Cow And Field - Interviews

Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! - Part 1 of 3

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim are the creators of the currently-airing programme Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

We're huge fans of the show at Cow & Field, so getting to spend a little time talking to them was a real treat. Some of the questions got a little geeky at points, but hey, we couldn't help ourselves.

If you're a fan of good, leftfield comedy then you can't afford to miss this show. You can catch Awesome Show on Bravo - every Friday at 1am, with repeats the following Monday and Thursday. Their first series is currently available to buy on DVD from Amazon UK

Cow & Field: So can you tell us how you guys met?

Tim Heidecker: Sure... Are you from the north by the way?

C&F: Yeah, I'm from Manchester.

Eric Wareheim: Nice!

TH: I thought I detected an accent. Anyway, so Eric and I met at film school, Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We made some short films together in college, but we moved onto do other things after we graduated. We kind of came back to make some short films together as a hobby, or as just as a sort of artistic expression, but we loved doing it so much that we tried to take it a little more seriously. I sent out a DVD to people that both me and Eric are fans of, like Bob Odenkirk (from Mr. Show), Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel (of Triumph The Insult Comic Dog infamy), and good old Bob Odenkirk happened to watch ours and enjoyed the heck out of it and got us on board.

C&F: Yeah, I've noticed he's in a lot of your sketches, he's pretty awesome. Are there any celebrities that you wanted to get involved? You've already got John C. Reilly and Jeff Goldblum who are both amazing in the show.

TH: We're working on Ted Danson right now, but he's very hard to get hold of in the summer because he does summer at Martha's Vinyard which is in Massachusetts.

C&F: Maybe he's working on a new series of Becker?

TH: Ah, no more Becker, I don't think so. We're working on Becker the movie right now.

C&F: Who's been the best celebrity that you've worked with so far?

TH: The best guy to work with?

EW: I think the most professional guy we've got to work with is Fred Willard. He's come in twice and both times he's so amazingly prepared and so on top of his game. He's willing to just try anything. It's kind of amazing when theseguys actually trust us to direct them, it's always a weird flattering, unreal feeling when they come to us as say "You know, if you don't like something just tell me and I'll change it". Tim and I are just like, "Do whatever you want! We're just honoured to have you here".

C&F: How much of it is scripted with them? Say, do they write a lot of their own scenes or is it more of a collaboration?

TH: With somebody like Fred Willard, we'll give him a rough outline of what we're looking for and then he'll just improvise, and we'll let him go until we think we've got what we want. Sometimes it'll take ten minutes, sometimes it'll take a little longer, but you know, we just sit back and laugh but we know that we're gonna have to take something that's about an hour long and turn it into a minute.

C&F: Is there a lot of stuff that's just on the cutting room floor that's unused?

TH: Yeah, there's been a lot of hard choices.

C&F: I heard that you've got Ray Wise involved in this new series?

TH: That's right.

C&F: I'm really excited about seeing him in the show.

EW: He's another guy that's just an amazing performer. He did a great job.

TW: There's some people that fit perfectly into our world and he's definitely one of them. He's just exactly what belongs in our show.

CONTINUE READING

Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! - Part 2 of 3

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0200

C&F: Does he have a kind of Leland Palmer quality in the show? (Ray Wise played the character of Leland Palmer in the TV show Twin Peaks)

EW: Not really, but there is in everything he says because he just delivers everything kinda creepily. But it's kind of a business tutorial, so he plays it pretty straight, but it's what he's talking about and how enthusiastic he is that makes it funny-slash-disturbing.

TH: There's some real good creepy music under it too.

C&F: Do you have any plans to come to Europe. Have you had any offers to come and do anything?

EW: We're trying to get over there. Our show's on Bravo, so we're trying to get those guys to come over. We do a live tour of our stuff and we've been meaning to come over to do some performances and meet with some people. We're huge fans of what's going on over in the UK.

C&F: Yeah, some of it is good but some of it's pretty lame.

EW: What's everyone loving over there?

C&F: British-wise, I think just The IT Crowd, that's pretty cool. Do you guys know of Chris Morris?

TH: Yeah, we love Chris Morris.

C&F: He had a part in the first series but wound up getting killed off in the second.

EW: Is he just acting in it or does he write for it too?

C&F: I think he was just acting in it. He only had a small part.

TH: Is Matt Berry in it now?

C&F: Yeah, he plays Chris Morris' son.

TH: I just met Matt this weekend. We're good friends with Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz from Look Around You.

C&F: Is Peter doing stuff over in America now?

TH: Erm, no, actually they're both trying to do a show with Adult Swim called Praise Tarvu which is a fictitious religion, so it'll be a religious show for this fake religion, which sounds amazing to me.

C&F: Anyway, just gonna mention some of the other characters, well not even characters, just some of the regular people that you have on your show - people like Ruth Carr and James Quall - how do you get those guys involved? How much of the show do they understand?

EW: People like James Quall we got introduced to by a guy named David Liebe Hart (David is a regular guest on Tim And Eric Awesome Show... The majority of his scenes have him singing some slightly ramshackle, yet deeply infectious songs alongside some truly unusual-looking puppets). A lot of what we use of them is what they really do, that's James' comedy that you see in the show. David sings, well, they're his songs but we just kind of help him with the music and put it out there. Ruth Carr is an actress, so we wrote the music and the concept and she performs it. There's two different levels of people that are on the show - there's bad Hollywood actors and also eccentric musicians/performers.

C&F: Is Ron Stark (another regular in the show) a genuine actor?

TH: Yeah, he is a genuine actor.

EW: (laughing) I love that you brought Ron Stark up!

TH: The reason we did a bit called Stark On Stark is because when he's not on camera he just loves to talk to you about the most boring things like computers, printers, fax machines and stuff. He's like the expert on everything, so we wanted to have him go and talk like he normally talks, but unfortunately usually when people get in front of the camera they tend to try and be funny. But, Ron Stark, we just love his name.

C&F: Is there anything you can tell us about the Steve Brule spin-off show? (Dr. Steve Brule is a recurring character played by John C. Reilly)

TH: Yeah, we just finished editing and submitting the pilot, which turned out really great, and we're gonna shoot the rest of them in September. It's basically like a Saturday news magazine show, so it's a little educational - it's about the human body and how it works, with Steve just sort of exploring that in a really retarded, fucked up way.

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Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! - Part 3 of 3

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0200

C&F: You guys have got a lot of short films up on your website, timanderic.com, it seems like you have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want in those. Do you prefer doing those kind of episodes, where you can get away with doing absolutely anything that you want?

