vanity project interviews

Tim Ten Yen

2007-02-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

If you note the live review here, I hope I’ve made it clear that I took rather an instant shine to Tim Ten Yen, a solo artist in a very real way, well, unless you consider the contributions of his stuffed sidekick, the Sinister Cat. An utterly beguiling gentleman, in performance, in his tunes (check out his MySpace site and do BUY HIS RECORDS!!!) and in interview. As you will see.

>Please introduce yourself. What qualities do you think you bring to the world of music?
Hello, my name is Tim Ten Yen. I bring a bar of gold I didn't steal to the world of music.

>What motivates you to make music?
I want to make people genuinely happy. Happy music is the absolute hardest music in the world to write. I genuinely dedicate my life to it until I die.

>For someone exploring Tim Ten Yen for the first time, what one fact about you should they know before they start?
What I do is completely sincere. I'm sorry!

>What are the advantages of performing solo? Do you notice differences in the audience responses to the lack of on-stage instrumentation?
I like to keep everything very minimal. I feel my songs should come across without any gimicks. For this reason I like having no band, as I know if it's just me singing my songs, and I get to the end of show having taken people somewhere different (and hopefully better!) than they were at the beginning, then the songs are okay. It is all about the songs.

>What inspires you musically?
I love cars going past with their windows down and their music streaming out, blending with road drills. And even if a song isn't about girls, it's normally better if they're in the picture. I don't know what it is. They're like the moon.

>Do you plan to collaborate with others?
I wouldn't necessarily plan to collaborate as such, though I would like to write songs for people.

>Any ideal collaborators?
I'd love to write a song for Bjork. I think she's an amazing and beautiful singer, but I think she needs to make a really great pop record. Her voice is so other worldly, and even more so when she is singing normally and playing it straight, which she rarely ever does. I think a lot of the time she sounds dangerously like a female version of Bono, where she goes soft.....then lets rip with a lot of histrionics in her high range. I don't think she needs to do this. Though she's an internationally successful singer and I'm only Tim Ten Yen, so I am probably wrong!

>On an TTY curated festival bill, who else would play?
Hmmm.... good question! I would say I'd decline to curate a festival like this! I like to keep my cards quite close to my chest as far as who my influences are. Not from being secretive, but because I feel such a personal attachment to music and bands/artists that I love, I don't really like them being out there in the public domain. I like hinting at stuff, but I think a festival with my name on it might give me a nervous breakdown! I'd love to support R.E.M. though, if they ever did a show with Bill Berry back behind the drums. Somewhere like the Astoria! With Simon and Garfunkel doing an unannounced 5 or 6 songs before R.E.M. came on. And compered by Gene Hackman.

>Has a musical event/musician changed your life? If so, how? Or describe a musical epiphany you have had.
I had a musical epiphany ages ago when I saw Moby live at a festival. It was back in the day when he'd not long released his punk album “Animal Rights”. Having a live punk band playing along to minidiscs of his early house tracks and him just screaming over the top just flattened so many misconceptions I had about what you have to do to play live. Although I do nothing like this, I owe him, somehow!

>What other future plans do you have for gigs and recordings?
My debut single “Girl Number One” will be out on 26th March, and there should be some live shows around that to that we're just confirming as we speak.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?
Playing Reading Festival, having been to my friend's wedding earlier in the day. It rained half an hour before my set so I had a tent with 2000 sheltering people to play to. Thank you rain!

>What are your ambitions?
To play live on the moon, or at least in space over the Pacific Ocean.

>What does ‘success’ mean to you?
Success means writing a song, performing it and it going just the way you hoped!

>What makes you cry?
If I hurt somebody and don't mean to.

>What makes you smile?
Dogs in parks running around and disappointing their posh owners by just being dogs and doing what dogs like to do. And dogs generally running after sticks. Amazing.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?
Any Man, Woman, Girl or Boy, looking over their shoulder rather than being themselves.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?
The “Don't turn around – just walk away!” chorus of the Long Blondes 'Femme Fatal' record that's getting a lot of air play, particularly near the end when they loop it round a few more times. I always get up turn it up and have a dance to that each time it comes on.

>What’s better, singles, LPS or downloads? Why so?
Still LPs, because you get a whole package to hold and pore over while you're listening to the record.
I love downloads for the spontaneity of being able to hear a track and then own it within a couple of minutes. I think that's superb and justifies their existence completely. And I love singles for the way you buy them and play them over and over and over again. But LPs still win.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?
I absolutely love sleeping, I love to dream, I have epic dreams in far off places that are also familiar, and I get to fly. Having a good dream, getting up, going for breakfast, and seeing a beautiful girl I'd never have a cat's chance in hell with is just.....yes. It's why I can't drink much – if I drink I then don't dream properly. Which is a big shame, as I love lager beer.

>What is/was your favourite book, and why?
Bad City Blues and the follow up...which I can't remember the title of, by Tim Willocks. Completely accessible, but utterly beautiful, a bit horrible, and inspiring.

>Any other words of wisdom for VP readers?
Just give them a quick call, then it's done.

Los Campesinos

2007-02-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

Ben Woolhead asked the question of Tom and Gareth who play within the highly-rated Cardiff based band Los Campesinos. They appear, alongside Gindrinker, on the 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For The 22 Of Us' compilation, which is reviewed here.

>Who or what inspires you?

Tom: Musically it's the usual lot we answer, Pavement, Broken Social Scene, Yo La Tengo, Wolf Parade et al, and though we (I don't think) sound like a lot of them, I guess it's more a case of applying a lot of things we like about those bands to a pop framework... sorry, easy to slip into pretentious answers when we talk about things like inspiration...

Gareth: Lyrically I like a lot of “trail of thought” type lyricists, that steer away from broad phrases that capture general feelings and focus on the specifics. People like Aidan Moffat and Owen Ashworth and Darren Hayman that tell stories that aren’t about their clothes. Also the constant feeling of mild annoyance that rests in the pit of my belly. And how every film I watch disappoints me. At the moment anyway.

>You started out from a core of three and gradually acquired more members. What made you stop at seven?

Tom: I'm not sure we have stopped yet, although it's not a free-for-all... but I guess it just felt like the songs we had demanded a number of parts, and so kept on adding. I like the idea of playing fairly simple songs and just building lots of parts around them, but it also gives us a lot of potential to create a variety of sounds hopefully... I'd be quite keen to get some brass involved at some point too...

>Each member of the band seems to bring a different set of musical tastes and reference points to the table. Does this make writing songs together and deciding on a direction difficult? How do Los Campesinos! songs evolve?

Tom: It's more a positive thing than anything, as it means we always have a lot of ideas to play with. The songs generally evolve from some demos I'll come up with, and then Gareth will provide vocal lines... then when we take them into a band context they can evolve and change direction however they need to...

Gareth: And quite crucially we’ve never decided on a direction as such. The songs just get written and if they’re good and not funk then that’s super.

>Thanks to internet word-of-mouth you were catapulted into the limelight having been together for only a short while and having played only a very few gigs. How did that feel?

Tom: Quite surreal, and I guess it's something we're still coming to terms with. It's still surprising, and I hope it always is, because I'd hate to slip into any sort of complacency where we feel we deserve to be in this position, because so much of it is just down to luck. But we're trying to make the most of it. Honest.

Gareth: I think there was also quite a big feeling of embarrassment. I mean, we’d found ourselves in this situation without having really done much to get ourselves there, so we felt wholly undeserving, and still do in many respects. It just means we have to work really hard at being a good band, and making sure we don’t disappoint people that put their faith in us.

>You were the subject of a lot of label interest. What was it like being in such demand, and why Wichita?

Tom: It was lovely to feel like we had a choice, especially so unexpectedly and from so many labels we respect a lot. Wichita became the obvious choice in the end because there was an instant connection with the people that run it, both musically and personally. They're a really small label so there's potential to build up a genuine relationship with them, while they're happy to offer us as much creative freedom as we want. Plus they got us really really drunk and came with suitcases filled with piles of cash and all manner of drugs... weed, coke, smack, anything the aspiring rock cliche could want...

Gareth: The amount of times I’ve read people say that we made the right choice in going with Wichita since has certainly been reassuring too, but we’re in no doubt that this is the label that we can work with and help us become what we want to be.

>Complete the following sentence: Cardiff is…

Tom: ...the opening to this question that I can't think up anything witty or profound to answer with.

>What influence has Cardiff had on you as a band, or on your songs?

Tom: Well it's where we all met, but meeting lots of bands who all play such an exciting range of music has been lovely. I think quite importantly Cardiff is detached from any of the bigger cities that sometimes seem to breed generic, incestuous forms of music as a result of any real or illusory “scenes”... or something like that. But there are also bands like the Super Furries who we look up to massively, as they just continuously do their own thing and constantly offer a variety of styles.

>What impression do you think the This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The 22 Of Us compilation gives of the city’s musical culture?

Tom: It's a good advert for all the great and diverse bands that are making lovely music here. I don't think any of the bands on there sound the same or even similar, which is obviously a good thing.

>What’s next for Los Campesinos!?

Going to finish watching the England game, and then get some work done. We're demo-ing soon and bulding up to a single release and tour which is all very exciting. Lectures in the morning make sure we don't get carried away with such frivolities though...

Gindrinker

2007-02-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

Gindrinker’s debut release consists of five songs: ‘Bacon Pt 2’, about a man photographed in a compromising position with some ham; ‘God Of Darts’, about Jim Bowen and ‘Bullseye’; ‘Hey! Greengrocer’, about an errant purveyor of fruit and veg; ‘Reilly’, about a local pub for local people; and ‘Ian The Dog Murderer’, about an animal rights activist with unorthodox methods. Obviously, you need to own it. Ben Woolhead

Ben speaks with Gindrinker’s DC Gates (vox/trumpet) and Graf (guitars/beats)

>Who or what inspires you?

DC: I thought about being facetious here, but I don’t want to be a twat, so (in no particular order): William Burroughs, John Cooper Clarke, Big Black, Les Dawson, Flannery O’Connor, Whitehouse, The Fall, Godflesh, Black Sabbath, Suicide, Throbbing Gristle, Butthole Surfers … I could go on. Lots of stuff, basically.

Graf: Apathy and the aversion of. I am really pleased that we are seen as a “love ‘em or hate ‘em” type band. I would much rather people paid any kind of attention than being a middle-of-the-road plodding indie band that people forget in an instant.

>You're the sort of band that people relish describing. Who's come closest to capturing what Gindrinker are all about and how did they describe you?

DC: Probably the various descriptions given by Lesson Number One [Cardiff promoter]
e.g. “Improbable tales, dry Northern wit and messy post-punk tuneage”, “Gruesome closing-time cabaret”, “If Ballard and Bukowski were barmen, and couldn't play bass.” Etc. Although I still like “Like Pop Will Eat Itself, only shitter.” Still haven’t heard PWEI.

>How would you describe yourselves?

DC: Personally, I’d say industrial garage rock, although I wouldn’t lump the band in with either camp. We keep being compared to The Fall, that’s a lazy comparison in my book.

>The sociopathic violence of your songs is tempered by humour, but there does seem to be real bile behind much of what you do. How much of your act is just that – an act?

DC: Well, it’s entirely an act. Nearly every song is from a viewpoint of a fictional character, either based on personal experience, or something I was thinking about. ‘Ian The Dog Murderer’ was based on several articles about the ALF and other groups, and one about urban dog owners. A lot of the music I listen to is heavy or weird, and the songs reflect this. I am a libertarian socialist, but a lot of our songs don’t necessarily reflect this viewpoint. ‘Tax Exiles’ is our only political song so far, and I endorse it – tax heavily those that can easily afford to be heavily taxed, and totally reclaim the wealth of those who refuse to pay and do so through offshore accounts. Meanness, wilful ignorance and narrow-mindedness irritate me greatly, just as much within music as in everyday life. People who talk loudly over quiet music that they have paid to see, just to say they were there, should have their legs broken.

Graf: I’m more sociophobic than sociopathic hence I tend to keep quiet and face the back a lot.

>Complete the following sentence: “Cardiff is...”

DC: “... both a shithole and a glittering palace of delights.”

Graf: “... interesting.”

>What influence has Cardiff had on you as a band, or your songs?

DC: Having worked in bars for five years has added to my gloomy and misanthropic lyrical output, and moving to a city meant that I got to encounter people who introduced me to different types of music. This has been a pleasure.

Graf: I’m really enjoying the current culture of support and collaboration in Cardiff. It can only be a good thing that people in bands go and see, support, promote and even play in other people’s bands. I hear stories of “The Great Cardiff Indie Wars of circa 2000” where (allegedly) due to a few egos getting out of control a lot of people got burnt. I really really really hope that doesn’t happen again. The current happenings have often been described as a community rather than a scene which I think is very apt.

>What impression do you think the This Town Ain't Big Enough For The 22 Of Us compilation gives of the city's musical culture?

DC: An unfortunate side-effect has been an over-emphasis on a certain type of indie music. There’s a lot of other stuff going on. That said, it’s been a leg-up for many people.

Graf: It is unfortunate but then again Twisted By Design is an indie disco so it is inevitably largely going to attract people who like and play the indie music. If I made a compilation of my 22 favourite Cardiff bands it would be different, if DC made one it would be different again, as would yours, as would anyone else’s. It is a very healthy sign of current musical goings-on that I can easily make a whole list of other bands that I believe deserved to be on there as well. Maybe it should have been a double album! Also, it’s worth remembering that it’s a compilation of unsigned bands which automatically excluded a lot of the city’s bigger players.

> ‘Hey Greengrocer!’ features a lot of inventive name-calling. What’s your favourite insult?

DC: “Whey-faced popinjay” is a good one, as is “brain donor”. I nicked “Falstaffian rampart of beef” from Wyndham Lewis and “Fray Bentos pie of a man” from my good friend Dan Onions. Thanks, fellas.

>What's next for Gindrinker?

DC: Hopefully some proper recordings, and some more dates outside of Cardiff. Reaching out to new people. It’s been awesome to have been doing this for two years, but we need to get stuff done this year. Our Great Leap Forward, if you will, but hopefully without the massive loss of life.

Graf: We’ve finally got our CDR demo finished (two years in the making!) so next begins the arduous process of sending that out to anyone who may be remotely interested and seeing what comes of that. I also agree that we need to get out of Cardiff more. I love playing in Cardiff but it does sometimes get a little disheartening to be playing to the same faces (as beautiful as they are!) all the time. We need a fresh challenge.

MJ Hibbett & The Validators

2007-01-10T11:43:00.001-08:00

One thing that has remained constant in Vanity Project’s five years is our appreciation of MJ Hibbett both with and without the Validators. I had made the assumption that we had interviewed MJ already cos we’ve written about the Validators often in the last half decade, but although a feature on his record label Artists Against Success, and several record reviews, have appeared, there was no interview. To my mind, shocking, and needing to be put right. So I have. Skif.

>How did The Validators originally come together?

I knew Tim from being in bands in Leicester at the same time as each other and Frankie via an email list called uk-indie. I asked both of them to come and help me record a single, "Born With The Century", and we had so much fun doing that we kept on going. Tom joined shortly after that, and is the only survivor of about ten of my friends who were in the band for a while, whilst Emma came aboard a year or so later, after she and I had performed a song together at her and Tim's wedding.

>Please introduce yourself and your Validators? What qualities do you each bring to the band?

Hello, my names Mark (although, in ROCK terms, I am MJ). I'm the one who usually tries to organise things and comes up with daft ideas, although lately both of these duties (especially the latter) have been taken on by Mr Timothy Pattison, our drummer. He and Emma, our other singer, are really the heart of the band - I sometimes think that without them we'd just be three blokes who are out past their bed times. Tom "Tiger" McClure is our violinist, representative of The Younger Generation, and all round bit of CLASS, whilst Francis Albert Machines is our bass player, musical maestro and, when any of the rest of us are getting a bit sensible, our cheeky chappy.

>For someone exploring MJ Hibbett/The Validators for the first time, what one fact about you should they know before they start?
Anything you hear in our lyrics that you think is sarcasm, or meant to be taken ironically, or a half-truth, never is - everything we say, we mean. This seems to confused some people who seem to want me to say that I don't REALLY like Take That or something, but I do! Also, we're a bit older than most bands in our position and all have vivid and exciting lives outside the Krazy World Of Rock, so everything we do we do for the love of it. We're not hear for a pension scheme, we're here for the ROCK!

>Are The Validators relevant?

We try to be - we're always trying to write songs about actual real-live things that are happening now, rather than repeating the same old teenage clichés that so many people think they can get away with. We are, however, neither "hip" nor "cool", and especially not "edgy".

>What makes you VALID?

See above! Like I say, we're here because we like it, not because we want to rip anybody off or put anybody down. In this respect, and I am sure many others, we are the modern incarnation of The Monkees.

>What are the advantages of doing the songs with the band, and what are the advantages of performing them solo? Do you notice a difference in the audience responses to either?

Playing with the band is a lot more fun, because it's a lot less lonely, but it's a lot more complicated to get everybody there and have everything set up, and it's usually a lot more frustrating. We're a band where you NEED to hear the lyrics but for some reason very very few soundmen seem to understand this. It drives me mad, to be honest - when you buy a record you can ALWAYS hear the words, and yet at gigs this is very rarely the case. When we meet NICE soundmen who GET IT it is always a thing of joy, and often I am moved to HUG them, but usually the idea that you can TURN DOWN THE GUITARS seems to pass them completely by. Playing solo, then, is usually a LOT easier to sort out, and for the reasons above is usually a bit more Musically Satisfying, as people can HEAR the words.

There's a couple of other differences I've noticed between band and solo stuff - first of all people are much more likely to DANCE when you've got a band, and secondly there more likely to give RESPECT too! When most audiences see someone advancing on the stage with an acoustic guitar they are likely to think EITHER "It's a dreary old folk sod who's going to take ten minutes to sing one song about a wheelbarrow or something - RUN AWAY!" OR "Here comes someone who is going to play Quiet Jazz, COME! let us gather at he front of the stage and TALK LOUDLY." The way I play and the way I sing have all been developed over YEARS of forcing people to stay and listen in exactly those situations!

>What inspires you musically? What motivates you to do music?

I just find it exciting to create something from nothing - the BUZZ when there's an idea for a new song going round my head, slowly falling into place, is like nothing else, and the THRILL of playing stuff with the band, or in front of new people, is GRATE. I do it because I love it, and I keep doing it because it keeps getting better!

>Do you plan to collaborate with others? Any ideal collaborators?

Not really - I tend to write songs really really slowly, I'm not very good at picking up other people's tunes, and it's been YEARS since I've really had a go at doing it, so I think that if I tried to write a song with somebody else I'd just annoy them! That said, I do of course collaborate with The Validators, who end up writing loads of the music when we have practices, and I'm working on some tunes sent to me by Frankie, but I'd be too scared of getting beaten up by enraged songwriters, driven to madness by my inability to play along with anything but the most basic chords, to even try it with anybody else!

>On an MJ Hibbett curated festival bill, who else would play?

I have thought about this a LOT! I'd like to get the people who've inspired ME on, although obviously they'd have to play after we'd been on, so that it'd look like they were ripping US off - so John Otway, Billy Bragg, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Boo Radleys, Paul McCartney, Phil Wilson and, if possible, Kenickie. Then I'd get a few in for The Validators, like The Wedding Present and The Fall, although I'd have to draw the line at Stereolab. It'd be nice to get in some bands I KNOW who I think other people would like, so we'd need Johnny Domino, Lardpony, Bobby McGees, Pete Green and, if MIRACLES were allowed, The Frightened Prisoners Of The Kraken: GRATEST live band EVER! I also saw a couple of good bands at different places last week, Horowitz from Stoke and The Dirty Backbeats from Leicester, let's get them in. We'll have Art Brut, Chris TT and Charlotte Hatherley because I REALLY like them, and I think for Sunday afternoon we'll have Take That because they were always GRATE, their new album is Dead Good (I would say "Surprisingly Good" but I'm a big fan so wasn't surprised at all) and anybody who claims not to like them needs sorting OUT!

>Has a musical event/musician changed your life? If so, how? Or describe a musical epiphany you have had.

Many years ago, when I lived in Leicester, a friend of mine asked if I fancied joining a group of them who were going up to Glasgow QMU to see Adventures In Stereo, who I quite liked, and a band called Belle & Sebastian, who'd just released their second album and who I'd heard once on Mark Radcliffe. LITTLE DID I KNOW that it was going to be the BEST GIG OF MY LIFE: Adventures in Stereo were OK, but Belle & Sebastian were ASTONISHING. Every single song they played was FANTASTIC, every NOTE sounded profoundly RIGHT, and everybody there was gobsmacked. I lost my friends in the crowd, so turned to the people next to me and said "I don't know you, but I've got to tell somebody - this band is fucking AMAZING!" and they all nodded, DUMBSTRUCK by how incredible it was.

Seeing and hearing them that night I realised that you COULD do your own thing and do it RIGHT, and that there was still fantastic music out there that could speak directly to ME. As soon as I got home I started writing newer, better songs, going out to gigs again, playing live more often, and soon I was meeting with Mr M Whitaker and Mr F Machine to start up Artists Against Success. I wasn't the only one either - just with our little group several bands started and I'm pretty sure two other labels in Leicester took on a new lease of life because of that night, and it set off a gig explosion in the area that saw loads of other new bands, labels and club nights start up.

They really had a massive effect on us and, I'm sure, plenty of other scenes around the country, and I think that's why the corporate media turned on them so quickly, as they were inspiring people completely without their say so. I was also surprised, as I went to see them many more times over the next couple of years, to find that their live act was never anything LIKE as good again - indeed, for a long time they were RUBBISH live - but then I guess nothing could ever top that particular evening.

>What other future plans do you have for gigs and recordings?

In 2007 I'm hoping to do a lot LESS gigs - I've done 50 this year, which is more than enough for anybody, and though it's been a lot of fun I've hardly seen my girlfriend and have spent an awful lot of time KNACKERED. We're aiming to do some festivals as a band if we can, but otherwise we're planning to SECRETE ourselves in a studio in Derby and getting learning up some new stuff.

As for recordings - hopefully a single in the Spring, and MAYBE another one towards the end of the year, depending on if we can find time to record it!

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

SOPPY ANSWER: getting The Validators together, seeing them get on together, and meeting so many lovely people at gigs.
ROCK ANSWER: doing a session on Radio 1, that was REALLY exciting!

>What are your ambitions?

I don't know - apart from idle thoughts on the train about what song I'd like band to play when I'm poncing down the stairs on PARKINSON I tend not to think of it that way. I'd like to reach more people, just because I love it when I meet someone that my songs MEAN anything to, but generally I've found that the best thing to do is NOT to have any kind of Career Plan of ROCK, but to see what Adventures become available to you and after them. JE SUIS UN HIPPY.

>What does ‘success’ mean to you?

In the lower case, success in ROCK is coming away from a gig feeling happy with what happened. It doesn't have to be a sell-out crowd or a lot of sales or even getting paid - very often it's none of these things - but it can be seeing an old pal, having some nice BEER, doing a new song, or just seeing a couple snogging because they're happy. Any of those things make for a successful night.

In Title Case, of course, Success is signing your self up to a massive corporation, hating the people who buy your records, thinking you're better than the people at your gigs, and believing that the best song you can write is the one that makes the most money. Here at Artists Against Success that's the sort of thing we're AGAINST!

>What makes you cry?

The older I get the more sentimental I become. Documentaries, adverts for Hovis, The X-Factor, anything really!

>What makes you smile?

Living in London turns you into a CURMUDGEON, which gives you AMPLE opportunity to be proved wrong - getting on the tube thinking "GAH! Everyone is an IDIOT - get out of my WAY, FOOLS!" as one does, it only takes the sight of someone helping a harassed mother carry her pushchair down some stairs to make you realise that, actually, people are ALL RIGHT, and break into a grin.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

When people in bands WILLINGLY sign up for the lies peddled by the corporations. For example, promoters who put on "UNSIGNED" nights and the bands who play them, somehow thinking it's ROCK AND ROLL to get tied up in a complex legal contract with a massive money making machine who'd rather have 15,000 Shayne Wards than 1 Elvis.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?

The enthusiasm of the thousands of people who go out to see gigs all the time. I so rarely get to go and see a band just for FUN that it always amazes me how many people make the effort. Without them NONE of it would happen. Also Promoters Who Aren't In Bands: I can never understand WHY anyone would want to go through all the hassle of putting on a gig and then not even PLAY it themselves, but I'm really glad they do!

>What’s better, singles, LPS or downloads? Why so?

Albums! You can LOOK at them and hold them and READ them and carry them around, and it's a SPECIALLY SELECTED batch of song chosen by the people who wrote and recorded them, and put in a SPECIFIC ORDER to make the experience better. It's like the ultimate home made mix-tape, why would anybody rather leave it to a machine?

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?

My Mrs, constitutional politics, the works of Stan Lee and Alan Moore, being Veggie, ludicrously pointless Beatles trivia, and proper BEER. Yes, I believe that would mean I am a bit of a GEEK.

>What is/was your favourite book, and why?

Emma, by Jane Austen - it's funny, it's clever, it's exciting, it always makes me cry, and it was the first book I read when I finally finished HAVING to read books for qualifications, and realised once again that they can be fun. It's bloody GRATE!

>Any other words of wisdom for VP readers?

Be very careful mixing money and friendship, don't dislike something just because someone you hate likes it (The Lesson Of The Smiths) and always ALWAYS make sure you've got a pen to hand and a clean pair of pants in the drawer, then you'll never go far wrong.

Oh yeah, and hug your friends whenever you get the chance, ESPECIALLY if they pretend not to like it- they LOVE it really!

Stuffy/The Fuses

2006-12-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

Recipient of my single of the year award for 2005, it's been too long to get Stuffy in to tell us about him and his Fuses. Look out for the new LP 'Angels Are Ace' coming very soon. Thanks very much due to Stuffy for his efforts in staying up til 4am, 4 hours before he was due to give a drum lesson to complete this VP survey.

>>How did The Fuses originally come together? What inspired the name?

You have to excuse me. It’s 1:20am and I’ve just cycled back from band rehearsal for this Brakes & Duels support tour. Shellshocked and contented I will try my best to shake my memory into action, I may ramble, stop me if you’ve heard this all before etc...
The Fuses came together in about 1993 [addendum taken from s/tf website: Please note that s/tf formed not in 1993 but 2003. Stuffy was heavily sedated at the time and under the influence of Neil Sedaka.] Jon & Jen Fuse have been in from the start, we are pretty much the stable line up but as with all bands there has to be a rogue instrument, like the dicky fourth wheel on a shopping trolley. With us it’s the Keyboards.

First we had Stevie Fuse who went of to tour the world, then Doc Fuse who chose academia and a quiet life (wisely) over transit life, Chopper Fuse played on the new album but has since gone on to a career in writing music for TV. Now we have Lucy Fuse and I think she’s in for the long haul. She is probably the most committed out of all of us and often the instigator of pro-activity. 2006 - The classic line-up. Seriously though it’s never felt more like stuffy/the fuses than it does now. If any of them left the band I’d call it a day coz I wouldn’t want to do this band with anyone else.

>Please introduce yourself and your Fuses? What qualities do you each bring to the band?

I’m stuffy, I play the drums and sing most of the lead vocals. I also write a majority of the material. I bring the band together to play them – if that’s a quality then that’s mine.

Jen Fuse is lead guitar and is doing more lead vocals these days. Her voice has made a grown man cry. It wasn’t me I hasten to add. Jen’s guitars make the fuses songs the same way that The Flamming Lips aren’t the same without Ronaldo or the way that Greg Saunier drumming immortalizes Deerhoof. (Am I sounding pretentious? As I said it’s early in the morning.) My 2nd favourite Guitarist is Bic Hayes (formerly of Dark Star/Levitation) she’s my 1st.

Jon Fuse plays bass and sings Bvs (somewhat reluctantly). He runs a studio by day and often drops sessions in favour of working on band projects, we owe him a lot & about a kerjillion pounds in studio hours. He brings stability to the band, every note he plays you could set your watch by which is important when I’m your drummer.

Lucy Fuse is our newest member. She plays the Phillicorda, Rhodes piano and Mono Synth and sings Bvs. She brings so much enthusiasm to the band and is an incredibly intuitive musician. She brings a musical version of the Suffolk countryside to our polluted south London pawnshop noise.

>Why should people buy your new LP?

Because they’ve heard it and think it’s ace or seen us live and think we’re ace and want to hear more. I wouldn’t want them to waste their money if they felt it wasn’t their cup of tea. What an odd question.

>For someone exploring Stuffy/The Fuses for the first time, what one fact about you should they know before they start?

English bands should sing in English accents so we do. No transatlantic, seudo-american dropping of h’s, d’s or reshaping of the letter r – I am very proud of this fact.

>Are Stuffy/The Fuses relevant?

Yes, I think so. I don’t think any other band sounds like us and we don’t sound like any other band – arrogant as that sounds. People in the press say we sound like XTC crossed with Shellac but only because they are two influences I bandy about to save them a bit of time. We don’t sound like either really, we sound like stuffy/the fuses.

>What inspires you musically?

A great song inspires me. A fantastic noise inspires me. Seeing a fantastic band and getting home at 3am inspired to stay up all night writing despite having to be up at 7 to go work at some job you hate on no sleep. That’s getting your priorities right.

>What motivates you to do music?

I don’t know, I’ve never wanted to do anything else. I’m very lucky now that I make my living from music outside of s/tf. But there was never any other option. I’m stubborn enough that I had to make it happen somehow. I also have a supportive network of friends and family; only one of whom suggest I give it all up to become and insurance clerk.

>You have appeared in a number of bands from time to time. I saw you drumming twice with Cardiacs a couple of years ago. Are you keen then to try new things musically?

I’m keen to try all things musically. I was once a piss poor viola player in the Stonleigh Youth Orchestra and got to play Shostakovich 5 & Saint Saene’s Organ Symphony. I used to ruin the Surrey Youth Big Band. As you can see I like a bit of variety.

Cardiacs was great for me. The 14 year old me who’s first ever gig was Cardiacs was in heaven. Tim Smith is one of our musical heritages great-unsung heroes as is Bill Drake their old keyboardist. They are not an immediate or wide appeal band, never have been, never will be but their place in history is assured.

>Do you plan to collaborate with others?

Not currently. Open to offers, anything to avoid real work. I have mentioned to a few people that I’d like to try writing partnerships. I’ve only ever written on my own so it would be interesting to see how one would write with a 3rd party. I used to be quite stubborn about parts, getting people to play what I wanted but The Fuses always come up with better parts so I’m far more lenient these days – how big of me.

>Any ideal collaborators?

Someone who know the secret to a great chorus.

I’d quite like to have ago with Chris T-T, I’ve recently done some Bvs for him and our voices are eerily similar. Barry Dobbin formerly of Clor, we have a similar approach but he’s a little more adventurous than I and he knows how to get away with it. Kim Deal would be ace, Pod by the breeders was a huge influence on my musical development.

>On a Stuffy/the fuses curated festival bill, who else would play?

Apart from those mentioned above…
Quasi
Emma Pollack
Future of Left (my current fave band)
The Aprons
Jim O’Rouke
Autolux
Magoo
Napolian IIIrd
Electric Soft Parade
iForward Russia!
Shy Child
The Meat Train
Throwing Muses
Low
Beachbuggy
Sebadoh
Mikrokosmos
The Broken Family Band
Scaramanga Six
Get Rapeman to reform for one show.
PJ Harvey
Sparks
Bob Hund
Pavement
Sonic Youth
Volcano Suns to reform also.
Ed Harcourt
Dr. Dog
MBV
Jacob’s Mouse

…and the bastards who stole our van paraded naked whilst slowly working teaspoons up their backsides.

This could go on all night you know. Probably missed out the best ones.

>Has a musical event/musician changed your life? If so, how? Or describe a musical epiphany you have had.

I formed a band in 2000 whilst living in Japan with a bunch of ex-pat musicians. We were awful, really bad, we knew it. The guitarist was so bad he had to play drums and I had to take over guitar duties. That made me realise that for most of my career I’d played with exceptionally good musicians. I feel lucky I still do.

>What other future plans do you have for gigs and recordings?

We are about to go on tour for two weeks as guests of Brakes, then DUELS. Two bands we respect hugely and have gone out on a limb by inviting us along. We will finish up the year by recording a radio session at the BBC for Mark Lamarr. Hopefully a legitimate full-length release of our Albini recorded album, Angels Are Ace, is not to far off. A split single release with Fake DIY is in the offing and hopefully more touring in the spring.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

Angels Are Ace is definitely up there. I don’t listen to Join Me Or Die very often, I pick holes in it, I wince every few bars on some tunes. This album I put on for pleasure not pain, it’s one of my favourites.

>What are your ambitions?

Jon, Jen and I always talk about the fact we hope we’ll be playing music together well into old age. Be that stuffy/the fuses, a string quartet or whatever. We have all the songs for albums 3 & 4 already; I hope we make lots of very good albums. The day we go, I’m not enjoying this anymore or we feel we’ve run our course we’ll start something else.

>What does ‘success’ mean to you?

Having achievements you are proud of whether or not they have found critical acclaim or financial reward. Mind you those things do smack of success also.

>What makes you cry?

Things that shouldn’t make a big man cry. If something like terms of endearment is on or even a run of the mill schmaltzy flick where someone dies I cry like a small boy lost in a forest. Pathetic.

>What makes you smile?

Lots of things including my camp little cat, my beautiful baby niece and my long-suffering partner.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

Nothing really. It’s all good. I’d rather people listened to music than not.

I suppose it upsets me when I see young bands getting caught up in all the trappings of major labels and huge sums of money without there being some kind of mentoring system in place for them. That poor chap from Keane shouldn’t be in a drying out hostel at his age, I really feel for him, nobody there to say “it’s ok, I’m here if you need me”. Mind you, I wouldn’t have signed them.
All popstars should be like Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs; he’s the happiest most together pop star I’ve ever seen. Down to earth, having the time of his life and can’t believe he gets paid to go “waaaaoooooooooooooh!” a lot.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?

People like Tim Perry of the Independent who runs the Windmill in Brixton. Loves music, believes in paying bands and does it 7 nights a week.

People like Fonda 500, Billy Childish, The Fall, Andy Falkous, The Scaramanga Six – artists with persistence, resilience and courage who’ll still be making excellent records 10 years after they die.

In this time of 3minute attention spans, the fact the kids all still want to play music.

…and we have all the best bands.

>What’s better, singles, LPS or downloads? Why so?

Singles – for the tracks that are too quirky/awkward for the LP
Lps – for the long haul listening pleasure.
Downloads – for the musical buffet experience.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?

People I like. Christmas.

>What is/was your favourite book, and why?

John Pilger’s Heroes: It re-affirmed my disgust with the reality of the capitalist west and made me aware of my social responsibilities once again. Dirty, rotten, commie that I am.

>Any other words of wisdom for VP readers?

Don’t reveal your political affiliations in an interview about music. You may alienate the Daily Mail reading half of your fan base.

Night night Stuffy! Thanks. Skif.

www.stuffyandthefuses.net

Robots In Disguise

2006-11-30T12:08:00.000-08:00

The sauntering enchantresses of Sue Denim and Dee Plume, via their recent RID album, have managed to combine dark humour and punchy provocation shrouded in cosmopolitan delivery. Appearances on The Mighty Boosh and the honour of controlling the after-show festivities for the show’s recent tour of homely venues, has helped Robots In Disguise spread their lofty electro-based sound to a wide ranging audience. The strong minded and talented pair of expansive musicians, kindly take time out to reveal what programmes Robots In Disguise to do the things they do and, be the way are.

>Your debut album ‘RID’ throws artists like Gainsbourg, Ladytron, Client and Blondie into a shot glass and sets fire to them to create a vacuum of salacious power and dark broodiness, with a cosmopolitan edge. Was this the intention? And do you feel that you have achieved the sound you intended to or are you still an outfit in transition?

SUE: There was never an intention to sound like any other band, although I guess everyone is influenced intentionally or not by other sounds and facets of life, unless living as a recluse! We did have certain ideas about how we wanted it to sound, basically, as a progression from our first album, greatly inspired by a lot of touring. On the latest album we wanted the sound very cohesive, as the first album seemed more jumbled together and experimental. But basically we just wrote the songs that came bubbling up from within us and recorded them to sound as exciting and danceable as we could!

Originally we wanted every song to be a possible single. Our producer Chris Corner also influences the way the songs sound, kicks us into shape in the studio, he is really talented, and such a brilliant producer. It's all very democratic in terms of the production though - we spend hours together in the studio making sure everyone's happy with the final sound. The three of us worked together on both albums so there's a lot of trust been built up. Chris is an honorary robot. He is even going to be a girl drummer for us for our next gig in Belgium in a coupla weeks, Ann Droid, hopefully no one will notice!

