Backstage with The Novocaines

Local band The Novacaines have garnered something of a cult following across the country, we caught up with the Forest of Dean foursome to talk singles, Stone Roses and steaming mugs of Horlicks.

Who are the Novocaines?
We are a new wave indie band from Lydney – made-up of lead singer Matt Robertson, Henri Newman on guitar, Adam Chivers on bass and drummer Jon Cook.

How did you decide on the name?
Matt came up with it, it’s probably linked to a hallucinogenic visit to the dentist!

How did you get together?
We’ve been together for about 18 months now. We’re all from the Forest of Dean, so stumbled upon one another through school, football and larking about in local pubs.

What stage is the band at?
Well, we’ve been signed to Clean Living Records for a year now, with regular air play on radio stations across the UK and we’ve been in most of the indie magazines. We’ve been selling-out venues across the country – especially in London, the South East and Wales, where the fans really seem to have taken to us – and have played with some of the biggest names on the underground scene including the Metro Riots, Sonic Hearts, The Guns and I Am Kloot. We’re set to support the Klaxons in July. We’re really growing every month.

What’s your latest material?
We released our debut single ‘Say Goodbye’ towards the end of last year which sold pretty well across the UK and abroad. Next month sees our EP ‘Heroes and Heroines’ released, which includes the track ‘Isolated Love’.

Do you have any influences?
Joy Division, Bloc Party, The Jam and The Maccabees.

Who do you get compared to?
The Maccabees, Bloc Party and recently the Wombats – whoever they are? Oh and some fella in the crowd in Newport actually thought we were the Stone Roses – we were flattered of course, but we don’t look or sound anything like them!

Who goes to your gigs?
We like to think the children of the new wave – so expect to see Dunlops and skinny-jean wearing indie kids at our gigs. Everyone’s welcome and unlike some indie bands, you can dance to our stuff, so we get the odd oldie too.

What’s your favourite venue in Gloucestershire?
The Brunswick in Gloucester without a doubt – it is bloody brilliant! We just played to more than 300 people at Kings in Lydney which was awesome too. We’ll play anywhere that will have us really – we’ve played some real dives in our time, but sometimes they seem to have the best atmosphere.

Who would you most like to support?
The Maccabies or Bloc Party, definitely.

Have you ever… thrown a TV out of a hotel window?
No, the telly is our companion! Many a post-gig night has been spent chilling-out with a Horlicks in a hotel room watching ITV Play until 4am – rock and roll!

Have you ever… had a groupie stalk you?
Well, not quite. We have a group of fans called the Riotets from Bristol that come to most of our gigs, most are MySpace groupies – a message a day kind of thing.

Have you ever… done something you really regret in the morning?
Too many too mention, but if we went into details it might hamper the good boy image that we’ve worked hard to obtain.

Recommend one album that you don’t think SoGlos.com readers will have discovered.
Nothing that the NME tells you to listen to (unless it’s by us) that’s for sure. Take our advice, buy something totally different. Our manager was a bit of a Britpop guru so spent months making us listen to the Seahorses, Bluetones and Ocean Colour Scene on the tour bus – some of it is brilliant.

What’s your number one ambition?
We started with nothing, so money isn’t what we’re looking for. Probably recognition – you can’t buy that and it takes hard work to achieve.

What advice would you give to local bands trying to make it in the industry?
Spread your wings as far as you can – it is better to play to 10 new people than 200 that have already seen you. And just because you’re from a rural county doesn’t mean your band photos should be taken in the woods – it looks naff!

Catch The Novocaines’ live at their next Gloucestershire gigs at Jameson's in Gloucester on 21 July and 4 August 2007.

SoGlos.com
11 June 2007