FUNGALPUNK INTERVIEWS

Ben of

TYRANNOSAURUS ALAN

 

1. Tyrannosaurus Alan - great name and the 3 tracks I have heard so far promise much. Tell us about the band - where it all started, the members and how the first demo was recorded and where the 3 songs were created.

It started back in the day when me (Ben) and Ollie got guitars from Argos and started writing songs together. I switched to bass cos it was cooler and we kept writing songs together. He switched to drums cos they were cooler and we played the old songs without guitar. He switched back to guitar and we got a drummer in and we had a band. The drummer left, we got a new drummer, another guitarist/saxophonist and made Tyrannosaurus Alan, so we sat down and wrote a whole load of new songs in our bedrooms. The first demo was recorded between bedrooms, we recorded in Ollies bedroom when his parents went out, he sent the wav files to me and I fiddled with them to make them sound a wee bit nicer, then we copied it, coloured it in and sent it off to everyone we could think of.

2. Describe your fellar band members in 5 words apiece one of which must be fruit related?

Ollie - Loud, exotic if you will.

Chris - Solid, like a human nut.

Craig - Drives a ford fiesta,banana

3. I am always interested in peoples perspectives of their local scenes and the scene in general - tell us yours!

There's not all that much Punk or ska going on in Medway really, there's a few good bands from further away that come to play here and they pretty much make up the scene. The bands that do come and play though are like a little community, we'll all put each other on at our gigs, help each other out and just have a laugh when we get together All us little ska/punk bands are so relaxed about everything that the shows are always fun, even if 3 people turn up and we sound appalling. (which we don't, obviously. Why would we sound like that?)

If you're in a indie or metal band though your sorted. Everyones gonna want to put you on.

4. Kevin Thrush was recently found making love to an ironing board. I myself was once chatted up by a microwave oven so I fully understand the temptation to 'nob' an household item. Give us your theory on ironing board love and if you had to marry a kitchen utensil which one would you choose?

Though an ironing board is tempting, I find them too squeaky for my taste so I tend to only go for them on the rebound. Only if there's no iron involved of course, that could get messy very quickly. If I had to marry any kitchen utensil it'd have to be the blender. The fun you can have with a blender is something that every man should experience.

5. What difficulties do you foresee as a band member regarding getting gigs, winning fans and just generally improving the stature of the bands name!

Getting gigs is hard enough round here cos theres not really any venues... we don't really think about it, we just play our songs and if people like it then we keep playing, if they don't then we keep playing. We tend to work by just making friends with people, we go to gigs up in London and if we like a band we go introduce ourselves, say hi, give them a demo and a lot of the time they get back to us a few days later. We do the same at our own gigs, we make a point of hanging around with the other bands, having a chat and just not being assholes about it. Nobody wants to gig with a band that they don't like.

6. Best Tyrannosaurus Alan song - who wrote it, what makes it so special and what is it about?

'Futures' seems to be the peoples favourite...Ollie wrote that. He recorded a basic version, played it to me, I made some suggestions, added a few bits and it just came about like that. Ollie does this thing where he doesn't write his lyrics down, he just comes up with a theme and maybe a few important lines and just makes it up around those basic parts, you won't hear us just whack out the recorded version when we play it live.

People do seem to like Mango number 5 though... I wrote that... :)

7. Heroes and zeroes in life and music please?

For me.. Madness were really the first ska band I ever got in to... later on I found about The Specials, The Selecter etc. from stealing one of my dads old ska compilation things...

Capdown were pretty much the band that changed everything for us though... they had the same power as a punk band but were so much easier to listen to. It was like rebel music you could dance to and most of all it was fun. It seems like a lot of the time in punk music you're not allowed to have fun, you have to wear spikes, be a vegan and bring down the system... ska is just fun, but its not like pop punk where its like love songs or skate boarding, you can still hear lyrics that change things, but you can dance and smile too.

Nickleback = zeroes.

8. Wannabe punk Ray Pissed has wrote the first line to his latest single called 'Housebrick Sheep'. It goes like this:- 'I like sheep that are made from bricks'. Could you please finish this 4 line opener in the best possible way without offending the prawn community?

'I like sheep that are made from bricks'
I like cows cos I think they're fit
I like punk rock and politics
I am shouting cos I'm Ray Pissed.

9. Your joys and gripes in life and music as well as any bad habits you have?

Joys... in life... having a big amp.

Gripes... getting started on everytime I go out.

In music... Capdown, Camden underworld.

Gripes... people who try to start fights cos they got pushed when they were in the pit.

10. Tell us about your dream gig - who would be on it, where and why?

Capdown, Sonic Boom Six, The Aquabats, The King Blues, Stalking Roxy, Hundred Reasons, Squarepusher.

It'd have to be an all dayer methinks..

at the Underworld.

favourite bands, favourite venue.

11. Ryan Melt had a pimple on his scrotum. He ignored it. The pimple grew and Ryan tried to remove it with a can opener. He failed. The pimple grew until it had a circumference of 3 feet forcing Mr Melt to take to his bed and dose up on Bob Martins dog tablets. Within 3 days the pimple burst and out popped a fully grown sausage dog - coincidence or a by product or worming tablet abuse - tell us your theory?

Worming tablets have been known to cause sausage dog pregnancy in men, so this is a likely theory, more so than the coincidence theory, though sausage dogs can be conceived by other methods such as pube shaving and the regular consumption of dog semen. Worming tablets are a likely cause but other factors could have contributed to the unwillingness of the sausage dog to die.

12. Finally promote Tyrannosaurus Alan over the space of 5 lines - go for it man.

Tyrannosaurus Alan are a band all about having fun, if you like to dance then dance, if you like to sing then sing, mosh if you like that, tap your foot, jump up and down, run in a circle, if its fun just do it, and we'll provide the sound track. It'll be loud too =D

peace and carrots, Ben