Written by: Craig This entry was posted on Sunday, May 24th, 2009 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Music Interviews, Unsigned Musicians. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Minus IQ Interview
Hello to all the readers lurking out there. Today we bring you a special Minus IQ Interview!
1/ Hello to the members of Minus IQ, Greatings from The Music Mag! How’s it going?
It’s really good. We’re stuck in the bank holiday traffic on the way to Nottingham. 2 miles down, 109 to go…
2/Can you tell us a little about what you all do in the band?
Charlie sings and plays keyboards, Justin plays bass, Jake plays drums and Michael plays guitar. Live we add in bits of percussion, extra keyboards and glockenspiel. Glockenspiel, incidentally, means “bang play” in German.
3/ What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to the band?
Nothing really sticks out as the funniest. We’ve ended up on air a few times when calling radio stations to ask for them to play our tracks, and its always funny to see Charlie having a nosebleed on stage. Worrying, but funny.
4/ Without starting a huge ruckus…who’s the most popular member in the band?
We would all modestly claim to be the most popular, so we have to go by the only true test of real friendship: facebook. Charlie wins.
5/ Tell us a little about your new album.
It’s called Home Cinema and it’s about a really good TV and stereo system a friend of mine has hooked up in his house. Not really. Its an upbeat album, dancy and electronic in places, a bit heavier and riffy in others, with some quieter and more reflective moments. We’re big fans of pop music and anything from the 80s, so that comes through, especially in the vocals.
6/ Any chance we can get a song and picture to put on The Unsigned Artists page?
Of course you can. I’ll send them tomorrow when we aren’t relying on wireless internet in the midlands.
7/ Any gigs you’d like to shamelessly plug?
Well… as of the 20th of May (two days ago) we embarked on a pretty relentless tour of the UK. We’re still booking more gigs as we go, but so far we’ve got something like 20 in a row followed by a few gaps that we’re looking to fill. Our gigs are up on our myspace, which is www.myspace.com/minusiq (plug plug plug)
Video of Minus IQ:
Speed Round:
a/ Musical Influences?
David Bowie, Muse, At the Drive-In, Foo Fighters, Steely Dan
b/ Acoustic or Electric?
Electric
c/ Favourite Colour/s?
Charlie “i quite like navy blue” Jake “i hate navy blue”
d/ Favourite food/s?
Anything sold in a 2 for £5 deal in a pub. Bagels from the brick lane bagel shops. Spanakopita, chicken fricasse, takeaway curry, any smoked food
e/ favourite film/s?
Charlie: La Haine, Trainspotting; Jake: American Pie, Shawshank Redemption; Justin: Edward Scissorhands; Michael: Blade Runner, Animal House
f/ favourite song/s?
Starlings (Elbow), Space Oddity (David Bowie), Inertiatic ESP (Mars Volta), Taste in Men (Placebo), Only A Fool Would Say That (Steely Dan), Bring My Family Back (Faithless)
g/ Worst gig you’ve played?
We usually make the most of any bad situation. Jake has lacked a bass drum pedal and had to literally kick it, and a promoter has thought a gig would be cancelled because the family having a birthday dinner onstage wouldn’t leave. Both ended up being fun though
h/ Funniest thing that’s happened to a band member?
Charlie falling off a bike, breaking both wrists, thus ending up with casts on both arms.
i/ Favourite alcoholic beverage/s?
Jake: Buckfast/Mojito, Justin: Vodka martini, Michael: Disaronno, Charlie: TCP (for gargling)
j/ Half Empty or half full?
Half full. A positive attitude is essential
k/ Pepsi or Coke?
Coke, but Pepsi Max for Jake. The order of taste goes: glass bottle, then a can, then a plastic bottle, then on tap.
l/ Day or Night?
Night. Most of the day we see is viewed through the windows of our little red postal van.
m/ Hot or Cold?
Hot. Charlie says cold “because he likes ice skating”
n/ PC or Mac?
Mac. They work. We demoed our album on a PC, never again…
Thank you to the guys at Minus IQ (Charlie, Michael, Justin & Jake) for taking the time to answer some of our questions. If you have any questions you’d like answered then please feel free to contact us and we’ll do our best to get a second interview sometime!
Follow Minus IQ on myspace at: www.myspace.com/minusiq
