Girls against Boys

Our story starts in the hot, sticky confines of the Edinburgh Venue, as the gyrating sleaze-funk of "tucked in" grates into action. Girls against Boys are in fine form tonight. Scott McCloud prowls around the stage like an animal. Gut reaction and instinct are pushed to the fore, and our swarthy heroes are loving it. Slab after slab of dirt-trodden girls and boys come to give testament to the new faith. Baptised with sweat and dripping with sex the band grind through a set of songs, new and old. "Kill the sexplayer", "Go be delighted", and the brilliant "Sexy Sam" leave us in no doubt as to the boundless-ness of their talents. I am, in short, rather impressed.

After the show it is wisely decided that any attempt at interviewing would be a folly of incredible proportions. Ray Hill, permanent member of Ligament and current GVsB sound man, decides that this interviewing lark is a piece of piss and wants to do it for me. Being the absolutely laziest of the Convulsion staff, I am more than happy to give the reigns of said horse to such a willing jockey. Hell, he's cheap and he's eager to learn. So, nursing hangovers of outrageous proportions, we tramp down to a local hostelry for traditional Scottish cuisine and Ray is on the case.

Ray: "This is going to be really strange 'cause I already know most of the answers! Okay, describe the scene you came out of in DC. What was happening at the time?"

Scott: "The scene we came out of was very politicised and the particular niche we're from came out of the Dischord records scene. The most interesting thing about it was that it focused more on rhythm, and because of the overtly political content there was a lot of benefit gigs."

Jonny: "Yeh, we came out of the benefit concert scene!"

Scott: "Social values were very different, it was very grass roots, all these people living within there own small communities. People tried to create a scene where the number of records sold didn't matter. The foundation changed though, when people toured and actually made money. Then it became part of the whole art rock thing and was irrevocably changed."

Did you retain those values or do you think in terms of money/career, now?

Scott: "It's a really difficult topic. I think bands need time to develop and find what it is that they want to do. At the same time, as we feel uncomfortable with the big corporate rock fantasies, we don't want to rot away in poverty forever. So we keep the DIY ethic from DC but maybe we'll sign to a major someday. I've never imagined that we'd jump at the first offer and I know we won't 'cause we know the particular myths and fantasies of that particular situation."

Bands seem to want to do it all too fast these days. But as a band you seem to have settled into a groove that you feel comfortable with. The sound on the last 2 LPs ,in particular, seems much more natural.

Scott: "Yeh, while we want to retain certain elements from the first couple of releases, we were in a very embryonic stage at the time and now we've moved on.. I don't know if we'll necessarily out-grow the "Venus luxury No.1" stage of our development as fast. However I do think that there were some neat ideas on those first two records, I just think that they're more than a little flawed. There's always the chance that we might go back and re-record some of that stuff but it's not important that we do. It serves as a historic record of a time in our career."

Just like "(I) don't got a place" was?

Scott: "Absolutely. After "Venus lux" we were in a permanent state of touring and we had to give up our apartments. So when we finished we had to stay with friends, until goodwill expired, then we'd have to find someone else to stay with. So I thought it was an interesting way to describe a lifestyle. Placeness-less."

So what's "Sexy Sam" about?

Jonny: "The sexiest person in the world!! It's Eli who actually coined the phrase. Scott sings something else entirely in the song."

Scott: "It was this specific day in New York, with all this strange electricity happening in this bar. It centres around all this overheard conversation. The lines of the song are actual snatches of the conversation."

As all your songs seem to be written from the angle of personal experience, can you imagine writing a political song, say in the DC style?

Scott: "Not really. You try and be artistic and express an opinion. Preaching is something we'd be anxious to avoid. Besides, when your constantly touring it gives you a lot of interesting things to write about. Even if it does get boring."

When was the last time you knew that you didn't have a tour to start?

Scott: "Around the time of recording "Venus lux". I suppose it's good from a business point of view, but from a personal point of view it wreaked havoc with our lives."

Jonny: " We try and orchestrate breaks from ourselves, but it's very difficult because if you want to stay at home then you have to get a job. So you can't stand still for too long."