DEE: Yeah, yeah that was definitely the intention ha ha. Tho proud of the album for me we're still on the way to getting the sound I want. It's very hard trying to get a live sound when it isn't. But the energy of our act is coming through on this album much more than in the previous one

>Standout number on the above album is the murky, but dominant ‘Girl’. What is the story behind this number and were you surprised by the anger that is seemingly concealed within it?

DEE: I'm never surprised by anger, especially when it's my own ;) - it's always there like a demon. Language innately discriminates against women coz so much of it is male invention. Girls growing up need to feel that it's ace to be a girl coz I think a lot of women hate themselves.

SUE: The oppressed have to keep speaking up! :) Feminists prior to now worked so hard and achieved so much and yet there is still not equality, although we have it good in this part of the world in comparison to women in other places. But even over here I think sexism is still accepted by many, and ignored by many others. Maybe it's too frightening to imagine real change. In this song the anger is concealed by the playful approach to the lyrics, but yes, it is there.

>How has The Mighty Boosh Factor helped you on the road to success?

SUE: Being in the Mighty Boosh has hugely helped our profile in the UK. Loads more people know about us now. I know if I was a Mighty Boosh fan (which I am by the way! I mean, if I wasn't in the show as well!) and I found out that the 2 girls in Kraftwerk Orange and in Nanageddon were actually in a REAL LIVE BAND I'd be well excited! We've been friends for ages, they used to come to see us play in tiny venues, we saw them in tiny venues, now they still come to see us in tiny venues and we see them in Brixton Academy and on the telly! He he he. It's been a fantastic opportunity - it was an honour, and great fun, to be part of such an original and brilliant show.

DEE: The fact that they've become successful has helped me believe that there is an audience who want something original and special and that it always takes miles longer to get attention if you're unusual.

>Your live shows often turn into an inhibition releasing exhibition from both yourselves and the crowd. Do you think that live shows on the whole, need life breathing into them? What do you want people to take out of a live Robots In Disguise show?

DEE: Live shows r about us all having a good time - it's our duty as performers to try n get the audience to forget everything n live in the moment. The best live shows r about escaping reality and feeling immortal.

SUE: Live needs life. Otherwise u might as well just listen to the music at home. I want the audience to forget themselves and get lost in the experience, to dance like crazy, sing along and just have a good time, like we do on stage. To not know it's really happening until it's over.

>Describe the song writing process for Robots In Disguise? How do your songs start out?

SUE: One of us will write a verse and chorus and then we complete the song together. Or we come up with an idea together and jam it out. Or one of us will write a verse and chorus and then we throw it all away and start from scratch with the same melody but different lyrics. Or... etc. Often dictionaries and thesauruses will come out. There will be laughter and arguing. Then we will get distracted and talk about anything BUT the song for ages. Then we will go and shoot tequilas for inspiration. Then we do it all again until finally the song is ready. We are usually still finishing lyrics under pressure while recording the song.

DEE: I sit at home n avoid writing by doing chores n then something horrible happens to me and I react by writing.

>Which of your songs sum up your current mood and why?

DEE: Hot Gossip. People just can't stop talking bout us ha ha

SUE: 'Get RID!' (The title track for our album which wasn't finished in time! It'll probably be on the next album).

>Who or what makes you angry??

SUE: Violence. Demands. Abuse. Threats. Money. Power. The unfairness of life. I'm less angry about that than I used to be as I've realised it will always be unfair. Guess it's something to do with where it all leads, for all of us, and how confusing it is to know that and deal with it. Add to that the chaos of nature, human and otherwise. It's all far too confusing if you think about it too much. Thinking in moderation is best for me cos I far too often find myself back to the question of the meaning of life. It's unanswerable
but tantalising. Life is it's own meaning.

DEE: People who can't back down and apologise.

>If you could choose any artist or band to cover one of your songs, who would it be and what song would it be?

SUE: How about Snoop Dogg covering GIRL?! Or Kate Bush covering Voodoo?

DEE: Peaches or Madonna with Boys, Serge Gainsbourg (even from the grave) La Nuit.

>Finally, if you could change one thing about the modern music industry, what would it be and why?

DEE: That there was sum positive discrimination for girl bands.

SUE: The industry should be more patient. There would be far more interesting and artistic music that way. Instead of the whole 'newest, best, newest, best in the world, newest in the universe' etc etc mentality. The building up a new band to then bash them down. The UK especially is guilty of this. We were quite lucky to have a chance to sneak off and do our own thing and develop away from Englands' judging eyes, in France mainly, with better riders, better fees and more exotic locations! I think it's quite hilarious that we're being called a 'hot, new band' now in the UK (by the same publication that called us the 'worst band in Britain' not long ago!) when we're already on our 3rd album. Hilarious but good! Better than 'shit, old band'. There is a move away from the industry entirely. It could end up as only the music producers and the music buyers, no industry. This would be ok except that you'd probably get one album every 10 years cos the bands would be so tied up with all the business. I know from experience.

Thanks for the interview! SUE X

Interview undertaken by David Adair

Zukanican

2006-07-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

With both of their albums thus far, I have found that Zukanican’s music inspires the imagination, trying to keep up with them in terms of creativity though is possibly a futile task. As such we’ve waved the white flag and decided to find out a little bit more about what makes Zukanican tick. So we asked the questions of Tom Sumnall (electric & double bass), James Pagella (drums & percussion), Harry Sumnall (electronics, percussion) , Phil Lucking ( trumpets) and Ray Dickaty (saxophones & flute). Do check out their stuff at MySpace.com/zukanican. Skif.

>Please introduce yourself and your bandmates, what do you each bring to Zukanican?
Well, there’s Tom who mostly plays low notes, Harry, my brother, plays a mixture of low and high notes plus a fair bit of alien dialogue, James has an OCD of whacking plastic with pieces of wood, and Phil and Ray both blow into complicated engineered brass tubes, although Ray’s is slightly longer. So that’s Tom, Harry, James, Phil and Ray – Zukanican.

>For someone exploring Zukanican for the first time, what one fact about you should they know before they start?
Tom: We make it up as we go along.
Harry: Although the land of Zukania is real and is for everyone, no punks or bullies are allowed..oh and yes, its *meant* to sound like that…
Phil: Nothing is ever repeated, apart from sometimes the head of a tune.
James: We didn’t meet at Fame Academy.
Ray: Keep an open mind.

>Are Zukanican relevant?
Tom: I think that Zukanican are very relevant to the basic human desire to enjoy themselves, both for the listener and us.
Harry: No, not at all. We exist outside, and besides, time and relevance.
Phil: Yes.
James: Yes. To ourselves and I believe a greater public.
Ray: What is relevance? Relevance only works in relation to so in relation to the music industry we are not relevant but in relation to ourselves, of course we are.

>What else inspires you, musically and lyrically?
Tom: The bold musicians that I play with inspire me.
Harry: As Zukanican’s lead singer and focus of attention I have written many volumes of lyrics, all deeply held expressions of myself; resulting from environment, memory, interaction, or experience. However, my microphone is always mysteriously turned off during gigs and recordings so no one has ever heard them. Musically, I am inspired by a replenished sebsi…
Phil: Too many things to even start picking a favourite.
Ray: Too much, and sometimes nothing at all.

>Do you plan to collaborate with others? Any ideal collaborators?
Tom: We’ve done a few ‘celebrated’ local gigs with Damo Suzuki and that has always seemed to work very well. We have lots of musical friends and I think we’d have more in common playing with them than other well-known names. Saying that, I would have loved to play in the 70s Arkestra (as if).
Harry: Regular live collaborators with Damo Suzuki, would be great to collaborate with Jeremy Barnes, mmm big hippie death cult jams tribal next.
Phil: Haven’t thought about it, but would be open to suggestion.
James: I think so. We do well with Damo Suzuki and the fact that we are instrumental helps with the idea of further team-ups. I (James) would like to join forces with Serge Gainsbourg or P J Harvey.
Ray: It has been discussed.

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…
Tom: Electricity for musicians would be subsidised.
Harry: Be on time, be organised, alcohol free, listen to what was going on, and maybe have read one or two hardback books
Phil: Be ideal?
James: Champion the music and demonstrate that it really is the ‘antidote’ to style.
Ray: Probably not exist.

>Why should people buy ‘Horse Republic’?
Tom: It’s (hopefully) quite unlike anything they will have heard before.
Harry: It provides the opportunity to create at least 7 new dance crazes – The Jacques du Kronk is currently a winner
Phil: Because it’s good
James: Because they have not heard it yet and to do so is good fun in a different way than Snow Patrol.
Ray: To make us rich and famous (I don't think so!).

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?
Tom: Passing my grade 4 double bass exam aged 15.
Harry: Playing in several different bands at once, all completely different styles, but pretty much the same people
Phil: Those amazing moments when I can’t believe my ears. These usually occur playing live gigs.
James: Playing in time sometimes – sometimes we play all at the same time!
Ray: Mostly during practice sessions when something happens that was unexpected that sends you off in a strange direction, a series of notes or a particular tone... that occurs..minor ephiany.
Occasionally if you are lucky this can happen onstage in front of an audience and if everyones on it , it becomes like magic.

>On a Zukanican curated festival bill, who would play?
Tom: Medeski, Martin & Wood, Pavement, Beck, The Fall, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Living Brain, the holy ghost of Albert Ayler, The Stairs and Bablicon – all on stage at the same time.
Phil: The Sun Ra Arkestra, which is now led by Marshall Allen, Ornette Coleman, Lee Perry, Die Like a Dog Quartet, Sierra Maestra………………..spoiled for choice.
James: Fela Kuti, The Magic Band, U-Roy, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Tom Waits, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Pavement, Mirrorball, Cubical and The 747s – we would sit off and try and smoke Sun Ra back into existence. And Snow Patrol of course.
Ray: Brian Eno, Peter Brotzman, Ash Ra Temple, Bonnie prince Billy, Stockhausen, Leonard Cohen, Albert Ayler, Ornette ...............................this could go on for a very long time!!! So an eclectic bill of music that had a natural progression from deep earth to outer space so at the end of the bill, all present would no longer exist in the physical world but had transcended.

>What are your ambitions?
Tom: To keep creating the opportunities to record and play music.
Harry: My band Melodie du Kronk needs a record label
Phil: To be happy
James: Mine? Was I supposed to have some after Horse Republic – I thought that was it! Shit.
Ray: To stay alive and healthy enough to continue to play a physically demanding instrument.

>What does ‘success’ mean to you?
Tom: ‘Join another band’
Harry: It’s been so long since we were not so incredibly successful that it’s impossible to give a non relativist response. Other than that, it means being able to install a chocolate waterfall for the new Kif.
Phil: To be able to play the music I like and get paid for it.
James: Getting flown to an amazing location, playing to a select few for an entire night, paid a king’s ransom and delivered home safe without once being recognised as a star.
Ray: To continue being an artist/musician.

>What makes you cry?
Tom: Rolf’s Animal Hospital.
Harry: Poorly cats with cross eyes and broken tails
Phil: Tragedy
James: Usual things, love mistakes and animals suffering. Snow Patrol.
Ray: Me.

>What makes you smile?
Tom: When my cat starts purring for no reason.
Harry: Young children falling over and scraping their foreheads
Phil: Humour
James: Being caked in sweat after an hours playing to a nice crowd knowing that until that point and for the rest of the gig I have had no idea what I am doing.
Ray: Me.

>Has a musical event/musician changed your life? If so, how? Or describe a musical epiphany you have had.
Tom: Watching The Beta Band on their first tour in Liverpool opened up to me the boundaries of what could be done in a live setting. Watching a 75 year old Ornette Coleman at The Barbican two years ago puts almost every musician I have seen to shame. I’ve also learnt a lot from a guy called Ged Lynn who introduced me to the world beyond 4/4.
Phil: Sun Ra, when I realised that his music was indeed multi-dimensional and operating on many different levels.
James: Watching Bablicon after I had spent years of playing in guitar bands. Never seen the future look so relaxed yet intense. Watching people play is mostly enlightening to whatever level they play.
Ray: Massive Attack coming onstage with the biggest earth vibrating bass sound in the history of tents and fields. A free jazz sax player on the streets of Washington DC late one night as I was returning to my hotel after a night out. This made me question my place in the band I was on tour with, what I was doing musically, and where I wanted to be, go with music. Psych Hip Hop Brooklyn based band, New Kingdom on stage at a white upper class college in New England USA. The WASPS were afraid...very afraid... it was war!! Seeing Kraftwerk, closely followed by the original (reformed) Black Sabbath at a festival in Denmark.

>What’s better, singles, LPS or downloads? What do you consider the most useful to Zukanican right now?
Tom: Any really, as long as they make people want to leave the house and watch us play. I’m not opposed to downloads, although a digital computer file doesn’t really come close to holding a heavy vinyl disc surrounded by some great artwork.
Harry: The planned range of Zukanican ringtones is going to be our introduction to the big time. Illegal downloads have swelled my music collection, but bankrupted Zukanican.
Phil: Don’t know
James: LPs and downloads.
Ray: All formats have there time and place, although the digitalisation of music seems to have made it somehow cheaper and more throwaway. I grew up in the age of 12 "vinyl LPs so I still have an unnatural attraction to such an artefact.

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?
Tom: We’re recording our new album at the moment – we’ll let the dust settle from this one before we tell Nigel we’ve got something else for him! Gigs often get organised at a moment’s notice, although we have one with Damo in St. Helens in September that I’m especially looking forward to. We’re also looking to re-house ourselves after the demise of our lounge pad recording studio The Kif.
Harry: We tend to record all our jams and these then go on to form the basis of our recorded output. The other band members don’t know it yet but I have written an autobiographical metal funk jazz-fusion opera. This will be our next official release. We plan a death to culture gig on December 31st 2007, and will carry a coffin containing an effigy of Sky Saxon down Matthew Street in Liverpool City Centre
Phil: To get better gigs and make better recordings
James: New album before Christmas – for Christmas.
Ray: To continue playing and recording. Sometimes when playing live you have an epiphany and that makes it all worth while.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?
Tom: Present company accepted, it has to be the media as they basically control it don’t they? It’s the same with music venues – most of them think that they are doing you a massive favour by letting you play in their hallowed location, totally ignoring the fact that bands like yourself are paying their wages. Not all places are like this of course, but they’re usually run by musicians rather than exclusively by businessmen.
Harry: The notion of there being a UK music scene is somewhat ridiculous. That is just a tool to provide advertisers with the soundtracks to push their latest product on their core demographics. Whilst this may be culturally relevant, engagement in the creative act should be reward enough and I think will hold greater longevity. It’s a shame there has been a resurgence of dull guitar bands as opposed to mellotron orchestras, which is I believe what the population really wants. I don’t like the lack of self- expression in so called ‘serious’, experimental, or avant garde music in the UK.
Phil: Lots of sound-alikes and safe music that really isn’t much fun.
James: Inane pedalling of the safe-bets among us.
Ray: That it is still controlled by coke snorting ex public school arseholes that can make or break someone as they see fit and when a young band has been chewed up and spat out and are then back to shelf stacking or whatever, these guys still have a life, house, car, freebies

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?
Tom: Hmm. Tough one. The anticipation of Keane’s next record?
Harry: Even though mainstream music is sounding as tired as ever, its delightful that in every little town in the country there will always be freaky dudes wanting to compose, perform, and promote weird music, even if its to an audience of a tabby cat, a hobo, and the local care in the community scheme.
Phil: That people outside (well outside!) of the mainstream persist in making interesting and
challenging music.
James: Maybe I am inane enough to be pedalled also.
Ray: See above....some of these bands deserve it!!!

>Do you consider yourself part of a Liverpool music scene, how do you view the music in Liverpool right now?
Tom: Definitely. We’ve been putting on gigs in Liverpool, in various guises, for years and years and will continue to do so. Whether other musicians consider us as kindred spirits is another matter, but Liverpool is the reason that Zukanican are alive and playing music. Liverpool will always continue to produce a good and diverse selection of bands.
Harry: Liverpool music scene is, as always has been, very exciting. We are certainly one part of it, but do not define it. Like most cities there is a predominance of bands trying to mimic wider trends, and currently famous Liverpool bands leave me cold, but there also exists a real thriving for experimentation. We’re very connected to many other bands in the city, and although our musical styles are quite different, there is a connectedness on a fundamental level of exploration.
Phil: Part of a music scene? Music in Liverpool…. some is good and some isn’t.
James: Our activities make us part of the scene definitely. The scene we most enjoy is the self-created one and that is all there is in Liverpool. There is no scene-championing venue – if you put on a weird band in a venue and door takings are small it will be a year before you can play that space again. The venues want a scene but of course have no interest in paying for it. Shite music with all your friends and family coming to watch – that’s the ticket – and why not? What Zukanican needs is its own venue to demonstrate the art of the scene – best not moan about venues who, not being music players, have a different set of priorities. Liverpool could be pumping out all the next big things in many genres as it harbours thousands of artists – these artists must create the play however – not hope that a city’s gangsters have an interest in music.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?
Tom: I love food.
Harry: Psychopharmacology. East European animation, film, and literature. Romanian religious iconography.
Phil: Scuba diving
James: I love paintings and drawings and designs – from all ages. Says much about people, there associated artwork. UK – look down any high street, what do you see? The same shit, and it is the same because a scientist told said shop owners that the designs were ‘the least offensive’. Not really something to be proud of, or inspired by. Artists in this country must be inspired by the lack of creativity – not by an abundance of it. Interesting? To me, yes.
Ray: Amazing light, architecture, the fact that so much human kindness can exist in amongst so much human shit nature.

>What is/was your favourite book, and why?
Tom: The book that I am in the middle of reading is always my favourite one.
Harry: The first book that made a profound impression on me was Burroughs’ Western Lands. I was very young and it was my first introduction to alternative models of reality and mind
Phil: Very difficult question, too many with different qualities to have a favourite.
James: I thought the jungle book was pretty great. I like the way that the little lad communicates with the beasts and vice versa. Imagine it!!

>Any other words of wisdom?
Tom: Buy Horse Republic.
Harry: Inna su laere..po..po..po
Phil: A quote from Jerry Garcia…………….’’I’d rather be playing’’
James: T.w.a.t.w.o.w.
Ray: Keep on keeping on, ‘cos it soon comes to an end.

www.myspace.com/zukanican

The Gasman

2006-07-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

In LMT’s review of the Gasman’s latest Planet Mu release ‘This One’s For You’ (read it here), he suggests that the Gasman is VPs favourite electronic artists. I can’t speak for all the writers, but I’d certainly go along with that. I think the thing that makes it a cut above for me is that despite being challenging, it is more genuinely rewarding than the efforts of some of his peers, the sounds are beautifully organic, and don’t hammer on the glitch for the sake of it. With several albums out already, it is a genuine concern to us that the Gasman is not a more revered figure. We’re building a statue. This interview shall have to tide you over until its unveiling. Skif

HELLO MY NAME IS CHRIS REEVES. I BECAME INTERESTED IN LOOPING TUNES AND BEATS WHEN I WAS ABOUT 13, IDE EITHER DO IT WITH OLD TAPES AND TAPE RECORDERS OR IDE MAKE OLD RECORDS JUMP BY STICKING BLUETACK TO THEM. THEN I STARTED TO GET A FEW YAMAHA KEYBOARDS AND COMBINE THE LOT. THEN A FREIND MADE ME A PC AND ANOTHER FREIND GAVE ME SOME MUSIC PACKAGES AND IVE BEEN USING THEN EVER SINCE.

>For someone exploring The Gasman for the first time, what one fact about you should they know before they start?

THAT THERES NOTHING FAKE ABOUT IT AND THERES NO PRETENCE. PLUS YOU MIGHT LIKE SOME OF THE TUNES.

>Is The Gasman relevant?

TO ME IT IS

>I know you’re a Cardiacs fan, considering your style of music, how do they inspire you?

THEY MAKE REALLY MOVING MUSIC AND THEY'VE MADE UP SOME OF THE BEST TUNES IVE EVER HEARD, PLUS THERES NO PRETENCE AND THERES NOTHING FAKE ABOUT THEM. THEY SEEM TO BE DRIVEN BY THIER OWN REACTION TO THEIR MUSIC AND NOT OTHER PEOPLES,

>What else inspires you, musically and lyrically?

THE TRUTH

>Do you plan to collaborate with others? Any ideal collaborators?

NOT REALLY NO, IDE CONSIDER MAKING MUSIC OUT OF OTHER PEOPLES SOUNDS BECAUSE THATS WHAT I DO ANYWAY

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…

NOT LEAVE MY BEDROOM

>Why should people buy ‘This Ones For You’?

BECAUSE I'M HUNGRY

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

GIVING MYSELF GOOSEBUMPS

>On a Gasman curated festival bill, who would play?

CARDIACS, AFX, WENDY CARLOS, JEAN JACQUES PERREY, BILL DRAKE, DANIELSON FAMILY, THE QUIMBYS

>What are your ambitions?

I HAV'NT GOT ANY APART FROM TO BE ABLE TO LIVE ON THE MONEY I GET FROM DOING MUSIC

>What does ‘success’ mean to you?

HAVING TIM SMITH FROM CARDIACS TELL ME HE REALLY LIKES MY MUSIC, WHICH HE ALREADY HAS

>What makes you cry?

ONIONS

>What makes you smile?

>THE WORD ONOIN

>Has a musical event/musician changed your life? If so, how? Or describe a musical epiphany you have had.

XYLEM TUBE EP BY APHEX TWIN AND A SESSION FOR JOHN PEEL BY SEA NYMPHS, BOTH OF THESE THINGS EFFECTED ME SO MUCH

>What’s better, singles, LPS or downloads? What do you consider the most useful to The Gasman right now?

LPS MAYBE? I DON'T REALLY KNOW ALL I KNOW IS THAT I'M SKINT EITHER WAY

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

I DON'T LIKE PLAYING LIVE BUT I'LL KEEP RECORDING STUFF FOR AS LONG AS I CAN AFFORD THE ELECTRICITY TO DO IT

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

PRETENCE

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?

HONESTY

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?

EJACULATING

>What is/was your favourite book, and why?

TERRENCE CONRAN'S THE HOUSE BOOK BECAUSE I LOVE SIXTIES/SEVENTIES DESIGN

>Any other words of wisdom?

TRUEFORM BY THE GASMAN COMES OUT IN NOVEMBER ON SUBLIGHT RECORDS

www.myspace.com/thegasman

Autons

2006-04-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

I’ll be honest, all 3 members of Autons have helped to shape my life in different and VERY important ways, and I’ve known each of them for at least a decade, quarter of a century in one case. That’s not why they’re in here though, if it was they’d have been in here well before now. We’re interviewing Autons cos VP is proud to be the biggest bandwagon-jumping hack-machine in the Western world. Y’see, Autons are getting quite a lot of attention right now, Steve Lamacq and Rob da Bank recently taking quite a liking to their single ‘Snakes’. As such we’re sniffing around them like a shoe fetishist in a Mosque vestibule. Regardless of radio plays or personal association, Autons are a tremendous band currently taking their own brand of suave, vivid electro-pop and setting light to transvestite clubs, vibrant bars and the more rock n’ roll libraries across the South. Skif.

>Please introduce yourselves, what qualities do you each bring to the band?
David Auton: voice, guitar and programming. David brings a dash and fine tea to rehearsals.
Leon Auton: electric guitar and voice. Leon brings a big pizza board that makes many fine noises.
Tony Auton: keyboards, stylophone and voice. Tony brings a good luck charm.

>For someone exploring Autons for the first time, what one fact about you should they know before they start?
T: Autons are each cut from the same sheet of plastic.
D: We’re all good buddies, and we like drinking together, talking about music, and discussing our plans for Autonomy.

>Are Autons relevant?
T: Autons are not elephants. Elephants are relevant. Autons are relevant because we are here expressing tonnes of different ways of looking at things … some a bit odd maybe, but hey!
D: Yes, boyo

>What inspires you, musically and lyrically?
L: The city and the sea. Coming from Portsmouth, an island city, you have a sense of being trapped by the inner city areas and yet being free through the sea.
T: Anything original, weird and true to the people making the noise … and there is loads of pop or normal things I find inspiring as well as odd things. Odd pop music, that’s Autons… well, sometimes!
D: Anything that makes me sit up and takes me from the main drag.

>Tell us about your live/studio collaboration with Renaldo & The Loaf, how did that come about?
L: Well, we only collaborated with Renaldo. The loaf has gone stale… It was a genuine thrill to be working with someone we’d admired for so long. We just spoke to each other. People should do that simple thing more often: amazing things can happen when you cut out email and texts and go face-to-face.
T: Renaldo had a 20 minute version of The Kinks’ See My Friend which we thought was amazing. It took a long time to track him down and ten minutes to lick it into shape with him over a few glasses of red wine.

>Do you plan to collaborate with others? Any ideal collaborators?
T: No plans at the moment, just searching and off-the-cuff exploration and moments.
L: I think I speak for all of us when I say David Bowie would be the band’s dream collaborator.
D: Jack White… Dolly Parton

>If the musical world was ideal, it would...L: …have lost all its humanity. Ideal = dull.
D: Not let Embrace record the England World Cup song.
T: I maybe don’t like the way things are but I accept them as a reality. If it were any other way our music wouldn’t be coming out the way it is. The searching is part of the expressing.

>Why should people buy ‘Snakes’?
L: Because they’s go well with their ladders… Seriously, though, because it’s a slice of something you haven’t heard before: electro rock ‘n’ roll!
T: Folk should do what they like. The main reason to buy a single like Snakes is to have in your record collection something which says something about YOU.
D: Because I wrote it and it’s great.

>What do you each consider your best achievements in music?
D: The best is yet to come!
T: To have made something as great as Buzzcock’s Spiral Scratch, the greatest of independent record achievements.
L: Having set out to go into the studio and make a classic recording, whether anyone else hears it or not. The bonus is that people are hearing it. Supporting The Magic Band was also the realisation of a dream.

>On an Autons curated festival bill, who would play?
D: White Stripes, the Smiths, Scott Walker, PJ Harvey, the Magic Band
T: Currently: The Pyramids of Mars, The Fall, The White Stripes, Public Enemy, Madonna, Bowie, Iggy, The Good Time Charlies.

>What are your ambitions?D: To make it to the next rehearsal.
T: Have achieved the first one, to make a classic debut single, now want to be involved in making an all time classic debut album.

>What does ‘success’ mean to you?
T: Success as an Auton is folk dancing and expressing themselves. As an individual it is sharing all of this with my two best friends and some of the most beautiful, sexy audiences ever to gather.
D: As a band, see above. As an individual, eating fresh fruit and writing a song

>What makes you cry?
L: If I eat a nut and it triggers my allergy to them. That and the ‘Hurt’ video by Johnny Cash. And, in a coincidental link to the Johnny Cash answer, an instrumental track called ‘A Warm Place’ by Nine Inch Nails. The last one is a great example of how certain chords and certain sounds are instantly associated to a memory. I’m welling up now just thinking of it…
T: How the world let’s things happen to children. No, I’m not auditioning for Ms World, I really mean that.
D: The thought that one day Autons could record the perfect pop song.

>What makes you smile?
D: Peter Cushing
L: My fellow Autons. I’ve never been in a band where the vibe is so good and we are laughing so much!
T: That is much too rude to share with a family audience

>Has a musical event/musician changed your life? If so, how? Or describe a musical epiphany you have had.
T: Snakes at a winter rehearsal … KNOWING we had found a voice.
D: In terms of a musical personality I can’t think of anyone who impacted on me more than John Peel.

>What’s better, singles, LPS or downloads? What would be most useful to Autons right now?
T: 7” singles for me, they just SOUND amazing, fizzes and bips and bops, love all that! I have no idea as to what would be most useful to Autons, I just figure anything good will out.
L: I think every medium is useful to Autons, and there is a place for all of them. They are all the best in their relevant contexts.
D: You can’t whack Vinyl. But downloads are most useful to us at moment.

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?
L: Our single is being released by Repeat Records at a launch gig in Cambridge on 20th May. We are arranging some other dates for around this time. Then it’ll be onto the album during summer and hopefully some festival shows.
T: If people want us that is just fantastic, but we will make lots of recordings as best we can for as long as we can keep David Auton locked-up in Autons HQ.
D: To play every country on earth (with the exception, perhaps, of Greenland) and make the perfect recording!

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?
T: Nothing really. It’s a racket, get over it. For those of us not into rackets there is stuff out there. I don’t share my best friends with the world, so I am not fussed about the rest of the world being into loads of stuff that I just happen to find amazing.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?
D: Guess what?
L: Does it begin with an ‘A’?
T: Totally selfish answer … being involved in this at the moment, it is truly a delight.
L: If you can be bothered to look then there is some great music out there, and people are involved with the scene who have a passion for something new and independent. Fanzines such as Vanity Project are crucial to this.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?
D: Football, Films, Cult TV
T: Sexiness. Football. I love the noise of the crowd, the not knowing what is going to happen.
L: Life, love, alcohol, football, and a good cuppa.

>What is/was your favourite book, and why?
L: At this point in time it’s ‘Rip It Up and Start Again’ by Simon Reynolds.
T: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee because it so evokes a dreamlike-coming-to-awareness. Because it is sensitive. Because it tells the truth and takes a stand.
D: The Sherlock Holmes Collection, because he’s great and I wanted to be him when I was a kid. Plus, most of them are short stories and only take about five minutes to read.

>Any other words of wisdom?
T: As someone said “Stay Beautiful”.
D: Fresh fruit, exercise, and pray to the Holy One.

www.autons.info
www.myspace.com/autonsland

Iodo

2006-02-09T03:12:00.000-08:00

The reason I do Vanity Project is not to achieve some altruistic ideal, although if we can help with our reviews, we'd certainly like to. The real reason is simply that I want access to exciting, inventive new music I might not otherwise have come across. The EP sampler I was sent by Iodo last year was by far and away the best self-released thing I recieved here at the VP villa in 2005, if not since we started this rag in 2002. Here's what I said about it in issue 14.

"Prodding synths and prog-psych harmonics hit the spot on ‘A Lesson In Camouflage’, while agitated beats take their stab on ‘Language Is Cumbersome’ perking up the wearied monk drawl before ankle-biting, ramshackle guitars make the big picture fuzzy. ‘Stainless Steel Mouse’ runs on the fuel of a deadpan rap running away from itself into a tinny tumble and glitchy scrot. To finish, the title track’s ansaphone hypnotics. This is an EP which takes nothing but gives everything."

The most astonishing thing being that they are all so young, but their sound is mature, and not in a stagnant way, no, an electrifying, fascinating way.

>Please introduce yourself and your iodo associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise?

Dave aka Dappy: guitarist, songwriter, producer, programmer and cultural iconoclast, though not necessarily in that order.
George: cornet, backing vocals,
Kip: I’m Kip, the lead vocaliser and frontman. I lived all my nineteen years of life in Lincoln until going to university in Middlesbrough in September to do a HND instead of a degree because I failed my a-levels. Musically I bring nothing to the band, being utterly talentless in that respect (with the exception of having excellent music taste), so it was either be a drummer or a singer, and I couldn’t afford a drum kit. But I’m quite good at remembering lyrics. Got a head full of ‘em. I’m not a very good frontman either to be honest, but I look quite pretty under stage lights sometimes. To a certain type of person, anyway. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Oh, I do most of the design side, like the website and posters and cd artwork. And I bring my girlfriend, who makes nice iodo t-shirts.
Phil: I am Phil and am Dappy’s brother, primarily I play the bass guitar for the band.

>How did Iodo come together?

Dave: A shared love of Radiohead, computers and overblown ambitions on my part to create a huge Polyphonic Spree-type collective. We’re currently about eighteen members short.
George: Dave coming up with the initial idea…
Kip: Dappy and I were in a previous band when we were far too young to be making music of any quality. We didn’t really do much, I remember putting together an album for a Dutch man who lived in our village for a year. I sang, and initially I played guitar but that stopped fairly quickly as it was discovered there was no way I was ever going to be able to play it. Eventually I was kicked out of the band for not being able to sing. Then in the beginning of 2003 Dappy approached me inviting me to be the singer in a new band. We then got together everyone we knew who played an instrument and who we weren’t afraid of. So there was Dappy, me, a violin player (who shortly afterwards had his violin repossessed and so left the band), George the cornet player and Dappy’s brother Philip on the bass guitar.

>For someone exploring iodo for the first time, what one fact about you should they know before they start?

Dave: It’s pronounced eye-oh-doh after the chemical prefix for iodine.

>Which album should they start with, and why?

Dave: The new EP will be a good starting point as it’s a bit more musically focused than This Is Now. Our first album Try To Be is from when I was listening to too much Belle and Sebastian.
Kip: This is Now, because you get the most value (in terms of duration) for your money. Though we’re selling the new EP for a quid when it comes out, so that’ll be better value. And it’s on cute little three-inch cds. Also we’ve only really worked out our ‘sound’ since our last release, so everything previous is incoherent and some of it is not ‘iodo’, or at least not iodo as we want it to be.

>What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

Dave: Musically, indie, drill’n’bass, electronic music, jazz, contemporary classical music and post-rock. Lyrically, early Manic Street Preachers, Silver Jews, Ben Folds Five and Jack Kerouac. I want the lyrics to be able to stand up to dissection by an A level English class.
Kip: Since I don’t take part in the song-writing process (or rather, am kept at bay with broken glass bottles) I couldn’t really say. Stephen Malkmus is my hero though. He can’t sing either. I love you Malkmus.

> If the musical world was ideal, it would…

Dave: Be arranged according to talent and innovation rather than fashion with more attention paid to contemporary classical music and jazz.
Kip: I’d like to say only those with real talent should be able to record and perform, but that would put me out of the picture. If the music world was ideal, it would be blue.
Phil: Give space to bands and artists that didn’t have the need to conform so much. To break away from restrictions of genre and make a musical statement of individuality.

>Why should people buy your records?

Dave: If you like the idea of electronica with indie-style songs then chances are you’ll like us.
Kip: So I can afford nicotine patches so I can give up smoking. If you buy our records, you’ll be saving my life. Won’t that feel nice? Good deed for the day - buy an iodo cd.
Phil: To experience the sounds we have put together and open up their listening to new things.

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the Iodo profile in the UK.

Phil: Nothing too drastic
Dave: Heroin addiction or we could set up our own tabloid sting.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

Dave: Producing music that people other than ourselves like.
Kip: Apparently we made someone cry at one of our gigs.
Phil: To have received feedback from people that have really appreciated our work and enjoyed listening.

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?

Dave: Complete integration of electronica, indie and jazz with a bit of everything else thrown in.
Kip: I'd quite like to make some more people cry.
Phil: That iodo records can find their way to a place in as many people’s collections as possible.

>On an Iodo curated festival bill, who would play?

Dave: And so, the Name-Dropathon begins: Stephen Malkmus, Squarepusher, Radiohead, Soweto Kinch, Matmos, The Locust, Bjork, Aphex Twin, iLiKETRAiNS, The Mars Volta and Deerhoof.
Kip: Sigur Rós, Stephen Malkmus, Squarepusher, Pink Floyd, iLiKETRAiNS, The Polyphonic Spree and Type O Negative. And Finch. Probably the Scissor Sisters too. Lots of jazz too, Dappy’s got the spirit of jazz inside of him.

>If you weren't in a band, what would you do with your evenings?

Dave: Dream about being in one.
Kip: Well, I think I’d spend a lot more time sober, and I probably wouldn’t cry myself to sleep anymore. Possibly I’d do karaoke in drag.

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

Kip: More of both. My biggest goal is to get through a gig without pressing the wrong button on the laptop. I have this great idea about performing inside a Japanese style house on stage, with just our silhouettes on the paper walls. We walk on stage dressed in kimono, take our shoes off at the door to the house, step inside and begin to play… oh it’d be wonderful, like a dream, a masterpiece, the audience would be amazed and delighted, they’d go “oh Kip you’re so Japanese”, the Japanese would go “One of us! One of us! One of us!” and Takeshi Kitano would come up at the end and would declare me an Honourary Citizen of Japan and present me with a passport. I think Takeshi Kitano should be the emperor of Japan. With regards to records, we’ve just finished recording a new EP entitled ‘Walk on Role’ which will be released at Easter, and we have planned another EP after that. Progress is slower than usual with us spread across the country.
Dave: We will be selling our new EP, Walk-On Role from around April which should hopefully coincide with a mini-tour we’re in the middle of organising.

