SAMANTHA: How are you feeling about touring Splinter? What are you most excited for?

GARY: The album has had, by far, the best reaction of any album I’ve ever released so that’s a very reassuring thing to be aware of as a tour looms. It gives you a lot of confidence that you can draw heavily from that album and know that the songs are liked. I’ve already played a number of shows in the US in support of the album so I know it works well live. I have a lot of confidence in it translating well from CD to stage in the UK. One of the most exciting things about the UK leg of the tour is that it has a brand new, and considerably improved, light show and production compared to other things I’ve done over the last 20 years. It’s a serious step up. That is what I’m most excited about.

SAMANTHA: Do you have a particular touring memory that you are fond of; and a memory that you’d perhaps rather forget?

GARY: I love touring so, for me, it’s all about building good memories. I love to travel, I’m very happy living in a bus, I love the people I work with (my band are amongst my very closest friends) and my wife Gemma always travels with me. It’s always a happy and party-like atmosphere amongst us all when I’m on the road so it really doesn’t have a bad side. Each day you arrive somewhere new, you explore if possible, play your songs to people that know you and, for the most part, like what you do, people cheer and scream, it’s all very exciting, and then you get back on the bus and have fun through the night until you’re ready to give up on that day and go to sleep. Every tour is an adventure; they all have their moments of stress, and extreme highs. Some are more of a worry than others but touring is the thing that I love about being in a band above everything else.

SAMANTHA: Have you noticed a change in your audiences over the years? Do you still see the same people coming to gigs who have been fans since the beginning?

GARY: It’s definitely changed. Although I still see a lot of the older faces, and I’m very grateful for that, they’re less each time, or it certainly looks that way. But, replaced by a new generation it seems. I have always said that as fans get older it becomes more difficult for them to maintain the same level of interest as they did when they were young. Kids, mortgages, careers, all these things take their toll on someone’s ability to indulge in music to the same level, and so, you see a gradual ‘falling off’ of numbers of older fans. This is normal and to be expected. What you need for a long career to survive is for those people to be replaced, so to speak, and this is where I’ve been very lucky. Over the last few albums I’ve seen a huge surge in interest in what I do, and credibility from what I’ve done before, amongst younger people so I’ve not only been able to maintain numbers of fans but increase them. Having said that it’s still an ongoing challenge to keep things moving upwards and this tour is another part of that particular battle. There are a lot of very good bands all making good music so you have to deliver both on stage and with the albums that you release. Competition never goes away, and it gets harder all the time to stay successful.

SAMANTHA: Is it ever frustrating that songs like ‘Cars’ and ‘Are Friends Electric?’ became so popular? And do you ever feel they steal attention away from your other material?

GARY: I’ve learnt to be proud of those two songs. I think most songwriters would dream of writing something that did that well and has lasted that long. Cars is arguably one of the most famous songs in the world and I’m very proud of that. But, it’s also true to say that I haven’t always felt that way. For a long time I almost resented them as they seemed to get in the way of everything else I tried to do. Luckily, things are going much better these days and so I no longer see those two songs as frustrating ties to the past, more a glorious part of it. The new Splinter album has had the best reviews I’ve ever had, after 35 years in the music business, so I think it’s okay for me to relax a bit with my current position in the industry and enjoy the fact that I wrote Cars and Are Friends Electric.

SAMANTHA: Has being a parent had an effect on how your music is made? Does your family have an influence on the music?

GARY: It’s meant that I’ve had to learn how to have both, a busy music career and a busy family life, and work them together. It’s taken me many years unfortunately to find that magical middle ground between career and family, and it remains a big challenge, but I think I’m about there now. I’m a very hands on parent and I love being with the family, but I need to work hard, and constantly, to keep things going financially so it’s not an easy situation, far from it. Creatively they have no influence on the music as far as opinions and suggestions go, but they feature in it often as subjects and emotional situations to write about. I worry about them obviously, their future, and that pops up a lot in songs. During the making of Splinter I went through several years of depression when I didn’t write a thing, much of that came from my struggles to adapt to being a parent, my marriage became a little shaky, and so all of that is in the new album. So, in many ways, being a parent, having a family, definitely has an effect on the music I make. The thing is though, whatever part of my brain is creative, is only triggered by darker things. So, I’m never going to write a song about what a good day I’ve just had. A good day wouldn’t trigger anything creative in me. But, if I have a bad day, or a sad day, I’m far more likely to find a need to want to write about that. The trick is I guess, writing about it in a way that avoids making music that’s depressing. You still want the music to be powerful and a good listening experience. I think I managed to do that really well with Splinter.

SAMANTHA: There are many critics commenting on your music’s evolution but, in your opinion, how do you think your music has evolved over the last 35 years?