Scott: "We've also been thinking up new tricks to keep us interested, like the GVSB Tour Lottery that we devised last night!"

What's the difference between touring in the US and the UK?

Scott: "I think that in Europe we are better taken care of and people are willing to open their ears more."

Jonny: "But the flipside of this is that in the US we know how to access the physical comforts that make touring easier- fast food and cheap motels. In Europe it's a more intense experience because these things aren't as cheap and when you get fed up of sleeping on the floor, or sharing a room with six other people you can't say, "help! I need a break from this." And that's where the problems begin. It makes you wonder what you're doing it for."

Yes, I have a friend called Roger from Scotland who's in a band called the ac acoustics. He's recently fallen ill and had to leave the band. In the event of this happening to you, if it all became too much, for whatever reason, can you see the band continuing without a specific member?

Scott: "It's an interesting situation. But it depends how it happened. I think the ac acoustics could continue. If Roger left because of illness or because he'd had enough, then okay. But if he quit the band over personality clashes then there will be more of an upheaval. I do think that, live, the acoustics have something very special and I think Roger's a vital part of that."

Jonny: "I don't agree with that. I think that they could continue without him. It might not sound the same but they could keep the name and go for a different sound."

Scott: "Chances are that they've come too far and worked too hard to throw it all away. Besides they're too old in the tooth to be starting again. With Nation of Ulysses, they split at the time when things were starting to happen for them. But with the God Machine, they found when they tried to replace their bass player that it didn't work, and that the songs were just dead without him."

What about taking a break to do solo projects?

Scott: "Eli and I have a side project called New Wet Kojak, a kind of weird perverted jazz thing with guest horn players. Its fun but we don't have the time to do that much with it. But I'm releasing it on a record label that I'm starting with my girlfriend."

Jonny: "We also wanted to make a film, but the ambition is one thing, and its too competitive and expensive to get into."

Scott: "We did, however, do "kill the sexplayer" for the soundtrack of a slacker style film called "Clerks".

They gave us a rough cut of the film to watch in the studio. It was good, I think it would be fun to write a soundtrack."

How did that come about?

Scott: " We're the subject of a lot of major label interest in America at the moment and that's how they try and score brownie points with you. They invite you to be on a soundtrack and although you haven't signed with them, they've established a relationship with you"

Jonny: "The major label interest came at the end of Lollapalooza. Because it's so much more commercially focused than other festivals that the companies are watching. That's why we approached it with a fair amount of negativity. But in the end it was a lot of fun."

Scott: "It was very disorientating though. Arrive at 11, start drinking, get a buzz going, 2.30 on stage, finish, pack up, drive to the next place, go to bed, wake up in the morning and start all over again. We were well paid, though, and we did get to see a lot of bands."

Who have you seen that you liked recently?

Scott: "Brainiac, the blues explosion, ac acoustics, Flyscreen. Done Lying Down were excellent last night. We were really wanting to see Bughouse, last night, after hearing so much about them. "

Jonny: "There's a band from Detroit called Soda Pop. They've got this hiphop sound with MC900ft Jesus talking/rapping type stuff. They're really cool. Its difficult to hear new bands in Britain and I just can't get a handle on the radio format here."

What do you think of the press over here in Britain?

Scott: "I find that people want you to say something inflammatory about someone else. But I suppose that that's the mastabatory feel of an interview. Because were a noisy band people who listen to us are perhaps wishing to have an inflammatory reaction of their own. But just because we choose to express ourselves in that way, doesn't mean that we're like that."

Jonny: "When you start slagging off other bands, then its indicative of the disease which is in the music industry today. All it is, is an easy way to help yourself get the big headlines. Besides, bad karma follows you around."

Scott: "There's nothing cool about being a rock star. It's just easier to glorify than a civil servant. "

The questions are over and the camera cuts back to the Venue. Eli is screaming into the microphone and the song ends in a hail of feedback. The audience screams hysterically as Girls against Boys leave the stage. Camera cut to black and white and fade out through the titles.

Oh, yeh, and they all lived happily ever after. The End.

Questions asked by Ray Hill
Interview interference by Keiron Mellotte.