HOLMES Chapel’s own version of Frank Zappa is gearing up to release his third solo album after a long period of reflection and recording.

Jack Newell, 22 and former pupil of Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, already has two albums under his belt and he is showing no signs of slowing down.

His first album was released under the alias ‘Peruvian Nostalgia Syndrome’ and it was when Jack purchased new equipment to work on a follow up that he decided to give himself a fresh start under a new name.

Jack said: “When I started recording I did not feel like the songs belonged to the same name or genre so I decided to release these songs as Curly Mouth.

“I’m influenced by folk music because I like picking the guitar but I also take inspiration from rock ballads and psychedelic music.

“I like being able to talk to the crowd in the form of a ballad and I like changing song structures and playing around with my voice, adding reverb and delay effects which works well with psychedelic music.”

Despite the diverse mix of genres that Jack covers as Curly Mouth, there is one artist he pins as a major influence.

Jack said: “My main influence would be Frank Zappa because he can cover five genres in a single song.

“If I can do that over one album I will be happy.”

After finishing college at Holmes Chapel Sixth Form, Jack went to Brunel University in London to study creative writing.

He said: “I did not really enjoy creative writing that much so I was focusing on music while I was there.

“After university my friend Jake McNeil, from Nikki and the Waves suggested moving to Liverpool because it’s a brilliant place for music.

“We moved to Liverpool with Jimmy Smith and Hayden Giles, two of our friends from school.”

Jack usually performs on his own live and he has become used to performing stripped back versions of his songs, but this changed at a gig in Liverpool late in January when for the first time Curly Mouth performed with a full band.

Jack said: “It was strange because I’m so used to performing stripped back versions of the songs.

“To have a band behind me felt euphoric and it was great to play the songs how they should be played.”

Despite performing with a band for the first time, it is still very much a solo project for Jack.

He said: “The composition and recording is all me really. On this new album I wanted some violin in there so my friend Wil Pritchard played some melodies for me that I had composed.”

“I do a preliminary mix of the songs to make demos and then I send them off to a friend of mine called Reuben Kyriakides who masters them for me.

“After that I have some time to listen to the songs and reflect on them before I release them, that can be nice because I know there is not much else to do then.

“After a while though it drives me mad and it can feel like I just need to get them released.”

Curly Mouth takes up a significant amount of Jack’s time as he looks to make music his main profession.

He said: “I treat it like my job. I only work two days a week and most of my free time is spent on music.

“I’m not getting payed like some musicians do but I hope that this will be how I bring the bread home.”

Jack has plenty planned for 2019 including a new album and a new EP.

He said: “I am releasing an EP for my girlfriend on Valentine’s Day and on the anniversary of my first album as Curly Mouth I will be releasing ‘Post Mortem Depression’.

“My last album, Peace, Love and Septicaemia came out on the Spring equinox last year so the new album will be out on the same day this year.”

The promotional photography for ‘Post Mortem Depression’ was taken by Charlotte Rudd, a Knutsford photographer.

The makeup for the photoshoot was by Victoria Edgerton, from For Real Training.

The new album will be released on Wednesday, March 20.