GARY: I have tried many things musically over the years to try and broaden my skills as a songwriter and as a musician. Not all of those things were successful but they were all important in me finding my way to where I am now. I have built up a vast library of experiences in songwriting, recording and performing over the years but I have never felt more at home than where I am now, musically speaking. Most people seem to think that Splinter is either the best album I’ve ever made, or certainly one of the best, so I can’t grumble about any mistakes I might have made in the past that littered the road I took to get here.

I have always been interested in creating new sounds, in making each album a step forward from the last (haven’t always succeeded at that but that’s been the ambition). I am totally driven by melody first, everything else next, and that, perhaps, shines through in the songwriting. I have no interest in the past, in nostalgia, and so I’m always looking at tomorrow, at what I can do better. I do not live on past glories, I have no interest in past glories, my only interest is trying to write something better than I’ve written before, something new, something that no-one has heard before. Most people that have long careers tend to bland out somewhat as they get older. They get safer, more middle of the road. I seem to be going in the opposite direction. My music is now darker, heavier and more aggressive than it’s ever been.

SAMANTHA: What still excites you about working in the industry?

The same things that excited me when I made my first single back in 1978. There is nothing better than being in a band. This is everything.

Shagatuni.com is “the UK’s naughtiest student hook up site”, but after a dabble in the online single world, I discovered that the site is not exclusively for fun-loving students.

While the homepage of the website presents you with the profiles of young, attractive students, after signing up under a false name, using a very old photo of myself, I quickly saw that most of the men on the website were older. They would rarely say hello before saying exactly what they wanted to shove in startling places.

Two hours into my research, and I’d received 42 messages. Admittedly, everyone likes a little ego boost and I felt quite chuffed. But I was surprised to see that of the 13 people who had ‘favourited’ my profile, only one was in his 20s.

It is easy to see how the website would appeal to busy students – studying hard and partying doesn’t leave much time for a serious relationship, and it’s understandable that a lot of people would fancy some casual fun. As long as it is safe and everyone agrees on the rules, what’s the harm?

For people who know exactly what they are getting into on a website like this, I say go for it. But I quickly discovered that it is not just harmless fun.

In the interest of fairness, I asked a male friend to sign up at the same time as me to see if women were quite as forward with their messages. That’s when we discovered that men have to pay to use the website.

While I could message people to my heart’s content, asking for pictures of them and if they were interested in “NSA fun” (no strings attached), men had to pay to do this?! This left me wondering why. Surely most students are able to go out and meet people at clubs or university? Why do we need to waste our hard earned loans on ‘hook up sites’?

I found that lots of the men felt the same way, as I had a few guys ask me why I was on the website, not out picking up guys on the streets of Swansea.

So who is actually on this site?

Of all the messages I received, for the most part the frankly frightening ones were from older men, labelling themselves ‘unhappily married’. These were the only men I chose to respond to simply by saying “I don’t talk to married men”.

Knowing their wives were probably only a room away from them while they trawled the internet for young and potentially vulnerable students infuriated me.

Most of the students who messaged me were very polite and articulate, and led me to believe that we are not just a generation of Jeremy Kyle layabouts.

I can also now say I’ve been invited to a “gangbang party”, with travel and accommodation paid for and “£500 at the end of the party for the party girl”. I think they thought I was a prostitute. Oh dear.

It can be argued that anyone who signs up for this knows what they’re getting, and to an extent I agree. But after one hopeless romantic had continuously messaged me, even giving out his address and phone number, my lack of response inspired him to ask, “why u being a bitch”. I was absolutely fuming. What right do blokes on the internet have to abuse someone just because they don’t reply to a creepy message?!

What surprised me the most (other than the gangbang party and men older and balder than my granddad trying it on) was how willingly these guys would give out photos, and would ask to Skype. It’s almost like they have not spent their days watching This Morning, learning about the dangers of cybersex from Holly and Phil!

You can filter messages to within a certain age range so you don’t find out what 64 year olds would like to do to you. But as this was in the name of journalism, I allowed all messages.

Despite “an auto ‘Not interested’ response sent on your behalf to —- because their message was outside your inbox filters”, lots of the same guys would continue to send filthy messages.

Now that my research is finished, I can’t wait to delete the profile and forget some of the things that had been said. Ultimately, it’s all about personal choice. If you sign up to one of these websites, you just have to know exactly what you’re going to get.

A lot of creepy old men, a few rude people, and you will see more penises than you ever, ever needed to see. So to anyone who is going to sign up, have lots of fun – but be safe. Be cautious and upmost, be prepared.

The following quotes are some of the cleaner messages received on Shagatuni.com so potential users can see what they’re letting themselves in for! Don’t read these if you are easily offended. (Names have been changed)

Fred, 19: “Well well well girl I love [a different word for cat] nowt more to say… I’m up for a bit of fun, nowt more to say.”

