RUMORE

First of all: how come you needed so many years and albums to record your best LP (congratulations, by the way)?
Well, there are so many reasons really: our inability to play even the simplest chord structures, our collective neurosis, bad heath, the flood of 98, my short time behind bars, our misguided belief that a band should do exactly what the hell it likes without caring about what anyone else thinks - you know, the usual. It's certainly nice to hear someone say it's our best record as it's pretty soul destroying to think you're getting progressively worse with every release. I guess now that we're all in our 50's and the kids have left home we have the time to concentrate more on our music

You seem to be in love, from the very beginning, with very long titles: is there a reson why?
All the great one word titles have been used up! actually, I don't know why it is really. I guess you can make them more interesting if they're longer. 10 points to any readers who remember that our first single had a one word title

You come from Bristol don't you? Lately the press wrote about the socalled "other Bristol". The first is the Tricky/Massive Attacak/Portishead etc... While the second should be your/Foehn/Third Eye Foundation/Flying Saucer Attack. Is it real? Do you personally know each other and collaborate? Would you call it kind of a scene or what? And how about the trip-hop part: do you like the bands I mentioned, since they are considered as an evolution for pop music in the 90's? Are you somehow limked with them or do you know them personally?
Well...ahem...sorry to invalidate this question but we don't come from Bristol! It's a myth which I think has somehow spread from just one mis-informed review. I don't know how that rumour has got so far! I do like a lot of bands you mentioned and in addition I also think Crescent are fantastic. They seem to get ignored when people talk about Bristol and along with Movietone and the Third eye foundation they make up a pretty strong and interesting scene. I think there may be a tenous link between the two scenes you've mentioned but i'm not well enough informed to comment really. One thing that fascinates me about Massive Attack is that they seem to break the mould of how the press like to pigeonhole a band. They are both respected on the underground and have mass appeal whilst seeming to exist outside the music scene i.e. they dont't release an album every year and just seem to do what they want, so in that respect, I've got a lot of time for them

Why did you decide to collaborate with Clouddead? What do you like of their music? Are you involved in hip-hop?
We deciided to collaborate with them because it just felt right and we wanted to just try something new. Previous to them sending us their records we'd heard of them but never heard their music. Speaking just from my own standpoint, I was particularly taken with the honesty of what they were doing and the fact that it was like nothing I'd ever heard before. It was sort of rooted in the left-field lo-fi avant-garde scene but they'd obviously grown up with hip hop and it was fascinating hearing the influence in there. We listen to a lot of hip-hop and had dreamt up crazy ideas for collaborations before but as soon as someone came along who would actually be sympathetic to what we do and understand it, we jumped at it.

Are there any other bands that you feel very near on a spiritual (not necessarily musical) level, nowadays? Who do you respect most?
Well I'm glad you gave me the option of not chosingpeople who we are close to musically because I probably feel that we're more out there on our own than we ever have been. In a sort of "fellow traveller" sense I'd probably say for me personally it's an mc called Jehst who records for two of the handful of decent UK hip hop labels: LowLife and YNR productions. I read an interview with him today and not only do I think his music (which he produces and sometimes manufactures and distributes entrely himself) and his lyrics are incredble, he was saying things about the music scene and his stresses and fears as a musician which really struck a chord with me. The fact that he was trying to find his way in an increasingly commercialsed and cynical music scene was inspirational. Plus to be a white northern UK rapper isn't the easiest way to get respected so he's really fighting for his recognition.

Cold House seems to be your most modern record: it's not just postrock (Tortoise/Gastr Del Sol/Mogwai/Slint), but also digital beats, dub and hip-hop, of course. was in your intentions to chage direction? Which were your main influences in the making of?
Well, we never really plan things that much to be honest. We didn't intentionally change direction but I think there is a temptation to almost react against your last release because you want to hear/try something different. I think the digital side of things comes from our on-going love/hate relationship with technology. For example we all listen to a lot of electronica but find much of it unsatisfyng as the human communication/warmth is often lost or ignored. I mean everybod loves a good tune or a song which connects with you emotionally.Therefore, I think dub in a way is closer to what we do as dub essentally fused new production ideas with melodies and songs and is experimental and interesting without trying to just confront or alienate the listener. It's hard basically to say what our main influences were, a combination of what we were listenening to as a group and our back catalogue looming over us making us want to try new things I guess

Is there anything you'd like change in the history of your band, if only you can go back?
Oh there's songs I wished we'd never released, arguements I wish we'd never had but t's all part of it I think. Life's too short to worry about stuff like that. Sometimes I listen to the odd track of ours from way back and cringe and think, "what on earth were we thinking?!" but then I sort of think, "well if I heard another band sound as weird/amateursh as this I would love their courage and stupdity" so no, i regret nothing!

If you can choose from the history of music, you'd like to be the author of which album?
Um...Thriller by Michael Jackson?! So long as I got my royalties sorted out before I gave him the songs! Oh, i don't know. I was perfectly happy and proud when we managed to get our first record out, so I'm happy being involved in our stuff thanks.

And which song?
I answered this one above I think.

Do you know anything about the socalled italian postrock?
I'm afriad not, Richard told me he knows of two bands but I'm a little bit more ignorant to be honest. It would be nice to hear some stuff though. It might be a good time for me to tell your readers who are in bands that we like nothing more than receiving records in the post.

How do you imagine Hood in ten years? (What did you want to mean in "the cycle of days and seasons" by "Hood is finished"?)
It's funny you should ask me that as I was listening to one of our old 7"s the other night and one of the lines was "where do we see ourselves in ten years time?" and slightly worryingly, the next line was "I see myself, disappointed" and it sort of got me thinking about things, particularly as we've been going in various guises for 10 years now. Whatever we're doing whether seperately or together I hope everyone involved past and present continues to do creative interesting things and is happy. And if we could be doing stuff together then even better. Of course by then we'll be flying to eachothers houses to rehearse in space pods and programming robots to play our instruments for us - it'll be great! hmm..the title "Hood is finished" and it's meaning has been asked so many times that perhaps on ths album we should have called a song "Really, that's it, the band is over, once and for all" just to ensure we get loads of press. I think the title itself was dreamt up by Richard in a fit of rage but we particularly liked it as a)not enough bands announce they're splitting up by song title then don't and b)it's weird to think of a band publically considering it's own future. Or something like that.

Your favourite, personal records of 2001.
Erm... I've bought loads of stuff this year but not necessarily this years releases. Um...from this year for me I'd say Jehst "High plains drifter"EP, Tommy Evans "4 Elements" EP, Roots Manuva "Witness (one hope) 7". Cannibal Ox "the cold vein"LP (thought it was rubbish at first then accidentally ended up wth it on my walkman and eventually loved it), The cLoudead 10" series and from Richard: Fourtet "Pause" LP, Havergal "Lungs for the race" LP, Prefuse 73 "Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives" Richard Hawley LP, Homeland "Songs about Living" LP and the Pedro 12"