Mamas Gun

Mamas Gun are a five-piece band based in London, fronted by singer/composer/producer Andy Platts. Platts is backed by bassist Cameron Dawson, keyboardist Dave “Eighties” Burnell Oliver, guitarist Terry “Spiller” Lewis, and drummer Chris Boot. The band’s homage to ’70s and early-’80s-era blue-eyed soul conjures everyone from Hall & Oates to Todd Rundgren and the Doors. Their debut, Route to Riches, was met with critical acclaim in the U.K. and Japan. Platts, born in a military hospital in Kowloon, Hong Kong, had a nomadic childhood before winning a place at Liverpool’s LIPA. He first started making industry waves by playing on Corinne Bailey Rae’s debut album in 2006. That in turn helped land him his own publishing deal with Zomba Music. This led to collaborations with lettered artists such as Rod "Thriller" Temperton, John Oates, Jed Leiber, and former Gil Scott-Heron collaborator Brian Jackson. Platts started the band in 2007 by conducting an internet search for talented musicians to execute his catchy compositions and arrangements. He found Horan in Western Australia, who, in addition to bass, was classically trained on the violin and piano. Lewis had studied music in Essex, going on to tour with Jools Holland as part of brother Christopher Holland’s band. Meanwhile Pollitt had established his rep as a studio musician, notably on “Green Light” for Beyoncé’s B-Day album, with producer Pharrell Williams. Platts found Oliver in Hertfordshire. The band released Route to Riches in 2009, an album owing much to the Motown sound that has seen a revival among 2000s U.K. artists. The album was co-produced by Julian Simmons (Guillemots), mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig (Black Eyed Peas, U2, the Rolling Stones), and mastered by Bob Ludwig. It achieved the number three sales slot on the Japanese Billboard charts, and number one on the airplay charts. A deluxe edition was released in 2010, with lead singles “Wishing” and “Finger on It.” In 2011 the band returned with their sophomore effort, The Life and Soul, which included the Beverley Knight-featuring single “Only One.” Their third record, Cheap Hotel, arrived in 2014 and was the first with new bassist Cameron Dawson; the Room Service EP followed in 2016. Mamas Gun returned in 2018 with their fourth full-length album. Golden Days marked the band’s first self-produced release with everything recorded live and in analog. The album featured contributions from horn players Andy Ross and Dominic Glover, songwriters Conner Reeves (Joss Stone, Artful Dodger) and Christopher Braide (Sia, Beyonce), and producer Shawn Lee (Kelis, Saint Etienne) who mixed the record, and it sounds like the apex of the group’s ten-year development thus far. ~ Vincent Thomas