Moby Dick, Emily Dickinson and Brunel? Would you say literature and engineering inspires you more than other music or artists?

Well I’m not thinking about other musicians when I write, and I’m not thinking about Brunel either… I’m trying to look past all the distractions.

Geek Chic seems to be the current trend with braces, faux rimmed glasses and a nice cardi. With your intellectual influences would you put yourselves in that category or are you strictly anti-fashion?

I’m pro fashion… it’s part of life so there’s no point denying it. It doesn’t mean I want to wear any of the above.

You founded the Hero Rhymes With Zero label. How did that come about and what sort of stuff were you putting out?

Hero Rhymes With Zero is a very new thing… also very small. We put out a 7″ of Cheap Hotel early this year and then we put out Wilderness. It’s very addictive and we want to do a lot more.

You’ve got a bit of Brit-pop in your sound (amongst other stuff) and you partnered up with the Longpigs’ Crispin Hunt in Gramercy. What happened to the band and how did growing up in the 90’s affect your music taste/style?

Gramercy was a total failure. I think it could have gone two ways. I wanted to do Crosby, Stills and Nash and be like musical guerillas but the other guys wanted to do the Feeling… I lost!

If no-one knew you and the BFL story, I think most would guess you were American. Has American music influenced BFL more than British music and how did a boy from Carlisle end up sounding like Beck?

I don’t think I sound a bit like Beck… who is a genius by the way. I went to an American School when I was growing up in Saudi Arabia, I lived for a while in Chicago… maybe that explains it. I never thought when I listened to Mick Jagger singing Love In Vain that it had anything to do with America… Whatever we’re doing is natural, we’re not trying to be anyway it’s just the way the music is coming out.

I mentioned that the best places to listen to The Wilderness EP would be travelling down Big Sur and on a Sunday afternoon in front of the fire. Is this fair or could you paint me a picture of where best to listen to The Wilderness EP?

The best place to listen to it would be in a bus stop in Coventry on a Sunday night when the rain is pissing down - then you could be transported.

Unlike most debut EPs The Wilderness sounds like you are a fully formed band. Incredibly varied with a great range of styles, is the full offering coming soon and will it follow suit to the EP?

The next EP is called Bridge. That’s coming out in the spring, then we want to do another before we try to record an album. Hopefully the EPs will fit together like one record but let’s see.

Any new bands you’ve heard recently that take your fancy?

No… I’m listening to Love Lockdown and Willie Nelson

What can your average Bears fan expect from a Bears From Labrador gig and what are your plans for touring GB?

We want to tour the UK early next year… it’s hard co-ordinating the venues though. If we organise it ourselves it will take a bit longer. Hopefully we might get a support slot on a tour - that would be perfect

Where are Bears From Labrador going?

Home.

And lastly, you’re not going to get away with it. What’s with the name?

It’s from Moby Dick, you can look up the quote online… but the reason I love it is because we’re gonna get racked next to the Beastie Boys and the Beatles… Oh yes!

Are you pleased with the new EP? Did it turn out as you’d hoped, and what sort of reactions are you getting?

Yes, for sure. Soon as we finished getting the melodies sorted for Strike Sparks Anywhere we thought it would come out pretty well. Junk Scientist is a good pal, and we knew that we could trust him with it. Long days and nights, but that was always going to be the way. It’s a good way to work, with everyone throwing everything in… and the reactions have been excellent, to be honest. Kerrang and Radio 6 have been spinning it a bit, so it feels like it’s gathering momentum. I think the worst review that we had was a Canadian one, who said that we weren’t sure if we were serious musicians or “overstyled womanisers”. At least I think that’s the worst. It was certainly the funniest.

What sort of music did you listen to in your formative years and what music do you most admire now?

We grew up listening to all sorts. The bands that we all agreed on were stuff like the Scream, and Death in Vegas… dirty rock ‘n’ roll that owed as much to dance as it did the Stones. Maybe some Leftfield, Wu-Tang, Chemical Brothers… Prince, Verve, Echo… fuck knows. All sorts. Recently we’ve found ourselves at various places. Crystal Castles, Holy Fuck. Don’t know. Sure there’s loads that’ll jump out as soon as I finish this interview, to be honest.

