Why the hell has it got so cold? A few weeks ago we were sitting around outside Junktion 7 doing these interviews, yet now we are huddled round a small fire in the back room of the Boat Club, trying to keep ourselves warm. At least we can look forward to the place warming up later when the bands take to the stage for this Saggy Pants promotion and give everyone something to smile about, with Trippin Over Wah stepping in at the last minute to replace El Cielo we thought this would be a good chance to catch up with the young guns of Nottingham. Since their involvement in Junktion 7’s Battle of the Bands, this bunch of glam rockers have gone from strength to strength, with great reviews from Plus One Magazine, the Evening Post, aswell as several reviews from ourselves and a growing base of admirers, this time last year all Trippin Over Wah were thinking about was their G.C.S.Es, now they have stardom on their minds. So we caught up with Nottingham’s young stars to find out what the last six months has been like and what the next six months might have in store, as well as what the hell is with Adam’s hat?
- Adam – Vocals/Guitar
- Rob – Bass/Backing Vocals
- Ben – Drums
- James (Medd) – Lead Guitar
- Lewis – Some random bloke who is always there but does NOTHING!
Steph : Okay guys, to start off where did the name come from?
Rob : I tripped over my wah pedal at the rehearsal studio
Adam : Yeah, and these bright sparks thought ‘what a good idea for a name!’
Steph : Right, so do you think the Junktion 7 Battle of the Bands helped you guys?
Medd : I really think it did, cause loads of people were there to watch us, it was just a really great experience.
Adam : If we hadn’t done that we wouldn’t have met people like you guys and wouldn’t be here now
Steph : Are you surprised at all by the good press you’ve been getting recently?
Adam : Yeah
Rest in unison : YEAH
Adam : Its really odd, as when we started we really were shit, Lewis was in the band on bass…..
Lewis : Heyyyyyy bassssss….
Adam : This was back in the day, we had someone else on guitar and we didn’t have a drummer, all we used to play was a cover of Seven Nation Army by White Stripes
(Medd starts humming)
Adam : We just played that song over and over again, so to come from being that bad to this…..
Rob : When James, Ben and I joined the band
Adam : Yeah, it’s quite good.
Steph : Being one of the youngest gigging bands in Nottingham has this caused you any problems getting gigs?
Medd : Once at The Southbank, Phil from Menz Raya (who we were playing with) had spoke to, not the manager…
Adam : It was the promoter or something.
Medd : Yeah, the promoter, who said he’d spoke to the manager and they said it was ok for us to play even though we weren’t 18 but it turned out he hadn’t talked to the manager so we couldn’t play so that was…..erm….
Adam : To clarify Andy Mariot is a , don’t say that word cause my mum will read it!
(everyone laughs)
Gaz : Okay, tell us who the hell is Toyko Joe, where did he come from?
Adam : Well Medd wrote the riff from that song, that was the first set of lyrics I wrote and Medd said we should call it Toyko Joe, we were like…’Why?’
Rob : He said cause it sounds good, he is a Japanese Superhero
Adam : We need to draw him
Rob : We need to draw him, then go to Toyko and fight him!
Steph : Cool, your influences are very old Skool, a lot of 70’s rock and glam stuff, how did you get these influences when your all so young….and
Adam whats the deal with your hat?
Adam : First the hat, we did a school concert, a musical…
Medd : We played Sunday Girl by Blondie.
Adam : Yeah, Basically my aim was to wear a different hat for every show, to annoy this girl so I got the captain’s hat and then wore it at the first gig and just have ever since, but the original one was from my uncle who is an airline pilot.
Medd : The influences…well I guess its just what we listen to…we listened to other stuff as well but….
Adam : I sort of grew up on 60’s and 70’s glam
Medd : Yeah, same here so….
Steph : Okay, so what are Trippin’s aims for the next year, where do you want the band to go?
Adam : No jokes, I ain’t saying Derby, where do we want to go?
Medd : Can we stay where we are?
Rob : Yeah, let’s stay where we are.
Medd : We’d like to gig in some other places, not too far yet.
Rob : Record more.
Adam : We are gonna record some stuff at the end of the year, and we’ll be getting around basically.
Gaz : What have the highlights been so far?
Adam : Getting to the semi-final of the Battle of the Bands, we really didn’t expect to get through, we didn’t do it to get anywhere.
Medd : Yeah, especially playing with bands twice our age!
Rob : I was so surprised
Medd : I just really enjoyed the experience.
Adam : The hype you get makes your ego inflate, your quite happy and smug for the rest of the week.
Medd : Yeah, you get a bit cocky (looking at Adam)
Everyone : Yeah (laughs)
Steph : Right this bit we just want you to give any shout-outs, any one who helps you?
Adam: Rufus, (points at a random friend) Rufus Wainwright! He has done nothing but look like the bassist from Grain!
Medd : His name is Rufus Robert
Adam Why did I call him Wainwright?
Medd : Cause he is that idiot who sings some song!
Adam : Oh, erm…well what bands do we like playing with?
Ben : Menz Raya
Medd : Yeah, Menz Raya are cool.
Rob : Spirytus have been pretty cool aswell.
Medd : Who else helps us?
Adam : Saggy-Pants
Band in Unison : Yeah Saggy-Pants ….(mumbles)
Adam : Our parents, lets thank them!
Medd : Yeah, Hello Mum, I’m on the tele! Or just the piece of paper your reading!
So that’s Trippin Over Wah, after that we kicked back and watched Without Eyes, Manichae, Trippin Over Wah and Spirytus put on a great show, check the website for the review.
Having seen Trippin Over Wah twice this month, we can safely say they are geting better with each performance and are certainly worth checking out, mixing their modern garage feel with a real 70’s glam and rock n roll influence, it is a show that everyone can enjoy.
Check out their new website at
www.trippin-over-wah.com
