30 years ago Echobelly had just celebrated an incredible year.

1994 saw the band, fronted by vocalist Sonya Madan, release their debut album Everyone's Got One to universal acclaim and a top ten place in the charts with accompanying singles Insomniac and I Can't Imagine the World Without Me quickly becoming true Britpop anthems.

Now three decades later, Sonya and Swedish guitarist Glen Johansson are back on tour to remind fans that the mid-90s weren't just about white guys with guitars.

"30 years! It's very difficult to believe," said Sonya. "Every time we tour now it's like it's brand new and it doesn't matter what we've done in the past because it's live - it can horribly wrong, someone can do something crazy and there are all sorts of unknowns that can contribute to the nervous aspect of it. 

"It's lovely to go out there and see people singing the words back at you - it feels like being part of something again all these years on. You can't really compare it to anything else but it's an amazing feeling that makes it all worth while. It's the moment when you realise why you're still doing it."

Born in Delhi, India, before moving to England at the age of two, Sonya had an atypical background for a pop star and had not considered joining a band before meeting Glen in 1992.

After that Echobelly's rise was meteoric as they became leading lights of the burgeoning Britpop movement and won fans internationally as well as claiming REM's Michael Stipe, Morrissey and Madonna as enthusiasts for their Smiths-esque guitar anthems.

1995's On album reached number 4 in the UK Albums Chart becoming their most commercially successful album. The album spawned three top 40 singles two of which, Great Things and King of the Kerb, managed to reach the top 20.

Sonya was key to the band's success with a unique voice and look which saw her acclaimed as something of a fashion icon among the cagoule and tracksuit wearing blokes that populated Britpop with Echobelly also gaining a reputation as one of the best live acts of the era.

"We're a bit older and a bit greyer and I can sing or pogo now not both - it's one or the other," laughed Sonya, who admits this year's nostalgia for all things 90s following the Oasis reformation has led to a resurgence in interest in her own band.

"You're always trying to do new things all the time and you're constantly drawn back to that phrase 'Britpop'," said Glen. "But hey I'd rather have it than not. 

"It was an amazing time and Oasis announcing those gigs has brought a lot of those memories back and the good times for a lot of bands from that era. 

"Our tickets are very well priced though!" added Sonya. "This tour is all about playing songs that people know and love."

Echobelly, along with the likes of Elastica, Sleeper, Garbage, Kenickie, Catatonia and Lush were all fantastic female fronted bands, who were just as successful as the other defining bands of the era and yet Britpop and the 'Cool Britannia' scene of the mid 90s has often become characterised by the laddish swagger of Oasis and the rise of Loaded Magazine.

"I've said a few times on stage when I've sung songs like Father, Ruler, King, Computer that people are banging on about equality now but it's not a new thing and it's not a like a new generation own it," said Sonya. "It's existed at a time when it was a lot tougher for women but we were doing it anyway.

"We were actually welcomed by the male music community - the only side I thought that was negative was the music press who could be quite vitriolic about the whole thing but in terms of fellow artists, including Oasis and Blur, they were the nicest people to tour with and there was never any sexism."

Last year Echobelly announced they had signed to UK and US based label Stone Rolla Records and had gone into the studio with Danton Supple who has worked with Coldplay and U2 to record new songs.

"It's a bit of a difficult subject," said Sonya. "When we first started Danton used to record our B sides and now he's become a well-known producer in his own right and he loved our demos.

"We were all really excited and the album went really well but we found out the record label didn't pay him, the session musicians or the studio so the album is currently in limbo and the label has since folded.

"Our lawyers have got involved and the album is just floating around which is so frustrating because we've got this album that we can't release but watch this space because in true rock and roll style we've got plans but we can't really talk about them!" 

One thing Echobelly can talk about is the hope that next year will see them celebrate the 30th anniversary of their On album by playing it in full.

"We're talking to our agents about doing an On tour and playing some select, bigger venues," said Sonya. "We've always said no in the past because if you listen to our music from the 90s we considered we've moved on as artists in many different ways - you don't get many sitars or digeridoos used in Britpop but we've always embraced other cultures and sounds in our music. 

"We never wanted to go down the route of not moving forward, playing the same music and milking the Britpop thing. But then we thought, hang on, we've got a right to embrace it and On was a very successful album so let's do it and let's do it whole-heartedly."

The tour could also see them heading abroad where Echobelly still enjoy huge support. 

"Of all the Britpop bands, apart from Blur and Oasis, we were actually pretty successful abroad, more so than any of the others," said Sonya. "In Japan, in America, in Canada and big parts of Europe so I think it only be a matter of time before we can tour more extensively. 

"We don't have day jobs and we manage to survive on our dwindling royalties by managing to lock ourselves in a cupboard and not going out at night!"

Glen especially is looking forward to visiting Wirral - a place which brings back some special memories for the Swedish guitarist. 

"When I first came over Birkenhead was the first place I stayed," he added. "I was staying there for a couple of months with some friends and it was great so I'm really looking forward to it!" 

Crosstown presents:
Echobelly
+ Blue Violet
Tuesday 19th November 2024
75 Argyle Street
Tickets £21 (+BF) | Standing from futureyard.org
#thefutureisbirkenhead

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