10. Broken BellsBroken Bells
I’d seen Brian [Burton, aka Danger Mouse] at The Rose, and we must have talked, but back then he was just Brian the barman. He had needed a job really quickly, and somone had mentioned Paul to him. Paul’s a bit like [Acid Jazz founder] Eddie Piller – one of these people who doesn’t play anything, but is integral in putting people together that do. So yeah, Brian had left the pub, but like I said, he kept sending things back for Paul to play on the jukebox for the students and anyone young and impressionable that would come in. When I started to release albums I did the same. As soon as my tracks were serviceable demos I gave them to him, and he played them in the pub.
Brian had sent us this really rough copy of the debut Broken bells album and it really stuck out. The songs were really catchy, and then it was ‘isn’t this what’s his name from The Shins?’ It was played at the pub for months, and everyone got used to it, so it was quite a funny thing when it actually came out but had already been tried and tested in the pub. I still think it’s a fantastic album, two very talented people coming together at the perfect time. As a result of it, Brian came back to the pub, this time as Danger Mouse. He’d seen some comedy so he knew who I was, so we’ve become good friends.
