3 Bucket Jones
Q&A 11th August 2017
Recently featured in our Introducing series, we find out a little bit more about the songwriting collective centred around the musical talents of Gitika Partington and Andy McCrorie-Shand.
How and when did the band originally form?
Gitika & Andy: We first met at Monnow Valley Studios near Monmouth, South Wales in August 2013. We were attending a 5 day songwriting retreat hosted by British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. Strangely none of us really wanted to go, so it felt like the cosmos was trying really hard to put us together. Writers were put into groups of 3 per day and sure enough we three ended up together on the third day and wrote what was to become the first track 'Goodbye To Forever' on our debut album. It was Garry who suggested we should become a band and do some recording together, felt a bit like getting married on your first date, but we were all so excited we did it. We seemed to have so much in common, yet had a lot of different musical influences which just seemed to mesh together.
What's the story behind the band's name?
Gitika & Andy: The story of the name reads like almost every other band-naming situation – rather than the band split up over the name (and we have all been in bands where the name has been finally decided on as the band split up), one evening over a meal we all wrote random words on slips of paper and threw them into a hat. We took them out in groups of three. Some were ludicrous. There were bananas and dragons and all. Out came the words Jones, Bucket and Free... and Free Bucket Jones quickly became 3 Bucket Jones. That would do. I don’t think it was liked by the extended family, but it stuck - even now when there are only 2 of us!
Who are your favourite bands and musicians? Influences?
Gitika:
Early influences - Bowie, early Genesis, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Peter Gabriel, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, Soul and Disco.
Influences now - I am doing a lot of 5 part acapella arranging of old classic pop, folk and country so spending time deconstructing and reconstructing great songs by writers like Jimmy Webb, Bowie, great Motown writing partnerships and traditional folk songs.
Andy:
Early influences Keith Emerson, almost any late 60s/early 70s prog rock band - Caravan, Curved Air, Zappa, The Nice, Tangerine Dream
Influences now - Early Bob Dylan (I know, it took a while to catch up!) roots and folk music generally.
How would you describe your music and sound?
Gitika & Andy: Classic guitar/piano songwriting, strong multi-layered vocals and some electronics thrown in - once described as 'Enya meets Peter Gabriel', the Americans call it folk or 'classic songwriting which could be a polite way of saying old fashioned.
What is your usual songwriting process?
Gitika & Andy: Songs come out in many different ways - we may send each other ideas via email and work on them separately, we may sit in a room together and play each other ideas we have, or we may sit in a room and write together from scratch. Gitika sampled a passing samba band at the local carnival which ended up being the basis for the song 'It’s All About Love' (hopefully our August 2017 single of the month)
Your second and most recent studio album 'Take These Ghosts' was released on 8th July 2016. What is the story, background and inspiration for this collection of songs?
Gitika & Andy: Our second album 'Take These Ghosts' started out as a pitch for a UK TV show based around a Victorian ghost hunter. We didn't get that job, but the atmosphere of the basic idea lingered. It also followed a time of reflection for individual band members as all 3 of us had lost a parent in the recent past and this came out in what was to become the first side of this new album. The album has a very two sided feel (appropriate as it's available on vinyl). Side one has 4 tracks that feature 8 members of the world class Tredegar Town Band. Side two has more old synth influences – 'Gravity' has a bit of a synth Pink Floyd feel. 'Colouring By Numbers' has an 80’s UK soul feel to it. The last track is influenced by Garry’s other band Bombay Dub Orchestra, a more fusion sort of feel.
Earlier in 2017 you announced plans to release a single a month for a year. First single 'Place In My Heart' was released as a digital download only on Bandcamp. What was the inspiration for this project? Are there any plans to release all of the singles as an album?
