Originally hailing from the ‘Deep South’ of England, AP Wilson is a West London based Singer, Songwriter & Musician who has just released a new long player entitled Lost Southern Soul.

Conceived as a collection of singles (a homage to his treasured ‘Motown Chartbusters’ & Trojan ‘Tighten Up’ LP’s) Lost Southern Soul was recorded on whim, many prayers and very tight budget at producer James Mason’s home studio near Kingston. Surrey, not Jamaica that is.

“I may have been slightly deluded at the time, but starting out, I wanted this to be the record under everyone’s arm going into parties, or round to their mates, girlfriends or boyfriends on a Friday night. Which is how I got into music in the first place; going out to play the records you were going to dance to later that night. But then Covid arrived – and we stopped going out altogether….

That you’re listening to and possibly even holding this record is something of a minor miracle. What started out as a labour of love, was interrupted by the pandemic and then became almost too laborious to finish – is ready.

“Thanks to Jim – we made it – finally! Great ears, terrific encouragement and seemingly endless patience. Then getting a bunch of our pals in from our local scene really helped bring these songs to life. What started out with a fairly strict blue-print evolved into something very different musically. A truly great collaboration. We’re both really proud of it”.

Ready to enjoy Lost Southern Soul? Drop the needle or – Press play

(for further info go to Media page)

Dear Listener,
Appreciate you checking out our record – hope you really enjoyed it – and that these songs made a small difference to your day or night or weekend. Not looking for notice or anything but would love to hear your thoughts on Lost Southern Soul, whatever they may be.... I’m not a big fan of the ‘socials’ – but it seems a necessary evil these days.

There will be no AP Wilson fan club to speak of – but we have some special stuff planned (exclusive remixes, alt versions and sneak previews of new songs) for everyone who would like to join our mailing list. Rest assured we wont bombard you with ‘content’ (or rather non-tent) or fascinating insights on the colour of the socks we wear. (AP – always black. James – ‘whatever’s clean’).

But there are at least two more record’s worth of material in gestation – shows and other stuff planned which we love to share with you when the time comes. So please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!

APW

AP Wilson – In His Own Words Interviewed by Dina Termenta

DT: “So where did it all start? Earliest musical memory?”
APW: “My Great-Gran in Scotland used to sing in pubs – and when we went up for holidays she’s encourage me to open for her with a rendition of ‘Danny Boy’ or ‘Trail of The Lonesome Pines’. People would give me gentle encouragement and the odd 50p. Then she would kick in with “These Are My Mountains” and usually clear the place before the last chorus. It wasn’t the best of starts to my musical career....”

DT: “Biggest influences?”
APW: “influences? I’ve had a fair few – but I guess I owe it all to family really. Dad had a really nice, authentic Spanish guitar which he showed me how to tune so I could learn to play along with records. Before I managed to borrow the ‘The Beatles Complete’. My Mum came home from a trip to Jersey with my first two cassettes – Beatles Oldies but Goldies and Parallel Lines by Blondie. I played them both till they wore out. My folks had a decent record player but only two albums (Revolver and Sgt Pepper – with the cut outs!) and some cheesy singles like ‘Me and you and a dog named Boo’. Which I adored.. But my proper education began when an Uncle gave me all his Stones, Who and Kinks LPs, loads of Motown singles and a couple of Tighten Up albums. From that day on, I became totally immersed in records and songs. Nothing else mattered”.

DT: “You were hooked?”
APW: “Completely obsessed. I spent every scrap of cash I could muster on records and tapes. There was a great record shop on my route to school – and my dinner money was spent before I’d wandered through the gates. I had a variety of part time and weekend jobs – and but would ride the bus the 11 miles into Southampton every Saturday afternoon to buy new clothes but mainly records. New releases in Our Price or Virgin – rare and 2nd hand from Henry’s in St Mary St. Loved the ex juke box 45’s with the middle punched out”

DT: “Who were your favourites?”
APW: “At that stage, the Beatles by a county mile. I recall one Christmas when I had come down with Mumps, all of the movies were shown on TV”. I didn’t get MM Tour, Let It Be made me sad and Yellow Submarine was a bit scary but Hard Days Night, Help and Shea Stadium made an indelible impression. The scene in Help where they all go in through different doors to the same house. I’d decided ‘That’s the job for me Ma....’

DT: “When did you start writing songs – and why?”
APW: “I think around ten or eleven. I was two young for Punk and missed most of the New Wave. Mod revival was pretty much done and though I liked to dance to it, I didn’t really listen to the TwoTone stuff. But I found a copy of the songwords mag ‘Disco 45’ on the bus one day and started to get under the skin of what songs were about. And really studying the craft of how they were put together. Then just started trying to do my own thing. But I spent an unhealthy amount of time with headphones on – lying in bed to all hours of the morning or on the bus to and from school. I was happiest isolated from people and everything else going on around me. I realised that many of my favourite songs transported me to a different place, and I was happiest there. Like living in some kind of movie or parallel time zone.