>what can you tell us about the Lincoln music scene

Dave: Small and mostly metal and punk dominated. It’s held together by the very good www.lincolnbands.co.uk website and occasionally you do come across something really good eg. Eustacia Vye, Funktek, The Blue Book Project, One Word Poem or The Whelk Attachment.
Kip: Bands like to fight each other. The soundmen like to fight bands. That’s what you get when you have a city full of punk/metal bands. There’s a really good open mic night on at the Jolly Brewer every Wednesday though.
The only band from Lincolnshire that have got anywhere are the 22-20’s, who I’d never heard of until they were on TV. People say if you want to ‘make it big’ you should get out of Lincoln at all costs.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

Dave: Really good bands being overlooked in favour of overhyped ones.
Kip: I can’t find any good open mic nights in Middlesbrough. Nor anyone to play with me.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?

Dave: Great cutting-edge bands doing great music regardless of public opinion.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?

Dave: Learning stuff and reading good books.
George: Movies, and sci-fi/fantasy.
Kip: Not much. I like tea. I’m also morally self-righteous
Phil: Politics, Sport and Philosophy

>What is/was your favourite children¹s book?

Dave: Anything in the Thomas The Tank Engine series of books, my first word was ‘Tom’ after my favourite engine.
George: Probably something like The BFG by Roald Dahl. I distinctly remember my amusement at the word ‘snozzcumber’.
Kip: Watership Down, because it was grim and gory and someone says “piss off” in it. I didn’t much enjoy children’s books/tv when I was young, it was all too patronising. I like to be realistic/pessimistic.
Phil: Childeren’s Book… Sabriel-Garth Nicks

>Any other words of wisdom?

Dave: Never confuse a ‘ladies man’ with a ‘lady-man’.
Phil: Never let your own words of wisdom be unheard.

www.iodo.co.uk

Itamar Ziegler

2005-10-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

After reviewing his excellent two LP's for Vanity Project, I spoke to the Israeli-born NY-based innovative musical artiste Itamar Ziegler about his work.

>Please introduce yourself, what do you believe to be your strengths musically? What got you started in music?

I was born in Israel, I’m 29 years old and I moved to NY when I was 21. What got me into music was love. Pure love and passion. And I intend to keep it this way.

My older brother started taking guitar lessons and soon after I started to go to the same teacher. I started with classical guitar but a few months into the lessons my teacher said to me: ”You’ve got a bass player’s fingers, you should play the bass”. And so the bass guitar has been my main instrument since.

My brother and I have always loved music, we would make mixed tapes by recording stuff from the radio and all that. We were living in Israel but listening to the same shit kids in England and America were listening to. Plus we had some middle astern music magic around us… maybe at the time I didn’t appreciate that, but today I do.

These days in NY, I’m a member of a few bands. I play with Pink Noise, indie rock, or as I like to call what we do, interesting rock. I play bass and guitar, me and Sharron, the lead singer, switch all the time…We just completed our second album 'all is nue' (www.pinknoiseny.com). I play with Balkan Beat Box, this is a different world, it’s like a live/electronic gipsy circus. We’ve had a great time touring Europe and the U.S this summer and we are actually coming your way this November to play Scala in London! It’s going to be the best party in town.

Well, there’s more but I guess I should focus on my solo records, right?

I record my music at home, in the living room. It’s my play ground. I play all of the instruments most of the time, sometimes I’ll bring in friends to lay down something. I like the fact that this is purely a recording project. I have no intentions on performing this material live.

>For someone exploring your music for the first time, what one fact about you should they know before they start?

Ah… I don’t let record companies cut my hair…. I’m Jewish… (I’m joking…) Oh man, I don’t know… That I’m human…?

>What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

Everything. I think everything inspires us to do something or to not to something…there are some obvious things but in my case it’s a lot of subconscious stuff, for example, maybe a film I’ve watched two months ago inspired me to write a song, or to feel something that made me change something in the way I play...? Maybe I’m not even aware of it. Lately I’ve been inspired by music from Mali, Africa (Ali Farka Toure, Boubacar Toure, Tinariwen), it’s blues, African style. But that does not mean my next album will be that. Then again, something from that will be there, noticeable or not. I’ve injected lots of PJ Harvey, Bob Marley, early blues, Sly stone and many more to my blood through the years. My talented artists friends here in Brooklyn are an inspiration as well. But the compliment I enjoy the most about my music is when people say it’s not similar to anything...

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…

Be boring…

>How did you end up working on BBC Documentaries and MTV for ‘Pimp My Ride’?

A young film maker who listened to my CD called me and asked whether I’d like to make the music for this documentary film him and his partner are working on. BBC bought the film. I’ve been working on the music, should be done soon. Pimp my ride…well, I used to be in a hip hop group called Sideffect, we came to NY together from Israel in 97’, we were the first hip hop group in Israel… anyway, it’s a long story, there was a documentary film made about it, it’s still running in Israeli television. We broke up long ago but at one point I missed it so I started making some beats on the MPC 2000. I sent a few to a girl that does music licensing and MTV picked it out from her catalogue.

>Why should people buy your records?

So I could pay my bills.

Seriously? Well I HOPE people buy my records because they are thirsty for more originality and creativity in music today. Non of that trendy fashionable stuff. Just honest music.

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the Ziegler profile in the UK.

I don’t roll like that…

(To the UK “anti Israeli” community I’ll say don’t judge a book by its cover, or actually don’t judge a bloke by his government. I refused to go to the army. I’m pro solution. Being pro Israeli or pro Palestinian won’t bring us any good. )

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

These will be some specific pieces I’m really happy with musically. Like 'The Score' from my latest album and 'Kroto' from my first solo album. But that’s only my opinion…

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?

I wish to continue creating interesting music, to improve, to be productive, to be able to live off my music without compromising… I also would like to make more music for films, I’m exited about that.

>On an Itamar Ziegler curated festival bill, who would play?

Day one: Radio head, PJ Harvey, Pixies, Tom Waits, blond red head, the Beatles (if we can go back in time)… Day two: Sly Stone, Ali Farka, boubacar Toure, Tinariwen (from Mali)… This is from the top of my head.

>If you weren't doing music, what would you do with your evenings?

Forget the evenings…I’d like two live two more lives: one as a photographer and one as a cook…

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

Well, I’m going to be touring with BBB in November, then got some NYC dates with Pink Noise, I going to finish the music for the documentary and then I will start squeezing in some work at home towards my next album.

>What, with regards the US music scene, upsets you?

Too much crap. I’m tired of really bad music and bands. Go and do something else, give some respect to music. You won’t make furniture if you aint got the skills for it, would you?

>What, with regards the US music scene, delights you?

Not much. I don’t even know what’s going on in the “US scene”… or in any scene for that matter. I know there is a lot of bullshit out there.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?

My wife. Photography. Cooking. Basketball (to play not to watch). Art. (and..music)

>What is/was your favourite children¹s book?

’The Giving Tree’ by Shel Silverstein.

>Any other words of wisdom?

I think I’ve said too much. Lets let the music talk.

You can buy Itamar's albums from www.itamarziegler.com, or cdbaby.com/itamarziegler1 and cdbaby.com/itamarziegler2.

a.P.A.t.T.

2005-07-20T03:31:00.000-07:00

>How did a.P.A.t.T. originally come together? What inspired the name?

We met at a barbeque tonight, which was a stroke of luck. The name a.P.A.t.T. comes from each members' favourite mother's favourite letter, in alphabetical order.

>Please introduce yourself and your a.P.A.t.T. associates? What qualities do you each bring to the band?

Sir Kit Breaker on low to low mid frequencies, percussive trinkets, monosynth lead and street teaming.

Norma Lies on percussion, midi, kit, low to low mid, Glockenspiel, Banjo.

Master Fader on low to low mid, various keys, accordian, melodica, percussion, recorder.

Field Marshall Stack guitars,synthetic guitars, melodica, monosynth, glockenspiel

and General Midi on kit, keys, percussion, tin whistle, midi,
concrete, admin, desk care.

Thats the a.P.A.t.T. core and the a.P.A.t.T. Main choir, with many other fluctuating members playing instruments that we can't. It depends.

>Why should people buy your LP?

Because you WILL like it. And its only £8 at the moment(www.apatt.com)

>Tell us about 'Quartet'. What's that all about?

Its an installation, featuring four projected films with soundtracks running simultaneously alongside a.P.A.t.T. playing live, to a set of four musical phrases. These phrases are determined by the positioning of the audience in the venue. With this scene set,the whole piece is bound together by a loose narritive. Its our first major intallation and is to be performed @ Liverpool Academey August 2nd. The Perfomance runs for 30 mins and then after the interval there will be another 30 min perfomance by a.P.A.t.T. of their more 'regular' set. This night is to double as the pre-release night of our next musical offering. Entitled Fre(e.P.).

>What inspires you musically? What motivates you to do music?

Jealously, I watch TOTP/cd:uk and I think what the fucks is this! Minutes later new musical wounds are open.

>If you weren't in bands and running a label, what would you do with your evenings?

Trying to get a band together.

>On an a.P.A.t.t. curated festival bill, who else would play?

Karlheinz Stockhausen, Need New Body, Joe Meek, Delia Derbyshire, Dead Kennedys, Iannos Xanakis, Taraf de Haidouks, Exodus, Clouddead, Klezmatics, Megadeth, Kling klang, Oingo Boingo, The Mae shi, Ruins, Farmers Market, Crisp & Dry, Huun Huur Tu, Slayer, Darkthrone, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Tom Waits, Whitehouse, Burt Bacharach, GG Allen, Zombina and the Skeletones, John Cage variations iv, Brian Wilson, Pink and Brown, Grabba Grabba Tape, Kronos Quartet, Sleep, Sparks, Mens Recovery Project, Nile, Brutal Truth, Jurrasic 5, Necro, Cassette Boy, Englebert Humpedink, DJ Scotch Egg, Ink Spots, Erasure, Anal Cunt, Stig, Moondog, Faith No More, Harry Partch, All Day Glow, The Meters, Trio Kavkasia, The Residents, Secret Chiefs 3, Ultraviolence, The Birthday Party, Wall of Voodoo, Captain Beefheart, Kraftwerk, Einstuzende Neubauten, Estadesphere, John Zorn, Brave New World, Ennio Morriconi, Vivian Stanshall, The White Noise...........etc

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the a.P.A.t.t. profile

An old friend of a.P.A.t.T.'s once suggested the best way to achieve any publicity would be to board a train together and wait for the train to fill with people and then start slashing the seats with stanley knives until removed by the police, prompting the newspaper headline "Rock band slash seats". We haven't done this yet. Either that or publicly get a guitar stolen and appeal in press for its return. Advertising yourself is weird, I'd always thought a.P.A.t.T. would sound best if you came across it in some exotic market by accident rather than being told to buy it.

>Should bands make the effort to give their audiences something more than just the basic songs?

No

>What other future plans do you have for gigs and recordings?

a.P.A.t.T. have just finished the afformentioned release Fre(e.P.). This comprises of mainly cover songs, mash-ups, samples, other peoples lyrics, melody's inspired by bass lines from other songs...stolen plug-ins, hooky software, borrowd CD-r's and even the cover is another artists. As for gigs we have many things in the line of pipes as usual. (keep checking the website to keep right up to date. Although we have just secured a great tour with American band The Mae Shi within the next few months. Which we cant wait for) Currently we are also filming for a full length feature film called 'a.P.A.t.T. tHe MOIon pictTURe'. It is a combination of short films, live footage , special events, and all kinds different visual and audio experiments. We have been filming for about 4/5 months so far and its going text book. We feel it may take another year or more, or less, it dosn't matter really as it dosn't have a dead line so far as we feel we will know when the footage is complete. Editing is taking place during the time so trailers can be found on the website, as to be expected.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

Being able to achieve what we have with what we are. It will never cease to amaze me the reactions people give to this wonderfully odd music.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

The death of many of the underground music oulets via the internet. Therefore the slow demise of Distro's(to a degree). But worse of all how assembly lines of tours have evolved, its sanitised the 'up and coming' bracket of the music scene by providing a platform for local bands to get crowds into their shows, whilst supplying a rent-a-crowd for the latest touring schmucks (artbrut/towersoflondon/ suffrajets/Hard-fi etc) to cut their teeth upon.After, they say the tour was a success and hurrar!, the next new NME darling is upon us.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?

The lovely/cultured folk of Leeds, The dissorganised approach of liverpool, the strange shows of Manchester, The crusty's of Bradford, The dancing in London. etc And the fact there is a real network of good hard working bands who are really pushing the envolope all the time musically. Instead of repetition sold as fresh, its something like that we're saying with fre(e.P.).

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?

FoodSleephummoussexcoffeeboozecrispsgardeningshoeshatsdrugs
artknivesrunningbowlingcampingleather

>Any other words of wisdom for VP readers?

Just visit www.apatt.com and decide for yourselves if a.P.A.t.T. is what you want. Try listening with headphones on. Treat a.P.A.t.T. as your own little sluts. Get right down into it.xx

Dawn Of The Replicants

2005-05-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

>Please introduce yourself and your Replicant associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise?

DAVEY COYLE:
My name is David on bass and car. Codenames include: The Colonel, K V Doyle and The Coil. Paul sings and makes me laugh. Roger turns a fine tune but is shite at smashin' guitars. Mikey is a regular compostional genius often to be found muttering away to himself in darkened rooms. Dottle is our man in the embassy, responsible for recording almost all our output, bankrolling the adventures - a purveyor of moral and spiritual guidance.

PAUL VICKERS:
I co-write the songs with the guys and sing them all with a little help from my friends, who are: Roger, who adds nearly all the weird sounds you can hear on our records; Mike, who explores all the melodic possibilities and then tries to figure out how to play them; Dave, who to use a quote from Mike "is as good a bass player as John Deacon from Queen"; and Dottle, who is the George Martin of Galashiels but more relaxed when it comes to drugs.

EL HOMBRE DOTTLE:
El Hombre Dottle on the drumses and the backing vocalses. Qualities include, ³Follow me, I¹m right behind you² - not too close, of course - and "Don¹t over egg the pudding".

MIKE SMALL:
Paul and I talk about football. Dave, Dottle and I talk about astronomy. Dottle and I talk about politics. Dave and I talk shite and computers. Roger and I argue (we're brothers). We all talk about music, women and TV.

>How did Dawn Of The Replicants come together?

RS: Lightning struck granite three times on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Year Of The Porcupine.

EHD: Don’t think we ever did come together, at least never all in the same room at the same time.

DC: I won this gig in a raffle, don¹t know about the rest of the c*nts.

PV: Man walks into a bar. Band walks into a bar. Band walks into a deal. Band walks out of a deal. Band walks into a new deal etc.

MS: Roger and Paul released a record and people liked it. When labels started calling they didn't have a band yet so they got their friends in to help.

RS: No, you're all wrong! Lightning! Granite! Year Of The Porcupine!

>For someone exploring DOTR for the first time, what one fact about you should they know before they start?

DC: It might be a bumpy ride.

EHD: We are all barking mad but in a strangely complimentary way.

>Which album should they start with, and why?

DC: Listen to them all but ‘The Extra Room’ and ‘Bun Magic’ 'cause I¹m on them.

EHD: Start with ‘The Extra Room’ and follow that with the one we¹re busy recording now.

PV: They should try all the albums; we are one of the most interesting and useful bands to come out of Gala in the history of the world.

>Was losing the record deal with East/West the breaking or the making of DOTR?

RS: It wasn't the making OR the breaking of us - it was just another interesting fork in the long road.

DC: Fuck 'em.

EHD: Duh! DOTR still here, innit?

PV: No, it was only the hardening of our shell. Now we will never die 'cause we is made of heavily soiled underwear.

MS: It was the point we realised we weren't in it for the money.

>What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

PV: The world we live in, and the ones we have yet to visit - including parallel dimensions.

DC: I’m a sucker for a melody and a good groove.

MS: The only true way to achieve success during your life is to create something that is a positive contribution to the development of our species and that will continue to exists after we're dead and gone. Most people do this through the continuation of their Gene Pool but as I can't stand kids and I can't paint very well I write songs instead.

EHD: Music and lyrics of the tuneful, groovetastic, quality, inspirational kind.

RS: For me - Beefheart, The Stooges, VU, Sonic Youth, Patti Smith, Howlin' Wolf, The Fall, Blondie, Tom Waits, Pixies, Beatles, Stones, Brian Eno, PJ Harvey, Bowie, Madonna etc with whatever's currently intriguing me thrown in - eg TV On The Radio or Betty Davis - plus stuff snatched from musical genres like dub, blues, jazz, folk, funk, country, film music or what have you.

> If the musical world was ideal, it would…

DC: It would encourage, develop and sustain.

RS: Probably be quite boring. There'd be nothing to butt your horns up against.

EHD: It would pay better - a plumber's wages would be nice.

PV: It would be shit.

MS: Pay everyone involved in every aspect of the industry £150 per week (Maximum) and those who are still hanging around after the new law was imposed would more than likely be in it for the right reasons.

>Why should people buy ‘Bun Magic: SXSW Special'?

RS: 'Cause it'd help us buy some tins of soup and beans till we get signed up again. Also - you might like it.

PV: Because it's only 4.99 and contains elf material.

MS: So that they can hear 'The Extra Room' which doesn't feature on the album of the same name.

EHD: Cos’ if they don¹t we¹ll come round their house.

DC: I don¹t think they should buy it. I think there are far better albums out right now by some tremendous acts, as seen on Fame Academy, Pop Idol and the like. I think it’s about time original creative thinking was binned and the quicker we all get back to Pat Boon the better this fucking country will be for everybody!

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the DOTR profile in the UK.

RS: Spontaneous Internal Combustion? I don't think I'd like that very much, though. Paul once had an idea about the zoo and some polar bears.

PV: We could turn into a woman.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

EHD: Boom Chick Chick-a-boom (in both the fast and slow varieties).

PV: Being part of recording 4 albums that I am very proud of and coming out the other end.

DC: John Peel liked the band. That¹s about the most important thing that¹s happened to the band. Making some of the music that made JP grin is a nice feeling.

RS: Persistence and the abilty to mix our many influences into a soupy mix which tastes fairly fresh.

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?

RS: We'd like more people to sample our tasty soup.

MS: To write a perfect song that moves people in the way that I have been moved occasionally by songs.

PV: A big selling album and to appear on Top Of The Pops with a shetland pony.

DC: I’d quite like to be massive in Japan. Only Japan though - not interested in anywhere else because my feet stick to the floor.

>On a DOTR curated festival bill, who would play?

RS: I'd like to see the London-based band Linus on the bill, plus Willie Nelson and Destiny's Child. I'd also like to put together a Sex Pistols / Country & Western combo for the event, called Johnny Cash For Chaos.

EHD: Ant & Dec, The Woggles, 400 Blows, and Paul Vickers cos' he’s a star!!

PV: Wesley Willis, Wreckless Eric, William Shatner, Ivor Cutler, Alvin Dann and Fleetwood Mac.

DC: Main Stage: Sting, Eric Clapton and Celine Dion would be handing out drinks at the interval. Dance Tent: Eric Prydz would be responsible for pegs. Acoustic Stage: That little fucker Bright Eyes would be pedaling that pushbike electricity generator. World Stage: Nora Jones would more than likely insist on getting up for a number.

>If you weren't in a band, what would you do with your evenings?

EHD: Play scrabble in the bath while listening to White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.

PV: Become a long-distance runner.

MS: Buy a telescope and become an Astronomer.

RS: Read books, talk on the 'phone, watch films, play games, eat soup, get engrossed in projects, think about sex and noodle around with instruments and recording equipment. Or, occasionally, go out into the wider world for adventure. Pretty much what I do now.

DC: If I weren't in a band I truly believe I’d be in jail.

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

DC: Yes, that's right. More of that.

PV: We're hoping to get album number 5 in the can, which we're doing in May, but if Dottle gets a booking for the Selkirk Pipe Band we could get held up.

RS: It may be called 'Pterodactyl', 'Fuck The Backlash!' or 'If The Lizard Boy Eats Then He Will Grow'. There are a couple of labels interested in working with us, who love what they've heard so far, so hopefully the finished album will blow their cotton socks off.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

EHD: Most of it, except the bits that delight me.

PV: Bono

MS: The People, The Bands, The Music!

DC: Well, the usual complaints: fast food music, quick buck shite that does nothing to help the kids coming up and the ones who¹ve been round the block a couple of times. Finally Radiohead songs never fail to reduce me to tears.

RS: There's no longer any kind of network for left-field or unusual music to thrive in. Not as many 'zines or Indie labels, Peel's gone from the airwaves and NME's a joke when you compare it to what it and the other two music papers used to be like before Brit-Pop fucked everything up.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?

EHD: The bits that don¹t upset me

MS: Very Little.

PV: Bono

RS: We used to produce some of the best music in the world. Maybe that'll happen again some day.

DC: Ivor Cutler. Cliff Richard Christmas songs always make me giggle.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?

PV: Boadas Serrano ham, football, photography, writing children's rhymes.

EHD: The cat, the universe, chocolate and talkin¹ sense.

RS: Love, sex, food, humour, spirituality, culture, psychology and the kind of stuff I'd be able to check out on the Discovery Channel if I had satellite. I'm not much interested in cars, sport or mathematics.

MS: Science, Politics, Sport and the occasional Person.

DC: My Family, Politics, Animals and Plants. Slugs will save us when the oil runs out. Don¹t drill the Arctic, save the penguins.

>What is/was your favourite children¹s book?

MS: Asterix & TinTin.

PV: That Pesky Rat by Lauren Child.

EHD: Oor Wullie, The Broons and possibly Willie Wonka.

RS: The Weirdstone Of Brisingamen by Alan Garner and it's sequel The Moon Of Gomrath. I also liked a really silly book with wobbly drawings in it called This Is Ridiculous by Donald Bissett.

DC: I spent a lot of my childhood inside my Dad's Haines Morris Marina Manual. When I wasn¹t reading out the next bit of that I used to really enjoy his early 70¹s porn collection which the daft bastard thought he was hiding under his bed.

>Any other words of wisdom?

PV: The grass is always greener; you've got to sniff the lawn.

DC: Don¹t get involved in or start any wars or fights. It¹s a waste of time, money and thought.

EHD: Slow down, watch those kerbs, listen and enjoy.

RS: "A dog is not reckoned good because he barks well, and a man is not reckoned wise because he speaks skillfully," as me old mucker Chuang Tzu used to say.

MS: The wisest people had a habit of getting assassinated so I'm keeping my mouth shut.

Vanity Project live review from 2004.

Dawn Of The Replicants website.

The Magic Band

2005-04-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

If the internal history of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band are a mystery, then a short introductory paragraph will never fill in all the blanks. Two illuminating books are on the market which cover some of the history from inside and outside the group. Mike Barnes’ ‘Captain Beefheart’ and Bill Harkleroad’s ‘Lunar Notes: Zoot Horn Rollo’s Captain Beefheart Experience’ come very highly recommended, as is the web resource at www.beefheart.com.

To understand the power and majesty of Captain Beefheart’s music, it is best appreciated in a live context (Vanity Project review of their 2004 London show), and thankfully for we slightly younger devotees (I was 4 when Don Van Vliet released his final Captain Beefheart album and retired from the music business to concentrate on his painting), that is now possible, thanks to formation of a new Magic Band composed of four ex-members of the Beefheart group. While the four incumbents of the current Magic Band had never played live together prior to 2003, between them they bring experience of virtually all the variant album line-ups into one cohesive unit paying tribute not only to Van Vliet’s music, but to their part in it’s conception and execution. It is a tribute richly deserved all round. This is music that just needs to be heard. It defies expectation and plays havoc with conventional rhythms, whilst also remaining sturdy as some of the finest blues music ever made.

Taking on the lead vocal role in this incarnation is John French, who brings an impressive growl to the filling of some pretty big shoes. It is fitting that ‘Drumbo’ should be the focal point of the group as he appeared within several incarnations of the Magic Band, and aside from Van Vliet himself, is probably the most significant musician in the Captain Beefheart story. He is the ideal man to talk to as he himself is a keen historian of the group, having compiling an excellent and thorough set of liner notes for the comprehensive Beefheart 5 disc box-set of rare material, ‘Grow Fins’, that was released on Revenant in 1999.

It was this task that exorcised a lot of demons for French, who highlights in the following interview just how intense an experience playing as part of the original Magic Band could be for the musicians. It also galvanised him into putting a group together so this music could breathe again.

Hopefully the following interview will contain something useful for Beefheart fans of old and those new to the group. I am very honoured that John took such time and care over these questions, and that he should wish to appear in Vanity Project at all. As such, his answers appear verbatim here.

>Introduce us to yourself and the other members of the Magic Band. What do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise?

Mark ‘Rockette Morton’ Boston. Bassist. Mark brings to band half the essence of the unique rhythm section that was the basis of all Beefheart’s groundbreaking work. He is the only bass player I know of who actually finger picks and plays chords on the bass. It is a very unique style that he developed while working on the album ‘Trout Mask Replica’. Discography includes albums ‘Trout Mask Replica,’ ‘Lick My Decals off, Baby,’ ‘The Spotlight Kid,’ ‘Clear Spot,’ ‘ and ‘Unconditionally Guaranteed.’ He went on with Bill Harkleroad to form the group ‘Mallard’ in 1975 and recorded two albums, ‘Mallard,’ and ‘In a Different Climate.’

Gary ‘Mantis’ Lucas – A guitarist who later joined the band after co-managing Don Van Vliet for several years. Lucas had first seen the band play at a club in New York called Ungano’s in 1971. He was very impressed with Bill Harkleroad’s rendition of ‘One Red Rose that I Mean’ – a Van Vliet guitar solo composition from the album ‘Lick My Decals Off, Baby.’ Lucas formed a vision to play in this unique style even then and it became a strong motivating factor in his life. Album credits include guest appearance on ‘Doc at the Radar Station,’ and as band member on ‘Ice Cream for Crow.’ He also appears in the video of the title track of the latter album.

Denny ‘Feelers Rebo’ Walley – Slide guitarist who was a member of Frank Zappa’s ‘Bongo Fury’ touring group of which Don Van Vliet was also a member. They became friends and at the suggestion of Zappa, Denny became a member of The Magic Band for approximately 3 years while alternately working with Zappa’s group, for which he also was lead singer for several years. Denny brought a more soulful slide sound into the band and modified his style to embrace the ‘Magic Band’ syncopated finger-picking style of guitar that had become the trademark of the unique sound of the band. Album credits include the un-released original Bat Chain Puller recorded in 1976.

John French – Drummer joined in 1966, in and out of the Magic Band over a 14-year period ending in 1980. My early tenure in the band gave me to unique opportunity to explore and develop unique drum patterns because of the extreme originality of the music. Now split between drumming and ‘front man’ duties, I have also enjoyed the experience of singing and playing harmonica. Album Credits include ‘Safe as Milk,’ ‘Mirror Man,’ ‘Strictly Personal,’ ‘ Trout Mask Replica,’ ‘Lick My Decals off, Baby,’ ‘Bat Chain Puller’ (unreleased), and ‘Doc at the Radar Station’ ( where my role was primarily as guitarist though I play drums on two compositions.’ I played with Don approximately 7 years.

>On the DVD, Denny Walley claims there is much more ‘joy’ in performing the music now? Why do you think this might be and do you feel the same way?

I feel this is true and feel much the same way. Van Vliet, genius and visionary though he was, also had a reputation for being a bit of a tyrant. I experienced this during my several tenures in the band. It took away a lot of the joy, because there was often a feeling in the air that one might be verbally (or even physically) attacked at any moment. Behavior that would be deemed ‘normal’ in most circles of society were often frowned upon by Don. My perspective on this is when a gifted individual such as Van Vliet has to summon the courage to make such a strong and unique statement, they tend to put up a strong defense mechanism to fend off the expected assaults and criticism that would naturally follow. This same mechanism, though quite effective publicly, proved counter-productive in the group and nurtured strong feelings of paranoia and suspicion, which undermined the one key element that allows a group to develop: trust.

>Don, in 1977, is quoted as saying “Everything they did I had ‘em do. I mean I’m a dictator”. How much was this the case and how close to the truth is his claim that band members disliked him for it?

Don was the initial creative force in the band, there’s no denying that. Lyrically, he is unsurpassed. Musically. However, he was not very organized, nor did he at all understand the extreme learning curve it took to actually bring his vision to life. As a result, the band members – some more than others - contributed a great deal more to the actual completion and arranging of the music than Don ever realized.

If anyone mentioned this, Don’s extreme reaction was to say something to the effect of ‘oh, so now you’re saying YOU wrote the music?’ which, of course wasn’t the case. The truth lie somewhere in between. Don’s musical relationship with the band was much more symbiotic than he or the public ever realized. The atmosphere that developed from this was one of tolerance on the band’s part to take the submissive role of appearing to be a group of trained monkeys with absolutely no creative ability. I’m exaggerating, but that is how it appeared from the inside. The public was not interested in us, because Don portrayed us as not being very interesting or relevant. Therefore, our ‘careers’ (a word which makes me shudder, but probably fits) suffered because we had almost no recognition except with hard-core fans, and then only because we were associated with Van Vliet.

Frankly, Don really never seemed to appreciate the band members. He often told me he ‘hated musicians.’ He also had a kind of Jekyll / Hyde mannerism in which he would befriend the musicians one on one, but then in a group atmosphere verbally abuse and humiliate them.

It was part of the price paid for being a Magic Band member and was very unpleasant for all involved in the earlier bands. I saw less of this in the later bands – from ‘Shiny Beast’ thru ‘Doc at the Radar Station.’ However, interviews with various band members convince me that this atmosphere, though less intense, prevailed from beginning to end.

>Is there any part of you that feels you deserve this acclaim and attention having paid your dues after such incidents as being left off the credits of ‘Trout Mask Replica’ and not receiving adequate remuneration for your part in the writing of the music?

I don’t understand this question fully in regards to the term ‘this acclaim and attention.’ If you are speaking of the attention I and the rest are now receiving, I’m not sure that I sit around telling myself ‘ finally, I’m getting what I deserve.’ I suppose that I have learned now to accept what I have earned as a result of my former not-so-pleasant experience. My motivation, however, is not to ‘get what I deserve.’ It is more a matter of returning, with a fresh look, to my primary musical roots – a very familiar place with which I am extremely familiar. I want to create an atmosphere for myself and others in which performing the music can be an enjoyable experience rather than a tedious and stressful task.

>I am aware that you do not wish to take anybody’s place by taking on the vocals but are these Magic Band shows and records an attempt to reclaim some of the credit for these works?

No, not at all, as that would be pointless. The primary motivation I always felt was a love of the music and the look of connection I see in the eyes of those who understand the music and enjoy hearing it once again. It’s a wonderful privilege and experience to be able to travel from the US to Europe and play something this unique for audiences who still appreciate the music. My original vision of the reunion was based upon my experience while writing track by track notes on each Beefheart CD and realizing how much I missed playing the music. There’s nothing like this out there, and so everything else is like a commuter plane flight as compared to a trip to the Moon. Who wouldn’t want to return to their musical roots?

>You joined and left the band on many occasions. Each time, what made you leave, and what was it brought you back?

The dread of the cult atmosphere would squeeze me out of the group like toothpaste from a tube. Sometimes I quit, sometimes I was fired by Van Vliet for simply being myself and reacting truthfully and frankly to his statements. I wasn’t telling him what he wanted to hear, and in his desire for control, I was the square peg that didn’t fit the round hole. What brought me back was my love of the music. There’s a lot of ‘me’ in there… so it’s only natural that I would migrate back. When it gets too cold, birds migrate South for the Winter. When the atmosphere of the group grew too cold, I would seek a warmer climate. When the atmosphere was more congenial, I would come aboard and always by invitation of Van Vliet with the exception of my re-joining to do ‘Doc at the Radar Station’ where I actually approached Don.

>I heard a rumour that you originally wanted to put together the ‘Trout Mask Replica’ band. What advantages and disadvantages of having a Magic Band that didn’t play together as a unit prior to this Captain-less reincarnation?

My original vision was the TMR band with the possible inclusion of Art ‘Ed Marimba’ Tripp. My vision was two-fold: One, as a healing experience for the members so that we could associate the music with a pleasant experience. I couldn’t listen to TMR for years because of the association with all the unpleasant cult experience. Yet, as years went on, I was able to separate the two and now have good memories of the songs with the exception of Big Joan. Two, as a fulfillment to fans I had re-connected with thanks to wonderful people like Graham Johnston, Derek Laskie, Steve Froy, Theo Tieman, and Justin Sherril (apologies for missing anyone) who became webmasters of Beefheart sites and did much to re-kindle interest in the music and The Magic Band. Also, I grew up with the Trout Mask band. We were friends during our teen years.

>Do you intend to add to the repertoire of songs the Magic Band have thus far performed? Would you consider writing something new?

Repertoire is a problem. We are harmonica, vocal, two guitars, bass, and drums. Some of the great songs had marimba and just don’t ‘sound’ without that timbre playing that part. Others have Mellotron, Synth bass etc. Others just aren’t that interesting to begin with or are so densely-mixed that it becomes nearly impossible or counter-productive -- time-wise -- to learn them. Also, we live in remote areas of the US and so have to pick material that we can quickly rehearse and achieve performance mode. It’s actually a very complicated procedure and we are dealing with very complicated music. I once calculated that there are many distinct guitar riffs on one Beefheart album (‘Trout Mask Replica’ or ‘Lick My Decals Off, Baby’) as on approximately 12 more conventional Rock-Type groups albums. The sheer work involved in learning this material is sometimes overwhelming. TMR originally took nearly ten months of rehearsal. My vision was to do three concerts and stop. The others wanted to go on and I suppose that once I brought life to this monster I had to allow it a chance to breathe on it’s own.

Re: New material -- I have written new material and will be recording a CD – probably within the next six months or so. This music is written in the Magic Band style but will be released under my stage name: Drumbo. Lyrically, it is adequate, I believe, and focuses mainly on social issues. Musically, I feel that it captures some of the essence of the spirit of the Magic Band in a fresh and unique manner.

>Have you heard if Don Van Vliet has any opinions on you guys playing his music again?

I heard he was ‘grouchy’ about the reunion. I am absolutely certain that he would not be pleased. However, I’m not doing this for him, but for my own fulfillment, the fulfillment of the other players, and to please the fans. Like I said earlier, there’s a lot of ‘us’ in the music, so it’s something all of us naturally migrated towards. I have done everything in my power to make sure that Van Vliet is paid royalties and performance rights for every composition.

>Bill Harkleroad states in his book that at various times, he, you and Mark Boston came physically to blows. How do YOU remember the time when you were in the band together?

When Don wasn’t around, Mark, Bill and myself got along quite well. We were childhood friends before joining the Magic Band and had never had any major conflicts before, and haven’t had any since. It is true that physical violence reared its ugly head several times during our tenure together (from TMR to Spotlight Kid). Bill told me that while writing his book, he once had to run outside and collapse on his lawn – vomiting -- from re-living the trauma. The four of us have a bond that most people will never understand. I’m sure it’s similar to that relationship ‘War Buddies’ have with each other though not as intense.

>Was this atmosphere engineered do you think?

There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind, and never has been, that this atmosphere was manufactured by Van Vliet. I didn’t understand his motivation back then. Now, I interpret it as one of the methods he used to control us. I’m sure he viewed our comradeship as a threat to his leadership and so felt he had to keep us compartmentalized by nurturing hostility. He did this by betraying confidence mostly. Something said privately about a third party would be injected into a group ‘talk’, which would usually be quite embarrassing and sometimes humiliating. These talks would go on for days until the targeted person ‘in the barrel’ finally broke down, usually either in tears or just in complete submission to Don. It was very much like brainwashing combined with a very bad form of group therapy.

>Did this tension help, or could the same records have been made in a different atmosphere?

The theory of some is that these records could not have been made without this psychological trauma being inflicted upon the players. My thought is that the music would have been far better performed, in less time, with wider appeal, had Don allowed the group to have some credit for our contribution and given us the ability to express ourselves musically a bit with gentle guidance instead of fierce oppression. We were all seven to eight years younger, and he was the guy we all had looked up to.

>Were the Trout Mask sessions your most intense experience in music?

Actually, ‘The Spotlight Kid’ period was worse in some ways – especially for Bill. The music was less-challenging, and Don was more controlling. It was less physically violent, though that did exist throughout from what I understand.

>Do you think this experience changed you in any way?

How could it not change one? Yes, most definitely. I became socially dysfunctional for years after this. I would ‘duck’ when people would ‘talk with their hands.’ I became a bit of a hermit and envisioned myself as completely useless, often contemplating suicide. My spiritual beliefs helped me in real ways to overcome this on a personal level. I can truly say that my real public liberation came when I wrote the notes for the Revenant Set and people actually accepted my writing and began to understand that there was a dark underlying theme that haunted all the earlier members. I don’t think the later band members will ever truly understand the extent of intensity that was reached at one point. Some of them refused to allow me to interview them for the Revenant Set. Most of the ones who did interview were ones who had gone through an equally bad experience as my own and needed to talk about it. A couple of my interviews felt more like therapy sessions, and rightfully so.

>What do you consider your finest achievements in music?

