Stuart
Kemsley - Vocals & Guitars Gavin Ashworth - Bass
Ashley Whiting - Guitar
Robert McGregor - Drums
Stuart
Kemsley - Vocals & Guitars Where did the name inch blue come from?
S.K. Well, I think it's really difficult to come up with a great band name.
There are so many crap names out there. For example; The Open. I mean, fancy
calling your band after a sports event. The name Inch Blue is taken from a short
instrumental piece of music by the 4ad super group This Mortal Coil. I guess
I picked it because it's a really ambiguous name.
G.A. It isn't important to me where the name comes from, as long is it gives
you an accurate impression of what the music is going to be like, and that is
exactly what the name does. Plus it separates us from almost every other current
band by not having the word 'The' at the beginning.
R.M. The name Inch Blue just has that quality that lends itself to the imagery
and melancholy in many of our songs.
What are your influences?
S.K. I've always been into dark edgy music. But it was really bands like The
Associates, Cindytalk, Breathless & Echo And The Bunnymen that inspired
me to form a band. But, everything from The doors right through to The House
of Love have influenced my songwriting.
A.W. I like My Bloody Valentine and anything in this sort of vein. I am also
a fan of 60's Psych, such as The Creation as well as Spacemen 3, Loop, etc.
I was also a bit of a grunge fan back in the day and loved bands like Sonic
Youth, Dinosaur JR and Fugazi. Having said this I also like softer more melancholic
music by people like Galaxie 500 and Nick Drake, as well as more modern stuff
like The Concretes.
How
was did the current line-up come together?
S.K. We all met in a doctor's surgery waiting room. I was waiting for Prozac,
I think the others were waiting for Viagra or something.
R.M. Stuart came in for his Prozac but we gave him Viagra instead.
What are your prevalent subject matters and themes?
G.A. The more introverted subjects, people's darker, more subversive thoughts.
Basically anything that should be kept to yourself is perfect material to be
turned into a song and played as loud and as often as possible.
S.K I never write about things I have no first hand experience of. I guess that's
why I never write about happiness.
A.W. Please buy the new single and make Stuart happy for once. Help us!
Your songs sound quite dark and mournful. Why do you tend to choose darker themes?
S.K. Happiness is overrated. I find it easier to write melancholy songs. I
think D minor is the saddest sound in the world. Then again drowning kittens
sound quite sad too.
G.A. Well Stu does the majority of the writing, so the subjects and themes describe
him as well as the music: Wistful, Moody, Austere, isolated, misunderstood….
He's great to have around!
What
is "I'm a dead leaf waiting to fall" about?
S.K. Its about the days when you wake up and feel like going back to sleep.
You know, the days when you feel so brittle, like a slightest gust of wind might
knock you down. Autumn is a magical time of year because everything dies. In
winter everything is still.
R.M. It's about 4 minutes 6 seconds…
What do you think of the current music climate?
S.K It stinks like a rotting corpse. There are so many dull bands out there.
For that reason I prefer to listen to older stuff. The music world has gone
all conservative.
There are so many creature comforts for everyone these days. Life is too easy
for them. It stands to reason, if your life is dull then your music will be
dull and uninspiring too. Bands like Keane, Travis, Coldplay and The Open are
just pants. There is nothing interesting about them. Then you have the New York
bands that want to sound British. It makes me want to drink Horlicks.
A.W. I personally think it is very vibrant at the moment. I think Stu needs
to get out more and go and see some new bands, rather than staying in and listening
to his Cure collection all the time. My favourite new bands are Explosions in
The Sky, The Concretes, Radio 4, Amusement Parks on Fire, Interpol and also
The Radio Dept. These bands are keeping the spirit of eclectic and underground
music alive, and this is great. I am not a huge fan of all the ballad indie
that is around at the moment such as Coldplay and their imitators.
What was the last record you bought?
A.W. Ear Bleeding Country - The Best of Dinosaur Jr
G.A. 'This Never Ending Now' by The Chameleons
R.M. Led Zeppelin - Presence,
S.K. The Workhouse - The End of the Pier.
How do Inch Blue differ from what is already around?
G.A. The difference is that we pull you into our world. It's only after being
half drowned in a song that you can feel everything about the subject and the
mood that we are creating with it. Music is all about involvement, and you cannot
do that by feeling detached from the music.
A.W. Swirling guitars and great words. Plus we are all extremely easy on the
eye.
Why
did you choose London as a base?
G.A. I cannot think of a more miserable, oppressive and disgusting place to
live. London keeps us angry and on edge.
S.K The girls wear less clothes here in summer.
A.W. In the words of Lou Reed. "When you are growing up in a small town,
you hate it, and you know you want to leave".
R.M. It was chosen for us by God; what a git he is.
What bands do you think are overrated or not deserving of praise?
G.A. I have never understood the whole Travis / Coldplay thing. But there seems
to be an endless stream of bands that play almost exactly the same song over
and over again. Covers bands like Keane and Starsailor are really overrated.
S.K Interpol. They are good. Don't get me wrong. But I think it's time they
learnt how to play upward strokes on the guitar.
Where would you like Inch Blue to be in a year's time and why do you think you are relevant?
G.A. Sitting down to decide which of the 60 songs will make it onto the album.
We are not a band that is restricted to only a few songs at any one time. We
can therefore always choose the most interesting and relevant material to put
out.
A.W. Sitting in a penthouse, drinking Kristal, counting piles of loot.