Category: Interviews

by Abjekt

When I took a trip out to Minneapolis to hang out with a friend before we drove down to Ohio for the brilliant Scribble Jam hip hop festival, I thought I’d stop in with the Doomtree crew for a chat. Little did I know that we’d be kicking it on their porch talking about everything from their music to prices for Stussy clothes to schizo men in coffee shops.

Female rapper Dessa was on holiday and Rhymesayers signee POS was on tour with Turbo Nemesis so for the interview I was joined by producers Lazerbeak, Marshall Larada and Paper Tiger and rappers Cecil Otter, Mike Mictlan and Sims.

Ok, so I guess I wanna start off by just asking how you all got together. Do you guys all know each other from when you were kids, or did you know each other separately and then got together afterwards?

Marshall: I think everyone who is here right at the moment pretty much knew each other from at least 16 or so.

Were you in bands together?

Marshall: Yeah, a lot of us were at different times.

Was it all hip hop? Or did you start off in punk bands?

Marshall: There was some punk stuff – Mike and Stef [POS] were rapping.

Are you all from Minneapolis originally?

Marshall: Yeah, the area. Except for that guy [points at Mictlan]

You’re from LA right?

Mictlan: Yup!

When did you decide to become Doomtree? Was it gradual, or did you just decide you were going to be a crew and that was it?

Marshall: Super gradual.

Cecil: I think Kai [Marshall] knows this story the best

Mictlan: He does.

Cecil: Start it out!

Marshall: Ok, well, as far as I can remember, Stef and I were making beats for a while and both decided that we should do a record and it’d be fun, where we made beats and had other people rap on them so we started to line that shit up. And that was 6 years ago now, at least. Cecil started coming around, Bobby Gorgeous started coming around and we were just making beats and recording little songs here and there and the record was forgotten about. And it just became a bedroom recording project for a long time.

People started coming through that were already our friends and were like “oh, you’re making beats? You’re rapping? Let’s do this!”

Lazerbeak: Let’s do this!

Marshall: And we just started putting on shitty little shows and putting out shitty little CDs and then it just got less and less shitty.

Cool. So, you had the Doomtree Blowout [where the entire crew play live] this year right?

Marshall: Yeah, this past December.

And was that the best thing you’ve done? Was that the pinnacle so far?

All the crew: Shit yeah!

Lazerbeak: As a collective yeah.

So, everyone I’ve met here so far loves you guys, and I’ve even spoken about you with random people in coffee shops, but the only people in London that know you are the people I’ve sent songs to. Is it nice to have such a big home town following when you do these shows?

Lazerbeak: Its great, its nice to have the support of the city.

Sims: A lot of it holds true for the rest of the country though, we don’t have much of a name out in the United States.

Does it help that Stef is on Rhymesayers?

Marshall: Yes!

You [to Sims] went out and did some dates with him right?

Sims: Yep, I went out on tour with him and was opening on the tour and it was great because we sold some CDs and made some money off of that and got exposed and every night at the merch table we’d have people asking about Cecil Otter and stuff.

Did you guys play the Warped tour as well?

Sims: Nope but he [POS] is on it right now though.

And [to Lazerbeak] you’re in The Plastic Constellations as well right?

Lazerbeak: Yeah.

How’s that going?

Lazerbeak: It’s a blast!

Because one of the guys that writes for the website loves you guys and it’s hard to think you’re in a hip hop crew as well.

Lazerbeak: Yeah, it’s awesome to be able to do both of these things.

We have a Buzz Chart and we put you in and you were really high for ages.

Lazerbeak: Wow really? That’s the shit!

I mean, I don’t wanna kiss your arse too much y’know…

[Everyone laughs]

Lazerbeak: No, no [laughs]. I mean, we knew the record came out in the UK recently, like a couple of months ago and I hadn’t gotten to read any reviews or anything.

The reviews I’ve read of it have been really good.

Lazerbeak: Oh really, well that’s good then!

Do you think being in TPC will help Doomtree as well?

Lazerbeak: I don’t know… I think actually being in Doomtree will help the band more than we would help Doomtree. But yeah it’s nice to be in both and its cool how we can all dabble in a bunch of shit and it all works out.

Rachel [Doomtree’s all conquering press girl]: There’s a lot of crossover. You’ll see TPC fans at occasional Doomtree shows and you’ll see Doomtree fans go to TPC shows.

Lazerbeak: We just played First Avenue [venue in Minneapolis] and brought Sims and Mike out and the crowd was just as much, if not more, into their little rap thing than our whole set. It was awesome to see. And it’s cool to be in a city where everyone is open to all these different types of music.

Another thing that’s strange for us is that, the Minnesota scene is really close and where we’re from, you don’t say a rapper is from London or another city, they’re just English. Whereas everyone we’ve met here listens to Minnesota hip hop or Minnesota rock bands, so it must be nice to be top of the pile.

Lazerbeak: Its cool, for sure. I mean, we’ve been working for it for a long time and we’re not by any means at the top, but we’re making progress.

Because there’s so many of you in the crew, how do you pair off? You [Mictlan and Lazerbeak] are doing an album together, so did you just decide you’ll do an album together?

Mictlan: Well the thing was, when I started coming back around, we kept in touch, always down with what he was doing. And he started giving me beats, we made some songs real quick and then he kept sending me beats and we had so many songs we thought shit, we might as well make an album together. We liked each others style and it seemed like a good idea.

Because you guys pair off when you do live stuff right? Like Turbo Nemesis being Stef’s DJ.

Mictlan: He’s been my DJ too, or I go with him [points to Paper Tiger].

Cecil: Yeah it seems like you never know who you’re gonna get at our shows.

Sims: It’s random, I mean we’re all cool together so it’s real easy to just pair off. We’re a nice small group of people so it’s all real natural.

And you can swap round if you piss each other off too.

Sims: Yes! [Laughs] But there’s never any… I mean, there’s a lot of competitiveness between us but that’s mostly to one up each other and do better things, but there’s never any jealousies or anything like that.

And what’s next this year for the crew? You’ve got the crew album coming up haven’t you?

Marshall: Yeah we’ve got a crew record.

Sims: We’re doing another Blowout in December again, this one’s going to be at First Avenue so…

All of a sudden a car goes past and a guy with a megaphone shouts out I LOVE YOU BUNNY! Cue a minute of laughter.

Sims: Did he say bunny?

Marshall: Yeah!

Sims: Sweet.

Cecil: That was awesome!

Rachel: Hopefully the Blowout will be bigger and crazier.

Is First Avenue the biggest venue here?

Cecil: It’s not the biggest, but it has the most history.

Lazerbeak: It’s pretty damn big though.

Marshall: It’s where they shot the Purple Rain video.

Oh really?! Wow, that’s fucking cool!

Lazerbeak: Yeah so we have this big show in December and we’ll try and finish the album off, that’s the main top tier of what we’re trying to do.

Are you guys getting more and more experimental with your stuff as you progress?

Lazerbeak: I don’t know, I’m way into it. I’m always liking it. Every time I hear something new I’m liking it more than the last shit so I hope we continue to do that.

Sims: The new stuff is a lot better than the other stuff we’ve done.

Mictlan: I think we challenge ourselves a lot. With the new record, I see us doing whatever we want. I mean we get tired of ourselves which means we always challenge ourselves which in turn challenges all the others.

Sims: And the new stuff we’re doing is going to be a lot more challenging to the listener. I mean, it’s not going to be poppy… but it’s going to be good.

Lazerbeak: It is gonna be good. Its nice for all of us to be able to check each other. We keep each other in check and motivate each other to make better shit.

Do all you guys live here [in this house]?

Lazerbeak: Not all, but most of the guys do.

Sims: Cecil, Mike, Me, POS and Turbo Nemesis live together.

Marshall: So half the crew really.

And you can kick each other’s arses to get in order.

Sims: There’s a lot of walking downstairs and hearing someone half way through a song and thinking “ah shit, I gotta do something today!”

Are you guys looking to tour collectively further afield?

Sims: We’ll probably get a chance to tour collectively, but it’s hard, it’s financially hard to travel that many miles and make things work.

Rachel: And it’s a lot of people to try and organise!

Cecil: But it’s the perfect time to try it now. Two years down the road we might not ever be able to find a month where we’re free and in the same place. It’s definitely the hope though.

You guys should just all come to London!

Cecil: Bring us out man!

Rachel: We’ll sell all of John [Paper Tiger]’s Stussy shirts to get there.

Lazerbeak: I mean, we hope to get out to a lot of other places, but apart from Stef we’ve not really touched on it.

When we saw Atmosphere in February, Brother Ali namechecked POS and a group of people went crazy for him, so he’s getting known.

Lazerbeak: That’s the design too. Stef will be brought up and in turn we come with him and the cycle continues.

So I hear some of you skate, and the Crossfire site is a skate website as well.

Lazerbeak: That site’s intense! I checked that out yesterday and there’s a LOT of stuff on there, it’s crazy.

So what’s it like to skate here? Because when we interviewed Ugly Duckling, they’re from California, where it’s sunny all the time. But it snows here a bunch right?

Cecil: Yeah, when I was younger it sucked really bad, I had to skate in my bedroom on carpet [laughs]. They started making indoor skate parks, but they were so expensive and I didn’t like parks but now they’re everywhere so its really easy to skate in all seasons. Skating the city isn’t as fun as it used to be, they’ve capped everything, all the good skate spots, guards have mace and will take your board. So you have to find little skate parks everywhere and scoot around.

Sims: A lot of people snowboard here in the winter. I mean a lot of skateboarders around here transition to snowboarding.

We don’t even get snow in England, we just get rain.

Lazerbeak: It does rain a lot there, when I was over it rained the whole time.

Crista [my friend]: They want it to rain here!

Lazerbeak: Well it’s about to!

