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We Dug A Hole
"Well I wrote that on a day out with my friend Nev.
When we recorded it I really wanted it to go a bit mad
at the end so I got my sister and her husband in and
they were really nervous being in a studio. The three
of us just did about 10 takes messing around. But Mike
got really into it and you can hear him singing 'warmer
than Safeways' and 'warmer than Tescos', doing all these
harmonies. I think he thought he was recording for 'Pet
Sounds' or something. It's cheaper to use your family."
Soul To Feet
"I started writing that after I'd done a gig and there'd
been a couple of A&R men come up to meet me. They'd
come all the way up from London and then spent most
of the time talking at the bar. I started writing it
in my head that night and when I went over the next
day I played them that song. If I've got a melody that
I think is good I have to write it down then."
Stood
"That's one of the oldest songs on the album and I was
going to put it on my first album, but I just couldn't
get it right in the studio then. That was probably the
first song I wrote that felt really rounded and whole
and I couldn't believe that I'd written it."
Jasmine Hoop
"Usually with the songs, the words are the most important
things for me to work around. But with that song the
words aren't particularly the thing to look up to, it's
all about the music and character being reflected. I
wrote it by the window, looking out and seeing my reflection
in it. So it's kind of all about memories and just internal
things."
Fell Down Fast
"I've stopped playing that live, it's about my friend
who died. It was a tribute to him, but I felt like I'd
be kind of selling out if I continued playing it just
because people were asking me to play it. I mean, I
probably will play it again, just because it's nice
to remember him by, but I don't want to play it just
because it's a sad song and to make everyone cry. It
just cheapens the memory."
Flicker
"I wrote that one when I was working as a waitress.
I was a terrible waitress! So bad. And there was a queue
of grannies wanting scones and I got the whole song
in my head, it was so weird. So I ran to the toilet
and wrote it all down on toilet paper and then sang
it and recorded it when I got home. Most of the time
I work really hard with my songs but that one just came
to me, like bing!"
Intermission
"I just knew I wanted the album to have two sides, like
an old vinyl. But I couldn't afford it. So I wrote intermission
with the idea of someone getting up after falling asleep
and turning the record over."
Tell The Truth As If It Were Lies
"Well, that's about a wanker that I used to know! It's
really scathing and really horrible, the lyrics. I found
that I could sing lyrics like that."
Morning Song
"That's about a girl I used to live with, she used to
walk around in a G-string and vest top. And I really
liked her, but she was just the most horrific person
first thing in the morning. And I wanted to write a
romantic song about someone who was really bad in the
morning, and she was about the worst."
Toocan
"That was written about a year after 'Stood' and it's
quite new, one of the newest on the album. I wrote that
with a saxophonist that used to come around to my house,
up in Newcastle. She had this melody she played and
I worked out what the chords were and sang what was
in my head and she said that was good. And that was
it."
Each Star We See
"Oh God, I don't know what that's about…"
We Came Down From The Trees
"I wrote that with Laura (Reid, collaborator). I think
I'd gone to a party, and I hate parties. I don't know
why I go. I either end up in the back yard, the front
yard or in the kitchen. Or stuck somewhere I don't want
to be. So I started writing that and then I had an excuse
to go home, so I did and wrote that."
Interview by James Berry for Crud Magazine©
2001
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