In Conversation with
This Etal
January
2005
A little background:
What I love about doing
interviews for Setting Sun sometimes is the amount of interesting bands I can
Sometimes get into,
sometimes without even meaning to.
As some of may know, I
get into bands / singers etc by any number of method, but what I enjoy
About perhaps more than
anything else is the very act of surprise itself and you can sometimes find
Yourself getting into a
band often without even realizing it.
Take the Leeds (ish)
based band "This Etal" - I first got into this band through a glowing
demo review,
which I have actually
completely forgotten about now but interested by this review, I dropped the
band
a quick e-mail And they
referred me over to their website and I was really impressed by their
almost Wedding Present / Radiohead
sort of stuff, so I dropped them a line and Wu, their lead
singer / guitarist got in
touch and the rest Is history as I always say.
For more information on
the band, please check out their website which contains a number of good mp3's
Available for download
please go to
Otherwise, thanks again
to Wu and the guys for the interview and I am sorry for the delay in getting
This interview up
(Formatting problems!) and good luck with your forthcoming single "He
Shoots Presidents"
Regards
Andy
N x
Setting Sun: How’s things and what are you up at the
moment?
All:
Gigging
to pay for new recording, tucking ourselves away to rehearse some new material for
April UK
tour,
then more recording at the end of March. Recording a video for the ‘He Shoots
Presidents’
single
at the end of February and the single is out in April.
Setting Sun: Can you tell us all a little bit about the history of “This Et Al”
- Who fired the starting pistol
etc, etc?
BEN:
The
same boring met in school routine – Ste and Wu we’re looking for members, asked
me to join, after a couple of bassist
attempts
we acquired Gavin (who surprise surprise, we knew from schooldays)…after
numerous attempts to find a suitable
singer
Wu had a bash and it worked…
Setting Sun: What are your influences (music-wise) and what have you been
listening to recently?
BEN:
Recently
bought The Dears LP – I like the Smiths-feel. Also like the 80s Matchbox new
album as well as the new Interpol
record.
WU:
I
get a lot of demos, so recently I’ve been listening to Kubichek from Newcastle,
which is like a dancy
Futureheads.
Apart from that, I have to say I haven’t been listening to a great deal apart from
my own
band
and four-track demos.
STEVE:
Inflences?
Personally, I like Mogwai, Jeniferever, GY!BE etc. Recently bought the Bright
Eyes record, which is nice.
GAVIN:
Loads
of random stuff; Rick Astley, Earth, Wind & Fire, Green Day, Wildhearts,
Michael Jackson, pretty much all
the
bands that the other three hate.
Setting Sun: I note from the
information provided you’ve kindly sent me - you have a forthcoming
single “He Shoots Presidents” about to be released to
the world. Can you tell us a little bit
about this… er… interesting song?
WU:
Basically, the song is about general abuse,
it’s not homage to Lee Harvey Oswald. When the video is finished and
released it will make much more sense, so you’ll
just have to wait and see!
Setting Sun: It is also good to see that you gig regularly.. How does your
concerts compare differ
from your studio recordings? Is their one you prefer
over the other?
BEN:
I
equally like gigging and recording. Mood depending, I do prefer one to the
other, occasionally.. But I love both.
WU:
I’m
the same.
Setting Sun: I usually ask bands next,
what plans do you have next but as I said before, I know
you are about to release a single onto the world, do
you have any more releases planned at
the moment – perhaps another single or a album or
more gigs?
BEN:
UK
Tour planned and after than, see what happens…another single would be nice :)
STEVE:
We
were invited to Sweden by Jeniferever for a March tour but the timing was bad
so it’d would be ace to
get
over there before the end of the year.
WU:
We’ve
also been invited to Italy and Canada, with fans in Chile and Indonesia, so
maybe a world tour is in
order!?!
GAVIN:
Defo!
Setting Sun: I seem to recall also that you come from
the Leeds / Yorkshire area - I’ve seen quite
a few bands myself there over the years and have
found it usually a nice little live scene, have
you seen any good bands / gigs yourself recently?
BEN:
Forward,
Russia! Are ace and Duels are nice chaps too.
WU:
Leeds
has a really healthy scene at the moment. It’s good to feel part of it. Being a
‘Leeds band’ has helped us
indefinitely.
STEVE: ‘
Catscan’
will be featured on a Leeds compilation due out on March 11, also featuring the
likes of Forward,
Russia!
Duels, Scaramanga Six, Being 747, Robochrist etc. etc. And ‘He Shoots
Presidents’ is actually a split-single
with
Forward, Russia! There is a sense of bands trying to help each other at the
moment.
Setting Sun: Anyway, a few more slightly light hearted questions to start
winding down with…
Firstly, what would you like to be doing when you are
60?
BEN:
Gardening…
WU:
Not
a lot.
Setting Sun: What will do you be doing when you are 60?
BEN:
Huh?!
WU:
Probably not a lot.
Setting Sun:. Lastly, something light to finish off with (borrowed from a pal’s
Zine almost)
Imagine you were ship wrecked On a desert Island and
could have (Clearly have second
sight here - lol) The choice of having 5 records or
Cds with you with a stereo of course –
what would be your desert Island Discs?
BEN:
The
Smiths – Hatful of Hollow; QOTSA – First album; Elliot Smith – Roman Candle;
Interpol – Antics;
Probably
some Beach Boys & Bob Marley too.
WU:
My
Bloody Valentine – Loveless; The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead; Weezer – first
album;
Radiohead
– OK Computer; …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – Source Tags &
Codes.
GAVIN:
Green
Day – Nimrod; The Wildhearts – Earth vs…; Method Man – Tical; Rick Astley –
Whenever You
Need Somebody; Probably some Bob Marley.
STEVE:
Don’t
know really.
