Biography
QUOTES
"Does the world really need another Soul band? The answer is "YES!" but it's gotta be THE HIPTONES!"…James Black - musician, arranger, producer, (MD of RocKwiz, The Black Sorrows, Mondo Rock)
"The Hiptones cool grooves & beautifully understated playing are led by the great vocals of Snooks La Vie. No wonder they've scored a deal with a major label - this is blues for the masses & a great leap forward for the oz blues scene."…Ross Wilson - Australian music industry icon, (Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock)
"The Hiptones are one of our great young R&B bands. Not only are their aims true, but they give the much needed 'nod' to all the great 'old school' R&B that has come before…which gives them a great insight when it comes to writing great original material…no easy feat when it has to come up to the level of the 'greats'. They do interesting and whimsical 'covers' of some classic songs, but their strength is in their writing. Watch out for them - they're formidable - an oasis in an R&B drought called Australia."…Renee Geyer - Australia's Queen of Soul
BIOGRAPHY
Does the world really need another Soul band? James Black (RocKwiz) will tell you that the answer is "Yes!" but it’s gotta be The Hiptones! Their sound is a blend of Roots and Blues with a powerful pop songwriting sensibility.
Like all great bands, The Hiptones is an organic creation much greater than the sum of its parts. Over the last 6 years an eclectic group of musicians came together from the " roots" music scene in Adelaide, South Australia. The Hiptones grew and coalesced in 2005 into the current lineup of Snooks La Vie on Vocals, Brother T on Hammond and bass, Steve Smith on guitar and Miguel Garcia on the skins.
For some reason, all the great towns that create roots music are never the biggest cities. It is something about being away from the centre of the commercial music industry. Think Memphis, Austin, Nashville and New Orleans (The Hiptones favourite) . One day when the rest of the world is exhausted from the current fads – real music comes through and has its day. It seems like that time is now for The Hiptones.
While there are lots of bands that have their roots in the blues, there are few with a singer as good as Snooks La Vie. Less with a band that can entertain a crowd in a bar for five hours straight and even fewer that can write songs as good as the blues and soul classics that inspired them. The Hiptones is a roots band that can play with a style of their own and they write like they play.
They cruise around in a ’62 T-Bird, wear funky retro clothes and play obscure vintage instruments. They listen to music most people have never heard of, but what they create together is very cool, very real and totally hip.In these days of artifice and contrivance The Hiptones are a band that truly care about the music. There has never been an air of despair about this band. These are 4 guys who consistently go all out to play to a room full of people keen to forget the week’s work and grind and dance to music that speaks to the mind and the body.
The Hiptones sound is a gumbo of the roots music with a pop sensibility. Out front is Snooks, a white soul singer with an incredibly powerful voice. Brother T drives the bass and Hammond organ deftly bridging the gap between retro funk and new soul. Steve Smith lays down sublime guitar in the feel of BB King, also being able to provide that Atlantic R&B funk attack and Miguel on the skins, can do it all.
Their new album Right Now is particularly special given that it brought the Hiptones to the attention of a major label – SONYBMG. That’s extraordinary given that all the vocal takes are first and only takes, and the entire album (with the exception of Hound Dog) was recorded and mixed in four days at Woodstock studios with James Black producing during a Melbourne heatwave in January 2006.Hot from the start, the Hiptones debut full-length album is a set of songs stripped back to their essence. This album is for now – Right Now.
Right Now is released through SONYBMG and is in stores in Australia.
For more info, go to:
www.thehiptones.com or www.myspace.com/thehiptones
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