Mike Hugg, best known as the drummer in the chart-topping Manfred Mann has linked up with Hampshire songwriter, Gethyn Jones, to produce what the pair hope is a great feel-good summer song for 2018. The single, Ozone, is performed by RedLIPZ – a band of studio musicians, including singer Amba Tremain. The song, written by Gethyn, is inspired by the stunning views across the Solent from Stokes Bay, Gosport in Hampshire. (One of the UK’s best kept secrets.) Both Mike and Gethyn were raised in the town.
Mike Hugg is still playing and touring with The Manfreds – who had 16 Top Twenty singles including 5-4-3-2-1 (which Mike co-wrote), Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Mighty Quinn, My Name Is Jack, Semi-Detached Suburban Mr James and many others. Mike teamed up with Manfred to write hundreds of award-winning TV jingles. He also composed the theme tune to the Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, the much-loved BBC TV show and composed and recorded the music for the motion picture Up The Junction. Check Ozone below!
We managed to catch up with the band as they talked about their latest release and more!
So how has the release of Ozone gone down with fans?
It’s still early days but we’ve had a phenomenal reaction to the YouTube video which was shot on location at Stokes Bay in Gosport, Hampshire. We’ll spend all summer promoting the song and as I write Radio 2 producers are considering the song for use on the network. That’s our target audience – a big wide one!
Can you tell us something about the track no one else knows?
The song started life as a 10 second drum loop on a piece of music software called Ableton! I was using Ableton to get back into song writing and using modern technology to do so. I then started adding instruments until I found myself with a riff. And so the Ozone chorus was born! I’ve since moved on to using Cubase software which I find more intuitive to use.
So the track is filmed in Gosport, how much does the Borough mean to you?
I grew up in Gosport and Stokes Bay is one of my earliest memories. I can remember being cycled down to the beach on the back of my Mum’s pushbike and we got caught in a thunderstorm near where the Lifeboat station now is. Luckily, there was a boat compound next door and a man let us shelter there. Stokes Bay has remained pretty well unchanged for years and I think the various councils, despite making monstrous planning decisions along the way, have been wise to leave the Bay alone. It’s Gosport’s pride and joy and one in the face of all those who would mock the town!
Will you be releasing an EP/album this year?
Nothing planned yet.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
To be perfectly honest, I’d be rubbish working directly with anyone else. Every songwriter has a method of composing and mine is solitary to the point when I’m able to record something that I can play to someone else without embarrassment or shame! I’m able to work with others ‘at a later stage’ of the song’s development.
What was the first ever gig you went to?
The first live pop music I ever heard came drifting across evening air from a local school in Gosport and I was about 13 at the time. It turned out to be an open-air gig and I followed the sound to its source and stood there open-mouthed and disbelieving of what I was looking at and listening to. It was truly the most exciting moment of my then short life! The ‘beat group’ was called the Moonrakers.
What do you get up to in your spare time when not working on music?
I build bespoke websites for a huge range of business clients – sometimes they need a video that requires music!