Jive Aces to have them swinging from the rafters

Playing the best of swing and their own songs, the Jive Aces will be playing Monroe’s Live on Thursday, next, August 6.

The London-based band have been on the go for a while now, as lead singer Ian Clarkson explains. “Me and the drummer [Peter Howell] were at school together, then we met the bass player and the saxophone player the year we left school,” he says.

“Next year, we’ll have had the same line-up for 20 years. So it’s been an overnight success!”

The ‘overnight success’ Ian is referring to is the band’s appearance on Britain’s Got Talent last year. Has their audience increased after appearing on the show?

“Obviously, it got us a lot more exposure,” Ian says.

“Sometimes we go on the radio and they say we shot to fame after Britain’s Got Talent. That show opened up a whole window for us though, because previously we were only known in the genre that we do.

“It was like being Peter Andre or someone for two weeks!” he laughs.

“You go into Starbucks and little girls are taking photos of you on their I-Phones. It only lasted a little while though.”

Sometimes the band have dancers with them, but they won’t be needed this time as there is thriving swing-dancing scene in Galway.

“There’s a lot of swing dancers already there,” Ian says.

“They’ll be coming along. That makes for a good show – they’re having fun, but they’re entertaining everyone else as well.”

Some swing-dancing moves take a lot of practise and dedication, and Ian appreciated the response they’ve gotten in Galway before.

“Some of them are quite fanatically mad on dancing!” he says.

“You can learn the basics quite easy and have fun doing the jive, but some of them do all the lindy-hop and stuff and throw each other round the place. It’s quite a specific thing, and they can’t drink too much when they’re doing that!”

“Come and expect a good time, bring your dancing shoes,” Ian says.

“If you don’t want to dance, watch the others!” The Jive Aces play Monroe’s Live on Thursday, August 6. Doors 9pm, tickets €12/10 online

For a more in-depth interview with Ian from the Jive Aces see this week’s Tribune here