I don’t think we have much choice really! At least everyone is friendly here. We walk past random people on the street and they say hi. You don’t do that shit in London.

Mictlan: You’ve not been to the north side yet…

Cecil: They’ll play friendly, but really… [evil look]

Lazerbeak: A pizza delivery guy just got shot here recently!

So you’re not going to do any gangster rap shit then?

Lazerbeak: That’s next year, 07 is the gangster rap stage for us. To prove that we can do it all, the re-invention.

So do you guys know any UK hip hop? Other than shit like The Streets and Dizzee Rascal… everytime I speak to someone over here that’s who they say and that’s shitty music man.

Marshall: I know them yeah.

Do you know Lady Sovereign?

Cecil: Didn’t Jay Z just sign her or some shit?

Yeah, which is weird because I’ve seen her play to not many people. But now the NME says she’s good and so half the country like her, all the trendy lot.

Cecil: Like that Tapes N Tapes right?

Exactly!

Rachel: You should tell the NME that Doomtree are the shit and get us started over there.

Cecil: We don’t wanna start getting a bad name though, telling people we’re great and we’ll start to suck too.

Lazerbeak: What’s good hip hop from London then?

Jehst. If you know Edan, he’s like the English version of him.

Marshall: Jehst… He’s in that Behind The Beat book.

Yes!

Lazerbeak: Does he do his own beats too?

Yeah, most of them. He just put out a production album of his beats with other people rapping over them.

Lazerbeak: We’ll get him to open up for us then [laughs]

He opened for Atmosphere actually a few years ago.

Lazerbeak: We love what the support acts get in Europe. You get beer and they put you up at night. They don’t do that here at all. They have a PA system for you and then you’re on your own.

Marshall: People in America love to go to Europe because they get set up.

Lazerbeak: Yeah they way you guys handle it, it makes people wanna go out there.

I guess you guys know Roots Manuva though?

Lazerbeak: Yeah, I love Roots Manuva.

He’s the guy that people who don’t listen to hip hop music listen to.

Lazerbeak: Right, and that’s how I think we might get pigeonholed as over here. Like people will say “I won’t usually see a hip hop show but I’ll go and see Doomtree”.

Rachel: Yeah, it’s definitely not just rap kids that go to the Doomtree shows.

So, big broad question here, but who are your influences?

Marshall: I’m sure everyone can answer that differently.

Mictlan: Go ahead then [laughs]

Is it primarily rap?

Cecil: It’s all sort of shit. Old classic rock too.

There was a schizophrenic guy in the coffee shop just now who was telling everyone that the FBI killed Jerry Garcia and the guy from Pink Floyd and that it was just the start.

Sims: I would say Jerry Garcia has played no influence in our music.

You reckon the FBI are after you guys then?

Cecil: Not yet maybe. We’re probably Red Flagged. We wouldn’t be doing this interview if they were.

Sims: That to me is crazy, I mean, my cousin won’t get Harpers delivered to his house because he’s worried he’s going to get on the list. That’s a pretty middle of the road left magazine.

Yeah, you have to sign a form when you come to America to say you’re not a communist or a nazi and that you’re not bringing in a disease.

Sims: What?!

Chris [my friend]: Yeah, we’d have to say we’re Republicans.

Sims: [laughs] I know right? Republican – Come right in!

Yeah we got shit at customs. The guard was like “let’s take a little walk guys”

[Everyone laughs at my awful American accent]

Chris: He thought he was Rambo!

And we had to sit in this empty room, with 10 customs officers there. We had to take a number, even though there was no-one else in the room, and the walls were just mirrors so you either looked at your feet or at yourself looking guilty. And they asked us where we were going and we said a hip hop festival and got the “hip hop huh” dirty looks. But yeah we have to sign a form that says we weren’t allied with the Nazis in the war…

[More laughter]

And that I’m not bringing in disease or livestock. Yeah, like I’m going to have a chicken in my bag!

Cecil: Yeah, I just brought a live chicken with me.

And they asked how we knew Crista, and I said the internet. Probably not the safest thing to say, and they asked if she was my girlfriend and I said no and that I’d never met her. Oops!

Marshall: We don’t know each other, but we’re getting married.

Rachel: At the hip hop festival!

What was it like playing Scribble Jam [the festival]?

Sims: It was fun, we played it the last 2 years actually.

You guys should be there for us. Just for us! And Sims and Mike are playing the Twin Cities hip hop celebration the day after we leave!

Mictlan: Delay your flight.

I can’t, I’m saving up my money to fly you guys over remember!

Sims: You’ll love Scribble. The MC battles are great, an Australian guy won it last year. [Cue awful Aussie accent] Oh Moi Gowd!

[laughter]

They have a British guy this year, so we’ll get to support him. [After note: he sucked and went out in the first round.] But it’s a shame we’ll miss you though.

Rachel: They’re good with equal opportunities though and we’ve played the last 2 years.

Yeah it’s a great line up anyway, the Juggaknots are playing, I’m psyched about that.

Rachel: You should back for the Blowout.

Lazerbeak: It’ll be ridiculous!

How many people were at the last one?

Lazerbeak: It had like 600, but they turned 200 people away, which sucked.

Rachel: I remember when we got to the venue last year, they usually have stuff on the floor but they’d taken everything away and we were like “no we need the stuff in to fill out space” because we didn’t know we’d get that many people coming.

Cecil: And this was before Audition [POS’ second album] had come out even!

Rachel: But that’s what’s good about the scene and playing locally, you get a lot of love for it.

That’s awesome. And I guess that about wraps it up.

Marshall: Come back in December to do a follow up!

You can check out the amazing Doomtree crew at www.doomtree.net or www.myspace.com/doomthefucktree – And do your friend a favour, spread the word!

Photos courtesy of Marshall Larada, Stephen Wayne and Bo Hakala.

Written by Rachel Clegg.

It’s 11. 30pm and the Brian Jonestown Massacre are backstage at the Leeds Cockpit in Northern England.

Its dingy walls host sunken couches supporting smoke-drenched, drunken characters, hangers-on, Swedish musicians, the entire cast of a British soap opera – Emmerdale Farm and of course, the band.

I am introduced to Anton Newcombe, the famously temperamental bandleader and front man of the Brian Jonestown Massacre (note: must be pronounced in full, Jomestown, not Jones town, as Anton sharply points out). With an inebriated glaze he shakes my hand, ‘hello, I’m Anton Newcombe and you’re?‘ It is an hour before we finally start the interview and already Anton is fucked out of his mind.

RC: Did you have a good night?

AN: Yes.

RC: Why are you called the Brian Jonestown Massacre?

AN: Do you mean the Brian Jonestown Massacre? Get your facts straight.

Emphasis is obviously very important when pronouncing the name of this band.

RC: Yes.

AN: Because Led Zeppelin was taken.

RC: What is it about Brian Jones though?

AN: You don’t like it?

RC: Yes, it has a tragic ring to it.

AN: What’s tragic about it?

RC: He died in a swimming pool and the name of your band is his town massacre.

AN: So what, there’s like a fucking thousand British soldiers died in Iraq, how tragic is that?

RC: I’m not denying the deaths in Iraq are a tragedy, but we’re talking about rock n roll.

AN: They [the soldiers] never got to pursue their lives, so let’s keep things in perspective right?

RC: The melody-laden, free-spirited psychedelic pop that came to be synonymous with both Brian Jones (the Rolling Stones) and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Is this pinnacle of popular music for you?

AN: I just like the way in the sixties they approached bringing ideas into the music.

RC: The Brian Jonestown Massacre seems to be entirely dictated by your ideas and your musical agenda, what ideas are currently circulating in your head right now? In what direction do you ant to take the band?

AN: Basically I just enjoy being creative. I just want to stay true to myself. I talk in sound. I can make some kind of heavy statement…

RC: Go on then, make a heavy statement…

AN: OK, I want to create an audio and visual environment that will bring them back to their genesis, the moment of conception.

RC: How will you go about that within your musical aesthetic?

AN: Well, I’m gong to hire Patsy Kensit. (Patsy Kensit was lurking around the dressing room just before this interview was conducted). I’ll use a kazoo too.

RC: I do a pretty good ‘Baker Street’ on kazoo.

AN: Do you like the way your lips tingle when you play it?

RC: It’s all right.

RC: Are you flattered that the entire cast of Emmerdale came to see you tonight?

AN: I am touched. Actually, I don’t like ITV that much at all.

RC: You don’t strike me as a TV person …

AN: I’m not. I like to cook for my friends; take walks with friends…enjoy sunsets. All my friends are girls and I really like them.

RC: Do you find it easy to be around women as opposed to men?

AN: I don’t hang around with any girls; I hang around with the girls I do because they are interesting people; they are all making films or are scientists. I have no problem with dating more than one person at a time.

Perhaps in his own mind statements such as these are perfectly connected their previous sentenence.

RC: After spending most of your young life in San Francisco you moved to Manhattan, how do you find it?

AN: I don’t like [Manhattan].

RC: Do you miss San Francisco?

AN: I do a little bit, yes.

RC: The band formed in Haight Ashbury, did the musical historical significance of Haight Ashbury have any influence on the music?

AN: They used to have a lot of acid – and I’m talking about in our time – in 1990.

RC: At that time the Seattle scene was taking off yet you didn’t opt for the grunge route, why?

AN: First of all, when I was growing up I didn’t listen to rock music. It’s fun when you go out and people are playing AC/DC and everyone’s dancing. It’s fun watching girls dancing away. Whatever, but I don’t like that kind of music. The same kind of patter tries to kick my fucking head in. I never even listened to Led Zeppelin. I always liked psychedelic music.

RC: What particular psychedelic music did you listen to?

AN: All kinds of stuff, let’s just assume that I know more bands than you do.

RC: What is your definition of psychedelic?

AN: My definition of psychedelic is ‘mind expanding’.