How would you sum up your own sound and what do you think are your key influences?

We like to draw influences from all sorts of places. As much comes from soundtracks and novels as from the tunes that we’re listening to. But to put a name on it, it’d be fairly grandiose rock ‘n’ roll with one foot in an electro night.

Going by the name of the band and some of your lyrics, you seem to be very politically aware. How important is that to what you do? Are you looking to make political points through your songs or is it more complex than that? How would you sum up your key beliefs?

It’s not a direct political statement. The name of the band comes from the size of the statement, rather than what it relates to. We didn’t call it “Radio Freedom” because that’s a direct reference to a time and place - and that’s not what we wanted to do. It’s called This is Radio Freedom because it’s the introduction to a big, and bold statement… and as for making points, then yes - it is important. It’s not why we do what we do, but I see no reason in holding back on things that you hold close. The counter culture has always been central to the folks who’ve made great music - and for too long politics has been a pretty dirty word in music. People should make music, art and literature out of things that make you angry, ecstatic.. whatever. It’s about extremes, and so it would be natural that things that make you angry or feel empowered should come across in your music.

You’re from Wales - how much of an influence do you think that has on who you are and what you do?

We’re not, really. Only Arron, our drummer is from Wales. Some of us met here, but we’re from all over. Some of us are still based in Cardiff, but half of us are in London now. We’re from all over the shop - there’s no regional identity to what we do, to be honest.

The way the music industry works is changing in so many ways (downloads taking over from CDs, free downloads becoming more readily available, the Myspace effect, etc). Do you think the net effects of these changes will be good or bad for relatively new bands like yourselves and/or the industry in
general?

I think that they’re good and bad in very different ways. It’s good to see the amount of power that independents with an eye on artist development are getting - but it’s harder than ever for new bands to get through. Bands with a name already stand out from the crowd - but it’s hard when every fucker’s got a myspace page and too much time on their hands. But bollocks to it, anyway. Work hard and tour it, and see what happens. That’s what really separates the wheat from the chaff, and where you really see who’s willing to work for it. There’s no money in the industry apart from in publishing and live performance, so bands need to be smarter. The days of selling hundreds of thousands are pretty much done with now, I think.

You’ve recently been touring the US. How was that for you and did US audiences react differently from those you’ve experienced in the UK?

Playing in the US and Canada was eye-opening, and a positive experience. There’s no shame in throwing yourself into it, which is something that some people in parts of this country can struggle with… we loved it. There’s a lack of cynicism which is pretty infectious, and we really buzzed off it. Even in New York, where you’d think that folks had seen it all before - they really love to see folks doing what they love doing pretty well, and it really comes across in the reactions that we had.

This Is Radio Freedom – Strikes Sparks Anywhere EP is out 1st December 2008 on Sidewalk and will be available to buy online at iTunes. You can read our review here.

Founded in 1978 by Tony Perfect and Keith Mono, Long Tall Shorty (or LTS as they’re known to their fans and acronym-lovers) quickly ensconced themselves in the hearts of the new generation of Mods as one of the most popular bands of the revival era. Thanks largely to their loyal and devoted fans, after a break from music during the 80s and 90s, they reformed in the year 2000 to the delight of mods everywhere.

In 2008, Long Tall Shorty are still wowing crowds all over the place with their R’n’B and power pop infused gigs. Heather Wainwright managed to grab a quick chat with Tony Perfect to find out exactly what they’re up to these days.

Long Tall Shorty took quite an extended hiatus from the mid-80s to 2000. Why did you decide to come back, and was it difficult trying to win the fans over again?
I always had this thought that people over 25 shouldn’t be in bands, so after LTS originally split, I got a job, got married etc and the bug kind of left me as I now had other things to concentrate on. My mate Ian used to play bass with Ian Page of Secret Affair – and he kept phoning me from various gigs telling me that people were asking about LTS, or that they just played one of our songs over the PA. It’s all his fault! He kept on and on and eventually I thought, “let’s do one gig and see how it goes”. I got to about the fourth song during the first gig and suddenly realised I was enjoying myself and it went on from there. We were also lucky to get a 45 and an LP released on the Acid Jazz label, which gave everything a new focus.

