Wakefield Museums and Castles

This interview was produced for a past exhibition at Wakefield Museum in 2017. Please note this exhibition has now closed.

Please note: this interview text contains some strong language.

Location: Portland, USA

I would say it was “Somewhere In My Heart” by Aztec Camera. I heard it at Pontins holiday camp in Morecambe, 1989 I think, and really loved it. I would use the money that normally went into arcade games to play it on the jukebox, and when I got back from holiday I bought the 7” from Boots in Wakefield - my first record.

My Mum got me a ‘Columbus’ bass guitar that was advertised in the free ads paper in late ‘91. Turned out that it was being sold by the String Surgeon at Horbury Bridge, who then became our guitar teacher that same Christmas. He still takes care of our instruments to this day - he’s an amazing luthier.

I find it strange talking about these things, but we have definitely encountered some weird people over the years. One time, during ‘The New Fellas’ UK tour, 3 girls who lived together in Brighton offered to let me live with them free of charge, and they would each give me £30 per week  pocket money. Seemed like a pretty good deal, as I was living out of a suitcase at the time.

Most of our fan experiences have been really cool - we have some amazing fans.

To be honest, I don’t really remember. I had a one track mind at school. I always wanted to be a musician, and had been since the age of 7. I remember the careers people trying to give me more realistic goals, but all I really cared about was writing songs. I wasn’t really bothered who, or what they were for. I got a 4-track recorder in 1996, and from that point I kinda saw myself maybe moving into producing if the band didn’t work out.

The first big show that I saw was Terrorvision at Sheffield Arena - this was in 1995 I think.

Players Snooker Club was the best place to go out in Wakefield back in the 90’s. It was full of all the outcasted teens, and the punks and the weirdos. It was a meeting place and safe space for all the outsiders. There would be a DIY show on most weekends, and it had a great sense of community. I saw a lot of good bands there, but my favorite was definitely Pylon. In the late 90’s there wasn’t much music coming out nationally that I was into, and Pylon were probably my favorite band during that period. Not just favorite Wakefield band… favourite band full-stop.

The fact that for 90 minutes I can’t possibly think about anything else other than the headspace I am in at that time. I forget about the world offstage. It’s hard to describe. A truly great show feels like you are operating just on instinct - you come offstage and have no clear memory of what just happened. I’m naturally pretty shy, so I spend the whole time with my eyes closed. It’s a very surreal experience.

I miss my wife, of course, and my dogs. My wife is a musician too, so she is frequently away on the road also. I miss being able to have a normal schedule - when you are on tour your whole day is planned out for you.

That’s pretty weird. It’s been like that ever since I was 22, so now when I am home I have no idea what to do with myself.

I don’t know, it’s hard to pinpoint a moment, or even to be able to tangibly say that you have ‘made it’. The music industry is a very fluid environment. We have a fan base, and have had a long career, so I guess we made it on our own terms. I remember being chased through the streets of Tokyo by some waitresses who spotted us through their restaurant windows. They wanted us to sign their order pads. It was our first ever time in Japan, and we were just blown away. The Japanese fans embraced us way quicker than anywhere else in the world - we felt like really big stars over there. People waiting to mob us at the airport and stuff, playing massive venues. Totally wild.

When we were recording our second album “The New Fellas” we were thinking of changing one of the lyrics to be less abrasive. Paul Cook from The Sex Pistols came to visit us in the studio and said something along the lines of “You shouldn’t change the words cos you think it might offend people - if they don’t get it, then f*** em, who cares if they don’t like it. It’s more important that you like it cos you’re the one who has to live with it forever”.

Just solitude. I like to go out in Portland by myself, either just walking, or to a bar with my headphones on. Just watching other people go about their business while feeling detached from society. There’s nothing more therapeutic. Being on tour you are surrounded by people pretty much 24/7 - so alone time is something I really value nowadays.

We had our biggest show ever in 2016, at Millennium Square in Leeds. In 2017 we wanna take things further, and have a bunch of ideas in the pipeline - but we don’t wanna give anything away at this point.