EW: Well, some people would say that we already do on our TV show! We love doing live performances and live TV shows, almost more sometimes than an edited TV show because it's more of a spur of the moment, live kind of thing.

C&F: How did the live tour go? Was it a success?

EW: Yeah, it's kind of crazy as every year the show gets more poplular so more people come out. It's really shocking to see people freaking out to our ridiculous stage show and our songs.

C&F: Did it translate well from the TV show to the stage show?

TH: Yeah, we try to make it into a different kind of show, it's a little bit more... classic entertainment but with our fucked up sensibility attached to it. We don't necessarily try to recreate what the show is.

C&F: Kind of make the live show it's own spectacle, in a way.

TH: Yeah.

C&F: What are your plans for after this new series of Awesome Show?

TH: Well, we're actually making the fourth series right now. Or as we say in America, "season". Series makes more sense though. Then we're gonna try and write a movie.

C&F: Do you have any ideas for that?

TH: No. Haha, but that's the first step - sitting down and coming up with ideas. It'd just be a mystery.

EW: Kind of like about medical technology, about coroner reports or something.

TH: Or maybe like a Whodunnit.

C&F: You could make a musical whodunnit? Kind of like a musical version of CSI.

TH: Well we just wanna tell a mystery. That may be a little bit too sarcastic to have songs in it. We'd have somebody score it, so it'd have a dramatic score, if that's what you're interested in.

C&F: Haha, I suppose so! Anyway, coming back to the third series, did you film it around the same time as the previous one, or was it something that you made quite recently?

EW: No, we did the first one seperately, then the second seperately. But we were asked for forty episodes, which Adult Swim consider as two series (each series of Awesome Show has ten episodes). So we're making twenty in a row right now, which we've been doing for about a year. Is season 2 of our show on TV there?

C&F: No, it's just the first series at the minute. I'm a bad internet pirate though, I'm afraid, so I downloaded it! It definitely could do well on mainstream TV over here though. There's definitely an audience for slightly absurd, more leftfield comedy.

EW: Are people hearing about the show? Is it getting popular out there or is it still pretty underground?

C&F: It's still pretty underground, but there's definitely some kind of buzz arond the show right now. People are definitely starting to hear about it. Okay, finally what are you guys particularly interested in at the moment - is there anything TV-wise or music-wise that you're enjoying?

EW: I'm watching a lot of late night poker. It's a horrible, horrible show but it's the only thing that calms me down.

TH: I just love the pleasant sound of metallic saws cutting through wood. We have some construction going on outside our office so I hear that all day long.

C&F: Okay, that's pretty much it, do you have anything you'd like to say to your fans in the UK?

TH: We love them and we wish there were more of them so that we could come and play the Albert Hall. We wanna come over and check out Big Ben!

END

Malcolm Middleton

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0200

When someone says "I'm going to __'s gig next week so I'll interview them. I'll email it you when it's done", you apply it with a pinch of salt and hope they stay true to their word.

This happened with James Victor Travis late 2007 but better late than never, JVT finally delivers his chinwag with Malcolm Middleton...

Cow + Field: Tell us about your Crimbo single

Malcolm Middleton: Some asked if I wanted to hold it back for the Christmas stuff and I just said 'aye, let's do it for a laugh'. It kinda just snowballed from there and William Hill started putting odds on it. It would be funny to get it, but it'd not be funny too. I don't really mind.

C+F: 'A Brighter Beat' is considerably more upbeat than your first two solo efforts, was this intentional or more of a natural progression?

MM: Both. The first one was so bleak and depressing that it makes me cringe a bit, the second was a bit like me wearing a mask. I was covering the same themes but through more upbeat tunes, so it was a bit less painful for people to listen to. 'A Brighter Beat' continued that but I just wanted better production, it's not really about having a brighter beat, it's about not having a brighter beat and not having a good mentality. I think I've done that now so I can't really go any further with it. It tends to make me cringe a bit these days.

C+F: Any plans for an Arab Strap DVD from the farewell tour?

MM: We didn't really think about it until it came to the last night of the tour and we thought 'we should've filmed this'. We did record a lot of the concerts so maybe you'll hear some of that some day, we're not really a DVD band I don't think.

C+F: I remember setting off to the last Arab Strap gig in Manchester before (stupidly) changing my mind, as a result I never got to catch you guys live...

MM: I've done that before too. I had a ticket for Nirvana but went to some shit house party in Falkirk instead. That's what happens, you should always go to the concert, you'll regret it.

C+F: Any chance of a reform?

MM: It's a bit early for that. Never say never. If we went back to it, it'd have to be because we enjoyed it. At the moment, we're both doing our solo stuff so we're kept pretty busy.

C+F: Has it been hard to adjust to touring as a full band doing electric shows after your last 2 albums which were pretty stripped down and acoustic?

MM: It's hard because I hate doing it when things are missing like the strings and stuff. You've just gotta make sense of it as it is.

C+F: How do you go about sorting the setlists for the shows? Do you vary them a lot or do you tend to stick to the same songs?

MM: We tend to play the stuff we're most comfortable with. We've rehearsed stuff a bit differently for this tour like 'Cold Winter' and 'King of Bring' but we left them out anyway tonight. I've done 'King of Bring' pretty much every gig since it was released so I decided it needed a rest.

C+F: How does the writing process differ from when you were in Arab Strap?

MM: Well the main difference is that in Arab Strap, I wrote the music and Aidan wrote the lyrics, whereas now I have to do both. Doing my own stuff is more natural for me because I have my own influences. Arab Strap was sometimes hard work because I'd write a song I liked and Aidan would just say 'that's shit'. But that's why Arab Strap worked, just that chemistry between us, a bit of compromise and fighting in the studio. With my own stuff, I get total freedom. Some of my own stuff was originally for Arab Strap, the song 'Devil and The Angel' was originally for Philophobia and fight like the night I've had knocking around for about ten years.

C+F: Have you taken your solo stuff more seriously since the split from Arab Strap?

MM: I've always taken it seriously, maybe to. I never wanted it to be a side project because to me that was all of me rather than with Arab Strap; it was just half of me because Aidan was there.

END

Sons and Daughters' Scott Paterson - Part 1 of 2

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Chris Hammond is Cow + Field's newest minion.
He is Scottish, has a "small" problem with drink, enjoys napping and films with Sean Bean fucking shit up.

