A SHORT CHAT WITH STEVE KETTLEY / ORANGE CLAW HAMMER

Orange Claw Hammer take the music of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band and bend it into shape for the 21st century. Founded in 2011 by musician & composer Steve Kettley (Cauld Blast Orchestra, Salsa Celtica, Odd Times), the band's sax driven, mostly instrumental, reworkings of Don Van Vliet’s back catalogue highlight the blues, jazz and experimental roots of this music. A million miles from being a tribute act, Orange Claw Hammer take classics of avant- rock from the 60s through to the 80s and use them as vehicles for improvisation and re-invention for contemporary sensibilities - and Beefheart fanatics!
Orange Claw Hammer are based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and they're coming over to Zappanale !

Steve Kettley - tenor & soprano saxes, voice
Stuart Allardyce - guitar
Dave Beards - bass
Des Travis - drums

Time for a short chat :

UniMuta : Hi Steve, I’m one of those lucky people who owns “Cooks The Beef” and “New Beef Dreams”.
I like it how you strip down some of the compositions and then use them as a vehicle for improvisation. How do you decide which Beefheart pieces you want to play? And how do you re-arrange them? Is it in your head before you start, or is it a more practical approach with the band?

Steve Kettley: I usually pick a Beefheart tune which I think we'll be able to interpret in our own way. The choice, and then the arrangement, are often dictated by necessity - our instrumentation is limited, we don't have 2 or 3 guitars and a marimba like the Magic Band. To start with, all the arrangements were by me, but recently the band have been developing the tunes in a more collaborative way.

UniMuta : Your FaceBook page told me that you recently did a couple of gigs, but that the one before that was in 2019. I assume that was caused by Covid restrictions. Is it difficult to get gigs, playing the music of Don Van Vliet? Did you still have the songs in your fingers after the mandatory break?

Steve Kettley: Yes, the break was mainly because of the pandemic. Generally, it is very difficult to get gigs playing Beefheart material. He is still very leftfield, even compared to Zappa. Very frustrating, as we always go down a storm when we play! It doesn't usually take too long to work the set back up again.

UniMuta : At Zappanale, you will be performing at the Exhibition Space on Friday morning, in the centre of town, and on the Mystery Stage, at the festival grounds, on Saturday. Will there be a different approach for these two concerts?

Steve Kettley: I suppose the morning gig will be slightly lighter, but not much. We are saving a few of our bigger numbers for the Mystery Stage. But both sets will be, like the man himself, pretty full on.

UniMuta : Have you seen the line-up for the festival? Is there a band that you want to catch?
Looking forward to seeing and hearing you guys. It’s been too long since we’ve had the music of Captain Beefheart performed at the Zappanale festival !!

Steve Kettley: Lots of great stuff on at Zappanale. The two bands on after OCH's sets, Kuhn Fu and Bobby Rausch, look great. Crazy guitarist/banjoist Eugene Chadbourne has been a favorite for many years. And of course, Banned from Utopia, featuring many Zappa greats, is a must!

UniMuta : That sounds like you'll have a busy schedule ! Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions and see you soon !

Orange Claw Hammer will be performing on :

• Friday, July 14, at the exhibition hall in the center of town (11h00)
• Saterday, July 15, at the Mystery Stage at the festival (20h00)

This will be fun !!