Jim, 50: “Does enjoying life extend to chatting with older married guys? If so maybe drop a quick hello and maybe we can chat and have a laugh?”

Ted, 47: “Horny – After a bit of sexy chat this afternoon as I am all alone in my office and feeling a bit naughty xxx”

Brian, 36: “I wondered if you love gangbang parties too or would like to try one perhaps? I run ‘The UK Gangbang Club’ if you wanted to come along one weekend for a party? It’s a Gentlemen’s Club and the guys that attend are nice, clean and friendly and it’s safe. Your travel costs are paid for, accommodation is provided and I’ve a website too if you’d like to see?”

Neil, 39: “You’re hot, I am 6 foot tall, right now I have **** thinking about you, want to see send email address, I would eat ***** until you are screaming for me… then I would ***** you until you ****. The reason I have no face pic is because of work, apparently I am cute.”

Carl, 23: “Just got into bed… Completely naked and starting to touch myself! Don’t suppose you fancy a sexy chat?? Promise you I will work hard to turn you on… Give me a shot!”

The crowd in The Globe, Cardiff tonight are jumping up and down furiously, shouting themselves hoarse as they scream angsty, sarcastic lyrics back to frontman Matt Bowman.

Wrapped up in microphone leads and whipping up a fury on stage, the venue can barely accommodate the massive presence and frenetic energy of the Northern indie-rock outfit.

Luckily, I got to speak band members Jimmi Naylor (on drums), Ryan Wilson (rhythm guitar) and bassist Dave Best before they start working up a sweat on stage.

Crammed into a cupboard sized room with the industrial groaning of the sound check creeping under the door, it’s hard to imagine the calm and collected, well-groomed men in front of me becoming the frenzied animals I know them to be on stage.

Having heard lots about their summer festival experiences, we start talking festival season. It becomes apparent very quickly that the boys prefer playing the smaller independent festivals despite having played the Saturday at V Festival this year.

“Although V festival was really good and there was a big crowd, one of our favourites was Brownstock which is making quite a name for itself right now.”

“It were a really good little set up,” Ryan chips in with his Northern twang . “Some of the bigger festival, no disrespect to the people who go to them but I think perhaps they go to just get absolutely leathered. Some of the smaller, less corporate ones, it seems the people are more into the music”.

When asked about their festival essentials, the boys come up with a few obvious (and some less so) suggestions; “money for food and drink, face wipes, deep -heat for performances, Diorolyte for when ” … at Jimmi’s last suggestion I quickly turn the conversation over to their latest DJ’ing ventures!

Jimmi: “We’ve been Dj’ing for a couple of years now, when we started getting bigger as a band, clubs started asking us to DJ at after-parties – to put our name against the set y’know? It’s easy but enjoyable”

Ryan: “Our first DJ session, we just turned up with our iPods! The resident DJ there was like ‘what the …..?’ But we’ve got better at it and we’ve DJ’ed all across England and Scotland now. We do Propaganda quite a bit – it’s the biggest indie night across the country.”

Finally I strike a topic that provokes a response from bassist Dave Best.Having mentioned their performance of Avril Lavigne’s ‘Girlfriend’ in the Radio 1 Live Lounge and asking what they would cover if ever asked back, Dave springs into action.

“Oooooh there’s that new Sugar Babes songs in’t ther? CHOOOOON”  he says excitably looking at his fellow PD’s.

Touring since the 17th of September following the release of their fourth album ‘We Met at Sea’, the boys divulge their less-than-wild touring antics.

“Since we’ve become a bit bigger, we just sort of get chauffeured to and from hotels and venues.  We’re never on the bus long enough for it to get messy even.” Jimmi takes charge again as Dave turns his attention to a banana.

“When we first began, it was hard being on tour for weeks and weeks. Imagine being in a boy’s bedroom…. it stinks! With twelve men on a bus, by the fourth week its like ‘oh God’”

“What do you miss most about home?” I ask. The normal answers emerge; Sky TV, a home sofa, the other half, specific teabags. However, I quickly uncover that the absence of Yorkshire tea aboard the tour was a big problem for guitarist Ryan Wilson than I could have anticpated.

Following a tweet complaining about just that, Ryan reveals how a special box of Yorkshire tea was sent to the boys by the Yorkshire tea team! This is evidently a good move on their behalf as the boys look ecstatic!

Talking of twitter, I ask the boys about their less -than-shy approach to social networking sites, referring to occasions when the PD’s have addressed ‘dirty little gig b****es’ and thanked ‘sexy Scottish b*stards’ via tweet.

“That’s just generally the way we talk”, explains Jimmi. “It’s kinda post gig excitement that. You’re still buzzing y’know.”

“We’re obviously quite energetic on stage and it passes onto the crowd. Half the time you come of stage and we’re all still ‘adrenalined up’. We feed off the crowd as much as they feed off us. I think we just get a bit excited”.

