We're interviewed by Jude Clarke for today's Cambridge News! Read the
full interview.
This week we meet The Scissors, who love rock 'n' roll
outsiders, hope their best song is yet to be written and would like to
be covered by The Fall.
1: How long have you been together as a band?
We've been going in various forms for 10 years, come this December! But the current line-up's been together since 2010.
2: Talk me through the band members: what do they do and what are they like?
Stewart (second right) sings and plays bass. Loves cats and cookery, though not at the same time.
Toby (second left) plays guitar. Loves ephemera, pop art and ancient megaliths.
Simon (far left) plays organ and homemade electronic contraptions. Likes making mechanical greetings cards.
Huw (far right) plays drums. Likes walking and cycling, loves Emily.
3: What's your favourite thing about Cambridge?
The way the river meets the trees meet the pubs.
4: What's your best song?
We've not written it yet, hopefully! But Phone Calls from the Dead
(a cautionary tale about not believing everything you hear, driven by a
severely off-kilter guitar riff) always seems to go down well, as does Your House has Ghosts (garage-psych stomper about being trapped by one's own memories).
5: Best local show?
Our
recent album launch gig was great to play. It was fun to curate the
evening, with punky-folkpop singer-songwriter Helen Robertson and local
punk pop legends Rubber Dux supporting. We decorated the Boathouse gig
room with hanging cut-outs of esoteric Victoriana (cats' heads, medicine
bottles, haunted mirrors) to create the right atmosphere.
6: Who are your musical heroes or heroines?
We
love rock'n'roll outsiders, like maverick record producer Joe Meek (The
Tornados, Screaming Lord Sutch), Brit-rock/glam/punk legend Jesse
Hector (Crushed Butler, Hammersmith Gorillas), neo-music hall poet Viv
Stanshall (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band), or 90s psychodramatic lounge legend
Paul Hofner (Gretschen Hofner).
7: Which bands or artists would you pick to play your perfect festival?
The
perfect festival is one where none of the good bands clash at the same
times, so you get to see them all. Huw would have The Mars Volta, circa
2003-2005. Simon loves the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, but The Demon Barbers
are probably his favourite festival band. Stewart loves Dreadzone at
festivals – they're perfectly suited to that environment and never fail
to unite a crowd in a nonstop dancing frenzy. Toby would love the
original line-up of Thirteenth Floor Elevators, but that's not likely to
happen on these shores any time soon.
8: If you had to cover one song, what would it be; if you could pick any band or artist to cover one of your songs, what would it be?
We'd cover Garden of my Mind
by The Mickey Finn, a classic UK psych-rock track from 1967. It'd be
nice if The Fall covered one of ours. We once covered The Stooges' I Wanna be Your Dog in the style of The Fall, with Stewart shouting out random breeds of dog in the manner of Mark E Smith…
9: Who would you get to play you in a video?
Huw – Jim Dale
Stewart – Terry Scott
Simon - Bernard Bresslaw
Toby – Sid James
10: Can you suggest another local band or artist that we should feature on this page?
Think
most of our favourites have been featured! (The Seven Twenty, Bouquet
of Dead Crows, Beverley Kills), but maybe you've not featured
Moonstrips, a fantastic Cambridge garage-psych trio who have just
released a cracking three-track EP (
facebook.com/moonstrips)?
...and we'll be promoting the single/EP at this gig on 14 October at the Cornerhouse, alongside The Face and The Keepers; not to mention appearing on a local radio show or two (details TBC shortly)!
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