Another seasonal question special. This time I asked recent interviewees some festive questions for a Native.tv Christmas special.
Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv http://www.native.tv in December 2007
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
CHRISTMAS 2007
Greg Gilbert (vocals, guitar) - Delays
Where were you last Christmas?
In Southampton. It’s a total family time for me. I just love it. I love doing the whole cliché thing, I love being with my family eating dinner and getting drunk and sitting in front of crap TV falling asleep, paper hat on my head.
What’s the best present you received?
I got the James Bond DVD set one Christmas. The trouble is with DVDs is I have to be in the right frame of mind. I channelsurf endlessly. Sometimes I put a DVD on and think oh there must be something great on, but Bond is great comfort on lonely nights.
What’s your best and worst Christmas songs?
Best Christmas song is either Roy Wood or Slade, I’m a big fan of all those glammy Christmas, Life On Mars kind of era. I didn’t like Paul McCartney’s Christmas song. That’s not one of my favourites.
What’s your New Year’s resolution? Or have you not got one yet because we’re asking you this on November 1st?
Let me think of one. My New Year’s resolution is to try and find as many things funny as possible. I think when you find something so funny you belly laugh, there’s absolutely nothing better.
Tom Baxter
What are your favourite and least favourite Christmas songs?
You know what, I really like that George Michael song ‘Last Christmas’, I think that’s a really good song. I always feel sorry for the guys in Slade because they’re just labelled a Christmas band. The Cliff Richard stuff I don’t really like, that just drives me up the wall a little. It’s all a little bit insipid and milky for me.
How did you celebrate New Year last year?
Oh God, where was I? For the life of me, I can’t remember. The last Christmas I did, I had a house party so I was very drunk and then I had to go to Argentina the following day so I was a bit worse for wear.
What’s the worse thing about Christmas?
It’s just like a false sense of family sometimes, and I think that’s a real shame. I think sometimes particularly in this country we don’t make enough effort to just be a family. It’s all so split up. So I think that it can be quite a lonely time for people can’t it, if you haven’t got family and if you don’t get on with your family.
Do you have a New Year’s resolution?
My New Year’s resolution is just like everyone else’s, to get fit actually. I just haven’t been to the gym for so long.
Matt Bowman (vocals) and Oli Main (guitar) – The Pigeon Detectives
Best Christmas present you’ve got?
Oli: A guitar.
Matt: Pair of rollerskates.
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Matt: Mine’s going to be smoke more. Just to say ‘Fuck you’ to those that are trying to ban it.
Oli: Smoke indoors more.
Matt: That’s for both of us, that.
What’s the worst thing about Christmas?
Matt: Buying Christmas presents. Not made of money.
Oli: I fucking hate Christmas, everything about it.
Best and worst Christmas songs?
Matt: Worst one was that Darkness effort.
Oli: Slade’s is the best one.
Matt: Yeah, obviously Slade.
What did you do last New Year?
Matt: Played a gig at the Faversham in Leeds. It was excellent. Drank lots of beer, got paid, and…
Oli: Fell over a wall.
Matt: Fell over a wall. Probably. [thinks] No, that weren’t then...
Stine Bramson – Alphabeat
Best and worst Christmas songs?
[Favourite] Wham! ‘Last Christmas’. That’s always good. I love that, I love Wham! in general. [Least favourite] That’s probably mostly Danish ones. The silly ones that don’t really have a good melody and sung by kids always.
What do you eat at your Christmas meal?
We have duck at home with everything that comes with that.
Where were you last New Year?
I actually had dinner with the friend who’s over at my place right now. Then we went to a big private party at a friend’s house in Copenhagen.
Greg Churchouse – Scouting For Girls
Where did you spend last Christmas?
Last Christmas, I was pretty much working most of it. Myself and Roy both worked in shops, so Christmas time was always the busiest time of the year. We literally got Christmas Day off, and it was working til 10, 11pm on Christmas Eve and then back to work on Boxing Day. This is going to be the first Christmas we’ve both not been working since we left school which is going to be absolutely lovely stuff.