Considering the commitment from their followers, particularly from one fan as Ryan lets on, it seems to be a rather successful if not conventional method of communication!

“Jimmi’s genuinely got a stalker,” he explains. “Anytime Jimmi mentions anything on twitter or either of us mention Jimmi , this one particular lad goes crazy. He turned up in a bar in York once because he thought Jimmi was going to be there!”

The interruptions from the sound check going on outside are a reminder that the boys soon have business to attend to. I asked them how they prepared before going on stage. “Matt drinks half a pint of Gin”, says Dave piping up again for a few seconds.

“The rest of us are pretty chilled out ; couple of beers, have a chat, rub each other down and go on stage,” Ryan clarifies. When it comes to chilling out afterwards, “We’re all a bit different actually” he says.

“Sometimes after a good gig, adrenalines still going, some band members will run to the nearest bar and go party and some just want to chill out. Depends on how much energy you have after the gig really”.

Jimmi adds in, “We’re generally more chilled because it’s so intense. For about ten minutes after, we don’t even really like to be bothered because we just need to sit down. We’re all a little bit achey and tired but you don’t feel it when you’re up there playing, it’s generally the next day when you’re like ‘ooooh me back!’

When asked about the contrasting response to the new album between the fans and the critics. Ryan said, “I’m not denying it’s nice to get good reviews but it has to be more about what the fans think. The last album we felt we were stereotyped a bit and it can p*ss you off when you put a lot of time and money into an album but its water off a duck’s back really. The fans seem to like it and they are whose paying for it.”

“The best thing as a band is touring and that’s nothing to do with critics. It’s nice to have a good review but it doesn’t really affect us,” Ryan confirms.

Before I leave the boys to have a few pints and ‘rub each other down’ before the gig starts, I take the opportunity to ask the lads’ advice for new bands starting out. With a decade’s worth experience touring, gigging and creating music, Ryan replies straight away; “Gig as much as possible.”

Jimmi, who also spends a lot of time in the studio with new and up and coming bands agrees. “It makes you a better band. Start Networking. See what the crowd respond to and work on that”.

“Oh and don’t act like Liam Gallagher,” Ryan chirps. “Only act like a big time b*stard when you are one! And don’t be naive and believe all the bulls**t either!”

Leaving the interview, the only thing I can say I enjoyed more than chatting to these genuinely awesome lads was watching them perform an hour or so later. Matt Bowman completes an awesome show in Cardiff by inviting the crowd to flood the stage during the encore (despite the bouncer’s efforts to prevent this happening) and everyone crashes around the stage in true Pigeon Detectives style!

JAMES: The album was funded through kickstarter. How have you found that different to working with a label?

HARRY: you have to put a lot more stuff in jiffy bags. If we had to do an album which we didn’t think was great we’d have found it quite hard to feel like we could say to people “give us some money” because its only going to be hardcore fans who do something like that. We tried to get people feeling involved, which they are of course because they’re making it possible to do it. I was a bit wary of it because I think sometimes it looks a bit shit and I’ve seen some really shit ones. They try to sell it, it’s pretty weird. We treated it like a big pre order of the record and some other cool stuff, like t-shirts a couple of things we had kicking about. Mainly most of the things were vinyl, cd, picture disk or something. It’s scary, now we’ve had all these people give us some money, we  really do have to make this happen now, otherwise we have to give it all back and if we’ve spent it how do we give it back if it doesn’t quite work. No one was saying “Where are your singles?”, we could do whatever we want.

JAMES: In the past you’ve recorded on your own label, was that different to doing it with a kickstarter?

HARRY: It was funded by a distributor so we didn’t have to ask anybody for the money because they were giving it to us but that was like having a label telling you what to do. This time it was a bit more like, this was our label. We found a distributor but after we’d done the kickstarter. Our manager wanted us to make a stadium pop record, and what we wanted to do was make a noisy as shit record, make a fun record. A record label can’t really afford to take risks so I think people get a bit more creatively squeezed. People don’t buy records unless they are big poppy records. I think it’s the way forward, but it’s a bit weird because you couldn’t be an emerging artist and use it very successfully. I don’t know how you’d do it nowadays, it will sort itself out. It just doesn’t create people or create fans. Music creates fans. You can’t really access a bunch more people using one of those things. How do you get people to listen to your music? It’s a micro-economy now, there aren’t the three big players.

JAMES: when you were recording it you used a lot of homemade percussion. What led you to choose tha?.

