Grampus 8 continue the Liverpool band
obsession with football-related names. Which is roughly the only similarity
with yer typical Liverpool band. Clambering from the collapse of Dropout,
they... ah, but let's let Marko tell his own story
* for people who haven't heard you,
what are you like?
Umm...I hate this question cos the answer will always
sound pretentious. I suppose we play kinda punky, emotional pop. I like bands
like Weezer, Promise Ring and J Church, if that means anything.
* this music lark - serious or a bit
of fun?
Both. I'm not into the whole looking for a record deal
thing. There's so many bands in Liverpool that are desparate to be famous
and that route is so unappealing to us, but at the same time we take our music
seriously and are as professional as anyone. We've just self-released a CD,
been on tour and have got a couple of 7"s planned for the new year.
* how did grampus 8 get together?
My old band Dropout split up and I wrote a bunch of
songs and wanted to record them. I jammed with our drummer Lewis but we were
never really a band. We only really started to become a bit more serious about
it a few months ago, when Andy joined on bass.
* how will grampus 8 fall apart?
Hopefully in an interesting and amusing way after a
couple of LPs.
* what are your deepest, darkest fears?
Jesus Christ, that's deep. Um, I don't know...I'm scared
of getting old and not having anything to show for my life, I suppose. I don't
like spiders, either.
* if grampus 8 got a supergun, who
should be scared?
Local bands with bad attitudes who are desparate to
be signed. I'm sure everyone
knows bands like this, cos I sure as heck do. Not mentioning names, though....
* what other local acts do you rate?
Our CD is a split with Dina, and they're great. We've
played a lot of shows with them. Crocodile God and Monkey Steals the Drum
are two local bands who have done Peel Sessions and they're both boss...especially
Crocodile God - awesome.
My favourite local band is Boba Fett. They're from over the water and they're
one of my favourite bands in the world. They sound like Weezer/Pavement with
Bee Gees harmonies.
* is liverpool a good place to be a
band?
It's OK. It's not as great as it thinks it is, and
considering it's heritage, it should be a lot better. The 60's are a long
time ago. There's not enough places for bands to play. Places like The Lomax
and The Picket are a waste of time if you want to put your own show, cos there's
so much pressure to get people in because they're so much to hire. Our favourite
venue is the basement in Guinans, cos it's nice and free to hire, which means
you can charge £2 to see 4-5 bands.
They're being funny about letting bands play there now, so we need somewhere
else, so if anyones got any ideas....
We play a lot in Leeds and that is a really good place for live bands.
* on your
website, there's a picture of you in a fridge... what on earth were you doing?
That's me in work! Cos works boring, sometimes we go
to the kitchen and wrestle, or pretend to be monsters, or jam skiffle songs.
This day it was try and get in the fridge.
Now, thats the sort of job we could
do with - although its already cold enough here at the Hoopla machine to convince
me that I could well be in a fridge anyway. Grampus 8 have an excellent website - fridge pictures and all.
