Before we signed with EMI, we checked out a number of labels like London, and Island, but EMI were the ones that offered us full artistic control on a major label. We wanted the push but we also wanted full control, we got them both from EMI in one breath.
It just sort of developed that way, what really happened on the earlier stuff, and how it happened, wasn't really what we expected. We didn't consider it a selling point, and we certainly didn't expect to get so big so soon but after being on the road we got more confident playing with each other and so the music got naturally harder. Of course it's not hard to the point that you can call it AC/DC or something is it?
Don't know. We just sort of liked it, we listened to some records and decided to just do that. We did a live version of Strange Brew the Cream song once, sometimes you get a song you like. We don't really like doing other peoples songs, you tend to think `well why can't we fucking write our own?' It was difficult to get it to sound any different. The Chille Peppers did Search & Destroy as well and their version was very much like Iggy's so we tried to do it differently but ours actually sounded a lot like it as well. It's one of those songs that's very difficult to make it sound like your own; well at least make it sound like you put your own input into it.
I don't know, it did blow up and that was really unexpected, but we were so busy that no one had the time to take it in, we didn't sit there and have all these boners and think `Wow this is fucking amazing' because we were working so hard we didn't notice; we were doing the album and on tour. It was totally unexpected with the `Unbelievable' syndrome, if you like.
It was that back biting thing, then we went to America and they wanted to sort of support you again and ask you to do front covers on like the NME and all the sort of alternative Mags, the ones who tend to snoot you and think that you are too big for them now. They think you are a bunch of poofy wanker youngsters and they just want to dump you. Then you go out and do well in another country and they want to be nice to you again. It's so crap that the English press, especially the NME's and such like, the papers that you really want to be in, you've read them as you grew up because you were interested in music, and it upsets you when you see yourself being fucked about by them.
I don't know, you can never tell. Even after the Unbelievable thing there were people loving you and there were people hating you, it will probably be the same as that again, there will be two extremes again.
Audiences vary, especially in the states. If we go to the west coast it is very different than when we go to the east coast. The West coast seem to be slightly older, all this surf bum lark( what ? Surf bums in Glasgow?-Sarcastic Stu). It's nice to see the different audience. I preferred the US in a big way, the audience got really into it, diving on their heads and all this stuff. I just much prefer playing there.
The Unbelievable remixes sounded too much like the original, but Foetus actually changed the record completely, that was more like what we were after, making the single sound more obscure. I really like what Foetus did.
I don't know. We have concentrated on doing things much more live, it's so difficult to do, like not say taking sections of the drums and not taking out mistakes, if there is like a mistake in there, leave it in there, it can be quite interesting. You learn to like mistakes. As long as it is not a fucking bum note. We tend to record more naturally, it's sounding better like that.
No, not really, I never liked working and I suppose it's something I like doing. It's a kind of arty thing I suppose, I was quite into doing something like this and you never know what is going to happen to you, so you just go along and carry on and just do it?
Not really, that's something that we've never done, in a way we're quite soppy because we tend to write quite emotional type things rather than anything too hardcore. Lies is slightly meaningful, but only slightly. That was something we set out to do, we didn't want to be elitist and appeal to a particular audience i.e. a studenty crowd who are intelligent enough to understand your lyrics rather than the boy next door couldn't because he was a builder (you presumptious bastard!-Sarcastic Stu). You know, we tend to write simple, not get too in depth, not too confusing.
Yeah, but you can take it too extremes, we do draw the line, especially the drug thing, you can only take it so far. We were only taking drugs sometimes so you can go out afterwards, or before you go on stage to make yourself feel cool, but you can take that too far because after a while you stop feeling really fucking cool. When it comes to that time we tend to start thinking about what we're doing, because you don't want to take your mind completely off things and live for going on stage and taking something, or even going out. I wouldn't want to take it that far and I am sure that nobody else in the band would. It's a bit sad when you start mixing in your drugs thing completely with your music.
Sometimes I think it can be more creative though, you do actually think of things differently, however sometimes you fuck up.
I don't know, I don't even know if people will turn up, but I suppose they will because some of them have sold out. I don't know, I don't know how people perceive us any more.