INTERVIEWS

The Josh questionnaire originally appeared in 'igWyjy!', Steve's one was sent to me a few weeks ago.  Because we're still waiting for the reply from a certain spiky haired drummer, I sent one to da webmaster so there could be three and he could feel famous! 

Name: Steve Clarke
Describe the band for those not lucky enough to have come across you yet.
We are a pop band that rocks.  We do what we want to do; we play music that gives us a buzz.

Have you got any plans for single/album releases or tours or anything that you would care to plug? We will be touring in May/June. Festivals in the summer! Album in the summer! Second single in May! World domination in September!

What was the first record you ever bought and do you think this will aid tour career in any way? The first record I bought was 'The Real Thing' by Faith No More! Yeah, it rocks! I still dig it now. Not a huge influence, but great performers!

Do you consider yourself to be famous now? If not, what do you think will have to happen before you reach celebrity status? Not really, I get recognized quite a bit (my hair gives it away!) But, at this point in time I am not thinking about being famous...I am just thinking about being in a great band.

Are you enjoying the rock and roll lifestyle? Yeah! It's non-stop and I am awful at pacing myself! But you don't do this kinda thing unless you love it.

Have you ever lied about your age and, if so why? No! I'm proud of being young!

 In your opinion, what was the most successful dum dums gig to date? 2 Nights ago, Loughborough Uni! Amazing atmosphere!

Is there a particular question that you would like to be asked in an interview, but so far never have? If so, then please feel free to answer it! 'Steve, people have been commenting on your likeness to Brad Pitt (but you are better lookin') what do you have to say about this?' No answer?   

Who are your fave and most hated bands at the moment? Favourite: Chris Cornell, Jeff Buckley, Jellyfish, Lit (at the moment!) Hated: I'm not into Muse, Coldplay etc.but I don't hate music!

Tell us a scandalous piece of dum dums gossip please! Stuart takes a shower/bath in his swimming trunks!

Discuss the accusation that the Dum Dums only ever reply to emails sent by their female fans. Nonsense, Darling, Sweety...You're so beautiful!   

 

Name: Josh Dumdum
Describe the band for those not lucky enough to have come across you yet.
Passionately bored underachievers aim for the big time, shimmering post punk pop with soul and slow songs for older folks to appreciate. Joyful and sad at the same time.
What was the first record you ever bought and do you think this will aid your career in any way?  'Strumpet' by My Life Story. It will make our band appealing to MLS fans reading Lindsay’s ‘zine, thus shifting more units of our record. If you want the truth, it was the England team song for the 1986 world cup for 35p in Woolies.
                                                                                                                            What jobs did you do before becoming wannabe pop-stars?  Before becoming a wannabe, I tried every job going, full time and as part of four temping agencies simultaneously, and was about to sell my body to medical science for a month -no word of a lie- right before we were saved by record company interest. Which was good, as I would have been one of the original lab-rats for sex drug Viagra...but it WAS good money!
Who are your fave /most hated bands at the moment?
Fave of the moment, The Jam, The Replacements.... hated, any evil pop
demographic-created boy-girl group going, or even worse, detached,
heartless dance music.

What was it like touring with MLS and do you like the band?
It was terrific, actually, and they were great to us, and good to get to
know. They have a good bunch of followers...I wouldn’t be mean, if you feel
devotion to a cause or a band, be proud to stick your neck out and say
 it...real bands, in particular, need support. And it took a while, but I
really started to like their set...I've been listening to 'The Golden Mile'
at home, and I bought empire line single. You often could catch me up the
front pogo-ing to 'its a girl thing' too....'its a gooey ooey ooey ooey ooey ooey thing, yeah...' The best bands are bands that you acquire the taste for...nice bunch of folks too!
                                                                                       
Have you had any mad experiences with fans yet?
Yeah, I mean, we've had a few gigs now where we were completely surrounded
by people into our stuff, almost mobbed...a lot of really cool experiences
with lovely people too. When the only enthusiasm you've been privy too is the foot tapping of record company folks, (not wishing to be patronizing but.... Bless 'em) a bunch of screaming 'fans' going nuts for autographs,
genuinely appreciative of your presence, is something of a mad buzz.  Mad
stuff has happened, but I don't want to make out that anyone's psycho or anything... 

