The International Pop Overthrow is one event that shouldn’t be missed, regardless of where in the world founder and organiser David Bash takes it, it is a chance to come across the unexpected, the divine and the surprisingly brilliant.

The Cavern and the Cavern Pub have long had the honour of hosting Liverpool’s week of crowning new idols and loved musicians, of making new bands to admire and urge on. Amongst them is the fascinating duo of Helen of Mark Luker, or as they are better known as Fun of the Pier. It is a duo that gives an awful lot of pleasure on stage and one that really should have a bigger following.

Finding them at the I.P.O is perhaps the easiest assignment of the entire week, for the pair, when not on stage, are to be found enjoying both the I.P.O. as fans and the hospitality of Liverpool itself. It is a testament to both David Bash and Liverpool that this wonderful, self effacing and generous pair of musicians hang around long after their set is over.

Whilst it is easy to get them alone, what strikes you is their complete honesty, their faith in the music but also their modesty of spirit. Talking to them, whether it is in between bands in the Cavern or just shooting the breeze over coffee in the town, is one that just want to hold onto for longer than you have. During the 2016 I.P.O. I was able to ask them,

 

As this is your sixth time at the I.P.O. you must enjoy it?

Helen: “Yes, I first went to I.P.O. in 2006 so ten years ago to see Richard Snow and the In-laws do their debut, we came on the Thursday and stayed overnight and came back here on the Friday because we loved the bands so much and we didn’t leave until tea time and then I’ve come every year since. In 2007, I came for the whole week and I couldn’t even play guitar then.”

It must be like a busman’s holiday for you then?

Helen: “We love I.P.O.!”

I.P.O. obviously loves you too, I dispute the fact that what you said about yourselves but the fact that you only do a few gigs a year and it must mean something to the I.P.O. that you do it for them?

Mark: “ May be, David has so many bands to keep track of I don’t know that he knows that, he might know and think well they only do two shows a year, I might not have them back so I don’t know!”

Your music is very infectious, I heard you for the first time last year, it’s very pleasant, it’s got a very emotional feel about it, is that something you purposely set out to do?

Helen: “Thank you, oh no, I don’t know what we set out to do, ideas just come into my head and chord progressions just happen and I like the sound of them and then eventually it turns into a song and Mark adds some bass.”

Mark: “The songs write themselves as much as we plan for having a feel for a song, we just want to do something and if we are pleased with the outcome then it stays in the set. “

Helen: “Some songs write themselves in half a hour after an amusing experience at the Cavern Club where someone got on the stage behind me and took a photograph of the back wall on the Beatles Stage and that turned into Cavern Song because we were so amused by the fact that people go to the Cavern for the whole Beatles experience but even though there is s band playing they’d not really registered the fact so it amused us.”

That’s the good side of it, poor Alison Green the other night, she was brilliant on the backstage but there were too many people talking, fair enough, they’re enjoying their night and catching up with friends perhaps but surely the whole point of it is to enjoy the music?

Helen: “We’ve got another song about that!”

Surely as music fans as well as musicians you must find that it can be annoying?

Helen: “I get more annoyed as a fan rather than a performer. When you’re onstage, you’ve got your sound in the monitors coming back at you and you don’t notice the crowd noise and you’re just getting through your set but as an audience member, it can really irritate me especially at paid gigs people have paid to see the big band then they talk through the people they’ve paid to see. I don’t understand that.”

Obviously you’ve made this a holiday as well as performing. How much is that different to your daily lives?

Helen: “Well I do road safety on a day to day basis and Mark does computers and so it’s very different. It’s an escape, it’s a bit of fun, it’s a hobby. We’re not here to make money or anything like that; we’re here because it’s fun.”

Mark: “I can’t imagine not doing it, I don’t know what I’d do with my hands if I wasn’t playing, it just is, it’s not a though thing, it just is!”

That’s interesting; it’s very refreshing to hear that you’re not in it to make money.