Thursday the 6th of December did not find me in fine fettle.
Suffering from double bed withdrawal syndrome, a paltry 3 hours kip was swiftly followed by an early morning exam. This was executed to the best of my semi-conscious abilities then it was off to Easter Road Stadium where a press conference and interview sandwiched two hours of standing around waiting for the aforementioned. Then it was onto the train to Glasgow via Murderwell.

I chose a bad train. Suited and booted from my afternoon of posture improvement and excessive handshaking, my threads weren�t the only fine stitching on display, half the cheeks of the rowdy, primordial denizens of the metal cabin from hell seemed to have had a little bit of tailoring at some point. Pushed for time, I just made it to Glasgow for my interview with Sons and Daughters at The Grand Old Opry.

The Grand Old Opry was ablaze with neon lights, smelt a bit like a secondary school gym hall and looked very much like something out of Phoenix Nights. It�s here I meet Scott Paterson the diminutive, effortlessly laid back guitarist and singer from Scotland�s hottest act Sons and Daughters. Ushered into a room that would be considered a tad on the small size even for a portaloo, we began our interview.

2007 on the face of it didn�t seem to have been as successful for Scottish bands as previous years, The Twilight Sad being for many the only true stand out effort. But there seems to be something almost patronising about the term �Scottish bands�. Up here you�re never just a rock band or an indie band, you are a �Scottish band�; how much of a selling point is the description? Scott answers pragmatically: �I�m not so sure how much of a selling point it is anymore than say Sonic Youth are an American band, it�s purely a geographical statement. It doesn�t piss us off, it�s where we are from.�

So Scotland�s most upwardly mobile young band released their 3rd album last January, are they reaching the point where the label is demanding heavy commercial success?
�There�s no commercial pressure, Domino are the greatest label in the world, they give all the artists complete control do whatever you want to do. If we wanted to do a noise record or an experimental record they would be ok with that.�

A Hip Hop album? �They would have been right yeah that�s cool, they know if they pressure people to do stuff it never gets done. This record is a real pop record, we wanted to make something a bit different from the last two which were both really, really dark. It�s not necessarily lighter, the lyrics are still melancholy but its real dance floor garage rock.�

With a 50/50-male/female split in the group, Sons and Daughters had been noted for their effortless ability to switch lead vocals between Adele and Scott. Just how were things going to be on the new album? �Adele wrote all the lyrics and with the key, it just sounds better with her voice, I�m just doing backing now. The guitar is a lot more complicated and plus she�s a much better singer.�

Guitars are Scott�s passion, throughout the interview we talk about some of the amazing guitars we�ve seen played over the years. Both wide-eyed and grinning from ear-to-ear, we yabber like children. Waxing lyrical about Blues legend Kent Duchaine�s �Lead Bessy� to Bernard Butler�s personal collection, one guitar story really stands out. �I play some very old guitars on the record, we recorded it in Edwyn Collins� studio and he�s got the most amazing array of simply beautiful vintage guitars. He�s got this one his son just thrashes away on and I looked at it one day I was like, he just thrashes it to fuck, its an ancient thing! We looked up the serial number on the Gibson forums, it�s from like 1920 or something and I was like shit its worth about 20 grand!�

Sons and Daughters' Scott Paterson - Part 2 of 2

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0200

...continued from Part 1.

In the music world, the name �Bernard Butler� is one which is often followed by the words �conflict� or� fall out�. The ex-Suede guitarist, lauded for his musicianship is little known for his placidity and diplomacy but Scott was quick to reiterate his positive influence on the new Sons and Daughters album. �He produced the record, it took about a year to write and as we were doing it, we were looking at a whole backlog of songs we�d had for so long we couldn�t really see what was good about them and what bits we should cut out. The idea was that a really musical producer with a good ear for keys and arrangements would be great, and that�s when Domino suggested a few people and Bernard was one of the names. Initially, it seemed a really odd choice because he�s very much an indie guy and we don�t really see ourselves as �indie�. In comparison to our last few dark records, we thought it might just be a really weird juxtaposition to do something with him. He�s also one of my favourite guitarists of all time.�

And did he help out on the record and get a credit on the sleeve notes? �Yeah he played a bit of organ on the records, he�s an amazing organ player. We did ask him [about being credited] but he�s not really bothered about that, there is loads of stuff he has produced where he has actually played all the guitars! I�m not naming any names but there�s one very famous indie group, and he�s not credited.�

The last time I saw Sons and Daughters was when they supported Morrissey in Aberdeen about two years ago, something Scott was quick to point out as being one of their favourite moments: �Adele and I especially are massive Smiths and Morrissey fans since we were teenagers. They were a band that meant the world to us and still mean a lot to us now. To be picked and asked by him personally to go on tour was incredible. I mean we�ve played with amazing people before that. We were ticking off the list the other day; Nick Cave, The White Stripes, Iggy and the Stooges, but the Morrissey thing was incredible. He was lovely, we�d heard mixed things, like the Ordinary Boys who the crowds hated and just booed them off, but we had a really nice time with the crowds.�

With yet another NME/Morrissey race row was Scott going to be boycotting the rag? �I don�t know much about what was said but I find it impossible to believe he�s a racist we had Mexican guys working there and the whole BNP thing back in the 90�s was totally misconstrued. It�s just, you know, they�ve gotta sell papers and from what I�ve heard that journalist is mortified because it wasn�t actually what he�d said and it was re-written. He�s not a racist and I know his fans know that.�

Scott raves about their support band Fangs from the minute we sit down, but it�s only towards the end it hits me. Deemed a more than competent support act in previous years, Sons and Daughters are now the ones seeking out the UK�s hottest upcoming acts to open for them. What sort of tours does 2008 hold for them? �We will be touring heavily! The next UK tours are just being booked up now, we are also away to do South by Southwest then it�s back to Europe, Australia and probably Japan.�

END

Links:
Sons + Daughters Myspace

A tribute to the classic Aussie soap of the 1980s.

Stapleton's Gordon Farquhar - Part 1 of 2

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Being a lover of Scottish emo-legends (that�s right, legends) Stapleton is no easy ride.

One moment, they�re stiller than frozen corpses; the next, bouncing about yelling to all and sundry about their new album.
This has happened twice in recent memory and I don�t think I could take another Harold Bishop-like return again.

In an attempt to sort this confusing mess out, Cow + Field gave a piece of their moo-mind to drummist Gordon Farquhar�

C+F - There's a whole lot of confusion surrounding the status of the band right now. At least for me anyway. Can you clear up, what the balls is going on?
Can we expect a few dates/possibly a tour? Go orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn!

