Along Came Man Interview

Along Came Man are Andrew Gwynn - vocals/guitar, Chris 'Slim' Morgan - bass and new boy Matthew Whitney - drums. R13 meets them backstage at Clwb Ifor Bach to talk about how things are going for them and maybe to clear up the rumours over the previous drummer...

R13: How's the Mighty Atom tour going with 3 Colours Red, The Smashup and The Yo-Yos?
AG: The tour's been really good so far, we've played some pretty prestigious venues and had a good time all round.
SM: Rock City.
MW: Legendary venue. It wasn't the actual big Rock City, it was like this little place on the side [Basement] that was really cosy. What was it, three hundred capacity? Where were we Friday? Birmingham - that was kinda the worst gig of the tour so far.
R13: Was it a disaster?
MW: No, it wasn't a disaster, we played well.

R13: So what have been the high points of the tour so far?
MW: High point for me was probably last night, it was really good.
AG: My highest point was Nottingham as well. Slim?
SM: My high point's still to come - The Academy in London which we are playing on Wednesday, it's going to be brilliant.
R13: How about the bad points?
MW: No, not at all.
AG: It's been smooth runnin'.
SM: It's a massive privilege to be on tour with 3 Colours Red because they're such a great band, especially with this being their last tour as well, ever.
AG: I've been a 3CR fan for a good few years now, my old band used to cover 'Pirouette'.

R13: So who have you got on better with - 3CR, The Smashup or The Yo-Yos?
SM: It's equal.
MW: 3CR, you always hear the negative, not to slag the guys off, they're fuckin' amazing but they're nuts.

R13: Your last release was 'Believe There's Nothing' EP - have you recorded or written any new material?
AG: There's new stuff written and I mean most of the set we're playing now is new stuff. We finished recording the EP in November [04] but it wasn't released until July, we're just waiting to get back in the studio and get stuff released.
R13: If you were offered a guest artist for your debut album, who would you choose?
MW: For me it's got to be Dave Grohl. Legend.
AG: I would say Dave Grohl but he's guested on every other album in the world, so I would say Grant Nicholas from Feeder would be pretty cool.
SM: I would say Grant from Feeder or Kenny [Vasoli] from the Starting Line. Rock.

R13: There's been a lot of controversy over the departure of Cerys from the band. What's your side of the story?
AG: Up until now we haven't argued back or said anything because really at the end of the day it's nobody's business except the people in the band.
R13: But you've had to put up with a lot of animosity over the situation, maybe you could clarify things?
AG: This is our side. The deal was Cerys wanted to go back to university and we knew this was coming up in September and that was when she was going to leave the band. We had a tour coming up really soon and we didn't want to be left in the dark so we started auditioning Matthew Whitney, by her. Then the point came where Cerys left the band and everything was fine. She went to uni and Matt was in the band. Then she found out we'd been auditioning other drummers and that's when it kicked off. But really, at the end of the day we were just being prepared.
R13: Did you not think it would have been wise to let Cerys know you were auditioning other people?
AG: What it was, was a case of mis-communication there were rumours, crossed wires and people talking before we had a chance to sort everything out really.
SM: She actually rang us up and said "Look, I've got to leave the band." She left messages on both of our phones to say she was leaving.
MW: I will say, I was under the impression Cerys had left the band before I joined.
AG: That's it now, it's been and gone.

R13: So Matthew, how are you fitting in?
MW: I think I fit in the band really well. I know the guys really well, up for the crack. We haven't had any bad times since day one.
R13: Was there any kind of initiation for you?
AG: The first gig with Matthew in the band, he went up on the balcony and addressed Cardiff in his pants.
SM: We've done two tours now with Whitney, we had a great time on the Midasuno tour. We had a great laugh, great bunch of guys.
AG: This one's been a step up from that and we're having a great time.

R13: So what's been your worst fashion mistake on stage?
SM: We supported Tom Jones, couple of months back and I wore a bright yellow shirt and had massive afro hair. I just looked stupid.
MW: What about that leather jacket?
AG: Oh yeah, the guy that used to manage us was well into metal and he had this jacket with Iron Maiden and AC/DC, all these badges, it was the heaviest thing ever. He mentioned in passing I should wear it one day and then lo and behold he turned up with it and I had to wear the damn thing. It was the sweatiest thing ever. Matt?
SM: He is too cool for our band.
MW: The last band I was in, I had to wear a suit on stage, so that says it all.
AG: And in the new promo photos there's a shot where he looks about 3ft tall.
SM: I look about 9ft, he [AG] looks about 5ft and he [MW] looks about 2ft.

R13: Do you plan to tour further afield in the near future?
SM: It's kind of one step at a time. We've been added to 'In The City' in Manchester. The best twelve bands get on to an album and we're on that, so we're playing. That's kind of a big step up for us, an honour and we're doing a tour at the start of December, which is the same circuit we've kind of been doing and a couple of booking agents are looking at us. We're just taking our time.
AG: It'll be nice to take some time and write a new set and new songs.

R13: What's the best piece of advice you've been given?
AG: It's something I always believed. In this business people are always going to bring you down and fuck you over but at the end of the day you've got to stick to what you believe in and just do it. If I listened to what people say about us, if it bothered me we wouldn't be doing this.
SM: If people are trying to knock us down and give us abuse, to be honest with you, it just gives us more energy to carry on. Me and Andrew got this band started up again. We wouldn't have two videos on Scuzz, we wouldn't be on 3CR tour, it's such a privilege. CDs are selling well, basically we're going to keep going.
MW: Best piece of advice I received was to do with playing the drums. I had just started to play the drums and The Stereophonics were doing a gig in The Shepherds Arms in Cwmaman (they hadn't been signed at this point) and my band were supporting them that night. I was kind of teching for Stuart [Cable]...
R13: Do you rate him as a drummer?
MW: Yeah, I rate Stuart as a drummer. The best thing about his drumming is his stage presence, you can't take your eyes off him when he's playing. Anyway the best piece of advice was - 'always look after your gear and the gear will look after you'. I always look after my stuff and it has never let me down, ever.

R13: What have 'Along Came Man' fans got to look forward to? A new album?
SM: A new EP.
AG: We've had a busy summer.
MW: I think it's going to be a new EP, not an album
SM: We're in talks for a couple of things, it's kinda crazy at the moment.
AG: This autumn we're going to sit down and sort out a game plan. Right now everything's up in the air. We'll get the tour done in December and in the new year we will be recording new stuff.
R13: Thank you guys.
SM: Thank you for all the support. Thank you to Midasuno for getting us on our first tour with them, great bunch of guys, especially Chris. 3 Colours Red, absolutely amazing. Thank you.
AG: Bring on the fun.