Tuesday 17 November 2009

I took Fiction upstairs after their inaugural hosting of Macbeth's new Adults night last Wednesday to ask them some questions and clear up all the lies I've been spreading about them through shoddy research...

Fiction
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Macbeth: I had to write something about you guys without having heard you live for the Macbeth promotion and it got edited down to absolute nonsense, can you make a better stab at it?

Fiction: Best phrase we've had was actually yesterday, 'perfect anarchic pop'.
- The nicest one was actually at Offset when someone walked past and said we were surprisingly good in passing. Didn't have enough time to check it out, but in passing - good walking music.
- Someone once said we sounded good through a wall.

M: Where did you build up your following? Where are you from?

F: Dan is a massive bum-licker. Basically anyone thats anyone, Dan will go up and talk to them. We invented a word for it as well, it's a butt-job, Dan invented the butt-job.
- We're all from Southeast / East London and Dan's from Germany. So South East/ East Germany, the New Cross of Germany, New Krauts.

M: How did you get involved in Adults?

F: We played the Macbeth a couple of months ago and someone suggested us to Simon (Is Tropical) and Simon got in touch.
- We played a night at the Macbeth that Simon was DJing at and he saw us and asked us to do the night.
- I thought we'd known Simon for ages?
- ... We'd known Simon for ages.
- It seemed like a good idea so we thought we'd do it.

M: What kind of criteria are you using to choose the bands who play your night?

F: From a lot of nights we've been to and been playing we want to get bands who fit really well together.
- So many times you play gigs with some promoter whose got no idea what they're doing and just book really random bands.
- For bands that haven't got a following yet it's very difficult to get on a night that's got any direction with a type of music.
- We also really want to support bands that we really like, and hope other people will like too.
- I really genuinely believe in these bands too, i really enjoy listening to them and watching them play.

M: Yeah, I think you can tell that by the different bands that are playing the different nights, that they're specifically, personally chosen.

F: Yeah, exactly.

M: When I was reading your reviews I got the impression it was all about the drum kit that you'd made yourself out of bits and pieces?

F: That's a lie, we haven't made anything.
- We bought everything.
- It was more about stripping back because we didn't have a drummer
- We can't really play the drums that well.
- If you put us in front of a drum kit and asked us to play it we wouldn't be that great

M: That's great that out of your inability this mythology has been invented!

F: It's an important thing for us that we don't really like virtuosity, none of us are extremely technically good musicians. The thing is, I think if you have boundaries you find new ways of doing stuff, and if you're not technically proficient you find shortcuts and it's within those shortcuts that you find the good stuff.
- That's what music's all about, it's about your ideas.

A Fleetwood Mac song comes drifting up the stairs from the bar and the whole band stop talking.

F: This song! We're being followed by this song! At the last 6 gigs this Fleetwood Mac song has been played by the DJ...

M: It's obviously zeitgeist, do you believe in zeitgeist?

F: I used to work in a pub called Zeitgeist
- I think someone suggested Zeitgeist as a name for the night actually...

M: Yeah, weren't there some truly awful names suggested? Like 'Swamp'?

F: That was James' idea

M: Oh right, sorry... Apparently Dan (Fiction's bassist) has the best laugh ever, can i hear it?

Dan: Thankyou very much, yeah i do.

Some jokes are attempted but dan's uberlaugh remains silent.

F: This is the way to make dan laugh, Dan, look at me and try not to laugh...

Silence

Dan: I just feel sorry for you. I'm a diva, i don't laugh on demand.

Fiction's next slot hosting Adults is on the 9th of December, between now and then Is Tropical and The Saudis will be taking care of things. Come.

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