RC: Since the Brian Jonestown Massacre set up in the mid nineties your music seems to span the entire spectrum of pop music, there are moments like your music which reminded me of the Jesus and Mary Chain then other bits were much more sombre and Smiths-like. I wondered what exactly is feeding into your music…

AN: Well, I never actually set out to be like ‘we are the Smiths’. It’s amazing that all the time the NME spent slagging off the Smiths [that[ they later [hailed them].

RC: The NME can be incredibly fickle.

AN: The people that run that magazine are part of a firm that own a thousand other magazines. I don’t really talk to journalists.

RC: What exactly do you want journalists to do then? How do you want people to see you?

AN: I don’t give a damn. I just don’t care.

RC: How about band members at the moment? Are you happy with the band? Your track record suggests that you have gone through over sixty band members…

AN: That’s since 1990.

RC: I read an interview earlier which was conducted at the time when Dig was being filmed – in the interview you mentioned that you were particularly dissatisfied with the way in which you felt you were portrayed and that the film sensationalised one particular aspect of your character. What have you got to say about this?

AN: Did you see the movie?

RC: Some of it, yes.

AN: Then, why are we talking about it?

RC: I am interested in what particular part of your character you were unhappy in terms of its portrayal in the film.

AN: I know that people love talking about themselves but I’m not a movie. If you could think of something specific I would answer it.

RC: I am asking a specific question: what particular aspect of the way in which you were represented in DIG were you unhappy with?

Anton (rather aggressively) refused to answer the question.

At the same time the security staff at the Leeds Cockpit asked us all to leave in order for them to lock up the section of the building we were in.

End of interview.

Bomp Records have just re-issued the 7 albums that The Brian Jonestown Massacre released on the label plus Strung Out in Heaven on TVT Records. The label also releases records by The Stooges, Dead Boys, Soledad Brothers, The Warlocks The Black Keys are more..Get in there..

If the constant influx of overly-polished ‘screamo’ bands encroaching on metalcore territory are making you feel ill, then you need Darkest Hour in your life.

These five Washington DC natives are giving metalcore a new lease of life with their punishing mix of hardcore brutality, intricate guitar work and raw-throated vocals, and released one of last year’s finest records in ‘Undoing Ruin’. Alex Gosman caught up with guitarist Kris Norris and drummer Ryan Parrish shortly before an absolute stunner of a show at London’s Camden Underworld.

Hey guys, how are you doing? This is part of a full European tour, right?

Ryan: Yeah, this is the last of our UK dates. It’s been really good; we’ve had a lot of fun – it’s been like a non-stop party for about a month now!

You also played at the Download festival – how was that for you?

Kris: That was awesome – we’d never done any really big festivals over here before; that was our first, so it was a great experience for us.

Your last album, ‘Undoing Ruin’, seems to have won you guys a lot of new fans, especially here in the UK. Are you happy with what it’s achieved?

R: Yeah, absolutely – we were very excited about it, and it’s done a lot better than we thought it would, actually, especially in the UK.

K: When we wrote it, we weren’t trying to make a record that would win us new fans, we just made the record we wanted to make – and that’s really the best you can do.

Compared to your previous two records [‘So Sedated, So Secure’ and ‘Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation’, both also on Victory], ‘Undoing Ruin’ seems to have a far more personal slant to it – was that intentional?

R: Yeah, definitely – I think that where we were at in our lives at that point was pretty crazy, so we figured that the best way to vent it was to write it down, and that’s how the lyrics came together.

K: Especially John [Henry, DH vocalist], he had a lot going on in his life back then, and he needed to get it out, so that was the best way to do it. He writes most of the lyrics anyway.

You seem to have been compared to a lot of Scandinavian bands, and you certainly seem to have more in common with the likes of At The Gates than with your average ‘metalcore’ band. Who would you say are your main influences?

K: [laughing] Well, put it this way – if you took an encyclopedia of metal, you could list just about every Scandinavian band as our influences! It’s not really any one particular band; we wouldn’t say that we’re influenced by, say, In Flames or At The Gates, it’s every band from there.

R: We grew up listening to those bands, and at the time, hardly anyone in the States knew about them – but we managed to get hold of some records, and it went from there.

K: It’s like, just as our parents grew up listening to the Rolling Stones, we grew up listening to bands like At The Gates and Dark Tranquility.

There are a lot of bands mixing metal and hardcore influences these days; would you say this is a good thing, or is it resulting in an over-saturated scene?

R: Well, yeah, that’s what gets you popular these days! Right now there’s so much happening with it, it’s unbelievable – it’s hard to keep up with what’s going on, because there’s just so many new bands. Not that that’s necessarily bad for the metal scene, but for a band like us – we’ve been around nearly ten years – we’ve definitely been ‘covered up’ by a lot of the newer bands. And you have to wonder how long those bands are gonna stick around!

K: Metal will always be around, but different genres of metal tend to dry off after a while; they’re fads for a while and then they’re gone.

R: For a while, everybody thought that nu-metal was here to stay, but it died after a few years…

Do you think the better bands from these scenes ever get the recognition they deserve?

K: No, I personally think that the best bands are very underrated and hardly anyone notices them. The bands that become popular are usually popular for the wrong reasons! There are some bands that are getting popular off the metalcore thing, that are busting their asses off to get where they’re going to – and that’s fine, but then you’ve got the situations where someone wakes up one day, decides to start a metalcore band, and sells 200,000 records.

R: They write the record that they think everyone wants to hear, next thing you know, they’re on all the magazine covers everywhere -that seems to be the fad these days. And where’s the longevity in that?

You seem to have built a reputation for yourselves as a band that likes to party – what would the ideal Darkest Hour night off entail?

R: We’d probably start with a cook-out, drink as much as possible before it gets dark, then go find a disco or something, and go to that – or, if a band that we know is in town, we’d go see them, hang out with our friends for the rest of the night…and then wake up the next morning wondering what happened!

K: That’s pretty much what Download was all about! The best nights are the ones you can’t remember…

R: Especially a night that you can’t remember, but still have pictures of! Like when you read a magazine, and there’s an article with pictures of you partying in it, but you can’t remember a thing!

So what are Darkest Hour’s plans for the near future?

K: Well, this is the last of the UK dates, then we’re doing a few festival dates in Europe before heading home.

R: We’ve got a lot coming up, actually – we’re doing six dates in the States with Shadows Fall, on the East Coast and Mid-west, then we’re heading to Canada wth Misery Signals, and then we’re touring the States with Soilwork for about six weeks. It’ll be December by the time we’re done, so then we’ll have to start writing the new record, which should hopefully be out in summertime next year.

‘Undoing Ruin’ is out now on Victory Records. Check www.darkesthour.cc for all info.

Alex Gosman

Underoath are just one of those bands that don’t need to win over the mainstream stations for everyone to know who they are. Their successes aren’t in platinum records or UO branded clothing lines; it’s in their hugely dedicated and passionate fanbase, being on the headline stage for the biggest touring rock festival to exist – Warped – and getting the opportunity to turn down major labels just because you don’t want to do things that way. Unlike so much of the music scene currently, Underoath aren’t about being untouchable, as we discovered.

Just three months ago, when our new resident writer Cathy Reay was asked to interview this phenomenal band, she hadn’t even heard of them. Now they’re one of her favourites.

Documented on this very site is her conversation with Spencer Smith (vocals) and Aaron Gillespie (drums, vocals), the group’s two frontmen, held just before their slot at the Give It A Name festival in London. For all you need to know on one of the biggest acts around right now, look no further. Here’s our mini-guide to everything essentially Underoath…

How long have you all been playing music and what influenced you to start this group?

Spencer: This band started about six or seven years ago, all of us have always had a deep interest in pursuing music – since we were kids.

Aaron: And it’s music, period, that made us start playing in the first place. We were all in high school [when the band started] and didn’t really do much else apart from play this shit, garage type music.

How do you feel that Underoath as a unit differs now compared to a couple of years ago when Spencer wasn’t fronting the group?

Aaron: We didn’t really get along before. There was always this strange vibe going on. Then Spencer joined and everything was just normal, we clicked.

Why did you decide to continue as Underoath instead of starting a new group (based on the fact that Spencer obviously brings a totally different and very present element to the group than Dallas once did)?

Aaron: There were original members, touring members in fact, of the band still in it so I didn’t feel any point in changing the name. We talked about it though.

How did you meet Spencer?

Spencer: I’ve been playing in Florida for six years. I was in a band that toured as well and we all played together. I also lived with Chris before I joined the band; we all lived in the same town and liked the same kind of music, so the elements of our friendship were already kinda there.

There is and always has been (to an extent) a lot of controversy surrounding you and religion, especially as you’re on Tooth and Nail, which is known to host, for the most part, a highly influentially Christian roster – how much of a difference do you think your religion has on your music and its desired effect?

Aaron: Well… yeah, we are Christian but…

Spencer: In a different way. We’re not like your average Christian band. Most of us don’t agree with the American view and handling of Christianity because it’s lost its appeal and meaning. People use the church more for social reasons than religion.

Aaron: If you say the word religion it’s like a man-made term…

Spencer: It turns into a scheduled thing where you have to do everything at a certain time. People that follow that end up really judgemental and that’s not at all what we’re about. We use our music to show that there’s more to it and that you don’t have to be that way to believe in something.

Would you agree that your beliefs are the backbone of your writing?

Spencer: It’s the backbone of our lives, especially in the way that we handle certain things, but it’s not so much the backbone of our lyrics. It’s not like every song is a lesson from the Bible or something. It’s just normal life struggles.

Aaron: However you live, that’s what you’re going to write about. This is how we live and we write around that.

How do people react to that?

Aaron: Fine. People are very gracious.

Spencer: We’re humans so they can relate to what we’re talking about.

Aaron: The bottom line is the whole problem with anything is people acting inhuman and strange and untouchable. We’re trying to be as touchable as possible!

