INTERVIEW: Scouting for Girls
- Posted on April 4, 2008 5:19 PM
- 1 comment
Interview by Zarina Raja
Yep, we also shed a tear when we heard that Scouting for Girls had to cancel some of their dates.
Not sure how you will survive until the rescheduled gigs? Well, neither were we until we got the chance to speak to Greg, Scouting for Girls' bass player.
Take a quick peek at what Greg had to say about Roy’s illness, their new single Heartbeat and Greg's dream festival line up.
First of all, how is Roy doing today?
He’s doing a bit better. He’s on the mend and we should be all set for our next show in Bristol.
Have you been looking after him? Lots of soup and grapes I expect?
Yeah. We have had the best people on the case. We’ve gagged his mouth so that he can’t try and talk.
Does his illness have anything to do with him kissing too many girls?
Hahaha! I’m not a medical man, I couldn’t tell you.
With Roy missing, does that mean that you might have to multi-task?
I don’t think I could step up and fill those boots. He’s a mighty act to follow, that Roy Stride. It has given us a few days off though.
What are you going to do with your unexpected free time?
I have been busy moving into a new flat and building a new bed and other very similar Rock n Roll things. It was a blessing in disguise.
Unfortunately, you have had to cancel a bunch of shows. Is there a message you would like to give to your fans?
We were so gutted that we had to come home unexpectedly. We have got the dates through now for the rescheduled shows. They are going to be at the end of May. The Reading show will be changing venue so that means that it will be a little bit bigger. We are also adding an extra Shepherds Bush date. So anybody that didn’t manage to get tickets can now. The tickets that people bought before will still be valid for rescheduled dates. We would like to make a big apology to anyone whose show has been cancelled. We will be back, bigger and better, at the end of May. We’ll be back…before…you can say it.
So, no-one has lost out then?
Yeah, hopefully people will benefit from it.
The German band, Tokio Hotel, have also lost their front man. They are looking for someone to fill in through German Idol. Perhaps you get someone from X Factor to help you out?
Hahaha. That is a very interesting idea indeed. We could start our own Scouting Factor.
If you were forced, God forbid, to replace Roy, who would you choose?
Blimey! Um, in tribute to Roy, I would have to say Michael Stipe. He is such an awesome front man.
Have you ever secretly wanted to be the front man? Now is your chance.
Oh no. That’s not for me. I like the backing vocals and the bass. It keeps me happy.
…and away from the glare of the audience?
Away from the glare of the lights!
Let’s talk about your new single Heartbeat.
It’s your classic tale of seeing a girl or a guy and getting that funny feeling in your tummy and not being able to say a coherent sentence to them.
When was the last time that your heart skipped a beat?
When I woke up on Saturday and heard that Roy couldn’t speak. It skipped a few beats that morning I can tell you.
The single includes a track called A Level Pain. What were you listening to to get you through all that studying?
That would have been just at the end of Brit Pop so it would have been the Stone Roses, Oasis, Blur and Suede. That song was actually written just after.
There is another song on the download called Glastonbury. Is that inspired by a past experience?
It is inspired by our last visit to Glastonbury. We discovered this warm pear cider that you could buy that had a couple of shots of brandy in it. After a couple of those on the Saturday I was completely gone, and then on the Sunday, Roy did the exact same thing. We lost about sixteen hours. It tasted good at the time.
What festivals are you doing this year?
We are down for the Isle of Wight festival, playing on the same day as The Police. Hopefully we will be at Glastonbury, V Festival and T in the Park for the first time. If we are lucky, we will do some European festivals.
Which one are you looking forward to playing most?
Every festival is great – you kind of look forward to all of them. They all have their quirks. Glastonbury is obviously a great one to play. It is the first one of the summer – it is indescribable being able to play there. It has such a great tradition to it. We played last year and we were like, I can’t believe that we are here at Glastonbury.
Which festival is your favourite as a punter?
We played at Latitude last year. It was absolutely lovely; just wandering around, there is so much beautiful scenery; one of the stages was next to this really huge lake. It was so nice. It is quite a family type festival so everybody was welcome there. Unfortunately, we don’t have Latitude pencilled in but if we get some time off I might just nip down there myself.
Do you have any advice for people going to festivals?
Festivals nowadays have everything. You can just turn up with your wallet and credit card – they have everything you need. When I turned up at Glastonbury last year, I didn’t have a tent. I highly recommend the little packets with fold-up ponchos in. Should it rain unexpectedly, you can just whip it out and put it on.
What would your ideal festival line up be?
I would definitely have the Foo Fighters in there and Jimi Hendrix, The Smiths and The Stone Roses. I’d also have some new bands like The Wombats and The Pigeon Detectives. I would have a healthy mix of old and new.
Wednesday night was the premiere of the Rolling Stones movie. If you could have asked The Rolling Stones one question, what would you have asked?
How are you still alive? What’s your secret? They must have a magical mixer that keeps them rocking.
If in the future a film was to be made about Scouting for Girls, who would you choose to play each of you?
I would want Chris Moyles to play Pete. They look scarily similar. When we met Chris Moyles, he said that Pete was a slightly younger and less good looking version of himself. He is a very modest man that Chris Moyles. I always thought that David Duchovny was a pretty cool actor. We would have to find someone pretty to play Roy. Johnny Depp maybe – he tried a bit of singing in Sweeny Todd didn’t he?
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Comments (1)
Kat
Yeah a bit like chris Moyles but very like vince vaughn its unbelievable!
Posted on April 14, 2008 5:18 PM
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