Gordon - At present, the status of the band is that, yes, we are still a functioning unit but, due to personal circumstances and geography, will play shows or tour very rarely. This has been the case for a few years now and we are all perfectly happy with the situation.

We continue to be offered shows and playing our songs live again is something that we are all very keen to do. So, the short answer is; yes, we still want to play shows but at the moment it is very difficult. We're definitely looking into ways that we can make it happen.

C+F - The titles 'Rest + Be Thankful' and closing track 'End + End Well' feel scarily final. Is this your swansong?

Gordon - I can understand why people might think that. This album, as well as 'Hug The Coast' definitely have an elegiac feel to them, though I think this has often been the case with our music and lyrics. The songs were not written as a 'swansong', though again I can understand why people would come to that conclusion.
I guess the fact that we haven't played a gig in over 2 years adds to that.

The future of Stapleton is clear: if we want to write, record and tour other albums after this one, then we will. There is no pressure from anybody at all to do anything. So long as we are all motivated to write and play music together, Stapleton will continue.

C+F - The new album sticks to its guns and never seems to divert from the tried-and-tested Stapleton formula, what inspires your sound nowadays?

Gordon - I would agree with you about the new album. We all feel that it is a return to the ways that we wrote and recorded when we first began. I love 'Hug The Coast' and the whole experience associated with it, but I definitely think there was a bit of a reaction against the way that we had approached that album. 'Rest and be Thankful' is definitely shorter and more direct. As a document of what Stapleton was at that point, I feel it's very effective. As far as what inspires our sound, that's difficult to say. In the past, we would get really enthused and excited by bands and often try to emulate elements of what we loved about those bands.

Wearing your influences on your sleeve is very much how a band first develops, I think. These days it is very rare for that to happen, and generally what we write is just what comes out when we practice. So many bands and people have influenced and inspired us throughout the years, both musically and ethically. Our songs are simply the sum of those influences and our experiences up to this point.

Click here for part 2 of the Stapleton interview

Stapleton's Gordon Farquhar - Part 2 of 2

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Continued from part 1 - click here for the first bit.

C+F � Chez Chef is mega old now, why have you bothered to re-record it again?

Gordon - We have played and recorded Chez Chef in various forms since around 2000. It was recorded for 'On The Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places' but never made the final cut for that record. It was recorded again in 2002, and this is the version that most people know. We were never happy with the recording and, in hindsight, it should never have been released. We don't feel that it represents the quality of the song or the sound of Stapleton at all. We had long discussed the idea of re-recording it. It is a song that people seem to really like when we play live, so for those people as well as ourselves, it made sense to give the song another chance. I'm sure you would agree that the new version is much better, from both a performance and recording point of view.

C+F - 'Waltzer' is my favourite Stapleton song. What's yours?

Gordon - Tough question! I don't tend to think too much about my favourite song from my own band. My relationship with Stapleton songs, and the way I listen to them, is so different to that with other bands' music. I'm intrigued that you've chosen 'Waltzer' as your favourite though! I don't reckon many people would have chosen that one.

I have good memories of playing 'Waltzer', years before it was recorded, to a packed Joseph's Well in Leeds. We played it particularly slowly and the audience was completely silent. It was a great moment that made us realise we could actually play our slower, sparser songs live, and do them great justice.

Sorry, I'm off the point here; It would be hard for me to choose a specific song as my favourite, but I will always have a special place for the songs on 'Rebuild The Pier.' It's such a naive, fresh sounding album. Sometimes I wonder how on earth we wrote those songs, and whether we could do that now. Those songs give me a nice, warm feeling and document perfectly where we were as a band and as people, nearly ten years ago. It's a really nice album to look back on nostalgically.

C+F - We think Danananananackroyd are an ace new Scottish band.
Is there anyone else you think we should be paying particular attention to?

Gordon - I'm not sure that I should be telling you who to listen to. Due to our insanely hectic lives, I don't feel like I could accurately tell you who is 'hot' at the moment in Scotland. I could say Metronomes and The Twilight Sad, but I guess you know those ones already. Stapleton always existed independently of any music scene, and this is something I still fervently believe is important to develop your own identity.

The new Sun Kil Moon album makes me weep with joy; the first Wilderness record picks up the baton spectacularly from Lungfish; I've been loving The Black Keys as they remind me of a lot of rock and blues my dad would play when I was growing up; Brian Eno's ambient albums have an amazing calming effect on me; Black Taj are an incredible band with people from Polvo; the new Bob Mould album takes me back to my love of Sugar and Husker Du, which can only be a good thing.

C+F - During Stapleton's down time, what else do you get up to?

Gordon - Stapleton 'down time' is pretty much all the time at the moment, so that's a tough question. I'm a primary school teacher, so that tends to take up most of my time. Other than that I enjoy photography and film, design, travelling in Scotland and elsewhere, sleeping and eating.

Thank you for your time Gordon, now back in your hole!

Stapleton will release their fourth album �Rest and Be Thankful� on 12 May on Xtra Mile Recordings.

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead Interview

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0100

This interview with Conrad Keely couldn�t have been less organised.

After having very little to eat all day and tanning two pints of piss-weak Carling, Amy from Kirkby-Lonsdale informs me that she�s found an all access pass in the girls� toilets. After standing around staring at it getting giddy, I realise I have a Dictaphone in my bag and this would be too good an opportunity not to take advantage of. So off I toddle trying to figure how you�re meant to get backstage.

There�s a guy sat on the merch desk who looks far too much like Conrad Keely not to be Conrad Keely who before I can even ask if he is Conrad Keely, Conrad Keely says �Hey nice pass, how�d you get that?� Fearing an admission that my friend found it in the toilets would be the dumbest thing ever, I bullshit him that �I got it through your P.R agency this morning, is it possible I could get a few minutes for an interview?� Mr Keely says �sure� and gladly leads me down to the Trail Of Dead dressing room. I don�t know if it was to do was the two pints of shit lager that had bled into my brain but the walk backstage felt quite surreal.

Before any form of interrogation can begin, there�s a problem. �The pot� has gone missing. �This is big news. Weed is a medical necessity, not just a party lubricant� Keely stresses. �I prefer it right when I get up. I�m a morning stoner. Thus the song.�

Given some notice, I could probably have prepared Conrad some better questions and the hours following I punched myself repeatedly for not asking him certain questions but in my semi-tipsy, starstruck state this is the best I could muster�

'Worlds Apart' is probably the most overlooked album of the 21st century thus far, packed with extraordinary vision and songs that would make a whale�s heart bleed; does the less than appreciative reaction by certain sectors agitate you?

