BEING NOSEY WITH ...
Doozer McDooze
I had first seen Doozer for the first time when he supported Ferocious Dog with Deferred Success in Harlow, which I believe was on his birthday... (and the first time I had properly had a conversation with my now boyfriend!) So, it was quite memorable for me. His songs are very well known around the festival folk and he is about to release a new album..
Firstly, How did you end up with the name Doozer McDooze?
When I was a teenager, and was playing in Punk Bands in Southend someone nick named me Doozer. A Doozer is this little podgy green builders from the TV show “Fraggle Rock”.
Me being a short dumpy person, the name just stuck. I have had so many friends who don’t know my real name, well until Facebook made me change it.
The reason for Doozer McDooze, was because there is a Rapper from Bristol called Doozer (he had a beard, wears glasses and a hat), an alt folk singer called The Doozer (he has a beard and wears glasses, so to make sure people know it was me I started calling myself Doozer McDooze. The McDooze part came when Uncle J from my band The Rejects sent me a copy of our first album and put Doozer McDooze on the address.
PS. Don’t get me confused with Doozer McDoozer, he is someone who is on Facebook also, with most of his friends that work in the sex industry, he also threatend to sue me and my mum accidentally added him on Facebook once. That’s awkward.
If you could name 3 top moments when performing at gigs and festivals , what would they be?
Wow thats a big one. As of gigs, I supported Gaz Brookfield, along with Funke and the Two Tone Baby and Hobo Jones and the Junkyard Dogs in Dec 2015. It was totally sold out and packed from the minute the doors opened. I knew alot of people there too, was a really good party. Birdy couldn’t make the gig so told everyone to make sure I got drunk, and I did, woke up on Gaz’s floor with no van keys, no T-shirt and a thumping head.
One of my fave festival moments is when I played along with Hobo Jones and the Junkyard Dogs on the main stage at Beautiful Days, a sea of people singing along to a song that I wrote about that crazy band.
I have sooo many good moments, but as I need one more this has popped into my head...
While being the support act for The Big (excellent ska band) in Germany, the gig was looking empty, so one of the guys who was running the gig said something to me about playing guitar while they handed out flyers. Then mumbled something about the A TEAM.
So I followed these guys to their van, they couldn’t speak much English, and I couldn’t speak any German. They opened up the side door on the van, put a camping chair down and said “You sit there”
They Drove round the town, while I sang songs, with the side door open, jumping out every time they saw a group of people and they handed out flyers whilst I sang. I nearly fell out of the van a few times. It was brilliant. Then more people came to the gig and we had a lovely time.
From seeing you live, I know you play guitar. If there was any instrument in the world you would love to learn to play, what would it be?
My first instrument is the Piano, I started learning when I was five years old. The piano was in the lounge and I would often be shouted at by my brother and sister to stop making noise because they were watching telly. So one day some time much later (I was 13/14) my Dad brought home a cheap acoustic guitar from somewhere, and I took it to my bedroom and taught myself out of a Levellers Song book. I have played bass in a few bands, and really like playing bass. I also play the piano accordian, and ukele. I like to have a go when I see a new instruments. I like music.
You recently announced that you have a new album coming soon, how would you describe this album to get people to buy it?
A few weeks ago Birdy Rose and I had a massive all day long discussion about bands and musicians that use campaigns such as Kickstarter to help fund their projects/albums/tours. We were initially divided on the issue but after asking Facebook about it we got such an incredible amount of thoughtful, intelligent and articulate responses that it actually spurred us on to some ideas of our own. Eventually we whittled it down to this...
So I am currently doing a Kickstarter to not only raise funds for his next solo album (which has already been recorded in a Studio and mastered by Jeremy Paul Carroll, and the artwork is already on the way thanks to Bang Graphics) but also to raise funds for an EXCELLENT album launch gig which is going to be a ticket only event. The tickets can only be bought as part of the Kickstarter (read below) limited to 100 and we have got some really really awesome things planned for it. This is my FIRST EVER HEADLINE venue gig... so it's going to be special!!!! Support acts are going to be Skeg 父 & Chuck SJ Hay it will be at The Fiddler’s Elbow in Camden London on June 18. Tickets are already selling quicker than I thought and I only launched the Kickstarter a few hours ago!
What influenced Birdy and yourself to live in a Van?
I had been singing about the idea of going off in a van for a few years before. Just before we went off in the van, Birdy was living in a flat trying to survive on JSA and find a job whilst I was working full time as a toilet cleaner, not really living anywhere as I couldn’t afford my own place on the wages. We then got offered to do some workshops for school kids at a 2 week festival. I should back-track a bit really, The year before that we were in Utopia Coffee Lounge in Southend having one of our silly chats and we decided to make a couple of singing paintings, about tea and coffee. I wrote 2 songs, one about tea and one about coffee and Birdy painted a picture of both things using Tea and Coffee, the song was a little speaker which was attached to the paintings so that you could press the button and listen to the song whilst looking at the painting. We showed this off at a heap of festivals, and our friend Lis who runs Buzzy Beats asked if we would like to do it as a work shop at her Festival. The Money we earned from the workshops paid for us to get our van. So we headed off to a summer of festivals and have since not looked back. That was nearly 3 years ago. At first we just fucked off to do something other than be bogged down by the struggles of a minimum wage and benefit lifestyle, we had no idea how long we would be on the road for or what would happen. We thought for sure that within a month we’d both be bankrupt, left on the side of the road sitting in a ditch with dirty socks on and matted hair, crying. Now, a couple of crazy years later, we have found ourselves actually thinking differently and working towards carving out our careers and living a life that interests and fulfills us both. That’s a long answer isn’t it.
