Room Thirteen's Simon Webb had a chat with Sid from The Steers to see what the band have been up to. Having just won the Diesel U Music Award, the band are set to play more gigs across the UK soon.
Room Thirteen: How did the band get together?
Sid Steer: James and I met at Uni and used to play gigs in our student house! Ben was James' brothers best mates younger brother (complicated!) so we met him that way, and Kris had a reputation around where we were living for being a great drummer so we were both kind of introduced to each other through reputations!
R13: If you had to pick three interesting facts about your band to tell people who haven't heard you yet, what would they be?
SS:
1. We travel with a Chinese Dragon named Allan
2. Even though everyone seems to think we're Welsh only one of us actually is.
3. James is massively uncoordinated and has to eat with his fingers as the relationship between knives and forks baffles him!
R13:Do any of you have a claim to fame that isn't to do with the band?
SS: I used to play cricket for England until I was 17!
R13:What openings has winning the Diesel U Music Award brought you?
SS: Been given the opportunity to do some great gigs through it, such as Fistful of Fandango which is coming up in September and also I think there's something at Koko. Getting a bit of money from it has also meant that we could get out and do some touring properly!
R13:Where are your favourite places to play?
SS: I think King Tuts in Glasgow has been our favorite place so far, but Scotland in general is pretty great!
R13:What music has been getting a lot of attention in the tour bus?
SS: We've been listening to the new White Stripes and Kings of Leon albums quite a bit.
R13:You've a single out in September, what are your hopes for this?
SS: Well just that everyone who is into us goes out and buys it to support us. I'm not really worried about reviews and stuff as I think we've been out playing live and seen responses from crowds we've played to, so if a load of journalists want to get behind us that's great, if not, oh well...
R13:What are the plans for an album?
SS: I think we're pretty close to having written it, but I really want it to be great, so we're lucky in that we're still at the stage where we're just releasing one-off singles which gives us a little more time to keep writing and make sure its everything we want it to be!
R13:How is the rest of 2007 shaping up for you?
SS: Pretty nicely, the single's out on September 10 and we've got a load of gigs lined up for September. We're waiting to hear on a couple of great tours also that we might be getting on in both October and December, so everything is pretty exciting!!
R13:You've only toured properly very recently. What were the most important lessons you learned whilst out on tour?
SS: I think even though this was our first proper tour we'd done enough gigs to know how important every one of them is! I think the major lessons we learnt were how to maintain your health and sanity!
R13:Anything you wish you'd thought to bring?
SS: Wet Wipes!
R13:What will you be doing differently next time?
SS: Probably pacing ourselves a bit more and learning the value of a few good hours of sleep!
R13:And finally, what were your favourite gigs on this tour?
SS: I think for both bands Southampton, Dundee and Glasgow were pretty special!