The band obviously have a quite extensive repertoire, but are there any songs that you particularly enjoy playing live, or any that you really worry about getting right onstage?
My favourite LTS songs are ‘Shine on Me’ and ‘1970’s Boy’. I don’t worry about making mistakes, we’re all human and sometimes you feel more at one with what you are doing but I just try and project the songs, if there are a few bum notes here and there, at least you’re trying!

The majority of our readers will never have seen one of your live shows - what can they expect from attending one of your gigs?
Gosh… What I would hope is that anyone who came to see us who didn’t know us would watch us get up onto the stage and think we just like a kindly bunch of middle aged blokes – and then when we start playing it comes out as a cross between Muddy Waters and the Ramones! That’d be cool!

You undertook a mini-European tour earlier this year. How do the European crowds differ to the British crowds?
Madrid, which was the last date of the tour, was amazing and just like 20 odd years ago in the UK. We walked onto the stage and I saw people with Sham 69 and Sex Pistols T-shirts on and thought, “great, they’re gonna hate us!” but the minute we started playing, they were all jumping around and singing along with the words which was a total shock. We had such a great time, it’s funny to think that someone as old as me could still get the opportunity to go and do something like that!

I’ve heard rumours about a new single being released early in 2009 - can you tell us more about that?
Yes, I heard those rumours too! Andy Lewis, who is currently playing in Paul Weller’s band, said he would produce a 45 for us, so that would be fun to do. I would be in two minds as to what we should release – one of the songs that are on MySpace, or a completely new song to let Andy do what he wants with it. I love that song, ‘Brimful Of Asha’ by Cornershop – or rather, I thought I did, and then I heard the original which was really low-key, and I thought Norman Cook did the most amazing job of producing it. I’d love to come out with something like that, not because of any great ambition to be famous, but just to push the boundaries of what a band like ours is “supposed” to sound like.

During one trip to the cinema, I was sitting in a quiet rage as the commercials continued to fall on top of me when all of a sudden numerous coloured balls began to bounce down a street to the sounds of plucking guitar strings and a voice that seemed to capture the essence of a beautiful heart breaking. Despite the fact that the advertisement was for High Definition TV sets, I turned to my friend and told him how impressed I was by that one commercial. Of course, I later discovered that the artist was Jose Gonzalez, the track itself a cover of alternative musicians The Knife’s ‘Heartbeats’. The coverage had people here in Britain become aware of Jose Gonzalez and eventually, even The Knife…

I later heard his cover of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Hand On Your Heart’ and was recently told by a friend who caught a Kylie Minogue show that Jose’s cover was played from the speakers as the crowd made their way to the exits after her final encore. When the opportunity arose, I secured an interview with the man. Like many, I wanted to see how he felt about the risk of covers pushing his own tracks into the shade and his feelings on artists agreeing to their works being placed on advertisements (after all, George Harrison once declared that he would not want to hear The Beatles selling sausages!).

These questions were asked, as were a few more that I have not mentioned in this brief introduction.

What is your first memory of music?
First memory? I’m not sure, but I have some really old cassettes- when my dad used to have a tape recorder, he would sing and I would try copying him. In a way, it’s probably not my first actual memory. It’s something I remember through listening to his tapes, but I don’t know how many years that was. I was probably three years old, something like that.

So it was almost immediately that you wanted to be a musician?
As I was growing up, no one in my family played an instrument. My dad used to sing when he was younger and I didn’t play an instrument until I was twelve or something. I went to a private teacher for a while but I let it go, so it wasn’t until I was fourteen or fifteen that I really wanted to learn guitar and started playing bass in a punk band. At that time, I just really wanted to live from the music and just do music.

