The Make-Up



It started in 1990 in Washington DC with a band called The Nation Of Ulysses. A chaotic soul-punk fusion with a 13-point program to destroy America, it still sends ripples through the underground guitar scene. After a second album they imploded, but three of them re-surfaced as Make-Up. They blitzed the UK live scene last year with their trip-wire collision of soul, gospel, funk and rock'n'roll, and an energy akin to '67 James Brown fronting a '77 Sex Pistols.

Add to this a socialist agenda, a heap of conspiracy theories, and their own gospel-inspired theology, and you've got not just the most explosive band on the planet, but also the most intriguing.

Ian Svenonius explains: "The impetus for the band stems from the alienation of modern life." And quickly warms to his theme. "The American middle-class is a myth, the poor and the rich will tell you that they're middle-class because they've been brainwashed, to repress class consciousness. They're told: "You have more than people in the Third World, so you have nothing to complain about." But really people have everything to complain about because they're given nothing. It's an empty world for almost everybody. That's Make-Up's impetus for existing."

He sees no conflict in presenting politics in what most people regard as a form of entertainment. "Music is political - it's a form of expression and expression is always political."

The band preach their own brand of theology, known as "Gospel Yeh-Yeh". Which isn't as strange as it might sound.

"There's always a congregational, spiritual side to rock'n'roll, declares Svenonius. "They say that soul and rock'n'roll are just secularised gospel music. Well, instead of co-opting gospel we've been assimilated into it." He explains that the format of the band's live shows was inspired by the 'call and response' nature of gospel performance, where there are no set lyrics and the audience becomes as involved in creating the song as the musicians on stage. It's an on-going process.

"We're going to break it down almost into a dance event where the crowd and the band are blurred together and everyone's entertaining each other." Make-Up's recently released Sound Verite is their third album in under a year but their first studio LP. "We're trying to release a lot of records - with unique moments and different ideas. It's a jazz thing."

And yes, all this might start to sound a bit strokey-chin if Make-Up weren't so damn exciting on stage. They blinded UK last year, turning up in formation sharp yellow suits.

"Style is important - but we want to look regimented, to submerge the idea of the individual. It's not some nostalgia trip or trying to look like Smokey Robinson and the Miracles."

MARTIN BATE

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