Gitika & Andy: The single a month project was really to get us back in the saddle after Garry left. We did a fantastic tour in the summer of 2016 with many voices, members of the Tredegar Town Band and Bruce Knapp on second guitar. We needed to regroup and get our confidence back. Liam Ross was our engineer at Monnow Valley on the first two albums. When he moved to a little studio in Cardiff we tried a session there and loved the vibe and closeness we got there (it’s a very small studio). With the first single of the month 'Place In My Heart', Liam thought he was doing a rough mix and we loved it so much we released it on Bandcamp (where we do get paid if people buy our music) and all the other ostensibly non-paying digital platforms like itunes, Spotify and so on. It is a great discipline to be writing, recording and releasing a song every month. We had the idea that once we had released a song a month for a year, we might record all the songs with guest musicians for an album, but anything could happen.
What impact has this project had on the songwriting and recording process?
Gitika & Andy: The recording process has been great as we are discovering our own identity, and not been afraid of being unhip or uncool - I mean who decides? Just look at sweat pants with the tight cuffs at the ankle. They are suddenly really hip and no one would be seen dead in a pair for the last 20 years. Same with reverb. It was hip and trendy then really not, and now it’s back. Really just trying to find our authentic voice, whatever that voice may be without being at all concerned about what is trending now. That is a great place to be. We feel very safe with each other and with Liam who is co-producing some of the tracks – safe to try stuff out and experiment. At the same time trying to set some boundaries for the tracks too. Many of which we break straightaway, but then hey, rules are meant to be broken! We can change our mind, change our direction, anything is possible creatively. We are really enjoying it.
How and when did the band originally form?
Gitika & Andy: We first met at Monnow Valley Studios near Monmouth, South Wales in August 2013. We were attending a 5 day songwriting retreat hosted by British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. Strangely none of us really wanted to go, so it felt like the cosmos was trying really hard to put us together. Writers were put into groups of 3 per day and sure enough we three ended up together on the third day and wrote what was to become the first track 'Goodbye To Forever' on our debut album. It was Garry who suggested we should become a band and do some recording together, felt a bit like getting married on your first date, but we were all so excited we did it. We seemed to have so much in common, yet had a lot of different musical influences which just seemed to mesh together.
What's the story behind the band's name?
Gitika & Andy: The story of the name reads like almost every other band-naming situation – rather than the band split up over the name (and we have all been in bands where the name has been finally decided on as the band split up), one evening over a meal we all wrote random words on slips of paper and threw them into a hat. We took them out in groups of three. Some were ludicrous. There were bananas and dragons and all. Out came the words Jones, Bucket and Free... and Free Bucket Jones quickly became 3 Bucket Jones. That would do. I don’t think it was liked by the extended family, but it stuck - even now when there are only 2 of us!
Who are your favourite bands and musicians? Influences?
Gitika:
Early influences - Bowie, early Genesis, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Peter Gabriel, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, Soul and Disco.
Influences now - I am doing a lot of 5 part acapella arranging of old classic pop, folk and country so spending time deconstructing and reconstructing great songs by writers like Jimmy Webb, Bowie, great Motown writing partnerships and traditional folk songs.
Andy:
Early influences Keith Emerson, almost any late 60s/early 70s prog rock band - Caravan, Curved Air, Zappa, The Nice, Tangerine Dream
Influences now - Early Bob Dylan (I know, it took a while to catch up!) roots and folk music generally.
How would you describe your music and sound?
Gitika & Andy: Classic guitar/piano songwriting, strong multi-layered vocals and some electronics thrown in - once described as 'Enya meets Peter Gabriel', the Americans call it folk or 'classic songwriting which could be a polite way of saying old fashioned.
What is your usual songwriting process?
Gitika & Andy: Songs come out in many different ways - we may send each other ideas via email and work on them separately, we may sit in a room together and play each other ideas we have, or we may sit in a room and write together from scratch. Gitika sampled a passing samba band at the local carnival which ended up being the basis for the song 'It’s All About Love' (hopefully our August 2017 single of the month)
Your second and most recent studio album 'Take These Ghosts' was released on 8th July 2016. What is the story, background and inspiration for this collection of songs?
