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Pre-show interview with Mustard Plug, 20/01/03

Interview by Liam Thomson - www.stateofemergency.net

Interview pictures by Mike.

 
Liam: Hi guys could you please introduce yourselves?
Dave: Hi I’m Dave and I sing.
Colin: Hey I’m Colin and I play guitar and sing a bit.
Brandon: Hi I’m Brandon and I play trumpet.

Liam: Are you having a good time playing in the UK?
Dave: Yeah it has been great; this is our 5th show that we’ve done. It’s been fun we have eaten way too much burger king. It’s kind of getting a little old, but it is made up for by drinking lots of good cider. The shows have been fun and everyone we met has been really cool.

Liam: What is the craziest thing that ever happened on tour? And was anyone injured?
Dave: 2 days ago the guy from ‘Lightyear’ pissed on Colin.
Colin: Yeah that’s kind of normal... We don’t run into them much.. He came on stage during our last song and kind of whizzed all over the stage. That was pretty crazy.
Dave: I guess that crazy birthday present stripper in South Texas?
Colin: Yeah that was crazy... (Laughs) More whizzing stories...
We were in South Texas and some guy who was putting on the show was having his birthday. He was this big huge punk guy and for his birthday he wanted the stripper to whiz on him...
Dave: (laughs) Yeah in his mouth...
Colin: There was like this room next to the place where we were playing and all these people were standing around. It was kind of a backroom. He lay on his back with the girl like squatting over him trying to take a leak in his mouth. Anyway she couldn’t cos she was nervous or something. So that went on for a while. She had stage fright, so they were like feeding her water and none of it worked. Then they finally went into a different room and I guess it worked out…

Liam: You are an established Ska-Punk outfit, do you think this genre is getting stronger or dying out?
Brandon: I think a lot of the kind of are just going back and getting into the music they really like. Rather than listening to the stuff they are spoon fed or told what is good. There has kind of been a rebirth in the USA, a lot of the stronger bands are still around... The cream of the crop is still around.
Colin: It’s good over here too.


Liam: Which CD are you most embarrassed to own?
Dave: I could say what people think I should be embarrassed about, but I wouldn’t personally be embarrassed about...
Colin: I own the first Spice Girls album; I like all my albums, even the ones that are just awful.
Dave: (Laughs)
Brandon: Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’?
Colin: That’s a great album!
Dave: (laughs) That’s the problem, when I think of all the stuff; like Culture Club, it’s got that ‘Karma Chameleon’ song on it. It’s great!
Colin: It’s a great question though.
Dave: Yeah! You’ve got to put a lot of thought into it.
Colin: (laughs) Yeah it’s hard! My albums are like my children.
Liam: Would you ever do a Spice Girls cover?
Dave: We’re not above doing it (laughs), but I don’t see it in the plans.
Colin: We’re not very good at covers to begin with.
Dave: If I thought we could pull it off we would.


Liam: What is your favourite track to play live?
Brandon: I like ‘Just a Minute’ off the new one.
Colin: That’s great!
Dave: I like ‘You Want It, We Got It’ that’s one of my favourites.
Dave: We still like the ‘Beer Song’ a bit.
Colin: I like playing ‘Go’
Dave: ‘Go’ is fun!

Liam: What were your creative hopes for Yellow Number 5 & were they fulfilled?
Colin: I think they were definitely fulfilled. We try really hard to write really unique songs that we are proud of, you know? While still sticking to our Ska-Punk in the background. We love playing that hybrid. We take a really long time. That’s why it takes like 3 years for an album. We’re also lazy!
Dave: (laughs) We also get drunk and have BBQ’s far too much.
Colin: We just wanted to have a bunch of songs we were proud of and go to a place to record them where we were pretty much in charge. Hopefully that was a good thing because it is more how we wanted it. It just happened without any other input.


Liam: It has been said that ‘Yellow Number 5’ is representative of your live sound, would you agree with that?
Colin: I’d say definitely.
Brandon: It’s a lot closer out of all of them so far.
Dave: That’s what we always aim for.


