Halo Interview Northampton 19/05/02
Jen:How's the tour been so far?
Jim: It's been good, we're playing new tracks that noone's heard before, so they're hearing more of Halo, and last night we had a naked man with a tampax up his arse stripping to Sanctimonious! We started playing it and he got up and started stripping, and there's this middle bit where the lights go out and he whipped his boxers down, and bared all, and he had a little white string hanging down...
Graeme: It might've been something else though....
Jim: Well Dange saw it and I saw it...
Steve: I didn't see it.. mind you I wasn't looking very hard....
Jim: Well when he's leaping around in front of my bass drum its kind of hard not to notice the tampax wedged up his arse *laughs*
Graeme: Yeah but it was a wicked gig, it was packed out and everyone enjoyed it, and there was a naked guy dancing on stage.
Jim: So tonight we're going to try and get a naked girl *laughs*
Jen:New single "Sanctimonious" is released tomorrow; are you nervous about it?
Jim: Ostrich approach! Head in the sand....
Graeme: We'll wait until it's all over and then assess what happened....
Iain: If it does well, then its a triumph, and if it doesn't do well then its nothing to do with us *laughs*
Steve: Thats just the thing though, If it does really well it's all because of us, and if it fucks up then someone else fucked up!
Graeme: Because we've worked really hard, and so if it does well then we deserve all the kudos...
Iain: I'm half optimistic though , as long as we sell to all our fans, the chart placing is more of the record companies concern, but I'd like it to get played on the radio at least...
Jen: Someone said they were going to go and buy ten copies of it.....
Steve: Yeah thats the thing, but it's a bit crazy doing that really as it doesn't really help..
Iain: It does help...
Steve: OK , it does help, but not if you buy them all at once, cos it'll only register as one sale of it.
Jen: Does it?
Graeme: yeah, cos there were a few people who did that last time and we started getting angry phone calls saying stuff like "they shouldnt be buying ten copies at a time"
Jim: Why not? *laughs*
Graeme: Yeah but we can't stop it, we don't know these people, so it was a bit mad them saying that to us!
Jen:But what if someones got a lot of relatives or friends that want it?
Jim: Exactly! Thats what happens!
Jen:In Sugar magazine recently there was a poster of you with the caption "fit fellas" and a reviewer recently cited you as a band " that makes the lost prophets look like they come from the isle of dogs". Do you ever worry that people concentrate more on your looks or hairstyles than they do the music?
Jim: Theres a faction of people, that are a bit suspicious of Halo because of how we look, and that theres Sony written by the side of it and the way that we play, so in fact if we were complete pigs and signed to a tiny tiny little label then we'd probably be bigger than the strokes *laughs*
Iain: The Strokes are quite a good looking band arent they?
Jen:Do you get recognised in the street yet?
Iain: Sometimes my friends recognise me *laughs*
Steve: Depends where I'm walking, if I'm walking outside my street then some of the neighbours will recognise me and say hi... *laughs*
Iain: Laughs "Hi steve!, you alright steve!" *waves* *laughs*
Jen: *laughs* Do you get recognised by FANS in the street?
Iain: Yeah we do, sometimes by people who sit outside venues.
Jen:Has it got to the point where you question peoples motives for talking to you, and can you tell if someone is just talking to you because you're in a band, or if they are actually genuinely interested in you as a person?
Steve:The thing is, some people come up and talk to you after a gig ,and you know its just because you've just been onstage but thats normal.
Graeme: I like it, I like it when people come up and want stuff signed.
Jim: Yep!
Iain: Same here. But some people come up and pinch your arse or something, it sounds stupid, but they do it. They just wouldn't do it to someone if they weren't in a band. I hope.
Jen:Any news on the album release date?
Iain: It's still unconfirmed. New single out on the 20th though.
Steve: The thing is the album might be out sooner, rather than later, depending on how the single does, I think the general knowledge is to wait and see how Sanctimonious does first.
Jen: Will you be touring next month, or taking some well-earned time off?
Jim: I think its's about time we had some time off
Iain: No, I think we're going to get some song writing done.
Jen:Have any of you besides Graeme written any lyrics, and also, are there any plans for anyone else to do lead vocals on a song?
Graeme: Yeah Iain already has. He wrote "Cracked" which is a b-side for sanctimonious, and he wrote "Shine", a new one which noones heard before this tour.
Jen:What do your families think about you being in the band?
Steve: They're very proud.
Iain: They like the fact that they get rid of us *laughs*
Graeme: They like the fact that we actually have jobs.... *laughs*
Jen:Theres been some confusion about this, I was asked to ask you about it , is Bill Oddie Graeme and Iain's dad, or is that a misunderstanding??
*everyone laughs*
Graeme: Its less of a misunderstanding, more of a blatant lie *laughs*
Iain: It wasn't us actually, Bill Oddie actually said that we were his sons *laughs* and people got the wrong end of the stick so we just went along with it.
Jen:Do you spend time together when not on tour, or do you tend to take the time to be by yourself?
Steve: Yeah we hang out together.
Jen:surreal question time:If you could be another member of the band for a day, to see how they think and feel, who would you choose to be and why?
Steve: I wouldn't.
Jen: If you have to.
Steve: I wouldn't. I'd kill myself *laughs*
Jim: I'd be Iain so I could play through his shiny amp *laughs* I would!
Graeme: I don't know really.... not sure...
Jen:There has been criticism about the fact that you chose to re-release Sanctimonious instead of new material: what made you decide to release it and what are your reactions to the criticism?
Jim: Because it's a great song,and " fuck off". *laughs*
Steve: Its re-recorded, It's a different version.
Iain: We gave it away last time.
Jen: Some people are seeing it as being re-released, instead of new material.
Jim: But theres four new tracks that nobodys ever heard before!
Jen: What did you think of the reviews that you had in Kerrang! and NME?
Iain: Their independent reviewers, the NME employ, so it's not really the NME's opinion. With that kind of review, the wet dog comment at the end just makes it a bad review.
Jim: It's just nasty saying that.
Graeme: Putting people down for buying it is just a ridiculous thing to do.
Jim: Put if you put it into perspective, they said that people would only buy it if they like the smell of damp dog, yet Mark and Lard made is record of the week, you can't really justify insulting people though.
Graeme: Fair enough if they don't like a record, then say it, but its just bitchy to insult people.
Iain: Its like some people would take a classical piece of music, like mozart, and say it was shit, when its actually one of the all time greatest pieces of music ever written.
Jen:Are you playing any of the festivals this year? and if so, which ones?
Jim: We played essential festival, which was great, and we're also going to be playing V2002.
Iain: and T in the Park.