Well, Trout Mask Replica was my first. I was dedicated, as were we all. 14 hour days of playing music were more the rule. I transcribed a lot of the music, showed the parts to the players, helped with arranging. It was a great feeling when we actually recorded all those tracks in the studio in 4 ½ hours.

I have found that most of what players themselves think is a fine achievement is usually not at all the same thing the public reacts to. For instance, the most impressive drumming I have ever done is on my drum solo CD ‘O’Solo Drumbo, and is an arrangement of Van Vliet’s ‘The Thousandth and Tenth Day of the Human Totem Pole’ complete with drum parts and melody – even a few harmonies thrown in. I used 8 tom toms tuned with a guitar tuner to notes. It’s seven minutes long with no repeating phrases and took me months to learn because of all the intricate interplay between drums and melody. Few people really react to it. They like ‘Abba Zaba’ because it’s fast…

>What more would you like to achieve with Magic Band and otherwise?

The main thing that has always been missing in the Magic Band is that the arrangement of the music is so static and dictatorial. I would like to develop and modify the arrangement and structure of the music in such a way that each player has space to express themselves within an acceptable framework. I also hope that I would guide them away from dead-ends and unrealistic visions that would not be accepted by the fan base or would be counterproductive in general.

In my own music, I would like to inject many of the same elements that appeal to the fans, but also make it easy on the players to learn the material, to feel free to modify parts to their own style, and to open up areas for improvisational expression. We’ve touched on that, but I feel that every concert should be different, like a fingerprint, and that can only happen when the individuals are allowed the freedom to be themselves within the music and the framework of the arrangement.

>How do you view modern music? What are your likes and dislikes?

I really honestly do not listen that closely. I have a teenage daughter and I have heard some of the groups she listens to, but for the most part, I feel that in order to be a different fish, you have to get out of the school, as Don used to say. If I immersed myself in studying what everyone else is doing, how could I possibly compose something unique without second-guessing myself? I can say that I don’t care much for rap, though I have a great deal of respect for rappers who have to utilize a great deal of skill to combine rhythm and speech in such a manner. Generally what alarms me is that so much of what I see and hear seems to be based upon what the artist looks like rather than what they sound like largely due to the fact that music videos are so predominant. Many groups seem more interested in being visually a bit ‘out’ while playing music based on the same old beat and chord structure that’s been around since I was a kid.

>Can you easily reconcile in your head that you are now essentially paying high tribute to the music of a man who once, apparently, threw you down half a flight of stairs?

That may be the way an outsider views it, but to me I have nothing to reconcile. Actually, I’m basically just going back to my roots. I don’t think of this as a tribute to Don but as a return to my own unique musical identity.

>Is it fair to say you are a man who doesn’t hold a grudge?

My spiritual belief, Christianity, forced me to face the fact that the strong grudges I held for years against Don were also the main factor in my dysfunctional state. I forgave and immediately the healing process began. I didn’t WANT to forgive. In fact, I had to get past the resentment I held towards God at having to forgive. Very complicated. When the dust finally settled and I was able to just shrug off all the pain and resentment, it was truly remarkable how many things quickly fell in to place.

>Do you retain any resentment at all?

In my mind, sometimes. My basic faith believes that man is three parts: Body, Soul, and Spirit. The first need not be defined, the second is basically the mind, will and emotions. The third is spirit: that part of us that is the essence of life, lives forever, and connects us with God. I hope I’m not putting anyone off with religious terms but it is necessary to explain that here in a nutshell is what finally truly liberated me.

I had to realize that my ‘soul’ would never forget, but as long as I maintained in my spirit that I had already willfully ‘released’ my pain and resentment to God, all I had to do when those ugly memories returned was resolve to speak to my own mind the words, ‘I have already turned this over to God and so these memories no longer hold any power over me or my future.’ This realization, after a time, brought me a great deal of inner peace and clarity. When people ask me about Don, I think of him generally in amiable terms, not due to my own ability to forgive but the power of God in me to transform my mind from a bitter person into a much happier one.

>In the Grow Fins box set liner notes, you say that it is difficult for you to hear the goodness of ‘Spotlight Kid’, for example, due to the poverty you suffered during their creation? How then does it feel now to be seeing songs like ‘Click Clack’ and ‘I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby’ on stage?

I am able to now separate the association of the experience from the music itself and hear the music as separate entity more as an outsider would. The essence of who Captain Beefheart was to the public is now mostly what I see and hear. It’s like standing on the moon and viewing Earth – just a completely new perspective.

>Do you have a particular favourite Beefheart tune? Why so fond?

Orange Claw Hammer. It is totally Don, simple and direct, no band help, no mish mosh of players ideas. The story is clear and precise, filled with poetic images and sung in a straightforward manner. It was created during a memorably happy time when there were no immediate conflicts, and was given relatively quick birth. I can sing this song with pure abandon, because I love every word of it. Also, I feel sometimes like I’m the old peg-legged guy coming back to my ‘daughter’ after thirty years by re-visiting this music.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?

God first, but I try to live my beliefs, not preach them. People’s ears have become dull from so much input, but their eyes may see the difference in my life.

Secondly, my family. I think the nuclear family is the most important building block of a healthy society. It is where one explores their roots. Every child should ideally be raised by their genetic parents and know them well so they understand themselves better. This promotes free-thinking, confidence, the ability to avoid pitfalls and understand what makes and breaks human relationships; the highest form of which is civilization in general. If one does not get the proper foundation in childhood, it is much more difficult to contribute to the general good of an entire society.

I am not so naïve as to think that genetic parents are all GOOD parents. But, for the most part, I believe they have the highest potential to be the strongest positive element in a human’s development.

A lot of the problems we face in society seem largely built upon the us/them theory that ‘we are right’ and ‘they are wrong.’ My spiritual beliefs seem to indicate that we are ALL wrong and HE (God) is right. By looking for a higher source of inspiration than our own puny human brains (of which we only use about 10 per-cent) it becomes more and more clear that none of us really have all the answers yet, are not fully in control and shouldn’t be, and so must always stay open. These are interesting times to live on planet Earth.

-------------------------------------------

A DVD containing a full live show and a John Peel-narrated documentary, ‘Crow’s Milk’ is available from www.subdiva.com.

A live CD is due very soon, whilst ‘Back To The Front’, a CD recorded at the initial rehearsals is still available.

The Magic Band tour the UK in May and June. Details at www.themagicband.com.

Further resources: www.beefheart.com

Snap Ant

2005-04-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

>Please introduce yourself and your band-members, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise.
I’m Snap Ant and this is my crew; Linus Jackson – Keyboards, bass and vocals. Linus is responsible for positive and encouraging comments as well as regular reassuring rhetoric. Patrick Muller – Drums and vocals. Patrick is from Luxembourg and offers a calming cool breeze when things get hot. Esa Shields – Keyboards and vocals. Esa looks great in a dress and makes beautiful, otherworldly music when not playing in the Snap Ant band. Gavin Wood – Electric guitar and vocals. Gavin makes splendid lentil soup and can induce feedback in almost any situation.

I make the music and shout at the lovely people listed above.

>On the basis of your last 2 singles, is ‘Snap Ant’ as an entity moving towards a fuller band sound, or is this a tangent to run in tandem with your solo electronica stuff? Is it all part of the same concept?
I’ve always made music with whatever resources I have available at the time, whether that is working with machines or musicians I just like to make use of what I can. It’s definitely all part of the same concept as it’s the song that is most important to me (not the way it was made/recorded). I made my album using a four track and a variety of instruments, so I don’t see my stuff as being strictly electronic, more music that draws upon a variety of styles and feels. I love working with the band because it really brings a new energy to the songs that I slave over in the studio.

>Do you prefer working as a solo artist or with others? Do you dictate to the band members or are their ideas incorporated?
I’m pretty clear about what it is that I want out of the band having recorded the songs by myself. However saying that everyone adds their own quirks and styles, and sometimes we’ll discuss the best way to go about achieving a musical result most effectively.

>What inspires you, musically and lyrically?
All sorts. I’ve been listening to quite a bit of Raymond Scott, Joe Meek and Delia Derbyshire recently. I really like melodic dirty analogue things and I think that comes across quite strongly in my tracks. I’m also really into lush big strings and orchestras like Les Baxter and Henry Mancini, as well as….well the list goes on forever!

>On a Snap Ant curated festival bill, who else would play?
Wow! Well lets see; Pop Levi, The Erik Brickland Survival Scheme, Zukanican, Dibidim, The Gay Beatles, Dilinger, Ladytron, Devandra Banhart, Broadcast, M82, Esa Shields, LCD Soundsystem, Stereolab, Devo, Jamie Lidell, Jah Wobble (only playing material from ‘Betrayal’), Loka, Suicide, Super Numeri, Little Richard, Boards Of Canada, The Mountaineers, Orb, Cubical.

>What motivates you musically?
Making music is the only way I can truly express myself. I believe expressing one’s self is of utmost importance and all my motivation comes from that principle.

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…
…probably be really boring.

>Why should people buy your forthcoming LP?
Because it’s a big, beautiful mess, full of love.

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the Snap Ant profile in the UK.
Fill a huge cargo plane full of rubber ants that play “You Make Me Basic” when they hit the ground at terminal velocity and say “Mummy” when people pick them up, and then drop them onto every town and city in the country.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?
Playing live with ‘The Erik Brickland Survival Scheme’. That sure was some heavy shit.

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?
I’d like to make the perfect melody and release as many records as I can before departing from planet earth.

>If you weren't in a band what would you do with your evenings?
Do something for a charitable cause, read lots, learn how to make really amazing food, fly a helicopter relax in my Manhattan/Rio de Janeiro penthouse etc etc

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?
I’d like to go and play in the US sometime this year as well as some festivals in the UK/wherever. I’ve got a new single coming out in the Spring followed by my album “!This Is Jut!” which I’m really looking forward to. My other band Super Numeri have also got lots of releases coming out this year and will be touring at some point.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?
I think some musical output is really awful and soulless, but some stuff has to be really awful so that the great stuff can shine. Sometimes I wish that venues/promoters would pay proper money!

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?
All my great UK music scene friends.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?
I reckon I’m pretty enthusiastic about whatever it is that I set my mind upon.

>What is/was your favourite children’s book? “Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?” By Dr Seuss

>Any other words of wisdom?
If I was wise I wouldn’t be pursuing a career in the music industry so I’ll pass on that one.

www.snapant.com

Scaramanga Six + Wrath Records

2005-04-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

>Please introduce yourself and your Scaramanga associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise?

I am Steven Morricone, twanger of the four brutal stings of fury and torturer of vocal chords. I also write a share of the material, look after the band, produce the records, run the label, book the gigs, do the promotion and generally badger the rest of them into getting stuff done. I am like Emporer Ming in some ways, but also like Aunt Deirdre in other ways.

The rest of The Six:

Paul Morricone – Twin brother of me and more prolific writer for the band. He does all the crooning stuff and treats his guitar like the scum it is. Paul is also in charge of all the creative stuff (cover designs, videos, website etc) and takes some macabre glee from intimidating audiences.

Julia Arnez – Plays the spangliest guitars available and belts out vocal harmonies. She recently got contact lenses so can now see what she’s playing. She is also our ‘secret weapon’.

Anthony Sargeant – Beats the drums like he’s playing one of those arcade machines on the pier in Weston-Super-Mare where you have to twat moles back into their holes. He also sings the really high bits and has been with us just over a year – we poached him from a Queen tribute band.

Chris Catalyst – Our newest associate, mohawked bezerker Chris, picks up and plays whatever is closest to hand, manly the second drums and organ at the moment, but there is rumour that he also plays a mean trombone. When not in The Six, his alter-ego is ‘Robochrist’ which is basically a one-man, painted-silver death-metal pantomime show.

>You and your bro also play as part of Being 747, is there any conflict in terms of songwriting? Do you reserve the ‘better stuff’ for one or the other?

The majority of the writing for Being 747 is done by The Cookster -Dave Cooke. Me and Paul just take it all apart and reassemble it in a more meaty fashion in practices. Dave is a lyrical genius we reckon – he always seems to come up with the situations, concepts and rhymes that you would never expect. The new 747 album will feature songs about having a mechanical wife, sabotaging a love-rival’s microlite, bribery at work involving sexual favours and Do-It-Yourself surgery to name but a few.

Dave’s a more musically subtle writer than either me or Paul, so we pretty much exclusively use all the savage, gnarly and over-the-top ideas for The Six. As far as we are concerned, there is no weak stuff in either bands.

>What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

There seems to be quite a few common themes in our songs – The drudgery of every-day life, work and office politics, autobiographical stuff about the band itself, Human behaviour/animal behaviour and a spot of criminology here and there. A lot of the lyrical content is designed to draw the listener in and empathise with the characters mentioned, or sung from the point of view of – whether they be real, exaggerated or fictional (sometimes it’s hard to distinguish). For that reason we might come across misogynistic, cruel or self-obsessed, which of course is all rubbish. Inspiration for lyrics can often come from people we see milling about trying to live their lives amongst severe futility and obstacles (usually self-made). There’s a lot of our frustrations in there too. People like Scott Walker, Elvis Costello, Andy Partridge etc were all good at this approach – and also managed to get enough pop hooks in too.

On the music side of things, we take inspiration from the teachings of our dark lord Beelzebub and his goated minions.

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…

… come out from up its own arse and reveal its true colours (shit-brown). The problem is (now more than ever) that the music world is intrinsically linked with the fashion world and operates in a similar manner. Everything’s done on a short-term what-goes-around-comes-around basis. Artistic expression is stifled by the fickleness of the media and familiar ideas are recycled on a regular basis. The other problem is that not enough people are arsed to question what tripe they are fed, thus perpetuating the situation.

In an ideal world, we truly independent artists would be afforded a level field in terms of coverage and exposure as the majors have, without having to pay for our coverage in advertising revenue or dodgy deals. I believe that people out there would be less cynical about the music world if they were offered more genuine choice and total transparency about its origins. They could then decide for themselves whether they like the music for its artistic merit – hey, that’s a novel idea!

>Why should people buy ‘Cabin Fever’?

Because it has been written, performed, produced, manufactured and released without the influence of any crack-smoking twats, ‘dangerous’ haircuts, ‘guerrilla’ marketing ploys, advertising budget, buzzwords, genre-association, bandwagons, target demographic, management ‘advice’, consideration of sales figures etc. The funds from sales of ‘Cabin Fever’ will not line the pockets of vast entertainment corporations, but will enable us to carry on and put out more and more mind-bending records.

What you have is an album of exceptional quality hewn into fantastic plastic by our very hands. If you buy ‘Cabin Fever’, you know you’ll be getting an album exactly as it was intended to be – as epic, grand and ambitious as we wanted it, as hook-laden and insistent as we wanted. This will be the most satisfying album you’ll buy this year, even compared to any huge-budget productions that might come out. We know exactly what we are doing. Trust usssssss!

How’s my sales pitch?

>What was it like working with Cardiac Tim Smith, producer of your LP?

Once we’d got over the bizarreness of actually being in his home (it’s just as strange, cluttered and magical as you would expect from a head Cardiac), we found the whole situation most condusive for producing ace recordings. He lives right out in the middle of nowhere – which makes a change from the utter world of piss that it can be when you go and record in city centre studios. I personally found the abundance of wildlife that just seemed to keep wandering into the cottage (partridges, pheasants, HUGE grasshoppers and every kind of beetle imaginable), an added twist to the proceedings. Despite all this nature, our end result was far from ‘organic’ sounding. When not recording, making a constant stream of tea or going down the local pub, there was a multitude of things to pick up and examine around his gaff. It’s like some kind of strange bric-a-brac shop.

We really found a real kindred spirit with Tim – he really seemed to instinctively know what we were after. No idea was too ridiculous or two elaborate – he was up for all sorts of bold production ideas. He’s also extremely meticulous when it comes to engineering (he likes to double-track pretty much everything to get a massive sound). The whole thing was more a joint effort than a straight Tim production, but there were no conflicts/clashes as explained above. Tim is a king among men.

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the Scaramanga Six profile in the UK.

It’s a shame that so much of the narrow avenues for exposure are based on how good a publicity stunt you can pull off, as opposed to how good the record is. I have a particular bugbear about the much-hyped trend of doing ‘Guerrilla’ gigs – it’s not the idea of doing a gig anywhere that’s bad, it’s the whole fraud of it all. Most of these so-called Guerrilla gigs are organised and booked through agents, for bands already in the pay of the major labels. The term ‘Guerrilla’ is so mis-used in this situation, it makes me sick. Besides, it’s not a new thing – Beachbuggy from Doncaster were doing gigs on the back of a flatbed trailer with a generator outside every major gig in Leeds years ago. I remember seeing them outside The Irish Centre after a Fall gig – awesome!

Perhaps our publicity stunt could revolve around doing ‘Gorilla’ gigs. We could find out from the PR companies and booking agents when the next ‘secret’ gig by some jumped-up fashionista band is (two weeks in advance of course) and turn-up Beachbuggy-style with a generator and play directly opposite them, but LOUDER – and dressed in Gorilla outfits of course.

Any of your readers got any ideas for decent stunts? – Please email me and let me know!

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

Our best achievement is simply keeping the band together, despite all the other forces that pull at us in life. Because it’s not an easy ride by any stretch of the imaginations, every gig, recording session, finished record is an achievement - Just getting the band together for a practice can be a real achievement sometimes.

There are no specific things really like ‘getting to meet such and such’ or ‘getting to play such a place’ – every day we are able to carry on is a bonus. I still feel that our greatest achievements are yet to come….

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?

Well, I’d be lying if I said we wouldn’t want any more success than we have now. It would be lovely to be able to reach out to everyone and constantly feed them with astounding new records that deeply affect their lives. It would be nice to also do bigger gigs and not have to struggle. Be even nicer to make a career out of it, but that would take a minor miracle. Perhaps the constant struggle is what makes all of us what we are?

As I said before – our greatest achievements are yet to come. You have to look at each release as a notch on the sides of a pole-vault frame. With each subsequent attempt, the bar must be raised. Perhaps the next one will be a double album. The greatest thing we can hope to achieve with our music is satisfaction.

>You also run the Wrath records label, why did you set this up and what would you like to achieve with it?

There were many reasons for setting up our own label – the reasons and justifications increase as we learn more about the industry we are trying to exist in. I suppose the main reason is that we’re a bit cantankerous really – we like things to be done our way. There’s also a notion of long-term commitment behind it all – in today’s eat-up/spit-out industry, our best chances for a long-term career in music are through an industry built, nurtured and harvested by our own hand. We may never reach the stature of a great Oak, but we shall never become a parasitic vine! It’s also a good way to learn about all the trappings of running (or how not to run) a business. We did start out more like a co-operative with a collective of bands, but things have taken a more traditional structure recently. We were also set up to operate with total integrity.

It would be a great thing to turn this label into a successful business – if anything to show that all the things you dream of as a musician can be done through your own efforts. Many labels have inspired us in the past – we would like to inspire musicians to take control of their own destiny and abandon the supposed holy-grail that is ‘getting signed’.

>Which artists would you sign to Wrath in an ideal world?

In an ideal world, there would be no such thing as ‘signed’ – we need to cast out the old terminology that creates a hierarchy of music. Bands/artists are as good as the music they make – irrespective of status/profile. Ideally, we would like to operate on a mutually beneficial agreement with any artists we work with (that is indeed the case with the whole Wrath roster at the moment) – no signatures, total respect, good communication and the spirit of co-operation. This is all very utopian I know.

In reality, we will probably have to start entering into contractual territory if we are to release records by some artists we want to. What we are finding at the moment is that bands are happy and well into the whole idea of freedom & responsibility until there’s some sniff of interest from some more powerful company. Then, they are off like a shot. This is particularly the case when the band gets a Manager. There seems to be a very adversarial attitude abundant in these manager types – it’s not surprising that they would advise their bands to resist anything to do with us as there’s no cut of any enormous advance for them to take. Most Managers seem to advise their bands to just do nothing – that just doesn’t make sense to me.

OK, back to the question – I would like to release records by a young Captain Beefheart, Cardiacs for the rest of their lives, David Bowie (but only if he was willing to do some gig-swaps) and something that re-embodied the first 4 Stranglers albums. I had always wanted to get William Shatner to record another album, but someone seems to have beaten me to the punch recently. My favourite contemporary band are called The Young Knives – they play pop music as eccentric and simple as it comes – it would be great to put their stuff out.

>If you weren't in bands and running a label, what would you do with your evenings?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t doing all this stuff. I suppose I’d have to take up a hobby or something – perhaps origami or crochet. I’d really like to become an academic in the area of zoology/palaeontology, so perhaps some studying might be done instead of rock. There will be a time when my evenings will be spent enjoying a family life, but I’ve got a few years yet I reckon to rock some more.

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

We’ve hopefully got a real glut of gigs coming up in March/April – depending on availability. Around then, there should be another single from Cabin Fever followed by the ‘proper’ release of the album. We’ve got to do this thing justice, you know. We’re also currently trying to find opportunities to do some gigs outside of the UK. Have van, will travel!

We have an absolute mountain of material that has not yet surfaced in the band – me & Paul are currently sorting through all that to choose the right combination for the next album release. There should be a less self-referential, but more sinister, story-based approach to the next release. Paul had this crazy idea of setting the whole theme around an ordinary cul-de-sac who’s residents have many deeply disturbing secrets – that whole sinister underbelly thing has always appealed to us.

Not sure yet where we are going to record next – it was so lovely to work with Tim Smith and I’d dearly love to go back to his menagerie in Wiltshire for more rock action. There’s also talk of a fully-orchestral approach for some tracks and more stark & spacious arrangements to heighten the drama and suspense on others – creeping up and down stairs music. Having said that, we’ll probably just end up with our usual barrage of noise. We just can’t help making a racket.

>What’s coming up in the future on Wrath?

Some very exciting prospects coming up – we’ve nearly finished a second Being 747 album which will frankly piss all over the first one. Not wanting to rest on our laurels, we are also working on a third, which will be a musical adaptation of David Attenborough’s groundbreaking ‘Life on Earth’ book/TV series.

Stuffy/The Fuses have just finished recording an album with legendary Chicago noise guru Steve Albini – with any luck, we’ll have a hand in unleashing the results. Me, Paul and Chris from the Six went down there recently as a make-shift brass section to out some stuff on one of the tracks and Albini said it sounded “nice” – he said that, he really did. A very serious sort of chap, that Albini – the exact opposite of Stuffy. The end result is going to be extremely unusual – brutal pop!

We’ve also decided to take the plunge with a new season of the ‘Super Sevens’ singles club. We were so pleased with the last lot, that we had to do it again really – by hook or by crook. Still figuring out the line-up for that, but rest-assured it will contain contributions by some of the finest pop music combos around.

There’s also plans for an off-shoot acoustic/more gentle label called ‘Froth Records’. Dave from Being 747 is heading that up with the release of his own solo album.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

Egad! Don’t get me started. I’ll make a list:

No second chances – in the eyes of the media, bands/artists become ‘old news’ so quickly. They are advised to employ lame counter-tactics like a name-change every 6 months or so. I suppose this has got something to do with the utter saturation of the market these days.

Short-term investment – I’ve already touched on this, but the industry seems to focus most of it’s time and money on fad-based acts that no fucker’s going to be listening to a year or two down the line. There is no concept of development these days. It will be their downfall.

Increasing tyranny of the majors/corporate stranglehold – resulting in fewer opportunities for the likes of us and a homogenisation of outlets/formats/output. Yada yada yada…..

People believing the hype – The same old sneaky techniques used to build up and a band are never questioned. Celebrity is valued over art and no lasting contribution to our music heritage is made. People seem to like being manipulated!

The gradual phasing out of all the traditional formats I held dear when I was young – I know this is me not moving with the times, but I do feel that the increase in download culture does debase the classic format of the album. 7” vinyl has made a comeback, but now all the cheap places to get it done have cottoned on a put up their prices, this will soon change. Also, I hear that the last remaining factory that makes 2” tape has finally gone bust – this means no more analogue recording in the near future!

Shorter attention spans – it seems if you make an album longer than half an hour these days, it’s considered too long for the young mind to cope with. I used to judge the perfect album length by its ability to fit on one side of a C90 cassette.

The notion that success is easily achievable – blame Mr Cowell for that one. There are enough muppets out there that are lining-up for their 15 seconds of fame (and a life of subsequent obscurity)

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?

Not a great deal I’m afraid, though I’ve always believed in music from the UK – particularly when it actually sounds like it was made here. We have a heritage of some of the most spectacular and challenging popular music. It would be a great shame to lose sight of that.

The small things that happen make me feel good about things though – when you hear from someone out of the blue you’ve never met before who’s just stumbled across your stuff and really digs it. That’s always a delight.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?

I am fascinated by nature and its inherent cruelty/beauty. I have a basement safari going on in the damp cellar of my house – an unusual variety of arachnids live down there, as well as molluscs, arthropods and the odd crustacean. Surprisingly, insects tend to be a bit thin on the ground down there (mainly due to the abundance of arachnids!).

I also love nothing better than to stuff my chops with lovely grub. Ah, sweet gluttony.

>What is/was your favourite children’s book?

My favourite book at school was called ‘Bottersnikes & Gumbles’ – it was about two races of creatures; The Gumbles were friendly and squidgy and the Bottersnikes were lazy, scheming, ill-tempered and generally pretty foul. The books revolved around how the Bottersnikes try to enslave the Gumbles by stuffing their soft bodies into jam-jars or just sitting on them. Genius.

I also really liked the Moomins books – particularly ‘Moomin Midwinter’ which was very creepy indeed in a Scandinavian way. There was this character called The Groke who used to just appear and freeze things solid with a glance. Very sinister – all the characters used to be totally flawed and some even died. They don’t make kids books like that any more.

>Any other words of wisdom?

How about “MR GRIMSDALE!!!” – sorry, couldn’t resist that.

www.thescaramangasix.co.uk
www.wrathrecords.co.uk

Akira The Don

2005-04-09T01:18:00.000-07:00

The Anglesey born, angst filled indie rapper; Adam Alphabet, AKA Akira the Don has recently unleashed four bold and irreverent tracks onto the public by way of his first EP (on Something in Construction Records). He crushes the topics of binge drinking, insurrection and anti social youths into an easy to follow and digest format, before serving them to you in his inimitable and convincing style. Adam takes time to explain what drives him on and what music means to him, as well as discussing life generally in his typically convincing style.

>Your aim in music is set out in your track 'John The Baptist Feat H Jones X', "Now all I wanna be is the rap Morrissey." How close are you towards achieving this aim, is the nation ready for one ?

To be totally honest, I am as far away from being the Rap Morrissey as I am from being the Rap Boris Johnson, for good or ill. It's funny how everybody picked up on that line, of all the lines in all the songs on the EP, but I should have seen it coming really, as I have sat on that side of the fence and it's always a certain kind of thing that grabs you. When I said it – I wrote that song in about twenty minutes and recorded the entire vocal in a single take, so it was barely considered – a lot of what I meant was, as a rapper, I shall not be afraid to admit fault. I shall not front. Sometimes it seems that girls do not like me and my dick doesn't work properly.

And I certainly think the nation is ready for one. Personally, I have been looking for a Rap Morrissey for a very long time – I thought I'd found him in Sage Francis for a little while, but dude soon proved himself to be much more than that. And I, although there could be worse things, couldn't really be the Rap Morrissey, as I am an evil meat eater, and a philanderer.

But even Morrissey isn't Morrissey any more…

>How hard is it getting established coming from North Wales? What is the music scene like around that vicinity and how well do you fit in with it?

Well, I left North Wales in '96 when I was 16, and as far as I could tell, there wasn't really a scene at all. Not in Bangor anyway. There were hippies up Bethesda mountain with ukuleles and tiny cassette recorders and bags of hash, but that was, like, 14 miles away and I couldn't afford the busfare. I went to Redditch for a bit after that, and that had a sort of a music scene – lots of bands that sounded either like Korn or Nirvana all ripped to the tits on speed... Then I went to Birmingham, which had an excellent scene, full of math rock bands with liver damage from excessive cider consumption. I should add that it seemed to be virtually impossible for any of the bands from any of these places to get noticed by the London music industry, and while there are a few excellent little labels in the midlands, they too, are ignored by London, where the bands all do coke, incidentally. So I came to London. It isn't very hard to become established in London, to be honest. It is like a village, a village full of sheep. Saying that, it was America that embraced me initally, so God knows.

>Highlight track on your debut EP is 'The Drinking Song'. It is a catchy and infectious football chant meets folk style vocals and snappy instruments that culminate in a delicious parody of the drink culture in the UK. Have you thought of sending the song to the UK Government to utilize in their anti binge drinking campaign? Also, what sort of reception have you received to it from the music loving public (especially when you play in pubs)?

I hadn't thought of that, actually. I had got a little sick of the song, but now I like it again. Reactions have been violent and extreme – some people (like your good self) see it for what it is and love it accordingly. Others seem to take it as some personal insult and hate it with an extreme vigour bordering on the Weird… they cry, "CHAZ AND DAVE! RINKY DINK! POPULIST! SING ALONG!" As if any of that were a bad thing. I notice it is generally people who take cocaine a lot that dislike it. Make of that what you will. Bruce Lee knew the score: he said, "don't think – feel." There is a certain kind of person that over-intellectualizes music, which is a terrible thing to do to it.

One thing I have noticed about that song, especially in the reaction amongst drinkers, is that people seem only to listen to the choruses of pop songs. It's like, those weird Neo Cons were using ‘Born In The USA’. Did they ever listen to the verses? There are, like, 300 reviews on the Newgrounds site from kids saying they love the song because they love drinking and them and their mates love listening to it and drinking loads of booze. Not that that's a bad thing necessarily, so long as they don't go out and rape anybody afterwards.

>What does making music mean to you?

It is a cathartic experience actually. I'd read people saying that in Vox back in the day, and I would think, pish. But it's true. It's a different thing to straight writing, which I have been doing for a long time, in a similarly personal, and personally ruinous fashion – but there are things you can get away with in song that you cannot in, say, a column or something. And vice versa. As for liberating and educating the masses, it is often argued that music and politics have no place interacting, and when they do, it is of no use to either party, but from personal experience I know this to be an ugly falsity, perpetuated by people who have no balls. I quite clearly recall hearing Billy Bragg's 'Between The Wars' EP for the first time when I was five or something, and it made me cry.

Like, there is a bunch of stuff I am finding out, that I didn't know before, and I might never have know had someone not told me about it, forwarded me a link, whatever. So in some of my new songs I am talking about it, and someone that wouldn't otherwise have heard about it, will. Which is useful. It is the human thing… we share information, and experience, via entertainment. It is what makes us dope.

>What are you current musical influences?

I am listening to lots of Chris De Burgh, Slick Rick, 50s radio jingles, Dolly Parton, Big Pun… Patrick Wolf I find hugely inspirational. He is everything I wanted to be as a youngster, I think. Perhaps he is the rap Morrissey. Well, he would be if he rapped. Which I am sure he would excel at if he had a go. He is an Actual Genius.

>Which of your songs sums up your current mood and why?

I have a song called 'Still Ill' (more Smiths thievery), which would work on a couple of levels, one, as I have a rather large cold filling my head and being with gooey ugliness, and two, as I hadn't written a column/article/huge mass of words on one particular subject in about three months until this afternoon, when I finally managed to sit down and write 2000 words about what the ODB meant to me and why he is being remembered wrongly, and it was actually good, and not shitty.

>How do you want to leave people feeling after they have witnessed a live Akira The Don set and why?

Interesting question. I have never actually thought about what I'd like people to feel after watching an Akira The Don show. Perhaps aroused? That might be nice. Tired. That would mean they had danced. Dancing is actually wicked.

>What are your views on recent attempts by musicians to influence voters in the US Elections? Do you think there was a lack of conviction to some of the attempts (mentioning no names) and it was more bandwagon jumping than a serious desire to bring about change?

You mean Eminem? Heh. Actually, he'd done a re-edit of that Mosh video, you should have a look. It makes a few decent points. Anyway, I was talking to Sage Francis, and he was of that opinion – he said he'd have been a lot more impressed and taken it a lot more seriously had Eminem said any of this stuff, like, three years earlier. But most people really don't pay attention to politics. It's only recently that shit has gotten so hardcore that, even if your only news channel is MTV and the only paper you read is, like, The Star, that you might have been forced to concede that Shit Is Pretty fucked Up right now.

Any dissent is useful, I think. Jadakiss' 'Why' was the most important song of the last 12 months, because it took the big questions to the people that need to be asking them. It's all well and good us happy educated lucky ass liberal fucks moaning about people's intentions, but the straight fact is preaching to the converted gives you nothing but a sore throat and a sore dick.

Saying that, a lot of it completely missed the point, and continues to – in the instance of the US presidential elections, it really didn't make a difference, we discovered in retrospect. The whole thing was staged.

>What are your plans for the rest of the year and the beginning of the next one?

Finish my album, make a Christmas song… I'm doing another animated video with my little brother, for 'Living In The Future'… a new ATD mixtape and a new Stunners mixtape… I have to find a house to live in and finish recording the album within a fortnight… a few remixes and guest appearances, a few comic strips, a few articles for a few people, sort out some bits of my website which could be iller. A radio show. A bunch of gigs – we're having our Christmas party at Hendre, a medieval banqueting hall in North Wales on December 19th…. A tour early next year, a single. Some clothes and some toys. I really need to learn French, it's bugging me.

FUCKING SAFE!

Interview undertaken by David Adair.

www.akirathedon.com

Chloe Poems

2004-12-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

Chloe Poems. Manchester Matt & Phred’s Jazz Café. 14oct04.
Chloe Poems is Merseyside-born and battle-scarred, dressed head to toe in gingham like a carnival ‘dame’ using words as fists, the bile-filled lyrical themes not so much near the knuckle as they are punch-drunk with temples newly indented. Transvestite performance poets may be few and far between but the frankness of the politics (‘The Queen Sucks Nazi Cock’, anyone?) will raise more eyebrows than the outfits, although the more personal material, such as ‘The Effeminate’, hits even harder in the gut. The staging of the poetry is striking, the body moving into shapes more in keeping with hard-edged rock, words force-fed to the microphone in a pattern the feet can understand. Vanity Project is a music fanzine, sure, but we’re interested in things that make you think or make you dance. Chloe Poems can do both with no instrumental backing. Skif

>Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in poetry?

I am Chloe Poems, gay socialist transvestite poet, gingham diva, radical agender bender and proud to be the Voice of Treason. I've always been interested in poetry and have written a lot of verse-based theatre in the past. Making theatre is very complicated, time-consuming and costly, so I thought "how do I make this easier for my self? I know, I'll bring verse theatre to a simpler platform. I'll become part of the poetry circuit." Not wanting to be just another poet, and realising that the poetry circuit could do with a much-needed shot in the arm, a splash of colour shall we say, Chloe was born in an explosion of gingham.

>Are you more performer than poet or poet than performer.

I want to strike the balance equally and aim to be as good a performer as a writer. It would be short-changing people to rely simply on my performance skills, without putting the effort into the language. For me, the two are inextricably linked. Language is the life-blood of performance. It doesn't matter how good the performer is, if the language isn't right it's only ever half a performance. I pride myself in striking that balance.

>Do you intend to shock with your poetry?

I intend to inform. There is a didactic polemic element that runs throughout my work. I'm aware some people find this difficult, but I deal in the truth. It is a sado-masochistic relationship, the Truth is my bittersweet master and I am its sweet and bitter bitch. The accusation of trying to shock is levelled at me often. I find the truth very shocking. Therefore Truth and Shock are undeniable bedfellows, and I enjoy more than the occasional threesome.

>Several of your poems concern the Royal Family. What do you consider wrong with them and how would you replace them?

To me the Royal Family are an ulcerated sore, an uncomfortable verruca, an indigestible meal, closely followed by embarrassing flatulence. There is nothing about them which makes any sense to me. We live in an equally non-religious age, so the idea of the Divine Right of Kings is now as preposterous as it is archaic. Privilege on such a scale is an anathema to any sense of democracy and must be stamped out and ridiculed. Why must we have a procession of unelected idiots as our heads of state? I doubt Andrew could even spell 'privilege'. I would not replace them. I would simply rejoice in their removal. I wish to be some part, however small, in that happening. Viva republic.

>Have you ever had any problems with audiences with regards to homophobia or offence at the royal/religious stuff?

Yes, Big Time. I believe entertainment should work on many levels. Simply because I wear a dress and perform in front of a microphone, it doesn't make me an idiot gay cipher, desperate to make an audience laugh. A small percentage of that audience see drag in a particular way, and I think the reason they are sometimes offended is because this drag queen is breaking all the rules and questioning their beliefs, in sometimes difficult depth.

>Is the pen really mightier than the sword?