What’s the best present you received?
Blimey. That’s a tricky one. I’d say when I was like 14 Roy persuaded to get an acoustic guitar for Christmas instead of a Megadrive. Quite lucky he did otherwise who knows what would have happened, I’d have been sitting at home, being a computer geek, as opposed to sitting in the back of a freezing cold tour bus somewhere in Scotland!
What’s your New Years resolution?
I would say I’d like to get fitter. But as I’ve never ever stuck to a New Years resolution in my life for more than, say, a day, I doubt it’s really going to happen.
What are you best and worst Christmas songs?
Best Christmas song would be ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! I don’t know what the worst Christmas song would be actually. [laughs] Roy just said ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! It’s a double-edge sword. I was personally going to go for ‘Mistletoe & Wine’ by Cliff Richard.
David Guetta
I’m going to ask you some cheesy Christmas questions, if that’s all right.
Bring on the cheese!
Where were you last New Year?
I was in Dubai.
How do you celebrate Christmas?
Really classic, you know family, tree, my wife is totally into that, she’s like really excited and we have a boy, he’s three and a half years, so we’re gonna wait for Father Christmas to come and say hello and everything.
What are your best and worst Christmas songs?
I think that is more of a UK thing because we don’t have that so much in France. I’ve seen that you have a lot of that here and it’s all a big deal but we don’t really. ‘Baby When The Light’ is number one on the airplay and it will be for Christmas. We don’t have special Christmas music. I think it’s a good thing!
Have you got a New Year’s resolution?
Yes I do. I’m going to go back to the gym, I’m going to eat healthy, I’m going to start some proper music lessons – harmony, piano lessons, percussion lessons, guitar lessons. Today I’ve done this today, it was a great experience, I’ve done this show for Channel 4 called ‘Freshly Squeezed’ and we’ve done an acoustic version of ‘Baby When The Light’. It was really exciting, I was like I wanna do this more, I need to come back home. I programme so I can play keyboard but not that good, and I want to learn how to play the real thing. That’s my resolution for next year.
Showing posts with label alphabeat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alphabeat. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Interview - Alphabeat
At the time of this interview, Alphabeat were so unfamous, we were even given one of the main vocalists to speak to. Now they're proper Radio 1 A-list, fun pop stuff. Stine wasn't one to string out a conversation (well, she was on here way out) so this was over and done with in super-quick time.
Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv http://www.native.tv in November 2007
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
STINE BRAMSON - ALPHABEAT
Alphabeat – they’re from Denmark. We’re trying to think of some decent Danish pastry jokes but are so far unsuccessful, so let’s move on. In music/toy terms, if Mozart is one of those delicately painted mini cottages and Battles are something complicated in Meccano, then Alphabeat are huge bright stacks of Duplo blocks. They’re loud, fun, colourful, camp Europop. Doing not-too-badly for themselves in their home country (their debut album has gone platinum), they’re still complete unknowns here. Popjustice say they are “the best band in the world ever,” and while we suspect they might have been slightly brainwashed, we’re sensible enough to take a step back and say if you like gloriously cheesy, uplifting pop, then you’ll enjoy them. If not, you won’t. So there. We phoned up vocalist Stine Bramson for a quick chat.
Hello Stine, how are you?
Hello, I’m all right thank you.
Where are you at the moment?
I’m at a house in Stratford.
What have you been up to today?
Today we’re just actually waiting to have a ride to Nottingham, and then I get picked up in half an hour, so I have a friend over.
You go in half an hour and I’m busy talking to you! I feel really bad now.
[laughs] That’s all right.
You don’t have packing or anything to do, do you?
Yeah I do, but it won’t take long.
How’s your UK tour going, you’ve done a few dates now haven’t you?
Yeah, only a couple but it’s going well. It’s fun to come out and see different places, meet new people and show our music to people who don’t even know us yet.
Are they headline shows or are you supporting someone?
