Jason

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  • Jason

    Jason is the newest member of Payback, and has effortlessly fitted into the groove with his soulful voice, warm stage energy and charm which he imparts to the audience. He studied at London’s BRIT School and is an accomplished singer, songwriter and producer who has worked with Wiley, Shola Ama, Floetry and performed to Andrew Lloyd Webber to name just a few.

    He’s graced the stages of Wembley Arena, the O2 as well as performing around the world from America to Australia in various stage productions. Jason is slowly being converted by the real ale drinkers in the band to drink beers other than Guinness

Julia

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  • Julia

    Julia started her career in the amateur dramatics world during her teens and twenties, but her big dream was to be in a band. This became a reality whilst performing in Little Shop of Horrors, when some members of the band Family Fandango asked her to sing with them.

    She spent five years performing in and around London with this funk-combo – even playing at the Glastonbury festival with them…but it was while sharing a dressing room at a gig at the Jazz Cafe in Camden where Payback discovered Julia. Thigh-length boots and a feather boa have a lasting effect on young men’s minds, as do her amazing voice!

    During her time with Payback, many opportunities have presented themselves; much studio work, including a duet with Sonia Dersion for her album. Outside of Payback, Julia has played at Ronnie Scott’s several times with the Len Phillips Small Band, and Big Band, and she is currently involved in a 5-piece pop/rock outfit, Eye Candy.

Ben

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  • Ben

    Ben (also known as Blame – for reasons which he refuses to go into here) is one of the founding members of Payback.  His rock solid playing has been driving the rhythm section ever since the band was formed in 2000.

    Ben has been playing the drums since the age of six and been a member of various soul and  funk bands for the past two decades. Whether he’s playing pop, soul, funk or disco, his understanding of all these styles results in an infectious groove that creates the powerhouse sound Payback creates on stage.

Joe

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  • Joe

    Busy as both a guitarist and bassist, Joe has worked on many West End shows such as Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Singing In The Rain, Top Hat, Oliver and Chicago. He plays in a variety of styles having backed all manner of stars from Cliff Richard to Ronnie Corbett, Darius Campbell to Bruce Forsyth and David Soul to Michael Ball.

    In the orchestral world Joe has played with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony and John Wilson. A regular at Ronnie Scott’s, he has worked with jazz names such as Clare Teal, Joe Stilgoe, Alan Barnes and Claire Martin.

    Joe also likes to pretend he can conduct in his role as musical director of the Len Phillips Big Band. Joe has the highest turnover of cars in Payback and is known for his “Lexus route” rat runs around London from pre-SatNav days. When he retires from music he will divide his time between doing the taxi-drivers knowledge and playing golf.

Claire

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  • Claire

    Claire is a busy freelance saxophone player, playing all the saxophones, flutes and clarinets. She has been spotted, saxophone in hand, in the house bands of national television shows such as The X-Factor, Parkinson and Strictly Come Dancing. Her name-dropping skills outclass Russ’s Celine Dion performance by a long way.

    She has also appeared in London’s glittering West End playing in shows such as Top Hat, Legally Blonde, Singin’ in the Rain, Phantom of the Opera and many more. She is no stranger to most London venues from the world-renowned Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club to a sold out Wembley Arena. Performing with artists such as Dame Shirley Bassey, Seal, Barry Manilow, Robbie Williams and many more.

    In addition to leading her own projects and groups for private and corporate events, she works with many of the country’s leading orchestras and Big Bands including the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Big Band, London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Russ

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  • Russ

    Russell studied Jazz at Leeds College of Music, graduating in 1998, and during this time was a key member of talented original Jazz/Funk band Taxi. Taxi toured the top clubs across the UK and had a succession of high-profile gigs including supporting Maceo Parker and playing the Glastonbury festival.

    Since moving back to London, Russell has recorded, toured and appeared on TV with a range of artists including Athlete, Daniel Merriweather, Robi Rosa and Celine Dion.

    Russell currently plays regular live gigs in a variety of jazz and funk bands including the KLC Jazz Quintet, the Straight No Chaser Big Band, The Hornets and of course, Payback.

Lip

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  • Lip

    Lip is not only the bass player in Payback, but also the go-to guy for technical problems. Be it website management, sound systems, laptop repairs or bow tie sewing repairs, there’s not much he can’t fix or at least bodge with the aid of some lateral thinking and bit of duct tape.

    Playing tuba since the age of 10 (being taught it the right way) he graduated to bass guitar at the age of 15 (being self-taught the wrong way). He freely admits he “doesn’t do melodies” and sticks to being the rock-solid bottom end of Payback and his brass quintet.

Owen

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  • Owen

    Owen ‘The Big O’ ‘Bone sports the longest serving beard in the Payback band. The funky beard has remained true to the groove for years and has appeared with many other soul and funk combos, including Boogie Nights and The Big Blue Funk Bus.

    The Big O loves to play trombone and boogie simultaneously; from Bolero to Bossa Nova the word is ‘bone. When listening to tunes The Big O digs everything from Beastie Boys to Boogaloo, not forgetting The Godfather James Brown and James Blunt.

    Favourite gig: playing bass in a pub. Favourite pub: The Chequers. Favourite board game: Chess. Favourite Child…that would be unfair, he loves all his girls just the same.

Ranj

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  • Ranj

    Ranj is an accomplished classical pianist who grew up training his ears playing along to chart songs from Capital Radio. Since joining Payback he’s crossed over into funk and soul world and his biggest influences are Billy Preston, Earth Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder.

    A keen photographer in his spare time, Ranj divides his weekends photographing weddings when he’s not gigging with the band. An avid cricket fan, Ranj dreams of seeing out his retirement following the England cricket team play at exotic locations around the world.

Titch

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  • Titch

    Titch has led a wild and varied career playing trumpet with Big bands such as Payback, The Syd Lawrence Orchestra and Glenn Miller Orchestra to Jazz and Latin Bands such as Volarie and the Vendettas, Blue Harlem and The Mississippi Swamp Dogs.

    Titch has performed on various albums by artists such as The Divine Comedy, Paul Weller, Martine McCutcheon, Aqualung and Claire Martin. He has toured with many bands including Death in Vegas, My Life Story, Bellowhead and The Gregg Allman Band.

    Titch can swim up to 2000 feet without breathing, has scaled high mountains, was the under 21s East Sussex Skiing champion, spent a gap year building orphanages in Mongolia single handed and built a car purely from old boiler parts found in his mates loft.

    Titch brews his own beer…and drinks most of it himself…therefore you have to take some of what he says with a pinch of salt.