We tried to get a band started about five/six years ago when were in school. We both played guitar and tried out a few drummers and bass players. We played our first show in early 1999 as a 4 piece and by September that year we'd become a 3-piece with me playing bass. We played our last show with the drummer we had back then in the Summer of 2000. We didn't like his drumming so I learned the drums and replaced him, that's why we are a 2-piece now. We always wrote all the songs and we were never happy with other people in the band so becoming a 2-piece made a lot of sense to us.
What were your ambitions when you formed the band? Do you think you have fulfilled any of them already?
We never had big ambitions, we just wanted to be able to play a lot of shows and make a record. We never expected anyone to want to put our records out, we thought we'd have to do it ourselves, and we were about to put an ep out at the end of last year when Fierce Panda offered to release a cd for us. We had the 4 song ep mastered and were a few weeks away from getting it pressed so we just sold cdrs of it at shows until we released Plata O Plomo. We didn't have stupid ambitions, one of the biggest was to play the Garage in London as a support band and we've already done that 3 times. We're touring Europe later in the year and we never expected to do that.
One of the most striking things about seeing you guys live (and hearing you on record) is that there are only two of you. Have you always held this idea that ‘less is more’ or have you ever been tempted to get someone else in?
We wanted to get a bass player but the bass player we had in mind had stage fright and didn't want to join. It was too much hassle having a bass player the first time anyway, so we decided to keep it as just the two of us.
When I listen to ‘Plata o Plomo’ I get reminded of a whole host of bands like Black Flag, Nebula and Queens of the Stone Age. Which bands did you grow up with and which one in particular do you think has had the biggest influence on the band?
We like all those bands, when we were starting out bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney were big influences on us and the way we learned to play and write songs.
Several of the songs on ‘Plata o Plomo’ (most notably ‘Manhunt’) deal with the ideas of rejection of and detachment from your particular surroundings. What was it like growing up in Oxford; did you feel completely detached from it?
Growing up where we grew up was probably no worse or no better than everywhere else. There's people you like and people you don't like. We were completely detached from the Oxford music scene because we hated all the other bands and wanted nothing to do with them. There were a lot of very lame indie and britpop wannabe bands. It was a case of us rejecting them more than them rejecting us.
In certain ways your album seems reminiscent of the hardcore bands coming out of America in the 1980s who used music as a means to express their anger and frustration. What does music mean to you, has it been the main channel through which you could channel your frustration?
I don't think to me playing music is a way to channel frustration, I just enjoying playing hard. It probably prevents frustration because if I didn't have a band I'd be bored and angry. The lyrics to Nitro Ground Shaker and Just Cruisin' were written when we were finishing school and I think those songs are more angry and frustrated than the others because they were written about specific people we didn't like.
In the current British political situation (particularly with regards to immigration) and the global political situation (notably concerning the threat of terrorism) there seems to be a greater level of tension and anxiety then was evident 5 years ago. In this situation, what role do you think music has to play? Do you think that musicians have any obligation to address these issues?
Musicians don't have an obligation to address issues. Music is entertainment, so I don't think bands should have to address political issues, but if a band feels strongly about an issue they should be allowed to address it. Music is defintiely a good way to get a point across, but some bands try to be clever and address political issues that they don't know enough about. I don't feel qualified enough to write politcal songs and I don't think most bands are.
A lot more young people seem to be getting into rock music in Britain at the moment. Why do you think this is? Why do you think that young people (particularly the mainstream youth) are more attracted to angry music now then they were say 10 years ago?
I think back when bands like Nirvana were popular kids were into rock music because the bands were new and more exciting than what had been around just before. Then record companies kept pumping out the same crap and kids got bored of it so all that music died and more pop type music was popular again. Kids growing up now are realising better music exists so rock music is becoming more popular. Also I think MTV2 and Kerrang tv are exposing young people to music they wouldn't have discovered otherwise.
One of the best things about your album is that it seems to be reclaiming punk rock from the hoards of MTV endorsed pop punk clones. What does punk rock mean to you and do you find it insulting when bands like Good Charlotte and Sum 41 are labelled as ‘punk’?
I consider bands like Mudhoney and Black Flag punk, but if you're gonna call Sum 41 and Good Charlotte punk then I'll call Black Flag something else. I think the word punk is meaningless now. I thought Sum 41 was a boy band but Good Charlotte make Sum 41 seem like the most punk rock band ever, and Simple Plan are even worse than Good Charlotte. You think a punk pop band is bad then you see the next one. First you've got Blink 182 who are a watered down, more boy band like version of Green Day, then Sum 41 then it's all downhill. I think it's spiralling out of control now.
At the moment there seems to be a new American band appearing on the cover of one of the major British music magazines each week. With this is mind, do you think that it is more difficult for a new (and equally good) British band to gain recognition in the UK than it is for an American group?
Maybe, but the American bands are probably better. Most American bands seem to work harder so maybe they deserve it more, but I hope the magazines would give British bands the same chances as American bands.
What state do you think the current British underground music scene is in? Do you think that there is any unity and sense of solidarity in it?
We've never had much to do with any scene so it's hard to say. We've played a lot of gigs supporting and headlining in less than half full venues all over the country so I think it could be healthier than it is.