I think it is, for the people who want to listen. Language is powerful and the roots of language are powerful. Tapping into that power, and making it come alive, is the duty of all swordsmen, whether they be poets or novelists.

>What’s your opinion of British performance poetry at the present time?

It's in a good and bad state. When it's good it's brilliant, and when it's bad it's boring. I believe a lot of current poetry, however technically brilliant, feels too taught and not as instinctive as I'd like. A lot of poems, however diverse, to me, sound like they're written by the same person. I think sometimes structure can be the enemy of meaning. Imperfection works because it connects. I believe there is a renaissance in performance poetry, but we must keep an ear open, as well as an eye, for quality.

>What or who influences your creativity both in terms of spirit and of subject matter?

If injustice were a Muse it would be mine. I'm inspired by the forgotten stories of the forgotten classes. I empathise with struggle and the rewards and miseries it can bring. The world isn't alright now, not even the Christian Western World. I feel it is my job to highlight this.

>Why gingham?

Gingham is the most socialist of fabrics. Its linear patterns weft and weave effortlessly to create a most substantial whole. Not one of the lines is more important than the other, but the pattern couldn't work without those lines supporting each other. It isn't about curtains. It isn't about knickers. It isn't about Doris Day. It's about Unity, Comrade.

>What next for Chloe Poems?

A national tour including 2 week at Oval House, London in March; following on from a very successful American trip, taking in Harvard University and New York's Bowery Poetry Club. As usual, I'll be doing my darndest to carry on my emotional mission to make the world a better place and be the forefront of the gingham revolution. Be careful what you nurture. I'm currently working on my new book and CD "How to be a Better Gay".

>Do you have any other creative outlets?

I'm an actor, writer, director, drama worker and recently played J Edgar Hoover in the Mayhew & Co production of Mania. I'm a Jill of all Trades, constantly waiting for Jack to come traipsing back up that hill.

>This is a music zine after all, so what are your 6 discs for a desert island?

The Israelites - Desmond Decca
Moments of Pleasure - Kate Bush
What Difference Does It Make? - The Smiths
Open Your Heart - The Human League
Firestarter - The Prodigy
Reward - Teardrop Explodes
and as a hidden track...
Santa Maria – Titania

www.switchflicker.co.uk/chloe_poems.html

Jeffrey Lewis

2004-12-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

A greater tribute to John Peel than a thousand platitudes is New York’s Jeffrey Lewis and his honest, diverse, irreverent and poignant music that epitomizes the hard work, creativity and love of what you do that Mr. Peel brought to music and life. Flitting between his two loves of comic book writing and music like a lothario lover; Jeffrey Lewis has a rare and refreshing talent. He even combines his two pleasures with neat flip pad aided live favourites such as ‘Champion Jim” and ‘I Saw A Hippy Girl On Eighth Avenue’. How many people can say they keep they balance their two loves with such prowess?

Jeffrey takes time out after another breathtaking European tour to discuss progress on his third album and provide and insight into his life and motivation. Jeff exudes honesty from every orifice, as regular devotees at his shows will no doubt testify. Read on for insight and a little bit of insanity, it is what you need in this ever serious world isn’t it?

>How is work going on your third studio album? What is the mood of it going to be like?

Work going slowly, not doing much really, we did some recordings in Birmingham in February but never got to finish them, now I’ve been talking with Kramer about having him produce some recordings here in NYC, I really love the Daniel Johnston and Galaxie 500 albums he made, and other stuff, so it’s an exciting prospect. I think it’s going to be my best album ever, in terms of being a real album, and really putting across more of the spark that I get playing live. More band songs than before, more colors, pushing it all into something I haven’t achieved before. I have no idea if other people will agree with me, but I think it’ll be the one of my albums that I’m most likely to want to listen to myself.

>How hard is it to balance your two loves; writing comic books and your anti folk music? What does compiling your comic books mean to you, and what in your opinion is the current state of this medium, is it floundering?

Appreciation for comics or music comes from the internal quality of the art, if people are still making comics of quality then the medium won’t flounder, like anything. Compiling my comics means a huge amount to me, it’s when I feel like I’ve really gotten something done!

>Since your second album ‘It’s The Ones Who’ve Cracked That The Light Shines Through’ your profile has steadily risen. How has your recent European tour differed from past ones and which of your songs went down and the best? Which do you enjoy playing the most?

The tours get better every time, as I get better at organizing them and better at playing! There’s no one song that works the best, every night is different, and we try to make every show pretty different, so a song that came out terrible in a big club in France might be played again 4 shows later at a basement show in Germany and be the best event of the night, nothing is ever predictable for me. And the songs I enjoy playing the most are not necessarily the same as the best songs, of course. Lately I've been loving playing ‘Artland’, I love that me Jack and Dave are all playing separate interlocking parts, I love the repetitiveness of it, and that Jack and I have sort of layered dovetailed vocals, plus I get to stretch out on the guitar noise. I want to put a 50 minute version on the new album but Jack and Dave say no.

>How would you describe the New York music scene at the moment has it changed much in your time away and, describe your feelings when you arrive in New York after a lengthy tour?

I love NYC despite my many complaints, and I always love being back home! People always come and go, lately I’ve been enjoying the Bowery Poetry Club scene more than the Sidewalk Antifolk scene, there’s only so many white people with acoustic guitars that I can watch and the bowery has more of a mix of weird performance art and story telling and perverted puppet shows and stuff. So being a white guy with a guitar myself, It’s nicer to be somewhere with more variety.

>Are you finding it harder to do your customary Thoreaux like retreat to a shack in the woods in order to work on your comic books and drawings, with increasing demands being made on your time? Do you fear that your drawings may lose authenticity because of this?

The drawings don’t lose “authenticity”, but my output certainly dimishes… it affects the quantitiy more than the quality. And it’s my own fault if it happens, I don’t HAVE to be answering email interview questions instead of drawing comics right now!

>You grew up with very little exposure to television. Do you think this medium should be banned or controlled, thus forcing people to explore more creative and erstwhile pastimes?

TV is just fine as a medium, same as comics or songs etc. You can waste your life just listening to songs or reading comics as much as you can by watching TV. All depends how you balance what you take in and what you put out and everybody’s different. But because TV is free and easy to digest it preys upon the will, like any cheap drug. I don't know what can be done to strengthen people's wills, if you figure it out let me know cause I need to strengthen mine!

>Your anti-acid message conveyed through 'The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane' on your debut album and the follow up ‘No LSD Tonight’ on your second album, probably does more to avert people from substance abuse than any patronizing TV ad or poster. Can we expect another instalment on this theme on your new album or are you finished with Acid influencing your songs?

I never had an anti-acid message, I just happened to decide I didn’t want to do it. Writing a song about acid was fine, writing a song about a song about acid was fine, but I doubt I need to write a song about a song about a song about acid.

>Are you surprised with the cross channel success of the anti-folk genre and are you still pleased to be associated with the aforementioned genre, or are you keen to move on?

I’m listening to the new Brer Brian album this very minute and it’s really great, I’m always proud to be associated with people doing cool creative stuff! If Antifolk means cool creative stuff, count me in; and I hope the good stuff and the new artists will continue to reach appreciative ears where ever they are.

>One of your most popular songs at gigs has to be the satirical, non album number ‘Champion Jim’ with accompanying A3 flip pad production. Do you have any plans to release this nifty number or even a concept album on the adventures of Champion Jim (Just a thought)?

I might put a recording of it on an album at some point.

>What song, book or poem would you say sums you up?

‘Dancing Gods’ by Silver Apples.

>What are your plans for the rest of the year and the beginning of the next one?

Record the next album, put out the next comic book, plan the next tour, be less shy, buy less bad records, see more good movies, be less hard on myself, but keep trying harder. Maybe go to a dentist.

Catch you later! Happy Thanksgiving!

Interview by David Adair.

thejeffreylewissite.com

Misty's Big Adventure

2004-12-08T09:36:00.000-08:00

>How did Misty’s Big Adventure originally come together? What inspired the name?
Misty's was originally a three piece, formed by my friend Julian Bowditch. He left after a year, but me and Sam carried on. First we got a couple of people in, and then we just started adding members. Everyone who joined was a friend, or a relation. This has kept down the squabbles and egos! The name comes from a Magic Roundabout annual from 1968.

>Who’s in MBA? What qualities do you each bring to the band?
Well I sing and write and have a load of toys I incorporate into the songs.. Then Sam plays drums and engineers most of our recordings. I consider him my co-writer because a lot of my songs just wouldn't work if he didn't work out how to join different bits together! Then my brother Matthew plays the bass.
He likes to be known as the bass section. Lucy and Hannah play Saxophone and Trumpet and they're twins. The brass is obviously a big part of our sound. They kind of play 30's screwy jazz and rocksteady style brass. And sometimes a bit of free jazz just to annoy people! Our keyboardist is also called Lucy
and she's an amazing classical pianist, and then I get her to play dumbed down piano parts. Jon, or Jek, plays guitar with an insane amount of enthusiasm! Mr DJ Feva adds scratching and samples to the chaos. And then there's the legendary Erotic Volvo who can dance to anything. Why, nobody really knows.

>How was Erotic Volvo born?
He was left on our doorstep. We've just had to deal with it.

>What inspires you musically? What motivates you to do music?
Any music from any genre that is different, funny, clever, or insane. I like Raymond Scott, Joe Meek, Julian Cope, Moondog, Faust and Tommy McCook. And the last couple of years, my biggest inspiration has been Outsider Music. Music made by crazy people! I do music because it makes me happy doing it, and I like making the people who come see us play happy too.

>Do you have a day job? If so, what is it and how do you manage to fit your music endeavours around it?
I'm lucky enough to be living off Misty's and my solo stuff at present. I'm pretty nocturnal. Sleep in the day, record at night.

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…Recognise creativity, rather than egos, postures and money driven rubbish.

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the Misty’s Big Adventure profile
Hmm, don't know! I'd like to do a school tour where we'd go round the country just playing for 5 to 10 year olds. I reckon headteachers would make good promoters. You'd make sure you got to the soundcheck on time!

>Should bands make the effort to give their audiences something more than just the basic songs?
Depends on how good the basic songs are!

>How did you end up working with Brute Force?
I bought an album called 'Confections of Love' by him and became a big fan of his music. I met up with him in New York and we decided to do some gigs together.

>Do you plan to record with Brute Force?
We started doing some recordings in the summer, but we haven't had chance yet to finish them.

>What other future plans do you have for gigs and recordings?
We're doing some gigs with The Zutons, and hopefully playing in Europe in March. We're also recording our next album, 'The Black Hole'.

>Do you prefer doing your solo material or working with the group?
I like doing both! My solo stuff allows me to be more experimental, but I like playing live with the band. And it can be good to have the bands input.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?
Doing a Peel Session. And finishing 'The Solar Hi-Fi System'. It was a proper slog having a budget of nothing!

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?
Make a living for everyone in the band so we can keep playing music and make ever improving albums.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?
Too many haircuts, too much fashion, few good radio DJ's, big mainstream companies controlling what everyone gets to hear, and bands playing it too safe. The music scene needs a shake up. More messages and more ideas. EVERYTHING is too controlled!

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?
The eccentrics! Pram, Broadcast, People Like Us, Dog Food and Bearsuit to name a few.

>What are you passionate about in life, apart from music?
I like strange films. My favourite film is 'The Holy Mountain' by Alejandro Jodorowsky. And cheaply made films where the acting's really bad and the director is really stretching the budget. I also like pink doughnuts and moaning into the early hours about various facist politicians. This is like a lonely-hearts column! Probably wouldn't get many replies!

> What is/was your favourite children’s book?
The Twits by Roald Dahl. Dark stuff!

>Recount your favourite Christmas…Why so good?
I can't really think of a favourite Christmas. To be honest they all roll into one. Always nice to see the family. And my Dad still gets me Dandy and Beano annuals.

>Any other words of wisdom for VP readers?
Don't get addicted to pink doughnuts.

www.mistysbigadventure.co.uk

Red Letter Day

2004-10-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

>How does the new line up differ to that which recorded your debut album?
Different age groups and consequently influences. Brightness, vitality and unbounded enthusiasm.

>What does each member bring to the band?
Daryn keeps it tight at the back and me nearly sane. Chris and Steve songwriting, performance. Without them there would be no Red Letter Day: simple! I thinks it's also fair to say they've improved me and Daryn, aswell.

>What keeps motivating you to record and gig after 20 years with the band?
It's what I do. It's what I HAVE to do. Again, the current line-up creates it's own enthusiasm.

>Is it easier or harder now to juggle home/work life and the band?
Harder, as I now have a nine month old Monkey Girl.

>How long do you envisage RLD continuing?
So long as we all enjoy. Crap answer but the best I can come up with!

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?
To create more of it. For more people to hear it. World domination, basically.

>Tell us about your forthcoming LP, how will it differ from the previous LPs?
The new album is called 'Everything Matters' and is scheduled for early 2005. We already recorded 6 tracks and it promises to be our best yet. We just have to ensure that it doesn't just sit on the shelf.

>What other future plans do you have for gigs and recordings?
We've just recorded '4t8' for Blacksmiths Studios forthcoming compilation 'What's The Alternative'. We've recently been playing all over England, great shows. We'll really be looking to ramp things up when the album's released.

>What have been your best gigging experiences?
Some great times in Europe (some nightmares as well). Portsmouth Heineken Festival. Our recent UK shows especially a blinding Festival performance in Manchester.

>What have been your best experiences with the band aside from the gigs?
Recording, radio play. Some great reviews. The fact that people wanna see the Day NOW even after all these years.

>What inspires you now, musically and lyrically?
Personal experiences, friend's experiences, news items, phrases I see which excite me. Musically I have my punk roots which enables me to appreciate anything good!

>What, where and who with would be your ideal gig?
Sold out Wedge with the Clash and the Velvet Underground!

>If the musical world was ideal, it would… Appreciate decent music and not be governed by tosser venue owners and promoters.

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the RLD profile in the UK.
A relay team streak down Commercial Road.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?
Keeping the day going, making it bigger and better. Releasing records and hopefully acting as an ambassador for Portsmouth.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?
People liking crap stuff. Crap stuff selling out shows to the detriment of class acts. The bollox English build 'em up, knock 'em down mentality.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?
The quality and variety of bands if you're prepared to scratch beneath the surface.

>What do you think of the Portsmouth music scene at present?
Quality and variety (again). A great vibe amongst bands and performers of all styles.

>Any other words of wisdom for VP readers?
Come see the Day. Join the gang................

www.redletterdaymusic.net

Engineers

2004-10-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

I have seen some strange and peculiar things at gig venues up and down the country, but never have I met an Asda style greeter (is it a new one on you as well?). That is the only way to paint the picture of my first encounter with Sweeney; drummer and raconteur of what is now a Mancunian quintet; Engineers. Already more relaxed and jovial I headed off to my full and frank discussion with musicians Simon Phipp (guitar/vocals) and Mark Peters (guitar), who were being detained in a small room awaiting my arrival.

Strangely enough, Sweeney’s name was tossed around like belittling comments emitted from the mousy mouth of Anne Robinson, as I got the guys engaged on topic of their mini album ‘Folly’ (out now on Echo) and one of the highlight tracks ‘Come in out of The Rain’. The response was unanimous;

“Our drummer wrote the lyrics”
“He is no ordinary drummer is he, as he’s also sung on a song of yours?”

Mark continued and already a tangent was forming;

"He is no ordinary person!.... Anyway, back to the question. 'Come In Out Of The Rain'; It’s about whingeing predominantly, about a friend of ours."

"OOhhh so it's not a general condemnation of society?" I felt overwhelmingly compelled to clear up my mind's confusion, with the ever altruistic Mark helping me out;

"It's about a person with no grasp of morality. It changes narrative; looking at things from the point of view of the victim and then the viewpoint of our friend."

What intrigued me was that this song lyrically speaking is angry with a slight positive tinge of hope. I was struck by the dreamy and uplifting instrumentals that cushion the at times harsh, but fair lyrics to turn in a deep and soothing track. Mark turned in a thoughtful and reflective look, as Simon concurred with this summation;

"Yeah, we always try to juxtapose the tone of music with the lyrics".

Whilst we were on the topic of their songs, what about the deliciously eerie instrumentals that features in pearls such as ‘Pictobug’ and to a lesser extent ‘A Given Right’. Do they watch many horror films, as they certainly have that sort of feel? Mark was first to enlighten me;

“There is certainly a noire element to what we do”

And what about the seven minute instrumental mind mauler that is ‘Pictobox’? There was a little gleam in Mark’s eye, as he was grasped the opportunity to open the door to their adventurous side;

“It was written four years ago when I was working in a meat market in Eccles. It was written in a fucked state of mind.”

His face was a picture of pride. However, they don’t call me the Mr. Bean of interviewing for no reason and I soon managed to dismantle the air of tranquility. With the foolhardiness and bravery of a Cervantes’ character, I raised the subject of hype and how it may be considered dangerous these days to deviate from the popular sounds of moment. In my humble opinion the Engineers take the heart from the early days Verve and The Charlatans, adding a touch of the honesty of Elbow, before their instrumentally experimental kaleidoscope kicks in to blur the visions of reality portrayed through their lyrics that only bands like Four Tet and Sigur Ros have managed to pull off with aplomb. Mark’s terse response couldn’t hide the feeling of bewilderment;

“Yeah I mean we have to change things occasionally; like tonight is more or less a full rock show” (He was referring to their support slot of The Music at King Georges Hall, Blackburn).

I probed them further on the issue; you’d never play ‘Pictograph’ at this sort of gig would you? They both shrugged;

“No, but we are always looking to expand and experiment our sound. We have a very supportive label (Echo). They like what we do”.

It was time for a simple and sharp ending to a compelling and poignant interview; how do they want to leave people feeling after witnessing one of their live sets? Simon pounced on the question with the enthusiasm Karen leaping on Steve Mcdonald in Corrie;

“Physically aroused”

On that colourful note I shall sign off.
Interview undertaken by David Adair.

www.engineersweb.net

Luminescent Orchestrii

2004-07-08T09:32:00.001-07:00

I’d never heard of the Luminescent Orchestrii before they emailed me out of the blue from the States with a polite request for an interview. I’ve now heard a live recording and pronounce them to be the most perfectly named band since Cardiacs. They are Aaron Goldsmith (Guitarron [Mexican acoustic bass]), Rima Fand (violin), Sarah Alden (violin), Kaia Wong (violin) and Sxip (guitar, bullhorn harmonica and melodica). This interview should tell you all you need to know about the Orchestrii.

>How did Luminescent Orchestrii come together?

RIMA: We had our beginning when Sxip and I decided, a little over a year ago, to form an all-girl orchestra. And that idea was inspired by the cover of an old 78 record, entitled "The Hour of Charm All-Girl Orchestra and Choir". Sxip and I looked at that gorgeous album cover and said, laughingly, we really should create our own hour of charm with an all-girl orchestra and choir. And then instantly the laughter turned to dead seriousness. I realised that I had always wanted to form an ensemble of gutsy girl string players who could rock out, improvise, compose. And Sxip realised that he had always wanted to create performances where audiences get fed full of charm. The record cover was baby blue in colour, with elegant ladies in gowns swirling across it, and two pianos yin-yanged together. Floating in the corner was a large man's head gazing intently on the scene, charmed and charming. Sxip said, "I want to be that guy." And so we began to gather the girls. Many exciting string players showed up. They tended to be women who were used to being the only female string players in all-male rock bands. I started calling the group the "solitary-rock-band-string-chick-liberation-orchestra". None of the women who showed up, however, came with more regularity, or passion, than Sarah and Kaia. A bond started to form as Sxip, Sarah, Kaia and I began exploring original compositions and improvising together. But after a short while, we started craving a low-end sound to balance out all the high end. Where to turn? The only girl bassists we knew were extremely busy. But right there was the eager Aaron, a wonderful bassist to be sure, and master of the very sexy guitarron, though decidedly not a girl. Aaron resolved the dilemma when he declared that, although he was not a girl, he would be willing to perform as one, and he was welcomed as a member.

The band actually performed its first show as the All-Girl Orchestra at Superfine in Brooklyn, with Aaron in drag. After that show, however, we had to admit that we were not an all-girl orchestra (only 3/5ths girl) and needed to find a new title. We performed under several different names until we finally settled on the Luminescent Orchestrii. Orchestrii means, in our own private dictionary, "a small ensemble with orchestral intent."

Incidentally, I do now have an all-girl choir, which performs occasionally with the band, and Sxip does have an Hour of Charm, a wonderfully diverse and delicious performance series. And so the dream is alive and well.

>What qualities do you each bring to the band?

AARON: I'd like to think I contribute heavily to the dance aspect of the band, being the bassist and all. The guitarron is a unique instrument, from a visual as well as an aural perspective, and I catch a lot of people just sort of staring at it in disbelief while we play, which I enjoy a lot.

RIMA: I write and arrange a lot of the music for the band. I bring in the Stravinsky-esque harmonies, and the funny violin noises (meowing, scratching, etc.)

SARAH: I contribute folkiness.

KAIA: I create harmonies. I close my eyes and make sonic love, sometimes gritty.

SXIP: I compose a lot of the more downbeat tunes. I grew up on Appalachian music and punk and I that comes out in my playing.

>What inspires you musically?

SXIP: Right now I really love all music I heard in Istanbul, Turkey when we were all traveling in that part of the world. There was this crazy Kurdish music mixed with House beats that they were selling from these little carts along the docks of the Bosphorus. They were on cassettes and they were being blasted through little overdriven car stereo speakers.

RIMA: I am inspired by the community of NYC musicians we know that have all-night eastern european music jam parties, where masses of fiddles, accordions, basses, clarinets, saxes, trumpets and drums converge on klezmer tunes, where people dance madly to balkan brass music, where people jump up on chairs to sing songs and everyone shuts up and listens.

AARON: Transcendence - inspiring it in others and achieving it in myself. There are moments in time when music can transport you away from your cares, your frustrations, from this plane of reality even. Other times, it can break down walls and allow you to question your preconceptions. If that can happen to the player and the audience simultaneously, it's the closest thing to heaven I've found.

SARAH: Music that's free. Free..no blocks, raw, unedited pure expression. Like a reflex.

KAIA: Moment to moment human connection, both between musicians, and between musicians and the audience. I also get excited about creating bastard musical children on the violin, for example, "scritchy-scratching" an old Erik B rhythm during one of our songs. (Does this make hip hop folk music? Adam Matta did beatbox over one of our klezmer tunes last night at the Knitting Factory..)

>What motivates you to record and gig?

SXIP:We love music as community and as a way to make the ghosts fly around the room.

AARON: I get the sense that we fulfill a very basic need - to reconcile opposites - to combine the sublime and the ridiculous, the cerebral and the visceral, the lush and the raw.

SARAH: It's our job. Music is something to give out, to feel, and to be a part of.

KAIA: We hope to share the spirit of our rehearsals.

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the Luminescent Orchestrii profile in the UK.

You all are so cynical over there, I'm not sure what we could do, but you seem to have a love for fried foods and beer...hmmm. You know I lived in Austin, Texas for awhile, which is, in my opinion, the best city in the US. They make beef brisket there, which is this amazing meat. It's beef cooked in a smoker for about 10 to 15 hours. It's amazing tasting. You can't even get in NYC, you gotta go to Texas. I don't think this sounds like a publicity stunt but you must trust me, this is the best fucking meat you've ever eaten, you gotta eat some of this meat. I would fly from Texas with cargo of brisket and the band would have a picnic and we'd drink beer and eat meat.

AARON: We'll parachute into Glastonbury naked, landing on the very point of the Pyramid stage, and slowly slide down the side while playing a sexy waltz, finally landing on Ozric Tentacles, upstaging them completely.

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

SXIP: We are recording as soon as we get back from an east coast tour in July and then off to the west coast in November. After that we really want to get ourselves back over to Europe.

>How are audiences thus far reacting to your mix of gypsy and punk rock?

SXIP: They dance. The music makes them feel good. It's great, I've never had a band get so popular so fast. We don't have a certain type of audience. It is not a folk audience. It's younger people, it's older people. Hell, a lot of people don't realize I am playing surf guitar, punk and Blondie lines in the music. They think it's how the music was originally played. BUT these sort of rock-oriented rhythms allow them to access it on a level that they might not normally. Anyway, culture is theft.

We threw a big party, made it clear that our music is for drinking, fucking and dancing, and people did just that, which is great because New Yorkers are really self-conscious about acting normal in party situations. They often just stand there. But they loved it.

AARON: There are those who dance and those who stare. I like the stare-ers just as much. They'll get it eventually. But first they need to try to figure it out.

>If the musical world was ideal, it would...

SXIP: It would allow more independent labels to function with a profit.

AARON: It would be less genre-fied. Scenes that happen organically are fine, much like tribes, but when they get reinforced by mass marketing and segmented time slots on MTV and ghettoized sections in music stores, it's just another way of keeping people separated. And the music becomes a soundtrack for a lifestyle based on a fashion aesthetic or a half-baked one-dimensional philosophical world view for people who like to be told what to think. Genre-fication turn concerts into pep rallys for the "our group is better than yours" mentality, and ultimately, music as a whole suffers. Musicians get less opportunity for ecclecticism, both by lack of exposure to different kinds of music, and by the fear of audiences not "getting it" if they don't play in the style of ______ . We, of course, have taken matters into our own hands by seeking out new and foreign music, and by fearlessly foisting it upon our unsuspecting audience.

SARAH: Live music would be in every establishment. Music would be legal and expected in every subway, sidewalk, and parking lot. And my downstairs neighbor would never complain again!!!

>On an Orchestrii curated festival bill, who else would play?

The Hungry March Band, Gogol Bordello, Nervous Cabaret, The Strung Out String Band, The Wiyos, Golem, Rosin Coven, Charming Hostess, Rasputina, Magnetic Fields, Besho Drom, The Szaszcsavas Band and The Main Squeeze All Girl Accordion Orchestra.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

SXIP: Playing exactly the music we want to play. We are not fucking with our audiences.

AARON: I once played while a deaf friend of mine had her hands on my bass. She couldn't hear it, but she could feel the vibration of the music, enough to dance. That was pretty amazing.

KAIA: Playing music that inspires dancing.

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?

SXIP: Rima and I have been talking about doing full on arrangements of classical pieces, such as a drunken version of The Blue Danube waltz. We want to put a few straight classical pieces in our set, but re-contexualize them to make a club crowd swoon.

RIMA: I also want to get deeper into tango music - learning more traditional tangos and writing original ones. Also we want to create more vocal music in the band. We love to sing gang-style, love to harmonize, and want to push the limits of the sounds our five diverse voices can make together.

AARON: I'd like to play some more Ska, too. And Latin music. There's a whole world out there.

SARAH: To add another element. Maybe the girls do a dance routine, maybe storytelling, maybe puppetry.

KAIA: I want us to explore and invent new string sounds, individually and collectively.

>If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

SXIP: Cook.

AARON: Plot the downfall of the current administration.

RIMA: Learn ballroom dancing. The tango, for real.

SARAH: Play more old-time.

KAIA: Make crafts and watch more movies.

>What, with regards the US music scene, upsets you?

SXIP: We don't have the "dole" in U.S. and in NYC there are no longer cheap places to live because our last mayor kicked all the heroin addicts out so the yuppies moved in. You need cheap places to live to have a great art scene. So the art/music scene here in NYC does NOT have the vitality it once had. It's depressing...

AARON: Genre-fication, and Clear Channel, which does a lot to reinforce it. People starting bands to play stadiums. Chasing this very American vision of success which has to do with the pursuit of wealth and fame as its own end, instead of as a reward for artistic achievement.

SARAH: The majority of the people don't crave the real!!

KAIA: NY's cabaret laws that allow dancing only in licensed venues.

>Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

We couldn't narrow it down to 6: Taraf De Haidouks, Dead Kennedys – ‘Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables’, Best of Doc Watson, Stravinsky – ‘Rite of Spring’, Bulgarian Women's Choir, Mingus – ‘The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady’, The Creatures – ‘Boomerang’, X – ‘Under The Big Black Sun’, Legendary Pink Dots – ‘Crushed Velvet Apocalypse’, Besho Drom – ‘Can't Make Me’, Can – ‘Tago Mago’, Miles Davis – ‘Dark Magus’, Bubba George Stringband, Pixies – ‘Come on Pilgrim’, Nina Simone – ‘Live at the Village Gate’, Peter Tosh – ‘Reggae got Soul’ ( it's appropriate since we'll be deserted on an island)

>3 Books for a desert island?

‘Rumi’, ‘The Quotable Buddha’, ‘The Language of Plants’, Foxfire books

>1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

RIMA: Kaia's homemade flavored lip-balm.

AARON: I suppose I'd like a nice lounge chair that vibrates and has an umbrella attached.

SARAH: One of those fancy old antique teapots with matching tea cups.

KAIA: An unlimited supply of V-8.

>Any other words of wisdom?

SXIP: Realize that NYC is NOT the center of art in the world anymore. Of course it has great artists but it is too FUCKING expensive to live here. It is not the NYC of the 80's that gave birth to the Ramones, Laurie Anderson and The Talking Heads. America is not democracy. It is a corpocracy and that sucks.

AARON: Art is more than just wallpaper for your lifestyle.

www.lumii.org

David Devant & His Spirit Wife

2004-07-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

>How did David Devant & His Spirit Wife originally come together?

The Professor and I got together through his girlfriend (now wife). She suggested he needed to make friends as they, like myself, had recently moved to London by the sea. Prof would come round to my flat and play a makeshift drum kit, featuring his snare case as a kick drum, as I strummed my way through various songy doodles often singing what I saw. One of these crops up at the end of ‘Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous’. I lived under two old "sisters" Dolly and Ivy who said they liked the noise as it made them feel like they had company. The Prof and I ate beans on toast quite often at these rehearsals. One day a girl at the college said her friend was once the guitarist in the Monochrome Set and was on the look out for singers. I on the other hand was on the look out for someone who knew how to play the guitar. To cut a long story short I lost my mind. Well no I met Foz (later, ?) in a photocopy resource centre around the corner from a very high mural I had painted – in front of which the Levellers had posed for publicity shots which led to the local rag running a full page 3 article on how they had stiffed a struggling artist and that I had branded them "cheeky" (this in turn led to my humiliating day in college as tutors ribbed me about claiming my money) - and he recognised my art work and said you must be Mikey (I mean Vessel) to which I replied "yo do you want to be in a kool art roc extravaganza which will become a transcendental experience for those who attend their shows?" This last bit is a big fib as it took months of Foz coming to eat toad in the hole (my experimental cuisine period) at our rehearsals before he could be persuaded to join in. This was prefaced by Prof and I going round Foz?'s house to play our songs - who was auditioning who? Just writing this has reminded me what a small place Brighton was then. Our first gig was at the colonel's party and there is a tape of this somewhere with loud heckles from the colonel. Until then he was a proper musician but that night he felt the joy - the power of kindness was upon him. So he agreed to play bass, although he could play the violin.

>What inspires you musically?

At the moment its ‘Rubber Soul’. I loved ‘Freakin’ Out’ by G. Coxon and thought all those comments about its three chord directness were made by people who cannot count. "Put on yer aviator shades - yeah man your looking really great" now I wonder who that was addressed to? I read a bit of the book by Fever Pitch writer Nick Hornby in which he tries to say that older folk are kidding themselves if they still like the likes of Suicide or generally raunchy music. I bet the likes Faithless who to me seem to avoid any semblance of a tune lest it prove to challenging for there spiritually affluent followers. Modest mouse single sounded good today. I'm inspired by sounds, words, ideas, melody, harmony, feelings - I'm not sure what role other peoples music plays in my own except that it excites me - I love Magazine and Eno and Roxy and the laughing gnome of course. ‘Witchita Lineman’. ‘The Model’. ‘The lost art of keeping a secret’.

>What motivates you to record and gig?

The Force. The precious life blood. Honey is sweeter than blood

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

As much as possible

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…

…be a musical

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the David Devant & His Spirit Wife profile

Live as if we were in a musical all the time or sit in a glass box for 45 days

>Between the 1st and 2nd albums, there appeared to be a scaling down of the more theatrical elements of the bands live shows and general persona. Was there a particular reason for this?

No we are always lost in the creative moment and what comes out comes out. We never think of stuff as appendages. An idea can be anything you like; a song, a painting, a performance a thought, a balloon

>Should bands make the effort to give their audiences something more than just the basic songs?

It should be something they want to do no a legalisation. Now why don't they want to? It seems we as humans in terms of western progression try to break things down into smaller and smaller chunks instead of distilling things to their essence that is the lifeblood or energy that makes you do it in the first place. It’s not just the senses that get separated, that is to say eyes and ears but the audio components too. Lyrics are part of the music but it seems that they are frequently taken out of context by who? Writers of course. No offence intended. This doesn't mean I won't discuss the words just that I know that when you put them all together with the music they become something else.

>On an DD&HSW curated festival bill, who else would play?

Lazlo Maholy Nagy, Jim Dine, Dan Rubenstein, the Rutles, Magazine, Supergrass (everyone loves em), Heaven 17, Graham Coxon, Joy in Long Division

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

That I've done this much with so little talent. Are pleasure and achievement the same thing? Certain songs have given me pleasure because musically they have taken me places I never thought I could get to. This is largely due to the maths of the harmony etc ultimately this is not relevant to the sound that reaches people so I will always love the songs that connect with the audience and ‘I’m Not Even Going To Try’ is one that springs to mind on that level, so too does ‘I Think About You’. As far as the former goes as a union of maths and emotion, ‘Who We Are’ is not bad (see also ‘Groover’, ‘21’, ‘Life On A Crescent’).

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?

Shiney car, bacon, big house, my own golf course/football club

>When you are not working with the band, what do you do with your lives?

Everything is connected not bite sized chunks of living

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

The amount of adverts on XFM and then when they do play a song its either the Strokes or the Killers so you try Radio One cos the car doesn't have a digital receiver and its the Strokes (who I do like just not so much of one song)

>What, with regards the UK music scene, delights you?

South east bands. Bands like Art Brut who are doing it for the hell of it. Ideas and passion.

>Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

Peter and the wolf (male narrator), Holst – ‘The Planet Suite’, Magazine – ‘Real Life’, ‘All Mod Cons’, ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ (cos I'd rather stay here with all the mad men), The Damned – ‘Strawberries’

>3 Books for a desert island?

Slaughterhouse 5, Deptford trilogy, What a carve up

>1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

A mirrored ceiling

>Any other words of wisdom?

Don't let the bastards grind you down. This fanzine is a political act as it reminds management that you are not a statistic.

www.doremi.co.uk/dd/

Art Brut

2004-07-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

>What happened?
We Met at B&Q in Elmers End, it's the place to be.

>What do you do then?
Eddie Argos - Vocals and shouting 'what!' a lot
Chris Chinchilla Guitar and serious talk...
Ian Catskillkin - Guitar and Mockney impersonator
Freddie Feedback - Bass and cake baking
Mike - Drums and the best dressed 'Irishman'...
And all 5 of us pull in different directions.

>Inspirations?
Everything

>Motivations? Like, to record and gig?
Again, everything. Though what would we do if we didn't record or gig...?

>Whats happening next?
Gig ourselves stupid to June, then into the recording studio to write and record our next single and a mini album.

>If the musical world was ideal, it would be…Grease

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase Art Brut’s profile.
We've got it planned already - A rock out in an Art Gallery, authorised or otherwise...

>Who plays the Art Brut festival?
Hmm, all the new bands we like (The Rakes, Futureheads, Ciccone, The Fades...) and maybe Weezer, Morrissey, Luke Haines, Johnathon Richman, Guns & Roses and The Strokes... eclectic!

>Lets say there’s no Art Brut, what do you do now?
Go to B&Q

>What upsets you about the UK music scene?
That it's been dead for ages.

>What delights you about the UK music scene?
It's getting better!

>How will Art Brut change the world?
Get on TOTP and bring world Peace.

>What else would you like to achieve?
I think they're both enough at the moment :-)

>6 discs for a Desert Island?
Best of 1/2 Japanese, More Specials, Weezer’s Blue Album, a Guns & Roses album, Keith Mahony's album about a girl and our album, when it's done.

>3 Books for a desert island?
‘How to play guitar’, ‘Bluff your way into Modern Art‘, err... ‘The Bible’?

>A luxury Item for a Desert Island?
Hmm, maybe a guitar?

>What else ya got to say?
Now go form a band!

artbrut.nikkidido.com/

Deerpark

2004-04-08T09:31:00.001-07:00

>How did Deerpark come together?

Kamran and I were friends from childhood. About a year and a half ago we moved to Leeds and immediately after leaving our new home to explore the city we heard the solitary flute and banjo playing of Fiona and Harry drifting down from their high bedroom windows. Having found their doors we quickly became good friends with them.