Conrad Keely: �When we came out with �Source Tags + Codes� everyone was complaining because it didn�t sound like �Madonna� and I think when we put out our next record people will be complaining that it doesn�t sound like �So Divided�.
I don�t think records that are as involved as we try to make, make sense right away. I feel like I�m still getting used to the title track �So Divided�. That song was really hard to write and didn�t come together easily. We were practicing it last week for the tour and it was the first time I played it and actually liked it. Up until then I was like �God, this song�s a pain in the ass.� But then again it�s the same for every song we�ve ever wrote.
When we were doing �Worlds Apart� it took me months and months of playing those songs before I felt we were doing them any justice at all and the way we�re playing �The Rest Will Follow� now is probably the best that it�s ever sounded. I�ve switched from my out of tune guitar to playing piano so there�s double keys and its sounds way better.�

Cow + Field: With �Worlds Apart� and �So Divided� how much of what is happening in the world is involved in your songs, what are you trying to say?

CK: �The title of a record is the last and least important thing that we think about. To me it�s only purpose is something to put on the cover and to distinguish it from other albums and not just call it �Trail Of Dead 5�. When we picked a title we just looked down the song list and said �which of these could be the title?�
I wanted to go with �Stand In Silence� but everyone liked �So Divided� so I went along with that. The relevance of the title comes afterwards. Once you pick that title you start to wonder �ooo how would this be interpreted? What�s so divided?� and then I thought it could be applied to the current music scene. But when I was writing the song it was really about our friends being so divided. We�ve gotten olden, some have kids, gotten married and we�re not the same tight unit of twenty-somethings we used to be. We�re thirty-somethings, splitting off doing our own thing and that�s what the first part of the song is about. When a friend�s band comes in town, that�s the only time all our friends get together, it�s the only time I see all of them and people tell us that. They say �the only time I see so-n-so is when you are in town and then I don�t see them for another year and half until you come back.� There�s a tragic comedy about that.

C+F: I think that�s a trait that repeated everywhere no matter where you go but with people maintaining correspondence and friendships through things like Myspace + forums, is the world coming together for the better or do you see it as creating insincere online pretentiousness?

CK: It�s hard to say. The world�s coming together in that virtual sense. I can email family that I never used to write to, that�s as great thing but then again it seems we have to put in twice as much effort to actually meet face to face. Unless something happens that brings some form of community revival I�d guess that it�s going to get more and more that way. I just moved to New York and there�s a massive emphasis on community. I don�t know what it like for Europe but in America, its singular. Los Angeles, Boston, Detroit, they don�t have that sense of �we have got to pull together�. But I think NY has that because its made up of hundreds of little communities and when you�ve got your little burb and all the artists kind of have to hang out. I think it comes down to the characters of people in a certain area and if that�s what they�re into.
I don�t think 9/11 hurt, I think that definitely helped. There�s a comedian David Cross who did an hilarious skit that goes on about how he was in the day after 9/11 and how people were so friendly and how it was like Arthur Conan Doyle�s London. It was like �ello guvnor.� Everyone was like �we�re pulling together for this one, fuck you Osama�.

C+F: Going back to the album, �Eight Day Hell� is a weird little tune isn�t?

CK: Everybody says that. People say it ruins the album, that it fucks up the flow. It started as a very anti-UK tune cause it was about how shitty our tour was. In specific our show in London opening for Audioslave. We basically got booed offstage. We didn�t do anything outrageous at all until the third day of the tour we were like �fuck this, this is so bad. We�re gonna get up there and play the weakest mellowest set, all of our slow songs and finish with a cover of The Band�s �The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down�, a little song about bringing back the south. We played the most stupid obnoxious set and of course they loved it. But before then we were being booed off and it has nothing to do with the UK as a country, as a people, but those shows sold out before we were announced as support so those people were there to see Audioslave. The truth is the UK can be very unsympathetic towards opening bands especially in London. The same happened when we opened for Foo Fighters. The positive side of that is when you endure that, it makes you so fucking tough. Nothing will toughen you up more and I don�t think its an unhealthy thing to undergo. A lot of bands go through it. Jimi Hendrix opened for the Monkees, Sonic Youth opened for Neil Young and they said that was what made them a tight band cause after being booed all across America they were like �fuck this� and they were badass.

C+F: Has there been any re-enactments of the hotel scene on the Worlds Apart DVD?

CK: No haha, that happened in Washington DC so that was a reaction to our government. We�ve grown up since then, that was five years ago. We�ve matured which isn�t a good or bad thing. I know we used to have more fun on tour but it was a lot harder on me, physically. These days I think my health is more important than me. We�ve has a blast doing this but you�ve gotta to make sure you can continue so I�ve got to think about staying in shape. Not killing yourself every night just for a laugh because laughs come and go but your body is with you till you die. And a few hours after you die.

C+F: How do you gauge your popularity because I was shocked you were playing upstairs at Academy 3, I thought you�d be in the bigger hall.

CK: Next time we come we�re gonna play the stadium.

It�s at this point drummist and vocal livewire Jason Reece buts in, �we already did the stadium, we�re doing this for the kiiiiiiiiids.�

CK: This is very surreal for me. I woke at 6pm and it was dark. It�s a very surreal experience.

C+F: So this is your midday?

CK: Yes. It�s nice to start your day off with some vodka.

C+F: How did you go about choosing supports for this tour?

CK: There�s Gear. This is Forget Cassettes (pointing up at rumbling from above), Doni�s in our band and Beth sang on The Secret Of Elena�s Tomb.

C+F: So you just drag your friends around on a bus?

CK: That�s pretty much how we�ve always been. We�ve had a hard time finding bands for this tour actually, people are off doing their own shit. Jason! I don�t know if you have any explanation for this conundrum here, the weird streak of bad luck with openers? (To the Dictaphone) Anyone wanna open for us in radio land?

Jason Reece: I think it�s solved now. You ever hear Action Plan? I think they�re coming with us next. Life is pain-free.

C+F: I read that you had some trouble regarding �To Russia My Homeland� on Worlds Apart where Hilary Hahn demanded to have the track removed stating she didn�t want to be associated with a loud rock band.

CK: What? Where did you read that? [here] Hilary is one of our good friends. She flew out to Russia to play with us. She wants to do more stuff with us. Where are you getting your information? The only problem we had with that track was that our studio was next to a practicing space and while we were recording this really quiet violin, the band starts playing next door. So me and Hilary are pounding on this band�s door and soon enough they stopped. I said to them, �I will buy you a 12-twelve pack of beer if you just stop practicing while we record.� They were like �no you don�t have to do that�. I think I bought it anyway and that was the end of it.

