NOTHING BAD MAGAZINE
24th June 2011
Not Cool
Not Cool
Words - Wazid Abdul Photography - Ithaka Roddam Page 2
Not Cool What’s the last thing you saw that you genuinely looked and thought ‘damn... that’s cool” Matt: The Ancient Ceramics section at The Horniman’s Museum where we met and worked. I had to clean it weekly. It was impressive. Then one of us got fired for something which wasn’t ‘very cool,’ but that’s another story. A song from the last decade that you wish you wrote? Matt: ‘Toxic’ – Britney Spears. Only because we’d now be rich. Heroes that have broken you’re heart? Andrew: I firmly believe you should never meet
your heroes, it will only end in tears - I stood beside Kevin Shields and J Mascis at a gig once and didn’t even say hello. Once these people become Human Beings in your mind it’s all over William: I was pretty gutted when I found out Michael Richards was racist. You seem to listen to a lot of music, but there’s always a first love, what was the first genre you fell in love with? Matt: I think there was no particular genre but like most frustrated adolescents we were into really angry music. Anything really. I remember ‘sticking it to the man’ in my bedroom quite a lot listening to allsorts of
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Not Cool hollering. Sadly, even to the sickening genre that was ‘Nu-Metal.’ William: I was all over anything that Epitaph put out and I think buying the ‘punk-orama 5’ comp was a definite pivotal moment in my musical education. Then I was also really into bands like jimmy eat world, braid and the appleseed cast. It all got a bit emo at one point. Do you think ‘math pop’ is a fair term to describe Not Cool, considering your relative playing ability and hook bonanza? Or is it a stupid media jargon initially invented to describe all the bands that Big Scary Monsters put out? Page 4
Andrew: I don’t think our music is very mathematical but it’s nice when people notice we are good at our instruments, a big compliment. I’m a secret muso nerd, that’s for sure. I never really got the whole ‘math rock’ big scary monsters thing it always felt a bit joyless to me. I think we are a pop band with weird bits. American Punk or British Punk? Matt: Has to be British punk. It’s just more angry and we’re South Londoner’s and it kind of fits in well with our disaffection, haha. We’ve got a fictional 70’s punk side-project called ‘Pole Tax’ which will, hopefully, never see the light. It’s recession punk. See The Anti Nowhere
Not Cool League song ‘So What’ for the inspiration.
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You can play a Minutemen song; and if my womanly mother’s hands can remember that far, that’s some difficult shit. So what’s the hardest song you can play individually? Andrew: I was into metal when I was a kid and particularly Sepultura, so I can play most of their songs. Igor from Sepultura is like a drum legend so I’m pretty stoked about that. Matt: I used to be able to do the solo from Fin by Pavement, but too much alcohol and memoryloss has put paid to that. William: When I was
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Not Cool
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4 1. Limbs are for liars on the Paradise Vendors/Italian Beach Babes compilation 2011. 2. Not Cool - Wonderful Beasts 7’’ 3. Way South East on Marhall Teller 7’’ split single with Dignan Porch, Colours and Cheatahs. 4. Not Cool - Rugged Raw 12” mini album on Sleep All Day Records Page 6
just starting to learn the bass I bought the book to the Red Hot Chili Peppers greatest hits. I never got past the first song, which was when that i realized that technical playing was never for me. I dont think anyone should ever play slap bass either. I am always in awe of Mike Watts playing though, both in Minutemen and firehose. You have a song called ‘Perfect Hair Forever’. Is that perchance named after the Dangerdoom track, or maybe the Adult Swim show? If so, is it like a tribute? If it isn’t and that’s purely coincidence, that’s mental. Matt: I’m a massive Doom fan and he’s
Not Cool
done a few voices for that Adult Swim Show of the same name in the past. I subsequently got into it a while back and believe it’s the funniest shit I’ve ever seen. I recommend it if you hate Anime like me. Who was the last band that you liked or played with that genuinely saddened you with their split up? Any bets on whose next?
Andrew: Bands never seem to break up nowadays before they get really tired and boring, so I’m never really sad. Ikara Colt had the right idea - five years, two albums and no final gig. Matt: Even though I love them, I hope Pavement split up again soon before my heart breaks.
