The acoustic version of Brassneck (i.e no drummer) meet up in Sainsbury's car park in Basingstoke. Marion (Neil's better half and our photographer for the day - we always seem to have one in tow at the minute) has also joined us for the trip. We're off to Express FM in Pompey for an interview and some acoustic tunes.
The drive there is very quiet - the warm car, the exertions of the weekend and the laid back tunes of Elbow provide a cosy atmosphere for our trip. So much so that some of the band fall asleep. Even I steal a few moments of slumber. The rest of the band seemed not to notice which is probably just as well since I'm driving.
We arrive in the city centre and promptly get lost looking for the radio station. We park up and wander around the block - ending up back where we started - when we notice a small courtyard where a red 'on air' light could be glimpsed through a window. We have found the place. We're soon met by Jack and Joe who are the presenters on the hour long show we are about to participate in.
We find our way to the very small studio and we all manage to cram in - Brassneck on one side of the desk, the 2 presenters, their very quiet friend and Marion on the other side of the controls.
Weirdly, these's an air of nervousness in the air. And its emanating from the presenters! They're actually quite shy. This should make for an interesting interview.
We play 'Leave Me Alone'. I was deliberating beforehand about whether we should do this live since the scope for me cocking it up is quite high. However we decide to do it anyway. Kat then forgets half of the first verse! We plough on regardless. I haven't made a cock up. Get in! Sid then cocks up the intro to the instrumental section! We plough on regardless. I haven't made a cock up. Get in.! We're nearly at the end of the song. . I haven't made a cock up. Get in! Then we've just got the closing chord to play. I haven't made a cock up. Get in!........ And then I play the wrong chord.
We carry on with the interview. What's your influences? How did you meet? And so on. Joe is doing most of the questions. He's starting to come out of his shell and is proving to be an entertaining interviewer.
Sid proclaims that today is 'National pick on Ben day'. It only seems like yesterday that the last 'Pick on Ben day' was here. Hang on a minute - it was yesterday. I make a mental note to check my diary when I get home. Much banter is exchanged before we do 'Sensitive but a bit of a 'rong 'un'. We play this quite well - nobody makes any cockups!
The DJ guys seem to genuinely like what they're hearing which is good. We offer them one of our cds which they then attempt to play on air. However they don't seem to be able to operate the cd player. You'd have thought that would have been a prerequisite for being a radio dj. We instead opt to play the tune live and so entertain the listeners of Express FM with the acoustic delights of 'Stupid What ?'. Lets hope they both enjoyed it.
The hour passes in no time at all and soon we're off air as the news kicks in and the next lot of presenters show up. We head out into the cool evening air, locate the car and head back up the M3. I select my 50's doo-wop / 60's girl band playlist on my mp3 player. This is bound to liven everyone up for the journey home. The 45 minute trip passes in near silence.
Ben
P.S. There isn't a 'National Pick on Ben Day'. I checked my diary. They made it up. The bastards.
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