If you could choose any song to describe your life, what song would you choose?
Mr Boombastic by Shaggy
A lot of musicians are someone or something, what has been your biggest influence to do music for you?
The two bands that made my head explode with what you could do with music as a 13 year old was Carter USM and The Levellers. I was brought up being dragged round folk festivals, at the time I didn’t always release how cool it was, or how much seeing great music all the time would make me want to play it myself. It was a very encouraging atmosphere, people joined in, and there were workshops from the bands you had just danced to the night before.
The Levellers for me made me realise that folk music could have a bit more balls to it, and Carter USM with their clever lyrics and catchy tunes meant singing in your own accent was a totally okay thing to do. I do love travelling around and I get to see the best bands in the world. I know of bands that play to thousands of people every weekend but no one knows who they are. They are not on telly, radio but alot people people love them. That’s great.
Birdy and yourself have just started up the Doozerbird Project (which I think is an amazing idea by the way!) How did you both come up with this idea?
This is an idea we came up with while we were in the States last year. We had both been talking about a subscription idea, and had seen other people doing them. Birdy and I both come up with ideas, but don’t always have the budget to make them happen to begin with. So The Doozerbird Project is £15 a month and we will send you something really cool every month. It’s a chance for us to work together like we did before when we made our singing paintings, also it’s a chance for us to make all of the crazy things we’ve been wanting to make but didn’t have the means to. The subscription is budgeted and split up, it’s £5 for production, £5 for Postage, and £5 for us. We are trying this out for one year. We are just putting together the package for march, should be sending it out next week.
If something were to suddenly happen to you, How would you want people to remember you?
Wow that’s a bit morbid… errrrm I dunno someone who had a good time all the time.
If you could come up with a slogan for yourself, what would it be?
Ah I have had a few.
“No Frills Pop Star” is what I made up for myself, but I really like what other people have come up with, such as “Foot Stompin Acoustic Punk” and in the states I was called a “One man Rebel Rousing working class riot” which is a bit too cool for me.
From the first time you performed, How do you feel about how you performed today compared to then, Has it changed much?
The first time I ever performed on my own with a guitar and singing was when I was 17. It was at Chippenham Folk Festival. I played one song which was Another Mans Cause by The Levellers, I was soo nervous.I could just about play guitar and couldn’t really sing. My parent’s have got a video of it, I watched it recently actually, I noticed that 17 year old Doozer McDooze didn’t look at the audience once, I stared at the floor and mumbled my way through the song.
Not long after that I joined The Rejects on bass. We played twat rock, which is a mixture of Ska/Punk/Hardcore/whatever we fancied, most of the songs were about drinking or dumb things our friends did. I shouted and screamed alot in this band, I had spiky hair and wore those really cool hiwian shirts that nobody ever liked. We toured all over the UK, ended up with a brass section and drank our selves around the country. I wrote a song about these times its called Ode to The Memory of TR. While still in The Rejects I started to write alot more songs on my guitar, I showed the band but it wasn’t for them. So I started to go to open mics in Southend, one was in the Railway Hotel and run by a guy called Tug. If it wasn’t for him running this night and my friend Rich Spratt coming up to me after the first time I played and saying “You need to get an Electro acoustic guitar and Record those songs” I probably wouldn’t have gone this far. Straight after that I brought a four track and recorded the songs. This was an album called Toast, Tea and Touch of Anti D, which I sold all of the 20 copies I made. After that, Festivals changed everything for me, when I started to play them, I soaked up everything from what other performers do, to all the lovely folks I meet.
So yes it has changed alot, I still get nervous, but not as much as I used to, but every time I play I give everything I got. I don’t see the point of going to all the effort to standing in front of people then not give it everything.
Do you have any other interests or talents you would like to share?
I was the UK Air Guitar Champion in 2004
I am an avid Tea drinker
I once went to the filming of Red Dwarf, and weed next to Lister( in the toilets of course not somewhere random)
Also… Arthur Dent “Liked” my page on Facebook… is that classed as a talent?
And I’m really good at cooking… that’s why I’m always eating.
Lastly, How you get people to support Live Music more?
I think Live music is a two way thing. I think people should come out and see good live music, there is so much of it everywhere. I way I see it is people should stop thinking it about as supporting live music (that sounds like its a chore) but just go out and have a brilliant time. The people you meet at gigs like this are likely to change your life. I know it has for me.
Firstly, Thankyou to Doozer for doing this with me and I apologise for the lack of variety of photos! But, If you want to support Doozer on his new album you can HERE, Get yourself to the gig, Pre-order the Album! Also support the Doozerbird project by subscribing to that HERE. You can get updates from Doozer on Facebook, Twitter, His Website and Bandcamp.. Also, Doozer is playing at Rockstock and Barrel in a months time, Great little festival!