Interview taken from HermAphrodite #3

Anyways.

Becca accuses Stewart of having been drunk at Glastonbury.

2nd band on on the Second Stage, and he nearly fell off it several times.

Stewart - " It was ten in the morning..."

Hmm...

So tiredness is his excuse for that occasion.

And when they play this evening I suppose he could justifiably claim to be jet-lagged.

It's just that he really doesn't look, um, like he's wholly awake when he's onstage.

Later, when I was talking to Paul ( guitar ) about this, I learned that yes, Stewart's usually like that. And no, the audience have no need to worry.

Paul - " He has fallen off the stage onto his noggin a couple of times though."

Which is what I thought he was going to do at Glastonbury.

(At which point he would've had his landing cushioned by the delicious combination of mud and straw which was carpeting the area before the stage...)

So did they stick around at Glastonbury? Visit a healing tent? Chill a bit?

( Did they buggery... )

Stewart - " No, we got the HELL out of there - it was horrible. I thought I was going to get gangrene."

So yeah. It WAS their worst festival.

But - beyond that - it has been a pretty good year for them.

Pretty good.

me - " Is this ( here ) where you - as a band - want to be?"

Stewart - " Uh... I don't really know... I mean a year ago today we were playing in New York and we had this great big show on Hallowe'en. And between then and now I guess a lot's happened - we made a record - so yeah..."

Walt - " Mmm, and we like our record a lot."

me - " Do you play it in your van?"

Walt - " Oh yeah. We all pretend we're not listening to it, but we are really."

Becca - " That is very much 'I'm in a band, I wear my own band's t-shirts...' "

Stewart - " Oh it's very much like that. And we do wear our own t-shirts..."

Simple forms of self-promotion. Always best when found within dry clean clothing....

And then Walt swaps his interview-place with a little fella called Matt, and we talk about home. Which is where they all want to be – any chance for a holiday and they’ll be back. For all but Stewart, New York is now home - he lives in ( Washington ) DC.

me - " What do you miss when you're over here?"

Stewart - " Uhhh... My life."

( So his life is NOT the band.

He doesn't live and breathe it. )

me - "" Do you ( Matt ) miss that as well? His life, rather than anyone else's..."

Matt - " Yeah, I miss his life..."

But no specific foodstuffs or whatever, they all just miss being 'home'. ( Their friends and all that. )

Becca is having problems quantifying them as an American band.

And tells them so.

She still thinks of them as British. Despite their speaking accents.

I think that this could be possibly due to their association in her mind with other British bands ( Scarfo ) and institutions ( Glastonbury ).

And - of curiosity - she wants to know if they are more famous over here or over there...

Is told it depends on where in America you are.

In New York they're more famous than they are in most places in Britain.

But not overall.

( Does this make sense? )

Cos Britain is, as a whole unit, easier to conquer.

( It can be represented by just Becca's finger. )

Unlike America.

( Which would be represented by both her hands, and Stewart's too... Much to Matt's general bemusement... Too Sesame Street, possibly... )

Cos tours here can encompass the whole country ( more or less ) rather than a few chosen states.

So. Is there a difference between British and American audiences?

Any similarities?

Yeah, says Stewart, they all tend to be human.

And that isn't what Becca's driving at.

She wants to know more of the way in which they respond, if that is different.

Cos you see a difference in audiences just around the country HERE - a gig

in London compared to one in, oh I dunno, Glasgow... There's a different atmosphere.

I think Stewart prefers playing in his homeland. I also think he didn't want to make that too clear. Which is why the question remains diplomatically answered...

He likes them both.

We move on.

Becca - " You look very domesticated, are you ?"

Stewart ( puzzled ) - " You mean peeing ?"

me - " Yeah, he doesn't piddle on the carpet..."

Becca - " Nooo... at home, do you wash-up...?"

Stewart - " I'm a neat freak, you got me. No, I'm not..."

Becca - " You look it."

Stewart - " I shaved today."

And when quizzed, the worst band-member habit volunteered was Matt's 'not shaving'.

me - " Does that bug other people, or is it just your own personal torment ?"

Matt - " I think it torments everybody..."

me - " Have you ( Stewart ) got good lyrics out of it ?"

Stewart - " Uh, huh."

And from talk of lyrics…

Becca - " What's going through your head when you're singing?"

Stewart - " Uh, the words."

And then he leaves for the toilet downstairs.

Matt takes the opportunity to tell us that he moans in his sleep.

Stewart returns.

Becca - " What were the band like?"

Stewart - " Funny."

me - " Were they supposed to be?"

Stewart - " Uh-huh."

Becca - " In a good way?"

Stewart - " I laughed."

Becca - " Did they see you laughing? I hope not, cos they might get upset..."

I went down before the end of the set, and now know that she needn't have been concerned.

The band in question ( Mondo Suave ) featured a singer with a blue moustache and goatee. Eeeek.

( And I later learned that it was stick on. Which - AIIEEE! - doesn't make it any better... )

So. Final question. Have the band ever found themselves on the radio? Yes. But only the once. First and last time...

Stewart - " It was in St Louis wasn't it?

Matt - " We'd just done a radio interview, and we walked outside to the car and turned on the radio and they were playing it. And then they cut it out half-way through the song - there was a bad word in it, and instead of bleeping it they cut the whole song."

Stewart - " Yeah, I haven't heard us on the radio before again... Have you?"

me " Well yeah, you do get airplay. That's why people are here downstairs to see you... cos peole like you..."

Stewart - " Oh... I thought that that was our art-work..."

me - " Well sometimes. Cos they look at you and go - wow we've gotta see them, cos they've got cool jumpers. So some of the people are down there for your clothing. Some not."

Honestly. Jonathon Fire*eater are loved, and they are lovely, and the more people know about it, the better. Bless em…

Read the Melody Maker Review of this very night...

Last revised: 26/07/01