Misty's Big Adventure

Misty's Big Adventure
Misty's Big Adventure
Background information
Origin	Birmingham, England
Years active	1996–present
Labels	SL Records Grumpy Fun Recordings
Website	http://www.mistysbigadventure.com
Members	Grandmaster Gareth Hannah Baines Lucy Baines Lucy Bassett Matt Jones Sam Minnear Jonathan Kedge Erotic Volvo
Past members	DJ Feva

Misty's Big Adventure are an eight piece band from Birmingham, England. Their music is an eclectic mix of jazz, lounge, psychedelia, 2 tone, pop and punk.

The current lineup is Grandmaster Gareth (real name Gareth Jones) (vocals), Hannah Baines (trumpet), Lucy Baines (saxophone), Lucy Bassett (keyboards), Matt Jones (bass), Sam Minnear (drums, percussion), Jonathan Kedge (guitar) and Erotic Volvo (dancer).

A long time fixture on the Birmingham experimental music scene, Grandmaster Gareth formed the band in 1996 with his friend Sam Minnear. The name was taken from a story in the 1968 children's book The Magic Roundabout Annual about a kitten, Misty, who meets a dog with whom she becomes friends.

Misty's songs typically consist of Grandmaster Gareth singing in a deadpan, maudlin style accompanied by lively guitar, keyboards and brass players. They occasionally include samples and toy instruments in their songs. Contrasting with Gareth's dour lounge-singer act is the dancer Erotic Volvo. Dressed in a loose full-body red sack with numerous stuffed blue gloves attached, and his face painted purple, he dances continuously and in an exhaustingly frenetic manner, often moving around the audience. He occasionally also performs as a human beat box.

All members of the band are trained musicians, and are predominantly based in the Moseley suburb of Birmingham. The band's spiritual home was the Jug of Ale venue in Moseley, where they played regularly until it was shut down in 2008; fittingly, Misty's played the last ever gig there. They have played widely outside Birmingham too and since 2005 they have toured extensively around the UK with forays into Europe, and support slots for The Zutons and The Magic Numbers. They are managed by Mathew Priest, the drummer with Dodgy.

Their debut album, Misty's Big Adventure and Their Place in the Solar Hi-Fi System, was released in 2004 with production by Richard March of Bentley Rhythm Ace and Matthew Eaton of Pram. Their follow-up albums The Black Hole (2005) and Funny Times (2007) were produced by Brian O'Shaughnessy whose production credits include Primal Scream, Denim and The Firm's "Star Trekkin'".