Thanks so much to Mark McCole for the interview! Many years ago I interviewed Mark about his band The Sandalwoods, a superb jangly band from Manchester. That time he mentioned he had been in a band called Widehead but I hadn’t hear their music then. Many years after, 2021, I finally heard some of their tunes and really liked them. So I thought it made sense to interview him again and learn more about this project. If you haven’t heard about them, I suggest reading this and looking for their music!
+ Hi Mark! How are you? It’s been a long time since we last spoke! Have you been making music as of late?
Yes it has been some time. Yes Paul and I have been writing a lot and working on a number of projects simultaneously. Paul has written a number really great new tunes (notably one called ‘Darkest Days’ and another called ‘All the Hair Brained Schemes’) that we have partly demo’d combine some of our early influences (Indie/Jazz/Pop), I have been working on a separate project with J-Walk (AKA Martin Brew – famous DJ from Manchester and original member of The Sandalwoods which based around an electro funk / pop aesthetic and Paul and I have a series of songs partially recorded that we are deciding what and how we get them recorded. All in all a lot of work going on.
++ Last time we spoke I remember you mentioned that The Sandalwoods had new songs recorded and gigs were happening. How did that go?
We released an album in 2017 (Pascal’s Wager) https://www.facebook.com/The-Sandalwoods-263659990843294/ and released a single Guide to Drug Running https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=272617663280860. We got some radio play most notably from Clint Boon (ex The Inspiral Carpets) and Mike Joyce (ex The Smiths) on their respective radio shows. We played a couple of gigs, started working on a J-Walk project and then went into Lockdown. The gigs went well and we played at a new and exciting venue in Manchester called The Yard.
++ Today I want to talk about Widehead, which came after The Sandalwoods! What would you say were the main similarities and main differences between both bands?
Well the first similarity was that Paul and I were leading the band, it was predominantly guitar based, lyrically esoteric, and it was based around a indie / melodic pop sentiment. The differences were really relating to the influences we had taken on board which were based around very early English New Wave acts like (such as Manchester’s finest The Buzzcocks) and American bands like Dinosaur Junior, Ultra Vivid Scene and early Pixies. Paul and I were too young when Punk and New Wave came around so going back to early English acts of the late seventies, trying to write in a more sophisticated way whilst applying some of the aesthetics of the American acts that were emerging was an interesting project for us.
++ How was Manchester at this time? Has it changed much compared to the time when The Sandalwoods were active? Were there less or more places to gig? More or less support?
Whitehead formed in late 1991 when the Madchester scene was started to wane but ‘Britpop’ (which started around early 1994) had yet to emerge and whilst there was still a lively place to be it was not quite as gloriously chaotic as the late 80’s. There were plenty of places to play and we (Widehead) played some decent gigs most notably headlining at Manchester University in 1992.
++ And what about other like-minded bands that you liked then?
Looking back and listening to some of the tracks I think we were somewhat of outlier especially in Manchester. The end of the Madchester scene was followed by the rise of grunge and a huge explosion of Rave / Dance Music. We did not have a problem with either of those scenes but we certainly did not want to move into either of those genre’s as our influences were more indie, pop and a sort of work class Englishness (despite both of us being Irish!!) that underpinned our lyrics and melodies
++ So how did Widehead start? Was it the same members as The Sandalwoods? Were there any new musicians in the band?
This was very mush Paul and I. We did have some great musicians such as drummer Tony Thompson (ex 42 Street and Just Jack) and Jamie Fildes (ex local hero Craig Davies and Kill Laurie – now known as Jane Weaver) but we had learned lessons from Sandalwoods and the both of us wanted more control over what we were doing
++ How was the creative process for Widehead? Where did you usually practice?
Our Paul was the main songwriter during this period and always came into rehearsals with a fully or partially written song and then we ‘jammed’ it through and then went away and worked on the arrangement and instrumentation. Early Widehead was very serious and we rehearsed several times a week in a unit in under railway arches of Oxford Road train station in central Manchester
++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?
Paul an I went to very tough school in North Manchester with a poor reputation and ‘widehead’ was a semi affectionate working class slang to address a friend. Our Paul wrote a song ‘Widehead’ and we then adopted the name.
++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?
As mentioned earlier early UK New Wave and contemporary (at the time) American groups such as The Pixies, Ultra Vivid Scene and Dinosaur Junior
++ How come there were no proper releases by the band? Was there any interest from any labels?
Releasing something independently the way you can now was simply not an option and we had our sights set on a record deal. We did have some interest with London Records coming to see us a couple of times (which was difficult getting record companies to come up to Manchester) and Nude Records gave some positive feedback (they had just signed Suede in 1992)
++ And there were no compilation appearances either, right?
Early on we were very focused on getting our own stuff released so we didn’t consider a compilation
++ But you did some recordings, right? I know of the existence of at least four songs, “Widehead”, “Walk on Water”, “Perspiration” and “Appetite”. Were they released in any way? Perhaps as a demo tape and sold at gigs?
They were not released
++ Were there any other Widehead recordings? Other demo tapes?
We also recorded a song Yum Yum on Pascal’s Wager (https://music.apple.com/gb/album/yum-yum/1402452405?i=1402452412).
++ As Widehead, as with The Sandalwoods, you recorded with Simon Duffy at Amazon Studios. Why did you decide to keep working with him?
Simon was a advocate and supporter of what we were doing and believed in what we were trying to do. In fact he pushed us with London records after recording our second demo tape and we trusted him. He was a good producer and good man
++ If you’ve had the chance to release a 7″, what songs would you have put on each side?
Appetite is a good tune and Walk on Water could have been a good pop song (with a few changes)
++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Appetite”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?
I am not sure really as lyrically it was very abstract but I think it is about a sort caustic and obsessive relationship that ends up in self destruction. The chorus as the line ‘And when I sleep it only fuels and appetite that’s big enough to eat…….’. Our Paul’s melodies were quite upbeat but the lyrics were often very dark
++ If you were to choose your favorite Widehead song, which one would that be and why?
Appetite is a good tune but ‘Yum Yum’ https://music.apple.com/gb/album/yum-yum/1402452405?i=1402452412) and a song called ‘If Looks could Kill’ were strong tunes
++ What about gigs? Did you play many?
Yes we played many gigs especially in and around the University set up in Manchester
++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?
We headlined the ‘Hop & Grape’ (Manchester University) as part of a showcase gig for London records. There was well over 300 people there. It was a really great gig.
++ And were there any bad ones?
Yes plenty of terrible tunes!
++ When and why did Widehead stop making music?
Ultimately we simply just ran out of steam and we were doing a type of music that could have got some traction under the Britpop explosion but 3 years too early.
++ Was there any interest from the radio?
For Widehead……..not so much.
++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention? ++ What about fanzines?
We did get some good University press coverage with a really good review of our first demo and decent piece on us prior to the Hop & Grape gig
++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?
For me the recording sessions at Amazon.
++ You told me you were Manchester United fans last time, they had a good run in the Europa League, but that must have been a hard loss, or not? What do you expect for next season?
Whilst it is great Ronaldo is back and we always remain hopeful, it is a little frustrating being a United fan
++ And talking about footie, how do you see England in the Euro?
Paul and I are Irish so our interest in England is at best cursory!!
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Listen
Widehead – Appetite
