Does it offend you, yeah? 29/10/09

Heaven is a funny place, normally home to G.A.Y, it was an interesting contrast between punter and staff – multi- coloured, moshing youth Vs. homo-erotic barmen. But that came later on. Having chatted away to the security and persuaded them that we did in fact have a reason to be there we were escorted back stage to meet Rob Bloomfield and Chloe Duveaux. Eventually we overcame technical issues at hand – notably recording the thing and this is where the interview went.

Mewbox – Go on record – so we’ll just see what happens…..

M – So DIOYY, fairly obvious question – fairly sure we’re not the first person to ask this but what does offend you?

Chloe – AOhhhhhh, bad question, no no – get out. Get out.

Rob – The staple answer is, what offends us is people asking that question.

M – Excellent, so we’ve started off on a good note.

No, you don’t really offend us, you seem quite nice.

M – So, you had the 9^th most listened track on Last FM…

Rob – Yeah – that’s quite random, I don’t know why. I guess it’s eight from where we want to be next year.

Chloe – Yeah.

M- So, out of interest, how much do you make from that?

Rob – I don’t think we do, no, yes we do. I think we make like 0.001 p per track or something. So not much really. It is a good though.

Chloe – Like your blue cheese beer?

M- Are you guys quite into food then. Blue cheese beer?

Chloe – No, no this is a horrible beer –

Rob – It’s a ger, which is like a really high-class continental beer, which is made out of mould.

M – How can you make beer with cheese?

Rob – It’s not made from cheese; it just tastes a bit like it. I hate it, but my friend really likes it.

M – What’s it called again?

Rob – A ger.

M – Is it German?

Rob – Maybe, I think it’s some dodgy Flemish thing.

Chloe – Rock and Roll, with cheese.

M – So, America, you guys are rather popular over there.

Rob – Yes, we’re getting there, slowly but surely. I think we are more popular over there than here at the moment, but when the albums out.

Chloe – We’ll be popular everywhere!

M – I remember seeing you in Bournemouth, many moons ago at the iBar.

Rob – Ahh, I remember that.

M – Yeah, you kicked off with a ‘Beeper’ remix if I remember correctly.

Chloe – Hmmmmm, could have been a fake blood re-mix. Was it a dj set?

M – I think it was a live show, I was quite far from the front, there were low ceilings and I was quite drunk. So that’s enough about that.

M – So things have moved quite quickly since than.

Rob – Yeah, we’ve done everything we can to blow our career by not being about or doing gigs and hiding ourselves away, but we seem to have become more popular whilst we have been away – it’s lined up quite nicely. I don’t know how we have done that.

M – Right place at the right time I suppose.

Rob – Yeah, and people working behind the scenes, the American label basically working their arse off for us.

M – Would you say there is any major difference between what you consider your target market over here and in the US?

Rob – No, but I think people, oh god I don’t know what I can say. We were perceived differently over here, I think we made some mistakes letting people pigeonhole us in the whole nu-rave scene.

M – Yeah, that died quickly.

Chloe – It was timing as well.

Rob – We were never interested in nu-rave.

Rob – In America I think people take you at face value, you’ll get Hip-Hop guys and Heavy Metal fans all at our shows. You’ll get this array of people whilst at a time in the UK we only had people in neon clothing with glow sticks.

Over here people are more loyal to their cults and genres whilst in America people cross over more frequently.

M – So you’d say people are more open to possibility over there?

Rob - Yeah, over there we are seen as an electro Nirvana whilst over here we get lumped in with bands like Late of the Pier and Hadouken just because there is an electro element.

Chloe – I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I mean they have to give a tag of some kind.

M – Do you think the media label things for the sake of labeling them?

Rob - Yeah, the media loves a movement, it’s the new wave of this, and this is the new thing, but it’s just not true, there a millions of bands all doing different things.

Rob – I mean with punk there was definitely a scene, same with goth. I think there has not really been a scene since Brit Pop. I don’t think

Chloe – But with punk it really, it was blown out to be more than it was. It implies everyone was a punk.

Rob – Yes, but Nu-Rave was just the NME.

M – So how did this all span from Reading? Something I noticed on your Myspace – ‘fighting monotony since ‘06’ – is that comment related to Reading it all? It is a slightly culturally bereft place.

Rob – Ehhh, yes it is. I’ve been trying to get something going in Reading for years. I wanted to get a fringe festival running for a while. Unsigned bands / street art.

There are lots of barriers though, the council are dead against it. Same with the venues.

Chloe – Which is odd when you think of the Festival.

M – What was it like to work with Seb Grainger, he did the lyrics on ‘Lets Make out’?

Rob – Ahh, I wasn’t in the band then,

Chloe - Neither was I – would of loved to have met him, am a massive Death From Above fan.

Rob – From what I’m told – Seb turned up sent the boys out the room, recorded the lyrics and apparently was so nervous he hid behind a door whilst he played it to them.

How very odd.

Big shout to Nick Carro @ Unique_Vision for the lovely photos.

Thanks Nick.

1. 

   James says:

   November 3, 2009 at 7:37 pm

   Heard a rumor they may be playing the IOW Festival too.