Why the switchover to Tooth and Nail in the first place?

Aaron: It’s pretty much the same thing as being with Solid State, it’s in the same building and the same people work with us. It’s just got a wider distribution.

Spencer: No, no, no… You wanna know what it really was? The reason we went over to Tooth and Nail is because both labels have mailing lists of people their stuff goes out to and Tooth and Nail uses both as opposed to just their own.

‘Define The Great Line’ seems a lot heavier vocally than your previous releases, why the need for that?

Aaron: That wasn’t a conscious decision, it was just progression.

Spencer: It’s just what we’re comfortable with doing now. My input on this record is more me, being more comfortable with myself. This is the longest the band has been without changing members and we’re all comfortable and on the same page. With the last record, even though we were all friends before we only started playing together just before recording it. There were certain times when we were like ‘oh I don’t know if that really fits well…’. With ‘Define The Great Line’ we just decided to go ahead and do what we wanted to do and somehow that fit. Everyone in the band did what they were happy with and most comfortable doing in their own way and it turned out better than anything any of us have ever done.

Consequently are you more proud of it?

Spencer: Yes. If that’s not the case you’re doing something wrong!

Relay the steps of what it’s like writing/singing together (recording and generally)…

Spencer: We wrote the record as a band. I write the lyrics for me and Aaron writes them for himself and sometimes we switch or whatever. Although we’re all really tight, Aaron and I have always been really, really close and it’s just really easy for us to work together.

Aaron: I’ve always sung although I have no idea why! We put so many vocals in the songs that there’s no way for one person to have the breath to do it. Tim sings a little bit but no-one else has any lyrical savvy!

What (newfound) success do you hope/feel that your new album will achieve?

Aaron: I don’t feel that our last record failed in any way. If it does as good as that one I’ll be happy. I’m really comfortable with where we are at this stage although I’d like to do way better in Europe, especially England. If we could be the way we are in the States worldwide that’d be amazing. We get asked that a lot but we don’t really care. We were comfortable two years ago playing that and we’re more comfortable now and if it’s only this [indicates with hands] many kids that appreciate it then whatever. It’s something we’re happy with.

Spencer: I think we finally got to the point where we’re happy.

Aaron: On past records we’re always spotting the mistakes but with this one we know our playing ability and experience and unity made the best record we could’ve done. I know we’ll get better but as of now there’s not one thing I’d change on it.

How do you feel about it leaking so prematurely?

Aaron: It sucks.

Spencer: Radiohead leaked earlier. It happens. We know who did it…

Aaron: Yeah we went to his house with baseball bats and ransacked his place. Brass knuckles, tear gas…we took care of it.

Do you view obtaining music over the internet a bad thing now that that’s happened to you?

Spencer: I viewed it as a bad thing before that.

Aaron: To be honest, once a record is already released then it’s fine. You can’t do anything about it then. Some kid was supposed to pick our stuff up and he took it while the other guy wasn’t paying attention, when it wasn’t even dubbed or anything, and put it on the internet. It’s like stealing a painting that’s not done yet and then putting it everywhere and everyone looking at it. If we wanted that kid to hear it, we would’ve let him – but it wasn’t done.

Spencer: One of the greatest paintings of all time, the Mona Lisa, was shown when it was half-done. That’s how I look at it. People are so excited all over the world to get a hold of it. I can’t spend my every day obsessing over how it was released. At first it sucked but we’re over it now.

I’ve heard that it irritates you to be classified as part of the hardcore scene – any truth to that statement?

Aaron: You get classified as being everything you can ever imagine. People say really weird things about our band but we don’t pay attention, it doesn’t matter. You can call us a country band and it doesn’t change what we are. If that’s the way someone hears it then alright.

How do you hear it?

Spencer: Us. Underoath. It’s the music we write. We look ourselves in a room, write music and that’s what happens. I think it’s really weird that some people say “dude wanna write a hardcore song?” and then try and do that.

Tell me about filming your latest two music videos in Sweden.

Spencer: We just got back the day before yesterday. It was the best experience we’ve ever had in Europe.

Aaron: Nice people, wonderfully polite and they really cared about what they do. We noticed that everywhere – the guy in McDonalds is passionate about his work!

Spencer: They love their country, each other and Americans. We went snowmobiling.

Aaron: Everyone we worked with I don’t ever want to lose touch with. It was a great experience. The actual videos, the finished products, are the best stuff we’ve ever done.

Tell me more about the video concepts.
Spencer: They’re shot inside. The people we did them with built like 5 or 6 60ft set like Hollywood. There were actors and actresses. It was crazy and really cool.

Aaron: You’ll see!

What’s your pre-gig ritual?

Spencer: Stretch, pee and pray.

Aaron: We’re the most immature band on this tour, we run around screaming and pushing each other.

Underoath’s new album ‘Define The Great Line’ is out now on Tooth and Nail.

Check them out on the Taste Of Chaos tour with Alexisonfire, Taking Back Sunday, Senses Fail and more later this year. Visit them at www.underoath777.com

The Fallout Trust is more than just your average band. The London based six piece not only live together, but also recorded, produced and mixed their own album, in their own studio and on top of that did their own art work and videos.

Signed in 2004 to At Large Recordings, they released limited edition EP in 2004, and “WashOut” and “Before The Light Goes” last year, and set the wheels in motion for their critically acclaimed debut ‘In Case of the Flood’. With influences across a broad spectrum, from The Beatles through to The Arcade Fire, the band have gained a reputation for atmospheric, breathtaking live performances.

Dee Massey caught up with frontman Joe Winter in an alleyway behind Metro, to talk about the next album, living with your bandmates and bands deserve to be banished from the world forever….

Photo’s by Niki Kova’cs

Firstly what is The Fallout Trust?

The Fallout Trust is a six headed band. Conceptually? Well it’s actually a name we had a long time ago, it was something Guy always had at the back of his mind when he was studying in Newcastle, it was a name that was mentioned when we first started sowing the seeds of putting a band together, and I always thought it was a great name. For me, it’s like a contradiction in terms. All six of us we were probably quite disillusioned with our lives at that time, our mundane existence, we kind of fell into a reliance on each other, and that was The Fallout Trust.

And you guys first started the band after a visit to Berlin’s Hansa Studios?

Yeah that was at the end of one period in our lives, where we both wounded by life, we’d barely seen each other for the last few years, and we just ended up going to Berlin, following those paths that we’d grown up obsessed with – I guess we’re both fairly obsessive characters ..and we were very inspired by the place, it’s a very imposing place but at the same time we felt like we were somehow part of it. The thing about Berlin is the place is in transit, you almost step onto it like a conveyor belt and step off it again.

How did you recruit the rest of the band? You’ve got your brother..and sister is it?

Sister in law, Jess, she’s married to my brother Matt. He and I have always been pretending to play music all our lives, because we big Beatles fans and Queen fan..ha..I probably should admit to that….I’m a Freddie Mercury obsessive [laughs]

A closet Queen fan!

No I came out long ago…..oh God that sounds so wrong! [laughs] But yeah we grew up [and my dad] had all these cassettes, a hoard, and I found them when I was about six and we went through them together. We were in bands together before, and Guy was in a rival band at school. We actually got bigger on the Bristol scene than Guy’s band and there was this feeling, well I can’t really speak for him, but we realised that he needed to be in a band with us, as it would be better! We started writing together and it was better than the things we were doing separately.

So when you’re writing now, what kind of bands are your main inspiration?

I was a big Patti Smith fan, I love Horses, Radio Ethiopia and all that stuff. I mean, her voice was an incredible influence on me, her voice is incredible. The things she does with her voice, I can only hope to be a fraction of someone that talented. Also Michael Stipe, not so much not now though.

You guys have been compared to Arcade Fire and Super Furry Animals amongst others – do you consider that an apt description?

So someone said…I mean we’re big Arcade Fire fans… we got a pre-release copy of their album and we quite bowled over by that, but at the same time the strings and stuff was stuff we’d been doing since we started. So we were quite excited by that because we thought maybe there was an opening for us..

..They were paving the way for you?

Not so much..I mean, we’re not so cynical as to jump on the bandwagon, I can’t ever imagine us doing that. We’re not a fashion band in any sense, as you can probably tell [points to clothes and laughs] But yeah, Arcade Fire are a great band, live they are incredible, because it’s a whole experience, it’s not just about the music. That’s something that from the very outset we were striving to be, the whole product, we never wanted to just be a band who put their heads down and played guitar. It’s all about the performance.

You come across as very self contained, self sufficient band. You guys have your own studio, you do your own art work…and you all live together?

Yeah we do all still live together, but it’s possible that we might not for that much longer. We’re writing the second record at the moment, and the place we live in now is very much a working environment and captured the sound for that record….we utilized the sounds that that place can create so we want to find somewhere else to record the next record. It won’t necessarily be the same place that we live, but I think we’re willing to move on, I think we need to physically move on as well as sonically.

Was the last album totally recorded and produced by yourselves?

We recorded it and produced it ourselves, like you said we’re quite self sufficient in that sense. I mean one argument is that we’re all control freaks and it’s too hard to just let go of it but I think that’s something that, on the second record, we’ll experiment with more, perhaps doing stuff a bit more spontaneously. We’re still talking amongst the band about methods we could use.

Would you ever just record it live?

Erm…well…bits of it…little bits of it. It’s a very layered sound, because it’s quite complicated, it took us quite a long time to get it sounding right. It’s quite a diverse record I think, and speaking for myself..I think there’s a big gulf between what we do live and what we do on record. And whilst I think that can be a good thing and leads to an interesting interpretation, when you see the band live it can be a different experience, perhaps more different that you’d expect from listening to the record, and I’d personally like to bring what we do live into the record a bit more. I think there are times when I’m singing live that we just haven’t captured yet, and my personal goal is to somehow capture that, harness the energy on record, which is pretty difficult to do I think.