HARRY: Some of that was stuff we found around and about, scaffold pipes and stuff like that. And skips, I like getting in a skip. One was a barbeque I had that sounded wicked. We went up to this old air hanger with a bunch of stuff to record just to record the huge reverb and stuff in these big hangars that was insane. Used a load of software as well, a lot of free iPad apps. There’s a load of good free iPad apps, so if you think “I really need a toy piano” you can just download an app where someone’s sampled it and there you go, you’ve got a free piano. Used quite a few synths. We wanted to make it industrial sounding. A lot of my favourite bands use quite mechanical industrial noises. I like mixed that up with drums and other noises and synthy drum sounds and just mess about with production, you know have fun, something that’s quite difficult to do in a studio where you’ve got a producer who thinks you’re a three piece guitar band who sets the base up, sets the drums up and what if you want to do it in a different way know? I was quite happy for the idea we could try loads of stuff out. At least we’re trying it.

JAMES: You recorded a lot in the hangar, how did you run into that?

HARRY: There’s this old US air force base up the road from here, the air force was there until about ’94 so its quite Cold War and I’ve wanted to go there but we’d never found anyone who’d let us in, but eventually we found one and they have the old flight control rooms all fallen down and decontamination decks which is all still there, the flight rooms got one of those everyone sitting behind a desk with a computer then they all look at a big computer then they have lights which tell you what kind of attacks are happening. Kind of spooky.

JAMES: Did that influence the record at all?

HARRY: I think it fuelled recording really, at times we’d want a sound the guy would let us in and we’d find some stuff to hit, but I wanted to keep stuff fairly. I feel like I wrote some stuff that was inspired by military prowess, we watch the films up there about the pilots and all the ones who’d died and who the heroes were in this dead empty place. I think it inspired some of the lyrical themes, and some of the concrety sounds as well. I didn’t want it to be a bleak record, I wanted it to be fun.

JAMES: leading on from that were there any other key influences on the record?

HARRY: I guess a lot of it was reacting to the way we’d been pushed before, so this one was a bit of a reaction to begin with. We had a very slick sounding record last time we made one which isn’t really what we wanted, but I got the feeling we were told to make it big, poppy and slick. We wanted it like records where its harsh and fun, I don’t like being lumped in with this indie guitar thing. Not what I necessarily what I want to be doing. I don’t feel we need to be part of that, we need to be more out there. We want to be more out there. I’m just looking to make interesting, creative music. We’d never felt we’d had a chance to do that since major labels and you can feel the music industry falling apart. I wasn’t going to go around begging people for money, just make a record, that’s the way to do it. The attitude was quite influenced be being on our terms and being as free as want to be. Let’s make a gnarly record.

JAMES: The big industrial record this year would probably be Yeezus by Kanye West, was that any influential at all?

HARRY: I saw the Jool’s Holland performance and I was intrigued. It was a strong decision. He comes across as a dick and I think that’s brilliant, self assured and weird. Just doing what they want. It’s a pity that the hip hop or dance scene are the only ones really experimenting. I guess its something to do with being American as you have a much bigger audience, there are huge areas of land you can cover and gig. You have to look outside Britain, look outside to push boundaries. Whatever we do, people will say we’ve done an indie record.

JAMES: Would indie guitar music be something you’d ever want to go back to?

HARRY: I don’t know, I feel like you could take it, create it as a theory and create great music. I’m cool to keep it fluid, I would like to do some stuff that was devoid, you cant work out what the instruments are. That seems to me to be the word forward. I like using guitars, but I like it when you can’t work out whats playing and you’re not listening to the guitar, you’re just listening to the music. We have to try a bit harder, we’re not being an indie band anymore, we’re just making some music but that’s very difficult to do.

JD: In the shows for Sick Octave you say its going to be more of a performance

HARRY: We’ve always rocked up and done it pretty natural and like a straight forward rock n roll shows, but sometimes you get lulls and you stay stuff and the audience are like, you know, its Monday night in Macklesfeild, its not a big night for them, they’re just watching. We thought we’d do this record a bit different, just throw everything at them. We do old stuff at the end, but in the context of doing a whole new album. Just make sure it looks good and things look good. Its quite structured. Let’s dress it up bright and throw stuff in between. We build a bit of a story out of it, its freaky and disjointed. The audience thinks, “what’s going to happen next” and things happen.

JAMES: How are you?

ANDREW: I’m okay man I’m just doing work. So only as good as a person doing work can be. It’s a bitter pill but it needs to be done otherwise we would all be living under bridges and robbing people with bits of wood.

JAMES: In your first album your lyrics have some quite strong statements such as “violence should solve everything” and “tories you sleep with the devil.” Do you think this is something that is still present in your music?

ANDREW: Well in the case of ‘violence should solve everything’ that wasn’t saying that violence SHOULD solve everything I was saying in a particular case violence did solve everything. I’m not the kind of person who believes violence solved everything. I deplore violence and for me when the aggression of our band is misconstrued for an excuse for violence we try and get that out the show as quickly and painlessly as possible. We’re all left leaning individuals. We all sold certain truths to be apparent. We don’t believe in hectoring or lecturing people about what we believe. Its true that the kind of people who go to indie rock shows are 98% going to be leaning to the left and there are a lot of things you take for granted with an audience like that. There are bands who are more explicitly political and I would suggest those bands are more useful for a younger crowd who are being introduced to new concepts and ways of thinking. Something that a lot of our audience would think they were being patronised.