So at fourteen/fifteen, you just taught yourself?
Yeah, I’d just sit down and play The Beatles or Simon And Garfunkel kinds of songs and sing them with my dad, and at the same time I was playing bass and hanging out with my friends- where we would play covers of Black Flag and do similar kinds of songs of our own. But then a year later, I wanted to learn properly so I started learning classical guitar and spanish classical.

And your father was actively encouraging your interest in music?
Oh yeah. For him it was probably just nice to see that one of his kids had found an interest, because he would never impose any of his interests on us. He was just happy when my sister started dancing- encouraging to her and similar to my brother when he had his interests. And the same was with music, when he saw that I started learning how to play, he bought me this Beatles book and I would sit down and play the songs and we would do harmonies together.

What was the best advice that he offered you?
I don’t know. He was just happy that I had this interest and he wanted me to pursue it and at the same time it was nostalgic for him to play these songs that he used to sing with one of his old mates. He wasn’t the kind of… advice-giving person.

So your first performances in front of a crowd, these were family gatherings?
Yeah, family gatherings and also like - at school. When I first started learning the guitar, I did my first classical performance in front of a class. Those sort of things.

Have you never suffered from nerves when it comes to performing to an audience?
Oh yeah! Especially with classical guitar. Some tunes are really difficult to play, so when you get a it nervous, you tend to shake. Even though I was able to play some of the songs any time, any where when I was at home, when I was on stage it happened a couple of times where it would be almost impossible for me to play.

The first track of yours that I heard was the cover of ‘Heartbeats’, by The Knife. It was on an advertisement, so does that mean that you have no problems with tracks going onto commercials whilst some artists will believe that it goes against artistic integrity?
Well, it’s not the most charming way to present your music. I think that the ultimate way would be for the artist to always have total control in which places the music is being used. In general, I think it’s more fun to hear a song being presented to you by a friend, or you listen to the radio or you watch a video by the artist. But I try not to see things in total black and white. I mean, for me, it was partly that with the commercial- the advert was beautiful and they played a decent wage and they were using the song in a really tasteful way. There are other extremes were you will have advertisements where they use music and if you look at it from the artist’s point of view, it’s as if somebody has just done an ugly video to your song and made the song feel less interesting. There is that aspect, but I’m not saying no to doing it again. I would just like to look at the details before saying yes.

Are you ever concerned that the covers you record will overshadow the rest of the album?
Not really, but I understand how that can happen. I’ve been choosing songs that are really well known. ‘Heartbeats’ wasn’t so well known in England, but it was in the charts in Sweden. For me, it was fun to do a song that was already an indie hit. And all of those other songs were songs that had already been a hit.

I remember the first time I heard your ‘In The Shade EP’, and my song played your cover of Kylie Minogue first.
Yeah, ‘Hand On Your Heart’ I mean, what I am trying to say is that if I chose songs that were more obscure, nobody would really pay as much attention. It’s almost like a small trick to bring people to my own music and so… I decided after the second album not to do any new covers, and I would only play the ones that I have already done. It’s partly doing tricks to get people to listen to my music. In Sweden, I feel very comfortable with my own music because ‘Crosses’ was the number one hit and made me sell gold with my first album and the advert with ‘Heartbeats’ came out two years later. At this point it fells that covers of Massive Attack and Joy Division and Kylie Minogue were covers that people really reacted to and… I don’t know - when I listen to other artists, they seem to make a lot more covers than I do.

Jesse Malin’s last record was an album of covers and John Lennon did the same.
There’s a whole tradition of it. Elvis Presley and any of the other old, well known singers would sing other peoples songs, so I think sometimes it is fun.

