Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past and present), playlists and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you have never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
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Long term readers of my blog will know that I used to help manage a band from Wishaw called Vigo Thieves. I had so many good times with the band; as a manager, friend and fan.
Stevie Jukes, the singer, songwriter, frontman and driving force behind the band pushed and pulled the band as far as he could take them. Then he regrouped to write more songs.
The new songs had a new sound and feel to them and so Stevie formed Saint PHNX with his brother Alan.
Stevie and Alan aimed high from the very start, contacting all the major management companies in the world, cheekily following up on their email to The Killers management team and getting a reply.
That reply was the start of a rollercoaster ride of highs, loops and lows. Saint PHNX got close to a record deal, they got closer, they had offers, then all of a sudden they were miles away ... then they were up, playing to 25,000 people in America, record label showcases, before hitting as low as they could go, ready to give up...
I've not even told half of their story.
But a new podcast/vlog from Glasgow called GlasGo caught up with the band to get their story. I watched part 1 last night and I was enthralled. What a journey! I laughed at the two brothers bouncing off each other, marvelled at their cheek, hard work and ambition and gasped at how low they got. I wasn't aware of how bad things got.
If you're a music fan, if you're in a band, then you should watch this. Ambition, dreams, parties, huge shows, cheap flights, no money for food, sharing beds, things going horribly wrong and then a lifeline...
This is just part 1! Roll on part 2! CLICK HERE if you don't see the video embedded below.
One of the great things about being a music fan is that you get to meet some incredible people; fellow music fans, songwriters, musicians, promoters, bloggers, journalists, presenters ... in the social media age we live in, if you have similar interests and tastes, then it is easy to connect with others who share your passions.
Stevie and Alan Jukes are brothers that I got to know through their former band Vigo Thieves. I had some fantastic nights with them and co-managed the band with Stevie for a while. As I got to know them I learned how important their family was to them and how much of a hero their Dad Bert was. He'd come from very little and with hard work, exceptional people skills, the gift of the gab, an entrepreneurial flair and the odd slice of luck, Bert Jukes had done pretty well for himself.
All his qualities had rubbed off on his sons. I still fondly remember Stevie hand delivering the Vigo's Heart & Soul Part 1 EP to my house and my name being on the back sleeve among people he wanted to thank. He didn't need to do either of these things, it was just in his nature. Customer service, care, time for a chat, the personal touch.
And I still remember Stevie's intense ambition to breakout of Wishaw, out of Glasgow and out of Scotland. Buying glowsticks to turn the basement of Sleazys into something brighter and more memorable to fit the anthems he was writing, to bring a smile to peoples faces, to make something happen.
Stevie and Al broke from Vigo Thieves to form Saint PHNX and then they really did go for it, bagging proper management, a booking agent, some incredible support shows across Europe and America with the likes of Lewis Capadi and Yungblud, airplay during the superbowl and going on all kinds of crazy adventures.
Bert was along for the ride, happy to man the merch stall across the world in support of his boys. The Saint PHNX social media updates always made me smile. Their family values were on air for the whole world, for their fans ... it was a sense of honesty and openness that I guess you rarely see from some artists.
Saint PHNX, the Jukes brothers ... they have always been and always will be up for a laugh, unafraid to rip the piss out of themselves ... but they are real. 2 brothers from Wishaw with big dreams, 2 young lads with an incredible desire to push themselves and their songs as far as they could possibly go. But always with family and friends at the heart of everything.
Earlier on this year I was shocked and saddened to learn of the death of their Dad, their hero, Bert Jukes. His larger than life personality kind of made him seem pretty invincible. The news hit anyone that knew Stevie and Alan hard, particularly as there couldn't be the kind of send off that the family and Bert's many, many friends would have liked. I half joked to Stevie that they would maybe have needed to book the Hydro in normal times!
Stevie, Bert & Alan
Shortly after Bert's death the brothers announced that they had signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. Thankfully, Bert knew this was happening. I know how happy the news would have made him, how proud he would be. I know how hard his boys have worked for it, for years, a decade!
Stevie and Al have posted some very personal and emotional video messages on the Saint PHNX social media channels since Bert passed away. They have been grieving privately and in that very modern way, where they've just needed to talk, they have gone live online to do so.
And, that emotion has come out in a song. Happy Place, written about Bert - the house he built for his family in the countryside, about the hills in lower Lanarkshire, the advice he gave his sons ... about the way they are feeling now.
If I could wish upon a star
I'd wish that I could heal the scars
The chorus is classic Stevie Jukes - personal, but something that anyone with dreams can sing and feel like it has been written for them. I guess we're all looking for a better day, we've felt trapped and maybe gone to our happy place over the last 16-months. And we've all wanted to turn back time, for various reasons, many through grief. The words come pouring out in a simple melody that I've found myself singing without even knowing I'm singing it.
Over the hills and far away
Looking out for a better day
When it seems like there's no escape
Take me away to my happy place
Somewhere, their Dad is smiling down at them for coming out fighting, for creating something positive and bright out of very dark times. And as always, Bert is at the heart of everything. This time it's under cruel circumstances, but as he always did when he walked into a room, the world is a little brighter.
Happy Place is a big song, written when Saint PHNX hearts were broken, it could be the one that breaks them as a band - in a good way.
On Sunday night Saint PHNX released their first music and video. The powerful video with images of war, politics and propaganda is interspersed with silhouettes of the two piece band - Stevie and Alan Jukes. Two brothers, Stevie on vocals and guitar, Alan on drums.
Familiar names?
Well they will be if you are a long time reader of this blog. Stevie and Alan were in Vigo Thieves.
Vigo Thieves disappeared; Stevie wrote a whole bunch of new songs, they recorded them at the excellent Rocket Science Studio in Glasgow, sent them around and people sat up and took notice.
Power, soul, emotion, big choruses and no messing about has been Stevie Jukes calling card for some time. Songs like Heartbeats, Believe, Steal Your Heart and This Love took them far....packing tents at T in the Park, selling out The Arches and the ABC in Glasgow.....
However they cut their teeth with the Vigo's. Saint PHNX are leaner, meaner and ready for business from the off. As I mentioned before - no messing.
Saint PHNX - Al and Stevie
Reload is the first song released. There is a sense of urgency from the off; the pounding drums, menacing synth, raw guitars and soulful vocals pleading
I only wanna open your eyes
You make me wanna touch the sky
Saint PHNX definitely want to touch the sky and kiss the sun. They play their debut show at the legendary Nice n Sleazys on Thursday 21st July. TICKETS HERE
As someone who has heard over an albums worth of tracks that the duo have recorded - Sleazys better bolt on the roof. Saint PHNX are armed with sky scraping anthems.
The Jukes brothers took aim before with Vigo Thieves, they have reloaded and they will not miss.