A few days later having stumbled uninvited upon a gathering of musicians during a long drunken night together we met Andy and Seth and we slowly gathered that they played drums and double-bass although not, as of yet, together. That night we also saw a girl dancing enthusiastically to a brash popular song. We were surprised to hear Seth inform us that he had once seen her play The Snow on violin and it had moved him to tears. We have since learnt that her name is Rachel. Struck by the synchronicity of it all we immediately invited them all down to our basement to play music together. Convincing them to do so was the only difficulty in a totally natural development. Since then we have had the pleasure of being joined by legends of this postcode Andrew Staveley on trumpet and Mark Simms on glockenspiel.

This account is accurate and completely unromanticised.

>Please introduce yourself and your associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise.

My name is Jonathan and, along with Kamran, I bring the songs to the band in their barest form. I suppose, put simply, Harry, Fiona and Rachel dress them in appropriate clothes and, if the occasion demands, apply make-up. Then Seth and Andy usually ply them with drinks and force them to dance, or at least move in a purposeful and dignified manner.

>What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

Lots of the images in my lyrics are from dreams I’ve had. When I write a song I guess I’m trying to realize the world of dreams. Making something tangible that won’t fade into a vague feeling which you struggle to remember and describe to a bemused friend. What poets like Rainer Maria Rilke manage to convey convince me that it’s worth persevering. As for Kamran I’m not sure. Possibly ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson.

>On a Deerpark curated festival bill, who else would play?

Ali Farka Toure, Tom Waits, Yann Tiersen and a reformed Slint.

>What motivates you to record and gig?

My motivation to record is described above. Doing gigs is something I disliked at first but am developing a habit for. The rush of adrenalin caused by the excitement and fear of performing in front of people is quite addictive.

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…

..not be littered with people trying to make money.

>Why should people buy ‘And it Made Her Look Spidery’?

Because at the moment it is unlikely a friend will have a copy to burn for you.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

To gather together eight or nine wonderful people who all have something distinctive and complementary to give to the band. And to then play roughly in time and in tune with them.

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?

I really believe we have not achieved a fraction of what we are capable of. I want us to continue to move towards being able to create moments of true intimacy as well as moments of violent passion. To develop those two extremes. Seeing The Dirty Three live was inspirational but also a little intimidating for their ability to do this.

>If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

Walk the streets harassing people carrying instruments.

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

We want to become a more dynamic live band and play in increasingly distant and exotic locations. There’s mention of a possible gig in Leicester. We also want to save enough money to pay for the recording of another batch of songs. I personally want the next record to be called, ’what we lost at bretton woods’ and for it to capture moments of magic which keep drifting off whenever we mess around spontaneously. I don’t think ‘it made her look spidery’ really did this. There has been a suggestion of us spending a week together away from things that remind us of our every day lives. Maybe on a houseboat or in a cottage in a forest in the Lakes. Not that we are obsessed with Mark Twain or The Brothers Grimm.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

That so few people making music have the confidence or inclination to be distinctive and free from the current trend. I think there would be a lot more interesting music being made in this country if there wasn’t such a cult of celebrity.

>What do you think of the Leeds music scene at present?

Within the first few weeks of moving here we had seen McWatt, who are a fantastic duo featuring flute, double-bass and accordion, play in somebody’s front room and also seen the first performance by Bosco, who have since, sadly, disbanded so we were very excited. We are now in danger of starting to take the number of original bands here for granted.

>Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

The Dirty Three – ‘Whatever You Love You Are’, Yann Tiersen – ‘Amelie’, Slint – ‘Spiderland’, Bonnie Prince Billie – ‘I See A Darkness’, Bob Dylan – ‘Desire’ and a good collection of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

>3 Books for a desert island?

Steppenwolfe by Hermann Hesse, The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro and The Collected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke.

>1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

A piano.

>Any other words of wisdom?

What did Mark Twain write? 'He had only one vanity, he thought he could give advice better than any other person.' Come to think of it, I like the fact that the first deerpark interview is for something called Vanity Project. I find it funny.

www.deerparkmusic.com

Bonemachine

2004-04-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

To complement an interview with a band from my current home in Leeds, here’s one with some old friends from Portsmouth who performed some great live shows between 1999 and 2001, and released countless CD-R’s, before effectively disbanding. We find them now, rejuvinated and with a record deal with Hackpen under their belt, on the cusp of releasing their debut single proper (‘Another Day Over’ on April 5th) with an LP to follow (‘Vent’ on May 4th). It is the culmination of a lot of hard work and their constantly developing sound looks set to enchant a new legion of fans. VP spoke to Simon, James and Stuart from the band. More info is available from www.bonemachine.co.uk.

>How did Bonemachine come together?

Stuart: in a series of chance meetings in bedrooms circa 1997-9, and yes it is as sordid as it sounds, I was seeing a lot of live gigs around that time and nothing was inspiring me it was all fairly dull and formulaic. I was dragged along to a gig at the Wedgewood Rooms to see a band called Death In Vegas, they opened with a track called Dirge, seeing multiple musicians on stage using drum loops and conventional instruments (bonemachine have used Harmonica, Double Bass, Acoustic Guitars and mandolins as well as loops and programming) made my jaw drop. I literally went straight home to devise a plan for a new band. I went round to James place and played him a track that I had recorded on my Tascam 4 track, which was basically a few drum loops, he then recorded some heavy guitar over the top. A hairy fella from the room next to him heard it and started playing some strange Mick Karn style bass and Bonemachine was born. Of cause I was singing then and I am pants so luckily Simon stepped in and the rest was history.

>Please introduce yourself and your associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise.

stuart: loops and programming weird musical ideas and arrangements.

simon: vox, melody construction, musical direction, realist and a sense of calm.

ade: groovy bass funkin' and bass riffs that would make jaco pastorius proud.

james: rock guitars, a sense of irony and plays the ivories lovely like.

>What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

James: drink, emotions, injustice and hypocrisy (in that order - i.e. usually after a few drinks)

Simon: Mood and texture. I build on the aural background painted by Stuart. These original musical "sketches" are very inspiring to me when it comes to adding vocal melodies and phrasing.

Stuart: I agree with James, most of the original bonemachine songs were about the evils of drink, mainly because I was on a self-destruct at that time of my life. I still get inspiration from life experiences, sometimes I go for months without being able to write anything, when I do get inspired and I am writing a track that I feel strongly about its very satisfying. I like music that challenges the listener, most people make snap judgements on what a song or the lyrics are about, I like to turn that on its head. For instance using the Axis of Evil speech at the beginning of our track ‘the message’ we have had comments (from people that didn’t really listen to the song properly) that they don’t approve of our pro-bush comments, later in the track there is another sample from the first recording Hitler made referring to his ‘weapons of mass destruction’ I was not comparing Bush to Hitler but merely raising what I think is a worrying pattern.

>On a Bonemachine curated festival bill, who else would play?

James: really difficult to select a few here but if we had to narrow it down then this lot would all be in there somewhere; godspeed, you black emperor, cardiacs, new model army, the fields of the nephilim (old version), pink floyd playing comfortably numb, an orchestra playing sibelius violin concerto in D minor (Op. 47), senser, tricky, ben folds, radiohead, mercury rev, alice in chains and about a million other great bands.

Stuart: I would love to play on the same bill as Tricky, Flaming Lips and TheThe.

Simon: Radiohead and Toupe.

>What motivates you to record and gig? You effectively split up a while back, what made you reform?

Simon: The need to be liked and appreciated by strangers

James: we were able to play and record stuff we wanted to. it was difficult getting gigs outside of portsmouth and when the guy from hackpen just phoned stuart out of the blue and said he loved the stuff it was like a shot in the arm and we realised that maybe it the music did reach people in the way we wanted it to. so we started gigging again.

Stuart: I prefer recording to gigging, I get a real rush from creating new tracks, although I do like the look on peoples faces when we start playing, especially if it’s a young audience who are there to see a punk band etc. For me bonemachine never really split up, we were all still recording stuff using the Myth of The Elite Brigade side project name, we decided not to play live for a while but concentrate on recording the tracks WE wanted to hear, most of the early Bonemachine stuff was very industrial and dancey, and we started to realise that we had pigeon holed ourselves, this new album was bonemachine at their most honest. I also get very motivated by artists such as Tricky, he constantly surprises me, a very underated man in the UK.

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…

James: driven by creativity - rather than money and the one global monopoly deciding what 'the people' should hear and defining therefore what music 'is'.

Simon: Pay Bonemachine enough money for them all to leave work and do it for a living.

>Why should people buy your forthcoming LP?

Stuart: because it is a great record to get lost in, one of the main factors of the Bonemachine sound is that we have inputs from many other musicians, if we have heard someone and really liked what they are doing we have invited them to contribute to our recordings, on four of the album tracks the backing vocals are supplied by Sylvia Wood (from Voodoo Bomb) we loved the way her voice synced with Simons, we have also had input from other diverse artists such as QHIXLDEKX, Andrew Morrison from Euthanasia and the DJ Simon Heartfield, having other people inputting their ideas to the songs means that we don’t get too formulaic, this stretched to having a musician I had heard of and admired (Brendon Veale) come down from Bristol just to do the orchestral arrangements on the final album track, the final result was perfect. Although this album is more accessible than our earlier offerings we haven’t changed our outlook towards the essence of our music, if you take time to listen to the lyrics you will realise that each song has a message, most are about losing someone, whether through death or the breakdown of a relationship. We felt that each track should compliment the following one, the album was mastered so that it starts mellow and builds into a wall of sound only to close with four minutes of strings and spoken word, I strongly believe that the album should be listened to straight through.

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the Bonemachine profile in the UK.

James: celebrity hunting - basically like 'the running man' but with celebrities - bonemachine would be in a car chasing them with guns, harpoons, the lot.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

Stuart: confusing people, and getting signed, although it was a pleasure playing with Sigue Sigue Sputnik who were the maddest band I have ever seen.

Simon: Being signed and the forthcoming album. I'm actually very proud of the new material.

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?

Stuart: I would like to record that killer tune, like Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Jealous’ or David Sylvian’s ‘Nostalgia’ basically to write a song that holds pure emotion, I would then be able to die a happy man. Strangely I would also like to play a gig at the Astoria, and just once have our own dressing room with sandwiches on a doily.

James: just get it out there and give people the chance to 'get it'

Simon: Some recognition and for people to enjoy the music (and some money)

>If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

Stuart: I would like to think that I would spend my time painting or writing a novel, although I expect I would still be pissed in the Wedgewood Rooms bar.

Simon: Spend more time with my family.

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

James: get the single and album out there and then a mini tour to support it.

Stuart: we are also due to release a music video of the first single ‘Another Day Over’ its being created as we speak by motion graphics wizards called Agent 8, apparently they are all ex MI6 spies.

Simon: being signed has really motivated us, and we have been recording some cracking new stuff, this time we will try the new tracks out live and then record them, its all quite exiting at the moment.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

James: the fact that there is great music out there but that there seems to be a reluctance on the part of the industry, radio etc. to take it seriously

Simon: Dare I say the way NME has become a tabloid music paper - scary!

>What do you think of the Portsmouth music scene at present?

James: peaks and troughs. some great stuff going on but people (including ourselves) have really got to get it off the island somehow.

Stuart: we have recently had a remix of Another Day Over included on a cd compilation of electronic artists from Portsmouth, it really opened my eyes to the fact that there are some great bands around who I had never knew existed, particular highlights being 107 debutantes and Rusty Sheriff. I think that the Portsmouth music scene could be one of the most vibrant in the country but we don’t seem to have a central source of information that is being used, we have the superb pompeymusic.tk but its criminally under used, and don’t get me start on why most people are so apathetic they cant be arsed to drag themselves out to see bands, maybe its all down to a lack of café culture…

>Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

James: Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here, New Model Army – Thunder And Consolation, Cardiacs – Sing To God pts 1+2, Metallica – …And Justice For All, Radiohead – Greatest Hits (ok - I know there isn't a greatest hits album yet ... but I'm not planning on being stuck on a desert island any time soon either!)

Stuart: David Sylvian – Everything and Nothing, TheThe – Naked Self, Notwist – 12, Swans – Soundtracks for the Blind, The Cooper Temple Clause – See through this and Leave, Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

Simon: Radiohead - The Bends, Ben Folds – Live, NMA – Purity, Bonemachine – Vent. And another 2!

>3 Books for a desert island?

James: War And Peace - I'm going to need something long to keep me occupied, Catch 22 and something by Iain M. Banks

Stuart: Lord of the Rings, M Gira’s ‘The Consumer’(for those angry moments) and anything by Ian Rankin.

Simon: How to Survive lonely isolation on a desert Island - R. Crusoe. How to skin a white man - Man Friday. The best of Urban Udders - Various Housewives.

>1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

James: Guitar.

Simon: Yup, my guitar.

Stuart: A lifetimes supply of red wine, and when the boys have got bored of playing Led Zep riffs they can come and get pissed with me on the beach.

Any other words of wisdom?

Yes remember E + R = O, the event plus your response equals the outcome. Here endeth the lesson.

www.bonemachine.co.uk

Sex Clark Five

2004-01-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

From Huntsville, Alabama, Sex Clark Five have been knocking about for a couple of decades now perfecting their patented ‘strum and drum’, but their exposure in the UK has been limited to the occasional Peel Session. Strange really as the SC5 sound is quite English in it’s way, with something a bit medieval in it’s rhythms, melodies and harmonies. They keep things short (34 tracks appear on the ‘Strum & Drum’ collection of early material!) but why over-elaborate unnecessarily, eh? SC5’s associate Harper Payne took them down the pub in Huntsville to ask our questions for us. Cheers Harper!

>How did Sex Clark Five come together?

Rick: Some big studio Mongols and I do mean Mongols ran an ad, something like: Madness! Insane Quartet for New TV Series - Must Have Songs and Wear Toboggans.

James: We met at a costume ball. We were all dressed as Abraham Lincoln with bullet holes in our heads. So we knew we ought to start a band.

Rick: We were originally called John Wilks' Boots.

James: But the Sons of Union Veterans protested, so we had to some up with something innocuous.

Trick: We've known each other since we was babies. It came to pass that we rented a garage which collapsed into a basement. There unto we took our instruments and began strumming and drumming.

>Who are you, what do you bring to Sex Clark Five?

James: I'm James. I write most of the songs and therefore make things continually difficult for everybody involved.

Rick: I be Rick: I play strapless brassiers whenever I can. Make a nice twangy sound.

James: Rick also writes songs which are highly groovy.

Rick: Which puts me into the making things difficult category.

Trick: Trick's my name: I play drums and an occasional hammer dulcimer. My job is to try and undo everything James does.

Laura: I'm Laura E. Lee: I sing and otherwise try to keep clear of these maniacs.

>What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

Rick: Rockets and girls not necessarily in that order.

James: Girls and rockets, in that order. And history and how it can be squeezed...

Rick: Like Silly Putty!

James: ...into the pop song, rock opera format. That's a fun thing to do.

Trick: Girls (preferably Japanese) and go-carts.

Laura: I'm staying out of this one.

>On a Sex Clark Five curated festival bill, who else would play?

Rick: I'm not sure who's left. The Kinks, the Where the Action Is Dancers, Killing Joke, the Archies.

Trick: Little Feat in the bathtub, plus those Japanese drummers who play monster drums.

James: The Rutles. The Raiders. The Retards.

Laura: Abba, of course!

>A number of your songs clock in between 1 and 2 minutes in length. Do you estimate your audiences attention spans to be quite short, or do you just like to avoid padding out good ideas?

Trick: It's us with the short attention spans.

Rick: We like to give our fans maximum value 30-40 songs per album. So many ideas so little vinyl.

James: No, really, you hit it. It's like, once you've done the main part and the chorus and the bridge you've done the ideas, right? So why keep repeating them? But I'm not sure that's a good approach, now that I think about it, 10 years too late. We probably could have had a dozen hits if it wasn't for Rick's idea to make the things so dang short.

Rick: So it's my fault is it?

Laura: Gaaaaawww!

>What motivates you to continue to record and gig, and is it any different from when you started out in music?

Rick: SC5's war with the record companies. We are proving ourselves worthy by outlasting that industry.

Trick: Every gig is an act of vengeance.

James: We do it 'cause it's fun. Or so they tell me.

>If the musical world was ideal, it would...

Rick: Recognize Sex Clark Five for our contribution to mankind. And the Everly Brothers would record the entire SC5 catalog.

James: Broadway would produce the musical I've written for the Marx Brothers.

Trick: Everyone would say repeatedly how I out Ringo Ringo.

>Why should people buy Crimson Panzer?

Rick: Because Crimson Panzer is quality family entertainment, like Disneyland.

Trick: It has secret ingredients that lead to a long and hopeful atmosphere.

James: It's the best thing we've done since Strum and Drum! That ought to be enough reason, seems to me.

Laura: I sing on it!

James: It's a comic book concept album. It's not as long as it could have been, maybe should have been. But you can still get lost in it. I think that may be why people should buy it. You can get lost in it, then start it over and get lost all over again.

>Suggest a publicity stunt to increase the Sex Clark Five profile in the UK.

Trick: Joe Meek producing the new album.

Rick: We build a giant rocket powered boat and try to get two of each species, a pair of giraffes, zebras, pair of pants, Pere Ubu.

James: We build a big oven in the shape of the Albert Hall and tell every politician it’s a big fund raiser...just kidding.

Trick: How bout we all run naked through the streets screaming?

James: Screaming what?

Rick: No, that's been done.

James: Sounds like Oxford.

>What do you consider your best achievements in music?

Rick: Everything we've done.

Trick: Drum solos!

Laura: Are there any drum solos on SC5 records?

Trick: Yeah, but they only last a couple of seconds.

James: Contributing to the demise of drum solos. Other than that, I think we've told people about Alabama and where we live and that whole history of our people, Huntsville, von Braun, the damn Yankees and all that. We haven't just made a lot of songs. They all hold together, belong together as one great mythology. I think we've created a world with SC5 music.

Rick: A comic book, anyway.

James: An epic comic book. Yeah, I'd settle for that.

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?

James: Get rich.

Trick: And by the way, where are all the girls you're supposed to get when you're in a band?

James: Ricky gets them.

Rick: What, you guys don't get groupies? I get them all the time.

James: You ought to take something for that.

>If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

Rick: Watch the stars fall on Alabama.

Trick: Race go-carts along the beach, then surf.

James: Put on a one-man show of the musical I wrote for the Marx Brothers.

Laura: Stay at home and play with my animals.

>What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

Rick: We're working on new album that Joe Meek is producing by the way. Also an album of demos of songs from the second and third album albums. We would like to tour England again as we haven't been there in a while except for the John Peel shows.

James: As Rick says, the next LP will be a collection of the demos from Battle of Sex Clark Five and Antedium, the two middle albums. It will be different, fresh, and new even tho most of the songs have been released. We will be adding tracks to the crude, smash-up recordings we used to learn the songs.

Trick: But of course it won't be an actual LP or even CD. We'll be doing the web downloads thing at SexClarkFive.com.

>What, with regards the US music scene, upsets you?

Trick: The pay.

James: Yeah, like none!

Rick: To tell you the truth, we don't know much about the American music scene. SC5 have always operated in ignorance of the latest fads.

James: I mean, we know everybody is a Negro now, but that's about it.

>What, with regards the US music scene, delights you?

Rick: The piracy.

James: The downfall of record companies, CDs and record chain stores is sweet indeed.

Trick: That's what they get for not paying us a big advance.

>Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

Rick: Sergeant Green Preservation Socety, Beethoven, Best of Wagner, Spike Jones greatest hits. Trick: My ocean sounds CD.

James: Meet the Beatles, Brandeberg Concertos, Beach Boys, The Who Sell Out, Crimson Panzer, and the sound track from the musical I've written for the Marx Brothers.

Laura: I think I'd skip the disks and make my own music with coconuts and various stringed instruments I'd find lying around on the beach.

>3 Books for a desert island?

Rick: Bible, Shakespeare, cookbook.

James: This is assuming that we eventually return to civilisation, right? Shakespeare, Small Arms of the World, Gibbon.

Trick: Dance of the Barbarian Maids, Slave Girls Gone Wild, HTML for Dummies.

Laura: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Sex Clark Five But Knew Better Than To Ask.

>1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

Rick: Mary Ann or Ginger.

James: Water. Flame thrower. Grenades (for fishing). SKS. Case of .762.

Trick: HDTV.

Laura: Tree house.

>Any other words of wisdom for us here in the UK?

Trick: Next time, beat France.

Rick: Leave it alone and the empire will return.

James: You know, we think a lot about England, and England appears often in our songs. My fave line is from West of Liverpool, from Crimson Panzer, which is about England, obviously. "South of Liverpool England loiters/At the christening of her destroyer." It means something, but I don't reckon we have that much time.

Laura: Watch out who your Prime Ministers get tangled up with!

www.sexclarkfive.com

The Party

2004-01-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

A few months back, we received The Party’s EP ‘It’s The Small Things That Keep You Awake’, easily the best self-released record we’ve received at VP thus far in 2003, and the press release indicated the kind of maverick mind behind it that we just had to find out more about. James Scott, aka The Party, embodies everything that is great about our ‘alternative’ scene. Totally single-minded, utilising his myriad of influences to create something quite unique in many ways. Also it’s great to have an artist willing to explain their philosophies at length and it makes for very interesting reading. Enjoy!

Why did you decide to record alone? Why ‘THE PARTY’?

Well Skif, I’d been in bands since I was about thirteen & just got bored with the format. I got sick of having to keep other people happy & having to compromise fully constructed ides just so people felt they were getting some input. There’s a myth around bands that says that the most important thing is chemistry & that everyone, if they want to, should be able to have their input. It’s a myth surely created by people with no good ideas so they can be part of something they actually aren’t needed for. It’s to do with egos…some people in bands just can’t believe or at least can’t admit that ANYONE could do what they’re doing & that they’re therefore utterly replaceable. I just couldn’t deal with all that bullshit anymore – musicians can be so precious about the tiniest, most insignificant things & that usually means the ‘vision’ of what you’re trying to create gets mutilated ‘cos the bass player’s refused to use his van for the next gig unless he gets to play his funky bassline throughout the new song you’re working on even though anyone with ears can hear it sounds shit. I wouldn’t deny that some bands DO have chemistry but to my way of thinking it’s incredibly rare. I do actually consider The Party to be a band – it’s just that generally I’m the only member. If a song doesn’t need drums I don’t have to worry about a sulking drummer, if it doesn’t need guitar then the same applies. To me, almost all the greatest music has been created via a singular vision – that way it doesn’t get diluted…& you can only blame yourself when you put out something crap (which is the downside!). I play all the instruments on the records these days but I must confess I detest being referred to as a musician – it always makes me think of punters in guitar shops playing Stairway to fucking Heaven! The name ‘The Party’ was chosen initially just because I liked the sound of it but then I started to think about the various connotations the word ‘party’ has which really cemented it.

What inspires you musically & lyrically?

Musically I’m into so many different things it’s hard for me to see which bits of my listening have influenced me & in what ways. I tend to leave cd’s all over the desk until I eventually put ‘em back where they belong – just looking at the pile on here now (i.e. the last ones I’ve played) there’s MANITOBA, TERRY HALL, SMOG, THE FALL, an Artists Against Success sampler, BOB DYLAN, ED RUSH & OPTICAL, LEE HAZELWOOD & ANNE MARGARET, EELS, THE POGUES, AUGUSTUS PABLO, MACKA B., THE KINKS, FRANKIE MACHINE, JAMES BROWN, JOHN LEE HOOKER, TRILEMMA, FEAR, PUBLIC ENEMY, an old Northern Soul sampler & NICK CAVE. Some of those things & many others will’ve undoubtedly influenced me somewhere along the line. Lyrically, I won’t write about something unless it’s either happened/happening to me or I’ve seen it at very close quarters. Things that interest me, make me angry, find darkly amusing or touching in some way. If you don’t invest something of yourself in it then what’s the point? Sometimes it’s fairly obvious what the songs are about (I think) but other times I like to throw people off the scent a little just to keep things interesting…make ‘em think they’re listening to something they’re not. I always think you never really get to know a good record until you’ve played it at least 40 or 50 times. Records designed to grab you straight away on the first listen often don’t hold much mystique after half a dozen plays ‘cos there’s nothing left to find or understand. They blew their wad too early!

What motivates you to record?

I have a strong desire to create stuff I guess – I always did even as a kid. Sport never really interested me I’d rather be doing something creative. I did play sport with my mates sometimes but I was never very bothered about it. I do occasionally wonder whether sport isn’t some kind of government sponsored diversionary tactic to numb peoples senses…it seems to have that effect as far as I can see. I think of records like a diary in a way. Get it down & out of your system. Move on. When I first started The Party I wasn’t doing a day job & often used to write & record up to 3 songs a day…sometimes one of them would be good! I simply don’t have the time to do that now but in a way it’s improved my self-editing. Now I probably carry a song around in my head for 2 or 3 weeks, gradually adding bits & taking bits away, before I get anywhere near the studio. A lot of these get rejected when they’re still in the ‘head’ stage. It’s a reminder that not every idea you have is great & that, in fact, some of them are fucking shocking & should never become any more than an idea. Drown ‘em before they get out of hand.

How comes you don’t play live? Wouldn’t you like to see an immediate reaction to your work?

Well, partly because of the hassles & limitations of the band format we spoke about earlier & partly because I think the idea that bands should ‘naturally’ play live is absolute fucking bollocks. What utter fucking snobbery. No one is ever going to convince me that something is in some way better or more ‘worthy’ just because it’s played live. I did the live circuit in various bands for years & now I don’t play live…I’m doing the best work I’ve ever done! Any cunt can play an instrument providing they are physically able & want to enough…there’s no great trick to it, just a bit of practice at the start & you’re away! 99% of bands are just trotting out the songs as if they were at a rehearsal anyway…they do it because ‘rock’n’roll (don’t make me laugh, my nan’s more rock’n’roll) A&R men tell them they have to & they’ve bought into the rock’n’roll myth. The fact that they’re buying into a myth established so long ago makes it one of the least rock’n’roll thing I can think of. It’s about as rock’n’roll as buying a pint of milk. The best bit about most gigs is having a beer with your mates…the bands, even if you love their records, are invariably a disappointment. Audiences just whoop & holler at the end of songs ‘cos that’s what they’re supposed to do. The whole thing bores me rigid.

If the musical world were ideal, it would…

…care more about music than commerce. That’s ridiculously utopian I know, but you did say ideal!

Why should people buy ‘it’s the small things that keep you awake…’?

Perhaps they shouldn’t buy it. Maybe it’s not for them. Maybe it is…I’m the last person to ask, I’m way too close to it. I think it’s a fucking great record. I’d buy it & think it was the best £4 I’d ever spent…but if I didn’t think that I’d have no business putting it out! Christ Skif, you tell ‘em why they should buy it, they’re not going to trust me are they!?!…you’ll do a much better job than me…

Suggest a publicity stint to raise The Party’s profile

The best publicity stunt seems to either be death (though you tend to have to be a bit more well known than me for that one to really work) or crime (& I wouldn’t be stupid enough to get caught). To be honest I hate it when bands resort to cheap stunts, unless it’s something like some of the stuff the KLF did (perhaps with the exception of burning the cash) which was at least interesting & didn’t really seem to sell ‘em any more records. The KLF/EXTREME NOISE TERROR collaboration on the Brits some years ago (followed by the dead sheep in the lobby) was great – especially as I really loved E.N.T. & a lot of the other Brit hardcore stuff of the time…I couldn’t believe they were on prime time tv! I read Bill Drummond’s book, 45, earlier this year & it goes into some of the other daft stuff they did…most of it seems to be due to inquisitiveness, bloody-mindedness & an over-active imagination rather than to win public support for the purchasing of their records. Actually, if anyone reading this has an audio or video copy of the E.N.T. collaboration on 3am Eternal please contact me as I’d love to get my hands on it!

What do you consider your best achievement in music?

If I thought I’d had it, I’d give up – there’d be no point in carrying on! It’s always the thing you’re currently working on – at the moment that’s the next record (another full album his time, not a mini), provisionally titled Vandalism Is Fun – that’s a Vanity Project exclusive…although it’ll probably have changed by the time it comes out as it’s only in its very early stages at the moment. Any labels that might be interested in putting it out give me a call as Colchester Recordings are a bit strapped for cash at the moment! My best achievement in music really has been the realisation that all the things the rock folk-lore teaches you are, in the main, absolute bollocks. There’s nothing rock’n’roll/punk rock (delete to taste – it means the same thing really) about aping the past or what some corporate funded cocksnot thinks is great. If you haven’t got the right A&R man, manager or press officer you’re basically fucked & all those people who claim to be into it just for the love of the music won’t give a flying fuck about you or your music. The music scene is just an opportunity to get into places for free & do too much coke. It’s such a cliché but the overwhelming majority of these people are the living embodiment of it. Sorry, I seem to have drifted off the point a bit there…

What more would you like to achieve with your music?

Obviously, I’d like more people to buy the records, but that’s more ‘cos I love the feedback & just want people to hear it. I get a real buzz out of someone really getting what The Party does. Some people really like it but don’t necessarily get it – don’t get me wrong, that’s great but it’s better when they get it too. I guess I just like to feel I’ve communicated something to someone on a similar wavelength. At the moment I’d just like to put stuff out on loads of different labels (some more vinyl would be great too…got the bug for vinyl again after doing the 7” with Always Face The Sea Records). Colchester Recordings is great & I’ll still be doing stuff through them but it doesn’t have a lot of cash & I want to put out tons of stuff!!! They have no problem with me doing stuff with other labels so it’s up to me to hook up with some more people really…

If you weren’t making music just what would you do with your evenings?

I don’t tend to have much time in the evenings!!! I typically work 40-50 hours a week then do another 16+ hours studying as I’m doing a part-time degree. Then I like to spend some time with my long-suffering girlfriend. I also do stuff for Colchester Recordings & like a drink whenever possible. I have to be extremely organised & just put time aside every few weeks to record the ideas that have been undergoing refinement I my head over the previous few weeks! It all seems to hold together somehow. Unless I’ve been drinking I just can’t sit still, I think I might be a bit of a workaholic…I can’t stand wasting time. If I’m determined to relax, I have a couple of drinks & that gives my brain the signal that I’m in ‘relax’mode…otherwise I just can’t! I t drives everyone up the wall…

What are your future plans for recordings?

In the not too distant future (in fact, it will be out by the time this goes to print), The Party will have a track called A Cavalcade Of Monkeys on a compilation album on Colchester Recordings (along with CANDY SNIPER, BEN MARWOOD, EPOCHÉ, CONFORMIST, FRANKIE MACHINE, DUB MONSTER, SEAN PARKER, BILLY IDLE & CAUSTIC GOAT, STEVE RUDD & KILL DIZNEY) & will be doing sporadic bursts of work on the next album. There are completed tracks that may or may not go on the next album – hard to tell to you get enough together & see how they fit - & if anyone else wants to put them out then that’d be great! If time allows then I may be producing an album for BILLY IDLE & CAUSTIC GOAT who want to release a series of 7” albums on coloured vinyl – their songs tend to be around the one minute mark so realistically they could get 14 – 16 songs on a 7” at 33rpm. There’s no label earmarked for that just yet (Colchester Recordings have said they’d love to do it but yet again, they’re limited fund-wise). That’s about it for the time being but we’re always open to offers…

What, with regard to the uk music scene, upsets you?

I think I’ve probably covered that already. But more generally, what gets me the most is the lionisation of the ordinary. There’s so much great music out there but it consistently get overlooked in favour of stuff that has no personality, nothing to say other than the usual vague platitudes & is talked up by certain sections of the media as being everything it isn’t. What I hate most is they way that if the ‘right’ people say someone or something is a ‘classic’ or an ‘icon’, a few weeks later everyone you meet starts parroting the same idea as if they thought of it! The only reason it was said in the first place was because somebody was in someone else’s pocket! Coldplay for instance are a band who I’ve no real problem with – they’re a perfectly ok MOR guitar band if you like that sort of thing, they don’t seem inherently evil or anything but for christsakes, they’re no better or worse than 5000 other bands in a similar vein. Oasis were supposed to be the greatest rock’n’roll band to stalk the earth but in reality they were an above average pub rock band who got extra big due to the grey pound! They effectively appealed to middle aged guys in dull jobs who could feel like they were part of something modern whilst listening to to something that could’ve been in their fathers’ record collection! Robbie Williams has ‘star quality’ because he changes his mind & winks a lot…even a prick like him knows his records are shit. He usually waits until its sold all it’s going to sell then says “oh, that was crap” – then, the most infuriating bit is when all the people who bought the previous crap one go out & buy the next one. Essentially, it’s a lifestyle accessory –everyone loves it so we’d better love it too or we’ll miss out! - they wouldn’t know a good record from a fucking dinner plate…it’s all bullshit really &just not worth getting upset about. There’s a lot of thick people about that’s all. Give a record to make ‘em think that’s what I say…

What, with regard to the uk music scene, delights you?

The only thing that delights me about the uk music scene is the underground really. People like yourself , Losing Today (although they’re Italien!), Is this Music?, No Ripcord, Juxta, My Dead Flower, Modern Dance, Careless Talk Costs Lives, The Scourge, Zeitgeist, Splendid (although they’re from the US), Misfit City & loads of other ‘zines that I can’t think of off the top of my head. Then there’s all the labels that put out stuff they like & damn the consequences. It’s the only good thing about the music scene, there’s some great bands, zines & labels but they rarely get a mention in the mainstream.

Six Desert Island Discs?

6 is that all??!!! Well, I’d have to take ‘It’s Alive’ by The Ramones for when I wanted something full of energy -it’s got to be my favourite live album…, ‘Henry’s Dream’ by Nick Cave – it’s hard to pick one of his albums ‘cos they’ve all got some great stuff on them but there’s some brilliant songs on Henry’s Dream that give me goosebumps whenever I hear them so it’ll have to be that one. The last Smog album, ‘Supper’ has to be their best since ‘Knock Knock’ so I’d have to have that. For a funky moment I’d have to take a James Brown ‘Best of…’. I don’t think I could do without something by The Fall but I can’t narrow it down, I think it’d have to be my own mix Cd with tracks from ‘This Nations Saving Grace’, ‘The Infotainment Scam’, ‘Extricate’, ‘The Unutterable’, ‘Perverted by Language’ and ‘Shiftwork’ – bit of a cheat I know! I’d definitely want some reggae but yet again I’m going to have to cheat with a mix cd including Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Macka B., Big Youth, King Tubby, Max Romeo, Junior Murvin & probably loads of others. Bollocks, I couldn’t get ‘London Calling’, ‘Searching For The Young soul Rebels’, ‘Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot’, ‘Powerage’, ‘No Sleep ‘til Hammersmith’, ‘Punks Not Dread’, ‘Why?’, ‘Dirty Rotten LP’, ‘Red Roses for Me’, ‘It Takes a Nation of Millions…’, that is an evil question for a music lover…

3 Desert Island Books?

These kind of questions are impossible!!! Right, I’ll go for ‘X-Ray’, the biography of Ray Davies of The Kinks which is one of the best biographies I’ve ever read, the way he’s written it really gives it an edge…a very creative way of doing a biog. Recently read ‘The Dubliners’ by James Joyce which was good & also ‘A Drink With Shane MacGowan’ which was also a great biography. There’s tons more but to save myself the greif I’ll stick to those three…

One Desert Island luxury item?

Easy! Some kind of stationary set including pens & paper…if you’ve got that then your imagination will help keep you sane, think of all the lyrics you could write, plans you could make until you got – hopefully- rescued. The obvious answer might have been a guitar or piano or something but if you break a string or the piano goes out of tune you’re knackered. Pen & paper is much more versatile…

Any other words of wisdom?

Only that people should check out the Colchester Recordings website if they want to check out reviews of The Party’s records or buy any of them. Anyone at a label or a ‘zine who’s interested in The Party feel free to get in touch.

Chas McDevitt

2003-08-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

You’ll have noticed from the tributes to Nancy Whiskey and the great Lonnie Donegan in previous issues, as well as my nickname, that I’m a big fan of skiffle. It’s a never ending source of frustration to me that when you mention the word skiffle, people look blankly at you despite it being one of the most important and influential movements in the history of British popular music. It’s boom may only have lasted 4 years in the mid-50’s, but it’s ethics echo even today. At the centre of the movement with Lonnie was Chas McDevitt, and we asked him a few questions about his skifflin’ career.

>Do you find many young people take an interest in skiffle, or am I the exception that proves the rule?

Quite a few young people take an interest in Skiffle. In recent years with the rise of World music, skiffle seems to be attracting a new audience. It is after all do-it-yourself music, and that is as modern as you can get.

>If someone younger did show an interest, what 5 songs would you choose as defining skiffle? You can choose your own, if you so wish!