You were already known before Myspace got huge. What do you think of the signed bands who had set up their Myspace page and watched as every new “friend” arrived and wrote to them, only to get a deal and have a record label employee take over the running of the page and end the bond that had existed between the fan and the artist?
It partly happened to me. I told the people on my label not to do that much with my web page or my Myspace, because of that aspect of it. I don’t know. I understand why artists let go of certain things, because it takes a lot of time to do all the stuff that you used to do when you were just sitting at home and not recording or doing interviews. It’s very different when you are on tour, and I think that the small percentage of artists who manage to do most of what they do is very admirable. It’s something that I used to think about a lot when I was younger, and there was a DIY movement where you would record for your own “label” and another friend would be writing signs and you could see the clear difference between a major label band and a small band. Now, for me the most important thing is to make the music when you’re not thinking about the label or how much you are going to sell. You just keep everything in the music because, for me, that is what really matters and the contact is then there with the audience. It’s interesting to see how people at major labels think about things and I think it comes down to not knowing how it works. They see what is hip right now and at one point it was Myspace and they measure the amount of friends but they don’t notice how you can get friends without them listening to your music. I guess that is part of the reason why you see some really uninteresting music. It’s because so much of it is the kind of people who may be interested in the music, but they don’t have that emotional attachment to it. It’s more about making things work and sell and when they find a trick to make their band sell more, they use it. That’s a gradual thing that isn’t such a clear cut line but, I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m trying to say here!

The whole DIY movement that you have just mentioned has clear similarities to the punk scene that had inspired you, and even Factory Records in Manchester.
Yeah, it’s interesting to see how some stuff goes from something which is about being creative to something that is about selling. It’s a thin line when you are starting to do something for someone else instead of what you would like to see if you were the listener.

Well, are you against illegal downloads or are you just happy to have the music out there?
I’m happy as long as the music is out there. I think I released my albums just as labels were earning less and less from physical albums. Potentially, I could have been a lot richer right now but I’m not sad about that. We’re part of a huge information revolution and I’m not the one to be whining about not making more, I’m more inclined to celebrate the huge opportunity to reach out with the arts and information to the whole world. Now, if I look at it from my own little bubble, for me it’s pretty easy - because I travel with a really small production. I’m able to do tours were it is just me and a sound engineer, so my production costs aren’t big and I can earn money from touring and there are plenty of bands that don’t, and that can be a problem for some really good bands that aren’t earning as much as they used to because of CD sales. But in general, I’m not sad at all. I think that it is up to artists and especially the record industry to adapt and make the best out of it.

When you performed with Zero Seven, was that out of respect for what they had done and to try and help them gain that extra bit of publicity?
Well, they asked me if I would like to sing with them and I didn’t really have any ideas, so for me it was just kind of fun to do something new and something different and to work with other people. They’ve always tried to work with different singers and I think that from there point of view it was just to try and make something new with a different singer.

Was it a challenge when you were with them and it was not your set that you were performing?
Every time that I have tried to write with somebody else, it has been a challenge. I like writing on my own or with my band, friends I know from way back. So after a while with Zero Seven, it was like we decided that they do everything! They write the lyrics and the melody and I just sing, because it has happened to me before - it takes a lot of time for me to write.

Is there anybody know who you would really like to work with?
I’m looking forward to going back home and writing with my band and on my own. It just takes a lot of time to work with others and the good thing of working with others is that you do a lot of stuff that you wouldn’t usually be doing on your own. Part of it is compromising, and I am just looking forward to doing my own.

So what can we expect you to do next?
This autumn and spring, I’ll be back home. Writing with my band and writing my third album without any deadlines. I’ve been touring a lot, so I’ll be making the most of my time. This is something that I have been looking forward to for a long time.

Any regrets?
There are plenty of shows that I wondered “Why am I here? I don’t want to be here!” I wouldn’t tour as much as I have done. In the future, I want to make more music and play less.

Jose Gonzalez photograph courtesy of The Bob

Previous interviews by Tom Dylan can be found at www.myspace.com/newgunslingers

So as far as rock bands go who are your main influences?
Iwan Griffiths: The Manic Street Preachers were a big influence when we were starting off. When we were about 14 we’d all listen to them together and write.
RH: Yeah.
IG: For me, bands like Queens Of The Stone Age and Rage Against The Machine were bands that we used to cover when we were teenagers so it’s kind of cool to go more in that direction.

