Interview with James/The Brute Chorus

1. So, the tour is over. I hope you made it home safe and sound and
nothing is broken or lost. How are you?

We're all really good. Tired but happy.

2. What was the first thing you wanted to do when you got back to London?

Sleep! Then eat. Then sleep again. I didn't though. I ended up at
another party which lasted all night.

3. You played (after a gig in Paris) in Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne,
Hamburg and Berlin. Could you do a bit of sightseeing? Did you find
something interesting or enjoyable?

Well the thing we saw the most of was railway stations. Some days we
just had to much travelling to do but on other occasions we got to
stopn and smell the roses. We took a train trip through the Rhine
valley which, despite it being winter, was beautiful. I had a few
hours to myself in Munich and visited the Hofbräuhaus for a beer and
some sausage which was nice. We saw the cathedral in Köln and in
Berlin I managed to quickly visit the Brandenburg gate and Checkpoint
Charlie before leaving.

4. Did you have surreal or surprising moments in Germany?

I got lost a few times when I was on my own. I don't speak any German
either so it made it much worse. On the last night I fell asleep on
the train to the airport and woke up in the middle of nowhere!
Fortunately some people on the train understood me and put me back on
track. I made my flight with less than 5 minutes to spare.

5. What was the highlight of the tour?

The Hamburg show was my favourite. We had lots of new songs on this
tour and it really felt like they were coming together and the band
was at it's best at that point.

6. I was wondering why you did decide to travel by train. You had to
struggle with a lot of things, your equipment, luggage, books about
Heavy Metal bands etc. Was it worth the trouble?

It was the only way we could afford to do it. It had it's benefits in
that the journeying was much more relaxing than when you take a van
and we saw more of Germany because of it. We worked as a team and
shared the weight of our luggage. It wasn't that bad.

7. How did you come in contact with the Woodentops and who got the
idea to the split single?

We had the same agent. It was our idea to do the split 7" we thought
it would be popular with the people at the gigs.

8. What's next in the pipeline? You are touring again and the new
single “Could This Be Love” will come out in April. How are the plans
with the album? Can you tell us a bit about the album?

The album's going well. We're working on the artwork at the moment.
It's all being drawn by a famous tattoo artist so it's gonna look
cool. It's called 'How The Caged Bird Sings' and will be out in June.
It's different to the first album because it wasn't recorded live. The
songs are a little darker now and we've learnt a lot about using space
in music. The first album is very full on and loud from start to
finish whereas this new one take's it's time. We're really excited to
have the chance to make another.

9. The last question is about breakfast. Toast On Fire is a morning
radio show and because we all like to go out, I'm always looking for a
good breakfast recipe for the morning after a long night. What is in
your opinion the best recipe for breakfast after a gig with too many
beers and far too little sleep?

An English Breakfast of course! For me this would consist of fried
egg, baked beans, grilled tomatoes, smoked bacon, cumberland sausages,
black pudding (lots of meat basically), sauteed potatos and brown
sauce! Top that with either a Bloody Mary (which we have a special
secret recipe for) or a black coffee so strong you can stand your
spoon up in it! Hmm... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

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