Blaine Harrison – lead singer of the Mystery Jets
If you’re out of touch with today’s rock scene then you can be forgiven for not being familiar with the Mystery Jets.
The group, which recently took part in the prestigious NME Awards Tour with the Arctic Monkeys and Maximo Park, is fast heading for commercial success after releasing their debut album, Making Dens.
They’re receiving plenty of coverage in the national press too, for the unusual line-up which includes Henry Harrison, 55, father of the leader singer and keyboard player Blaine.
And while most sons are keen to shake off parental influence as soon as possible, Blaine, 20, believes there are no age limits in rock.
Henry started the group when Blaine, who has spina bifida, was 8, encouraging him to perform on stage to gain confidence and show the world that having a disability shouldn’t be a barrier to following your dreams.
“Music was something we could all do together,” Henry said. “I thought my time had gone, but there was no reason I shouldn’t be in the band.”
As the group grew with the addition of Blaine’s friends, Henry encouraged the youngsters to explore all rock and not be limited by one particular style. Even now the Mystery Jets aren’t keen to be linked to any one music scene.
Their album, Making Dens, has been in the music press as a “wilfully barmy creation which has delighted and baffled reviewers in equal measure.” It is made up of a lively mix including Little Bag of Hair, which details Blaine’s memories of hospital treatment.
But Henry says he never had any initial ambitions for the band. Fame and fortune were never a motivation.
“It wasn’t about making a living or getting famous. To me it was just good fun and a good way to spend time with Blaine. Funnily enough Blaine and Will were the ones with the rock ‘n’ roll dream.”
The group hails from Eel Pie Island, near Twickenham, a small village in the middle of the Thames, which has a long musical heritage. The Eel Pie Hotel – mentioned in Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby – became a retreat for poets and artists, and in the Sixties resounded with performances of Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones and The Who.
Henry and Blaine, who have lived there since the mid-Nineties, are fast becoming Eel Pie Islands most famous export… and least popular residents after a series of free concerts last summer.
After welcoming audiences of up to 600 at a time to their boatyard gigs, neighbours complained to the local authority, who promptly issued the group with a noise-abatement order.
Blaine said: “I guess you can’t blame them, but it is a shame as our music has always been bound up with the place in which we make it.”
So instead they took their music to their fans with a highly successful and largely self-financed Eel Pie Revue tour.
Last year brought support slots with Bloc Party and Futureheads before they took part in the prestigious 2006 NME tour, which catapulted the Kaiser Chiefs to fame.
Blaine said: “It was a bit strange when Dad was trying to get to sleep in the back of the tour bus and we wanted to stay up all night. But if I wanted to rebel against my Dad, I would have gone to work in a bank!”