Cherwell | 30.10.09 Culture Feature 23 Culture Photo: Mark Friend Guided by noises Hannah Partos traces the story of the Noisettes with guitarist Dan Smith an Smith is recounting how he first But the Noisettes weren’t an instant suc- ‘In Croydon, some places are rough, they won’t like ‘Saturday Night’ to the more laidback Mo- became interested in music. When cess – their debut album Who’s afraid of Mr encourage you to be involved in music or art. town feel of ’24 Hours’ and ‘Never Forget You’. he was thirteen, his father, a har- Wolf? failed to take off. Touring in the early They didn’t at my school. It’s, ‘you want to go to She banters with members of the audience monica-player, went to a jam session days was often incredibly demoralising ‘play- the Brit School? Are you fucking mad? There’s as she crowd-surfs (‘You’ve got lovely strong for a friend’s birthday. One of the ing in front of five or ten people who are not lots of’ – forgive the language of the time – shoulders, don’t you?’) or tells the odd anec- Dguests was Jimmy Page. bothered’. ‘there’s lots of poofs there.’’ dote: ‘I have fond memories of Oxford. When I ‘I sort of had an epiphany. It really blew me Smith recalls supporting Babyshambles It was at the now-famous academy for per- was fourteen I fell in love with a boy here I met away – there’s this bloke who I realised was in during the ‘tabloid fodder’ period, ‘being forming arts that Smith met Shoniwa and at my auntie’s church. He took me for a cup of a band called Led Zeppelin and he’s come to thrown into this wild, unpredictable world of their drummer, Jamie Morrison. ‘I remember tea on Cowley Road.’ Croydon. I want to get out of Croydon. Can he Pete Doherty when Kate [Moss] would drift in the first time I met Shingai, on the first day of Her voice is far better live; songs like ‘Some- take me with him? I know, I’ll learn how to play looking a bit shifty, try and sing – which wasn’t the second year. Before that she was a bit of a times’ which don’t really stand out on the al- guitar. And I learnt how to play in two weeks.’ a good thing.’ rude girl, and then she reinvented herself and bum are transformed. Smith is one third of the Noisettes, the became this hippy flower child with all these band behind the ubiquitous ‘Don’t Upset the ‘You want to go to the Brit things coming out of her hair, wearing ochre ‘Shingai became this hippy Rhythm’, which reached the number two spot flares. But yeah, we met and we ended up danc- earlier this year and appeared on a Mazda ad- School? Are you mad? ing.’ flower child with things vert. Their bluesy punk sound has won them As the band begin to set up, the stage is critical acclaim, with the Guardian naming There’s lots of poofs there’ decked out like a seventies disco, with bril- coming out of her hair ’ them as ‘best live band’ for their lively sets. liantly kitsch lighting and a couple of huge Singer and bassist Shingai Shoniwa, with On one occasion, Shoniwa even dislocated mirror balls. Smith and Morrison come on, Smith gives a spirited performance on gui- her soul-diva voice and energetic perform- her shoulder when she did a handstand in an but there’s no sign of Shoniwa. tar, especially a stunning solo in the set-clos- ances, has drawn comparisons with everyone attempt to win over an audience booing at For a few moments there’s a seemingly dis- er: a cover of the T-Rex classic ‘Children of the from Grace Jones to Iggy Pop. The band plan them and shouting out for Doherty to come embodied voice singing the ‘lalala, lalala’ Revolution.’ As they return for the encore, the to begin writing a third album after this tour on stage. opening to ‘Wild Young Hearts’, and eventu- band revert to their early gutter-punk sound and already have a few ideas about how it Smith is used to having to persevere in in- ally she appears in a blaze of sequins and huge with the screeching vocals of ‘Scratch Your might sound. auspicious circumstances. At sixteen, he en- artificial roses. Name’ and ‘Sister Rosetta’. ‘Dance soul music, and add an extra thing, a rolled at the Brit School, against the advice of The set is a visual masterpiece, as Shoniwa There’s no doubt about it: the Noisettes tru- political twist, bit of social commentary’. his secondary school teachers and classmates. flits effortlessly from the dance-pop of songs ly deserve that accolade of ‘best live band’..