MEET UK INDIE GARAGE ROCK BAND THE LEN PRICE 3


Weaned on the raw, passionate, two-minute tunes of the Who, The Kinks, and The Clash, the Len Price 3 are a high-energy garage combo from the Medway district of North Kent in the United Kingdom. Comprised of Glenn Page on guitar and vocals, Steve Huggins on bass, and Neil Fromow on drums (no; no one in the band is named Len Price), the Len Price 3 got their start at a bar in Maidstone where bands could pay for the privilege of rehearsing in front of the drinking customers. When the trio were banned for playing too loud, they simply changed their name and booked another gig under the new moniker a few weeks later. Eventually, the band found an audience for their revved-up, no-nonsense sound, and shared stages with a wide variety of noted acts. 



How did the band form and what does the band name mean?

 

Me(Glenn) and Neil had been in a band called the Wogans which split up in the early 2000s. I’d written some songs and was looking to start a new band. I asked Neil to join. He was in a band called Dr Gonzo at the time. Neil recruited Steve, the bass player from the Gonzos and the line up was complete. The original plan was to play a few shows and see how things went. 20 years later - we’re still doing it.

We had our first rehearsal in a pub in Maidstone. It went well but the landlord told us never to return as we were too loud. The following week we booked in again under a different name and received the same complaint.

The Len Price 3 name came about because we wanted a name which was like an old jazz outfit. We were sick of bands that were all image and styling who took themselves very seriously but lacked any decent songs or substance. I’d been to some jazz and world music type gigs at that time where the artists just shuffled onstage and performed some amazing music without a flash name and a stylist behind the scenes. I wanted to be like that. People often get my name wrong. Len Price was an amalgamation of names that people had called me. 

Previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music? 

When I was about 13/14, a school friend gave me a c-90 cassette with 3 Chuck Berry songs on it recorded from his father’s record collection. They may even have been old 78’s. This was in the mid to late 1980s - All the music around me was big, slick FM radio hits by U2, Madonna, INXS, Whitney Houston and others. I hit the play button on my little cassette player.The crackle and pop of the vinyl made it sound like a message coming through from another world.  Then Chuck’s guitar cuts through the airwaves.  Johnny B Goode, Roll Over Beethoven and Run Rudolph Run. That was electrifying. It was like a religious experience and I knew immediately what I wanted to do. I  started diving in to my parents record collection- the Beatles and the Stones in particular. The Stones led me into the Blues - Muddy Waters, Slim Harpo and Howlin’ Wolf. Amazing music. I formed my first band at school with my friend Nick. We played some shows at school and when we left we had a band that played in pubs in the area where we lived. We started writing songs and had some good times in a band called the Wogans during the Britpop era of the mid 1990s. 

 First concert that you ever went to?

In the early 1990s, there were a couple of pubs in Medway where I lived called the Southern Belle and the Woodlands Tavern which was a biker pub. I used to go there with mates from school to see various blues, metal or rock bands. They were fun times. We were under 18, rubbing shoulders with bikers and not meant to be there which added to the excitement. Gigs were often on a Sunday lunchtime in those days. The first big ticketed gig I can remember going to was the Red Hot Chilli Peppers at the Brixton Academy in 1991 just after Blood Sugar Sex Magik had come out.  My favourite moment from around that time was watching L7 play Pretend We’re Dead also at the Brixton academy. Me and Nick thought we were going to die when we got flattened in the mosh pit and it felt like the whole crowd was on top of us. 

What's your writing process like?



I write the songs and then take them to Neil and Steve who help hammer them into shape. It can start in lots of different ways. I might pick up a phrase or expression and build something from there or I might have an idea along the lines of “I’m going to write about that.” I then start strumming my guitar and coming up with a tune and some phrases. Other times, I might think - “I’m going to write a song like this” and come up with a song idea in the style of another band or whatever. If you’re really lucky, sometimes you get a flash of inspiration and the song finds you. A tune and some words just pop into your head. It’s great when that happens. You have to work at it though. 

I usually have a couple of verses and a chorus before I share it with the boys and we polish things up in a rehearsal room. 

 What other artists or songs inspire your music?

 
  There are lots of influences of course but if we’re boiling things down: The main influences would be The Kinks, the Beatles, the Clash, the Ramones and the Who. They had so many great songs and for me that’s the most important thing - are the songs any good? I’d have to say Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones too because of the excitement they generated when I discovered their music. Then the music of the Medway Scene - Prisoners, Milkshakes, Len Bright Combo, Headcoats and Buff Medways for example - this was the stuff that really drove me to set up the Lennies. The intense performances of Iggy Pop / the Stooges, the MC5 and Dr Feelgood have also influenced our approach to playing live. 

What's the live experience like and your philosophy on playing live? Do you think the music live should be identical to the recorded version or should it be it's own thing?

For me, it’s all about intensity. Music can be fast, slow, quiet, loud, joyous, mournful or angry but it has to be convincing and engaging. It has to be something you feel. We always try to give everything and play with feeling and intensity. There’s nothing worse than a band just going through the motions. So it doesn’t matter if it’s like the record or not. Just do it with feeling. When I was young seeing footage of the Clash or Iggy Pop or the Ramones at full tilt made my hair stand on end.  

Has the band toured? What has the touring experience been, best shows? worst shows?

 

We’ve been around a long time, so there’s been a lot of shows. Our worst show was probably our first show. Everything went wrong - guitar strings snapped, we messed up some songs, amps cut out. It was amazing we carried on really. Gigs that aren’t good have tended to be the result of sound engineers being rubbish or a room that just sounds terrible. If the sound is good - I always enjoy the show. Favourite shows would be any gig in Spain where the crowd always go nuts. We played a show in Madrid once where somebody jumped onstage, wrapped his head in gaffer tape and then jumped back into the crowd where he was carried to the back of the room. Must’ve been painful peeling all that tape off. We like small gigs where we’re face to face and in close proximity with the audience.  

What's up next for the band?

We’re playing a run of gigs in support of Chinese Burn which is out on vinyl for the first time c/o Wicked Cool. We’re referring to it as the Chinese Burn 18th Birthday as the album was originally released in 2005. Hoping to confirm some shows in the US later in the year, which we’re very excited about. 

https://www.facebook.com/thelenprice3 

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