JAMES: This latest album closely follows the release of your last album. Was there a reason for releasing another one so quickly?

ANDREW: It’s as simple as we had the opportunity to write some songs even though we didn’t rehearse as often the songs came easier. The trick with being in a band is there is no trick to being in a band. You work hard, you write hard, sometimes songs take ages and sometimes they attack you like a bunch of greedy fucking bees and in this case it was just easy. Every time you rehearsed two or three songs came forward to pull their trousers down and let us know they wanted to be considered and it was just really easy. There’s never really a plan or a plot I mean ideally we’d release great new music all the time, but you know there might not be another record for three or four years or there might be another in a year and a half. I don’t know. It all depends on the quality of the creative inspiration which happens around us basically.

JAMES: This album was crowd funded rather than with a label. Was there a particular reason for pursuing this?

ANDREW: Last time we did end up releasing through a label but the whole process of releasing through a label was protracted and painful. Its possible we could have found a label for this record but because of that we didn’t. Crowd funding really, aside from a rich relative dying, and I’m ANDREWraid I have none of those alive or dead, um or taking out more credit card debt crowd funding was really our only option and we went about it in a way that was particular to the band. And we succeeded and though some people weren’t happy with the whole notion of crowd funding they see it as begging, I don’t see this as begging. We’ve earnt enough in leeway in respectful action over the years to be seen to be rather beyond that kind of thing.

JAMES: It was a success, was that encouraging, were there any particularly big donations?

ANDREW: There aren’t any particularly big donations but it was very encouraging but there is a risk of something as explicitly financially based as crowd funding that there is a risk in explicitly financial terms but there was something lovely to see that much faith in practice and to realise that within five hours of putting the whole thing online that we were going to be able to make the record in the exact way that we wanted.

JAMES: What was the recording process of the self service video? Do you think that had a big impact?

ANDREW: Well not a lot of people actually watched it and a lot of people who pledged never actually wrote it but I wrote the script and then we got one of our favourite comedians, Andy Zaltzman who does a podcast with John Oliver called The Bugle, to do the voice over. Julia, one of her day jobs is she works in comedy as a booker so we were able to contact him so I wrote the script, he performed it. Myself and Julia, but mainly Julia edited the whole thing together and it took, for something that is about a minute and forty seconds long, it probably took from beginning to end about 60 to 70 hours of work to get it all exactly right using our rather basic editing equipment but we’re really, really happy with it and I think playing around with something creative probably helped balance our nerves about asking people for so much money. It made it feel like a business decision and more of an explicitly creative one.

JAMES: So now you’ve done this and set up your prescriptions music do you have plans to expand that or just use it to release your own music?

ANDREW: At this stage its been alongside normal life holding down day jobs. I mean, my brother Jacks just had a baby and our guitar player just got engaged and myself and Julia just got married three months ago, aside from doing all that and holding down day jobs and releasing this album, which been far more work than we would have ever had imagined, especially for Julia, there hasn’t been a time good enough sticks it something good enough comes forward but absolutely why not but unfortunately we’re not in a position where we can loose money on anything and running a record money is a really good way to loose money you don’t already have.

JAMES: Sounds like things are going well in your personal lives, but would you say your latest album is still angry?

ANDREW: Certainly on terms of love and life, not in terms of financially but there’s more to life than money I hear.

I wouldn’t say angry, I would say more energetic. Not that kind of frame of mind, we never sit down with a, some bullet points of societal issues or the bullshit construction of language which needs to be tackled, it just turns out that way. I guess I’m just an aggressive person in a lot of ways. I don’t mean physically aggressive, I don’t go round head butting lamp post or taking a piss on sleeping dogs but um you know I’m quite, what’s a good phrase in cricket when people are far too, you know far too tattakcin, “they’re not going to die wondering” and I’m not going to die wondering.

JAMES: I saw from your twitter that you’re shipping your albums from your local post office?

ANDREW: For some reason they don’t like us, we go round, with maybe in the last week of going round there, with three or four hundred records and cds, you know already franked we hired a small franking machine to keep postage costs down. They really don’t want to take our fucking post. I give the bag to the guy and he’s like ‘if there is a problem contact the postman not us.’ And I just say to him ‘why do you hate being a post office?’ your job is to deliver mail, its all been paid for, you’ve got all the documentation’. They’re also now a WHS smith so selling copies of the daily mail and mars bars and they won’t actually post some fucking packages.

JAMES: How do you feel about streaming services, how do you feel about them?