Gitika & Andy: Our second album 'Take These Ghosts' started out as a pitch for a UK TV show based around a Victorian ghost hunter. We didn't get that job, but the atmosphere of the basic idea lingered. It also followed a time of reflection for individual band members as all 3 of us had lost a parent in the recent past and this came out in what was to become the first side of this new album. The album has a very two sided feel (appropriate as it's available on vinyl). Side one has 4 tracks that feature 8 members of the world class Tredegar Town Band. Side two has more old synth influences – 'Gravity' has a bit of a synth Pink Floyd feel. 'Colouring By Numbers' has an 80’s UK soul feel to it. The last track is influenced by Garry’s other band Bombay Dub Orchestra, a more fusion sort of feel.
Earlier in 2017 you announced plans to release a single a month for a year. First single 'Place In My Heart' was released as a digital download only on Bandcamp. What was the inspiration for this project? Are there any plans to release all of the singles as an album?
Gitika & Andy: The single a month project was really to get us back in the saddle after Garry left. We did a fantastic tour in the summer of 2016 with many voices, members of the Tredegar Town Band and Bruce Knapp on second guitar. We needed to regroup and get our confidence back. Liam Ross was our engineer at Monnow Valley on the first two albums. When he moved to a little studio in Cardiff we tried a session there and loved the vibe and closeness we got there (it’s a very small studio). With the first single of the month 'Place In My Heart', Liam thought he was doing a rough mix and we loved it so much we released it on Bandcamp (where we do get paid if people buy our music) and all the other ostensibly non-paying digital platforms like itunes, Spotify and so on. It is a great discipline to be writing, recording and releasing a song every month. We had the idea that once we had released a song a month for a year, we might record all the songs with guest musicians for an album, but anything could happen.
What impact has this project had on the songwriting and recording process?
Gitika & Andy: The recording process has been great as we are discovering our own identity, and not been afraid of being unhip or uncool - I mean who decides? Just look at sweat pants with the tight cuffs at the ankle. They are suddenly really hip and no one would be seen dead in a pair for the last 20 years. Same with reverb. It was hip and trendy then really not, and now it’s back. Really just trying to find our authentic voice, whatever that voice may be without being at all concerned about what is trending now. That is a great place to be. We feel very safe with each other and with Liam who is co-producing some of the tracks – safe to try stuff out and experiment. At the same time trying to set some boundaries for the tracks too. Many of which we break straightaway, but then hey, rules are meant to be broken! We can change our mind, change our direction, anything is possible creatively. We are really enjoying it.
First live performance?
Gitika: Ha ha..first public performance. I never got to be an angel (definitely a song title) at school as I was spotted as a classy singer at the age of 5 and had to be the child who arrived at the manger to sing the last verse of 'In the Bleak Mid-Winter'. My parents both sang and played guitars and recorded a vinyl LP in the back room of our house which me, my sister and brother all sang on one track, so I technically made my first appearance on vinyl at the age of 6 with the Partington Family Singers.
Andy: I played piano with a jazz band at a school concert at the age of 13 with Mr Mottrom the woodwork teacher on drums who looked like George Harrison with a beard.
Most memorable gig(s)?
Gitika & Andy: Recently we both saw Peggy Seeger doing a solo gig in Merthyr Tydfil to celebrate her 80th birthday. She talked to the audience, changed the set when she saw a song had made us all sad, came and gave Gitika a hug in the interval for singing good harmonies in the audience. She sang and accompanied herself on numerous instruments. Such energy.
Gitika: Stevie Wonder at the O2. I spent time wishing him to segue certain songs and he did and even though I was in the cheapest seat in the back row I sang so loud I could not speak the next day. At one point I sang the LOUDEST LONGEST note I could at the end of a song, and I am sure he tilted his head in a way that made me feel he heard me! He filled the whole stadium with such joy and his voice was just like it was 35 years earlier- like cut glass.
