Brassy

Brassy formed in 1994 and were based in Manchester, England. Their line-up comprised Muffin Spencer (from New Hampshire, USA, the kid sister of Jon Spencer of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) on vocals/guitar, Jonny Barrington (a.k.a. DJ Swett) on drums/samples/scratching, Stefan Gordon on guitar and Karen Frost on bass. The band released two albums, Got It Made (released in 2000) and Gettin' Wise (released in 2003). Their early singles were released on the Costermonger imprint and from 1999 they were signed to the Wiiija label. Their sound started out as sassy garage indie rock, but as time went on more of their influences began to come through as their sound took in funk and hip-hop. Their live performances were often energetic affairs with Spencer commanding the audience in call and response, kitted out in her trademark boxing kit with Barrington adding beats and scratching, often switching between drum kit and drum machine mid-song. They also looked to the hip-hop community for remixes from the likes of Rob Swift and The Nextmen. Brassy recorded two sessions for the John Peel show, in 1996 and 2000.