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Home : Bands : ChispaChispaIf you want to contact the band, please email them directly at chispa@sheffieldmusic.com
The Band in ReviewTruth, so they say, is stranger than fiction, so you won't be entirely surprised when I tell youthat Chispa formed by accident, and their eponymously named CD got itself created much the same way, for once upon a time Hugh was sitting on a roof top in Barcelona when he got the urge to send Rosie a minidisc. Hugh used to be in Bolster, while Rosie, who moved to Sheffield some three years ago, is a respected session singer with the likes of Supersister and Lisa Marie.As for the CD, they originally went in to record just one track, but true to form, things didn'tquite work out as planned. They've let us include downloadable versions of the six tracks to give you a chance to decide for yourselves, but we reckon that both the material and production areexcellent. Some of the rough demos were remixed by Brighton-based Tull (er, ..., Sour Cream?!),and the recording was handled by Jo (the most talented person in the world) Swayne. In caseyou're wondering, Chispa (it means both "slightly drunk" and "a spark") take their name from a mate of John's dog... The CD is currently being considered by various labels, with initial interest from the likes of EMI and Virgin, so the new millennium should hopefully see them signed sooner rather thanlater. In part, this recognition is due to the positive encouragement and support they've receivedfrom the likes of Barry at Record Collector and the talented folk at Yellow Arch, through whomthey admit they've made a number of excellent contacts. From my viewpoint as a reviewer/observer, much of the band's great charm lies in this unusual combination of innate talent, matched with the strength to give credit to others wherever they feel it's due. It's an attitude that signals the confidence they feel in their own ability, and it's a confidence I consider to be well placed. Listening to them perform recently at the National Centre for Popular Music was a real pleasure. As part of an evening of acoustic sets they were necessarily limited in the styles they could perform, but the restrictions of acoustic performance simply added to the power of their presentation. My notes for the evening seem to have taken on an almost poetic hue, with phrases like "emotion sung becomes emotion felt" and "each note evokes auniverse of meaning" leaping out from the page (pretentious? ich?). Building on a well-judged use of rhythm andharmony, their acoustic technique comes across as a non-jarring combination of instrumental minors with vocal majors, the whole generating an evocative performance reminiscent of early-90sAC Marias taken to the n'th degree by a very sophisticated use of modulation. I was clearly not the only person to be impressed, for in a room full of Music Industry types who'd no doubtheard every style a zillion times before it was a true delight to see one conversation afteranother fall silent, as they actively chose to listen to the band. All in all, an excellent start for an excellent band, and I look forward to reporting on their continued success well into the future. Reviewed for SheffieldMusic.Com (25 September 2001) by Mike Stannett of NoiseFactory. © 2001 Mike Stannett. All Rights Reserved. Chispa were appearing on July 10th, 2001at the NCPM as part of Sound Off 2, a project funded in part by the European RegionalDevelopment Fund and co-ordinated by Andy Muir at Red Tape Studios.
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