So is this the path that you’ll be following for the future albums?
RH: I think so yeah, especially with what we’ve been jamming on.
IG: Especially now that there are two guitars in the band and we’re writing a whole album with two guitars, its definitely a lot heavier the new stuff we’ve been writing.

So you’ve got new ideas sorted already then?
RH: A few things jammed out yeah.
IG: We’ve got five new songs.

So what’s the fan reaction been to the album and the new line-up at the shows?
IG: It’s been pretty cool
RH: Yeah, yeah.
IG: I think Paul (Mullen, new guitarist) has settled in really well and people have accepted him. I think now it’s more a case that people are there and they’re enjoying the music maybe more.
RH: I don’t feel like we’re being tested or anything when we’re at a gig. I think people like the new stuff anyway, which is the main thing.
IG: It’s cool to have two albums where we can actually have a choice of what to play. It’s quite hard to decide what songs we’re going to do sometimes now that we’ve got a lot of songs.

So how does the reaction to the band differ in places like the US? For example when you played the Vans Warped tour last year?
RH: It was just smaller really
IG: The US was quite hard because literally no-one knew who we were at all.
RH: It was like when we started out over here. Every day we were literally having to win over a new crowd from scratch. There was always the odd anglophile who knew who we were but it was really fun anyway and we always got a good reaction, it’s just there wasn’t a huge amount of people coming out to see us (laughs).
IG: I feel like we need to go back but if you want to break America then you have to be out there for a year or so probably just touring away unless you get on a TV show.

So are you planning on going back there anytime soon to further your position there?
IG: If they want us there!
RH: If they’ll have us! We’ve never been stopped at customs yet.
IG: If they ask us over we’d go but not at the moment. We’re focusing on home right now.

How much did it hurt when the NME turned on you after hailing the band as the “sound of 2006”?
RH: We sort of expected it really (laughs). It’s a fickle, sensationalist paper really.
IG: We always understood that as well, we just thought it was a good thing to have them on side but fuck it. If we worried about what they thought all the time…
RH: It’s like if a dickhead slags you off you don’t really pay much attention do you? I take the Sun’s gossip column more seriously than the NME to be honest.

You mentioned Paul Mullen settling into the band really well. What has he brought with him to the band?
IG: He’s more musically minded. Pennie was like a showman. Paul is more of a musician so it’s definitely opened up the possibilities of what we can do as a band with the extra musician and skills.
RH: He’s got a different sounding voice to me as well by a long way so he takes the lead on a couple of tracks and it gives it a totally different sound again. So yeah, we’ve got a lot of scope for what we can do. A lot of variety.

There’s this general feeling when reading about you or reading interviews with you, that ‘Monster’ and Alex Pennie are almost taboo subjects. Any idea where that’s come from?
IG: I think people just assume. We’ve never stated that we don’t want to talk about these things.
RH: It’s probably how other bands have reacted about similar situations in the past.
IG: Yeah, but we’re cool to talk about anything really. ‘Monster’ was good for us and we wouldn’t have the recognition we have now without it. I think with this tour and with ‘Steve McQueen’ coming out and doing really well, it’s probably going down better than ‘Monster’ at the shows now. It only charted at 16 but that was only because our record label not getting it to iTunes the Thursday of the week of release which kind of shot us in the foot a bit.
RH: We reckon it would have been top ten if it weren’t for those lost sales.
IG: But it’s cool. I don’t think you could call us one hit wonders anymore. Not that we were before really. But yeah, we’ll talk about anything. It’s there if people want to know I guess.

So do you know what song will be released as the next single?
IG: It’s going to be ‘Magazines’, but that’s going to be in the New Year.

That’s quite a big gap between single releases.
IG: Yeah but we want to do it big and proper so we’re actually planning it well.
RH: Although the album is out, no-one really knows it’s out so there’s going to be the single then loads and loads of adverts for the album. Like “we’re Here!”
IG: We want to get out and tour as well really. We haven’t toured much this year compared to the last few years so it’s good out on the road again and we’ve got another month of touring in November.

