Rogue Interview

Tell us a little bit about Rogue
"You could say we're kinda laid back, it's a very seductive sort of sound. We're very musical, and much more about the music than the image. We've got a lot of classic and contemporary classic kind of influences, Bacharach and John Martyn. Obviously with the double bass we sound even more like we were influenced by John Martyn. There's a sense of timelessness, we're not a genre band. Well I think we're not..."


What are your favourite venues to play in Nottingham?
"We enjoy playing at Junktion 7 and Cabaret. Moog is fabulous. It was a real hub of electronica and avante garde music. They had a Moogfest at the end of last year and it was one of the most exciting things I'd ever been involved in and experienced musically, loads of cutting edge electonica and off the wall and avant garde musicians. Everyone was completely blitzed by it for two weeks afterwards. Hopefully it'll pick up again afterwards. Bunkers Hill kind of rocks too. And of course, Leftlion at the Malt Cross."


Which other Nottingham bands do you like?
"Crazy Penis kinda rock, and amillionsuns are really good. There's a guy called `We show up on radar' who we did a gig with about a month ago and he was just amazing. He's a solo artist and he plays lovely paired down songs in the style of...well it's really hard to explain. But it's really off the wall and quirky and cute, quite poetic. God I've got to mention so many friends I don't know where to begin. The Kitster's done a remix of us and he's really fun. He's a dance guy. Bent rock, and Tindersticks."
"Put Infant and Fearney down too. Andrew Fearn, he's astonishing. Infant is his label. He's an electonica artist but he does a lot of cutting edge forward thinking music. And then Shod and Deli are local bands who our drummer's in. I love the 22-20s too."

Who do you like nationally?
"Django Bates is superb. I've just been listening to loads of old stuff recently. Goldfrapp are astonishing, and Sigur Ros. We're big fans of Bjork and Radiohead, they can't really do much wrong. I loved Kid A. It's a grower, everything's in its right place and it's got me through some hard times. It might have saved my life on one or two occassions. It wasn't very popular because people want hits, but there were hits on there. Oh I'll mention my brother's band too - Pink Grease. They're really getting quite famous now. Massive in Australia and Japan apparently. They're from Sheffield. It's sort of punk and quite glam. They've got quite a big following - and quite a big gay following too. They were in Gay Times about a year ago."

When did you meet Simon Paterson (the other permanent member of Rogue)?
"He was in a band called Bud Bongo a few years ago. They were a really tightass funk band who did really well. One of their members is now in  Bent and one is in Shod. Bud Bongo toured Europe and had several appearances at Glastonbury."
"We've known each other for four years and we've been doing stuff in the studio on and off for all that time but really seriously from about three years ago. We must have about 50 finished tracks on his computer that we've done nothing really with. There's an album's worth of remixes out there that people have done of our tracks too. About a year, maybe a year and a half ago we started doing loads of gigs and that turned it all on its head again. Possibly one of the reasons we haven't released anything is because we're not quite sure whether the studio stuff is worth releasing before live stuff or if we want to bring the live stuff into the studio and start all over again. I don't know."
"It is all about the performing with music. As you know, with the difference between literature and music, the whole point with music is that it's a form in itself, the most formal of arts. It's something which just exists in the performance. I'm a real believer in that. But great electronica comes from someone who can perform as well. It sets apart all those people who can just sit in their bedrooms with their toys and make okay music from the people who may even have less equipment than that but can perfom. It comes down to performing and collaborating with other musicians."

Has electronica always been your preferred genre
"Well I love Nick Drake and I love Leonard Cohen. I really love Bluegrass too. I'm just starting to get into jazz, which I've hated all my life - I just realised I could sing it. I love good electronica and I hate bad electronica. There's too much bad stuff about. I hate it when it's by numbers, and hackneyed. The best electronica artists are interesting in a huge range of electronica music. The problem with the genre is that you get so many people who are just obsessed with it and it becomes about alienating people with your obscure knowledge of the most unfindable and unlistenable music, it's just so nerdy."

"I'm excited by the bluegrass and blues revival. Liam Watson, who runs Toerag studios and who did the White Stripes album, has released an Appalacian bluegrass album. It's a young male and female duet and they've released all these songs that sounds like they were written 100 years ago but somehow they sound really fresh, and that's really exciting to me."

Are you hoping to be signed again?
"Yes, ultimately, definitely."

What kind of label?
"A nice, small, interested independent label who we see eye to eye to and who aren't going to offer us a huge advance and just leave us to our own devices with a little bit of guidance. Something nice and simple really."

What can we expect from you at LeftLion Presents?
"If I was just on my own as a singer/songwriter it would be easier to sit on the fence about us, but as a band I think you need to be fitted in somewhere. I can't honestly tell you where though. Maybe somewhere between jazz and...something else. It is really boring when bands say 'oh you can't categorise us'. Maybe you could put us in that more mature label. It's experimental but there's a hint of electronica and a big hint of pop. I tend to write very simple and almost naïve lyrics. There's a sort of innocence in what we do but it's quite grown up, I think we kind of keep that. I think the maturity comes from Simon and Sophie more, they're both fantastic and really experienced musicians. I'll let you categorise us. But expect to be nicely soothed. But we're not like Dido. Or Norah Jones."

www.roguemusic.net