Setting Sun: How are things and what's happening at the moment?
The Hunchbacks:
Everything's pretty good at the moment! We've got our first recording
ready to release any day, some upcoming shows we're excited about, and
we're just really enjoying playing shows in new places and hearing other
bands. It's all good.
Setting Sun:What's the background story behind the
Hunchbacks and who fired the starting pistol etc, etc?
The Hunchbacks:
We've all known each other for years now since we first came to Birmingham
for University, and we've played in other bands with each other before,
but it was only in autumn last year when we were all living together that
the Hunchbacks started. I'd been writing a few songs, and with the house
consisting of 2 guitarists, a bassist and a drummer it seemed logical we
should try them out together. So we started having some practices, then
some local gigs and by March we were in the studio recording 4 of the
songs we'd written.
Setting Sun: What are your influences and what have you
been listening to recently?
The Hunchbacks:
In a couple of songs we've name-dropped The Ramones and The Beach Boys, so
its fair to say we love their stuff. Bands like Screeching Weasel or
Green Day or MXPX have their influences for us, and I'd imagine that kind
of pop-punk genre would draw the most comparisons of our music, but then
bands like the Pixies and the Pogues equally have a musical influence on
me too, and I listen to a lot of different types of music.
Recently I've been listening to The Ramones a lot, inspired by seeing
Marky Ramones' slideshow lecture a few weeks ago - very rock'n'roll
highschool - and I've rediscovered my old Kyuss albums which have the most
fantastically meaty guitars. A friend of mine has also introduced me to
Argentinian punk cos I'm learning Spanish, so I've been listening to an
Argentinian band called Escuela who I really rate, and the new Perfect
Circle album, which has its moments but isn't half as good as their last
one.
Setting Sun: What's the origin behind the name of your
band "The Hunchbacks?" It is certainly a interesting name...
The Hunchbacks:<
One night we were having one of our first practices in my attic-bedroom in
our house. We hadn't bothered to book practice rooms yet. My ceiling was
really low as it was, but with 4 of us and equipment in there we were all
kind of forced into lower parts of the room and just looked really stooped
and uncomfortable, and I commented that it was time to get a practice room
else we'd all become hunchbacks, and in the absence of any other ideas
that seemed an apt choice.
Setting Sun:How do your live shows compare to your studio
based material as released on your website? Do you have any plans to
play Manchester?
The Hunchbacks: <
Hopefully we will be playing nearby soon! I think live music is generally
a bit more aggressive and quicker-paced, at least in our experience and
with our style of music. But the noticeable difference in the past has
been the vocal harmonies. We wanted the recording to sound raw, but at
the same time we wanted it to be melodic so I put down a lot of backing
vocals. Our newly-recruited 5th member, Rachel, is going to recreate the
girly harmonies off our recording when we play now, so we're really
looking forward to adding that bit extra to our live music.
Setting Sun: I know you have an release out soon - some kind
of split release with two other bands? What's the scoop on that - and how
can you order it etc, etc?
The Hunchbacks: <
It's an All-Nite Records release, so other than contacting one of us via
our website (www.thehunchbacks.com), the All-Nite Records website
(www.all-nite-records.com) will have all the details for mail-order, and
possibly it now has MP3s of us and the 2 bands that share the split cd
with us (The Battledykes from Germany and the Waukees from Italy) to
listen to.
Setting Sun:What plans do you have for the future - do you
have any more plans for gigs / recording etc?
The Hunchbacks:
We're hoping to get back into the studio before the end of the year with
some new songs. We'll probably record around about another 6 songs then.
We're doing gigs regularly - we've got ones coming up in London,
Southampton, Birmingham of course, and a few other places over November
and December - and as for tours, there's a small UK tour being planned for
February supporting Panic, who are an amazing Nottingham punk band on
Crackle records and just generally great lads. It should be fun! We're
keeping our gigs page on the website pretty up-to-date anyway.
In March we'll be playing a couple of shows in Italy with the Waukees to
promote the cd, and apart from our drummer Pete, none of us have played
there before, so we're all really looking forward to going.
Setting Sun: What has been your best / worst experiences of
been in a band? Been in a band myself I've had some fun tales to tell
certainly so I could guess you are the same?