Asking what we can expect from the set that evening Keely spouts the biggest load of bullshit I�ve probably ever heard:

CK: We don�t know what we�re gonna play. Right before our set we get the setlist faxed over from homeland security because there�s strict rules now as to what you can and can�t play in certain countries. Because some of our lyrics are censored in the US so according to homeland security we can�t talk about certain things over here just like we can�t play Worlds Apart, we can�t play So Divided [which they didn�t that night]. Hopefully we�ll get the fax before we go on.

Time presses on and I feel a bit of a cock for taking up some much time and take my leave while Conrad + Jason fill out a belated valentine�s day card for a girl at the show that night who is �fat with black hair�. She also promises to pay them an undisclosed fee over paypal upon its receipt.

Note to self: next time you find a VIP pass and try to blag an interview, be a bit more prepared.

Low - 15 Feb 2007

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0100

I went down to London to check out Low at the Spitz cause they're probably the best band ever and it's probably the best venue I'll get the chance to see them in. After many atempts to contact them to arrange an interview I managed to get a reply when emailing sub pop press 2 nights before the gig. Eventually the interview was sorted and I was a happy chappy. Alan & Mimi were there from the start with the bass player Matt joining a few minutes later (I guess I started too soon by mistake).

The new album 'drums & guns' was originally planned to be called 'the violent path'. Was there any reason for the sudden change of heart after already announcing that it would be titled 'the violent path'?

Alan: Drums and Guns was actually the first title we came up with for the new record, we thought about it as we were doing the record and started to come with other ideas...
Mimi: I don't think you're right, the violent path was the first name we came up with
Alan: Oh yeah yeah, that was the potential name for the album then we heard this old Irish folk song �johnny a' hardly new yeee� (In full irish meets pirate accent) and the chorus was like �drums and guns and drums and guns�
Mimi: Yeah, then we though 'well that's a cool name'. We didn't know if the music would be appropriate at first for the name.
Alan: We gave it some thought and decided it was more fitting to what the record was like that 'the violent path'. Errr, We'll use that for something else I think.

[matt joins]

It's the second album you've recorded with Dave Fridman (Alan corrects by saying 'grammy award winning producer dave fridman'), did the process differ the that of when you recorded the great destroyer?

Alan: We approached it very different for sure. Usually in the past we'd record the songs like an extension of how we play them live, with the drums, bass and guitar, so we tried to use some different methods and do different things to what we usually did, whilst still being Low. We approached the great destroyer in a more traditional fashion, but this time having worked with him already we knew we could go in and he could help us with what we were trying to do.

Zak left the band in 2005, was it hard for you (Matt) to come in and learn the older material to play live as well as writing new material with the band?

Matt: Learning the old stuff came pretty easy as I was already familiar with most of the catalogue, and the new stuff kind of similarly went well as I'd played with Alan in the past, so rehearsals went smoothly.
Mimi: Then we just beat him [group laughter]
Alan: It's always a struggle, we're not always on the same page but we tackle things at the same pace and with similar vision. I enjoyed the process of revisiting the old stuff, I think that in itself might of influenced the new record. We weren't necessarily running away from the old style but we looked at things and thought 'yeah, maybe we do do this, but lets see what chances we can take and what changes we can make'.

You did a radio 6 session and interview yesterday, the presenter more or less openly admitted he didn't know an awful lot about you and what sort of thing you did, what did you make of that?

Alan: I think he handled that pretty well. There's nothing worse than when you have an interview with a presenter who knows nothing about you, but even worse when they pretend to know stuff they don't. He was honest about it and we had a talk with him before and after it so it wasn't so bad. You could tell he had listened to the new record and paid attention.
Mimi: It's so hard in that profession, you have so much music to get through and stuff to organise, so yeah, he didn't do badly.
Alan: I don't think we've ever been offended by a presenter not knowing much about us, it's to be assumed generally.

Am I right in saying this is the first show of the tour?

Mimi: Yeah I guess, it's a pretty short trip and this is the first show.
Alan: Yeah this is the first one on this record, it's not out yet but I guess the point of this short trip is to present the new material and to talk with people like you.

So will there be a good mix of new and old material at these shows? Are you planning on mainly previewing the new album or playing a mix of the older stuff and just dropping a few new tracks in there?

Alan: We're pretty much on the new record.
Mimi: Yeah, we play a lot of the new record.
Alan: We'll probably play most of the new one, but we'll have to do about half of the set older material too.

Will you be playing the new or old version of Murderer on this tour?

Alan: I know a lot of people who like the ay we've always done it live so i think we'll probably just keep doing doing it that way.

I was wondering if there's any particular reason that the 2nd tracks of the last 4 records (including the new one) have been the names of places. Whitetail, Canada, California, and Belarus.

Alan: We should of had Missouri 2nd on Secret Name too, could've got a run going.
Mimi: Yeah
Alan: That's actually the first we've heard of it... actually... wait wait wait...Completely deliberate. Yes, yes, if you were to take out a globe and plot those places on it, they would create a 3 dimensional algorithm that we believe is the key to cold fusion... Yeah, that's a good one, very observant.

Makes a change from the Mormon questions?

Mimi: Yeah, we need more questions like that one.
Alan: Now you're putting pressure on us.

On the making of Trust dvd, there's a list of tracks being worked on and Belarus was listed. Was it recorded, unused and then reworked for use on the new record?

Alan: Yeah it's a track we've had kicking around for a while, it was a possible song for trust.

Was it more low-fi back then?
Mimi: Well there was no drum machines
Alan: Yeah and there was a lot more guitar. It's a very very basic song, there's just a couple of things happening, it's almost a 'no-song'. Very simple but a nice track.

Any plans to record the track destroyer?

Alan: It was a track we were working on the great destroyer, we still kick it around a bit. It's one of those songs that's really great live, at the right moment, but if it's not the right moment and especially if you're trying to record it, it just seem doesn't work.

Are the venues on the tour handpicked? Or do the promoters tend to pick where you play?

Alan: We try and get the booking agent to ask the promoter to find somewhere interesting sometimes you're left to what's on offer, we really loved playing union chapel, but they don't do gigs there anymore?

Left a bad impression?

Alan: Oh yeah yeah, all those rowdy Low fans causing a riot, spitting on the floor and stuff. No, that was a really nice venue, I'd love to play there again one day.

