The Interview...

What kind of name is Obvious Pseudonym then?

A long one. And let's face it, if you were most famous for a song about bloody Keith Chegwin you wouldn't use your real names either.

How long have you guys been together?

About 18 years give or take, but it took us 10 of those to actually get our collective arses into gear! Cap'n B and The Man In Black met at college in the early 90s, and everyone else has appeared since.

What were you doing the rest of the time?

Drinking, having babies, working, quitting working, living, programming, taking photos, drinking, moving round the country, learning kung fu, getting divorced, going to festivals, drinking, running businesses, earning cash, drinking, falling out with each other and sulking, skiving off generally, and drinking.

So you've stopped drinking now?

Don't be silly, we've stopped all the other stuff to give us more time for music.

Aren't you a bit old for a pop band?

Cheeky git! It's Cap'n B and The Man In Black who make the rest of them look old, we have to add a bit of dignity y'know. There's about a 15 year age difference between the youngest and the oldest - some of us were in nursery when OP was first formed (that's not a joke either).

So the lineup has changed over the years?

We've had more changes than Fleetwood Mac but the lineup's only really changed once since we started gigging and that was the incident with Sminky Hotsauce and the swan.

What incident with a swan?

We don't like to talk about it.

Are you serious?

We take our songs seriously but not much else. The songs themselves can sometimes be described as serious but we try to avoid sad, sentimental emo songs preferring instead to go for out-and-out vulgar disco.

Some of your songs sounds kinda familiar...

We've got a wide range of styles in the band - Grynn describes it as "half-way between Pet Shop Boys and Guns'n'Roses". Lots of influences, lots of styles: Cap'n B loves his electro, Dr Rocksson's into all sorts of stuff, Bernard digs classical, Grynn's a blues man and The Man In Black craves hard rock. It makes rehearsals and writing, er, "interesting". That said, to date we've only ever performed our own material, and we're proud of it... not one of these weekend cover bands, us.

So no covers?

Not so far and we can't agree on anything whenever we thought we might try one, so gave it up as a bad job. You do have to hear Dr Rocksson's acoustic version of Wannabe - but it's not an OP thing.

Is that cos you're not good enough to do someone else's stuff properly?

Watch it! Although, Cap'n B wanted to do a Scissor Sisters cover but that'd involve him prancing around in bottomless leather trousers and we've only just got out of therapy after the last time that happened.

So, er, what kind of people listen to your music?

Crazy ones! Seriously, we love all our fans and they're a dedicated bunch are the Pseudomaniacs. Wouldn't want to be stuck in an elevator with one or two of them mind (you know who you are) but we love them anyway. With our eclectic style, we appeal to a broad spectrum of the music loving populace. They probably need a broad mind, and a sense of humour. And cash, lots of cash! Beer costs money you know.

The old chestnut - where do you get your ideas?

We steal 'em! Heh, ok that's a lie. We just make them up. The basic idea can come from anywhere, a chance phrase used in conversation, an internet meme, a random thought on the way home from the pub, things that we've heard about, or just blatantly re-using common themes. What's important is what you make of them. We're not one of those bands where every song is deeply personal and draws heavily from our own life experience. Usually however it's something someone's bitched about, or shouted at us - "Man Up, Bitch" and "Sex Noises" are classics in that regard.

So you're shallow?

Hey!

Oh come on, "Keith Chegwin For A Day"?

There's a complex sub-text there about the dangers of living your life without ever really connecting to what's important in life, as well as the obvious duality of the desire for fame and the consequences of achieving that desire. Keith Chegwin in many ways epitomises modern culture for the majority of the population. That's what The Man In Black says anyhow. Best not to get him started.

What actually is the anagram of 'hits'?

'This' of course. And 'Htis', but that's not a real word. Stop being silly.

Why do you do this then? Do you want to be famous?

No, we're in it for the money, weren't you listening? Except Cap'n B who's just interested in groupies. Ahem. I mean art, we're in it for The Art. We are all about the music. And the groupies. And the beer. Art, yes.

So who writes your music?

All of us really - the whole band is involved in the creative process. We used to have set 'roles' within the band but it's all gone to pot. At one point we all went off separately for our holidays and came back with some new songs almost completed. We tend to record our stuff in The Cheese Factory although we've been known to do stuff in Dr Rocksson's penthouse apartment in Leeds.

So they're not dashed off when you come in from the pub, drunk?

Ok, one song was. But it's a really good one, honest! And one was written at the pub, which annoyed the other lone patron of the tap-room. And we recorded while getting ready to go to the pub. But no, we mostly do them properly. I don't like you.

Drinking seems a large part of the band's life, how come you haven't written songs about that?

We tried once and it was rubbish - anyway it's a bad subject for a song. Plus the Levellers did it better. And they sent Andrew Collins a poo in a box.

Are you going to write more songs about celebrities?

Probably not. Been there done that. Besides the Man in Black gets an evil glint and starts muttering about Jade Goody, and nobody wants to go there.

Are you going to use more live instruments like brass and strings?

Yeah - we'd like to. More and more 'real' instruments make it into our sets each time we perform (there was that time Cap'n B turned up with an accordion and it's not left the set since) but you know we don't have a full orchestra in our back pocket.

Are you always this sarcastic?

Oh you have no idea.

Aren't two of you married? Does this cause friction in the band?

There's been a couple of 'Yoko' incidents but really they were just silly misunderstandings. We've had lots of experience of band members falling out and not talking, so we know how to deal with it - usually by going to the pub.

Any signings on the horizon? Do you even want to be signed by a major label?

We've self-published our first EP and will probably do the same with the first album which we hope to throw out sometime late 2011, making it available for download from the usual sources. Cap'n B has a complex business model worked out; labels are a dinosaur from the last millenium, unnecessary in today's digital download world. Actually, best not to get him started either.