Most of them we’re supporting someone. Yesterday we played in Brighton where we were the only band, obviously no-one knows us so not many people came! It was a club night.
I’ve heard you’ve got quite a good live show, what do you get up to onstage?
We love performing live and it’s kind of the main thing for us to do that, and therefore our live show are always quite energetic because we love being up there sharing our love of pop music with a good audience.
You play quite good party music I think.
[laughs] Yeah.
What makes a good party for you?
Well obviously happy dancey music, and some good friends and some new interesting people around.
You were on tour with Mika weren’t you?
Yes, a couple of dates.
How was that?
That was fun, it was a great chance to come out to a big audience in other countries. Definitely a good experience.
Are you big fans of Mika?
I don’t know, we’re fans of good songs, and he definitely does some good songs.
I heard you’re not very big fans of the Spice Girls. It’s been reported everywhere that… I guess everyone’s been saying that to you haven’t they?
[laughs] Yeah. Well personally I have been, when I was a young girl I was a great fan of them, but it’s not a good mix for us to support Spice Girls at the moment. That would put us in a box that we don’t want to be in.
That’s fair enough. Go back to how you started, because I don’t know much about you. You used to be called Sodastar, didn’t you?
Yeah, that was a long time ago. I guess three years ago?
How did you all meet?
All the boys met in high school and started playing indie rock and stuff like that together, and slowly they realised that wasn’t really what we were good at. They decide to have a keyboard player and me, a female voice joined the band, and suddenly we were playing cheesy pop music.
You’re quite big in Denmark aren’t you, you’ve had quite a few singles out there.
Yeah, it’s going pretty well there. Going platinum there.
It must be really weird to be quite well known there and then to come over here to start from scratch again.
Yeah it is, but it’s also like a challenge to try a new country and come out to the small stages again and kind of really convince people that we’re out to do something good.
Have you got an album out in Denmark?
Yes, it came out in March and it’s doing pretty well.
You’ve got a single out at the moment over here, ‘Fantastic Six.’ Are you the Fantastic Six?
[laughs] Yes. It is kind of a joke about us being superheroes and saving the world.
It sounds good fun.
Yeah. It is fun.
But you don’t have any superpowers?
No, I’m afraid not.
Are there any other Danish bands we should listen out for?
I think Junior Senior is a bit known here. I like them, and also Private.
Can you teach me a random word of Danish?
Pæne kjole! – Nice dresses.
Is it Copenhagen you’re actually from?
Not originally but we’ve lived there for two and a half years.
I don’t know much about Copenhagen. What’s it like there?
It’s a really nice city. It’s a great size, not too big so you can bicycle – is that what you say, bicycle? – everywhere in the city in 20 minutes. Everybody has a bike there.
Is it quite different being in London, have you been in London long?
We’ve been here for one and a half months. It’s really difficult to get used to all the transport problems. You really have to pull yourself together to go somewhere.
Are there many other Danish people in London who you’ve been meeting up with or anything?
I have a few friends here but not many, I don’t know that many.
What plans have Alphabeat got for next year?
Well we’ve got our album release and of course promotion around that. Hopefully a lot of good gigs with people who will know us a bit more than they do now, so there’ll be more people [laughs]
There will be loads of people, don’t you worry.
Let’s hope so.
Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv http://www.native.tv in November 2007
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
STINE BRAMSON - ALPHABEAT
Alphabeat – they’re from Denmark. We’re trying to think of some decent Danish pastry jokes but are so far unsuccessful, so let’s move on. In music/toy terms, if Mozart is one of those delicately painted mini cottages and Battles are something complicated in Meccano, then Alphabeat are huge bright stacks of Duplo blocks. They’re loud, fun, colourful, camp Europop. Doing not-too-badly for themselves in their home country (their debut album has gone platinum), they’re still complete unknowns here. Popjustice say they are “the best band in the world ever,” and while we suspect they might have been slightly brainwashed, we’re sensible enough to take a step back and say if you like gloriously cheesy, uplifting pop, then you’ll enjoy them. If not, you won’t. So there. We phoned up vocalist Stine Bramson for a quick chat.
