November 2007
You're the only one that has stayed as a full time musician since the split - so what do you get up to when you're away from the music stuff?
I have me 3 kids for 4 days a week so i suppose its a bit jeckyll and hyde for me right now. For those 4 days I generally just be a dad, you know, school runs, feeding, watering, cleaning, playing etc and then for 3 days I turn into a bit of an idiot. With The Dukes last few gigs it may have been noted that we only played weekend nights and thats partly to accomadate my double life. Generally though if I'm not performing I'm either writing, listening to or thinking about music.
Who instigated the get-back-together? Did one person contact everyone else like in the Blues Brothers, or did you all just know it was time?
Me, Alan and Tom got together for lunch one afternoon way back in February and the conversation arose as it has in the past. This time though Al suggested we get in touch with Paul and gauge his interest. Paul replied saying he'd love to give it a go. So we had a sly rehearsal to see if we could cut it still and it all seemed very easy. Because this is a one off thing there is no outside pressure from dickheads to slow us down and therefore every discussion we have had has been easy to agree on. You know, t shirt designs, set list orders etc.
How have you found it working as a five piece with two guitars? As the only one who doesn't play an instrument what's your take on it?
The 2 guitarists have undoubtedly put the most work in for this, working out tricky parts and who will play what, so fair play to 'em. In hindsight we should perhaps have always been a 2 guitar band as its probably the most powerful we've ever sounded. Joe will play a small amount of keys but the majority is a straight ahead rock combo. I just stand at the front and shake my ass a bit so it doesnt really affect me.
Which town and venue are you most looking forward to heading to on the upcoming tour?
How I see it is that wherever we used to play there was usually a great party atmosphere and so the fact we have sold so many tickets with people knowing they are gonna be hearing some past hits and see all the original members is gonna make it hard not to enjoy any of 'em to be honest.
Is there any possibilty that this tour isn't the final swansong for Shed Seven. The response has been fantastic, so do you anticipate something else could happen in the future?
This is a strict one off tour. We have absolutely no plans to write new material. I have to say if we were offered a festival or 2 next Summer im sure we'd sit down and discuss it.
The Dukes are still going strong, where do you see them in a year from now?
After the last couple of gigs it went a bit quiet for The Dukes. Matt the drummer lives in Brighton so its been difficult getting everyone together to rehearse. Then Stu only went and got married, so between a week long stag-do in Poland, then the wedding, then Stu going on his honeymoon it was almost a couple of months of inactivity. However me and Rob have been busy writing new stuff which is sounding pretty smart, and from January we will be spending more time bashing things out. The plan is to get some new stuff out and tour at some point next year.
How do you see the music scene today, compared to the height of Shed Seven in the mid 90s? For someone who is still on the scene, how does it affect you?
As always there is good stuff and shit stuff. The live music scene is very healthy again at the mo. Loads of kids are getting up and giving it a go, which is mint. On saying that though I find myself going back to old stuff a lot more than I probably should. I suppose music is great for memories and there are so many tunes that hold varying degrees of memory for me. Wheras you cant really reminisce about tomorrow can you?
Do you have an ipod? And if you do, whats on it at the moment?
I'm old school. I put a CD in a machine. I walk everywhere, but I dont really listen to music in transit as I can't hear traffic, or people shouting wanker at me from passing cars. I like to give 'em a one finger wave as a reply. If I'm not at home I use other peoples facilities.
If you could take only 3 essential things with you on tour, what would they be?
A voicebox, a bag of cigarettes and a backstage pass.
Are you looking forward to spending a month on the road? Whats the best and worse thing about it?
You have to take the rough with the smooth. I'm looking forward to singing songs obviously, and meeting some cool people. Theres no down side to that. I'm looking forward to a few drinks but I aint looking forward to the fuzzy head the next day. The rough with the smooth you see.