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Chapel Club
Chapel Club Page 8
Chapel Club
Words - Wazid Abdul Photography - Katie Coleslaw Page 9
Chapel Club
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Chapel Club Do you even like touring? You see bands always moaning... Lewis: Well if you look at it through the prism of the NME tour, free booze amounts to like what six, twelve beers a night. I mean yeah it is fun being on the road; because us lot as a group do get along. These guys can be quite funny... despite what they seem (laughs). But I can see why people get depressed - a lot of waiting around. Rich: At the moment it’s seven blokes in a van, eight hours a day. Mike: It’s like a sitcom Rich: It’s like Max And Paddy’s Road To Nowhere.
You used to play at the Shacklewell arms. Is there anyway you could play that again - If you wanted to? I don’t really know how success works. Lewis: (laughs) We’ll were not really successful! So that’s not a problem for us... Mike: Well actually we are thinking about going back there this Christmas. I heard it’s Jamaicans playing Dominoes there - I swear everyone in East London loves Jamaicans and African music Lewis: (laughs) Yeah but you soon find out they don’t like you, like indie kids walking around and they’re just
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Chapel Club
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1, 2, 3, 4.Chapel Club - All the Eastern Girls, Surfacing, The Shore, and Blind (singles) 5. Chapel Club - Palace (album) Page 12
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Chapel Club
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Chapel Club like “Leave us to our dominoes”. Pointing us to the door. Lewis used to listen to a lot of garage and Biggie...is that ever going to come back into the Chapel Club sound? There is a garage revival you know. (Laughs) Alex: Most definitely Lewis: Well if you come to sound check you will hear me doing raps and everyone laughing at me. Raps are cool. Alex: Not when he is doing them. Lewis: I’m still a massive fan, but not so much of a garage. i think it was just the time Page 14
for me. I can remember standing in the playground with our little group, and some would come forward and be like (mock Saff’ Landan accent), “Aww, you heard of Dangerous, listen to that bassline MWOP MWOP MWOP.” Yeah if you go to the clubs now they are all standing around with their fingers in the airs, waiting for the drop. Liam: I never listened to garage. You missed out. Mike: I listened to a little bit of garage, well I’m from Essex. It was weird, we were the same age when it was kicking off, there was nowhere else to go so we visited the same club...I did my bit.
Chapel Club
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Meddicine
Meddicine
Photography by Jamie Sinclair Interview by Katie Coleslaw Page 16
Meddicine Who is Meddicine? Monika: Meddicine is solo female psyche noise experiments, and is the London project form of Monika. It sounds like throbs of post-punk/electro with murderous loops and vocal distortion and drum machine patterns nailing down a synth blast. You’ve released a mixtape on cassette. Do you prefer tape? Monika: I released a Split Cassette with Blood on Clan Destine Records, which was stocked in Rough Trade but is sold out now. I do love the lo-fi sound you get with tapes and vinyls. I really enjoy listening to them. I own a really nice vintage tape player and a turntable, which means
that I barely play cds or mp3. There is a massive difference between holding tape or vinyls in your hands and putting it on, digging the artwork and listening, to clicking on an icon or flicking through the songs on mp3 player. That’s what my friend Carl from Clan Destine Records says and I completely agree with him. Most of my favourites bands around at the moment release their music on tapes or records anyway. Is there a particular band that has been vial to Meddicine? Monika: Throbbing Gristle. Technically they formed in 1975 but they reformed in 2004 and have Page 17
Meddicine
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Meddicine
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Meddicine 1. Blood split tape on Clan Destine Records 2. Part of compilation, released by Clan Destine Records / Beko DSL 3. Night School Records Appeal Compilation Cassette
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Meddicine
been active in the last few years. Throbbing Gristle pioneered the use of pre-recorded tape-based and made extensive use of special effects to produce a distinctive, highly distorted background, which really inspires Meddicine.
Which band would you recommend Nothing Bad readers to check out? Monika: I’m really into Vancouver weirdo punk bands and a lot of my favourites bands are in London, Brighton and Glasgow. I would particularly recommend a band called ASSS from Portland. Page 21
Next Issue 1st July 2011
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