Hello Stine, how are you?
Hello, I’m all right thank you.
Where are you at the moment?
I’m at a house in Stratford.
What have you been up to today?
Today we’re just actually waiting to have a ride to Nottingham, and then I get picked up in half an hour, so I have a friend over.
You go in half an hour and I’m busy talking to you! I feel really bad now.
[laughs] That’s all right.
You don’t have packing or anything to do, do you?
Yeah I do, but it won’t take long.
How’s your UK tour going, you’ve done a few dates now haven’t you?
Yeah, only a couple but it’s going well. It’s fun to come out and see different places, meet new people and show our music to people who don’t even know us yet.
Are they headline shows or are you supporting someone?
Most of them we’re supporting someone. Yesterday we played in Brighton where we were the only band, obviously no-one knows us so not many people came! It was a club night.
I’ve heard you’ve got quite a good live show, what do you get up to onstage?
We love performing live and it’s kind of the main thing for us to do that, and therefore our live show are always quite energetic because we love being up there sharing our love of pop music with a good audience.
You play quite good party music I think.
[laughs] Yeah.
What makes a good party for you?
Well obviously happy dancey music, and some good friends and some new interesting people around.
You were on tour with Mika weren’t you?
Yes, a couple of dates.
How was that?
That was fun, it was a great chance to come out to a big audience in other countries. Definitely a good experience.
Are you big fans of Mika?
I don’t know, we’re fans of good songs, and he definitely does some good songs.
I heard you’re not very big fans of the Spice Girls. It’s been reported everywhere that… I guess everyone’s been saying that to you haven’t they?
[laughs] Yeah. Well personally I have been, when I was a young girl I was a great fan of them, but it’s not a good mix for us to support Spice Girls at the moment. That would put us in a box that we don’t want to be in.
That’s fair enough. Go back to how you started, because I don’t know much about you. You used to be called Sodastar, didn’t you?
Yeah, that was a long time ago. I guess three years ago?
How did you all meet?
All the boys met in high school and started playing indie rock and stuff like that together, and slowly they realised that wasn’t really what we were good at. They decide to have a keyboard player and me, a female voice joined the band, and suddenly we were playing cheesy pop music.
You’re quite big in Denmark aren’t you, you’ve had quite a few singles out there.
Yeah, it’s going pretty well there. Going platinum there.
It must be really weird to be quite well known there and then to come over here to start from scratch again.
Yeah it is, but it’s also like a challenge to try a new country and come out to the small stages again and kind of really convince people that we’re out to do something good.
Have you got an album out in Denmark?
Yes, it came out in March and it’s doing pretty well.
You’ve got a single out at the moment over here, ‘Fantastic Six.’ Are you the Fantastic Six?
[laughs] Yes. It is kind of a joke about us being superheroes and saving the world.
It sounds good fun.
Yeah. It is fun.
But you don’t have any superpowers?
No, I’m afraid not.
Are there any other Danish bands we should listen out for?
I think Junior Senior is a bit known here. I like them, and also Private.
Can you teach me a random word of Danish?
Pæne kjole! – Nice dresses.
Is it Copenhagen you’re actually from?
Not originally but we’ve lived there for two and a half years.
I don’t know much about Copenhagen. What’s it like there?
It’s a really nice city. It’s a great size, not too big so you can bicycle – is that what you say, bicycle? – everywhere in the city in 20 minutes. Everybody has a bike there.
Is it quite different being in London, have you been in London long?
We’ve been here for one and a half months. It’s really difficult to get used to all the transport problems. You really have to pull yourself together to go somewhere.
Are there many other Danish people in London who you’ve been meeting up with or anything?
I have a few friends here but not many, I don’t know that many.
What plans have Alphabeat got for next year?
Well we’ve got our album release and of course promotion around that. Hopefully a lot of good gigs with people who will know us a bit more than they do now, so there’ll be more people [laughs]
There will be loads of people, don’t you worry.
Let’s hope so.
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