911 PICK THE 70S FOR INSPIRATION

Report Faridul Anwar Farinordin

From : YQ FILE NO. 911

Time : 6.30pm (10.30am, England Time)

Subject : A phone interview with 911

Full report :

Two minutes after the scheduled time for the interview, the phone finally rang. I wondered how many teenagers out there would kill to receive a phone call from the popular Glasgow-based group. I grinned.

I exchange greeting with Simon Dwbarn, or Spike. The shy band member had just finished talking to other foreign journalists in conjunction with the group’s latest release There It Is, a collection of the cover versions which hit the stores in England a week before and in Malaysia this week.

"This is the first ablum that we recorded under a new management called Ferret Music, " he explained in heavy Scottish accent. I thought he sounded like Ewon McGregor in Transpotting and had to make him repeat his answer.

He was confident the ablum would outsell their second ablum Moving On.

He and his two buddies – Lee Brennan and Jimmy Constable – were scheduled to shoot the music video for their third single Private Number, soon.

I asked him why they chose to re-recordeds song from the 70s, Spike claimed that they have always loved old songs, especially those by the Bee Gees.

Most boy bands re-recorded cover-version to appeal to young and old alike. Groups that had attempted this include the now-defunct Tale That, OTT, Human Nature and Boyzone, to name a few.

Boyzone’s Baby Can I Hold You Tonight and Take That’s How Deep Is Your Love, for instance were successful.

So does the formula work for 911, I wondered out loud.

"Our second single from There It Is, titled A Little Bit More went to Number One in the UK charts two days ago,’ Spike said cheerfully, reassuring the young fans that they are the group’s top priority.

"As with others bands, we undergo evolution in music and image but we still sing songs that carry 911 signature pop sound ," said Spike., who listen to hip-hop artistes from Fat Boy Slim to Pras.

A promotional schedule for this ablum has been planned for England, including live appearances, interviews and special performances.

"Our third studio ablum, which is our fourth release, will be out hopefully in summer. We will also be touring the Fast East," he said, hinting that the trio would come before the end of the century.

Their last visit was last year (September 98) to promote the release of their second ablum Moving On. They had just switched to ferret then.

I still remember interviewing them at a hotel poolside, where they stressed that the move was timely as they needed "fresh, new ideas and some changes."

Moving On did very well, selling 50,000 copies in less than two months in Malaysia alone and earned a double Platinum Award. It even outsold Spice Girls’ Spiceworld.

As the time was running out , I quickly asked if they have girlfriends.

Laughing, Spike said, "We are happy=go-lucky bachelors who are having some fun with our music. No, we don;t have girlfriends!".