Twist / Unspeakable Turks / Dan Moule
Birmingham Songwriters Festival, Ronnie Scott’s, Tuesday 25 July 2000

I’M a sucker for a fancy guitar.
Show me a kid with an exotic axe under his arm, and I’ll respond by paying close attention to the music he’s making.
The second night of Brum’s Songwriters’ Festival served up an eclectic selection of six-strings, while the talented young tunesmiths behind them were as individual as their hardware.
Dan Moule, formerly with Tornado Ally, touted an Ovation electro-acoustic while his chum Gareth Roberts wielded a rare 1961 Fender Coranado.
Making up the trio, Simon Brown plunked his double bass.
Having access to the world’s largest record collection gives you a head start when you come to creating your own noise.
Songwriter Rob Stanier and creative keyboardist Scott Evans of the Unspeakable Turks are salesmen with the giant HMV record store chain and they therefore cite obscure references.
Nevertheless, there’s a Manchester moodiness about them and they owe some sort of debt to the Velvet Underground.
For Tipton’s Emma Fox, 20 last Tuesday, her deciding moment came when she saw Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.
She immediately got hold of a guitar and started writing songs.
Forming Twist alongside Vanessa White, 18, from Handsworth Wood, Rednall’s Lisa Lavery, 19, and Tipton’s 18-year-old drummer Leanne Taylor, Emma has set about taking the world by storm.
With three singles and the acclaimed Magenta album to their credit, the girls have the world at their dainty feet.
David Yeats