Difficult one this. 1950's skiffle encompassed so many styles, jug music, current pop, jazz, country, blues and R&B. The record that caught the public's imagination was of course Lonnie's 'Rock Island Line', our 'Freight Train' was popular but different in style. I always liked Ray Bush and The Avon Cities Skiffle Group on 'This Little Light O' Mine' and The City Ramblers' 'Boodle am Shake' also Ken Colyer's 'Sportin' Life'.

>Do you get frustrated by the often held view that British pop music began with The Beatles?

I don't claim that skiffle was the sole creator of British pop music, there was Trad Jazz and the early UK Rockers like Johnny Kidd, Vince Taylor, Terry Dene and a host of other bands that came through the coffee bar and jazz club scene. The Beatles just found music through skiffle and this together with the American influences we all had, created their unique approach to pop. Our first demo for Oriole not only included 'Freight Train' but also 'Giddy Up A Ding Dong'! We could have gone either way.

>What are your best memories of the skiffle years?

Playing the Ed Sullivan Show in New York in 1957, six years before the Beatles and a couple of weeks after Elvis. Whilst there we went to The Paramount Theatre in New York to see Alan Freed's Summer Festival, we were due to join this on tour. It was fantastic; Big Joe Turner, Chuck Berry, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, The Everly Bros, The Kalin Twins, Paul Anka, Clyde McPhatter, The Moonglows, The Cadillacs, Teddy Randazo, Ruth Brown, La Verne Baker and a host of others.

>How have the years since the skiffle boom ended treated you?

Fairly kindly. I have never stopped working and as the years go by I enjoy it more and more.

>Is there anything else you'd still like to achieve musically?

I'd like to make a really good album of some of my all time favourite songs, from Cajun to R&B with great musos backing me.

>You have written a book concerning the skiffle movement - was this out of frustration at there being very little literature available on such an important landmark in British music?

Precisely. Skiffle was being ignored as one of the big influences in Pop. Even the Radio stations only started their retrospective programmes from 1960. So much good music is ignored by doing this including, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino and the early Blues and R&B artists.

>The skiffle movement has obviously been rocked recently with the loss of both Lonnie Donegan and Nancy Whiskey. Could you give us your thoughts on their contribution to the movement?

Lonnie built on the foundations laid down by the likes of Ken Colyer to become the fountainhead of Skiffle, even though he abandoned the washboard until recent years and never ever used a T-chest bass (neither did we come to that). With 30 entries in the Hit Parade his influence on pop culture can't be denied. Nancy never really liked skiffle and always professed to being a folk-singer. She was only with my group for about 8 months, but with the success of Freight Train she could have gone on to greater heights, had she not stopped to get married and concentrate on a family.

>Which recent musicians interest you?

Recent in pop terms means yesterday. But my heroes vary from Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton to Van Morrison, Moby, The Neville Bros etc. etc.

>What annoys you about the modern music industry? How has it changed do you think?

Can't stand the obviously manufactured groups (they are not bands). The odd act breaks through with genuine talent, but the 'powers that pay' have no knowledge of the past and no interest in the music and how it has developed. It is merely a money-making excercise. It always was of course but there was often a creative genius to guide the bankrollers.

>Could you choose your 6 non-skiffle desert island discs.

Ken Colyer Jazz Band – ‘Goin' Home’, Georgia White – ‘Was I Drunk’, Van Morrison – ‘Madame George’, Joe Brown – ‘Come On Joe’, Little Richard – ‘Lucille’ and Jimmy Rogers - ‘Treasures Untold’.

>How about a desert island book and a luxury item?

Cheating about the book, I'd like The Encyclopaedia Britannica, and if not the real thing then a 'blow-up' Marilyn Monroe.

www.chasmcdevitt.co.uk

Radiator Experts

2003-08-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

Along with The Party, we really had have been spoilt for lo-fi-ish self-releases this month, with both that and this waiting for me on my return from the jaunt to Central/Eastern Europe as detailed on page 2. The Radiator Experts’ ‘Dressed In Yellow EP’, while not of such a singular vision, is supremely inventive, energetic and idiosyncratic. We open with a dapper drumbeat crudely interrupted by static-fuzz guitars and dazed-alien vocal - 'The Doctor Lied', they tell us in a style akin to a bedsit Weezer overdosed on sugar laying waste to a 4-track. 'Californ-I-A' is another track that grabs your hips and your head and shake both from side to side in the manner of a 'Happy Days' extra. Good funtime pop, like the B-52's, Byrds, Beach Boys, Bis and even some bands that begin with other, less important, letters. The Radiator Experts use lo-fidelity as a source of strength rather than a cover for weaknesses and that is quite a rare thing, so we thought we’d get hold of them for a quick interview. Skif

>Please introduce yourself and your associates. What qualities do you each bring to the band musically & otherwise?
Paul rides a scooter & plays bass. Musically he brings lively bass lines to simple songs. Otherwise he makes the average height of each band member a little more respectable. Becky likes long stripy socks, plays keyboards & sings. She adds enthusiasm & sweet vocals. I play the guitar & sing mostly, sometimes I play the photocopier but not often. I write all the songs so I guess that's my contribution. I've also got the best fringe (self-proclaimed) & the most brown clothes.

>How did the Radiator Experts come together?
I met Becky at a roller disco back in '92 and not long after we started doing gigs together & more often than not a guy called Paul would turn up on stage playing bass. We were too shy to tell him to go away and anyway we kind of liked him & his interesting bass lines. Lately Paul's been super busy & we've had to call on Ben Seymour who we purchased from a street salesman in Paris for three "shiny" marbles.

>What inspires you musically & lyrically?
Musically Dressy Bessy, lyrically Belle & Sebastian. In times gone by the Rad Ex sound was predominantly post rock/ spoken word, and playing live was becoming a chore as the songs were so complicated. Then I saw the wonderful Dressy Bessy live first in Nottingham & then Liverpool and was so moved by how much fun they were having & what a great sound they were making that I decided to concentrate more on the pop side of my writing and ever since they particularly have been a great influence on me. We are also influenced by: Henry's Dress, Of Montreal, The Sound of Music Soundtrack, Kincaid, Boyracer, Godspeed, Bearsuit, Ladytron, Kindercore Records, pretty grrrls and long summer days.

>If the musical world was ideal it would…
Be small enough to fit in your pocket but big enough to change your life.

>Why should people buy your EP?
Because its got a nice front cover, five songs & a healthy dose of pop hidden beneath them walls of distortion.

>What motivates you to gig & record?
The satisfaction you get from reading an email from a total stranger saying how much they love one of your songs, or reading a great review, seeing someone dancing or standing with their eyes closed totally lost in your music at a gig.

>What with regards the music scene upsets you?
I try not to get too upset by something that is so fickle. On the one hand it annoys me how labels jump onto bandwagons without even thinking just 'cos the NME says a certain scene is in "vogue". Also I sometimes get upset at how so many manufactured bands get millions of pounds pushed there way when true geniuses are going totally unnoticed and left to record on four track in their bedrooms. But on the other hand I kind of like the fact that there are so many albums that are special to me that the average person will totally miss out on, like the Empress album on Geographic, most people will never here it but those who are lucky enough to will truly treasure it. I think I'd prefer the Radiator Experts to be special to just 500 people who are really moved by us than 10 million who buy it just 'cos everyone else has it.

>What are your future plans for gigs and where particularly would you like to play and why? What bands would you like to support?
Well we've already played with Of Montreal (was slightly let down by them though if I'm being honest here) so I guess to support Dressy Bessy or the Aislers Set are the two biggies left to do. It'd be cool/ interesting to play with Numbers, the All Girl Summer Fun Band or Printed Circuit as well though. Regarding venues, I rather like Bunkers Hill in Nottingham 'cos it's just like having a band play in your front room. I'm not a fan of the "big" venue.

>If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?
Maybe I'd be reading a dictionary under the light of a full moon. More likely I'd be going to more gigs, perfecting the art of the perfect compilation, watching Columbo re-runs (or Futurama) and playing Scrabble.

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?
Id like to write the perfect pop song or at least write a song that changes someone's life a song that'd fill you with the same kind of joy as do the opening chords of the Shins "Know Yr Onion!" if that's being too ambitious, maybe just to accomplish a fuller sound & touch a wider audience.

>Do you see yourself still doing this in a few years time?
Unless someone snaps off all my fingers.

>Radiator Experts Desert Island essentials
>Albums:.

V/A - Blow Up! Exclusive Blend 4, V/A - The Red Bird Story, Godspeed You Black Emperor - Slow Riot For The New Zion, Essex Green - Everything is Green, Of Montreal - The Gay Parade, Dressy Bessy - Pink Hearts Yellow Moons.

>Book:
The Bible.

>Luxury Item:
Could I take the All Girl Summer Fun Band? They sound like good company. No? ok I'll settle for a guitar.

www.radiatorexperts.co.uk

Qhixldekx

2003-05-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

Probably should declare this one in the register of members interests. Otherwise there'll be questions in the house, a lengthy battle in the High Court, a press witch-hunt, the works. Of course then I'd have to stand down, forcing a by-election for the Vanity Project editorship. I know you buggers would desert the party, tactical voting and all that and we'd end up with Kate Thornton in charge, or something. You really don't want that, do you? Anyway, to prevent our parting company, I will admit that not only does Leon Michael Tricker, Qhixldekx's alter-ego, fire off the occasional missive for publication in this very periodical (see the Interpol review this issue) but I have known him now for 23 years. We are both 25 years old. This may warrant calls of nepotism or at least a judgement clouded by our relationship outside music. Fact is, our relationship, ever since we tried to convene a synth-pop band called Eye-To-Eye when we were but 11 years old, has always been built around a steady rock of our developing musical tastes. I hope they will continue to develop and intertwine (rather than mirror) so we can have a series of decent arguments for a good few years to come. Music is what we do - he the player, me the hack - he's done his bit now with the forthcoming release of 'Welcome to Qhixldekx', and now it's my turn. He knows, and so should you, that I would slate his music as soon as buy him a beer if I didn't like it. Luckily, I do like it and here are a few reasons why. That he has the balls to do it all himself, so blame for deficiencies in production or musicianship cannot be placed elsewhere (by no means is this a lo-fidelity effort, I should add). The fact that it sounds like everybody and nobody. That fact that with axe in hand, Dekx wishes to rock as much as any death metal guitarist you've ever met, whilst also embracing crude synths, beats and glitches and a Beefheartian non-linear outlook. The fact that he is one of very few Pompey musicians who dare to try something different these days. There I said it. So there you go put that down to partiality if you will, but when he sails too far up his own arse, and there is a fair chance that it'll happen, VP'll be here to bring him back down to Earth, believe you me. So there.Skif

>What inspires you, musically, politically and with regards doing it yourself?
It's a cliché but inspiration can strike anywhere. I usually find walking around town at night, watching cars go by, overhearing conversations in bars...sounds and ideas come and it's just a matter of interpreting them with music. I think the DIY ethic is a political stance in itself. Beyond that the Qhixldekx agenda is to tell a story, convey emotions, and entertain in an entirely decadent manner.

>Why do you write, perform and record alone? Would you ever augment the Dekx sound with other musicians?
I got bored with band rehearsals. It's hard enough to find somewhere to practice, and then you have sessions where everyone's trying to outshine everyone else, or is only interested in their part. It's the one thing guaranteed to kill any inspiration or passion you have. Who knows, it may be to the detriment of my music. I may benefit from some objectivity. But I can't compromise. I'm going into the studio later in the year as part of a students degree course. He's finding me a live drummer for that project, and I'm gonna place myself in his hands entirely. So I don't see myself as a control freak. More I know what I want and I haven't come across others who are as focused.

>What more would you like to achieve with your music?
I'd like to attract people away from venues into clubs and vice versa. To quote that famous Sugarcubes review, I think there's 'great crossover potential' in the ‘Dekx sound. I'd like to have the means to do this full time, travel the world, and drink champagne for breakfast every day. Until that happens I'll be doing 'this', whatever 'this' is, for as long as I have a passion for 'it'.

>What problems occur from being a one-man band?
Going for a drink together is a solitary, if cheap, experience! Having said that at one gig, at The Wedgewood Rooms, each band had 12 bottles of beer provided. So I came out of that deal pretty well off.

>Why should people buy 'Welcome to Qhixldekx'?
Coz you're not just buying a CD of music, you're buying a passport into another world. Its a fairy-tale. It's Harry Potter re-written by Bret Easton-Ellis, featured on Jackanory, read by Chris Morris. It's something to believe in, and without a faith in something we're all fucked.

>I believe you've taught yourself the technology of both electronic music making and recording.
It's not that difficult, just a case of doing a bit of research. I'm coming to grips with things like reverb and compression that are bog standard techniques, but I've had to start at the beginning. It's been worth the effort though because people have commented favourably on the quality of the recordings, and I think i'm starting to develop a 'sound'. That said you have to know the rules before you can break them. And I want to break them! I guess thats what I want to do in the future. I want to programme more of my own sounds and percussion rather than use pre-programmed sounds and synth presets which i've used in the past to save time - i've been desperate just to get ideas down. In particular i'd like to use unusual things for percussion sounds - a bit like Tom Waits. My girlfriends rabbit thumping is a goer...

>What are your future plans for gigs?
Possibility of an album launch at The Wedgewood Rooms, which would be great. Theres few smaller venues in Portmouth though, so I'd love to uncover somewhere that people could use. I'm contacting people all the time so i'd like to just get out to other towns or cities - anyone who wants to do a gig swap just contact info@qhixldekx.com! I'd like to get into clubs and do 'club' live sets in the middle of DJ's and just get people opening their ears. In terms of supporting people...any bands/acts I like or respect. I've supported one such act, Red Letter Day, a few times now. If Cardiacs, ...Trail of Dead, Godspeed!, The Coral and Mount Sims want to do an all-dayer then i'm up for it!

>If the musical world was ideal, it would…...be more stylish and less sanctimonious. You know, you CAN have a laugh doing this AND be getting a point across. Music is art, and can express things in a way you can't explain...but that's not at the expense of entertainment.

>What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?
I try not to let something so unimportant upset me. Besides, the problems here are the same as everywhere else - lack of money for new independent acts. But to dwell on that too much is to forget all thats good about the UK scene. With magazines like Logo and The Fly and all the great fanzines out there, there's enthusiasm and passion everywhere. I love the fact that people seem to like what they like but can let other stuff coexist - things don't seem so single-minded at the moment. And don't forget the pop charts are superb at the moment! Also, CD-R's and the internet mean theres been a kind of 'devolvement' of power from record labels to the individual. That said if any label fancies chucking me a big pile of cash in return for my soul, i'm happy! I think it's important to state, especially with the hullaballoo over MC5 letting their music be used in adverts, that Qhixldekx has already 'sold out'!!!

>6 Desert Island Discs:
Based entirely on what I'm listening to at the moment: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Madonna; Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Slow Riot For A New Zero Kanada; Cardiacs - On Land and in the Sea; Captain Beefheart - Safe As Milk; Mount Sims - Ultrasex; Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights.

>1 Desert Island Book:
Primo Levi’s If This Is A Man...

>1 Desert Island Luxury Item:
An airstrip complete with plane and pilot!

www.qhixldekx.com

Hidden Cameras

2003-05-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

On the strength of the excellent ‘Ban Marriage’ single, we decided to contact Hidden Cameras frontman Joel Gibb.

>Please introduce yourself and your associates.
Hi this is Joel from The Hidden Cameras, I write all the songs and organize everything related to the band. Each member of the band is an artist in their own right, either visual or musical. Although I highly orchestrate the music, the band gives the songs life and we perform them as a group. There are people in the band like Maggie, Mike eb, and Luis who bring on-stage energy. They dance and generally have a good time. Then there's more serious members like Mike Olsen (cello), Owen Pallett (violin) and Matias (bass/drums) who make the songs sound tight.

>How did Hidden Cameras come about?
I was asked to play a show at my friend's art gallery called West Wing Art Space. They liked my 4-track recordings and wanted me to play some of the songs live. So I asked a bunch of friend's to back me up and it went from there.

>What’s the ethos behind Hidden Cameras?
It's sort of unspoken. It is the kind of band that anyone can be a part of. It was casually assembled and balloons to large proportions depending on the show we play in Toronto.

>What do your dancers bring to the experience?
The dancers are there to make the show a show. They also encourage dance among audience members.

>What would you like to achieve with your music?
Hard question to answer. To realize music that I imagine.

>Apparently you have played in porn theatres, churches and old folks homes - how true is this and how important is the setting for a gig to you?
This is all true, bars are boring and in Toronto especially there are not a lot of good live venues in the city. Playing in a church it's not smokey, people come to listen to music. It's clean, there's a lot of space, there's no annoying bouncers, there's no worry about whether the club paid you correctly, there's a grand piano and pipe organ AND it's a new location for the audience to visit in the city and a new setting for the band.

>What other kind of places would you like to play?
Cathedrals, the street, theatres, anywhere.

>Any particular countries you'd like to visit with the band?
Israel.

>What inspires you lyrically and musically?
My life, it's cliché or even passé to say this but really it's the people I meet and the experiences I have.

>What is your future plan for recording?
New record soon actually, it will be harder and there will be more dynamics.

>What motivates you to record and gig?
Good question!

>If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?
Write songs, it’s what I’ve always done.

>Hidden Cameras' Six Records for a Desert Island?
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On; Neil Young – Decade; Suicide – Suicide; Scott Walker - Scott 4 plus Nancy & Lee and Donovan compilations

>Hidden Cameras' Desert Island Book & Luxury Item?
Dictionary. Private jet

www.thehiddencameras.com

Tender Trap

2003-03-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

To finish our small series of Odd/Even shows, we wanted to mix it up a tad. We wanted something bizarre, so we got in Maria Syrtisz, we wanted something funky, so we got Loki, and we also wanted a band who mean something. Not only in terms of the modern ‘indie scene’, but whose have a distinct place in the history of British off-kilter pop and with Tender Trap, you get both. They house former members of Talulah Gosh (one of the more resonant shining lights in the C86 twee-pop movement, along with the Pastels and the Wedding Present) as well as Sarah Records luminaries Heavenly, yet they eschew their past to continue creating modern day pop-nuggets of the highest quality. We contacted Amelia Fletcher to see what makes her tick, even if she’s clearly lying about her second best achievement in music.

>Please introduce yourself and your band mates and what qualities you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise.

Amelia Fletcher. Can sing, can play guitar, can play Melodica. Friend of strange bleeps and multi layered backing vocals.

Rob Pursey. Can play guitar and can drive a car. Can spend a long time happily working on a bass drum sound. Can write songs with Amelia (above).

DJ Downfall. Can understand software. Knows how to create a lively rhythm track. Can play bass.

CD player. Can play rhythm tracks.

>You've been in many bands with a lot of the same personnel over time. Do name changes represent a slate wiped clean, a chance to start afresh?
Yes. But they particularly signal a time when all the old songs have been thrown away and a new lot have been made. They also represent a recognition that the earlier impulse to stop being in a band has been cancelled out by the renewed desire to start one all over again.

>How do you believe Tender Trap differ to your previous incarnations?
A lot less gigs, fewer arguments, more time spent staring at a computer screen. Less geared toward live performance, really. We'll probably try to make the live thing more exciting in the future cos we're slightly conscious that we're not very entertaining to watch unless you really like the songs. Even then, the only pleasure may be to hear us messing those songs up. There was a good version of 'Badge of Love' a few gigs ago when the CD player unilaterally decided to start the next song before we'd finished the old one and DJ fell off the stool he was perched on, dropping the melodica in the process. On the positive side, the records are getting closer to what we intend. We were never good at getting what we wanted in studios.

>What do you consider your best achievements? Is there anything else you'd really like to achieve with your music?
Best achievements: learning how to record it all ourselves at last; playing in Portsmouth. To achieve: an album of consistent beauty.

>What motivates you to continue to record and gig, and is it any different from when you started out in music?
Starting out, gigs was just what you did if you were in a band, and we never thought we'd ever record any of it anyway. We also thought, foolishly, that playing lots of gigs might make you very famous. Or, maybe, just got excited that people are prepared to look at and listen to you for 40 minutes. Now gigs are still fun, but seem motivated by a vague wanderlust and the desire to see that there still are other people in the world who aren't just buying Radiohead LPs off Amazon and thinking that that's it.

>What inspires you lyrically and musically?
Lyrically, people we know. Musically, the Magnetic Fields, in particular their willingness to do different things and not worry if it sounds odd.

>What is your future plan for records/gigs?
We have just finished recording a single that will probably come out on Elefant later in the year. We wrote it after our last trip to Spain where we really liked all the indie electropop bands. Our song is a duet half in English, half in Spanish and the Spanish stuff is sung by our friend Lupe out of Pipas. It's more poppy that anything on the LP. We've also got the bare bones of enough songs for another LP, but we haven't written many lyrics yet so may have to spend a lot more time with people we know eavesdropping on their conversations. Strangely, all these other songs seem to be less poppy so far. Quite often we set out to do something more 'serious', get bored with it and decide it's better to write pop tunes instead.

>What do you think of the current 'indie scene', and in what ways is it different from say the mid 1980's?
It seems a lot quieter! There are less boys with pudding bowl haircuts.

>If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?
Play Scrabble. Go to more gigs. Eat more food. We're thinking about starting an indie club in Brixton, so maybe that as well.

>Tender Traps's Desert Island Discs
Beat Happening - Indian Summer
Blondie - Union City Blue
Cameo - Word Up
Kenickie - I Would Fix You
Broadcast - The Noise Made By People
The Toys - A Lover's Concerto

>Tender Trap's Desert Island Books
The Beckett Trilogy
Alan Carr's easy way to give up smoking
Coraline by Neil Gaiman

>Tender Traps's Desert Island Luxury Item
A house.

Tender Trap website

4tRECk

2002-08-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

On the basis of Grebo’s lust for a bit of 4tRECk action, I decided to check out the website, www.4track.co.uk, and I was immediately intrigued so purchased the records he has reviewed across the page. I can happilly say that everything the Greeb has to say is entirely accurate. I’m always pleased to hear quality material from ‘bedroom artists’ and ‘CDR labels’ and so, being both, I questioned Sam Callow to see what makes him tick.

>Please introduce yourself and tell us about the ethics of 4tRECk.
Hello folks. My name is Sam and 4tRECk is the name I've given to theimaginary band I'm in - If that makes any sense? Basically I'm trying to make music I want to hear, using a fairly basic set-up of four-track, mini-disc, a few mics and an array of junk-shop instruments. There is never usually a fixed plan to a song I'm making, I just take it one step at a time. Sometimes this involves some short and quite intensive periods of recording then just leaving something unfinished for a few months and forgetting about it before coming back to it. Overall its quite a gradual process although there can be a few tracks on the go at once. I have made four CDR albums and one 7" record which can be a bit tricky to find in shops, although the 7" is the first distributed release (i.e. Not personally by me going into shops hassling the staff, but by CARGO who have yet to take some from me....grrrr!).

>What influences your music?
Probably quite difficult to say. In a sort of deep-rooted way my parents were both musicians and from an early age I was 'subjected' to many classical concerts and have been surrounded by music. I think that this has had some influence on me in that I've been exposed to quite allot of musical styles and structures, and also perhaps I developed a way of concentrating on long pieces of music and instrumental music, as oppossed to the usual Pop upbringing, although there was a bit of that too. I can't say anyone in particular directly influences me now, perhaps the Japanese band Ruins did a few years ago (and still do), they are a duo and play very fast, stop-start, 'prog-punk' and the idea of making seemingly impossible music struck me as something that I'd like to hear more of. I think what influences a track most is finding new ways to record, new ways to play an instrument and bringing fresh elements into the recording process, for example I learnt to use the mini-disc as an editing and sequencing tool, so I could cut, paste, and rearrange something I played in new ways.

>What do you do when not making music?
I haven't been making music for quite a while now. The last thing I did was over Christmas, which was the Jesus Lizard cover on accordion, I knew I had a few days holiday from work and just decided to try to do it. Generally I don't go out a great deal, perhaps to the pub or to a gig, or listen to Peel's show and meeting up with friends as most do. I spend a lot of time on the phone to my inspiration, Caroline, my lovely patient French girlfriend. What I want to do more of in my spare time is work on the 4tRECk live show - in my head it would be a puppet show or cartoons on slides, but will probably just turn out as me with some backing tapes.

>What's so good about recording on the same battered old 4-track then?
Its always a good starting point as it is quick, simple and its good to know everything is safe on tape rather than some file on a computer. Also I think it is quite good to have your options cut down a bit, so perhaps you can explore outside of the machines capabilities, otherwise you just follow the paths that other people would use the equipment for and rely too much on technology. At first I just used the 4-track on its own, but now it has become more of another instrument rather than a means of just recording sound - It is very battered though, the 1st track caught fire once when I stupidly made an effects loop with a 100w valve guitar amp - it sounded OK on the headphones for a while - until I noticed the smell of burning plastic!

>Your next release will be recorded on 8 track I notice - would you ever put out a 32 track recording?
I definitely don't want to get too carried away with the move up to 8-tracks, it has taken out a lot of the frustrating barriers of tape recording but I'm a bit scared I won't know when to stop. That's another great advantage of the 4-track: you can only go so far. But the idea of having unlimited overdubs I think secretly appeals to me - although I would hate to record in a studio, with deadlines to meet, and paying money for recording time. For me recording happens as soon as the idea happens and is all part of the same writing process.

>Is any instrument out of bounds, any you have not yet used that you are desperate to?
I just use what instruments I can. I think with being a guitarist mainly, string instruments are most accessible, but for example I'd like to be able to use more wind instruments, but financially and technically it's a very big leap. It would be wrong to think that I can just pick up and learn any instrument, as long as you can make a sound from it you can edit and manipulate to suit whatever the track needs (with a little patience). I would like to learn the clarinet though.

>CD-R label, bedroom recordings - all very lo-fidelity. Do you consider this a more authentic way of going about things? Is there room for this type of endeavour now MP3 is beginning to muscle in to the way people consume their music?
I'm a bit lost when it comes to the MP3 debate as I've never really downloaded much stuff, also my computers so old and slow it just seems that to contact the artist themselves is a much nicer way to obtain home-made music. Am I right in thinking that you can get MP3’s on CD but with a lot more minutes available. That appeals to me in that you could release much longer albums, although its always nice to have the artwork and the physical presence of a nicely packaged 'product'. The CD-R label just came out of collecting and organising the music I had on tape initially for my own needs, in case the tapes got mangled or something. I think the Future looks better for music makers like me if the MP3 thing takes off as it levels the playing field between the corporate majors, the Indie labels and ultra-indie 'CDR labels' which if nothing else is the way most bands should promote themselves, maybe.

>Would you be happier if more people began to run CD-R labels or do you enjoy occupying a tremendously distinct position juxtaposed to the mainstream?
It would be nice if it took off a bit more, at the moment its hard getting the music heard, I really like hearing from people who have heard some of my music. It would be great if more people did the same, so many groups get the hard sell to the public by the music press, it makes you wonder what deals are being done behind closed doors, it'd be nice for some artists to emerge organically, without being latched onto by music biz scum (for want of a better expression). I feel too far removed from any sort of musical community in my position, which is something I'd like to change - I`m not saying I'd like to go schmoozing/networking, just if I had more time and, lets say, a more outgoing drive to succeed, to become more part of a community of musicians (if such a thing exists?)

>What are your future plans for recording and the CD-R label - do you plan to release anyone elses material?
The main thing to concentrate on right now is the 7" I've just made as it's new territory for me, obviously CDRs can just be burnt off if anyone needs some, but now I've got 400 7"s lying around the place (...still waiting for Cargo distro to take some from me) so I haven't thought much about my future plans, but I'd like to continue with a series of another 3 7" e.p.s (4 cdr albums and 4 vinyl's has a nice symmetry about it), probably like the current one - a mixture of new tracks, a cover (I'm toying with the idea of Fennesz's 'Year In A Minute' from Endless Summer, and Prince's ‘Ballad of Dorothy Parker') and some re-worked tracks from the CDRs. I would quite like to keep most of the material 4tRECk related, I think that is the job of a 'proper' label to help other artists, but there are some good things around that I`d like to get more people to hear, a band called Foe are rather good, so are Cheval De Frise, Sky Destroys Dog. (Check the site for links if anyone wants to know more).

>4Treck's Desert Island Discs:
Prince - a ‘best of’ CDR of my own selection (for nostalgic reasons of course); Gastr Del Sol - 'Camofleur'; Led Zeppelin - 'Remasters'; Ruins - 'Refusal Fossil' (The thing is so complicated it'd take an age to fully be able to whistle along to); Zeni Geva - 'Freedom Bondage' (contains some of the most satisfyingly heavy guitar moments in the history of recorded music, I reckon); Brigitte Bardot et Serge Gainsbourg - 'Bonnie and Clyde' (nice memories associated with this one and would be a good party record - albeit alone.)

>4Treck's Desert Island Book:
Teach Yourself French in 30 days (pourquoi pas)

>4 Treck's Desert Island Luxury Item:
A 4track of course.and maybe a stereo for the above albums?

For more information of 4tRECk you can email Sam at sam_callow@yahoo.co.uk.

www.4track.co.uk

Ballboy

2002-05-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Formed a few years back, the current incarnation of Edinburgh’s ballboy consists of songwriter Gordon McIntyre on vocals and guitar, Nick Reynolds on bass, Katie Griffiths on keyboards and Gary Morgan on drums. By day, Gordon and Katie are school teachers, Nick a nursery nurse and Gary a sound technician and the recent Easter break has allowed the band to take on their first ‘proper’ UK tour. ballboy are a band you can easily fall in love with, but I shall refrain from trying to eulogise on their sound as our brief interview with Gordon paints as good a picture as you will need. I tell you what, I defy anyone not to buy their excellent ‘Club Anthems 2001’ collection after reading this!!

>Please introduce yourself and your band mates. What qualities do you each bring to the world of ballboy?
Firstly myself, Gordon. I play the guitar, sing the songs and write the lyrics and basic parts of each songs before we go into a rehearsal room and everyone writes their own parts. Then there is Nick who plays bass. I couldn't even begin to tell you all the things he has done for the band. Suffice to say, none of this would have got this far without him. Katie plays keyboards and keeps down the average age of the band. She is also very beautiful and everytime we play I look into the faces of the crowd and see 90% of the boys just staring at her 90% of the time. She also does multi-coloured pees from time to time. Gary plays drums and provides a whole new angle on things. Out of all the other band members, Gary is the one most closely involved in the decisions behind the overall sound of the band.

>What influenced you to form a band?
Two things I think. The first was that I've always written things, such as short stories etc and writing songs seemed to fit me well. The second was that, when I learned to play the guitar, I didn't reallly like playing other people's songs so I ended up making my own tunes/songs. I think it all stemmed from there.

>What circumstances inspire you to begin writing a song?
Different things for different songs. I love it when something happens in my life which lends itself to a song. Songs like 'Donald in the Bushes' from 'Club Anthems 2001' or 'Avant Garde Music' from our second album just fell into my lap. The bizarre and surreal in everyday life appeals to me. Other songs come directly from having a point of view to express 'I Hate Scotland' being the main example. I've never sat down and analysed the themes that come through in the lyrics. I write them according to how I feel and how well I feel they fit what I'm trying to say.

>Your lyrics are certainly far from twee, do you consider yourself a poitical songwriter or a folk musician - where do you fit?
I'm not sure I consider myself any particular thing. I think as a songwriter I fit into a long tradition of songwriters who have tried to do something honest, but artistic. People like The Housemartins, The Smiths, The Violent Femmes, The Wedding Present, The Magnetic Fields, The Mekons, The Velvet Underground, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen. This is not a list of my favourite bands. Some of these I love, some I don't like at all, but they all put the words at the centre and built the music around it. I think that's where we fit it. I guess we would be a folk band if the woolly jumpers had not already hijacked the word.

>I notice the lyric "I hate the way people bring up their children to be exactly the same as them" - was this written after a particularly baffling Parents evening and does your career as a teacher reflect in your songwriting?
The lyric wasn't really linked to a specific moment. I think it's just something you see all the time living in Scotland. I guess teaching makes me spend lots of time thinking about the different relationships between parents and children, but I have a feeling that that lyric would have been written whether I taught or not.

>Do you get frustrated being constantly lumped in with the Scottish lo-fi usual suspects?
Yes, yes and yes! It is lazy journalism of the highest order! Arab Strap and Belle and Sebastian are the two we always get. Now both of them are fine bands and I like them both, but neither invented the form that they use. B and S follow in the pattern of all the bands I detailed above (esp the Smiths I would say), but they are a different and fine band. Arab Strap follow in the pattern of people stretching back to beat poets and beyond (Lou Rawls the jazz singer springs to mind with his mid song spoken word stories). And both bands have something in common with the Velvet Underground. But none of these descriptions tell you really what they sound like and I think it's the same as us. Belle and Sebastian will never write a song like 'I Hate Scotland' or 'All The Records On The Radio Are Shite', it is not their style, it's ours. Rant over, sorry!

>If you weren't making music, how would you fill your evenings?
I would read more books and play more playstation2. In fact if ballboy never write a third album it will be all Sony's fault.

>As far as I can make out, this is your first nationwide tour, is there anywhere you'd particularly like to play?
We did a very short set of gigs last summer taking in Manchester, Birmingham, London (twice) and Oxford, but I think this is the first one you could call a tour. I'm really looking forward to revisiting Birmingham and London again because we have good memories of playing there before. I also did an acoustic gig in Leeds (at the GoJohnnyGoGoGoGo festival) not so long ago and that was excellent. The one place we are not playing that I wish we were is Brighton because it is one of the best places I have ever been.

>Aside from the fact that it cobbles together all your EP material, why should people buy "Club Anthems 2001”
This is like one of those tie-breakers for kids competitions isn't it? We have one in school to win a gameboy advance and one of the kids wrote (for 'why do you want to win a gameboy advance?') "because my dad is too skint and I only have an old grey one". I don't know what to answer. Maybe - "because, if you are a boy, you can learn from my mistakes and ,if you are a girl, you can have your defences sharpened". That's all a bit melancholy. Or I could do it like Cyrano de Bergerac:

Twee - "because of the line about the polar bears”

Arrogant - "because it is the best debut album by man or beast bar none”

Childish - "because i'll be your best pal"

Unfounded - "because it will increase you attractiveness to the opposite sex"

Challenging - "because I suspect you are not ready for it - prove me wrong"

Lazy and Stupid - "because it sounds like Belle and Sebastian"

Religious - "because it will help you attain new states of belief"

Scottish - "don't buy it, it's shite"

Mute - ""

Corporate - "because it will help to balance your current musical portfolio which is frankly a bit nu-metal"

Fashionable - "because lyrics are just soo the thing this season darling"

Superficial - "because it has nice artwork"

Fanatical - "you need to ask? YOU NEED TO ASK?"

Tangential - "because the girl in the record shop is well nice"

Fanzine - "because, you know, it's underground, but accessible too"

Techy - "because I just get so nostalgic for the days of CDs, although mp3 is the (immediate) future you know"

Totalitarian - "because the sl records corporation is watching and recording"

Dyslexic - "becuase you lik records"

Anatomical - "because they must have loved your ears so much to have given you this to listen to"

Practical - "because you will probably like it, and you can always take it back if you don't"

>What are your future plans for recording?
We have one more studio session to finish the second album and then I intend to spend some time recording demos at home for future releases. I have ideas in my head for how the third and fourth albums should sound and feel, but there is a lot of work still to be done before they will be even nearly completed.

>Gordon McIntyre's Desert Island Discs
ballboy as a band would have 6 completely different discs, but here are mine:
galaxie 500 - on fire (the best album ever by anyone at all ever)
jesus and mary chain - psycho candy
bruce springsteen – nebraska
the magnetic fields - 69 love songs
the velvet underground - (can i have a 'best of' is that cheating?)
and ballboy - club anthems 2001.

>Gordon McIntyre's Desert Island Book
'The master and margherita' by Michail Bulgakov.

>Gordon McIntyre's Desert Island Luxury Item
My acoustic guitar edges out the ps2 (just)

>Which recent records that have received airplay haven't been shite? C'mon, you know you like a bit of Britney!
Mainstream songs? I liked 'Reach' by S Club 7 a lot (although it is hardly current). The start of that Stereophonics Rod Stewart cover version is amazing (the string section etc), but then it turns into one of the worst songs ever and spoils the effect. They should have just looped the strings and given up writing songs forever. Sorry! That's the best I can do.

www.ballboy.org

Bearsuit

2002-04-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

The city of Norwich may not have given us much aside from the Tonic Solfa method of teaching singing and that woman who taught a grateful nation how to boil an egg but at least they've got a Bearsuit, which is a lot more comfortable than you might imagine. They caused a minor stir last year with their debut 7" single "Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck" which a sleeve insert tells us may be "what the death of Charles Shultz would have sounded like if it hadn't been for censorship…and bearsuit!". This lunacy and a spectacularly schizophrenic tune propelled them to the position of #4 in John Peel's Festive Fifty. They have followed this up with the recent 7" "Drinkink" which manages to drag the inter-gender dynamic of early Bis and the knockabout thrashings of Melt Banana into a scream therapy session. It's cutesy-poo and 'fuck you' all at once and bloody glorious to boot. To give you a better idea about Bearsuit, we asked drummer Matt H to answer a few questions.

