Surge Music Gig Guide

Turned-on music to quake your bones & pluck your heartstrings with rhythm & bruise from deep within their collective soul . . . . DC FONTANA are a mighty musical massive from the Midlands.

One of the UK’s leading soul & mod bands, the DCs are a big-demand attraction, riding the cusp between the hip 21st century mod scene and the far earthier scooterist movement, wearing their spiky, nouveau-northern soul sensibilities on its collective sleeve, tumbling, twisting & turning as sonic groove gymnasts to produce a vibed-up sound reaching hearts all over the globe.

Fronted by beguiling brunette Jennie Mantell, DC Fontana mix their own material with cool deluxe rare soul and beat grooves from yester-year to create a sonic stew that is piping hot and full of flava!

The band has consistently re-invented itself to overcome a string of catastrophic problems and is currently building on the success of its highly acclaimed re-launch in 2005 having now evolved into a big, bold tour de force with a sizzling new horn section and featuring a stunning vocalist and a teenage psychedelic Jimmy Page for the new century!

In 2006 the band once again redefines itself, emerging from its latest underground metamorphosis to great acclaim with its best sounding incarnation yet.

One of the more interesting aspects of this band is the wide range of ages and backgrounds among their ranks. Young fretboard upstart James Stanley has only seen 18 summers but has remarkable maturity and a razor sharp talent and at the other end of the scale the band is knitted together but superb drummer Rob Moore, a veteran of the Brum band scene who in the late 60s sat behind the kit with cult psychedelic outfit The World Of Oz who were signed to Deram and hits all over the world apart from the UK!

The flute playing Mantell fronts the group and comes from a classical background whereas bassist Mark Mortimer, the only original founding member of DC Fontana now left in their ranks, once played with Tamworth’s Dream Factory in the mid 80s who ripped a tear in the outer mesh of the UK charts with their indie hit “Wine & Roses.”

Completing the line up are Bristol-based backing vocalist Felicity Bush and a red-hot horn section that features 18 year-old Spencer Hague from Leicester, Warren King from Tamworth and Yardley-based Laura Wood who alternates between sax and flute.

Having regularly wowed audiences at innumerable scooter rallies and festivals throughout the UK and in Europe the future has never looked so good for this never-say-die band.

With offers of live shows flooding in, the group has firmly cemented its rightful place in the musical fabric of the mod and scootering culture.

British scooterist DJ & promoter Tony Class described them as “the best band I’ve booked in 15 years” & wrote in Scootering International “the best soul band in the country,” while the New Untouchables described DC Fontana as “Midlands mod sensations!”.

Apart from this the band have been voted “Band Of The Year” by the bosses at The BBC, have toured supporting indie-pop gods Echo & The Bunnymen and have released three successful limited edition CD singles including “The Snake” and “Father’s Name Is Dad”.