Interview taken from HermAphrodite #9.

Subcircus. One shining-star with a liquid voice, two great Danes, and an honorary knight. They revealed themselves to us in 1996, released three incessantly catchy singles and one persistently good album, toured the country with the likes of Suede, set off to conquer America, and then went awfully quiet. For two and a half years. And now they’re back. With new material, and a growing fetish for bubble-wrap. But still as luvverly as ever.

And on this maliciously cold & rainy evening, they’re slowly piling into the back of their van, happily nattering away, on the first night of a fortnight’s worth of gigs which sees them touring their home-spun brand of delicious soaring rock ‘n’ roll, with Feeder and Cay. Whom I wouldn’t have thought were, well, their kind of bands. So, um, Peter ? Why exactly are Subcircus supporting Feeder ? He grins at me.

Peter – “There wasn’t many other tours out, and we wanted to come out and play some songs. I think that it’s good for us to play to audiences that we wouldn’t normally play to. Get some new fans.”

But Feeder & Cay are going to attract Scary Rock Fans.

Peter – “Kerrang! readers.”

Exactly.

Tommas – “I think it’s going to be alright. But it is quite exciting. Because we are very different from both of those bands. You know you have to challenge yourself, and I think this is a good challenge for us.”

Peter – “We’re going to be lucky if we get soundchecks at these shows – it’s going to be really stripped down. We’re just going to go for it, play for thirty, forty minutes. Just have a ball.”

They only play seven songs that evening. Feeder go on for hours though. Hmm.

Tommas – “It’s a pain that we can’t get to play any more, but there will come a day when we do an hour and a half.”

Peter – “We will.”

me – “So are you all going to be wearing your Rock Trousers?”

Peter ( unhappily ) – “I haven’t brought my leathers.”

Tommas – “You haven’t ?”

Peter – “No.”

Tommas ( earnestly ) – “Then we’re going to have to cancel the gig.”

Bless.

And then Nikolaj appears, followed by a hooded-up Sir George.

Peter – “Close that door would you Nikolaj. Keep the meat warm...”

Sir George settles himself, and notices the mogwai sat opposite. And his general bright-whiteness. Which is remarked upon. As he was most grubby last time they met.

me – “I put him in the washing-machine.”

Peter – “He’s had a shampoo and a wax?”

me – “Bold, 2-in-1.”

Peter – “I can put some wax on him, if you want.”

Maybe not. He prefers his hair all natural.

me – “He looked really punky when he came out of the wash, all his hair was clumped together in tufts.”

But that’s a no on the wax.

Tommas – “I think he’s very well behaved actually.”

Subcircus – “You’d like three band members like this, wouldn’t you?”

Nikolaj – “Who just sit there and smile.”

me – “Well, he is cute.”

Tommas – “That’s alright.”

me – “That’s what you need.”

And it would make for wizard sleeve-art. From which promptings I start talking about their new album. When I spoke to them in May, they hadn’t yet thought of a title. Despite having had about two and a half years to think about it. However. They have now settled on one. It’s to be called: ‘Are You Receiving’.

Peter – “It was actually a title for one of the songs I re-did the lyrics for, and we thought it was... not appropriate for that song but it fitted the entire album pretty well. So we lived with it for four of five months, none of us talked about it, and then we came to deciding and having to do it, and said ‘well that’s a really good title, let’s use that’.”

Tommas – “I think it’s a FANTASTIC title...”

Nikolaj – “...For what this record represents.”

me – “So we’re all open radios to you?”

Peter – “We’re the radio, you’re the audience. Hopefully people will use it and embrace us. ( grins ) As everybody should.”

And, preceding the album, will be their next single. In November. As you’ll probably have noticed, by the time you’re reading this.

Peter – “It’s ‘For Those Who Cannot Weep’. We wanted to make sure the first few singles were quite up-tempo, uplifting and positive. And that one was one out of three of four on the record that fitted that criteria particularly well, and was the one that we’ve had the most response to.”

me – “The children’s backing vocals on that, they sing like you. Did you do that on purpose?”

Peter – “No.”

Nikolaj – “It’s just because Peter sounds like an eleven year old child.”

And then the album itself is to be out in February ( at the moment ). But, from what I’ve heard, it looks to be worth the wait.

Peter - “We wanted this one to set the standard with two or three tracks, if the first three tracks we were happy with, they would light the way for the whole record. We tried to make it conceptually...”

Nikolaj - “One-dimensional.”

He’s joking.

Peter - “Bland, boring and one-dimensional.”

Honestly.

Sir George - “This is the first interview we’ve done on this tour. And it may set the standard for interviews to follow.”

Here’s hoping...

me ( to Peter ) –“Your face, on the single covers. ( I turn to the other three ) Don’t you mind?”

Nikolaj – “No, we don’t. He’s such a handsome lad.”

Peter – “That’s not my face. That’s Nikolaj. Trying to look like me.”

Hmm.

me – “So the next singles it could be any one of your faces?”

