Interview: Nutron Stars

The Nutron Stars are playing as part of LeftLion Presents this month. I met them at The Salutation Inn for what turned out to be their first ever interview.

The Nutron Stars are Bob Tarbuck (vocals, guitar), John 'Kandy' Hoffman (bass / keyboards) and Ian Simpson (drum machines / samplers). We talked about the story behind the band and their eclectic pop psychedelic sound:

Where did the name Nutron Stars come from?
Bob: "We were called Weird Beard for a year, we didn't get any gigs. We then came to the conclusion that nothing would happen with that name, so we scrapped it. I heard the words Nutron Stars on a programme about the universe".
John: "Our songs were getting more poppy as well so we decided we needed a new name. I'm not keen on the name myself but you've gotta have a name haven't ya".

Would you consider rebranding again?
Everyone: "No, No!"
Bob: "It wouldn't be right to change it now. We'd have to change the web site and tell everyone. We're too lazy for that".

Where did the band meet?
John: "Ian used to be my boss at the Ford Garage, on London Road. We later met Rob at a gig. We also discovered that we had a mutual love of films. I had an uncut version of a certain film that he was after. We then kept in contact and finally the band formed".
Bob: "We'd seen one another out and about. These guys used to wear t-shirts and badges, which was how I first noticed them".
Ian: "Yeah, Horror film t-shirts".
John: "We also swapped a lot of music. That's how Bob got us into the psychedelic stuff".

How would you describe your sound?
Bob: "I'd say it was pop music with psychedelic overtones".

Is that Sid Barrett / early Pink Floyd psychedelic?
Bob: "Yeah, some songs can be. I love Sid Barrett. He'd be a major influence upon us, I'd guess. I love pop music and he was a great pop music writer".

Who are your musical idols?
Bob: "I don't think we could pin our influence onto any one band. We tend to listen to a mixture of new and old bands. We like everything from The Velvet Underground to The Stones, through punk to more later indie stuff. Because there are so many different influences amongst us we have to try and stick with a sound so our music doesn't sound like a million different things all coming together".

What's your favourite song that you've written, recorded, so far?
Ian: "Everybody Falls. It's the song we always end our live sets with. We've never recorded it".
Bob: "It's a bit of an epic. I've not found a place on any of our EP's to put it yet. People come and see us because they wanna hear that song. People say "is it going to be on the next EP?" No!"

Individually, what are your favourite albums of all time?
Ian: "I'd go for the first Clash album. But Hip Hop wise I'd go for something by Run DMC".
John: "Lou Reed's Transformer. I can put it on again, again and again".
Bob: "I can't choose! First Velvet Underground album, second Velvet Underground album..."

What are your best and worst gigs so far?
Bob: "God, there's been many awful ones. Our gig history has been 50% bad, 50% good".
John: "A lot of the problems we face haven't been our fault. We have a very different set up from other bands, but they (clubs) still only give us a short sound check. We played the Rescue Rooms on one occasion. The main band came up from London and were late. In the end we got five minutes to sound check. You couldn't hear anything. I think that was the worst gig for me".
Bob: "I think we should do rehearsals forever. If we got popular we could get 10-20 people in the rehearsal room at a time. We always sound good at rehearsal. They could wait in the waiting room and we could buzz them in. Gig, by appointment".

Who are your favourite Nottingham bands?
Bob: "The Henry Road are good".

Where are you favourite hangouts in Nottingham?
Bob: "The Tap and Tumbler".
Ian: "Clubbing wise, it's The Cookie Club".

Where else do you play other than Nottingham?
Bob: "We have a regular gig in Kilburn, London. We got the gig by sending a demo out. They thought it may be a bit difficult getting a regular audience as we are from so far away, but it's going well".
John: "The promoters who invited us are really nice people".

Are you looking forward to playing at The Malt Cross?
John: "We've been looking forward to doing a Nottingham gig after so long only playing London. We've been in there before for a drink, but never seen a band in there".
Bob: "I'm looking forward to it. Even better if the sound check goes well".

Any final thoughts?
Bob: "We're thinking of stretching our 35 minute set to an hour. We should announce that we are having a break to have some toast on stage. It would be a new concept. We could keep the toaster right next to the sampler".