Starting as we mean to go on… Our first Band of the Day for the year and the decade!
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re from the land of Lea & Perrins sauce. That is pretty much the only thing we can use to identify our home when somebody doesn’t know where Worcester is or they’ve never heard of it. Good sauce.
How did you meet?
Thom: Cal and I have known each other since we were 16/17 and were in a really bad metal band together. I actually met Crag through another friend and we had a jam. I didn’t see him for years until he messaged me and asked if I wanted to join his band as their guitarist had just left. We played in that band together for about a year before it fizzled out and then we started this with Cal.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We’ve been gigging for just over a year but we’ve been together since early 2018.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
It literally means nothing. We wanted something short and punchy, nothing too serious but nothing too dumb.
What are your influences?
Crag: My influences span far and wide. As a tub thumper I’m influenced by the legends such as bonham, Neil Peart, Jeff Pocaro but I’m also into all the session guys such as Dave Weckl, Thomas Lang and Benny Greb.
Cal: it’s quite wide and varied between all of us. But all like old school rock, punk and grunge. If it’s a bit melodic and got some beans on it, we probably dig it. Away from that I like a lot of metal, the whole australian garage punk thing going on.
Thom: Too many to list. If I had to name a few, Buddy Holly, David Bowie, The Beatles, Nirvana, John Frusciante, Mudhoney…
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Cal: I guess we do what we want. Every band should do that to be fair. But we’ve got some songs that are real poppy, some are really fast and aggressive and some that are almost ballads. We kind of go for it live as well, we’re not bothered about looking pretty for very long.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Thom: Anger, regret, shame, abandonment. All stuff that is really easy to write about. You know when you take scenarios and blow them up in your head? That’s kind of what happens when I write lyrics. Some of it is just nonsensical, pissed off stuff that just pours out, and as I’m terrible at being sarcastic off-the-cuff, I like to add that in sometimes.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Cal: It’s a lot of hair and a lot of sweat. I feel like we’re reasonably tight in our performance and just aggressive enough to branch out towards other genres a bit. We’ve done gigs with metal bands and held our own. Not really sure how many, maybe 20?
Crag: If we played bigger venues I would love strobes and pyros. A man can dream!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Crag: I don’t think we have a wildest moment at a live stage. Does head banging so hard I had a bad neck for a week count? I also once played in just my boxers in a previous band when my beer belly didn’t exist.
Thom: I flicked a pick out at the end of a show once. 4 people died.
Cal: At one of my old bands gigs, a dude in the crowd was head banging, smashed his head on the monitor, carried on and got blood over other people and our gear. That was cool I guess. We headbang a lot so we don’t see too much. We’ll get more wild in 2020.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Thom: Squier Mustang (modded with a tuneomatic bridge and a humbucker), Epiphone Firebird, Engl Thunder 50 head through a Marshall 2×12 cab, multiple pedals. TC Electronics Spark boost for a bit of grit, original Sansamp Classic for dirt, EHX Small Clone chorus, Boss delay and a TC Electronics tuner.
Cal: I’m a tramp and am borrowing Thom’s Vintage Jazz style bass because I haven’t got around to getting one yet (fucking tories). I play through an Ashdown OriginAl bass head, a biggish ashdown cab which is second hand and discontinued so I’m not sure what model it is. Use an Ibanez tube screamer and a ProCo Rat for the dirt.
Crag: Gear I currently use is as follows: Yamaha rock tour mahogany kit in Matt grey consisting of 20” bass drum / 12” rack Tom and 16”floor Tom. A black panther black widow 14×5.5 maple snare or Black panther Aztec 14x 6.5 steel / bronze (depending where we play as they’re both loud!). Zildjian A customs – 15” high hats / 17” crash / 18” efx crash / 19” crash. Sabian AAX 20” ride. Iron Cobra 600 series pedal and Promark TX5A sticks.
What are your plans for 2020?
In 2020 we’ve got a single coming out in Feb and an EP in spring. Other than that we plan to play everywhere as much as we can! Give us those gigs!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Crag: That’s a good question. I would have to say open up for Foo Fighters and have a band called The Survival Code – a band from London open up for us. They’re way more accomplished than us but they’re great guys and I would love to tour with them.
Cal: Someone like Dinosaur Jr, Violent Soho, Clowns or Waax would do it for me. Probably Hipflask Virgins who are from our hometown would fit the bill well with us. Or Plane Crasher from Hereford, LOUD.
Thom: Supporting Dinosaur Pile Up with Hipflask Virgins opening.