Discuss the accusation that the Dum Dums only ever reply to emails sent by their female fans. 
Hehehehe.... Yeah, baby...no, we try to reply to every email personally...at the moment, there are more girls sending us messages than guys, but its a pretty close run thing. Golly, that's just piffle. 

 

 

 

Name: James Clarke

Self portrait: 6ft something, long brown/ginger (shut it!) hair, blue eyes (x2), mouth (x1), ears (x2) legs, arms etc....
What's it like being the webmaster then?
Great fun, I get to spend hours on the internet communicating with people all over the country.  I get phone calls from managers, record companies, promoters, band members & they all want me to do stuff & update the site & "put this on ASAP", so it's pretty good.  There's a certain element of never stopping, but I guess that's just the kind of industry it is.  With the Dum Dums site we're aiming to keep everyone involved as much as we can with the band & what they're up to, this is why all emails are replied to personally by either myself or the band.  Non of this..."Your email has been received, thank you for emailing x band, they are doing x on x & their new x will be out on x.  Thanks, X".  I know the guys really well, so if they're not around I can answer a lot of questions the get asked!    Overall.....it has positives & negatives.  The negatives are mainly the long hours, but I don't really mind that.  The positives are meeting people, going to loads of gigs, spending time seeing what it's like to be a pop/rock star, getting back stage(!) & more importantly knowing that I'm keeping people up to date with the band.  After all I started off as a fan!  So the positives definitely out weigh the negatives!
What was the first record you ever bought and do you think this will aid your career in any way? Bart Simpson - "Do the Bartman", probably not!!
Do you get recognized by Dumdums fans ever? Yes, it does happen, I tend to get seen coming out of backstage areas & stuff and people try & persuade me to sneak them in, but I'd get in trouble if I did!  Sometimes I don't get recognized, once they were doing an XFM session at the Sound Republic, it was free to get in & Josh decided he wanted to see the queue of people outside, so we went outside through a back door of the venue, walked all the way around the building (which people were queuing around) & then stood at the back of the queue.  Now I'm bigger than Josh, so I kind of hid him & no-one even noticed, but it's a good job none recognized me!!  In fact I do believe you (Lindsay) were in that queue!!!
Do you get to join in with the band's rock and roll lifestyle? Uhm....Yes, sometimes, not all the time because I live in Birmingham & everything goes on in London, but I been to some cool things & met some cool people with them.
What's your fave Dumdums song? Uhm....At the moment it's either "You Do Something To Me", because it's just one of the best pop songs ever written & since they did a demo of it about a year & a half ago, I've loved it. Or "Killing Me With Kindness" or "Kind Of Day I've Had" - Because it rocks big time!
In you opinion, which was the most successful Dumdums gig to date?
That's a hard one!  The Bull & Gate last October was one of the best, because they had just finished the tour, a lot more people knew who they were & all their mates who'd been going to their gigs for ages were there, so it was sold out.  There was a really exciting buzz at that gig, I think everyone knew things were going to taking off fast in the not to distant future, it was also a kind of homecoming gig after the tour.  That's certainly one of the most successful gigs!

Who are your fave and most hated bands at the moment? Fave: Blink 182, Lit, Beck, Feeder, Dum Dums!, Eels & Foo Fighters. (I also think Slipknot are pretty funny!) Hated: Northern Line, A1 & Most of the rubbish in the charts!
Tell us a piece of scandalous Dumdums gossip please! Steve: is a master-chef, he can cook better than my mom! Stu: can't skateboard, even though he reckons he can! Josh: really is insane!
Discuss the accusation that the Dumdums only ever reply to emails sent by their female fans. Rubbish! - I only reply to their female fans?!.....Not really!  Both myself & the guys reply to ALL the emails that are sent, it's just that there are a lot more emails from girls, than lads!!!


Sooner or later I will get around to publishing a very strange 'interview' that myself and Laurel Glitter from 'Lollipops fanzine' conducted a few weeks ago. Writing it up is hard work, the Dictaphone seems to have missed the serious interview technique we employed and recorded a jumbled mess of five over-excited voices... How could that have happened I wonder?!

 

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