Mamas Gun is a 5-piece band from the UK. Their sound is one that straddles so-called blue eyed soul and the best of soul in the black music tradition. With soul music being the common ground between the 5 members, echoes of artists such as Marvin Gaye, Bobby Caldwell, Bill Withers, Lewis Taylor and Sly Stone can be heard weaving in between the sonic threads of their frequently uplifting and heart rending music.

Drummer Chris Boot’s softly-softly but always groovy presence on the drums is perfectly complimented by the warm bouncy James Jamerson-esque bass guitar stylings of Cameron Dawson. Together their sound is intimate, highly musical and questing. Guitarist Terry Lewis’ deft touch on the guitar adds to the authenticity of the sound. Think percussive Motown style “chanks”, shimmering spring reverb, Cornell Dupree’s chordal fluency and searing Isley Brothers style lead sounds. Dave Oliver’s profound control and connection with keyboard instruments sees him at home with everything from serene jazz piano and crunchy Wurlitzer textures to roaring gospel Hammond and warm vocal-esque synth lines. Sitting atop is the yearning honeyed voice of Andy Platts. Surprisingly reluctant to identify as a singer, his abilities nevertheless able to stir deep emotional reactions from listeners. Names like Marvin Gaye and Daryl Hall are often mentioned but Platts’ really has a unique sound all of his own.

Mamas Gun was originally formed by Platts in 2007, and who is also largely responsible for the groups songwriting output. Running parallel he has enjoyed an illustrious side career as a songwriter has penned hits for Take That, James Morrison and various high profile stars in South Korea and Japan, among many others. Since 2015 he has also been one half of yacht rock duo Young Gun Silver Fox alongside cult musician and producer Shawn Lee, cultivating a major presence in Europe and the United States.

Mamas Gun have issued six albums to date, the latest DIG! featuring a line up completed by keyboardist Dave Oliver, known for being MD for Lisa Stansfield and guitarist Terry Lewis, a well regarded sideman whose credits include Leon Ware, The Impressions and Rumer, both there from Mamas Gun’s inception; bassist Cameron Dawson, known for playing bass for Cinematic Orchestra, Puma Blue and Joy Crookes, who joined for 2014’s third album Cheap Hotel and Chris Boot, whose playing credits include Alice Russell, Nilufer Yanya and Lucy Rose, the group’s drummer since 2018’s fourth album Golden Days.

“Our first three albums [2009’s Routes To Riches; 2011’s The Life And Soul; the aforesaid 2014 Cheap Hotel], restless I see those records as having been made by a different band – certainly more modern, poppier and rockier than we ultimately became. I was still evolving as a writer and we were seeking a voice by being musically,” says Platts. “Our fourth album Golden Days was the eureka moment when we hit our stride. The sound, the MO and the personnel all aligned to create the sound of Mamas Gun 2.0. This is the sound and outlook which has informed our last 3 albums – Golden Days, Cure The Jones and DIG!”.

Learning classical piano at 7, writing his first songs at 10, then taking up guitar at 12, Platts studied music at Paul McCartney’s prestigious music institute LIPA and on graduating in 2000 moved to London. Here he assembled his first major band Delrosario, regulars on the London scene at venues like Cargo, The Kashmir Klub and Notting Hill Arts Club. In 2004 he played on Corinne Bailey Rae’s self titled 2006 debut then through his first publishing deal with Zomba that same year sought to write with Rod Temperton of Michael Jackson Thriller fame, John Oates of Hall and Oates and Gil Scott heron collaborator Brian Jackson – Jackson guests on new album DIG!’s title track. “Some 20 years later we picked up where we left off and instantly clicked,” Platts says.

Around the time I signed with Zomba “I was writing all the time,” he says, “through being prolific I was discovering where the blind alleys and red herrings lay and ultimately developing my own songwriting knack – which only comes through time, experience and repetition.”

In 2007 via Myspace Platts formed the first incarnation of Mamas Gun. The name derived from Erykah Badu’s second album Mamas Gun on Motown. “The name was a riff on groups being named after songs and records ; like Talking Heads’ Radiohead, The Jacksons ABC and Leonard Cohen’s Sisters Of Mercy, for example,” he says. The initial five piece – Platts/Lewis/Oliver plus bassist Rex Horan, and drummer Jack Pollitt honed their craft playing Platts originals at small gigs around London to establish a group rapport and a presence on the scene.

A show at the Enterprise in Camden got them noticed. Terry Lewis remembers, “We thought the audience was going to go through the floor, they were jumping up and down so much. It helped get us a major record deal with Decca records (universal group)”.

On drummer Pollitt’s recommendation, they hired producer Julian Simmons whose credits included A Girl called Eddy, Guillemots and Ed Sheeran and holed up in Simmons’ Din Sound studio in east London where they recorded Routes To Riches, their 2009 debut album, later mixed in LA by Jack Joseph Puig at the request of Platts – Puig had worked with Jellyfish, a favourite cult band of Platts.