Helen: “If we were, we’d be very disappointed!”

To me that’s the point about art anyway, art is not there to make money, it is there to enrich someone else’s life and the way you two are on stage, the way the music comes across, it certainly does enrich. It’s a two-way street, I know it enriches yours but from my side, from the audience’s side, it also enriches theirs.

Helen: “That’s good to hear, Mark will tell you that I get very nervous before a gig, to the point that I’ll say why are we doing this, we’re not playing next year and the I get on stage and a switch happens and afterwards, I’m completely buzzing and I can’t even understand why I thought I was never going to do this again because this feeling is amazing but I do get very nervous.

I do get nervous, we’ve been on tour with the Corner Laughers twice and sometimes we’ve done our own set in support but the rest of the tour we are substitute Corner Laughers because it’s only two of them who come across – Kai and Karla they are the married couple and they come across for a holiday as well with their nearly two year old and we’re substitute band members because there’s usually four of them and so there’s the pressure of not wanting to let them down or mess up their songs but also the focus isn’t on you when we’re playing, the focus is all on me and there’s pressure on that but when you’re supporting another band it’s kind of relaxing to just be the backing vocals.”

I’m interested in that, why would you say that the pressure is on you but not as a duo?

Helen: “Because I do all the talking! I’m the singer, people focus on the singer! Musicians focus on everyone, don’t they? They look at the bass player to see what they are doing. Most people watching music would focus on the singer as that’s where the message is coming from.”

Rick Wakeman said something very similar once about the break up of bands; when the first vocalist leaves then the band should change their name as they are no longer the same band. I’m not so sure that the band can continue. God forbid, you two should ever give up or leave. I watched the pair of you and I love the interaction between you and the bass player, it’s great! If there was no bass work, I don’t know where you would be.

Helen: “I used to gig on my own but I think I would be even more nervous now gigging on my own, I’d miss the support of Mark and his lovely bass lines.”

Where do you see the band or yourselves going from here?

Helen: “We’re going on tour in September with the Corner Laughers but I’m not sure where!”

Mark: “We’ve got Brighton and Colchester organised, Cambridge and York nearly done, there will probably be a show in Nottingham and London, this tour was supposed to be quieter than the last tour but will probably end up the busier.”

They would probably be a band that would go down very well in Liverpool, to be fair, if they played the I.P.O. then they’ve already got a name and if it meant that we got you two back to Liverpool then it would be great.

Helen: “We could have a look at it, yeah. It’s an idea!”

Is there going to be some more recorded music on the horizon?

Helen: “Yes I think there will be something this year; we’re just very bad at getting around to doing it.”

I wouldn’t say you’re bad, I’d say you’re busy. You’ve got lives after all.

Mark: “Richard Snow is joining us for six songs today and he’s got a studio and he’s a very good producer so as he only lives a mile up the road we have been talking casually for about two years about doing an album which we haven’t done yet but we might get round to talking to him about it.”

I do hope that you do because between studio work and last year’s performance, there’s no deterioration in sound or quality.

Helen: “I think it’s a good time to do it because we’ve written a few new songs over the years but there’s a core that we do in our live set and they’ve evolved so I think in a way it’s nice to wait to record things or we could re-record some things that we’ve done on e.p.s and add more to them.”

One final question, what does the I.P.O. mean to you? Two parts – one as a musician and two as a fan?

Helen: “It’s an opportunity to play on some iconic stages with some excellent sound with friends – Dave Lloyd of The Suns and Richard and as a fan, I’ve met so many people through it and seen so much amazing music, and bought so much amazing music – half of our music collection is I.P.O. related.”

Mark: “I like catching up with people you only see on Facebook throughout the rest of the year from this country or different countries around the world and meeting new bands each year. Mylittlebrother this year were amazing, very good sound and meeting new people who will hopefully become friends in the future and sometimes you end up doing musical things with them as well. The possibility that you might work with them works really well too.”

 

Ian D. Hall