So with that in mind, do you prefer being in the studio or out there doing it live?

Personally, definitely doing it live, because each time you play it’s a new version of a song, when we’re finishing it you have to finish [a track]..put a pretend full stop on the end of it, but you’re still developing songs and for us, we never really sit still, we’re always thinking …could this song be better, if we changed the bass line or the introduction to the song or whatever? There are songs from the album that we play slightly differently live now…that’s just the way we are as people, we’re never really satisfied, we’re probably difficult people!

So would you consider bringing in an external producer for the next album?

Well, that’s something we’re talking about at the moment. I think that we’re leaning towards the idea of bringing someone in but someone to be collaborative with, not someone to wrestle control away from us. I think it’s important not to dwell on things, I think you learn from everything you do, you know….you record a record and you go on tour and meet people, and you think well next time we do it maybe we could try something differently because ..you’re never going to be completely satisfied with anything. That’s life.

What have been the highlights for the band so far?

Highlights? In terms of supporting people I really enjoyed the tour we did with Tom Vek, partly because we had a mutual understanding between us, not that we were trying to do the same thing musically but I think we’re both about experimentation, we both felt that a lot of current music at the time was a little bit tired and repetitive, you know. I think we bonded over that a little bit, so that was pretty special. Also the tour with yourcodenameis:milo, the thing about them that was amazing was that we were on tour with them for 20 dates or something, and every night something different came out of their music. At first you just hear a barrage of noise….but then you get to know it and it’s actually quite complex stuff, they’re a really great band.

So what’s the best thing about being on the road, and what’s the worst thing?

The best thing about being on the road is…well for me, I like listening to music so I just lock myself away with my headphones, I take a stack of mini discs and just plough through them. I listen to lots of new music, because when we’re at home…well we obviously listen to music [laughs] but we spend a lot of time writing and recording so it’s nice to have that break on the bus. That and writing, because I write quite a lot of words on the bus as well, we’re quite individual. We tend to lock ourselves up in six individual worlds on the bus, because obviously we spend so much time together – I guess it sounds like a contradiction but when we go out on the road we’re all closed off [in our own worlds].

So what’s it like being in a band with your brother?

It’s brilliant…we’ve always done stuff together so there was never really a question mark over that. We don’t argue so much as we used to…he occasionally pulls me hair on stage…that’s why I keep it short [laughs] so he can’t grab hold of it!

And lastly…since today is 6th June 2006..666..we’ve got a few quickfire questions, all to do with evil….

Oh god…[laughs]…ok….quickfire…well I’m a bit of a procrastinator…but ok..

If you were the devil for a day…who would you smite down?

There have been so many people in the last week that I just can’t put my finger on it…I have to be careful what I say! ….IF they drop us…the record label [laughs]

Which band should be banished to hell forever?

Far too many…most bands! I don’t think I care enough about those bands…but I don’t think any bands should be banished to hell, because fair enough if people want to make music, I don’t understand some bands though, bands like The Others, I don’t understand that fashion band – when something’s just about being in fashion, it doesn’t make me angry, but I just don’t see the point..

What would your idea of personal hell be?

Um….thinking that I knew everything, that sort of thing…becoming a person who thinks they know everything.

What’s your most evil drinking experience?

Well I take it quite easy these days but if I cast my mind back…probably a mixture of drugs and alcohol…does that count? [laughs] Or probably when me and Guy were out drinking together when we were children, far too young to be drinking…we hid 7 cans of Stella each in a bush…we thought we needed that many to get drunk, partly because my brother Matt got drunk and told me he’d had 7 cans, just to get me into trouble…and I did get into a lot of trouble…[laughs]

What’s the worst, most evil food you’ve ever eaten?

Worst and most evil;…probably sprouts mexiane…sprouts with too much spice…they repeat on your for days [laughs]

Which of the seven deadly sins are you most guilty of?

Envy probably…but I try not to be, but in a band of six people you look around and see what talented bastards they are. It’s a good thing!

And if the devil was just one person…who would that person be?

Well surely we know…it’s Donald Rumsfeld…every time I see him on the news…isn’t it obvious? He is the devil…it’s not up for debate [laughs]

Thanks Joe..you’re free to go!

For more info and some tunes check out www.thefalloutrust.com and www.myspace.com/thefallouttrust

Having fronted the highly influential Bad Religion for twenty-five years (if you don’t know who they are, check the DVD reviews section!), Greg Graffin could be forgiven for wanting to try something a bit different.

So earlier this year, he recorded Cold As The Clay, an album of songs in a folk/country vein, featuring a few of his own compositions alongside covers of various American traditional songs. Alex Gosman spoke to him briefly whilst he was doing promotional work in Europe…

Hi Greg, how are you?

I’m fine, been over here for about a week…didn’t make it to the UK, though. I’m in Amsterdam right now, and it’s pissing down with rain!

So what made you decide to record a solo album? Been wanting to do it for a while, or just a recent idea?

Well, this kind of music has been around in my family for generations, from the earliest times – I can remember getting together with my family, and my uncle would break out the guitar or banjo and start playing old-time songs. That’s how I first learned to sing, to those kinds of songs, and I’d always play them at band rehearsals and during recording sessions…and one day, about three years ago, Brett [Gurewitz, Bad Religion guitarist and co-songwriter] said “Why don’t we make a solo record of that kind of stuff?”and I said sure, that sounds great, as soon as we find a break in our schedule.

Bad Religion came off the road late last year, and we’ll be writing a new record this year, so we had a nice little gap there to record the album.

You’re credited with playing piano on most of the tracks, and I myself didn’t know that you played piano until I saw ‘Live At The Palladium’ [Bad Religion’s recent DVD release] recently – have you been playing for long?

Yeah, that was my first instrument, actually – most of the songs that I wrote for our earliest albums were originally played on the piano! I used to adapt a lot of punk songs for the piano too.

Is there any particular reason why you chose to cover the American traditional songs that you did?

Well, the subject matter of all the songs – not just the traditional ones, but also the ones that I wrote – deals with the climate in America right now, and it dawned on me that that too is a tradition in American history: the idea that the common man, the working man, is always getting shafted by the corporation, by the government ignoring their needs. It leaves us feeling very destitute and alone, and that’s the imagery that I tried to weave into the songs.

So are the songs that you wrote inspired by people who you know personally, or are they more a reflection of what you feel the situation in America is like for a lot of people?

A little of both, really…lyrically speaking, I tried to use imagery that was timeless, but the song ‘Afraid To Run’ was inspired by a particular event; namely, the Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans. I was on tour in Europe when that happened, and all I could see were the broadcasts of news every night in my hotel room, and I tried to imagine what it must’ve been like for the families that got washed away or had to abandon their houses, only to come back weeks later, to find that the government had done nothing to help them.

A lot of families got separated during that time, and when they tried to come back for a reunion, I imagined that some of them may have only found a note taped to the door, with the advice: ‘Get the hell out of here, and don’t believe what any government agent tells you’…and so that’s kind of what inspired it, but I realised whilst writing the song, that it’s also appropriate for many other times in American history, be it the coal-mine disasters of the 1800s or flooding in the early part of the Colonial period; times when people were very much on their own, and a sad testament to the failings of the American government.

Your songs on ‘Cold As The Clay’ seem to have a more personal slant than your work with Bad Religion; was that intended?

Not really…I guess I only have one approach to songwriting, which is to try and say something meaningful and thought-provoking, and on this record, the meaning may be more hidden; but like I said with ‘Afraid To Run’, there’s a lot of thought and imagery behind it that I think shows it to be inspired by events that are larger than myself!

So after years of playing with the Bad Religion guys, how did it feel to play and record with a different band for this album?

It was very refreshing – I was nervous about it at first, but we got the whole album recorded and mixed in just seven days [as opposed to roughly six weeks for a Bad Religion record], and that’s a testament to how great these musicians are, but also to the spirit of production that Brett wanted to capture; namely, don’t overthink it, just play the songs as they’re meant to be played, and try to capture it as a moment in time. We didn’t do any overdubs or auto-tuning or anything like that.

Do you think Bad Religion fans will like ‘Cold As The Clay’?

Well, I think that if they only like Bad Religion for the punk genre, then they probably won’t find anything interesting in the record, but if they like the lyrics, melodies and the way I sing, then they might be more interested in how those aspects of the band translate to a different musical style.

What are your plans for the near future? Are Bad Religion on hiatus right now?

Well, we’re at a very early stage of writing the new Bad Religion record – that’s gonna take a while. We’re really looking at this year as a writing year, and that’s how I’ve found the time to get this record released.

I’d like to tour the record, but first we have to see if there’s actually any interest in it! If there’s any promotere that are willing to have me, then that’d be great, because I think the best way to experience this kind of music is to hear it live.

‘Cold As The Clay’ is released on Anti Records on July 10th. Check www.anti.com and www.badreligion.com for more info.

Alex Gosman

New York City sextet The Slackers originally formed in 1991, and have since made a name for themselves as one of the world’s finest traditional ska bands, with records such as ‘The Question’ and ‘Wasted Days’. Having recently released an amazing seventh album, ‘Peculiar’, they toured the UK last month; I spoke to saxophonist David Hillyard shortly before a recent sold-out show at the London Garage.

How’s the tour been going so far?

It’s been going really well, we’ve done about five shows so far, and the crowds have been great…we’re just feeling good to be back over here!

So how long has it been now, since the Slackers first visited the UK?

I’ve been trying to remember – I think it was about six or seven years ago. The first couple of times, we only played one or two shows, but after that we started touring here properly. It really feels like we’ve got some momentum going here now, though, because tonight’s show is sold out, and so were the last two, so it’s going pretty well.