Andy: Peter Gabriel at Earls Court.
Favourite venue(s)?
Gitika & Andy: We both agreed our favourite venue was the Hammersmith Odeon.
Gitika: I saw Genesis and Peter Gabriel’s first solo tour, Weather Report, Sylvester & The Weather Girls, Bonnie Raitt at Hammersmith Odeon (definitely not all on the same bill though!). Gigs were always a big deal as an impoverished musician you really had to want to see the artist.
Andy: I saw so many bands at Hammersmith Odeon. Queen was the one that sticks in my mind the most.
What do you think about the current state of the music industry?
Gitika & Andy: I think Jean-Michel Jarre has it covered in a recent article in Billboard when he said:
'We are facing a surreal situation where the creative industries have never made so much money – more than the car industry, the fashion industry and all these other sectors in society, in terms of growth and jobs. So you could say everything is great. The problem is that the nucleus of these creative industries, the creators and authors, have never got so little. And this is not just a problem for a niche sector of society. It's a huge problem for every family in the world. For every individual on the planet. Because in every family you have one kid dreaming of becoming a graphic artist, filmmaker or musician and (unless something changes) tomorrow they will have to forget their dream.'
As musicians how important is it to have an online presence? How do you use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter?
Gitika & Andy: Online presence is a mixed blessing. Gitika does most of the the social media for The Buckets at the moment. It is very time consuming and sometimes it feels a bit like putting a message in a bottle, or sending a message into space, as often nothing comes back. So few people comment online, and then we hear later when we meet someone who says 'we loved that track' and we had no way of knowing. Stats are terrifying and it's worse to look to find half the people who listened to the track turned it off in the first 10 seconds (should perhaps concentrate on the half who listened all the way through). So it can be unnerving. It sometimes feels like we have to keep it all going and up to date just in case something happens. A bit like dressing nicely everyday just in case you meet 'the one' and everyone knows that it always happens the day you forget to shave or put your make up on…so what’s that all about? Someone will notice our music and check our website the month we have not bothered to keep it up to date. Also people are so swamped with content online, it has become a bit like when the record companies got so inundated with songs through the post you would have to hand-glide into their office to get attention and then it all got a bit silly. So mixed feelings.
The internet has changed the landscape of the music industry and made it easier for musicians to record and make their music available. Do you see this as a positive thing?
Gitika & Andy: Yes and no. It's great that so many people can make music but we still have such a pyramid where only the big companies music is really getting through. When a single artist gets half a billion hits on a song on YouTube and there's so much interesting music say on Bandcamp it’s all a bit squiffy. Most people just want to be spoon-fed and are not interested or encouraged to go and find new music, film or art.
What do you think about online music sharing services such as Spotify?
Gitika & Andy: There is a pressure as an artist to be seen to be on Spotify (all our music is on the platform). Spotify would be great if artists were actually getting paid properly. People sit at home listening, not realising how little artists are getting paid or maybe they just don’t care. We heard a quote that an artist has to get 2 million plays to earn the same as a regular Spotify employee. Back to the Jean Michel-Jarre piece really. It just means people think they are buying music and they are not. Not sure if people understand the implications of listening to so much music for free. Not sure if people understand the implications of not buying an artist’s download, cd or vinyl. One day artists might all vote with their feet and take their music off Spotify. I think that’s what Taylor Swift was doing but sadly no one took her seriously as she is doing so well and possibly because she is a young woman and not seen as having good political motives.
Music format of choice - CD, digital or vinyl?
Gitika & Andy: Definitely vinyl – as much for the artwork as the sound and the physicality of it. Would not stop using Logic and Pro-tools to record. Remember the days of tape and four tracks and muddy overdubs. Multi tracking is so much better digitally. So some of the old and definitely some of the new.
