A LOAD OF WORDS WITH BOB CUBA!!!!!!!!!...
1. BOB CUBA - WHO HE?
Sbob: A 3-headed Scottish monster who is half-man, half-music machine. jbob: It's a brand name which represents the three of us, much like Heinz representing beans, soup and spaghetti hoops, and PopIdol representing talentless, vapid, toothy gobsh**e. Cbob: He is an old Great Uncle of mine whose full name is Robert McCubban. Bob Cuba for short.
2. HOW IS LIFE UP IN SCOTLAND THEN?
Sbob: The same as life in England except full of Scottish people, and sometimes Iranians and Mongolians (depending on the climate). It's good though - wouldn't want to live anywhere else (whilst eating turnips). Jbob: Despite the recession, cold and Darius - pretty good! We're having a brief rest before a heavy schedule of touring which will see us venturing even further up north to Aberdeen, a couple of radio sessions, and lots of gigs in our favourite Glasgow venues (King Tut's, Sleazy's and Soundhaus). Cbob: There's lots of space up here, which gives us more time for thought and contemplation, which is probably the reason us Scots managed to invent, The Steam Engine, Electricity, The Telephone, Television, Penicillan and the Spacehopper to name but a few! Glasgow is the place to be at the moment for buzz, atmosphere and new music.
3. YOU'VE GOT A FAN IN STEVE LAMACQ. HOW WELL HAS YOUR DEMO BEING DOING ON THE RADIO 1 LISTENERS' VOTES POLL?
Sbob: It's doing very well. We have hit number 1 a few times without too much rigging! We have only slipped out of the top 10 in the OneMusic chart once in 3 months, and that's because a band called 'banana skin' were at number 6, and we were at number 5 at the time. And as for Steve Lamacq - a good guy who likes Bob Cuba, so obviously has good taste in music (and biscuits - I hear he prefers Uniteds to Trios). Jbob: We'll we won the Radio Scotland 'Demo of the week', plus we have been hovvering around the top ten of Lamacq's chart for the last month, so we must be doing something right. Cbob: The Onemusic demo chart has brought us to the attention of some A&R Scouts from EMI, Sony and Gutt, all of whom have followed up their interest by coming to a gig or requesting more demos from us.
4. YOUR CROSS-GENERIC MUSIC IS A GOD-SEND. HOW DOES SONGWRITING WORK WITH SO MANY INFLUENCES AND MUSICAL STYLES TO CRAM INTO YOUR SONGS?
Sbob: Thank you for the compliment! We like to write songs with various styles and genre and roll them into one set or CD, a bit like the way that Arctic Roll mixes ice-cream with sponge, jam and sugar and it works! People always tell us how interesting our sound is live because they don't know what's coming next. Another factor is that I write many of the songs and have a varied taste in music. Jbob has even more wierd tastes, and then Cbob brings in the space hoppers, and before you know it we have a set that is even more diverse ... until it is a salad bowl of crispy vegetables all happily sharing the dressing, rather than a melting pot of tasteless gunge wearing dresses. Cbob: We have heard so many bands live who start promising, but degenerate into blandness as their set progresses. We took up the challenge of keeping our live fans interested throughout our set by writing as diverse a mixed bag of tunes as possible. This has resulted in a fusion of as many sounds as possible reaching the auditory nerve within a 45 minute period. This can sometimes be dangerous, so we display health and safety risks on entry.
5. WHO WON THE GRAND NATIONAL IN 1978?
Sbob: Champion The Wonder Horse?? Jbob: Lucius, I believe at 10-9. Cbob: I think it was Red Rum for a record amount of times, or was that 1977??!
6. WHAT HAVE YOU GOT PLANNED FOR THE REST OF 2003?
Sbob: Sponser a Bob Cuba van from London to Hungary (just a suggstion). But seriously.. An EP out at the end of April which will be available on our website (with a picture of a spacehopper on the front!!!), more songs, more gigs both in Scotland and down south - why don't you organise one for us in YOUR area..? We'll be appearing on radio on Beat 106 from 17th-23rd March on the late show, hopefully a Peel session.... ocht just go to our website (www.bobcuba.com) for all the info!! Jbob: Keeping the momentum we have been building going. Hopefully getting an EP out, playing some gigs down south, and trying to get some festival spots. Cbob: I hope to achieve only one thing in 2003 with Bob Cuba. To become the best band in the UK.
7. DO YOU THINK SCOTTISH PEOPLE ARE MORE PATRIOTIC THAN ENGLISH?
Sbob: Yes, undoubtedly so, because we are a wee country with all the best inventions, history, all the best football heroes of the past.. oops I'm doing it again! Jbob: I don't think so, but patriotism/nationalism would be a badge I wear with pride. Just look at what's going on in the world right now. Cbob: Yes, but mostly because we are the small neighbours of England with a tenth of it's population. We use patriotism and national pride in a positive way so as to perform and achieve above what should be possible for a small nation. The acheivements of our ancestors inspires me to take on the best in the world!
8. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PLUG WHATEVER YOU WANT TO, NOW!!! Sbob: "Bounce EP" out on 28th April - buy it for a very cheap price on our website, at one of our gigs (see www.bobcuba.com/gigs.htm) and at some selected outlets in Glasgow (Missing, Fopp, Avalanche). We have many gigs, i.e. Ayr Harleys (14 March), Aberdeen (21 March), Soundhaus Glasgow (28 March), Nice N'Sleazy (11 April), ... before a gig at the famous Glasgow King Tuts on April 19th, with the legendary Zuba. Jbob: Bob Cuba Showcase Night at 'The Soundhaus' Glasgow, Friday 28th March, a night of Bands, DJ's, funny decorations, loud shirts and flashy lights. Don't miss it... And if you can't make that, come and see us at Barfly, Wed 5th March.... Cbob: My bath please, but unplug my sink because it's full of Liquorice Allsorts (blue jelly ones), and gherkins from my Whoppers. I would also like to plug our forthcoming spring release, which is a 4 track EP called 'Bounce'. The cover displays my favourite object in life....a Spacehopper.
THANKS BOB! STEVE! Sbob: Anytime - we've had fun!