The Fluffy Gremlins. Seated left to right: George (10), Will (9), Jake (10), Joe (14).
Saturday 1st of June saw Elsecar’s Punk Pub Crawl take place over three venues, all within spitting distance of the train station. Kicking of proceeding at the Fitzwillaim Arms was Barnsley’s youngest rock band The Fluffy Gremlins. Notorious not for their average age of ten and a half, but for playing the same stages an many of Barnsley’s biggest acts, including The Legendary X-Rippers and Danse Society. I had the pleasure of catching up with the band following their set.
Can you all introduce yourself for our readers?
I go from right to left and one by one they introduce themselves.
‘I’m Joe, I’m fourteen and I play guitar and sing.’
‘Jake, I’m ten – nearly eleven though. I sing and play bass.’
‘I’m George. I’m ten and play guitar.’
‘I’m William. I’m nine and play drums, but can you put that that I’m called Will?’
What have been your favourite gigs that you’ve played so far?
George and Jake initially suggest The Rose and Crown in Darton and Will says that their recent set at the memorial concert at The Trades Club for The X-Rippers member Munk.
Joe, the oldest member suggests ‘it should be The Polish Club because they’ve always helped us and we’ve had lots of good gigs there.’
I suggest that The Polish Club do a good job in supporting many of the bands that they have supported, but the band interject in union, ‘we’re being supported by bands now.’
What about the worst gig you played?
They all agree on this one. Joe says ‘we did one at Darton High School. It was a football presentation.’
‘There was no sound, or the sound was really bad. We had mics that didn’t work’, explains Jake.
George pushes hard on the beer garden swing as he complains that ‘we had to play on the school guitars and they didn’t have all of their strings.’
The Fluffy Gremlins are known as a punk band, and although you sound punk, many of the songs you play aren’t. What are your favourite songs or bands?
Joe starts. ‘I like Stiff Little Fingers.’
‘Anarchy in the UK for me’, says Will.
‘Does it have to be punk. I love Black Betty by Ram Jam’, says Jake.
‘Well I’ll have Master of Puppets then my Metallica.’
Do you have any plans for the future of The Fluffy Gremlins? What kind of things would you like to do?
George starts. ‘I’d like to go on Britain’s Got Talent.’
Joe shakes his head. ‘Not going on there. It’s not cool. They don’t like punk.’
‘I’d like £100 million. I’d get a bigger bouncy castle than this one’, says Will pointing to the beer gardens bouncy castle.
Jake says ‘I’d like to record an album and be big.’
‘Yeah, and sell out stadiums,’ says Joe.
The band then rush off for a quick play about on the bouncy castle before climbing back in their van and heading off to their second gig of the day in Barugh Green.
The band is busy and their youth doesn’t mean they play fewer gigs than more established bands in town.
Their set today was a successful one, which included five covers and one of their own songs Cherry Bomb, which is actually really good and I’d definitely get myself a copy of that if ever they released an EP. Would it be unfair of me to pick out an individual band member? I can’t it. George is exemplary, a brilliant guitarist and tons of attitude.
Before they left, the band rushed back to me and offered me one of their Fluffy Gremlins badges!!! Thank you boys. Keep on keeping on.
SETLIST
Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix)
Cherry Bomb (The Fluffy Gremlins)
Highway to Hell (AC/DC)
Gold on the Ceiling (The Black Keys)
Walk This Way (Aerosmith and Run DMC)
Woman (Wolf Mother)
Alternative Barnsley 