Liam: Your next release goes platinum. What is the first thing you go and buy?
Brandon: A house!
Colin: A car! I want one of the new Mini’s.
Dave: I want a 1967 Carman De A convertible and a farm somewhere in Northern Michigan.
Colin: I’d go buy a beer first though.
Dave: Yeah I’d buy a round (laughs).

Liam: Now... For all the female fans…What is your favourite sexual position?
Brandon: I don’t even know what this one is called. I guess it is kind of the ‘Scissors’? Do you know what I mean?
Dave: No?
Colin: Nope..?
Brandon: Where the girl is kind of laying on her side... and you’ve got one of her legs underneath you and you can squat on your knees with one leg up…It leaves a lot of room for different finagling here and there. (gestures with hips) something about the way you get to rub up against her..
Dave: That’s why we have you to answer this question!
Dave: My answer would be; any position I can get!


Liam: Do you have any advice or tips for young bands that are just starting out?
Colin: Buy a tuner! At least one, the more the better! I still don’t know how to tune my guitar. So, a tuner, then just practice, have fun..
Dave: Keep it real!
Colin: Just do what you want to do, follow your own vision.
Brandon: Yeah, find your own voice and try to be unique.
Colin: You don’t have to change the world obviously, but try and find something you can call your own.

Liam: What instrument manufacturers do you highly recommend?
Colin: I’m a Gibson guitar player, I mostly have them. I have had a couple of Fenders but I love the Gibson’s and I play with Marshall amps too, I love those. I just got a Mesa Boogie combo, I like that! All of them have been very good manufacturers, they have never given me any though so obviously I am not completely happy.
Dave: I’m between Seinheiser and Sure for my mic, and I will go to either one that wants to sponsor me and give me free stuff!


Liam: If you could play a support slot for any band in the world, who would it be?
Dave: It’s weird, cos there is two different way you could look at that question. One that would be really great for a band and their crowd would love us and we would have a great show. The other answer is just so we could watch them every night and they are not necessarily the same thing.
Colin: Like I could say ‘Kiss’
Dave: Their fans would hate us! It would be the worst time ever! On the other hand if we went out with ‘No Doubt’ or ‘Blink 182’ those kids would eat us up like candy on a summer’s day or whatever. (laughs)
Colin: Ice cream?
Dave: (laughs) I dunno what I meant! It would be awesome, but I don’t necessarily want to watch them every night. For the other answer, even though their crowd would hate us I would want to tour with the ‘Flaming Lips’ just to watch them every night!


Liam: Where did you get the inspiration for your name?
Colin: It was on a bus and a guy was in our band briefly. We had a selection of names for the band. 6 all together. This guy called the little crusty thing that forms on the top of a squeeze bottle a ‘Mustard Plug’. So he threw that in as a name option. I don’t know how it won! From the few I remember it was the best.
Dave: We could have been called the ‘Wanker Daddies’!
Colin: Or the ‘Shrinky Dinks’
Dave: Or ‘Cookie Puss’, that was one of the other options.
Brandon: I read in an interview somewhere that ‘Sugar Ray’s’ first name was the ‘Shrinky Dinks’.
Colin: I think we made a wise choice. It could have been much worse!

 
Liam: What can the world expect next from mustard plug?
Brandon: Lots more touring!
Colin: More songs!
Brandon: Another good record in a year or two.
Colin: More hangovers! More grey hairs!
Brandon: Lots of grey hairs!
Brandon: Hardcore, rockin’, fun shows!
Dave: Bigger beer bellies!


Liam: Thanks guys! Have a good show tonight.
Colin: Cheers!
Dave: We will!

 

Thanks very much to Liam for letting us nick this interview.  For other interviews, reviews and your basic net-like silliness, visit his e-zine, www.stateofemergency.net or for cool clothing, surf on to www.transientclothing.com