Babyshambles drummer goes solo

by Kev Geoghegan
Radio 1 music reporter

Babyshambles drummer Adam Ficek will release his debut solo album in late September.

Under the guise of Roses Kings Castles, Ficek plays every instrument on the record.

A new single, Entroubled, will come out prior to the album on 8 September.

Ficek admits he takes some inspiration from his other band.

He said: "It does tap into the more indie pop, melodic Babyshambles."

He added: "It's not as rock and roll as Babyshambles, I'm into a lot of early indie stuff like Belle & Sebastian."

Ficek already has one single under his belt, Sparkling Bootz, which was the first track from the forthcoming album and was given to fans on MySpace.

His vocals share the same street urchin quality as his Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty.

For that genuine east London barrow boy sound, he even works in a mouth organ solo and some old school whistling.

I think Pete is into his own words but we have co-written some stuff for the next album Adam Ficek

In preparation for the album release, Ficek has been playing open mic nights and small venues around London.

He said: "I did open mics because I didn't want to launch myself as the 'drummer from Babyshambles' because I knew that people would just turn up and expect Babyshambles songs."

Ficek was a self-confessed nervous wreck at the shows and reckons being on stage without the safety net of a band has given him more respect for frontmen.

He said: "You're so exposed and it makes me respect what Peter does because you can't go out there and fake it, you're got to give it your all."

Rose Kings Castles is out on 22 September.