What was the first and most recent music you bought?
Gitika: First was 'Hunky Dory' – David Bowie. Most recent is Ron Sexsmith’s latest album
Andy: First was Moby Grape's 'Trucking Man' (it was in Woolworths, wanted to buy a single, could not decide and so just bought it because it was there). Most recent is The Moulettes latest album on vinyl.
What was the last gig you went to as a music fan?
Gitika & Andy: We went to Cadogan Hall to see ’From Queer To Eternity’ featuring The Pink Singers, Out Aloud and the Mumbai LGBT choir. Also recently saw Ron Sexsmith at St Georges Bristol.
Highlight(s) in music so far?
Gitika: Teaching a song to 5,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall. Singing our song 'All At Sea' with 150 singers at St George’s Bristol. Conducting 8 brass players from the Tredegar Town Band at Monnow Valley studio for the second album 'Take These Ghosts'.
Andy: Gigging with Curved Air, working with the Tredegar Town Band and 150 singers on our 3 Bucket Jones tour in 2016 and being nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in 1997.
Plans and ambitions for remainder of 2017 and beyond?
Gitika & Andy: Would like to arrange and record a song for 3 Bucket Jones and a choir and record it at somewhere like Abbey Road. We want to carry on with the single a month project. Also would like to write and collaborate with some other musicians and perhaps write music for a film.
Gitika: Ha ha..first public performance. I never got to be an angel (definitely a song title) at school as I was spotted as a classy singer at the age of 5 and had to be the child who arrived at the manger to sing the last verse of 'In the Bleak Mid-Winter'. My parents both sang and played guitars and recorded a vinyl LP in the back room of our house which me, my sister and brother all sang on one track, so I technically made my first appearance on vinyl at the age of 6 with the Partington Family Singers.
Andy: I played piano with a jazz band at a school concert at the age of 13 with Mr Mottrom the woodwork teacher on drums who looked like George Harrison with a beard.
Most memorable gig(s)?
Gitika & Andy: Recently we both saw Peggy Seeger doing a solo gig in Merthyr Tydfil to celebrate her 80th birthday. She talked to the audience, changed the set when she saw a song had made us all sad, came and gave Gitika a hug in the interval for singing good harmonies in the audience. She sang and accompanied herself on numerous instruments. Such energy.
Gitika: Stevie Wonder at the O2. I spent time wishing him to segue certain songs and he did and even though I was in the cheapest seat in the back row I sang so loud I could not speak the next day. At one point I sang the LOUDEST LONGEST note I could at the end of a song, and I am sure he tilted his head in a way that made me feel he heard me! He filled the whole stadium with such joy and his voice was just like it was 35 years earlier- like cut glass.
Andy: Peter Gabriel at Earls Court.
Favourite venue(s)?
Gitika & Andy: We both agreed our favourite venue was the Hammersmith Odeon.
Gitika: I saw Genesis and Peter Gabriel’s first solo tour, Weather Report, Sylvester & The Weather Girls, Bonnie Raitt at Hammersmith Odeon (definitely not all on the same bill though!). Gigs were always a big deal as an impoverished musician you really had to want to see the artist.
Andy: I saw so many bands at Hammersmith Odeon. Queen was the one that sticks in my mind the most.
What do you think about the current state of the music industry?
Gitika & Andy: I think Jean-Michel Jarre has it covered in a recent article in Billboard when he said:
'We are facing a surreal situation where the creative industries have never made so much money – more than the car industry, the fashion industry and all these other sectors in society, in terms of growth and jobs. So you could say everything is great. The problem is that the nucleus of these creative industries, the creators and authors, have never got so little. And this is not just a problem for a niche sector of society. It's a huge problem for every family in the world. For every individual on the planet. Because in every family you have one kid dreaming of becoming a graphic artist, filmmaker or musician and (unless something changes) tomorrow they will have to forget their dream.'