The Hunchbacks:
The best bit has been pretty much all of it. It sounds like a cop-out but
I've loved playing local gigs and just drinking with friends and I've
loved the excitement of going abroad as a band, and the recording was so
satisfying to kind of achieve a final result. Overall the best bit has
been the people we've met. Playing music serves as a great opportunity to
drink with people we'd otherwise never have been introduced to.
As for the worst bit, I suppose that happened when we were recording. We
finished our final take of our final song and the sound engineer said over
our headphones, "Okay, do you want to take a break now?" and my response
was a pretty pathetic "yes" and I'm told I just dropped like a stone at
that point, ironically. That day we'd been recording a song called "My
Car Is So Cool", among others, about this old banger I had with viper
stripes up the bonnet and the roof. I'd lost my licence after having a
seizure at the wheel, so I'd been banned til the DVLA were convinced I
wasn't a medical risk anymore, and in the meantime this car I loved was
parked up at my parents' house waiting for me. So 5 days before we went
into the studio I'd had a letter from the DVLA saying congratulations,
you've been fit-free long enough to drive - here's your licence back, and
all day at the studio I was harping on about how I was going to go and
collect the car that weekend. But instead I ended up at Selly Oak A & E
with the rest of the band and straight away the doctor there said "You
realise you must forfeit your licence now...". I had to laugh cos I
hadn't even driven once and they took it off me again! The irony wasn't
lost on us, its pretty comedic. But I think it was a pretty scary episode
at the time, cos the lads hadn't seen me having a grande-mal before, and I
had to sell my car after that (for a measly �50!) to opt for good old West
Midland buses, which unfortunately don't have viper stripes.
Setting Sun: What would be your dream job if you weren't a
rock and roll musician?
The Hunchbacks:
I'd love to be a writer. That was always the job I said I wanted since I
was a little girl. I remember asking for a typewriter for my 8th birthday
and always sitting in the kitchen typing these really lame stories. I
still toy with the idea of getting my head down and writing a book, just
for the personal accomplishment of always having something of my own in
black and white, even if no-one ever wanted to publish it. Though I would
prefer to get the kind of cheques JK Rowling gets for it..
Setting Sun: What's the live scene like up in Birmingham?
Have you been to any good gigs lately?
The Hunchbacks:
The live scene in Birmingham isn't bad at all. There are some great gigs
here. Audience turn-outs can vary, and sometimes low attendance causes
people to grumble, but compared to most places there are always gigs being
organised that are worth going to I think. Our bassist Davey has been
getting involved with organising punk gigs round here, and he's put on
some great shows recently.
A few bands we've been on the same bill as have really impressed us, like
Panic who I mentioned before, and The Apers, a dutch pop-punk band who we
played with a couple of times while they were touring here the other
month. We all love that band. And aside from punk we played with a more
indie-rock band called Murdoch who's stuff I really took to.
A couple of weeks back I watched a local band called Cile play, and they
do really good metal in the vein of Machine Head/Sepultura and they
impressed me.
Setting Sun: Lastly, something slightly lighter to finish off with... (Nicked from a pal's Zine
almost)"Imagine you were ship wrecked on a desert Island and could have (clearly 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?"
The Hunchbacks:
If I had to choose now I'd go with the Ramones S/T; Green Day "1039
Smoothed-Out Slappy Hours"; Snuff "Snuff Said"; A Perfect Circle "Mer De
Noms" and Ben Folds Five "Whatever and Ever Amen". I reckon if the rest
of the band were stranded with me those would keep them good too. For a
little while at least, until we started blowing conches and seeing
beasties.
Setting Sun: Thanks for everything, Jo. I hope everything is well and I hope to see
you play in Manchester real soon.
The Hunchbacks:
Thanks a lot for the interest Andy. Hopefully see you in Manc soon!
Phew! Finally got all those written out without being interrupted by
work! As I say, sorry it took me a few weeks, and thanks for supporting
our stuff like this :o) When we do play Manchester we'll buy you some
drinks.
Let me know if there's anything you think needs tweeking at all, and I'll
see you soon,
Jo xx