Platts recalls, “Crucially we never actually put ink to paper to complete the Decca deal. They wanted to crack on with making the record whilst the lawyers continued to work out the details of the deal. After we’d spent a fair amount of money on recording, strings and mixing Decca’s President suddenly left the company, leaving us in the lurch and without a label. Thankfully we were able to take the completed record with no strings attached”.

Routes To Riches’ mix of soul sensibility with pop hooks was encapsulated perfectly in single Pots Of Gold, a soft textured ballad which got them Radio 2 airplay. Meanwhile they blew up in Japan – hitting Number 3 with the album while the poppy funk flecked single House On A Hill made Number 2 and went on to become the most played song on Japanese national radio in 2009.

A high profile support followed in 2010 with Beverley Knight who also guested on the fabulous single Only One, which capturing Platts and Knight channelling Marvin and Tammi, a standout on 2011’s The Life And Soul, produced by Martin Terefe & Andreas Olsson and recorded at Kensal Town Studio in London.

They also notched up further experience opening for De La Soul, Raphael Saadiq, Lee Fields and Gregory Porter before the arrival of third album Cheap Hotel in 2014 fanfaring new bassist Cameron Dawson. The album also reunited the group with producer Julian Simmons, and utilising horns and strings. It made the Top 30 in the UK independent album chart, achieved A list radio play listing at the BBC with single “Red Cassette” and high profile performances on Chris Evan’s Radio 2 show alongside Robert Plant. But for Platts, commercial success was not the main goal. In his mind, the group were still very much finding their feet at this stage. “Looking back to those first three records working with a producer shaping the records, trying to please an A&R department and trying to get play on the radio, it was all valuable time spent exploring to see what worked and what didn’t – not many bands get that opportunity these days”. Dave Oliver adds,”As a band it really took us to our fourth album to hit our stride down a deeper Soul route. That’s when we really found our collective voice.”

Drummer Chris Boot, already a fan of the band, joined in 2016 and was pivotal in this, “I always think in terms of production and I remember saying that I thought the sound could more honest, authentic and more old school.” Platts adds,” When Chris joined, there was definitely a brand new MO put on the table; collaboratively focusing on getting a deeper, richer, more classic and authentic soul and r&b sound”. A sound which would in turn have a bearing on Platts’ songwriting process. “So we decided to start self-producing, recording live in the studio on analogue tape.”

 The first fruits of this new mindset was 2018’s Golden Days. With the band taking on engineering and production duties it was recorded at Roffey Hall Farm, a disused office block in the Essex countryside, and then mixed by Shawn Lee, his sidekick in Young Gun Silver Fox, alongside established French mix engineer Pierre Duplan. Bassist Cam Dawson remembers, “It was just about capturing the magic of when people play music together in a room. Chris (Boot) was a huge influence in pushing it into a place where ideas could breathe, could germinate, and connections could be fostered between players. There is an incredible closeness that we have now, it’s a brotherhood, you can hear it in the music”.

Platts adds, “Soul music for us is such an expressive place where many musical rivers meet. You have jazz, blues, funk, r&b, gospel all tangling, and with that a vernacular imbued with hope to reflect the struggle of life and all its challenges. If I’m honest, what you hear on record from Golden Days onwards – that’s where I wanted to be starting out with MG back in 2007, I just didn’t know how to get there and I could never have got there on my own.”

2022’s Cure The Jones built on its predecessor and announced their arrival in America with endorsements from radio stations such as LA’s KCRW. It was conceived during the pandemic with obvious difficulties. Tracks such as When You Stole The Sun From The Sky, Party For One and Looking For Moses are deep reflections on what was going on.

“You suddenly had all this time to focus on something,” says Platts putting a positive spin on it. “Some people learned how to bake bread or learned how to play the harmonica. I wrote these songs over the first year of the pandemic in which we had two isolated days to pay a fortune in covid tests to enable us to assemble in person to get them on tape with me shaping the production afterwards. I put so much into that record that afterwards I felt creatively very tired and spent, and I did wonder whether I had any more Mamas Gun records in me or whether I’d said what I needed to say through the sound and the songs of Mamas Gun. But after a while I guess the dam slowly built up and songs started emerging again.”

 The songs turned into DIG!, album number six, and their best work to date, its 11 songs, recorded in engineer/producer Neil Innes Leeds’ ATA studio live to 16 track tape and featuring Brian Jackson on its title track. “We’re all immensely proud of what we’ve created,” says keyboardist Dave Oliver.

As to where next for Mamas Gun – “We’re excited to take the new album out on tour, to play it live, to reconnect with fans and open the door to new territories and connections”.