a swing, I find most of it’s a bit bland and watered down, it just seems to work well chopped up with a heavier drum beat!

Mr Bruce is more frank in his assessment. “I rather pretentiously used to call it Contemporary Swing but I agree that Swing Beat is ambiguous and broad enough to describe the music that we make. As Mr Chuckles mentions we don’t want to sound like we are making novelty big band remixes.”

However people choose to describe The Correspondents music, there can be no doubt that it has been well received. The honest truth is that it is difficult not to like it. Anybody who watched the jungle book as a child could never have imagined the day when they would be raving away to Mr. Chuckles version of “I’m the king of the swingers”, whilst Mr. Bruce scatted and danced around like a man possessed for their enjoyment.  And yet this is standard fare at a Correspondents show.

This summer saw the duo embark on a hectic schedule of festival performances, and it was on the travels that people began to stand up and take notice. Mr. Bruce recalls the time fondly: “I don’t want to see a tent for a while – it can be quite a bore making sure that starched collars remain stiff and dry! But it gives us the greatest satisfaction to know that all the admin, ticketing stuff, setting up camp, techy stressing and sweating has paid off.

Mr Chuckles takes a more pragmatic outlook: “we ended up playing seven or eight I think.  Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party, Bestival, Big Chill, Lovebox, among others. Bestival was the real break for us this year as we ended up doing sets on the Main Stage and Big Top for 10,000 people or so each time.  It was a bit of struggle as none of the techies seemed to realise we were a duo and not just a DJ, so be had to beg borrow and steal a fair bit of equipment, but pretty sure it worked out ok in the end.”

On the back of these stomping live performances, the Correspondents have gathered an ever-expanding cult following. Their shows are increasingly well-attended, with people of all shapes and sizes taking pleasure and enjoyment from their music. Mr Chuckles is philosophical here. At present the group handle all their promotion and bookings themselves, and as a consequence he makes the point that “when someone discovers us, they really discover us.” His outlook is typical of what the Correspondents are all about: “I think it forms a tighter bond than if you’ve been told by someone else what to think.  We don’t even plug any releases or websites during or after gigs, just like to let people discover it for themselves!”   

And this is what a number of people did indeed do as they piled in to the Faversham on Friday to witness The Correspondents first live show in front of a Leeds audience.  The dynamic duo take to the stage just after one o’clock, and anticipation is high for their performance. Mr. Bruce gives Mr. Chuckles the signal to take it away which he duly does by dropping ‘king of the swingers’. Predictably the crowd go wild, and as Mr. Bruce bursts into life, dancing and scatting across every inch of the Faversham’s small stage, with this the crowd’s enjoyment is only heightened.

The following hour is a delightfully enjoyable musical odyssey covering a range of musical genres from hip hop to breakbeat to drum and bass, all with The Correspondents signature swing samples chopped up and laid out accordingly. Following ‘king of the swingers’, Mr. Chuckles drops ‘rentaclown’, one of the groups strongest tracks. Mr. Bruce continues to sing and dance with infectious energy, and by now the Faversham is definitely paying attention.

I have seen The Correspondents perform a number of times and I have to say that Mr. Bruce’s dancing exploits really are something to behold, arms and legs all over the place but never once out of step with the music. Add to this his nothing short of flawless MCing performances and it is safe to say that you are in the company of an extremely accomplished entertainer. It is not long before he has worked up the now standard coating of sweat, but surely he takes comfort in the fact that there are plenty with him on what can only be described as a muggy Faversham dancefloor.

The set moves along with a relenting pace, and in seemingly no time at all the hour is up. Personal highlights included the double time ‘look what you get’, Mr. Chuckles’ half step banger, ‘Washington Square’, another established track depicting a seedy, vaudeville world that in another life the Correspondents could surely have hailed from, and ‘run run run’, a new, up tempo number with a rather catchy chorus. To end proceedings Mr Chuckles drops ‘Kiss kiss bang bang’ by High Contrast, allowing Mr. Bruce one last hurrah with his fresh band of converts.

It has been another rip-roaring performance, with smiles on faces and good times enjoyed. I catch up with Mr. Chuckles afterwards and ask him what he made of it all: “Yeah, great fun.  Really good to be up North again!  I’d been in that crowd so many times as a student so good to be on the other end.  Bit of a hot one, was about to pour a bottle of water over Mr Bruce’s head but yeah, excellent stuff.”

So, what now for The Correspondents? No doubt will they continue to go from strength to strength, gaining fans and critical acclaim alike as they fly their ‘swing-beat’ flag with enthusiasm and serious talent on their side. I asked them what they thought about the future:

Mr. Chuckles:  Bigger and better gigs, hopefully an album out when we work out what we’re going to do with all the samples.  We’d never sign to a major and I think they’d be foolish to sign us, bar having some Goldie Lookin’ Chain style one hit wonder, which we wouldn’t and couldn’t do anyway.  We’re not that stubborn though, if someone has a good idea and wants to do something exciting we’re always up it!  There are a few things on the cards which we can’t really comment on yet

Mr. Bruce:  I’d like to build some sort of elaborate stage set for our live performances – a Correspondents playground with dancing platforms, trampolines and conveyor belts with Mr Chuckles enthroned in the centre! So more opportunities for bigger better and more ridiculous live shows.

Whatever it is, (and I hope that Mr. Bruce’s plans for the live show come to fruition!), It will surely be original and entertaining. I can’t help but think that this is only the beginning for The Correspondents. 

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