| How many guitars do you own ? What kind of guitars ?
Not that many, really. I still have my Westone semi which I used throughout The Monsoon Bassoon and for the first three Cardiacs gigs I did at the Garage, but shortly after joining Cardiacs I got that Gretsch White Falcon. I'd wanted one since I was a kid. It's the first 'proper' guitar I've ever owned. I have a broken Squire Telecaster that I was given and never had fixed and a knackered 12 string acoustic that's all over the Knifeworld album, but that's about it. Not like Tim, he's got fucking loads of guitars.
Would an unplugged Cardiacs cd be a good idea ?
I don't think so, anyway what is Sea Nymphs if not Cardiacs Unplugged? Sort of.
Will you still work with Guapo ?
Of course. I'm the guitarist. We'll be starting a new album very soon, then we're playing in France as part of the most stellar line up I can imagine in September.
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It's the Rock In Opposition festival and as well as Magma, who we played with before as part of the same festival a couple of years ago, on the bill are some of my favourite ever bands like The Muffins, who I've been a fan of for years, Univers Zero and Koenji Hyakkei. Three bands I never thought I'd get to see let alone play with. Guapo will be performing three shows . One each day, so we feel really privileged to be considered part of the whole thing.
You’ve been with Cardiacs for 6 years but apart from the Garage concerts cd’s and the Ditzy Scene single there’s no studio cd with you. Do you regret that ?
Of course I do . Although there's that LSD album that I'm all over. It will come out eventually, believe me, but right now with the way things are, that's the last thing on our minds.
How did you become part of Cardiacs ? When did you first hear of them ? Did you listen to any of their music ?
As I said I heard them at sixteen and that was that. Richard Larcombe and I met Tim for the first time at Bic and Bill's last show in Oxford. When I moved to London shortly after I'd see him at gigs and say hi. Then he started turning up at The Monsoon Bassoon shows which was really scary at the time. I'd heard they needed a guitar tech from Captain Jon and Tim rang me up. That was for the Chumbawamba tour. I think after the first couple of days being away Tim and I became best friends, so it was sort of inevitable that when Jon couldn't do those gigs I'd replace him.
How would you describe a Cardiacs fan ?
The thing about Cardiacs fans, and I'm talking as much about myself here, is that they are completely into the band. There's no half measures. Once the music gets you then nothing else will do. That's something you really feel when playing gigs. It's amazing to play to an audience that you know Cardiacs is their absolute favourite band, all of them. Everyone I've met since being in the band has been lovely and I felt welcomed from the moment I joined. I suppose having been in The Monsoon Bassoon, who many of the fans knew, and being part of the whole family helped. It's a very special band that has very special fans.
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