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Who are Sub Rosa?

Col Beattie (singer), Dan Beattie (drums), Joe Jacques (guitar), Tim Hall (guitar) and Jay Clark (bass).

January 2006.

Who or what are your greatest influences?

Jay: Fugazi, Death from above, Mudvayne, Primus, Muse, Mars Volta, Chillis

Col: Happy Mondays, Joy division, Queens of the Stone Age

Dan: I just play whatever beat comes to my head and sounds right at the time.

Joe: Mudhoney, Nirvana, Slint, Fugazi, Mogwai, Cable, Friends and Enemies…etc.

Tim: There was a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳2 'Late Show Special' in 1992 featuring the likes of Sonic Youth, REM, Smashing Pumpkins and Dinosaur Jr. Being 14 and watching those bands rocking out on TV was pretty influential to me. Oh, and I have to mention the Pixies.

Describe your sound?

Joe: Tropical/ambient/thrash…or…

Col: Industrial/fusion/surf…

Tim: A magazine review once described us as "scuzzball boogie merchants", which I think sums us up beautifully!

What do you make of the music scene in Leicester?

Joe: Loads of places to play. It can be tough getting people out though, unless it's a weekend.

Tim: Venues like Firebug will help bring the 'scene' together because people hang out there rather than just turning up to watch their mate's band.

Col: Yeah, it won't be the same without Andy (Tomlinson) there though. It's a tragic loss and he will be greatly missed by ALL who were lucky enough to meet him. We'll always remember him with a smile on his face. Our thoughts are with his family.

Who are your favourite local artists at the moment and why?

Joe: We miss 'TEAM' though 'Death of London' may just provide the answer. Others would have to include Jamie Says, Firebrand and The Authentics (who we have to say as they do play 900k gigs a year!)

Col: I like Dobermann. They're ace!

Tim: Also, watch out for Deadlight Spiral, a new band featuring our former bassist Jim Lamb.

Do you have day jobs?

Col and Dan: Tilers. Need your bathroom doing?
Dan: I'll do it cheaper.
Col: I'll do it quicker.

Joe: Lion Tamer
Jay: I make prosthetic extra fingers for bassists.
Tim: I'm a professional computer geek.

Tim: There's been a few. Playing the opening night of 2oothpaste (De Montfort Student Union's Indie/Rock night) to a crowd of 600 was pretty cool.

Col: Mine was when we played to over 300 at The Carling Academy bar, Islington last year. When we played 'Tea for a Viper', I remember looking up past the blinding stage lights to see a sea of 300 people jumping up and down. Awesome sight man!

Jay: Playing at the Cavern in Liverpool.

Dan: We recently played at the Crib in Ripley to 80 strangers, which was mad. Since then we get quite a few of the regulars there following us around.

Worst gig?

Col: An early gig at The Shed in front of our potential London-based management company. Four men travelled from the Smog to see us play…a drunk singer…VERY drunk drummer and a 'Let's trash the stage even though its not our kit' ending. That didn't go down well with the management. A two hour telling-off followed that gig!

Tim: I just remember seeing Joe do the Frosby Flop into the drum kit and then Dan lifting the kick drum above my head and launching it across the stage! Lol!

Col: Dan was like the Hulk man!
Jay: I thought it was awesome.
Col: You weren't in the band then Jay.
Jay: I was there in spirit.
Tim: Trust us…it wasn't good.
Joe: It was, actually I think that might have been our best musical moment!

Col: Carling Academy, Islington
Joe: Anywhere there's a great band playing and people having fun…oh and cheap drinks!
Jay: Wembley, or Firebug, because it's lovely.

What's been your most embarrassing music-themed moment?

Col: I used to have quite a few pints before gigs to steady my nerves and hope I'd sound like Jim Morrison. I sounded more like Vic Reeves pub singing!

Tim: Yeah, a pint of cider and black with a Pernod chaser was your drink of choice back then. We try not to drink too much before gigs now, it gets messy.

What's your favourite track to perform?

Col: 'All Panic!' We finish the set with that one at the moment.

Dan: I love playing the set opener, 'We are Beast'. Gets the gig off to a flying start man!

Joe and Jay: 'The Jerk'.
Tim: I agree. It's easy to play so you can just jump around and enjoy it.

Where and when was your first gig?

Like most Leicester bands… The SHED!

Which person from Leicester do you most admire? Apart from yourselves of course!

All: Engelbert Humperdinck!
Col: Our gran loves him.
Jay: My nan went out with him once.

Dan: I ate all the pies.
Joe: Curry.

Tim: I'm vegetarian so I'll go with Red Leicester, although I have to say, using food colouring to make normal cheese slightly red is hardly something to be proud of.

Col: A very big MEATY Pork pie without the jelly. The jelly makes me heave! Lol!

Jay: Cheese

Most romantic gesture you've ever made?

All: 'I'm Right, You're Dead'. It's one of our great songs.

Which one of you gets the most attention from the opposite sex?

Col: No comment.
Joe: We mainly just get blokes asking what distortion pedals we use!

Tim: I guess it's quite handy being based in the middle of the country in terms of travelling to away gigs. So yeah, erm… geographically speaking, Leicester rocks!

Joe: There are a lot of places to play in Leicester too.

Jay: Trouble is, if you're a Leicester band who plays Leicester a lot, you're not gonna get many people down every week.

Col: Yeah, we've just started only playing in Leicester every six to eight weeks. Helps big style with the attendance and that helps me along on stage. Can't beat playing to your home crowd!

Listen to two tracks by Sub-Rosa...