Searching the Internet for clips of your favourite band is a common pastime these days and bound to reveal a plethora of candid clips of new tracks, sneaky snippets of live shows and the ever-popular sex tapes, be they real or fake. It seems that more than the official DVD, fans are looking for something tangible to quell their thirst for new angles on their favourite artists, which is where the Black Cab Sessions come in.
If you've missed out on the top project, which has this year received praise from Radio 1 and become a buzzword among bloggers, then the concept is simple: bands have one take to perform a track in the back of a London black cab. The appeal is instant with a truly unique snapshot of bands from Cold War Kids and The Raveonettes to Emmy The Great and Scout Niblett who have taken part, accompanied by authentic views of London.
The Black Cab Sessions was the brainchild of promo directors at Just So Films who came up with the idea as a means of promoting live shows put on by Hidden Fruit Promotions, with Johnny Flynn being the first band to be given the black cab treatment. After this initial success, Black Cab Sessions curator Gen Stevens tells us that the team decided to create the sessions independently of the Hidden Fruit shows, capturing a wide range of artists. So far their success rate has been excellent, with all the bands they've approached agreeing to take part; mostly because they've found the trick of approaching bands directly rather than through the channels of labels, "Not that labels try and keep their artists in the dark, it’s just, because of their role, labels see it as ‘what can the sessions do for us’ rather than the artist's response which is often ‘yeah, why not, sounds like fun!’" emphasises Stevens.
In this way, the success of The Black Cab Session is a critique of the failings of the record industry, not only do they occasionally stop their artists having fun, but their staid promos are the polar opposite of the impulsive and creative sessions. "I’ve always been a live music fan - there’s a risk in it, something vital and spontaneous," Stevens assures us, illuminating the success of The Black Cab Sessions. "Of course, sometimes, it’s terrible and you end up regretting going all the way there and paying in - but when it works, when it really works, there’s nothing like it. I suppose The Black Cab Sessions - like Vincent Moon’s Take Away Shows with Blogotheque - try and capture some of this. The fact that live music is doing so well in a time when everything else in music is falling shows that people are thirsty for something different, something more rough around the edges - a more authentic experience in a way." The Take Away Shows offer a similar vibrant image of France through the eyes, and music of various musicians, but without the sense of motion and journey provided by the cabs, which add a little gritty British allure to the Black Cab Sessions.
The spontaneous element of The Black Cab Sessions is the real attraction with bands as big as The National, The Kooks and Cold War Kids on the same level as the likes of Luke Toms and Johnny Flynn; there are electric outfits giving acoustic takes, speed bumps to be reckoned with and the sweet St Vincent plugged into a tiny Marshall amp! The cabs themselves are another unpredictable element as the drivers are simply hailed from the street, "normally they’re willing; some are hugely excited, some are wary and some just drive off," explains Stevens. "After it’s all over though, the cabby is always keen to know where he/she can see it and show it to his/her friends and family, so that’s lovely for us."
So far, with the sole exception of Scout Niblett's Bristol escapade, the sessions have all been recorded in London, providing a beautiful marriage of the romantic cityscape and live music, and the realism that it's all done from the back of a cab, "We are enjoying mapping London with each session that passes - it’s very Londoncentric - the gloomy Clapham backwaters in The Mules session, the sunset over Tower Bridge in Vincent Vincent and the Villains, Camden High St in Fanfarlo - it’s a Londoner’s London, warts n’all," summarises the curator, listing all the things we really love most about the sessions.
The team are keeping their wishlist of possible future cab crooners a secret, but check out the 25 current sessions, here and sign up to the mailing list The Knowledge to keep yourself informed of brand new sessions.
More Links:
Just So Films
Hidden Fruit Promotions