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Winchester/Bishopstoke pop-punksters NoSkidoo recently came to our attention through the mighty Not Katies messageboard and we (drunkenly) bumped into them at a Joiners gig a week later. Along with Second Monday and The Miscreants they're part of a burgeoning scene in this part of the South. We spoke to them about forming the band and their first steps . . .
tp - How did you start off etc.? How hard was it to start a new band?
Noff : It was originally jim and I jamming on two run-down guitars that were either missing strings or extensively out of tune. The first song we learnt was blink 182 - dammit, and we just played for fun. We decided to start a band off and changed members on a regular basis. For 2 years me and jim wrote songs and never really settled down with a drummer we felt comfortable with. It was earlier this autumn that we found jenny and the set-up was complete.
Jim and I created a 'musical bond' and found ourselves adapting to each others playing style very quickly. The hardest part was finding a drummer that had the same outlook and direction.
tp - Who does what in the band?
Noff - Guitar/Vocals/Songs
Jim - Bass/Site
Jenny - Drums/Gigs
tp - Who are your biggest influences?
Noff : Billie Joe Armstrong and Green Day, Unwritten Law, Strung Out, Rufio, Zebrahead, Midtown
Jim : Green Day, Lagwagon, Mad Caddies, Unwritten Law, Bad Religion, Strung Out
Jenny : Ataris, Travis Barker, Green Day, Chad Smith, Weezer
tp - You're all from the Winchester area, how does the live music scene rate up there? Any good venues?
Jenny : Well to start off, only 1/3 of the band is from Winchester and that's me! There are quite a few good bands around (Miscreants and Second Monday) and we all help each other out. A lot of smaller bands play at the Railway Inn which is the main venue. Its cool because we get to see bands before they get big but its an over 16s venue which used to cause a few problems!
tp - Is it hard to perform as a three piece? What would you say is the biggest difference in the dynamic from a four piece with two guitars?
Noff : Well, most of our music is bass-driven in terms of melody. Me and jim play equally technical and rhythmic parts, primarily to avert boredom. We did have a second guitarist for a while, and though he was a great player and friend, the music we were writing always seemed to serve better as a three-piece set-up.
tp - You said that you started off playing a lot of Green Day. Have you got much of your own material now and was it easy to move from covers to writing original songs?
Jim : Although we did play alot of greenday to start off, we have always written our own songs and as our talent and bond grew as musicians we wrote better, more dynamic songs.
Noff : Green Day are my biggest influences and i think i developed a writing style around Billie Joe's.
tp - Who designed your website?
Noff : Tom Milburn (Miscreants) made the site and started us off and now Jim administrates it.
tp - You mentioned in your guestbook that you're doing (your first) gig in January. What are the prospects for the future? Are you lined up to support any bands in the area?
Jenny : We're hopefully playing our first gig in January as part of a show put on by Sold Out Records with Second Monday, the Miscreants and Six Ton Squirrel. After that we should be supporting Brodie and My Dad Joe at the Railway Inn in February and Matt from Phinius Gage is trying to sort out a gig with us and Not Katies. So things are looking pretty good for the future! We have also been talking to people from the Joiners and an organisation called PFOB but no definate shows have been planned.
tp - And finally have you got any final words/thanks/etc.?
Noff : Just a thanks to the miscreants and second monday for being cool, and to anyone who has taken interest in us or done anything for us like worn a no skidoo badge or shirt. byeee!
Jim : Thanks to all our friends, everyone who takes the time to check our band out, second monday, the miscreants and kat for always helping out the band and being a good mate.
Jenny : A big thanks to my family for putting up with the noise, Dan Dan the Railway Inn Man, Matt from Phinius Gage, Paul and everyone at punktastic.com, all my friends especially Kat and I dunno, everyone who has supported the band without ever hearing us!
Oh and remember, cows don't lay eggs.
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