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| AN INTERVIEW WITH... GREG AND BARNEY FROM THE DAWN PARADE WHO IS IN THE DAWN PARADE AND WHAT DOES EACH MEMBER DO? Barney: Greg Mcdonald is our singer/song writer/hopeless romantic, joined by Nick Morely on guitar, Benjamin Jennings on drums and myself on a 4-string bass HOW DID YOU ALL MEET AND COME TO FORM THE DAWN PARADE TOGETHER? Greg: The very existence of the band is an epic, macrocosmic conceit designed by the devil to prevent Ben from achieving his true destiny, which is to bring peace to the nations of the earth. At least, that�s how it started. We met Barney in a pub and liked the cut of his jib. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE OF MUSIC? Greg: Abstractly, perhaps utilising the medium of modern dance. I could show you, but I�m between leotards at the moment. Barney: We always find it hard to describe what we sound like to people, one thing we can say for sure is we sound nothing like anything in the charts at the moment. Hopefully one day people will see a new band and be able to say "that band sound like the dawn parade." WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES? Barney: We are influenced by the fact that people walk around everyday being told that the things they dream of wont come true. We want to inspire people to understand they don�t need to scale down their ambitions for anyone. If you want to do something unusual there will always be people who try and knock you back into place. There is no such thing as having "ideas above your station" and we hope our songs give people the strength to remember this in the face of the most hardened cynicism. Look around, this is your real life and there won�t be anyone willing to accept the blame for your regrets 30 years down the line. We are here for anyone that is scared of doing something no one else believes in, we don�t have a target audience, our songs are for ANYONE who needs music in their life. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO CALL YOURSELVES THE DAWN PARADE? Greg: The village I grew up in had a train station, which was kind of a lifeline. The nearest cash machine was about six miles away. If you missed the last train home on a Friday night, forget it, you either walked the six miles back or you slept on a bench in the station. We always missed the train, and there we�d be, parading our hangovers around at dawn, unwilling to learn that Friday night couldn�t last forever. Isn�t that the whole point of pop music and human existence and everything? AS A BAND, WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT TO DATE? Greg: Fitting four human beings, two guitar amps, three guitars, a bass guitar, four effects units, half a drum kit and a Walkers variety pack into a Nissan Micra. Or enduring an entire hour of Steve Wright in the Afternoon�s Luther Vandross collection when the radio was broken. IF YOU COULD PLAY WITH ANY OTHER BAND IN THE WORLD, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY? Barney: I�m not really impressed with any music out and about at the moment, I would love to play with any band who has their focus on the beauty and magic in the world around them instead of the speed they can play blues guitar scales. WHICH BANDS HAVE YOU MOST ENJOYED PLAYING WITH? Barney: The best band around are called Antihero, if I could play with them every night for the rest of time it still wouldn�t be enough. WHAT ARE THE BEST AND WORSE GIGS YOU HAVE PLAYED? Barney: we judge the quality of our gigs by how much we are sweating when we come off stage, seeing as we sweat like greasy lovers every night of the tour I can only assume we�ve never ever played a bad gig, next question�. HOW DID YOUR RECENT TOUR GO? Greg: We�re on tour until the end of February, and it�s going great. Sheffield last night was fantastic. So long as the chip shops and petrol stations of Great Britain remain open, The Dawn Parade will remain on the road. WILL YOU BE PLAYING ANY OF THE SUMMER FESTIVALS? Greg: We won�t know anything until March. YOU SEEM TO HAVE QUITE A DEDICATED FANBASE. WHAT DO YOUR FANS MEAN TO YOU? Greg: Every gig, before going on I imagine there�s this one guy there at the back who�s never seen us before, and that it�s one of our first gigs, and I just play for him. Without them, there�s no band, there�s no point, there�s nothing. IS THE BAND NOW YOUR FULL TIME CAREER MOVE OR DO YOU ALL ALSO HAVE OTHER JOBS? Greg: Over Christmas I washed cars, Nick worked in a record shop. We don�t think more than a few months ahead, so fuck knows. HARIBO STARMIX OR HARIBO KIDDIES SUPERMIX. WHICH DO YOU PREFER? Greg: Can�t you go to jail for that? Barney: when I was at school I used to eat a bag of Starmix every night, it isn�t very advisable but It certainly was enjoyable. KIDS, PLAY WITH FIRE. WHICH OF YOUR LYRICS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? Greg: "Take out the nails that fasten love to cruelty" from The Passion HAVE YOU GOT ANY PLANS TO RELEASE AN ALBUM? Greg: Lots of plans. You haven�t got twenty grand we could borrow to make one, have you? WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED TO RICHEY FROM THE MANIC STREET PREACHERS? Greg: I think he came up with a masterplan for the band � first, eat loads of pies, then reinvent yourselves as a Foreigner for the new millennium, make some comedy punk pop singles and fade into insignificance. The others were so appalled by this volte face they blasted him into space and swore to carry on with the same edge they�d always had. WHAT FIVE THINGS COULD YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT? Greg: sleeping bag, girls with a sense of intuition, service stations, chip shops, faith IF YOU EVER GOT TO MEET ANY OF YOUR HEROES, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THEM? Greg: But you�ve been dead two thousand years! This is impossible! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF TV SHOWS SUCH AS POPSTARS AND FAME ACADEMY? barney: Popstars and Fame Academy are a classic example of what a quick fix generation we are part of. Integrity and talent count for nothing, the only thing that seems to matter is just how much money boring, lifeless chart fodder can make for one or two fat-cat TV executives. The worst thing of all is that the careers of these puppet stars are so transient that by the time a few thousand 15 year old have had the time to masturbate over their copy of Smash Hits, they are on the scrap heap with the rest of them. The reason American acts have got the British music scene by the balls is because record companies aren�t signing good British acts and working their music. All they are interested in is immediate success even though the chances of anywhere else in the world buying this lame shit is about as likely as Will Young looking back on his career from his death bed and really BELIEVING he earnt his success. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? Greg: Practice my charm on imaginary women, and occasionally make them a coffee and have a lucid debate on the nature of the soul. Feel guilty about having spare time and get on with something more worthwhile. Get drunk and fall over. WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON WAR? Greg: Making bombs fall on babies� heads for oil isn�t nice. Barney: The possibility of imminent nuclear war is all the more reason for people to get out the house, get out their daily routines and use their life TODAY, before its to late. If a nuclear bomb drops on my town I don�t want to be wearing a "Skate boarding is not a crime" hoody as I die. Follow your desires, dress to kill, or you might as well just stay in bed. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? Greg: A large coffee nation double strength cappuccino with six sugars beside the M11 northbound in the small hours, weighing up the arguments for and against love. And if we�ve not eaten much that day, maybe a Boost. WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR ANYONE THINKING ABOUT STARTING UP A BAND? Greg: Write in blood. Try not to crash into any trucks. Barney: Never surrender your dreams to fear or cynicism, you are your only judge so be prepared to be brutal. The more we tour the more we learn the country is full of honest, decent, kind and brilliant people. Human spirit is as strong as ever, as always we dedicate ourselves to "people who believe in people." ALL QUESTIONS BY MR MARTYN. |
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