Teesside band The Chapman Family are doing OK without the bright lights, as JAMIE DURENT finds out

AMID the fanfare and patriotic dousing of the nation in red, white and blue last summer, a lone voice of dissent emerged on Teesside.

Euphoric proclamations of national pride brought on by the Diamond Jubilee celebrations did not sit well with The Chapman Family.

The Teesside quintet’s EP, Cruel Britannia, coincided with the nationwide parties but dared to provide a contrasting and altogether darker message of what life in modern Britain is like.

Lead singer Kingsley Chapman confesses that the timing of the release was a pure fluke.

“It wasn’t intentional to time it with the Diamond Jubilee – this wonderful privileged lady celebrating her birthday with a big hat, gold boat and a Gary Barlow concert – as it was actually written a long time before,” he says.

“There was no design about when to release the EP, and it wasn’t necessarily as cynical as people think. There was only really one song on the EP that had that message.

“But there is another standpoint: with all the hoopla and celebration it is very easy to get washed away with thinking everything is great and groovy, just because there’s bunting up and everyone’s baking cakes.

“There’s this perception that the UK is this wonderful place throwing constant street parties where everyone walks around in bowler hats, but these celebrations tend to paint a facade over the entire country.”

The Chapmans originate from Stockton and have been delivering their brand of raucous art rock since 2006. Despite their name, band members are not related but all assume the Chapman moniker.

Their debut album, Burn Your Town, was released in 2011 before a drastic line-up change saw drummer Phil and guitarist Paul depart and be replaced by Owen, Scott and Kevin.

Teesside born-and-bred, Kingsley and guitarist Pop are the only original members of the band remaining, and despite the unglamorous locales of home he has no plans to uproot the band in pursuit of the capital’s bright lights.

“I did a piece with The Guardian recently that focused on a Southern bias in the industry, but it’s not just about music,” he said. “It’s not a new concept either.

“You can go as far back as The Beatles and The Animals, who had to go to London to make it because everyone in the industry lives and works there.

“But we made the decision not to relocate and I’m pleased with our isolation up in this part of the country. We’re happy we don’t have to jump through hoops put up by people hundreds of miles away.”

Chapman and co play The Cluny on Sunday in the penultimate leg of their February tour, in support of their latest single, Adult.

The band have promoted the single as a free download and Chapman indicates this is a goodwill gesture for all the support given to the band over the years.

“A lot of people have helped us out, through some good times and dark times, and we felt it was about time we gave something back,” he says

“We’ll be coming to play it at The Cluny which is a place we’ve always enjoyed, despite not playing in Newcastle that often.

“We felt maybe we weren’t popular in Newcastle due to us being from Teesside, but we played up here over Christmas 2011 where we met some heroes of ours, in Barry and Ross from The Futureheads, and they really gave the band a gee-up.”

The Chapman Family play The Cluny, in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley, on Sunday at 8pm. Call 0191 230 4474.