Cherubs - Interview
The Cherubs are the most upbeat band to come out of Norway whose fan base don't go in for church burning. Our Kid 73 cornered Guitarist Matt, right before he went on stage at Bournemouth's Consortium:
by Kid 73
OK Name?
Matt.
And you are?
One of the guitar players.
Which one bass, lead?
Well, one of the six string guitar players. There isn’t a lead guitar as such, we do a kind of simultaneous dual guitaring. There is no lead and there is no rhythm player in this band.
It’s more organic?
Yeah, yeah. It’s just much more interesting... you’ll see later on.
So when was the first night of the tour?
The first night was officially last Sunday - in Birmingham.
Are you happy to be on tour?
Yeah. It’s our first headline tour and we're geared up to do this sort of thing.
Looking forward to the hard work?
Uh…hard work? Well we know what the hard work entails and so yeah we are really all geared up for it.
What’s going to be the high point of the tour for you?
Just playing in front of crowds really. It’s really fulfilling playing in front of people that appreciate what you do. We're in Manchester tomorrow night and that should be a cool night. It’s an NME night so it should be interesting.
Are the NME being really supportive?
No, not yet. We're not very well publicised - but we have had a bit here and there. They publicised the tour and we've had an album and single review so it’s all quite positive.
Perhaps you will soon join other bands currently dominating NME covers... like The Bravery.
Ah, commercial schlop. Rock bands.
The Bravery are arguing in the pages of NME about other bands and that magazine gives them a forum for that…
Yeah, a lot of people don’t appreciate bands being singled out and championed more than other bands. There are a lot of other bands that deserve to be well publicised. For example, you mentioned The Bravery. They are just an average kind of band and there are far more interesting things going on for the pages of NME.
If you had an ideal support slot who would you want to play with?
Well ok. We all have different tastes…
Sure, but you personally...
Pixies would be nice. Interpol would be cool, or Morrissey. Lots of other bands that aren’t massive, bands like Pretty girls Make Graves.
Did you see the Pixies when they came to the UK last year?
Yeah I saw the Pixies on my Birthday.
They were fantastic, weren't they? I never thought I would get to see them live.
Me neither, words can’t even… The Tears, another band and Modest Mouse are another… but yeah, Pixies were spectacular, kinda faultless really and it’s not often you get to see that. You know, they might have got back together because they were broke - there is always that speculation but they made a lot of people happy. Whatever the reason, everyone knows that they made a lot of money but they’re a great band and they're back together again doing what they do best. They were just so incredibly influential too. Every single song they wrote then and write now is indispensable. I think that if you don’t like the Pixies then there is something wrong with you.
I know that it’s difficult these days to be as influential as they were but is it something that runs through your mind whilst writing music?
Yeah, you get pigeon holed really easily. It’s really easy, and lazy, for critical journalists to say, “ah, just another Smiths, another Pixies, another Interpol kind of band. Never done anything that hasn’t been done before” which is a shame really. Even if it’s not original it can still be interesting. It’s a shame that bands are put in a box. You've just gotta get on with it and eventually you find where it is you fit in.
So things are motoring along for you guys. Are you quite happy with everything?
Yeah. We just really want to get our heads down because we're looking to write some new material. The album was written, no, recorded over a year ago and we just want to put it behind us and do some new stuff.
Who writes it, is it a collaboration effort?
Yeah. Anybody could come along with an idea, even a fully formed song, a riff or whatever. It gets recorded down and given to people. Sometimes Stoller will have a vocal idea and he puts it down on tape and we can work around that. Or an idea can come spontaneously in the studio during rehearsal.
Have you been tempted to use any Norwegian lyrics?
No, if we wanted to do that then we would have stayed in Norway, we wouldn’t have moved to London
We had Mira From Ladytron come down to DJ…
She’s beautiful isn’t she? She’s gorgeous.
And impeccably dressed too (Kid 73 has a chuckle). She is putting down some Bulgarian Lyrics on the new album.
Oh right, interesting. Well we're not ruling out anything. If Stoller wants to sing in Norwegian then fair enough. Ladytron - we're quite friendly with Daniel and he has remixed one of our songs.
They are all good DJs
I have never witnessed the DJing. I know that Daniel listens to really, really good music and he’s a nice guy.
So for this year it’s heads down...
Yeah. After this there is more touring, a few festivals this summer, gigs here and there and support slots where we can get them. We're writing some more songs too. Which is fun.
Which was your favourite Spice Girl?