Nikolaj – “It could be. But it’s not. Because Peter is the singer. And he has written all of the lyrics to this album.”

Peter – “Naah. It’s because I’ve done nothin’. I just came in for an hour here and there, did some vocals, and I was feeling left out...”

Nikolaj happily ignores this, and continues with his own train of thought.

Nikolaj – “It’s important to us that the theme of the album does represent, if not a picture of all of us, then at least...”

Sir George – “ ...A representation of a picture ?”

Nikolaj – “No. It represents the band. It shouldn’t look like it’s the Peter Bradley Show.”

Oh. Okay. I turn back to Peter.

me – “So it’s not just that you want fans coming along because you have cheek-bones?”

Peter – “No. I know it looks like that. But it’s amazing what you can do on the computer these days, with make-up and a good graphic designer.”

Sir George – “Even if it is only half of your face.”

Peter – “Even if it only half.”

Sir George – “The other half spoils it.”

Peter - “Yes ! The big fat chubby half.”

Sir George – “It’s his good half.”

Peter – “The non-bearded half.”

And then conversation is halted by a man appearing at the van door, and asking whether they ‘want ears tonight’ (?). And before I can ask about it, Peter’s off & enthusing about recent signings to Middlesbrough’s football team.

Peter – “Juninho’s (?) back! Magnificent news for ‘Borough supporters. Which I am. Ardently.”

( There are snores from my left. )

me – “Do you miss it ? Living up here ?”

Peter – “I miss North Yorkshire. I don’t miss Middlesbrough.”

Tommas – “I do. I dream about it every night. I hope that when I die I go to Middlesbrough.”

Sir George – “Oooh, be honest.”

Nikolaj – “To Middlesbrough Arena.”

Tommas – “I think there are some really nice places around here though.”

me – “The hairstyles are good, here. People have fringes that go up in a wave from their forehead. And ponytails that start on the top of their heads."

Peter – “And there are mullets.”

me – “Oh yeah.”

Sir George – “Fringes that go up ?”

me – “Yeah ! It’s amazing ! It’s like they’ve stuck a sausage underneath their fringe and moulded it around it.”

Tommas – “That’s probably what they did.”

me – Probably.”

Nikolaj – “Well the grease from the sausage would help.”

Sir George – “And then if you got hungry, you could eat the sausage”.

me – “Oh, but they don’t keep it there.”

And all this Peter has to look forward to. Because he’s moving back up here. To a lovely new house near Stokesly.

Peter – “It’s a huge country manor. I’m sick of living a life of poverty in Subcircus so I decided to...”

me – “Live somewhere that isn’t useful when you’re touring.”

Peter – “As I said to George, I might not be well-off, but I want a house that looks like I am.”

me – “Does it have secret panels and priest-holes?”

Peter ( happily ) – “It probably has, actually. I haven’t had a proper look round yet. It’s got servant’s quarters. Which haven’t got electricity yet.”

Sir George – “That’s for the rest of the band. I think Nikolaj would be a good butler. I could be a cook. And Tommas ( he think about it ) maybe you could be the gardener.”

Peter – “I’m going to have a string of bells in the kitchen from every room so when you pull the string, they come running...”

Aaaaw. Isn’t he cute.

Tommas – “I tell you what – it’s a bit too isolated for me.”

me – “You’re a city-boy?”

He starts laughing.

Tommas – “No, I’ve just moved to Brighton. ( pause ) I think both of us just got a bit sick of London.”

Peter – “I couldn’t wait to get out. It’s just taken me ten years to do it.”

Sir George – “You have been there longer than anyone.”

Peter – “I’ve been there for eleven years. Since I was fourteen. I’ve actually lived in London more than anyone, haven’t I?”

It looks like it, yes.

me – “You win.”

Peter ( happily ) – “I win !”

But the other two are reasonably happy to stay in London.

Nikolaj – “I’ve started enjoying it a lot more recently. For some reason, it seems a lot cleaner. I’m going to stay for just a little bit longer.”

Tommas – “It’s great – we get to really miss each other now we live in separate parts of the country.”

me – “Isn’t it silly if things are going to start taking off, to be living nowhere near each other?”

Peter – “Very silly. That’s why we’ve done it. It makes life extremely difficult.”

Tempting fate then. In a positive way. Besides which...

Sir George – “If things take off we’ll be all together on a bus.”

Peter – “Tommas has moved to Brighton but I think that’s an hour too close.”

Tommas – “I should go all the way and move to France.”

Sir George – “You could live in France, and you’d still be able to get to London quicker than Peter. On The Eurotunnel thing.”

Peter – “That will be my next port of call. I’ll just avoid London – I’ll have houses in cities all over the world, just not London.”

Nikolaj – “Starting with ChopGate? That’s not a city.”

Peter – “It will become one. I’ll make it a small metropolis.”

me – “How are you going to get your nice shoes up here ?”

Peter – “I’m going to buy a cobblers. And make my own.”

Sir George – “He just has to phone down.”

me – “And say ‘Nice Shoes !’

>>> Part 2

Last revised: 26/07/01