Where did you grow up?
David - ST17
Rob - Between Leicester & Melton Mowbray
Jon - Harlow, Essex
Steve - Around Ashford in Kent
Alex - South London/Surrey (depending on point of view)
What are your early influences, in particular musical influences? Are there an particular songs that stand out?
Alex - Adam Ant had an effect on me, possibly not musical. SAW honed my pop sensibilities. Adamski's Killer and then The Smashing Pumpkins' Today changed my world.
David - The Thompson Twins excited me as a youngster, but I can't hear it now.
Rob - I was raised on Nirvana, personally. The sleevenotes to Incesticide being possibly the greatest wake up call in the face of small-town attitudes ever.
When did you start to play music?
Alex - Recorder at age 8, keyboard at about 10. My stepdad's mum's lodger used to give me basic lessons. You should have heard my bossa nova take on Yesterday.
David - On day release at Goldsmiths College about five years ago. I passed grade 5 theory and then instantly forgot it all.
Rob - More or less out of the womb, never had a single lesson. From time to time it really shows!
Jon - To be honest, I haven't really started yet.
Luxembourg The Band Not The Place...
How did the band get together?
Alex - Contact ads, in one way or another.
Who are the band/what do you all play?
David sings, Rob plays guitar, Alex play keys, Jon plays bass, Steve drums.
For those who haven't heard you, can you describe your sound.
Alex - Pop noir: intelligent and glamorous pop music with a chip on its shoulder.
Rob - Twice as pop as our nearest competitor. There's no room for indie credibility in these parts!
Jon - Quite unlike anyone else's.
Plans for new release/are you happy with the releases so far ?
Alex - I don't think any band is ever totally happy with any recording they do. If we did manage to create this perfect, flawless thing, what would we do next? But Housewives was a classic debut single - at least, that's how it will come to be seen - and
Best Kept Secret is a great little archive of four years of London indie obscurity. Hopefully, our next single, Luxembourg vs Great Britain, will take us to a wider audience. It's due out on Shifty Disco in late August.
How did you develop your sound?
Alex - We're five people with very different music taste, so it was fairly organic. There was never a grand plan.
Jon - If we'd tried to plan it, we would never have been able to agree about anything.
Are any of the songs autobiographical ?
David - Everything is autobiographical to someone.
Jon - My basslines are certainly autobiographical.
What is your experience of playing the songs live?
Alex - Extensive.
other bands
Do you have any musical heroes?
Alex - I try to avoid that. If you worship another artist, you end up (consiously or unconsciously) trying to copy them. Plenty of icons though. That kind of worship is fine.
Rob - Erm, counter to the above: Kurt Cobain, Bernard Butler, Jonny Greenwood, Phil Manzenera, Bryan Ferry, PJ Harvey... I abandoned any vestige of hipness years ago!
David - Dirk Bogarde.
Are there any new bands out there at the moment who
you particularly like ?
Alex - The Long Blondes are going to be huge. The Rocks' new material is fantastic, and should see them back on top. On an electro tip, Swimmer One have more heart than most guitar bands could ever dream of. And everyone should see Mitten.
Rob - I'm partial to The Boyfriends, The Vichy Government and The Schla La La's myself.
Jon - I can't understand why the world isn't going bananas about The Bridge Gang.
Is there anyone who you would like to support, or
you would like to support you ?
Alex - The Smiths, reformed, supporting us.
Rob - It'd be nice if Brett and Bernard accepted their place and opened for us!
Other areas
Have you any heroes - living or dead - in other
fields ?
Rob - Mary Anning, who discovered the Icthyosaurus. Anyone who goes to the beach and comes back with a new kind of Dinosaur is ok by me.
What about other art forms? Have any books or
films had a big influence you ?
Rob - There's a lot of 'This Life' in my guitars!
Anything that featured nighttime scenes of an imagined London had a big effect on me as a hapless midlander - 'Mishandled' is certainly musically borne of that sense of yearning to be among the streetlights.
Future
What are your plans for the future?
Alex - After LvGB, another single, maybe in January, then perhaps an album, full UK tour, overwhelming critical acclaim, world tour, corporate endorsement deals, the first band on the moon...
Rob - ...end of day jobs and more sleep!
Jon - The collapse of international capitalism and an appearance on CBBC.
Are you working towards world domination ?
David - Absolutely not.
Alex - It'd be a start...
Desert Island
And to conclude the dreaded Desert Island Disc question. If you had to take one record, one book and one film (assuming you had a DVD player) with you what would they be ?
David - Tropical Brainstorm, Kirsty MacColl; Turtle Diary, Russell Hoban; Far From Heaven, Todd Haynes.
Alex - Here Come The Warm Jets by Brian Eno; an A-Z; Josie & The Pussycats
Rob - Sci-Fi Lullabies by Suede, The Starlight Barking by Dodie Smith, 'Coupling' box set.
Steve - Best Of The Beatles by The Beatles; Sock Monkeys by Arne Svenson and Ron Warren; and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Jon - Hex Enduction Hour by the Fall, England's Dreaming by Jon Savage and the Day Today. Although I would go insane within days if I had nothing new to listen to.
Sum up your band in 3 words
Jon - People playing music
Rob - Polite talented boys
Alex - Pop fucking noir