Cyanide
Pills have one of the cleverest bios ever written in the fact that it isn’t a
traditional bio at all. But when it comes to musical influences there is no
messing around. They mix classic era Buzzcocks with a touch of Briefs and Dickies
thrown in for good measure to create a catchy hook driven sound. The band has a
new LP Still Bored coming out on
Damaged Goods. For a band that “just try and play stuff of a decent standard”
they are doing a good job of raising the standards beyond decent to must
listen.
Interview by Ed
Stuart
Who’s answering the questions?
Phil Privilege
Where is the band from?
Four of us are
from Earth.
Who is in the band and what instrument do
they play?
Phil Privilege -
Vocals
Sy Pinkeye -
Guitar
Alex A - Guitar
Alaric ‘The
Trick’ - Bass
Chris Wrist -
Drums
How did the band start?
No big story,
just a group of like- minded people thought they would form a band.
What bands did you have in mind when
starting this band?
We are all fans
of 1970’s punk rock, I would like to think if we were around at that time we
would be up there with all the good bands from that era. Our ambition is to be
on Top Of The Pops but in the year
1978! Step 1 is to write the songs, step 2 is to build some sort of time
machine.
Step 1 is going
ok.
More
contemporary bands we like. The Briefs,
Guida, Cute Lepers, Sharp Objects, The Gaggers, The Barreracudas, Mean Jeans,
Clorox Girls…there’s loads of good stuff out there, go find it.
The band’s bio is the most unique and
creative, I’ve read. “A gang of c***s from a
desolate land. Ladies and Gentlemen I give
you the band... CYANIDE PILLS.” Why the desire to do a poem instead of the
traditional band bio.
Most bio’s I
read are boring.
They really get
me snoring.
Don’t care where
you’re from.
Just play the
Fucking song…well. You get the Idea.
The band’s favorite shows they have
played this far?
We have a great
time everywhere we play, From Gateshead
to Berlin, Bologna to Bradford. All good. There are some great punk clubs
and great people out there. Go.
Do you think music can still be a vital
force in such a disposable age?
“Without music,
life would be a mistake.” Nietzsche
Rip it Up
describes Cyanide Pills “approach to
their sound seems a little bit like the way the Japanese manage to observe,
assimilate, refine and eventually outdo any new technology that they
discover. These guys have clearly spent their [mis]-spent youth poring
over every scratched 7″ copy of ‘Marquee Moon’ and ‘Promises’ that they could
find down the local secondhand record shop – they have produced an album so
full of riffs [Buzzcocks], ‘OoohOoohs’ [Ramones], and catchy hooks [Dickies]
that it almost hurts!” Do you feel
this is an accurate regarding the band’s sound and songwriting style?
It’s a
compliment indeed! We just try and play stuff of a decent standard, bands like
the above mentioned Television, The
Ramones, Buzzcocks, Dickies set the bar pretty high.
Can you tell a little information about
how the recording went for Still Bored?
It looks to be released next month on Damaged
Goods?
We always record
with the great Carl ‘Razorblade’ Rosamond. We got it done in a few days and its came out well. We
didn’t think we would make a second album. Then Damaged Goods asked for one.
So, we made one. It’s out April 8th.
How did you guys connect with Damaged
Goods? On their website they think, “Cyanide
Pills may just be the greatest band in the world.” It seems that the label
really likes the band since they have released both LP’s and a series of
singles.
Ian Damaged saw
us play one night, afterwards he said “I want to put a Cyanide Pills record out” We thought he meant one! But he had other
ideas.
50 years ago people used to buy music and
get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free.
How do you think this affects music in any way?
Personally I
like my music on vinyl. It looks and sounds better and I don’t mind paying.
Personally I
don’t like water I prefer wine. It looks and tastes better and I don’t mind
paying.
What’s next?
Fuck knows
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