>How did Bearsuit get together?
As far as I understand it Iain, Lisa and Matt Moss were all at school together in Bognor or somewhere. Iain and Lisa met Jan while they were at the University of East Anglia then I moved to Norwich to work at the UEA in 1998 and met Iain. They need a drummer so I went along to help out. Then Matt Moss moved up to Norwich and we persuaded Cerian to join and play cornet and violin.

>Please introduce yourself and your band mates. What qualities do you each bring to the band?
Lisa Horton is a star she plays keyboards, accordion and sings. Matt Moss on bass guitar is cool and looks like a rock star. Cerian and Jan between them can play any instrument and their synchronised tambourine playing is an impressive sight! They're good at shouting too most of our songs have shouty bits. Iain Ross writes the songs and plays guitar and sings. I play drums and try to keep a bit of timing to our shambolic noise! Oh yeah, Rhys Harper is our manager and general fixer. Without him we'd probably never have played outside Norwich!

>Who influenced you to be in a band?
No-one really. Most bands form cos they get sick of hearing so much crap music on the radio and tv and think "we could do that." We did anyway. We just want to make the sort of music that we'd like to listen to.

>If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?
We'd go watch other bands and drink booze. There's a good music scene in Norwich and there are gigs pretty much every night of the week. There are also some great up and coming local bands like kaito and motel so watch out for them!

>John Peel has certainly picked you up in a big way. Can you describe your day recording at Maida Vale?
The first thing that happened was we arrived at the studios in our hire van and ran straight into Jonathon Ross! And he gave us his parking space with about an hour left on the meter! Pretty cool. Then we hauled our gear to the studio and started setting up and Miti (the sound engineer) came in and sent us straight off for lunch while he fixed up our battered guitars and drums. It took ages to get the guitars and drums tuned up and sounding good. Then we ran through all the songs over and over till we got them right. They overdubbed the vocals and some other bits afterwards. Then we sat in the little tv room drinking beer and playing pool while the engineers mixed the songs. One of the songs had some scratching on it and it probably took longer to record that than anything else! They had to call in more sound people to try and hook up our knackered decks and stop them making bad noise. We got there in the end though!

>You've also done a live set from Maida Vale as well - did you prefer the studio session or feeding live to the nation? Tell us about the atmosphere in the place for the live set.
The live set was terrifying and amazing at the same time. I don't think any of us has ever been that nervous about anything else. All the BBC people were really nice to us though so they calmed us down a bit. Loads of our mates turned up to watch us and The Loves had lots of their mates there too so the atmosphere was great. The BBC helped things along by laying on loads of free beer and John Peel (who broadcasts from the same studio we played in) came out of his little booth and sat on the floor to listen to us play. It was really quite surreal. BBC Choice filmed it too so they kept pointing cameras at us while we played! I think we got through it with our typical shambolic live sound intact.

>You also got a very high placing in the Festive Fifty - were you surprised by this. How did you react when you heard?
We were pretty stunned. The others had gone away for Christmas so we couldn't listen to it together. Cerian and I (Matt) were listening on the last night and Peel said something like "and this is at number 4" and we heard the breathing at the start of the record and just went crazy! We started screaming and jumping about and our mates who were round must've thought we'd gone mad! Of course we were taping it so we phoned up the others and played it back full blast and all kind of screamed at each other down the phone. It's probably the most exciting thing that ever happened to us!

>You’ve begun to play away from East Anglia, is there anywhere you particularly like to play?
We'd love to play in Japan or the U.S. but it's not really on the cards yet. We have been offered a gig in Spain though in July. It's at some music festival that they hold every year and apparently we'll be the first U.K. band to play there. That's pretty exciting! We're going to drive over in the van and make a holiday out of it, we'll probably have to camp by the side of the road and cook our dinners in a billy can or something. Should be a laugh though! We'll pretty much play anywhere as long as we can get paid enough to cover our petrol so watch out for us, we could be visiting a town near you soon!

>You've released two singles proper now. Why should people buy them?
They both have 3 songs on and they only cost £2.50 each that's pretty good I think! Also, they have pictures of space on the sleeves so even if you hate the songs you could stick the sleeves on the wall and brighten up your home.

>What are your future plans for recording?
At the moment we have plans to release 2 more singles on 7" vinyl and then all 12 tracks from the 4 singles on Sickroom GC will be released as an album on vinyl and CD later in the year. We may re-record different versions of some of the tracks for the album or maybe even include some new songs. After that we'll release everything on CD AND vinyl cos we've had so many requests from people who don't have record players! Vinyl's so much nicer though and record players are very cheap these days!!!

>So daddy or chips? Why so competitive?
Someone asked us this in another interview and it caused such a hot debate among the band that we had to set up a voting system on the web site. It appears that Daddy is favoured over chips by most people that voted even though we were split 50:50.

>Bearsuit's Desert Island Discs
"The Soft Bulletin" - Flaming Lips (chosen by Matt H.)
"The Boatman's Call" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Matt Moss)
"Brighten the Corners" - Pavement (Cerian)
"Fantasma" - Cornelius (Iain)
"Teeny Shiny" - Melt Banana (Lisa)
"Poptics" various artists (Jan)
+ 2 more: "Dry" - PJ Harvey and "Death to the Pixies" - Pixies

>Bearsuit's Desert Island Book
"Head on/Repossessed" by Julian Cope. Every band should have a copy of this book, it's something to aspire to! We're trying to introduce the game of sock to the Bearsuit van although only Lisa has been willing to try it so far!

>Bearsuit's Desert Island Luxury Item
Are we allowed a computer with internet access? Then we could listen to Peel online.

>Bearsuit words of wisdom.
Listen to John Peel, he knows what's best. Ignore Steve Lamacq though he'll make you listen to Muse and Slipknot!

www.bearsuit.co.uk

Cuban Boys

2002-04-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

In 1998, the Cuban Boys record ‘Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia’ took the John Peel show by storm, becoming the most requested record since ‘God Save The Queen’ and Peel adopted the band almost as ‘family’. All well and good, but then daytime radio called it ‘the Hamster song’ to save pronunciation problems and, despite a Top 5 placing in the Christmas run-down, their record label EMI ceased to be interested. Sadly, a further dent on the nation’s psyche with a hi-energy take on ‘Drink Drink Drink’ hit clearance snags (Richard E. Grant objected to the ‘Withnail & I’ samples) and has yet to see the light of day. Yet the Cuban Boys still survive on independent labels and the internet. A love or hate kind of act that a lot of people didn’t appreciate came out of fanzine culture rather than merely novelty record hell, we had a quick word with Skreen to see what’s happened since they “destroyed the integrity of daytime radio”..

> Tell us a bit about the Cuban Boys phenomenon…Skreen and Ricardo met off the coast of Sicily in 1997. Ricardo was on a jetski, and Skreen was paragliding. Somehow they managed to collide, but after a frank exchange of views they met up in the hotel bar that evening, and discovered a common interest in pop agitation. When they returned to England, the theoretical brand of pop music they had devised on their holidays was turned into a selection of lo-fi demo tapes. With the help of techno guitar legend B.L.Underwood and the North's Finest Pop Diva Jenny McLaren they were on the Peel Show within a fortnight, and never looked Back.

> Are you glad, looking back, that you signed up with EMI for the release of "Cognoscenti Vs. Intelligentsia"?
Totally. They got us in the top 5 at Christmas, and we didn't have to get proper jobs for a couple of years. If we went back in time, with the knowledge we have now, I reckon we'd probably be a bit stroppier and pay more attention to the little things. At the time, we let them get on with things to a certain extent. It would have been nice to have had ‘Inertia Kicks’ and ‘Eastwood’ released properly though.

> Are any more releases planned?
Like disco, the Cubans will never die. Keep watching the skies. ‘Drink Drink Drink’ was lost in the fog somewhere.

> Do you still consider yourself part of John Peel's family?
Last time we were round he made us wash his car for 50p, so yes.

> What other tunes would you like to desecrate?
The theme music to ‘The Lampies’.

> Heroes of ironic pop or bunch of chancers.
We were never ironic, we meant everything we've ever said. So by default we're probably a bunch of chancers then. We should chance a bit more these days, to be honest.

> How would you like to be remembered?
Immortalised as Gummi Bears.

www.cubanboys.f9.co.uk

The Sways

2002-02-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

How did your band come together?

Mike – Me and Neal played as an acoustic duo. Max the bassist interviewed us for a radio show and got in touch afterwards. Andy the drummer lives down the road from me in Harringay (plus he’s my brother).
Max – The creative geniuses/guitar legends let me play!! Then it turns out the brother of the vocals is an awesome drummer too.
Neal – Nuff said. Its been a bitty process – we can now play as a solo act (!?!), 2-piece, 3 OR 4 piece. Buy as much or as little as you like.

Please introduce yourself and your associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise.

Mike – I play guitar and sing. I don’t like to accept usual things, or be late.
Andy – I play drums and the harmonica. I bring lots of heavy bags and friends who work at recording studios.
Max – I play the double bass now; started on the normal bass, but got this crazy electric double bass soon after.
Neal – Lead guitar, and a bit of ‘perfectionist faffing’. Oh and always making Mike late.

What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

Mike – I think difference and randomness.
Andy – honesty, musically and lyrically.
Max – I have to agree with difference, but its also got to be damn fun to do. For me that’s creativity.

On a Sways curated festival bill, who else would play?

Mike – Kings of Convenience, Iron and Wine, Interpol
Andy – The Arcade Fire, Soweto Kinch.
Max – Damn mike said KoC and Interpol… Right now I would add The Bravery.
Neal – Gomez, Cantaloop, and probably Tom Kelsall.

What motivates you to record and gig?

Mike – Gigging for the buzz and release of playing I guess. Getting to scream in public. Recording because I quite enjoy the whole process.
Andy – Recording for the satisfaction of putting a finished disc in my CD player after all the surreal nights in the studio. Gigging for the thrill of carrying a drum kit around London on night-buses in the rain at 3 in the morning.
Max – Recording is only good for us, and others, to enjoy music in their own home. Gigging is what I really care for. I just love live music, playing and listening.
Neal – I like listening to my own music on trains. Always sounds better when on the move. That goes for all music.

If the musical world was ideal, it would…

Mike – Not be driven market forces – the customers are wrong.
Andy – be run by musicians, or at least people who like music.
Max – Says it all, there would be less lambs about, people need an easy medium to really explore what they like about music.
Neal – Not ‘big-up’ so much tat. Not be so fashionable and fickle. Be cheaper. And it would have venues who actually generate audiences themselves, rather that sitting on their fat arses while bands do all the work and bring their own audiences. Surely that removes most of the point of ever gigging? Plus more seats, less moshing and more back street jazz bars in the UK.

Why should people buy the NYQUIST THEORY compilation?

Mike – Because it is nice and diverse, and will maybe open some people up to different styles of music.
Andy – because everyone’s a winner.
Max – Because we are on it, and a load of other good bands too.
Neal – Because all the cash goes to Amnesty Int.

Suggest a publicity stunt to increase your profile in the UK.

Mike – Dying of a drug overdose.
Andy – convince The Queen to choreograph her next Christmas message to the popular Sways song “Man You Have Got To Love It”, somehow.
Max – not give a rats ass about anyone, or release a flock of gay seagulls in the middle of London.
Neal – (Max what the hell are you on?) Probably something related to nudity but I’d have to think about it for a while.

What do you consider your best achievements in music?

Mike – Playing stuff that I genuinely don’t think anyone else does (pretty much).
Andy – having people who came to see a different band stay to watch our set and buy a CD.
Max – Finding and playing with a great band, and maybe being considered being great too? You’d have to ask the others.
Neal – (Once again Max, what the hell are you on?) We’re still achieving – not sure we’ve reached any pinnacles yet, although its amazing to look back and see how things have developed. I think our best achievement has been to overcome a few problems, like Mike constantly moving house like some magnet with a ‘like’ charge. We had a bit of a rebirthing experience and changed tack to playing Tangerine music. That was probably quite an achievement in itself.

What more would you like to achieve with your music?

Mike – Get big in Europe without knowing it.
Andy – to get people dancing at a night-time slot on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury.
Max – Inspiring people to enjoy and explore making music on their own. I need the last one to be true for that though.
Neal – I think we should get a 52 piece orchestra to come to all our gigs from now on just to play the two-and-a-half minute song ‘The Carbonate Ballet’.

If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

Mike – Probably read more books.
Andy – Try to produce my own tracks.
Max – listen to music and mess around with instruments.
Neal – Work on some other way to get out of a lifetime of Transport Planning.

What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

Mike – We are just mixing a new album, so keep a lookout. Gig-wise, as much as possible I guess, and playing outside London/Southampton a bit more.
Andy – what Mike said.
Max – play whenever or wherever I can. I don’t care where, just like playing.
Neal – Yes outside London – I want to tour! Plus I think we need to get on the radio more. Watch out for some interesting band metamorphosis in the near future as well. Bit like bacteria reproducing. Say no more….

What, with regards to the UK music scene, upsets you?

Mike – Seeing bands with lots of paying friends but no originality do well (bitter).
Andy – McFly, Rooster, and the exploitative industry their grinning faces represent.
Max – The way venues are run. Plus, dragging my amp to a gig and them telling me not to use it!
Neal – (Max, the amp thing is hardly ‘UK music scene’ is it?) In terms of UK scene, I find it upsetting that we don’t have any commercial recognition of genres like blues, jazz etc. When do you ever see or hear things like that on mainstream radio, except specialist radio 2 stuff? We are driven by what is fashionable and yet I think if it became ‘cool’ to listen to acid jazz (which it undoubtedly is) then it would be plastered everywhere. There’s no love of music from the UK music industry. Also, bring back the guitar solo – what ever happened to those chaps? Also, why is Jools Holland the only ‘live’ music show on TV? In Europe, they have loads of live music on TV. I really like watching bands play.

Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

Mike – Interpol (Turn on the Bright Lights), Kings of Convenience (Quiet is the New Loud)
Andy – Neil young (Harvest).
Max – Sadly, once again, I agree with Mike. Would probably like to take a Ben Folds and Dave Matthews CD for old times sake.
Neal – I think I’d take the new Kings of Convenience album (Riot on a Noisy Motorway) just so we had the set. Does anyone know if this is 6 discs each or 6 shared between all of us? Tom Kelsall demo is a must by the way.

3 Books for a desert island?

Mike – Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Castle
Andy – Mike’s copy of Hitchhikers (since he took 2 of the bands allocated 3, damn him)
Max – I don’t care, I don’t read that much.
Neal – Probably the most critical item, even though like Max, I rarely read. Something long perhaps. Can I take a pad and pen and write my own books as and when I need them?

1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

Mike – Guitar
Andy – Hammock
Max – Yacht
Neal – A comely woman who I wouldn’t share, and who isn’t too fussed about what her luxury item is going to be, thereby potentially affording me a further luxury item.

Any other words of wisdom?

Mike – Try to live more sustainably.
Andy – make music for yourself first, and others second.
Max – eat drink and be merry
Neal – Nope. (Except to say – Max, what the hell are you on??)

www.thesways.co.uk

The Cliffhanger

2002-02-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

How did your band come together?

We have played collectively since our early teens on and off. Coming from a small town there was not a great deal else to do. Over the years we have tried other musical ventures but we keep getting drawn back to each other. The Cliffhanger in its current guise has been together now for about 2.5 years.

Please introduce yourself and your associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise.

Dave English (guitar and vocals), Dave Hughes (Drums), Mark Bell (Bass), and myself Ben Trenerry (guitar and vocals). In terms of the qualities we bring – it is hard to say really, we are like a family and we all have our strengths and weaknesses but collectively we are a strong and creative unit.

What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

Speaking for myself, my own life and the events within it inspire me to write music and words. I am lucky enough to have travelled a lot and have done a lot professionally during the 7 years since I graduated from University and all this has expanded my worldview and fuels my own music.

On a Cliffhanger curated festival bill, who else would play?

Carcass, Lift to Experience, Miles Davis, Slint, Jeff Buckley, Led Zep.

What motivates you to record and gig?

To me music is a release. I am lucky enough that through making and listening to music I am able to make sense of the world. I would like to be able to do music for a living, which is my goal. As for fame and fortune - not interested.

If the musical world was ideal, it would…

Support music as the art of self-expression.

Why should people buy the NYQUIST THEORY compilation?

Well first of all it’s for charity, and secondly the guys who put it together seem to really have their hearts in the right place – which is extremely commendable and rare in music.

Suggest a publicity stunt to increase your profile in the UK.

On-stage levitation.

What do you consider your best achievements in music?

I am very proud of our musical output so far (all of which can be downloaded for free from our website: www.thecliffhanger.co.uk)

What more would you like to achieve with your music?

To make a living from it. 20K a year and I would be very content indeed thank you very much.

If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

I would probably travel more, maybe have a family?

What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

We are in the middle of a second attempt at recording an album; it is going a lot better this time around. Last time around life got in the way, as it sometimes does. But we are hoping this piece of music will be complete around May. We are hoping to get back gigging in June – it will be the first time for over a year and we are all very keen to get back into it. We just want to play in front of open-minded openhearted people. We are hoping to get out of the NorthEast more so if anyone wants us to play in their area then please get in touch.

What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

The word cool.

Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

1 Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
2 ACDC – Back in Black
3 Carcass –Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious
4 Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
5 Saturday Night Fever - Soundtrack
6 Jeff Buckley - Grace

3 Books for a desert island?

1 How to Survive on a Desert Island
2 How to Build a Raft using Items only found on a Desert Island
3 The Bible

1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

A girl.

Any other words of wisdom?

Go to Finland, it is lovely this time of year.

www.thecliffhanger.co.uk

oom

2002-02-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

How did your band come together?

Myself (vocals and nagging) and Ed (beats, loops and samples) met at Leeds University whilst studying music, oom was meant to be a recording project as part of my degree but we really enjoyed the sounds we were making and so decided to make it live. We then moved to Brighton and after a year or so of gigging and growing in our sound, we advertised and recruited Alex (guitarist), who had been an oom fan.

Please introduce yourself and your associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise.

I am Debbie, I sing and write the lyrics and vocal melodies. I tend to lead things, get us gigs, make contacts and generally talk the band up, leaving Ed to create beautiful beats, loops and samples and to generally create the sound that is oom. Alex plays awesome guitar and works with Ed on writing riffs which fit in to our generally melancholic but overwhelming sound. We all bring our musical qualities to the band very separately by taking the basic structure of the song and working alone, and then bringing it back and seeing how it fits in with everyone else's contributions.

What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

We're all from rock backgrounds so our music is very much guided by what inspires us and by what we grew up with, but Ed is really into technology and weird old vinyl so he keeps us out of the rock mainstream by maintaining an electronic and experimental edge to the sound which ultimately defines what our sound is. We love bands like Radiohead, NIN, Massive Attack and artists like Bjork and Aphex Twin. Lyrically I do pretty much what everyone else does, I write and things which provoke a reaction in me, the lyrics are usually a bit dark, generally pretty obvious in their content, I love singing a word differently to make it sound like a new word or give it an entirely different meaning. Recently I have been much more excited about vocal textures and shapes rather than lyrics ...

On an oom curated festival bill, who else would play?

Bloody hell. Where to start. I would love to be on the bill with Radiohead, Massive Attack, NIN. We'd fit into that nicely.

What motivates you to record and gig?

It just feels right. Not doing it feels wrong. It's as basic as that.

If the musical world was ideal, it would...

Make it a lot easier for genuinely good music to be heard - the appreciation (or not) comes after.

Why should people buy the NYQUIST THEORY compilation?

Coz oom are on it! Because it's a fantastic musical adventure and experience, it'll be inspiring to musicians and ear candy for anyone who likes to listen to good and interesting music.

Suggest a publicity stunt to increase your profile in the UK.

Collecting together all of the mutant seagulls in Brighton and locking them in a large hall with a load of bird perverts.

What do you consider your best achievements in music?

Never feeling like it's not worth it.

What more would you like to achieve with your music?

More gigs, more wedge, more time.

If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

Go and see other bands and be really gutted that I wasn't in one.

What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

To keep on keeping on and get better and better and more exciting to ourselves and to others.

What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

Erm. Not a lot actually, I'm not really a ranter so I think it's better to have all kinds of music rather than none at all. There's enough venues and enough other bands to do stuff with.

Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

Pearl Jam - Ten
Radiohead - Kid A
Bjork - Vespertine
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Jeff Buckley - Grace

3 Books for a desert island?

'How To Get Off A Desert Island' by A. Dreamer
'Things To Do If You Are Stuck On A Desert Island' by A. Loser
'How To Make Friends With Sand And Not Be Disappointed' by S. Uicidal

1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

A ferry.

Any other words of wisdom?

Oomroom.co.uk

96 Tears

2002-02-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

How did your band come together?

We had been in bands together since school. Quigs, Giz and our original bassist Sass contacted me after the break up of their old band. We have since gained a keys man and new bassist.

Please introduce yourself and your associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise.

Jamesie: Guitar
Quigs: Vocals
Giz: Drums
Kidd: Keys
Chuff: Bass

What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

We were all mega into the early 90’s Manchester scene, Roses first album and Primals Exterminator probably being the most singularly direct influences.
Our lyrics cover a lot of ground; love, rage, escape and disillusionment. Writing is handled by Quigs and myself. I’d say his words are very honest and direct where I add more of an abstract. The track on Nyquist Theory ‘Keep a Clean Nose’ is about trying to hide from guilt. We have a few tunes which can be checked out on our website www.96Tears.org.uk

On a 96 Tears curated festival bill, who else would play?

Primal Scream
Stone Roses
Rolling Stones
New FADs
Snoop Dogg
Billy Idol

What motivates you to record and gig?

We have songs that are worth recording and gigging.

If the musical world was ideal, it would…

…be wrist-slittingly boring.

Why should people buy the NYQUIST THEORY compilation?

Because it fuckin’ rocks.

Suggest a publicity stunt to increase your profile in the UK.

Not sure of the finer points, but I reckon Evel Kneivel would have to be involved somewhere.

What do you consider your best achievements in music?

The music speaks for itself and we’re happy with it.

What more would you like to achieve with your music?

Ultimately we want to be able to make a living from 96 Tears and jack the day jobs.

If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

Gamble.

What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

We will be playing Edinburgh’s Left Bank 24/04/05 and Caledonian Backpackers on 14/05/05, a few other dates in the pipeline. Recording-wise we’re struggling because of monetary matters. When we get the means, we’ll be getting in the studio.

What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

In a word, Feeder.

Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

Release the Pressure - Leftfield
Swastika Eyes - Primal Scream
Stop Breaking Down - Rolling Stones
Nuthin’ But a G Thang - Snoop Dogg
Love Spreads - Stone Roses
We are the Pigs - Suede

3 Books for a desert island?

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
East of Eden
Catch 22

1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

Guitar

Any other words of wisdom?

Keep It Real

Anon

2002-02-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

How did your band come together? Please introduce yourself and your associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise?

Anon - Anon is not a band as such, but a side-project that I work on whenever I get the time. On the first record ‘Violent’ I wrote a lot of the tracks with Luke Taplin and anyone else we roped in to play whatever instrument we wanted to bastardise next! I have known Luke since I was at college and through his love of breakbeat and DnB and my love of rock and metal, we began experimenting and fusing the two mediums together in a way we felt hadn’t really been done before. We started writing vocal-less electronica music under the guise of NA and this slowly mutated into Anon. I don’t work with Luke so much now for no particular reason except logistics and time.

I have a very strict ‘anything goes’ way of thinking. I’ll happily marry a ska punk tune with a drum and bass track and then add in some Ian Dury style vocals. If it’s in tune and it’s in time, it’ll work! There is nothing that can’t be done and no sound that can’t be created as far as I’m concerned. When working with Luke on the first Anon record, we had such a healthy respect for each others ideas and abilities, the best results were always achieved. There was never an idea we felt we couldn’t go along with. It’s so rare to have a working relationship where no arguments are needed to create sonic genius!!

What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

Musically, quite literally anything and everything, even music I perhaps wouldn’t normally listen to. However my roots are very much with heavy metal and rock and particularly the Seattle Grunge explosion and genre hopping bands from the 90’s like Nine Inch Nails, Senser, Dub War, Prodigy and Ministry. I’m also a big U2 fan, even if half the planet does think Bono is a wanker!

Lyrically, I am also open to anything, although on ‘Violent’ much of the subject matter is observational, sarcastic, humorous and ironic commentary and slogans on modern society and people, myself included! There is so much hypocrisy in modern day life and I find it hilarious and yet it angers me at the same time. There is a definite trend with my lyrics to get straight to the point. I have gotten a bit sick of musicians and lyricists preaching to the converted. It’s all very well being clever and subtle about what needs to be said about the state of things, but I always feel it’s a bit daft when the message is only getting through to those people that see the big picture already. I wanna grab the stupid and naïve by the balls and shake their heads a little bit and make everyone stand up and take notice for a change! No doubt that leaves my music subject to becoming a part of the here and now and less likely to stand the test of time, but then why should I give a fuck about longevity, particularly as a) I’m not going to live forever any way and at this stage in my life I’m not exactly well known in the slightest to even worry about it! Ha Ha!

On an Anon curated festival bill, who else would play?

U2, Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy, Skindred, System of a Down, Senser, Anon and on!

What motivates you to record and gig?

I love writing and recording in the studio because it is completely different to playing in my band. There are no rules and no one else to worry about. I have kind of embraced not having to worry about playing Anon live. To take it out live would mean either having about twenty musicians for all the different instruments or using samplers and backing tracks and at the moment I don’t have those kinds of things for live work. I’ve never ruled out the possibility of doing live shows. I reckon Anon would actually make an incendiary live band, but it’s not a priority at the moment.

If the musical world was ideal, it would…

…have realised how great the last Prodigy album was and not neglected it! Hopefully the same won’t happen to the long-awaited new Nine Inch Nails album!

Why should people buy the NYQUIST THEORY compilation?

Because there are a lot of great artists on there and a fantastic variety of music. From off-kilter acoustic music like The Sways via beautiful psychedelic rock from Daughters Courageous and crazy arty electronica like Rusty Sheriff. I know Anon is on there, so obviously I’m bias, but it really is a great record.

Suggest a publicity stunt to increase your profile in the UK.

I’d pull up outside EMI in London on a big flatbed truck and play ‘Violent’ on a giant sound rig! When I get arrested I’ll shoot myself in the head and then I’ll be on the front page of every tabloid in the country! Fame at last! ;-)

What do you consider your best achievements in music?

I’m very proud of the record I have made, so from a personal point of view that is an achievement, but to finally having my music recognised and put out on a CD has been a tremendous confidence booster. I am also very chuffed with a remix I did for Bonemachine last year that was put out on the Shifty Disco label under the guise of NA.

What more would you like to achieve with your music?

I’d like to get Anon on a label permanently and get ‘Violent’ out in the shops and on the radio (heavily censored though of course!). I sincerely believe it is a great record with a lot to say. It is a real reflection of the times, both artistically and lyrically and from the reaction I have had so far I feel there is definitely a market for it.

If you weren't in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

Without music in my life I’d probably sit at home every night binge drinking and eating my way to an early grave! Nothing else much interests me except maybe films, but it’s probably a bit late to become the next Martin Scorsese!

What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

I have just started writing the second Anon record. The last one took about three years from the initial conception to finally deciding to leave it. Music is never finished. You can always add bits and expand on ideas until it drives you insane. You have just got to know when to leave it alone!
The next record will be predominantly all my own work, although myself and Luke are bound to collaborate on a couple of tracks and no doubt I shall rope in as many people as I can to add splashes of colour here and there! Usually someone will be over at the studio and I’ll just play them a track, shove a guitar or microphone in their hands and just get them to do the first thing that comes into their heads! They’ll look at me a bit odd when I say ‘that’s great’ and then I’ll present them with a finished piece of music some months later that is usually met with a knowing smile and seal of approval! I am also writing an album under the name of Zoids with The Middle Computer. It is about as eclectic as music gets! We may well release a joint single together also with some Middle Computer remixes of Anon and I did some vocals on a track called ‘Ctrl/Alt/Del’. A Superb slice of dance/metal insanity!

What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

The music press in this country just seem to be continually looking for the ‘next big thing’. Rather than embracing a band and helping them grow and mature with age, it seems to me that as soon as the band makes it big they are on the prowl for the next thing. There are very few bands that I can actually see reaching the kind of heights that bands have done in the past. Like Led Zeppelin, Queen and the Rolling Stones that just had great album after great album for years. One of the few bands that has somehow managed to keep going for over 25 years and is still considered artistically and commercially credible is U2, whether you love them or loathe them, that is quite an achievement.

Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

Just 6? Tough question! I’d have to take a copy of ‘Violent’ with me (self gratification is a wonderful thing!), I can’t say I’m listening to any of the following religiously at the moment, but for sheer classic status though it’d be ‘Jilted Generation’ by the Prodigy, ‘Joshua Tree’ or ‘Achtung Baby’ (I really couldn’t choose between them!) by U2, ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ by Pink Floyd, ‘Leftism’ by Leftfield and the Lodestar record (one-off Senser side-project, one of my favourite records of all time that has been criminally unheard by 99.99% of the population!).

3 Books for a desert island?

I don’t really read books. I like books, but I just never have the time to devote to them. I’d probably just grab a good selection of graphic novels. I was a big fan of 2000AD when growing up, so some Judge Dredd or Rogue Trooper would be great!

1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

A laptop with a copy of Logic 5 and Reason 2.5 on it! And some headphones would be good!

Any other words of wisdom?

Just don’t take anything too seriously.

Eleven Mile Creek

2002-02-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

How did your band come together?

In quite a round about fashion as it happens. I was learning guitar whilst studying at university and Nick, who was in my course at the time started giving me pointers as he’d been playing for years. About a year or so later I started a bed room project called Jacks Creation with a school friend of mine Stephen McCann who had been the singer in a number of local bands. We booked a gig hoping that it would spur us into recruiting some more members and I asked Nick if he knew of any drummers and that’s when Stephen McGrath came along. At this point we roped in an old school friend Paul Gavan on bass and local luminary and cellist with the Delgados Alan Barr to help out a little on guitar and cello. The gig was terrible and it transpired that the singer, bass and cello player where never 100% and dropped out. It looked as though the whole band thing was going to fall through, however I was writing lots of new material at this point and the last thing I wanted to do was lose the band. Although I was ok on guitar I felt that without a strong guitarist we would never really achieve anything. I wanted to focus on writing and singing and I always knew that Nick would bring something special to the proceedings and decided to ask him, luckily enough he had just come off a night shift and was too tired to say no, he agreed and it was just a matter of getting a bass player to complete the line up. Stephen McGrath was playing with another band at the time and we poached their bass player, Danny McCann and in Feb 2004 the line up of Eleven Mile Creek was complete Brian Canning (Vocals, Guitar), Nick Kelly (Guitar), Danny McCann (Bass) and Stephen McGrath (Drums)

Please introduce yourself and your associates, what qualities do you each bring to the band, musically and otherwise.

Brian Canning (Vocals, Guitar) – It’s difficult to speak about your own qualities. I think the best way to sum it up, really, is just to say that all the lyrics and melodies that you hear on the record are my contribution. When it comes to technical music knowledge then I am the weak link by a country mile, but it’s not always about that. There is something about music that’s inside, finding out whether you’ve got the ability to convey it or not is what makes the difference. As far as determination and belief go I will always push this band forward and try as hard as I can to be creative and imaginative with the music. I think my enthusiasm rubs off and has a positive effect on the rest of the band but most of all I believe in and trust in the abilities of the other members.

Nick Kelly (Guitar) – I have never seen a more imaginative guitarist at work. Musically he never stays within the rules, much to the frustration of the rhythm section but that’s the blend that you need to be successful. Technically he’s gifted. His style is graceful yet accomplished. Nick is always very matter of fact and to the point when it comes to creating a song if something is not working then he brings it up. He works hard in the band, he has that work ethic and I think it’s largely due to his desire for perfection that the band as a whole have that ethic firmly installed but Nick is definitely the driver in the studio when it comes to getting things done.

Danny McCann (Bass) – Danny is the straight man of the band. He’s an accomplished musician and a fantastic bass player. Danny is quiet but when he does have something to say then it’s always worth hearing. That I think is a quality many, many people could be doing with. Again Danny is always willing to compromise and work hard in the studio, music is his life it just makes sense to him.

Stephen McGrath (Drums) – Stephen is a proper all round musician, if it’s got strings, if you can hit it, it it’s got keys Stephen will have a go at it. Stephen is a perfectionist if there’s one person who will start a row in the band it’s him. Because he cares about the output, he is genuinely driven to produce music that will inspire others the way he’s been inspired. Mixing a record with Stephen is a lot of fun, I don’t think, but without someone asking questions of the music then there is always room for complacency and bad recordings. He also has a very keen ear for working out harmonies and he and I work closely on getting a good vocal part for the songs.

What inspires you, musically and lyrically?

It’s hard to say so many records have inspired me over the years. My parents were big Country (not the band) & Western fans and I loved those old story songs and as I grew up I traced modern music back from Dylan to Woody Guthrie and then back to all those poets, blues and jazz players of the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s who inspired rock and roll. I like songs with a beginning, middle and end, a song that picks you up takes you somewhere and drops you off. Springsteen has the knack of almost writing a novel with his albums which is something I aspire to and admire.

On an Eleven Mile Creek curated festival bill, who else would play?

Morrissey
The Flaming Lips
Wilco
American Music Club
The Jayhawks
Richmond Fontaine
Josh Rouse
The Willard Grant Conspiracy
M. Ward

What motivates you to record and gig?

Nothing but the sheer love of music, as I said earlier, it’s got to be in you and if it is you’ve got to let it out and I don’t care if that’s just getting up and doing karaoke or singing along with the radio in the car.

If the musical world was ideal, it would…

Pay each member of our band £400 per week to rehearse, record and tour. That’s all we want, just to pay the bills.

Why should people buy the NYQUIST THEORY compilation?

People should buy it
1. It’s for charity
2. It has some fantastic tracks on it
3. Hackpen Records are a record label that are truly committed to being independent and fair

Suggest a publicity stunt to increase your profile in the UK.

A suicide pact! No only joking. It’s a tough one is it not? What’s not been done before in way of publicity? Quite frankly I’d rather let the music do the talking than organise some freak stunt like when Chris Eubank drove a truck through Downing Street, you know. Chris is ok though, apparently one time on a flight back to the U.K. he went through from 1st class and handed out signed photos of himself to all those sitting in economy, bless him. That’s a classic example of someone who understands publicity and how to gain attention, however as a band we don’t crave the limelight. We want to play and record and have people write nice things about us.

What do you consider your best achievements in music?

Releasing “Training for Industry” last year to some quite astonishing praise and supporting some tremendous live acts Tony Joe White probably being the most famous. He lives on royalty cheques from “steamy windows” alone.

What more would you like to achieve with your music?

I would like to record an album first of all. We have enough material already but in all honesty, we have been working on a theme for a double album and I don’t care if we have to pay for it ourselves it’s coming out. It has a working title that I am unwilling to divulge in case some one nicks it but lets just say it’s very challenging and hilarious at the same time. We have quite a black sense of humour and I’d like to have some fun working on videos for the music. Yes that would be a lot of fun.

If you weren’t in a band just what would you do with your evenings?

In all honesty, I would be writing. I don’t know what, short stories; stand up routines, lyrics who knows. One thing I can definitely say though is I wouldn’t be sat in front of a T.V.

What are your future plans for gigs and recordings?

We are almost finished our second EP provisionally titled “Gulls fly north” it will be out in the summer.

What, with regards the UK music scene, upsets you?

Not much to be honest with you. In general the only hassle we’ve had has been from other bands and their management, all unsigned I must add. It really gets you down, I get more frustrated with the local scene which is why I’m so glad that Hackpen Records have spotted our potential and not a local label.

Please name your 6 discs for a Desert Island?

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
The Beatles - The Beatles
The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips
Murmur - REM
Hatful of Hollow - The Smiths
Paul’s Boutique - The Beastie Boys

3 Books for a desert island?

Brighton Rock – Graham Greene
The Tortilla Curtain – TC Boyle
Twelve Bar Blues – Patrick Neate

1 Luxury Item for a Desert Island?

My acoustic guitar.

Any other words of wisdom?

I think I’ve said enough.

www.elevenmilecreek.com