There are a few songs – most notably, ‘Propaganda‘ and ‘International War Criminal’ – that are overtly political; would you say that the Slackers are generally a political band, or are these songs more of a reaction to the current political climate?

We’ve always had political songs, even on our earliest records, although maybe they weren’t always that obvious – we’ve got a reputation of being a band that writes love songs! And that’s cool, because we do, but we’ve always written about a lot of other things too. People we admire, like Curtis Mayfield and Bob Marley, those guys would always address the issues of the day, and what was going on – and we try to do that too. The whole 2-tone movement was very political – you had black and white kids growing up together, being exposed to each other’s culture…almost everything about 2-tone was political.

You write about stuff that affects your life, you know, and right now there’s a lot of people dying, America’s at war, there’s a whole bunch of stuff going on…and if you don’t comment about it, you’re being kinda irresponsible, I think. It’s sad that in the States, a lot of bands are being escapist, and people are into 80’s pop music, which I think was pretty empty for the most part. I guess maybe they want to remember the music from when they were kids, when life seemed so simple!

A lot of ‘Peculiar’ was recorded live – do you usually record that way?

Yeah, most of the instruments were recorded live – it was done two ways: one was at an actual gig, and others – like ‘What Went Wrong’ – were recorded in an empty hall, at soundcheck time. About half the horns were over-dubbed, and the rest were done live – all the instrumental songs were recorded live too.

A couple of years ago, we were in the studio, and we were having trouble getting ‘loose’ – so we decided to take it on the road for a while, when everyone’s reflexes are good and they really know the stuff, and record it whilst playing it live, in an intimate and comfortable setting.

‘Peculiar‘ seems more immediate and livelier than [previous record] ‘Close My Eyes’ – was that intentional?

Yeah, we wanted to grab you right off the bat – we kinda felt like ‘Close My Eyes’ was a little too low-key, a little too lo-fi at times, so we wanted ‘Peculiar’ to have more of a punch to it; the way the songs were arranged, and the sound of it too. The mastering guy did a really good job – he really took the sound of it to another level.

So what is the ska scene – and live music in general – like in NYC these days? Has it suffered from Giuliani and Bloomberg’s [former and current NYC mayors] efforts to ‘clean up’ the city?

It was down for a while, but now it’s coming around – the good things about this whole 80’s revival is that more young people are forming bands, which is always a positive thing. It wasn’t looking good for a while, because a lot of venues in Manhattan were getting closed down, but eventually a lot of new venues started opening in Brooklyn, to take their place.

So it’s on the rise again, but it’s kinda hamstrung, by all these regulations – the city government’s always finding some new law to make it more difficult to run a club; they’re afraid of nightlife, you know, they just want a really boring city! I just wish all those people would move to Iowa or something, just go somewhere that’s quiet.

What are the Slackers’ plans for the near future, after this tour ends?

We’ve got a California tour planned soon, then we’re going to Mexico for two days in June, then to Japan and other international touring over the summer. Then in August we have our annual boat gig, where we play a couple of sets on boat that takes us around Manhattan Island – it’s become a tradition! We’re probably gonna come back to Europe in September/October time, but we’ll probably only do a couple of UK dates, because we need to tour Germany and more of the mainland.

‘Peculiar’ is out now on Hellcat Records. Check www.theslackers.com for more info.

Alex Gosman

Hailing from Manchester, The Longcut are a new breed of band. Picking and choosing the best elements of wide range of genres, from punk through to electronica and even hardcore jazz, they simply cannot be pigeonholed. Having signed to Deltasonic, they’re stepping up the pace with their debut album ‘A Call and A Response’, out now. Combining atmospheric instrumentals with exciting melodies, they’re a band that are constantly evolving with every track.

Drummer/singer Stuart Ogilvie took some time out to chat about life, festivals, the new records, and update Crossfire’s Dee Massey on what’s going down in the land of ‘The Longcut’…

Right where shall we start? You guys have just finished a tour?

Yeah we finished on the 25th May. It was really good, we played more shows than we’ve ever done, there were 20 dates on it and it was quite hard going sometimes. But we were seeing more people turning up for the gigs and stuff, which was good, and the Manchester gig were amazing.

That’s your home town right?

Yeah

And you guys all met at university right? How did that all come about.

I was looking for a band when I first moved to Manchester and…oh hang on..I’m going to go to a quieter room, there’s someone playing drums next door .. Anyway..so I looked around for a year or so ..and eventually met this guy who wanted to sing in a band, so we were said we’d get a band together. Then one of the girls I lived with at uni knew someone off her course who played guitar and that was Lee [Gale]. So I listened to his demo tape and thought it was brilliant. And the singer knew John [Fearon] through working at Student Direct, the newspaper. So that’s how we all got together and eventually Mark our singer left, and we were left as a three piece. We started playing instrumentals and after a few months I started singing..

And you’re the drummer too? So you just have a mic over your drum kit?

The mic’s at the front of the stage..

And you run backwards and forwards?

[laughs] Yeah, basically!

Keeps you fit! Where did the name The Longcut come from?

It’s from a song a song title from another band actually. Do you know a band called Uncle Tupelo? I was listening to their album quite a bit, their ‘Best of’ and we booked this gig, out first even gig, like a battle of the bands type thing. We only had to play two songs, and we didn’t have a name, so we chose that one just as a temporary name, and we just forgot to change it afterwards [laughs].

You’re now signed to Deltasonic? How did that all come about?

Basically we’d done the demo up at John’s house in Cumbria, over the holidays one time. A couple of our mates, the guy who produced it and the guy who did the art work for it – I mean we weren’t trying to get a deal with it, we were just trying to get more gigs! But [they]..sent it out to a load of labels for us because they thought we’d never do it ourselves, and they were probably right! So we got a phone call off Deltasonic one day and it was really surprising as we didn’t know they’d even heard of us. They asked if they could come down to the rehearsal room. They came down one day and we’d just finished writing ‘Quietly‘, so we played that for them first and that was the first time anyone’s ever heard it apart from us, and they were bouncing around the room really getting into it..and it’s just been really good since then! We were actually working with them for a year and a half before we even signed the deal, it’s a really good kind of relationship that we have with them, we were free to walk away at any time, but of course we chose not to [laughs]

And you’ve got your new album coming out on Monday? [12th June – out NOW!]

Yeah.

Now..you started recording that with Craig Silvey? So without putting you in an awkward situation, why did you end up going with Jonny Dollar and not using Craig’s mixes?

Um..I think that the mixes that Craig did were really..um…..I think what he does when he mixes is he makes everything a lot more clinical than how we’d recorded it. For a lot of bands that works and it’s great, but it didn’t really work for our album, so that’s why we got Dave Sitek, because he generally tends to make things sound a lot dirtier [laughs]

So you guys must’ve got really involved with the mixing and the production? That’s great that Deltasonic let you keep so much artistic control.

Oh absolutely – that’s always been the great thing about doing stuff with them.

And do you prefer being in the studio or on tour?

Um..I think they both have their ups and their downs to be honest. I can’t say I prefer either of them. It’s always get to get used to being on tour and it’s always good to go out on tour when you’ve been stuck in the studio so I just really enjoy everything about being in a band, I really do. I can’t really say that one part’s more enjoyable than the other.

I got a listen of your album yesterday and it’s different to anything else out there, there’s strains of Fugazi, Mogwai and these stunning instrumentals – how would you describe your sound?

Oooh. Difficult one. We listen to a lot of different types of music, I think it’s all ripped off into what we do [laughs]. I think if I was going to describe our music I’d say that it’s more about… the attitude we take, we try not to do anything half-arsed basically. I think that’s the most important thing about recording and everything, writing for us, and I think that’s us..as well as being rock music with drum..vocals..sometimes instrumentals…and some keyboards. so yeah..we’re not half arsed! [laughs]

So how was South by South West this year?

It was great. It was the second time we’ve been, we went the year before.

Aaw..I so want to go there next year..I hear it’s great fun..

Oh you should..it’s amazing. We didn’t actually do much partying this year, last year we went and it we had such a great time all the time, going to different parties and going out to do loads of different stuff. This year was more about playing really good gigs and doing the best we could while we were out there. We…played our main gig and it was pretty amazing for us, we playing in exactly the same place as we did last year, and the year before there were a few people there, a few people were getting into it but it wasn’t that exciting. This year it seemed like everyone who was there last year had come back with about five mates, and it was absolutely rammed.

Do you find UK and American audiences very different?

It’s hard to tell right now because at the moment because no one really knows us in America. I think the few times we have played in America, apart from the SXSW show the American audience have been like the audiences at the first few British gigs that we did. When people don’t really know you that well and they’re hesitant to really get into something when they don’t know the songs, it’s a bit more like that. I mean we did have quite a few positive reviews and a lot of people came up to us after the shows, but it’s still quieter than UK at the moment, but hopefully that’ll change the more time we spend over there.

So what’s been your most memorable show?

Most memorable..it’s so hard to choose. Thinking about the big ones I never thought we’d do, I think last year’s festivals – like Glastonbury was amazing. We were there for the whole weekend and we managed to avoid the rain. We got there the day after so we got a spot for our tents quite high up..we were there the whole weekend..

So you were camping as well?

Yeah yeah!

That’s so cool..you camp for a while..go off, play your set and come back to your tent!

It was alright actually [laughs] We hung out with loads of other bands from Manchester, Nine Black Alps and The Earlies were there as well, so we just hung out with them at the bar backstage..and then the gig was pretty good too [laughs].

That’s so rock star! Camping with the crowds and hanging out backstage!

[laughs] Nooo…not really!

You’ve changed you have..

[laughs]No I haven’t!

Did you always want to be in a band?

Yeah, since I was about twelve..

What kind of bands did you listen to then, and when you were growing up?

The first band that I really listened to were Nirvana, they were the band who really got me into rock music, and then I went through a dodgy grunge stage, and a bit of a dodgy metal stage…

I’m still in my dodgy metal stage, I saw Guns n Roses last night and I’m still on a high!

