1) You released the seven track mini-album "Frequency" in the March of this year, are there any plans to go back into the studio and record a full length album?


Simon: "We're currently working on another mini-album which we plan to release early next year. But we're not going to rush-release anything because once its out, its there for everyone to hear. We're our own worst critics and have a pile of half-written songs that we didn't feel cut the Drive Like You Stole It mustard (which will be on sale on our next tour, along with a wholegrain option). We've got three songs ready and looking at writing another three. Its already shaping up to be a heavier affair."
Mel: "Yes, heavier and prettier"


2) Having a female vocalist in a band often results to comparisons to the likes of Brody Dalle and Courtney Love, does this use of stereotypes ever bother you at all?


Simon: "Mel will obviously answer this with more eloquence. But personally, it
really fucks me off. There are so many female singers in rock and music and
general and yet so many people see to have just these two people in their frame of reference. It saddens me they listen to Mel sing and can only come up with Love and Dalle. It's lazy and so far off the mark, its not even funny."
Mel: "I am a woman who sings in a rock band. That really is where the similarities end. I find it infuriating. They're assumptions rather than comparisons, because these people are clearly not listening to us. Anyone who has seen us live will have been able to see that we put everything into what we do, and it's really sad that I have to spend the majority of the interviews I do trying to justify myself. There's a real old-school view that has managed to survive since the 70s, which is that men rock and women just hang around trying to shag the drummer. Well... no offence Mike, but I've got some rocking to do!"


3) Your band is one of those trios which possess the power to make the audience say "how do they make that much noise when there's only three of them?, as is Muse. So how do you manage to produce that level of sound, especially on the recorded CD?


Simon: "Thank you. Live, we just go up onstage and play and have had some brilliant in-house sound guys - especially at Rock City - that have helped enormously. In the studio, there's magic buttons and all sorts. And session musicians who play our parts while we have a beer outside."
Mel: "I guess it's about the way we arrange the parts, and clever use of silence. We don't have any 'spare' people jumping around and screaming on-stage... It's all about the dynamics, for a 3-piece."


4) You've toured with some very impressive bands over the past few months, which
bands would you like to tour with in 2005?


Simon: "We would love to play a show with Cave In, but we've been very fortunate to have met so many friendly bands since we've started."
Mel: "I'd love to tour with Jetplane Landing again, and yes, Cave In would be
amazing. Foo Fighters would be pretty cool... Or Kerbdog, Simon?"


5) How did you come up with the band name?


Simon: "I saw it in an American magazine where the actor Giovanni Ribisi was talking about muscle cars. The headline leapt out at me and thought it was a great name that people would remember. We've since learned that its common phrase among car enthusiasts in that there USA. Rush was already taken, anyway."


6) Your biography tells me you're very into Michael J Fox, what's your favourite
Michael J Fox movie and why?


Simon: "It is - and always will be - 'Back To The Future'. It's the classic time
travel film alongside 'Frequency'.
Mel: "'Back To The Future' is a classic and I feel in love with Simon when I saw he had the trilogy."


7) What or who inspires you to write music and lyrics?


Simon: "The film 'Frequency' inspired the title track of the mini-album. Many things influence the lyrics. The words I've contributed are from a personal viewpoint. Some of them are quite personal, some of them are things I've heard or read which I've found interesting. Musically, we collectively love bands like Cave In, Biffy Clyro, Jetplane Landing but we all have other musical tastes. I'm currently listening to the new Converge, Mastodon and Hot Snakes albums.
Mel: "Musically, I'm inspired by all sorts of stuff, from Kate Bush to Quicksand. But I stopped being able to write lyrics when my life turned upside down about 4 and a half years ago, and I suddenly became... very happy, which is not conducive to writing songs. Simon does most of the lyrics now, leaving me to concentrate on the melodies and the PS2.


8) What are you, as a band, hoping to achieve in 2005?


Simon: "To better ourselves as a band, write more songs and keep doing this for as long as we can. At our last rehearsal, we wrote a brand new song and feel its one of the best ones we've written. When we come up with a new song that makes us grin like fools after rehearsal, it's a great feeling and much better than cheap heroin. We also want a cheap splitter van if anyone is feeling generous."