ANDREW: I’m not the biggest fan, but you know, if people don’t stream your record they’re just going to download it illegally. If they love you’re record they’ll end up buying it in some format which can be listened to more conveniently or honestly. I can’t feel its an honest or befitting model for art but you know that’s how it is. There’s a lot of things you get pissed off about the world at large and the particularly the music industry before you get to streaming and getting annoyed about it… its like getting annoyed at the rain for being wet.

JAMES: Your latest album artwork is interesting, what’s going on there?

ANDREW: A friend does the artwork, we looked at some safety cards and he gave us some initial ideas which were very close to that which we loved and we looked at that theme and ideal and we went with it and it’s connected with the album title. I’m very happy with it and feel very lucky that all the artwork for our four records has been very different, very happy with all of them and there isn’t one of them that hasn’t worked. On CD and on LP it’s a gatefold which is a fantastic thing and even though it means we paid top dollar for it and making a lot less money its just a fantastic thing to old rather than something that you’d just stream. It’s a real thing and you think of the love and attention that went into that package.

This year has seen the continuing success of the Dylan Thomas Prize and Do Not Go Gentle Festival in Uplands.  These events are leading up to a major cultural year for Swansea in 2014, The Dylan Thomas Centenary Festival.  This plans to be a cultural feast of events throughout next year including recitals, plays, music and workshops.

There is no place better to experience local music than in Uplands, from a tentative teenager performing their first gig to the age-old band returning year after year to perform at their favourite venue.  And there are many venues that host local talent, from Mozarts to Uplands Tavern.

Wine Bar, Noah’s Yard not only offers entertaining signs from its interchangeable letters (‘The Hangover’ anyone?) but also some of the finest Jazz Swansea has to offer.

Even in our own University, we are proud to showcase up and coming musical talent in our Open Mic nights in JCs.

It is well-known that Swansea inspired local poet Dylan Thomas and it continues to inspire new poets today.  Only recently did a German poet comment that the city “often feels like the real centre of the universe.”  Jorg Benig wrote his poem whilst visiting Swansea inspired by its landmarks and “wandering water far from the shore.”

Swansea’s campaign, ‘Cwtch’ the bid, was based on “the natural, exuberant expression of our day-to-day culture.”  It’s not just local poetry and music that showcases Swansea.

Local culture thrives amongst the hustle and bustle of its indoor market in the city centre.  Swansea’s food culture, especially its signature seafood, can be experienced.  Every visitor to Swansea must try the best cockles in the country.

It’s not only in the energetic city centre where Swansea life and culture can be experienced.  We have an area of outstanding natural beauty on our doorstep that has seen generations of families travelling from all parts of the UK to spend their summers here.  The stunning coastlines of the Gower Peninsula are gems in Swansea’s heritage and landmarks.

Actor Michael Sheen, actress Catherine Zeta Jones, Dr Who writer, Russell T Davies and comedian, Rhod Gilbert, are but a few of the local famous voices that spoke up in support of the ‘Cwtch’ the bid campaign.

Michael Sheen has hosted major cultural events himself in the Swansea area in the past.  He starred in the three-day play The Passion, which was performed across his hometown of Port Talbot in 2011.

Although Swansea may not have won the title of City of Culture, that doesn’t mean we are a city without culture at all.  The ‘Cwtch’ the bid campaign has reminded Wales and the rest of the UK that Swansea should not be overlooked.  Our culture not only stems from local music, poetry and art in the city, but also in the nooks and crannies of everyday life in Swansea.  And it is a culture that will continue to thrive long after 2017 has come and gone.

From the opening narration I was doubled over with laughter and by the end I was reaching for the tissues to wipe away the tears, and not for the usual when watching Les Mis, but due to my tears of laughter.

With highly entertaining performances from Mark Lloyd, the Master, and Matt Ebbs, the Mistress, these two drag queens carried the show. Another performance which deserves praise is Jennifer Taylor who stayed in character through the play and also delivered a believable French accent.

The only problems I could find were the reference to the recently convicted Ian Watkins, which seemed to not be in good taste and even the audience chanted “too soon” . The final act seemed rushed compared to the rest of the play and some of the humour seemed to be forced.

However, it was the highlight of my week and was a real escape from deadlines and exam revision. It was definitely a must-see for all students and lectures.

One member of the audience had been to see it twice and I wish I had also.

Will Windridge is a play writer to look out for in the future. Congratulations Shoreline on creating a pantomime lover out of me.

Gingerbread houses always seemed a bit out of my league with me not being very artistic or patient but nonetheless the last two years I’ve tried. I’ve made two successful gingerbread houses, and two…prototypes… Here’s the recipe I use, including my tips on how to avoid some of the catastrophes I’ve encountered.

