First random news type thoughts

Despite it being 3 am when I should probably try getting some sleep I'm going to take advantage of my internet connection actually working at a useable speed and keep writing. I'll take a brief pause in my shameless self promotion and write about a story which I saw on The Sun's website a couple of days ago which made me laugh and some of my friends found funny. It described a criminal gang in Sweeden who it's claimed had been hiding children or small people in luggage which were then put into the holds of Coaches. The small stowaways then climbed out of their hiding places while the Coach was moving and stole items from other passengers suitcases. This is unfortunate for the victims of the crime, but quite an amusing and creative plot on the part of the gang who were clearly thinking out of the box or err... suitcase (sorry bad joke but couldn't resist). The Police officer leading the inquiry later said something along the lines of "they were investigating people of limited stature". Surely no British Police officer would dare say anything like this for fear of provoking hordes of complaints from busy bodies intersted in equality and political correctness. Thats all for now.

Bowling for Soup Interview 2

I'm on a roll now it's post number two. Again this is more from my interview with Gary from BFS. This will hopefully be appearing in some form the new Lincoln based 'PULP' magazine at sometime in the near future. There's more intro stuff and it's written in a slightly different style to the first but please bear with me because there is some quite interesting and funny quotes here: When you hear the name bowling for soup you automatically think of the Texan pop-punk’s Grammy nominated 2002 hit ‘Girl all the bad guys want’. But you also think happy. It is nearly impossible to hear one of their catchy pop-culture laden songs without smiling, or, if the mood takes you, bouncing around in a mildly excitable manner. Recently BFS hit the UK to spread some of their joy with the second incarnation of their ‘Get happy tour’. I skirted the hordes of hyperactive teenagers waiting outside Nottingham’s rock city for the sold out third night of the tour and headed backstage to meet the band. Last minute sound checks are taking place on the stage as we are lead down some stairs into the dressing room area. We pass BFS frontman Jaret Reddick and guitarist Chris Burney both looking supremely relaxed for men preparing to go out and entertain a packed house of their adoring fans. Seconds later I meet drummer Gary Wiseman who smiles broadly as we are introduced and seems equally as at ease as his band mates. It appears the Get Happy Tour is at least having the intended effect on the bands involved as Gary begins to talk about how the tour is progressing, “The tour is going great so far. There have been some packed houses and we have been having a lot of fun with the other bands Army of Freshman, Zebrahead and the Bloodhound gang”. However the fun has already been taking it’s toll on some members of the tour as Gary explains with a grin, “So far the highlights of the tour for me have been every night with Zebrahead (who joined the tour at the start of the UK leg) getting to watch Jaret walk off the stage and vomit all over the place. Two nights in a row he’s done that. It’s a party when someone vomits”. Gary states that BFS’ main motivation behind putting together is to provide a night of release for their fans. He said “We are trying to get the crowd into the idea and let the kids show up for one night and just have a fun night and, you know, just be happy and get away from work and stress”. This has been the second time this year that Bowling for Soup have visited the UK with the Get Happy Tour (the first tour took place in February and also featured Son of Dork and Wheatus) and Gary explained why BFS think that British crowds are some of the best in the world. He said “The crowds here are so enthusiastic and loyal. We have been coming here for so many years now and we have great fans here. In the States the kids are kind of hit and miss, they’ll like you for a few months and then they’ll like this and they’ll like that. Over here kids stick with you”. Bowling for Soup have now been together as a band for 13 years (Gary joined the band in 1998) and before hitting mainstream success with ‘Girl all the bad guys want’ in 2002 spent many years in the music wilderness. Gary shared some of the things the band picked up along the way about saving money and fitting beer in to their budget. He said “We would always beg, borrow and steal and we would always buy cheap stuff. We weren’t buying like 8 dollar six packs we were buying 12 dollar cases. We slept on friends floors and did everything we could to save money”. The conversation then moved to BFS frontman Jaret Reddick and his ever changing hairstyles. Gary commented “He’s got some pretty darn good hair. He doesn’t spend that long maintaining it but I think when he goes to the chair he probably sits in the chair for a while”. Following the tour Bowling for Soup will head home for a well earned rest with their families and to begin work on a new album. But Gary reveals that BFS will probably return to the UK sometime next year. He said “It will be festivals next year at the earliest but we don’t have anything booked right now”.

Bowling for Soup Interview

Right then, a joyous occasion... my first post. This is an interview which I carried out with Bowling for Soup Drummer Gary Wiseman before the bands' gig at Nottingham's Rock City on the 18th of October 2007. It originally appeared on www.bandidge.com. Please enjoy... hopefully. Bowling for Soup recently hit the UK with the second leg of their Get Happy Tour and they’re a band on a mission to put smiles on the faces of music fans. Best known for their Grammy nominated 2002 UK top ten hit “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” the band comprises off Jaret Reddick (vocals, guitar), Chris Burney (guitar) Erik Chandler (Bass) and Gary Wiseman (Drums). I met up with Gary moments before BFS’ sold out gig at Nottingham’s Rock city for a chat about the tour, the bands most recent album and their plans for the future. How has the tour been going so far? “The tour has been going great so far. There have been some packed houses and we have been having a lot of fun with the other bands Army of Freshmen, Zebrahead and The Bloodhound Gang. Everyone is getting along really well and the shows go really smoothly. All of the bands fit together.” Is the ‘Get happy tour’ BFS’ response to the amount of depressing music around and the growing emo scene? “Basically we’ve always just been a happy go lucky band. That’s everyone in our bands attitude. We’ve always noticed that other bands are pissed off and we don’t understand why. “We thought it would be fun to do a tour where the whole theme is just get happy. Where between bands instead of playing screaming heavy metal or whatever it’s fun happy songs and the crowd is singing along to the PA between bands. We kinda wanted to do something different. “We are trying to get the crowd into the idea and let the kids show up for one night and just have fun”. Where does the title of your newest album ‘The great Burrito extortion case’ (released earlier this year) come from as it sounds like you’re just advertising food based fraud? “We actually had a different title for the record and we had already done the photo shoot and everything for it. But when we were recording the record we were at a hotel bar before we were going to go into the studio one day and we saw a news station ticker at the bottom of the screen. It said ‘Burrito extortion’ and we were like what the hell is that? “We finally watched the story and I guess someone had stuck like a rat or something in a burrito and had tried to sue someplace. We ended up running with the joke and came up with the “Great Burrito Extortion Case”; it doesn’t really mean anything though.” As a band you were together for quite a while before you found mainstream success, what do you thing about people who use TV shows like American Idol or the X factor to achieve fame and success quickly? “You know what I think, the people who come out of those things and actually end up winning are actually talented and so more power to them. It is kinda the fast track and maybe they’re not paying their dues but at the same it is people who have talent and deserve to be successful.” Many of your songs feature frequent references to pop culture. Where do you get your ideas from? “It’s just kinda everywhere. If you watch the news celebrity gossip is on newspapers. You don’t have to watch gossip news or gossip papers you can read reputable ones. The stuff is everywhere and it is hard to get away from. This is just our little go at it.” As a band do you have any plans following the tour? “After this we are going to go home and spend some time with our families and get a bit of a rest. Then we will be working on writing and recording a new record in the New Year.” BFS have appeared regularly at Donnington Park’s Download festival in recent years and Gary revealed that next years festival season will likely see the bands next return to the UK. And if the highly entertaining, banter filled set BFS gave in Nottingham is anything to go by fans who attended the get happy tour should easily be able to make their happiness last until then.