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AN INTERVIEW WITH....
FRANK FROM MILLION DEAD.

FOR THOSE THAT DON�T ALREADY KNOW, WHO IS IN MILLION DEAD AND WHAT DOES EACH MEMBER DO?
There's myself (Frank) - I sing / shout / ramble, somewhere near the front. Then there's Ben (drums) who hits things at the back. Somewhere in between you'll find Cameron (guitar) and Julia (bass) putting the meat in the sandwich, so to speak. And we all write the music together.
HOW DID YOU ALL MEET AND COME TO FORM MILLION DEAD TOGETHER?
Julia and Cameron are Australians, they both came over here separately with an eye to getting a band together, and met through a mutual friend and started jamming. Ben worked with Cameron, so he got roped in, and then I used to sing in an old band with ben called Kneejerk, so he thought of me when they were looking for a singer. Kazam.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE OF MUSIC?
People spend too much time working up sweat about musical definitions within the general area of music into which we fall. The same people then use the word "classical" to describe all pre-20th Century orchestral music. It's nonsense. Led Zeppelin et al did what they did a mere 25 years ago, we're still a band with bass, guitar, drums and vocals, let's be sensible and call it rock music.
WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
I think one of our strengths is that we have a reasonably diverse taste in music. Bands that immediately spring to mind for me are Refused, Fugazi, Shellac, Van Pelt, Soundgarden, Hoover, Q and not U and so on. But I'm sure the others would have totally different answers to this question, and anyway, the hope is that we don't sound like a replica of anyone else.
WHERE DID THE NAME MILLION DEAD COME FROM?
It sort of comes from a song by Refused called "The Apollo Program was a Hoax", which includes the line "Suck on my words for a while, choke on the truth of a million dead." But it's not really a homage or anything - it just sounded good at the time.
YOU HAVE A NEW SINGLE, �BREAKING THE BACK�, COMING OUT. WHAT IS THE TRACK ABOUT?
It's sort of about the way that the realities of working, paying rent and so on rapidly break down a lot of school-kid idealism, and the fact that while that's probably appropriate it's also pretty sad, because the world was a more promising place when I could theorize about non-hierarchical communal systems of social organization while I was living at home. Ask me tomorrow and I'll give you a different answer.
IT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY THE RELEASE OF YOUR DEBUT ALBUM, �A SONG TO RUIN�. WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT FROM IT?
I'd say that from this album we expected a couple of things: firstly, that it would represent the best we could achieve musically at this stage in our career, and I think we did that. I also hope that it will dispell a lot of misconceptions about us as a band - that we're some slick, polished conveyor-belt band (as some people seem to think), or that we sound like Hundred Reasons! I hope it will demonstrate the breadth of what we do. I hope it will rock people in the face.
WHERE DID THE NAME FOR THE ALBUM COME FROM?
It's the title of one of the songs, which in turn came from a line in the song: "A dry mouth falters on the opening blast of a song to ruin what it left behind."
ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT IT�S RELEASE?
Very much so. It's frustrating to play shows when the body of your songs isn't available to people. We're all looking forward to playing shows after it's out so that some people might know more of the songs.
YOU HAVE PLAYED WITH BANDS SUCH AS CAVE IN AND REUBEN. WHO HAVE YOU MOST ENJOYED PLAYING WITH AND WHY?
Probably the best band we've played with was Jarcrew (who we toured with earlier this year) simply because they totally rock and they're really nice (but weird) people. We played with Cave In and that was great, but you don't really see too much of a band if you're playing one show with them. We've also enjoyed playing with Part Chimp, The Icarus Line and The Blueprint.
IF YOU COULD PLAY WITH ANY OTHER BAND IN THE WORLD, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
Once again, everyone will answer this question differently. I think safe bets would be Sonic Youth, Fugazi, anything involving Mike Patton... uh... that's about it! I'd love to play with so many bands - in the mainstream, perhaps Deftones or Foo Fighters. More realistically, I'd love to play with Q and not U, Melt Banana... loads of bands. Playing with Iron Maiden would be killer.
WHEN AND WHERE WAS THE FIRST MILLION DEAD GIG?
My sources tell me it was 23rd September 2001 at the Camden Monarch. It was fun.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE THERE?
Quite a few because we roped all our mates down. 40? 50?
DO YOU STILL GET NERVOUS BEFORE GOING ON STAGE?
It depends on the time and place. Most of the time, not really. But if we're playing to a big crowd in a cool venue with a cool band, then hell yes.
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU DO AFTER A GIG?
Usually pack up our gear! Then have a drink.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF TV SHOWS SUCH AS POP IDOL AND FAME ACADEMY?
It's a difficult issue... In essence, they totally piss me off, I think it's a mockery of the essence of music and the things I love. But then, at the same time, it's just a public version of a process that's been going on for a long time - look at the Monkees... I think the safest approach is to view that kind of thing as a separate entity from music per se... it's got more to do with children's entertainment.
DO YOU PREFER CHIPS OR PIZZA?
Um, pizza I suppose. Ben's vegan so he'd say chips.
WHAT FIRST INSPIRED YOU TO JOIN/ FORM A BAND?
Listening to music and loving it. Iron Maiden were the first band I was really into, and the next thing I wanted to do was get a guitar.
WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR ANYONE THINKING ABOUT STARTING UP A BAND?
I'm not sure how well qualified I am to answer this question, but I think that in the end, individuality shows through. There's no point in doing it unless you're doing things the way you want to. And have fun, for fuck's sake. I'm so bored of bands who don't have fun.

ALL QUESTIONS BY MR MARTYN.

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