Nottingham residents and music creators Bob Sadler (Fug) and Jim Baron (Crazy P) are the musical duo behind Secret Stealth. Perhaps better known for other projects, Mince & Onions is their new long play release on the Bocajito label. Spreading its light heartedness across the city, this summer sounding album mixes up a cocktail of Soul and Disco with a twist of House and splash of Ragga. The project has developed with the help of vocalists Holly Backler (Crazy P), Tom Bailey (Neon Heights) and Katty Heath (Bent and Spotlight Kid). We met up with Secret Stealth in the Broadway café bar to unpick their musical fusion.

If I were to walk into a record shop which section would I find your music in?
Bob: In the bargain basement or the quid bin!
Jim: Nice! That’s a good next album title, “Life in the quid bin!”… It would be under nu soul disco funk fusion.
Bob: It has to have especially wide racks for the genre title.
Jim: …or Urban Mythology would be a good one. Imagine if you had music that instilled urban mythology.

That would be good wouldn’t it?
Why are you called Secret Stealth?
Bob: We were both doing our own music, got drunk on wine and thought we should really make some music and not tell anyone, hence, secret, stealth. We were going to the studio secretly but got so excited about what we made we showed everyone after the first afternoon!

What is it that makes you create music?
Jim: I’ve grown up making music. I have moods if the Feng Shui isn’t right in the studio.
Bob: If I don’t’ go to the studio, I get real grumpy. I have a need to make music. I have a need to be creative.

Is there a part of you that gets left behind in the music?
Bob: Yeah we definitely leave our imprint on it. In the music you can hear a fusion of our ideas, otherwise it wouldn’t sound that way.

How do you find being creative individuals in the UK?
Bob: Skint.
Jim: It’s quite difficult. Music is a changing environment in the way that people are buying it. Once we get our heads round it, we’ll be okay. This project is a small level operation and the plan is not to lose any money.
Bob: This is one of the reasons for living in Nottingham. We can afford to pursue our passion in making music and running the label without having the massive overheads you’ll have living somwhere like London.
Jim: It’s a good place to make music. There are loads of people doing it here.

How do you find the challenge of having bands close to you such as Neon Heights and Bent, doing the same thing?
Bob: Completely positive. We are all very helpful to each other. Tom Bailey who we work with used to do backing vocals for Crazy P. I’ve worked with Cal from Neon Heights and am mixing a project written by Jim and Tony Global. All the same people are working together on different projects. It seems to be very healthy.
Jim: I don’t think there is anyone doing the same thing, everybody is reaching out to a different area. There isn’t any direct competition but definitely a bit of friendly rivalry.

What are you listening to at the moment?
Jim: The new Little Barrie album is wicked! He’s a Notts lad. I’ve got a really good cover version of Hey Joe by Amp Fiddler, an old Detroit guy who is top! I’ve been rediscovering Donny Hathaway, its tear jerking stuff, beautiful, it’s all about the voice.
Bob: I went to the states at Christmas and bought a whole load of second hand disco, soul and funk records.

What is your top music label?
Jim: It’s got to be Motown for the idea of it first of all then later on the fact that their artists got so famous it changed music. Stevie Wonder was more powerful than Gaudy the label owner, so he couldn’t say no to releasing his albums. That allowed all the musicians to become free in what they were doing.

What in your musical careers has made you most proud?
Bob: Secret Stealth has involved my first ever live gig.
Jim: Crazy P got booked for Glastonbury last week, which is my most recent very proud moment. Secret Stealth are also gigging at Love Box festival and Big Chill Festival this year.

If you could do a sound track for a film, what would you choose?
Bob: Spaghetti Westerns are always high on the list, or anything by Terry Gilliam.
Jim: I’d like to do something on a David Lynch film. Talk about a blank canvas…

When I listen to your new album what can I expect?
Jim: A bit of everything is on there. It’s all around, up and down, side to side. There are no restrictions.

How do you make your music?
Bob: It starts with the two of us and maybe a sample or musical idea.
Jim: Bob is on the knobs, as sound engineer, the mixing desk is his instrument. I sit and look out the window and play stuff whilst he makes it sound amazing.
Bob: Jim is a multi instrumentalist; he can play all the trombones, keys, guitar bass and percussion all in the studio.
Jim: Then we get the live band like John Thompson on bass and Long on percussion and harmonica. Then we get some vocals and flesh it out for the finished product.

Where is the photo taken on the cover of the album?
Bob: It’s us in Chris’s Café on North Gate just round the corner from my front door. We went round with a plate of mince and onions and he let us do the photo shoot with photographer Alicia Clarke.

Why is it called Mince & Onions?
Jim: My nickname is Jimmy the Mince and I started calling Bob Onions. It was a private joke that got out of hand.

Who are you releasing it with?
Bob: It’s released on a label called Bocajito, which is our own label run by myself, Cal, Jim and Tom. We set it up to release Yap Zeeland, Secret Stealth, Neon Heights and local bods within the family. We make the music and are prepared to invest our money into it and people can pick it up from us. It is a way of marketing directly to people who are interested in our music.

Where can I get a copy?
Bob: You can get it in HMV or other music shops and on our own website for £9.99. Selling it online has made a massive difference to getting our music out to those who want it across the world.

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