Um…(dramatic pause) none of them really. I don’t know. Geri’s boobs were nice. Maybe. I got a picture of Geri in her Union Jack er... thing. I thought that was quite picturesque. Interesting to say the least. My least favourite would be Sporty.
by Kid 73
OK Name?
Matt.
And you are?
One of the guitar players.
Which one bass, lead?
Well, one of the six string guitar players. There isn’t a lead guitar as such, we do a kind of simultaneous dual guitaring. There is no lead and there is no rhythm player in this band.
It’s more organic?
Yeah, yeah. It’s just much more interesting... you’ll see later on.
So when was the first night of the tour?
The first night was officially last Sunday - in Birmingham.
Are you happy to be on tour?
Yeah. It’s our first headline tour and we're geared up to do this sort of thing.
Looking forward to the hard work?
Uh…hard work? Well we know what the hard work entails and so yeah we are really all geared up for it.
What’s going to be the high point of the tour for you?
Just playing in front of crowds really. It’s really fulfilling playing in front of people that appreciate what you do. We're in Manchester tomorrow night and that should be a cool night. It’s an NME night so it should be interesting.
Are the NME being really supportive?
No, not yet. We're not very well publicised - but we have had a bit here and there. They publicised the tour and we've had an album and single review so it’s all quite positive.
Perhaps you will soon join other bands currently dominating NME covers... like The Bravery.
Ah, commercial schlop. Rock bands.
The Bravery are arguing in the pages of NME about other bands and that magazine gives them a forum for that…
Yeah, a lot of people don’t appreciate bands being singled out and championed more than other bands. There are a lot of other bands that deserve to be well publicised. For example, you mentioned The Bravery. They are just an average kind of band and there are far more interesting things going on for the pages of NME.
If you had an ideal support slot who would you want to play with?
Well ok. We all have different tastes…
Sure, but you personally...
Pixies would be nice. Interpol would be cool, or Morrissey. Lots of other bands that aren’t massive, bands like Pretty girls Make Graves.
Did you see the Pixies when they came to the UK last year?
Yeah I saw the Pixies on my Birthday.
They were fantastic, weren't they? I never thought I would get to see them live.
Me neither, words can’t even… The Tears, another band and Modest Mouse are another… but yeah, Pixies were spectacular, kinda faultless really and it’s not often you get to see that. You know, they might have got back together because they were broke - there is always that speculation but they made a lot of people happy. Whatever the reason, everyone knows that they made a lot of money but they’re a great band and they're back together again doing what they do best. They were just so incredibly influential too. Every single song they wrote then and write now is indispensable. I think that if you don’t like the Pixies then there is something wrong with you.
I know that it’s difficult these days to be as influential as they were but is it something that runs through your mind whilst writing music?Yeah, you get pigeon holed really easily. It’s really easy, and lazy, for critical journalists to say, “ah, just another Smiths, another Pixies, another Interpol kind of band. Never done anything that hasn’t been done before” which is a shame really. Even if it’s not original it can still be interesting. It’s a shame that bands are put in a box. You've just gotta get on with it and eventually you find where it is you fit in.
So things are motoring along for you guys. Are you quite happy with everything?
Yeah. We just really want to get our heads down because we're looking to write some new material. The album was written, no, recorded over a year ago and we just want to put it behind us and do some new stuff.
Who writes it, is it a collaboration effort?
Yeah. Anybody could come along with an idea, even a fully formed song, a riff or whatever. It gets recorded down and given to people. Sometimes Stoller will have a vocal idea and he puts it down on tape and we can work around that. Or an idea can come spontaneously in the studio during rehearsal.
Have you been tempted to use any Norwegian lyrics?
No, if we wanted to do that then we would have stayed in Norway, we wouldn’t have moved to London
We had Mira From Ladytron come down to DJ…
She’s beautiful isn’t she? She’s gorgeous.
And impeccably dressed too (Kid 73 has a chuckle). She is putting down some Bulgarian Lyrics on the new album.
Oh right, interesting. Well we're not ruling out anything. If Stoller wants to sing in Norwegian then fair enough. Ladytron - we're quite friendly with Daniel and he has remixed one of our songs.They are all good DJs
I have never witnessed the DJing. I know that Daniel listens to really, really good music and he’s a nice guy.
So for this year it’s heads down...
Yeah. After this there is more touring, a few festivals this summer, gigs here and there and support slots where we can get them. We're writing some more songs too. Which is fun.
Which was your favourite Spice Girl?
Um…(dramatic pause) none of them really. I don’t know. Geri’s boobs were nice. Maybe. I got a picture of Geri in her Union Jack er... thing. I thought that was quite picturesque. Interesting to say the least. My least favourite would be Sporty.
