Tony Fitz & Aled Hughes on Pure Local Extra

Today on the Pure Local Extra show was Tony Fitz and Aled Hughes. They spoke a little  bit about themselves and their music.

Firstly, we discussed what they’d been up to recently. As for Aled, it had been a little bit since he last came in as he had come in for a chat before. Since then, he has performed a few gigs, one of which he performed a song he wrote at a songwriting session that we held. He’s also been getting to the studio and has gotten some new tracks down. As for Tony, this was his first time here. He told us that he’s been playing some shows, mainly at campsites over the summer.

We then listened to some music by our artists. We listened to ‘I wanna rock and roll with you’ by Tony which is also our record of the week. According to Tony, this song was written just when he was starting to be more independent and live on his own, which just so happened to be at the start of the pandemic. He said that he felt lonely and the song is exactly what the lyrics are. He especially took inspiration from long distance virtual parties. We also listened to ‘Where have all the good Russians gone’ by Aled. Aled specializes in more comedic music, this song was made from seeing events in the news and putting his own spin on it.

We spoke about being in a band, despite both being solo artists, we talked about opinions on being in a band. Aled said that right now he’s doing both solo and band right now. He said that as a band, he can be hard trying to get everyone available. Tony said that he played in a band before and that he loved it. Although, like Aled said, it was difficult. Especially since everyone had different views and creative visions. He added that he would like to start a band again but right now it’s just an idea.

We talked about the kind of music they listened to when they were younger. Tony said that he listened to hard rock. Artists like Metallica and Guns N Roses. He also listened to and was inspired by black soul singers. As for Aled, it was very different. He had to go to the chapel and his father was in a choir so he listened to many hymns. 

We briefly discussed busking, as Tony was our artist for our weekly biggest busk in the Kingsway center. Aled said that he’d only done it once and that he does think about doing it but can never get the right location or confidence. Tony has busked a few more times but wouldn’t do it often unless he was promoting something.

We then had a festive rendition of a kazoo performance. Both Aled and Tony gave their kazoo rendition of jingle bells, just in time for December on Sunday.

You can listen to the full show here