DT: “Can you remember any of those tunes?”
“Very clearly. Monday and “Man in A Cornershop” from The Jam’s Sound Affects album. ‘Shayla’ from Blondie’s Eat To The Beat. “I’m Only Dreaming” by Small Faces. ‘Gimme Shelter’ by The Stones. ‘Man Out of Time’ (Elvis Costello) from Imperial Bedroom. ‘Nowhere Man’ and virtually all of Rubber Soul. My fave Fabs LP.” But the Motown stuff had a completely different effect on me. ‘Tracks of My Tears’ and ‘More Love’ – in fact anything by Smokey Robinson. Or Aretha. Sam Cooke. Even The Supremes. Those tunes, those voices that genre of music really moved me”.

DT: “What about your own songs?”
“Can’t remember my earliest efforts but they were shit for sure.. or carbon copies of my faves. I screwed up one time telling every one in class I’d ‘written this really cool song called ‘Think For Yourself’. Almost got away with it until a kid called Russ Warner called me out. He knew I was fibbing ‘cos his brother had all the Beatles stuff.. I didn’t tell too many fibs after that. My best effort was properly ‘Sandra’ – about a girl from Preston who I met on a school trip / got my heart broken for the first time. I remember that bit clearly – but thankfully the song has long since faded from memory”

DT: “What about live shows?”
“We lived right out in the sticks – but all the ‘stars of the day’ came to Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole Arts Centre, Salisbury City Hall – which I could get to by bus if I set off at 9.30 in the morning. I saw The Style Council / Billy Bragg on their first tour, Big Country .. but the world really stopped turning when The Smiths came to town”

DT “Queen is Dead tour?”
“No, the one before. Meat is Murder has just come out so I guess it was Spring ’85. We had to borrow a mate’s Mum’s car to go all the way to Chippenham for that one. No buses went that far!”

DT “A good night?”
“Should have been – but I think I spoiled it for everyone else”

DT “Oh... how come?”
“Well by this point I totally and utterly obsessed with these guys – particularly Johhny Marr. Even more than Blondie and The Beatles as I recall. The stance, Rickenbacker and 355 guitars, the Keith Richard haircut and shades – all of which I shamelessly tried to copy. But about all those songs. Those tunes. So by the time they rolled into town it was akin to a religious experience for me. My older pals thought they were ‘ok’ but quickly became bored after an hour in that car when my enthusiasm ‘bubbled over’ somewhat. I nearly had to walk the last five miles to the venue. Anyway, we got there, they ‘lost’ me and I spent the next two hours up the front going nuts. Incredible ..... but rather foolishly, like the over excited, over stimulated, under nourished and woefully underdressed nutter I’d turned into.. I walked out into that cold February Wiltshire night, soaking wet with sweat – and got a nasty chill. By the time they dropped me home, I’d puked at least three times - once in the car – and was something of a burden. When the tour rolled into Poole a few weeks later, I had to go on my own. But I didn’t care – that show was even better”

DT: “And what about your own thing – were you writing, recording or playing gigs”
“Yes - all of the above – and living the life – but not getting nowhere fast. An older pal called Paul Holman – who was dating one of my colleague mates – took me under his wing a bit, recorded some demos on his Fostex portastudio and then got us in to a local studio nr Bournemouth to cut some proper demos. But he was a proper musician – playing lot of gigs to support his own songwriting / original band. Sang great, played great – and still does. He ended up in the Lemon Trees and recorded a brilliant album as ‘Green Isaac’- check it out. I owe him a great deal – learned a lot from him and got loads of encouragement. He’s usually call me up at the end of one of his gigs to knock out ‘Move On Up’ or That’s Entertainment – the only cover I really knew.

DT: “So you moved to London in search of fame and fortune?”
“Yes – and found neither! But had a lot of fun trying.. there probably isn’t time to delve in to that chapter- save it for another day! Needless to say I wasted a lot of time driving down the wrong roads – but I always knew I had something good to offer in terms of songs. I was and still am an average guitar player – singing my own songs was something I shied away from for many years – but I never, ever stopped writing .. and always believed this was my calling”.

DT: “So here we are with Lost Southern Soul – how did you get to this point?”
“Three pivotal things really. Inspired by a trip to see my pal Joe Ongie (longtime friend and collaborator) in the States – where he was working clubs and bars 3 or 4 nights a week – doing covers – but making good money and having fun being a ‘professional’ musician – I came home, dragged my self out of the back bedroom and went a hunting for kindred spirits. Found a really vibrant local scene around Brentford, Richmond, Barnes, Kingston and other parts of the ‘Twickenham Delta’ – met a bunch a of great players and singers – formed a band and learned my chops, playing – and crucially singing 3 or 4 nights a week. I’d always been sniffy about playing covers – and only ever played things I really like – but when you do, you realise what really makes a good song – and why they work. This ‘eureka’ moment had a massive impact on my own songwriting. And lastly, hearing the great Nick Lowe’s Brentford Trilogy (and subsequent albums) and seeing him live whenever he ventured out to do shows. Of all the influences, all the genres that I’ve embraced and enjoyed, he’s my #1 guy. If I get to be half as good as NL, stand in front of a packed crowd at the Palladium or Albert Hall, with a guitar and a bag of great tunes, it will have been well worth all the effort!”.