Is there anything else you’d like to add to the people reading?
RH: Come to the gigs!

The Automatic were talking to Mark Grainger. ‘This Is A Fix’ is out now, and you can read our review of the album here.

You’ve been touring for a while now. How’s that been?
Tommy Gleeson (Vocals and Guitar): It’s been good dude. We’ve had about a three week break between Download and now so it’s been a little bit on the quiet side, but it’s nice to be back and playing again and playing big rooms with bigger audiences so it’s been really good.

Is it a lot different playing in bigger rooms than to playing in smaller rooms?
Tommy: Yeah man it is. Partly because we’re playing to someone else’s audience so you have to go on and win people over which makes us raise our game and make much more of an effort just to win people round. And we’re not tripping over each other onstage and the sound’s usually better and it’s nice to be on a tour like this. Everything operates at a much slicker level than when you’re playing the shitty little places. But they both have their charms.

What’s the least rock’n'roll thing that’s happened so far on tour?
Mark Verney (Guitar): Me and Toshi had some ice creams the other day.
Toshi Ogawa (Bass): They were good…
Jason Thomopoulos (Drums): With a flake…
Mark: With a flake yeah…that was the best bit.
Toshi: I think that was one of the more rock’n'roll things we did…[laughter]

After The*Ga*Ga*s split, how did you get involved with Mark and start this band up?
Tommy: It was through the “Care in the Community” programme, I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it…[laughter]
Toshi: He was on the street begging for change.
Tommy: We thought we’d give him a shot, gave him a guitar and it worked out… We just put the feelers out and we were telling everyone we were looking for a guitar player and one of the guys we mentioned it to was a producer who knew Mark and he suggested him. We got together and jammed for a few hours just to see how it went. We clicked straight away and we thought there was a chemistry there so we just kind of decided to roll with it… and the rest is history.

You’ve done a few videos with Gary Shore. How did you that all come about?
Jason: Our manager went out to France for this music convention and he met someone who works with Gary. I don’t think he met Gary originally but that’s how that came about. Then we found out about Shore and Slovenia.

Was it a bit of a trip going out to Slovenia to do the videos?
Tommy: Yeah, it was very random, man. We’ve been three times now, but the first time it was just so surreal. Of all the places to go and do a video, especially with all those people wearing pig masks. It was a very long and bizarre day. But they’re a really good group of people. They’ve got the vision which is kind of what Gary is a part of. He does a lot of stuff outside of that as well. They’re good guys.

How did you decide on which tracks to release as singles?
Tommy: I suppose there are tracks on the album that are sort of more…for want of a better word, commercial. We just thought they’d be the ones that people would be able to get into easiest. Ones that combined lots of different elements of the band, like the riffs, but also the melody and the catchiness and the hooks. We don’t write to try and write singles, but every song we write we’re trying to write a strong catchy song. It’s not easy to pick the right single.

Was it a conscious decision to go darker and heavier after The*Ga*Ga*s or was it more of a natural progression?
Jason: It was a pretty natural progression.
Tommy: Yeah, there was a period when we weren’t writing so much because we were having a little break away from music for, what in reality was only about a month, maybe two, but it felt like an age. When we came back we were all in a different headspace and the influences that Mark brought in that we were into as well that we hadn’t perhaps thought of in a long time. So it was just a natural progression.

You’ve done in Kerrang! a top five moustaches feature. Was that something you particularly set out to do?
Tommy: [laughs] Well, Simon their news editor emailed me randomly one day and asked if I could think of a top 5 anything to do. I think he suggested Arsenal players or something like that because I’m an Arsenal fan. I did it in about ten minutes and it was the first stupid idea that came into my mind. I was quite amazed that they printed it. I thought they’d email me back telling me to fuck off, just with how whimsical it was. I wasn’t expecting them to run it.

Do you get a lot of people emailing you back telling you to fuck off?
(Laughter)
Mark: We do it a lot… (Laughs)