Words with: Pink Grease

September 24, 2003 by Darren Sykes

Gigwise catches up with Sheffield's Pink Grease who are currently causing a stir on the UK's gig circuit. Wanna know what these preened posers recently signed to Mute are about? Read on!

Gigwise: How long has the current line up been together?

Steve: We were originally The Butt****ers, but we changed that because we didn't want to alienate the female fans. Under the name Pink Grease we have been together since the summer of 2001.

Gigwise: Are you all still based in Sheffield?

Steve: It's quite good as we all more or less live on the same street.

Gigwise: Do friends and family go to the local shows?

Steve: We take van-loads of people to the local shows, this helps create a party atmosphere. They don't tend to go to places like Aberdeen though!!!

Gigwise: What have been your best shows to date?

Steve: The best shows have been in Aberdeen, Hull and Manchester, which was the last show. It was extremely hot but this added to the highly charged atmosphere.

Gigwise: Do you have your own travelling sound engineer?

Steve: Yes we do, he's called Danny. It is important that you have someone who knows the sound you are looking for and can work with the band.

Gigwise: The shows are very provocative and full of shock value; do you get a buzz from the audience's response?

Steve: It is really important to feed off the audience and get the interaction. The show builds up to a fever of sexual energy and we like to take the audience through the whole experience. Sometimes gigs can be more intimate with less people as it is on a more personal level.

Gigwise: How was your tour this year supporting Ladytron?

Steve: They were really cool friendly people who were great to tour with…. And the girls are good looking too. Even though we have contrasting music styles the whole thing seemed to work really well.

Gigwise: Who would you like to tour with?

Steve: There is a relatively unknown American band called Gravytrain. They are really original and diverse and I am show they will be cool to tour with. We recently supported Eighties Matchbox and they were fantastic shows, so it would great to tour with them again. The other band would be The Faint, I like their music and style and I think we would compliment each other.

Gigwise: Your style of music has been described as many things, how would you describe it?

Steve: We would like to think its diversity and originality appeals to a whole cross section of people. We have a whole mixture of things going on at the same time. We also want people to look beyond the instruments and see the depth of the music. We want to create music to dance to but not the crap like The Cheeky Girls stuff.

Gigwise: You have had mixed reviews from the media, how does this affect you as a band?

Rory: Certain reviewers have very polarised opinions, we seem to create this love hate thing and then you get 'They are so crap they must be good'. At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their opinion it's the people who come to the shows and buy the music who are really important. We put all the reviews, even the bad ones, on the website.

Gigwise: How was the show in New York City?

Rory: This was our thirteenth gig, which we played last August, the place was full of lap dancers and a lot record label people, it was a crazy night and we played to about 50 people. The whole experience was very enjoyable. We go back to New York soon and we have improved and progressed as a band, so it will be interesting to see what response we get.

Gigwise: How important is touring to the band?

Rory: Touring is very important, but making records is as well. The two are completely different art forms. Recording is the life blood as this progresses you as a band musically. We also have a low boredom threshold so we like to produce and play new songs.

Gigwise: You have brought out two singles and a mini album, how far are you off a debut album?

Rory: We are currently working on the demos for the new album; we are working on the structure of the songs. The album is as yet untitled but hopefully should be ready early next year.

Gigwise: What's your next planned single release?

Rory: We have a particular track in mind, but it's not finalised yet (sorry couldn't get the title out of him.). It should hopefully be released later on this year.

Gigwise: Would you consider doing a live album?

Rory: It's not something we have planned as you obviously have to have the demand, but who knows in the future.

Gigwise: If you could choose any one in the world to produce your album, who would it be?

Rory: It would probably be Tony Viscontii, Brian Eno or Mike Chapman.

Gigwise: Who will be producing your new album?

Rory: We are all coming up with different names (even the guy from Twisted Sister was mentioned - and apparently he is free at the moment!!), so we have not made a final decision yet.

Gigwise: What do you think of the current music scene in Sheffield?

Rory: It's really cool at the moment, very diverse and definitely expanding. All the bands tend to be very independent doing their own thing; you don't get bands collaborating like you do in certain cities.

Gigwise: Are you influenced by any music you have listened to past or present?

Steve: Yeah, we listen to so much music that our influences come from many different sources, some aren't as obvious such as R'n' B which makes you shake your booty!

Gigwise: How would you measure success and what did you originally set out to achieve.

Steve: We obviously set out with the intention to succeed, maybe to produce a couple of records to get in the top ten. We have achieved a lot already by the fact that people have bought our records and when we produce the album that will be another achievement. To think that your record is part of someone's collection is mind blowing.

Photo by Sakura Henderson

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