[laughs] Well I was never a Guns n Roses fan funnily enough but yeah…[laughs] when I got a bit older, about 16 /17 I started getting away from all the super heavy stuff, and starting listening to more bands like Sonic Youth and bands that still had that heaviness to them, but used it in different ways. It had more of an emotional core to it and that got me more into American indie like The Shins, which is similar to the kind of stuff I listen to now.

What bands do you listen to on the tour bus now?

This morning I got up and put Boris on [laughs] But we listen to loads of different stuff, stuff like Boris, DJ Shadow, The Shins, Sonic Youth, sometimes jazz…actually no..I never listen to jazz! I don’t know why I said that..

Well it sounds intellectual…

[laughs] Yeah..actually have you heard of a band called Acoustic Ladyland? They’re like the closest thing that I listen to that’s like jazz. I think they’re from London and they all have jazz backgrounds but they all got into rock music, and it’s really really like hardcore jazz, which takes about three or four listens to really get into it, but I’m a huge fan of theirs.

I’ll have to look them up …..So what’re you hopes for the next year or so?

I think we want to be making our next album this time next year.

Do you think you’ll stay in England for it or escape abroad and do a residential somewhere?

It’d be fun to go to America and do something there but it really depends on how well the albums sell, and how much money the record company will give us to do that..but it’d be really nice to go somewhere else, get out of the country for a bit and see how that works out. I’m sure it’ll be fun wherever we do it!

Right – I’ve got some totally random questions now..

Ok [laughs]]

As a drummer, who’s your favourite drummer of all time?

I’d have to say…..well one of my favourite drummers growing up was Dave Grohl by miles and miles and miles..

Were you at Reading last year? He played drums..

Last summer I walked past him about four times and never got brave enough to talk to him! [laughs] I saw him so much last summer and I just never got the guts to say anything to him. I’d have probably just been a little fan boy and started kissing his feet..and be really embarrassing..[laughs]

What is your favourite pizza topping?

Pepperoni and mushroom.

Who’s the most annoying member of the band on the tour bus?

Erm..probably me. I’ll say that to avoid arguments.

If you were turned into an animal..what would it be?

I’d have to say a monkey..[laughs]

Any particular reason?

Erm..I don’t think I should go into it!

Ok ok..let’s not even go there! What’s the most embarrassing thing to even happen to you on stage?

I almost fell off the back of a stage once when I was drunk and dancing! That was in transition when I got up to sing. Also at another gig I just forgot the words completely [laughs]

What’s been your freakiest fan experience? Have you been stalked yet?

Yeah – when we were in Japan we had a couple of fans outside the hotel in the morning which was really weird. Another weird one was when we were at Fuji last year, Japanese people seem to be really into taking fans with famous people, and there was this one guy who saw that we had band passes on, he was actually some American guy who was filming a documentary, he was just filming and because he was filming us we had about 20 Japanese people come up and ask us to take photos with them and stuff. So we were doing all that and there was this one girl, after she’d had about ten photos taken with us, she asked us who we were. So I got my pass out and showed her and gave a little scream and jumped about five feet in the air, and pulled both of our EPs our of her bag! She was a big fan, she had our EPs but she had no idea what we looked like..she just had them on her incase she bumped into us [laughs] So then we had like another fifty photos taken with her and signed everything she had!

What’s your favourite festival?

Either Glastonbury or Fuji last year. Glastonbury because it was just so much fun all weekend, but Fuji was just something else completely, it was just beautiful everywhere, and there was no litter, even after two days of festivals. There were all these beautiful fields and little streams, the sort of stuff you expect to see in films.

Are you going to head back there this year?

This year no, but hopefully next year.

Are you playing any festivals this summer?

Um..we’re doing Latitude Festival in Sussex, and we’re doing D-Percussion in Manchester, and Kill All Hippies in London. But other than that, we missed out on Reading and Leeds this year which was quite disappointing.

Are you going to head down anyway?

I don’t know..its sold out now, and no one I know can really afford a ticket!

But you’re in a band! Can’t you blag your way in?

You’d think so! But it’s difficult!

And lastly..what is your guilty pleasure..keep it clean..

[laughs] Erm…ok then..Mars Delights!

Dee Massey

The Longcut’s album ‘ A Call and a Response’ is out NOW on Deltasonic.
www.thelongcut.com / www.myspace.com/thelongcut /
www.deltasonic.co.uk

Straight outta Nashville, Tennessee, Bullets To Broadway are Kevin (vocals), Heather (bass/vocals), Geis (guitar/vocals), Gui (guitar) and Matt (drums). They’ve just released an awesome debut EP, ‘Drink Positive’, on Household Name Records; eight tracks of raw yet melodic punk rock with some great harmonies, it’s the ideal antidote to all the saccharine ‘pop-punk’ that’s currently clogging up the airwaves.

They’re a hard-touring bunch; having supported Less Than Jake on their recent UK tour, they then visited Europe, before coming back to our shores for a lengthy headline tour. Alex Gosman caught up with Matt for a chat before a storming show at London’s Camden Underworld.

So, how are you all? You’ve been on the road for a hell of a long time!

Yeah, we arrived in the UK on March 28th, and it’s May 11th today! But everything’s going well, we’re a little burnt-out, but not too bad…we’re gonna finish up these last few dates, then go home and rest for a couple of weeks before doing it all over again in the US!

How did the LTJ tour go? You guys are old friends aren’t you?

Yeah, we’ve been friends with them since they took Teen Idols [Kevin, Heather and Matt’s previous band] out on tour a long time ago, we really hit it off with them then…but this time around, with this band, it’s been going way better for us than it did with Teen Idols. The crowds took to us a lot better, and we’ve been getting a lot of their [Less Than Jake’s] fans coming to our shows…which is cool, but kinda weird too, because a lot of them are only about 14 years old, and they make me feel really old!

I hear you all too well! So can you give a brief history of the band for those who are unfamiliar with you?

Sure…basically, Teen Idols broke up in mid-2003 – our guitarist freaked out in the middle of a tour of California, and left, so that was the end of that. So on the drive home, Heather, Kevin and I figured we’d start something new, but it took a year and a half for us to actually want to do anything, we needed to take a break for a while first…then Kevin called and said he had some songs, so we started sending ideas back and forth, just for fun at first. We realised we needed a guitar player, and we knew Geis from Rehasher [LTJ bassist Roger’s side project], so we gave him a call to see if he wanted to do it – at this point, we hadn’t even planned to tour or anything, it was all just for fun.

So we recorded some demos at my house in Nashville, four tracks, and I decided that as we’re friends with Fat Mike [of NOFX fame], it would be worth sending him a copy…and a week later, he called me and asked if we wanted to play with NOFX! And at this point, we hadn’t even played any of our own shows yet. So we decided we needed an extra guitarist, got Gui [also of Rehasher] on board, played about three shows out in California…our third show ever was with NOFX, and then our fourth was with Bad Religion! So that’s how it all started – and June of this year will be our one-year anniversary as a band.

So it’s all happened pretty fast, although the work we did and people we met whilst we were in Teen Idols have definitely helped.

Your EP, ‘Drink Positive’ – great title, by the way!

Thanks, it was thought of in a bar, actually!

It was released on Household Name Records here in the UK, how did you discover them?

It was when Teen Idols were touring the UK with Less Than Jake [in May 2003], someone from the label came and gave us all these records and All Ages Records t-shirts – and that was because we’d been wanting to do a headline tour of the UK with Captain Everything, who are on Household Name.

Of course, that never happened, but it meant that we at least knew the label…so when we were looking for an overseas label to release ‘Drink Positive’ I emailed Lil [co-owner of HHN Records]. He was interested, so I sent him the songs, he said he really liked them and would be interested in releasing the EP, so yeah, he agreed to do it – and then about a week and a half later, we got the Less Than Jake tour! I’m so glad it’s worked out this way, because Household Name are really cool guys – everyone’s really honest and straightforward with you, and they’ve been doing a really good job with the EP.

The last track is called ‘Our Club, Our Home, Our Kelly’ – do you have a secret love of R n’ B that you’d like to confess to?

[Laughs] Well, I’ve never been an R. Kelly fan, but he did that ‘urban opera’ thing, called ‘Trapped In The Closet’ and Geis discovered that when it came out, and he was telling us about it. We were so curious that we bought the CD, and it came with a DVD of the first parts of the opera – and we watched that thing so much that we know all the words to the songs! Now it’s all come out on DVD, and there’s gonna be 22 parts to it, it’s crazy. So that kinda explains the song title, we did it as a joke, to see if anyone would get it – but the DVD was so entertaining, it made no sense at all, that was the best thing about it!

What are your plans for the near future, after this UK tour has finished?

Well, after we’ve done the last three shows here, we’re gonna go home and relax for about three weeks, before heading off on a US tour which finishes in late July. Then we’re gonna take the next couple of months to write an album, and it looks like we’re gonna try and make it back to the UK around October. So yeah, we will return – but that’s about as far ahead as we’ve planned, for now!

Visit the band at www.householdnamerecords.co.uk www.myspace.com/bulletstobroadway www.bulletstobroadway.com

Alex Gosman

It was a bit of a hit and miss affair, but Dee Massey finally managed to track down Dave McCabe, frontman of Liverpool’s finest The Zutons for a quick chat about how life is treating the band.

With their first album ‘Who Killed The Zutons?‘ being nominated for a Mercury Music Award, their second album debuting at No 2 in the UK album charts, things are definitely heading in the right direction, and one day into a mammoth UK tour, Dave took some time out to chat about the album, touring, making videos and..er…cheese to Crossfire indie queen Dee Massey.

Firstly, thanks very much for taking the time to do this. So how’s things going, and how’s the tour?