As musicians how important is it to have an online presence? How do you use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter?
Gitika & Andy: Online presence is a mixed blessing. Gitika does most of the the social media for The Buckets at the moment. It is very time consuming and sometimes it feels a bit like putting a message in a bottle, or sending a message into space, as often nothing comes back. So few people comment online, and then we hear later when we meet someone who says 'we loved that track' and we had no way of knowing. Stats are terrifying and it's worse to look to find half the people who listened to the track turned it off in the first 10 seconds (should perhaps concentrate on the half who listened all the way through). So it can be unnerving. It sometimes feels like we have to keep it all going and up to date just in case something happens. A bit like dressing nicely everyday just in case you meet 'the one' and everyone knows that it always happens the day you forget to shave or put your make up on…so what’s that all about? Someone will notice our music and check our website the month we have not bothered to keep it up to date. Also people are so swamped with content online, it has become a bit like when the record companies got so inundated with songs through the post you would have to hand-glide into their office to get attention and then it all got a bit silly. So mixed feelings.
The internet has changed the landscape of the music industry and made it easier for musicians to record and make their music available. Do you see this as a positive thing?
Gitika & Andy: Yes and no. It's great that so many people can make music but we still have such a pyramid where only the big companies music is really getting through. When a single artist gets half a billion hits on a song on YouTube and there's so much interesting music say on Bandcamp it’s all a bit squiffy. Most people just want to be spoon-fed and are not interested or encouraged to go and find new music, film or art.
What do you think about online music sharing services such as Spotify?
Gitika & Andy: There is a pressure as an artist to be seen to be on Spotify (all our music is on the platform). Spotify would be great if artists were actually getting paid properly. People sit at home listening, not realising how little artists are getting paid or maybe they just don’t care. We heard a quote that an artist has to get 2 million plays to earn the same as a regular Spotify employee. Back to the Jean Michel-Jarre piece really. It just means people think they are buying music and they are not. Not sure if people understand the implications of listening to so much music for free. Not sure if people understand the implications of not buying an artist’s download, cd or vinyl. One day artists might all vote with their feet and take their music off Spotify. I think that’s what Taylor Swift was doing but sadly no one took her seriously as she is doing so well and possibly because she is a young woman and not seen as having good political motives.
Music format of choice - CD, digital or vinyl?
Gitika & Andy: Definitely vinyl – as much for the artwork as the sound and the physicality of it. Would not stop using Logic and Pro-tools to record. Remember the days of tape and four tracks and muddy overdubs. Multi tracking is so much better digitally. So some of the old and definitely some of the new.
What was the first and most recent music you bought?
Gitika: First was 'Hunky Dory' – David Bowie. Most recent is Ron Sexsmith’s latest album
Andy: First was Moby Grape's 'Trucking Man' (it was in Woolworths, wanted to buy a single, could not decide and so just bought it because it was there). Most recent is The Moulettes latest album on vinyl.
What was the last gig you went to as a music fan?
Gitika & Andy: We went to Cadogan Hall to see ’From Queer To Eternity’ featuring The Pink Singers, Out Aloud and the Mumbai LGBT choir. Also recently saw Ron Sexsmith at St Georges Bristol.
Highlight(s) in music so far?
Gitika: Teaching a song to 5,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall. Singing our song 'All At Sea' with 150 singers at St George’s Bristol. Conducting 8 brass players from the Tredegar Town Band at Monnow Valley studio for the second album 'Take These Ghosts'.
Andy: Gigging with Curved Air, working with the Tredegar Town Band and 150 singers on our 3 Bucket Jones tour in 2016 and being nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in 1997.
Plans and ambitions for remainder of 2017 and beyond?
Gitika & Andy: Would like to arrange and record a song for 3 Bucket Jones and a choir and record it at somewhere like Abbey Road. We want to carry on with the single a month project. Also would like to write and collaborate with some other musicians and perhaps write music for a film.