| OSWALD 3�s Luke Mitchell: Sept. 14, 2000 MUEN: When and Where did Oswald 3 first form? LUKE: Roundabouts the summer of '99 (is that a song? sorry, always get chocolate and songs confused) in a old shotgun shack in Cornwall, a nice / boring / big retirement home in the good ol' south-west of England. People knew people you see, and liked Pavement, Sonic Youth and Portishead quite a lot, so it grew from there really. MUEN: Who are the members and what instruments do they play? Also what are your ages? LUKE: We have Dominick Allen on guitar, complete with trippy effects! And Matt Alston on bass (the nicest goth you will ever meet), Dave Knight banging away on the drums, Lucy Humphreys on keyboards, percussion and guitar, and myself on vocals, guitar and those loverly synthesizers! We're like one big hybrid! We're all 17, the godforsaken inbetween age, luckily I've traveled out of that though into being 19 and having to be a responsible person and all. Grrrrrrrrrrr. :o) MUEN: How good is the music scene (if any) where you are at? LUKE: Hmm, to be honest I think it's rather bleak. The nearest 'good' band to us is Muse, who grew up about 90 miles away from us. In this county there's a lotta Rage imitators, pseudo-funk, and bands trying to 'rock out' and failing. Any slightly experimental or innovative bands tend to be overlooked and cast aside. I guess it isn't surprising when it's in an area as backward as this one, the vast majority of people here want to hear 'something they know' - a phrase I've heard many say. Best summed up by saying 'Oh dear oh dear' methinks. MUEN: Who is your biggest musical influence, and why? LUKE: Probably Pavement. They've taught me how to have a heart when writing songs, be it filled with joy or bitterness. Deceptively clever in both their lyrics and music. There's loads more influences for me, especially on the electronic side(Third Eye Foundation, Death In Vegas to name a couple), but if there's one band that sticks out for me I guess it's Pavement, yeah. MUEN: Does the band do all original music, or do you do some covers too? LUKE: It's all original thank god. We managed to avoid the trap of getting bogged down in covers, I just don't see the point in doing covers or being a 'covers band', other than to make money. If you're gonna make music it's got to be from your own mindset I think. MUEN: How many original songs do you have, and which is your favorite to play, and why? LUKE: Last counted 18 songs in our armory. My fave would be....Sheep. I mean the title's the worst ever, but it's got a real edge to it, it's pretty unsettling. I get to use my Small Clone in that! Involves fuzzy bass, breakbeating drums and three guitars all counteracting each other, along with some volatile Mark E. Smith-style ranting. Lucy puts in the sugar and Dom puts in the saccharine. Nice! MUEN: What do you think about American music that is currently a big seller here, like hip-hop, and boy/girl pop bands? LUKE: I like a lot of American underground music I guess, lately Grandaddy and Superchunk in particular, and a lot of hip-hop like Dead Prez and Dr. Octagon, but material like Dr. Dre's new album does nothing for me I'm afraid. Eminem deserves respect for speaking up, but I don't think the music is really cutting-edge quality. Bands such as Limp Bizkit too, I don't like the way they appeal to all these jocks, all these dumb rock bands. They've brainwashed most of the kids over here into thinking they're the underground. Yeah, get real! Having said that, much respect to Daphne & Celeste, great anarchistic pop Warholian-style! I expect Lou Reed is very proud. MUEN: Add anything else you'd like here (other info, gigs, etc.): LUKE: We're close to recording some material, probably in cassette format. If anyone wants a tape please feel free to contact us. Recently played at Gig In The Park in Truro, where despite the poor weather we were well- received and educated a few people in lo-fi avant-garde-ness. Very sorry for ranting, I'll be off now. Thanks for putting up with me! MUEN: Please list any links (if any) where you or your band can be found: LUKE: My friend has a Oswald III page at www.spamcentral.co.uk/oswald We can also be contacted via e-mail at [email protected] |