Dave McCabe: It’s going good! I mean it’s only just started hasn’t it, but last night was good. We had our first stage invasion last! Some fella ran on the stage, he just ran past the rest of the band and went straight for me like he was going to hit me, but he never and all this security guards came on- I was fucking shitting myself! It was like ..shit!

You know you’ve arrived when you get your first stage invasion!

I know! It was kind of exciting [laughs]

So I hear the album been doing really well..wasn’t it at number 2?

Well yeah it’s at number 7 now..but it went in at number 2, in the first week ..

Everyone always says the second album’s always the hardest album to do, especially after a great debut. How did it all going for your guys – and what was behind the decision to use Stephen Street, are you guys closet Smiths and Morrissey fans?

No not really, I’m not a fan of The Smiths, it was more to do with Stephen I suppose. He was the last person to come to the rehearsal room to watch us play, and the last person to do that was Iain Broudie [who produced their Mercury nominated debut ‘Who Killed The Zutons?’], and he [Stephen] showed the most interest and he was keen all of the time.

How involved do you guys get in the production and the mixing? Or did you leave that to Stephen?

Well….I mean every song’s so different isn’t it? Sometimes you’ll have a big horrible weird one, and other times you’ll have one that makes you almost cry with happiness, it’s just one of those places the studio, you know. It can be dead emotional, like..you’re putting yourself up for the test you know, so everyone can get a bit insightful about what they’re actually doing, it can get a bit..much.

You’re putting yourself out there for people I guess..

Yeah, it can get emotional.

So how do you think your sounds changed with this album? Do you think you’ve matured?

I just think it’s sounds like The Zutons being on tour for 2 years. We’re played together loads, I mean. In terms of songs, I write the songs, the words, the chords, whatever you think a song is, but it’s just like..the band has to put the music to them..and..er……………….I’ve lost where I was going now..I was on a roll…[laughs]

Waffle is good.. …but anyway…how would you describe the sound of The Zutons now?

I just think this album is really us……it’s us..in our own world…. I think that’s what you do with every album, you just go into your own world a little more, and whatever it is at the time that you’re doing. It’s so hard when you’re in it – it’s just a rock band..but you hear all these other things being said and it’s funny. I try not to pigeon hole it because..well you know..

It’s so easy nowadays to get pigeonholed..but I don’t know how you could label The Zutons..I mean..you can’t sum you guys up so easily..

Yeah, I mean I’ve heard a few words..rock..or pop..but you could just say it was 60’s music or 70’s music. I think it’s got a modern edge it, you know what I mean? [laughs]

Yeah..and maybe you could clear this up..what the hell is Voodoo rock?

[laughs] It’s kind of like them fellas in New Orleans you know? And they sing about swamps and that’s what voodoo rock is. Obviously. I mean I’ve never mentioned the voodoo ..someone else did and it stuck..

It’s haunting you now! And, talking about voodoo and all things dark – ..your first single off the second album ‘ Why Don’t You Give Me You Love’ looking at the lyrics..it’s got a bit of a dark edge to it..I mean..it is about stalking?

It’s funny..[laughs] it’s meant to be funny really, it’s not meant to be dark…

Are you talking from experience? Have you ever been stalked by a crazy fan?

No no..I er…I got sent a picture of a big sausage though the other day .. turns out it’s just some lad messing around but it had me going for a minute, it was just weird..it was horrible…but I think he stalks everyone in Liverpool, he doesn’t just stalk me, he’s about the closest I’ve come to having a stalker. Whatever..I can’t believe I just told you that but there you go!

Hehe…anyway, moving on. Your new video for Valerie is absolutely awesome..

Aaw thanks..

And both of the videos for the new album have been really theatrical and exciting – you get involved in the direction and thinking up the ideas for the videos?

Erm..not really no!

Well that was shit question then!

[laughs] I think being in a band is one thing, and making videos is another. All the videos off the first album, I think we were just panicking you know, whereas now we’ve realised you’ve just got to not panic and we’ll do an alright job of it. Its just one of those things..but it’s fucking thousands of pounds…I mean you’ve got to learn and you’ve got to make mistakes. I think the videos off this album are much stronger than anything we’ve done before.

The thing I like about them is that they’re like mini films, they’re entertaining and you’re watching a story..

Well exactly.. it’s either do that or just stand there with guitars playing..d’you know what I mean?

So what do you enjoy most then? Videos, writing, being in the studio or being out of tour?

Being out on tour, just playing. I mean..half of studio time is good, and half of it’s weird or bad..not really bad..but it’s just a strange environment. It’s like you’ve just been all round the world and you’re suddenly just put in this little room and that’s that.

You recorded at Townhouse and then Olympic right? Creepy corridors at Townhouse..

Yeah. [laughs] If you want me to get technical- the first bit was done at Townhouse, a lot of singing and stuff, and all the mixing was done at Olympic.

Right. So..what keeps you sane on the tour bus?

Erm…reading books, playing guitar I suppose?

D’you listen to any bands in particular on the bus..what’re you into at the moment?

I’m trying to think, we don’t really do that so much, we usually get out. We all listen to different music really..

What’s your main influence?

Mine? I dunno, I like Nirvana..you know..Kurt Cobain..that’s pretty obvious but that’s just what it is..I’m like everyone else..i just want to be Kurt Cobain..but with the happy bits only..

And without Courtney Love possibly..

Yeah yeah..[laughs]

So did you always want to be a rock star?

I’m not a rock star!

But you are Dave..you’re a bona fide rock star now..

Fuck that.! Yeah…[laughs] Whatever..don’t be funny! [laughs] I just wanna play music, it’s like when you start making videos, that’s when you realise ‘oh shit, there’s more to this than just being in a fucking band on stage’, you’ve got to act and shit and just try to sell yourself. I mean luckily for us we bumped into Scott Lion , the director [of The Zutons videos] but we’re not in to making pop videos, and deep down we’re not totally into it, it’s always a bit of a chore, it doesn’t feel natural.

So what’s been the highlight of being in The Zutons so far?

Erm..I don’t know, I mean it’s still going, it’s like one big highlight, I have more good days than bad days. But it’s the bad days that you start writing tunes, so you’ve got to get a balance.

You need to bad days to appreciate the good ones..

Do you think 25’s old? Do you think that’s pretty old?

No! that’s young.. I’m 28..I’m going to be 30 in 2 years time!

You’re nearly 30..

Cheers Dave, yes..I’m closer to 30 thank 20 now.. I’m officially old.

SILENCE…..

I’ve got a tear in my eye…that was a moment..[laughs]

I’ll treasure it! Anyway..what’re your hopes for the band in the next year, what’re you up to for the summer?

We’re going to go to Europe again. We’re going to Switzerland, we’ve never been there, we might bump into Tina Turner, so..I’m happy about that.[laughs] And we’re going back to Vienna, and Vienna’s one of my favourite places. We went there for a couple of days on tour and it was just like, I could so live there, it’s wicked.

And last but not least..you guys had the honour of being the very last band to go on Popworld to do Simon Anstell’s Big Ones

Ha..yeah [laughs]

So we’ve got our own version of Big Ones…probably not as cool as his..but anyway..What are you three essentials to take on tour with you?

Three essentials..clothes…booze..and..a…bus.

Bus would be helpful! Who is going to win the World Cup?

Er..I reckon Germany. ..I don’t know…..that’s a horrible fucking question…..shit…..that’s a shit question! I’m not answering it. I’ve got an England top on now..but I’m not that into it, , I just wear it ‘cos me ma bought me it. [laughs] I’m not answering that question! Next!

Ok..then what’s your favourite cheese?

Cheese..oh….chilli…that one with the chilli bits in it…[Mexicana]..that’s the shit!

Do you use a mac or a PC?

Neither. I haven’t got a computer, I don’t know.

So you’re not a My Space addict like everyone else seems to be?

No..my mates tell me what’s good..then they find out all the bad things, I just listen to them really.

With festival season round the corner, are you a V person or a Reading person?

Well have to say I’m a V person, cos I’ve never been to Reading and I’ve played V like, three times. I’m mean I’d like to go, I just never get the chance.

So would you be a camping it person..or a hotel person then?

I get ..chest problems, I get hay fever dead easily, I had to get off the stage at Glastonbury last time we played because I had this….tongue infection [laughs]..I know it sounds horrible…

Actually I heard you were in hospital recently? What happened?

Yeah, I’ve been in London too long, and I was with Abi ( sax player) and Jo Kenny, our radio plugger, and we were in this house, and I was having this wheatgrass shot for a laugh and about an hour later I had itchy palms and my ears, weird parts of my body were itchy, and then it felt like my sides were going to burst. And I got took to the ward where George Best died, and I had to stay there for the night. It wasn’t that bad to be honest, it was alright. It was like….have you seen Pulp Fiction?

With the adrenaline injection in her heart?

Yeah, they had to give me one of them in the side of me leg. He held it like he was going to stab me, he didn’t hold like, you know, between two fingers, his fist was clenched and it was popping out the top.

I hate injections so much..

Nah it was alright!

Next! What would be your top line up – 3 bands, dead or alive?

Talking Heads, Neil Young and Leadbelly.

What is the most shameful CD you own?

I used to think it was Guns n Roses but I fucking like them – I put it back on lately and they’re good!

And Axl’s back playing at Download on the last Sunday..

Yeah..but I won’t be there. I don’t know…erm…probably Green Day or something..but they’re still going…

And are still quite popular!

Ha..yeah I’m pretty good with CDs..no actually Iron Maiden!

Fair enough…and last by not least Dave…what is your guilty pleasure?

What’s every man’s guilty pleasure? [laughs]

And I think I’ll leave it at that!

The Zutons are currently on tour in the UK. Check out www.thezutons.com for dates.

Their album ‘Tired of Hanging Around’ is out now on Deltasonic.

Dee Massey