Does it frustrate you when the crowd speak through the music when you're playing? I know it annoys me.

Alan: It's kinda a crap-shoot but you realise that some shows are noisy and some aren't.
Mimi: You can't let it get to you, we realised pretty early on that it happened.
Alan: Yeah, if you let it get to you it can destroy you for no reason. Some of the stuff we do it has to be silent for you to hear though, I tend to play louder and with less dynamics if people are speaking loud. They can please themselves really, it's their money.

Are there any plans to reissue the older albums like I could live in hope and long division? They're pretty hard to get hold of this side of the pond.

Alan: Well, the label that owns them aren't traditionally very helpful with allowing people to reissue old records. It's good you mentioned that though cause I forgot we really have to speak to someone about that, they weren't very well distributed outside of the US. We really have to speak to someone about it.

You've covered artists like Pink Floyd and Neil Young? Are these major influences on the music you're still making?

Alan: We've been listening to a lot of Jamaican music over the last couple of years, it's really interesting just to hear the way they make music.

Are you fans of Leonard Cohen?

Matt: I'm a huge fan of Leonard Cohen, especially since his comeback with Ten New Songs and Dear Heather, they were great.
Mimi: I saw him on PBS a few years ago and he wasn't so great
Me: Yeah, I think maybe he smoked too many fags so he just basically speaks now.
Mimi: Yeah it's horrible

Well I've started to go over the amount of time I was told I had and I've just about got through the questions so I'll let you go and set up and stuff, thanks for the interview
Matt: Thank you very much
Mimi: You're welcome
Alan: Ermm, Cheeerio

Frank Turner - 29 Jan 2007

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0100

When Frank Turner isn�t touring, he�s touring. That�s what Frank Turner does and when he recently stopped off for a show in Manchester with Dive Dive supporting and acting as his backing band, we saw it as a prime opportunity to cram into the Night + Day�s dingy cellar and have a good catch-up with Frank + Jamie.

Cow And Field: So how did the collaboration between Frank Turner and Dive Dive come about?
Jamie: I think it was when Frank was crewing for Reuben on tour.
Frank Turner: This is when Million Dead were still together and these guys were the main support. This was in March �05 when we met and I thought they were super. Then Million Dead broke up and I started doing my own thing. It�s kinda to do with Terrant [Dive Dive bassist] who has his own studio set up in his house and I needed to record some stuff properly and I really wanted to work with Nigel [Dive Dive drummer] because�
J: he�s one of the best superb drummers in the land.
FT: I was always up for playing as much as I could but I�m not gonna play drums if Nigel�s available cause he�s that good.
J: He can just program songs, he�s like an elephant.
FT: So we did the ep [Campfire Punkrock] with these guys and then it kinda spiralled out of control really. We did the album and then the label were going on about how I needed to do a tour and I sheepishly persuaded them into the idea that we could take Dive Dive as that would be ideal for me.

C+F: How did it differ working with Dive Dive to working with Million Dead?
J: It�s refreshing.
FT: It�s a lot less intense. I�m not sure why but one of the problems with Million Dead was the mix of personalities was in such a state that we couldn�t approach any decision about anything. Like someone would say �let�s do the badges in black + white� and someone else would go �OH MY GOD YOU FUCK� then we�d fall over stabbing each other�s eyes out, threatening to quit the band going �well you know what your fucking problem is yeah? You killed that hooker!� Anyway, it�s kinda nice because the divisions of responsibility are quite clear cause the most stressful part of being in Million Dead was the rigorously democratic attitude towards songwriting and as they�re my songs, once that part�s done and dusted it becomes more just plain old good fun.
J: You�re not saying you�re the only fascist in the band though.
FT: No, because there�s less arsing about it actually becomes enjoyable just playing music which was the idea of becoming a musician in the first place. I mean I�m enjoying my own songs 100 times more.

C+F: As you were on tour on your own for yonks and then all of a sudden you had four other guys behind you, was there any question about going under another name?

FT: No it�s like the way Bruce Springsteen tours with a band. I think the Neil Young/Crazy Horse thing�s not a bad comparison either. Just because you�re doing things under your own moniker doesn�t necessarily mean you have to be the only musician onstage. I mean look at Kylie.
[An awkward bemused silence fills those around the table.]
Or not.
J: It�s not like you set out to do it, you were carting around on your own for a year doing an endless tour.
FT: Mmm, it also means you can have some seriously feminine keyboards in the back
[Jamie crumbles into an embarrassed laughter.]
FT: Are you willing to explain this?
J: Nooooo.
FT: I will then. Jamie feels a little bad about his keyboard playing in the Frank Turner Explosion Overdrive Experience
J: Its not that I have any great stock in being the frontman of a band but I play guitar and sing and so the guitar is an exceptionally cool instrument and now to be forced behind a Casio keyboard and play two finger chopsticks.
FT: It sounds great, we�ve nicknamed his little pod �The Emasculation Station�
J: You build up all this energy, all these blood sweat and tears [during Dive Dive] and then to go to the back of the stage and play some dainty organ parts it blows the illusion.
FT: �He�s not so rock and roll, I thought he was rock and roll, now he�s just playing a keyboard! Lets get�im!� That�s what the crowd shouts every night.

C+F: So after you�ve finished this tour, after this album has run its course, what happens then? Will you carry on with Dive Dive or are you gonna dump them, what?

J: You should be able to get a better band really.
FT: We haven�t really talked about it. I would like a permanent backing band simply because I don�t want to tax these guys� charity too much. They�re doing me a huge fucking favour right now by doing this and I can�t rely on that. There�s the huge standard hourly rate like �700,000 a minute for session musicians and I can�t afford that. If I�m selling 100,000 records then I�d have the money but if things continue at this level, which doesn�t displease me, I�m having a great time, we got crowds coming to the shows but I�d need to rethink how I�m gonna do it. I fucking love working with these guys, they�re great friends and great musicians but you gotta be realistic. We haven�t thought any further after the tour [breaking down in to a mock weep] we�re just enjoying the moment while it lasts.
J: We gotta try and make it to the end of the tour first

C+F: Speaking of the tour, any highlights, any lowlights, any gobshites?

