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It is Thursday October 26th. Idlewild are performing at The Shepherd's Bush Empire tonight. It is cold outside. I have just spent five minutes outside the stage door waiting to be let in. I am not happy, but this is what you have to do if you want to interview one of the brightest nu prospects on the British rock scene, Hundred Reasons.
As I wait for the manager of Hundred Reasons to arrive I bump into Larry Hibbitt, one of the two guitarists. With his tall frame and extravagant facial hair he is already halfway to becoming a rock star - all he needs is a recording contract and a bad attitude(you missed extravagant drug problem - ed). I follow him down to meet the rest of the band who are watching Turn sound-checking. They too match his rock star appearance but while the contract is surely just around the corner, the attitude may take some serious attention. Meetings and greetings are made and it is decided that the lads are hungry, so its off to KFC where the interview takes place…
You recently won Best New Band at the Kerrang Awards. Have you been treated any differently since then?
Larry: No, not really. If we have by the press, I guess people take more notice, but they were taking notice beforehand. Apart from those people, we haven't really noticed any difference to how we're treated at gigs and stuff.
Do you think it's a good omen that Stereophonics won the same award as you a few years ago?
Larry: Yeah, probably. But then Cay won it last year and they've vanished so…it might be a bad omen.
I noticed that at your gig at The Camden Barfly all five of you were wearing shirts with a slogan reading "FRONTMAN". Have you got issues with the music press focussing mainly on Colin - the 'frontman'.
Larry: Yeah because a lot of people want to only speak to Colin and you can't really complain about it because it's going to happen. But we thought we'd have a little dig anyway just by wearing those shirts. That’s what that was about.
Colin, have you ever noticed that you look similar to 2 other rock people? - Stuart Cable of the Stereophonics and Chris Martin of Coldplay, pre-haircut.
Colin: Nope, not at all.
Andy: Oh yeah, he looks like the drummer out of Stereophonics.
Colin: I've never actually heard that one before, I was just expecting another Noddy Holder crack again, but no, I've never actually thought about that.
You have been together for under a year and already reliable sources have been tipping you for the top. Does that make you feel all gooey inside?
Larry: No. It just makes me think they're all mad.
Paul: You'll feel all gooey inside later, though.
Larry: It just makes me think they're all completely insane, I mean what's all the fuss about?
In your song Different I deciphered the lyrics and found that you sing 'Wobbly' after each line of the chorus. Who is wobbling and why?
Larry: Colin's hair, because it's big
Talking of good songs…How well was your debut single Cerebra received?
Larry: Pretty well, I mean it got loads of radio play. All the reviews were pretty good apart from one in Melody Maker.
DiS: Radio 1 likes it a lot don't they
Larry: Yeah, they're still playing it now
Did it get that 'critical acclaim' that all little bands strive to gain?
Larry: Yeah, I think so.
DiS: Where did it get to in the chart?
Larry: 98. Well, #4 in the Melody Maker and NME charts.
What do you think about Napster?
Larry: Not a lot really.
DiS: Good? Bad?
Larry: I think it's good to get yourself about, but when it does start taking…I mean bands don’t make a lot of money. They never do. And so it's good for us at the moment but I'm sure I'll hate it in a couple of years when we're actually doing a proper album.
Have you considered incentives to buy your CDs such as naked women on the inlay cover? Because men really are that shallow.
Larry: Nah, we're not really going to do that I don't think. We're just going to have really boring covers.
Colin, do you wish you stuck your tongue out when you sing, like Britney Spears does quite frequently?
Colin: I don’t think it's very sexy to do so, because I don’t fancy Britney Spears so whatever she's doing is technically wrong.
Do you fancy Britney Spears at all?
Andy: She's alright, but I prefer Christina Aguilera
Colin: I wouldn't kick her out of bed, but I'm not her biggest fan.
Larry: Britney Spears? Definitely.
Do you like melons?
Larry: Love them. But I prefer watermelons.
Or do you prefer plums?
Larry: Oh both.
Talking of young female musicians what was playing with Kittie at The Garage like? Did any of you try it on with the wee Canadian lasses? Or were they a little bit too feisty?
Larry: They were very nice. No, but it was cool.
When the hell are we going to get a Hundred Reasons album!?!
Larry: Never.
DiS: Damn. OK.
Larry: Maybe next year I hope. It depends on when we get some money.
DiS: You’ve probably got to make a few more singles first.
Larry: A couple of E.P.s. They're better. You can release more stuff and you don’t have to record as much.
[I leave offerings of melon and plum to all those who want them]
Hundred Reasons are: Larry Hibbitt (guitar), Colin Doran (vocals), Andy Bews (drums), Paul Townsend (guitar), Andy Gilmour (bass)
Visit: Hundred Reasons [dot] com