There are loads of templates on the web, I use the one on the BBC’s Good Food website: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4900/simple gingerbreadhouse

Gingerbread House
250g unsalted butter
7 tablespoons golden syrup
200g dark muscovado sugar
600g plain flour
2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda
4 teaspoons of ground ginger
200g flaked almonds
500g icing sugar
2 eggs – separate yolks and whites – keep whites
2 boxes of chocolate fingers
1 chocolate mini roll
Marshmallows
Desiccated coconut
Sweets of your choice for decoration

Preheat your oven to gas mark 6 or 200 degrees C. Melt the butter, syrup and muscovado sugar in a pan on the hob. Mix the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, and the all important ingredient: ground ginger in a large mixing bowl, add the warm butter mixture and stir it all into a stiff dough – if it doesn’t seem to stick together add a splash of water.

Put a sheet of baking paper on a work surface and roll a quarter of the dough into the thickness of two pound coins. Cut a section of the template (see weblink left) out of the dough and place it with its baking paper onto another piece of baking paper. Repeat with the remaining dough and template pieces. Make sure you have two roof panels, two sidewalls and a front and a back. Use any leftover dough to make Christmas trees, reindeer or gingerbread men and women.

Use the flaked almonds and poke the most intact almonds gently into the roof panels to represent tiles – they look really cool once done but be careful, its quite fiddly and they snap really easily.

Bake all the sections on a flat baking tray with their baking paper for 12 minutes or until firm and slightly darker around the edges. Trim around the templates again and then leave to cool completely.

Making the mortar of your gingerbread house: sift the icing sugar (leave a small amount for dusting) and mix with the egg whites. Spoon into a piping bag with a nozzle, and pipe generously along the wall edges and join them together. Put a small bowl in the middle of the house-in-progress to stop it from caving inwards.

Do not try and put the roof panels on before the walls have set completely, every year I try and every year it’s the reason for the (fairly traumatic) collapse. I’ve taken to leaving it overnight to distract myself from poking it so it really has a chance to set. Once it is dry, remove the supports and fix the roof panels – hold them in place for a few minutes to allow the ‘glue’ to set.

If you have a gap in your roof, line each side with the icing glue and stick marshmallows in the gap – gap all gone! Use the chocolate fingers to make panels on the sides of the house, a door and a window if you wish.

To make icicles squeeze a little icing and then pull it down leaving a little pony tail, to make it more distinct you can use a cocktail stick to pull the icing down while its still wet. Cut a chocolate mini roll at an angle and stick to the roof for a chimney – add some icicles to this too. Decorate any trees, reindeers you’ve made too.

Now the best bit, use any sweets you want to make it a Hansel and Gretel’s paradise, surround the house with some desiccated coconut to add
some more snow, sprinkle with icing sugar and don’t get too attached, people think it looks amazing, but it’s soon discovered that it tastes just as good as it looks!

She certainly turned heads at the launch of her new book, wearing a full body, flesh-coloured catsuit covered in prints of her face: “I don’t think that my costume is outlandish today” she said, inviting laughs from the room.

Katie’s latest book contains many explosive claims about her previous relationships and life choices. “When I was doing my reality show, nothing was scripted. They are real life dramas where stuff has happened and it’s still happening. With Pete and Alex, I was in a place I never thought I’d be,” she says, referring to her previous marriages and divorces.

Katie stresses that the stories in the book aren’t a form of retaliation, but a way for her to set the story straight: “What people have got to realize for the past three years, I haven’t done any interviews for magazines or newspapers, no photoshoots.

“Any speculation is because ‘a friend said this’ and it’s never from me. But in them three to four years, all the exes have done stories on me.

“So, why is it alright from them to slag me off, even though it’s lies that they’ve said, and not for me to set the record straight in reply to what they’ve said, but because it’s all come out in bulk everyone now think they’re kiss and tells, but in fact if they shut up in the first place I wouldn’t have to had mention them.”

For a woman who has been in the media more than she even imagined, Katie admits that the pressure can be stressful but she takes it in her stride: “I love getting stressed. I do get stressed; some things are because of certain reasons and other things are because of natural things. We all have a bit of stress in our life; no life is perfect. There’s certainly always a drama and something happening: always.”

Earlier this year, the previous-glamour model had sworn off surgery but admits that in the future she may consider further nip and tucks: “I might be Joan Rivers and Sharon Osbourne when I’m older but at the moment I don’t think I need anything like that.”

The mother of four is not just renowned for her turbulent life; she has been a successful businesswoman, which many people respect her for.

Even if the business ideas stop developing, Katie swears to never give up: “If all else fails, I’ll sell the eggs my chickens are laying at the moment.”

Katie’s latest book is out now, but in a moment of confusion, even she can’t remember the name of the hardback: “Love Lipstick and Lies or is it Lipstick Love and Lies… I always get it mixed up!”

‘Friends with benefits’ arrangements are becoming increasingly common for young people, after a study showed that 32% of young people have had a ‘friend with benefits’.