Ahead of Mawkin’s much anticipated-appearance at Priddy 2017 we caught up with guitarist Dave Delarre and asked him a few pertinent questions…
PFF: Tell us about how the band started out…
DD: Me and (brother) James (Delarre) have been playing folk music for years while being dragged around pubs by our morris dancing parents! While on a sort of school of rock affair I met Danny Crump pumping out bass lines to Iron Maiden. We formed Brian Maiden, did one gig in front of Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson and thought that’s probably as good as it’ll get and promptly retired from the rock scene.
In true rock star fashion we then released our acoustic album in our retirement under the guise of Mawkin. Several years later we met Nick Cooke at a festival and asked him to join our merry gang. Drummer Lee Richardson actually produced our first record and it wasn’t until a few years after that we decided to add him too.
What was it like in the early days?
Pretty much as it is now! Fun! Exciting and very much a band of mates. The only difference is we now have Sat Nav instead of printed out multimaps…
Things really seem to have taken off in the last couple of years with the success of your last album Ties That Bind. Has the greater recognition come as a surprise?
Definitely! We’ve really enjoyed seeing the reaction from the fans. We love the fans! We had one fan bring us chocolate brownies the other day, another sent me coasters of all our album covers, others buy us beer! Its amazing! We just love what we do with the music and it’s a bonus if people enjoy it.
You supported Bellowhead on their final tour – what was that like?
The best four weeks of my life I would say! Soooooo much fun. We grew up listening to Bellowhead so it was a massive deal to be asked to support their final tour. We love those guys and love them for opening this music to a wider audience. Playing at the London Palladium was incredible too!
You managed some impressive guest vocalists on the Ties album – Steve Knightley, Eliza Carthy – how did you get them on board?
We kidnapped them and told them to sing otherwise they’d never see their children again. 😉 No.. um.. Steve has been a fan of ours for a while and we really wanted to work with him. Eliza has been a massive influence on us so it was great to ask her to do her thing too!
Is there another album on the way? Where do you want to go next?
We’re releasing a new album in November! Its gonna be called Down Among the Dead Men and we’ve got a two-week tour then.
You made an album with Jim Causley a few years ago and he is also at Priddy this year – any chance of an on-stage reunion?
Quite possibly! We’ll have to see whether we can remember how the songs go!
I think it’s your first time in Priddy – do you like playing in the West Country?
We love the west country! The Fans are amazing. Cider, cheese, beautiful weather! Whats not to like about the west country – with exception to the M5.
And what would you like to see in the green room afterwards? Cider? Cake? Pizza?
Cider. Definitely cider. Our dad used to run a cider farm. We were practically weaned on the stuff!