FT: We�re on what, day 6, the lowlight for me was I lost my voice a little bit. It�s not gone but it�s just a little fucked.
J: That puts a damper on things, you just can�t enjoy the night so much cause you know you can do better and your voice is playing up.
C+F: Do you not do any warm up or anything?
FT: Mmm, I do, its just I�ve been smoking a little too much. But to be honest, I�ve just done 18 months of touring and chain smoking. Highlights? Leeds was fucking amazing last night. Nottingham was cool. Personally I�m just really chuffed cause I�ve got one of my favourite bands as the main support and then my friend Jay, Beans On Toast, opening up. He�s a good and old friend but also one of the reasons I started getting interested in folk. It�s fucking awesome what he does. He�s an entertaining motherfucker. Compared to the last tour, I�m actually in a van as opposed to being on a train on my own.

C+F: �Sleep Is For The Week� came out last week. Let�s talk about the album title.

FT: I won�t go in to it cause it�s a private thing but it�s a tribute to a friend of mine and �sleep is for the week� was one of his phrases. It seemed appropriate for the album. It was going to be �Telling People They�re Wrong In Song�. We wanted to call the second Million Dead album �Led Zeppelin Five� or my personal favourite �Use Your Illusion 3�. There was also, �You Say Tomato, I Say Bukkake�.
C+F: Any word on a vinyl pressing?
FT: I�d love a wax release but I think there�s tons of messing about.
C+F You could have your face on the label turning. Frank Turner turning.
FT: Haha, maybe.

C+F: You�ve done France, Russia, England, where else?
FT: Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Ireland.
C+F: Where�s the best place to play?
FT: I�ve had the overall good experiences in England.
C+F: The French loved it whenever we saw you in Paris.
FT: Yeah the Paris dates were great but as I went further south into France it got a bit �this ain�t singer songwriter country boy�. Not so much hostile just more that their English wasn�t as good enough to really understand it. Probably the most fun I�ve had overseas was Latvia, I�ve been there to see some friends a few times and they�re just fucking mental but in a brilliant way; there�s a guy called Edgars, a guy called Adge. I�ve known them for two or three years and they�ve become good friends now. We went out on the piss the last time I was there in January 2006 with a guy called Atis who doesn�t speak much English and just got completely fucking destroyed. We got back to the flat the next morning and we couldn�t find Atis but we found his clothes in a small pile in a corner of the room; all of them, pants and everything so we were like �oooookay, what happened to Atis?� We had to leave that day so we got the plane and we didn�t see him till the Summer and we were like �Atis! How�s it goin� mate? What happened to you?!� And it was so funny cause you could see his brain grinding and he went [in an Arnie voice] �I don�t want to talk about it�. We still have no idea what the fuck he did. Anyway funny fuckers and the shows are always great.
J: Isn�t that the place where they beat up BMWs?
[confused faces all round]
J: Is that Latvia you�re talking about?
[more silent blank faces]
J: You said they set up old broken BMWs and�
FT: Ah yes that was with Million Dead, basically as part of the attractions at one of the festivals is they have the main stage, dance tent, skate ramp and then there was this old car and you could just smash the fuck out of it basically. You go over and there�s a pile of hammers lying around and you just trash this car. So when we were playing they all got excited and started rolling it down the hill. The thing is it hadn�t quite registered with us that it was there to be smashed up. We were like �oh my god, they�re rolling cars down the hill! We can�t pay for this!� but it turns out it was alright.

C+F: After the Fopp thing where you played all five Fopp shops in London in one day, have you any aspirations to better it?

FT: Err no. Aspirations to worsen it at all costs.
J: ive full sets?
FT: Five half hour sets.
J: Bloody hell.
FT: Yes it was ridiculous. I mean it was a good thing to do we had a really good fun day but the last set was my launch party, I had loads of friends I hadn�t seen for ages that I wanted to talk to and I just wanted to go to bed but people kept buying me drinks and I was like I�m just go to sleep if I drink all these, I�m not gonna have a crazy night. It was a nice thing to say that I did but nah, won�t be doing that again.

C+F: I�m gonna throw some things and give me a Frank Turner summary of them.
First one, Trivium.
FT: It�s like teeny bopper metal
J: It sounds like they�ve invented an element that�s the heaviest of all metals. Is that where the name comes from?
FT: Haha, if so then that�s the gayest thing I�ve ever heard.
J: Well it�s like that band Obsidian which is the blackest of all things black.
FT: Trivium, come on it just sounds stupid.
J: Trivial?
FT: Whatever, it�s metal for myspacers.
J: Music to lift weights to.

C+F: Jade Goody.
FT: I almost don�t want to have an opinion on her because 100 billion times too much energy has been wasted considering her existence. She�s an utterly pointless lump of fat. I�d rather be completely oblivious cause she�s such a fucktard.

C+F: John Reid.
FT: (instantly) He�s got orange eyebrows. Seriously you�ll never look at him the same way; he�s got silver hair and orange eyebrows. Something wrong going on there. He�s just a dick but it�s not like he�s in unfamiliar company. He�s a new labour politician. He�s a politician full stop so he�s probably a cunt.

C+F: Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
J: Ah, I didn�t go to the gig�
C+F: Do you not think he looks a bit downs?
FT: A bit downs? Haha, me and some friends refer to him as the �emo hobbit� � Samwise Getcape. No really, Sam�s actually a really good friend of mine, I love him to pieces. It�s not all to my taste but I think he�s got a couple of really good songs. The success he�s having at the minute couldn�t happen to a nicer or more hard-working guy. He did 315 show in one year and I�ll always have respect for that. War of the Worlds is great but the album doesn�t do much for me.

C+F: Klaxons.
J: I haven�t actually heard anything by them yet.
FT: Its funny people are saying the new musical saviours are a band aping something that happened 10-15 years ago, just strikes me as a really unhealthy situation. It�s depressing, why aren�t people making a new noise? Another band like that�s Enter Shikari. Everyone goes on about them being a mix between hardcore and trance. They�re not! They play a hardcore bit then they stop and play a trance bit and its like �errrr what?� There�s no mix up. Plus that guy�s got the most hilariously rubbish voice I�ve ever heard.

It�s at this point Frank gets up to make a hot drink to soothe his battered throat and we head up stairs to catch opening act Beans On Toast deliver his sermon on everything from having crushes on 16 year old to the smoking ban to cocaine addiction. If there�s a more hard-working, honest, likeable songwriter in the UK then I�ll eat Frank�s hat.

Frank Turner�s new album �Sleep Is For The Week� is out now on Xtra Mile Recordings.
Dive Dive have a new album out on Landspeed Records called �Revenge Of The Mechanical Dog�

Ooops

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Where's all the interviews?
They're not here, that's where.
There's a few bands that I've arranged interviews with so the result of these chats shall appear shortly.
Sozza.