MM - Tell us a little about your band and what makes each individual so
unique?
Rob - For a start, there isn't any one band or person we collectively wank
over
Dexy - It'd be so boring to be in a band where all 4 people were exactly
the same, it's a dead end. We throw all our different influences together
and what we end up with is far more exciting...
MM - What brought the members of Corporation: Blend together and how long
has the band been together?
Rob - School, adverts in music stores and schizophrenic drunkard sound
engineers. The textbook way to form a band.
MM - Where does the band’s name ‘Corporation: Blend’ originally come from
and what does the name signify?
Rob - What's in a name? I know I'd sooner die than be in a band beginning
with 'The'.
MM - For anyone who isn’t familiar with the band, how would you describe
your music and who do you see it most appealing to?
Dexy - The music is driven by collective desire and frustration. We're on
a mission that we won't allow to fail, to make music that genuinely moves
us and other people and is totally vital...there seems to be so many
unnecessary bands out there and that's something we will never be.
MM - Who or What inspired you to join a band in the first place? Was it
the music, the lifestyle, the money, the groupies …?
Dexy - Always music first. Everything else after that is up to the
individual...although some money would be nice ...
MM -The band are about to release their debut single ‘For All My Sins/Blew
It’. In case your CD cannot be found in everyone's local CD store, can you
recommend some online retailers who carry it in their catalogue? Also is
there anywhere on the net people can listen to other songs by the band?
Dexy - We sorted out the distribution as a DIY job as the original
distribution kept getting delayed and we just wanted the single out
there...it's available online at www.sisterray.co.uk, in a few shops
around London (Morphs New Cross, Sister Ray Soho, Rough Trade Covent
Garden), Liverpool (Probe), Cardiff (Spillers), Edinburgh (Avalanche),
Bristol (Replay), Bournemouth (Essential) and a few other places, plus
we've got a mail order system via our website...there are a few mp3s of
some demo tracks on www.grassrootsx.com .
MM - Naturally, the music comes first, but the visual performance should
not be under estimated. What can one expect from a ‘Corporation: Blend’
live show?
Dexy - Energy. Blood. Emotion. Sweat. Big fuck off tunes.
MM - How do you like to differentiate yourselves from other bands
currently hitting the underground? What would you say is the trademark of
‘Corporation: Blend’?
Rob - Musically, play whatever we want and never worry about formula or
genre.
Dexy - Yeah, plus it seems that what we do never fits into a particular
scene of the time. Which is great for us because we avoid all the 'next
big thing' then 'yesterdays news' stuff that has a duration of a couple of
months and kills bands before they really have a chance. Our trademark is
probably that we don't really have one, there should never be any
boundaries when you're making music...
MM - With all the changes that music has gone through over the years, what
do you personally think of the current music scene?
Dexy - Pretty boring. Too many bands that say nothing and fit in nicely. I
don't expect every band to cause a revolution but it just feels like the
bar has dropped and people are getting famous simply because their jeans
are ripped in all the right places and they take the right drugs.
MM - What are you listening to these days yourselves? Old classics or
modern bands? What's your favourite tune right now (own material not
accepted)?
Rob - My favourite tune right now is 'Leguman' by TTC, a hip-hop act from
France. It's summery and makes me smile.
Dexy - The last record I bought was the new PJ Harvey album which is
great. Other than that it's a steady diet of The Clash (pretty much every
day), Outkast, QOTSA and the utterly beautiful genius that is Elliott
Smith.
MM - OK, Now tell me which ‘Corporation: Blend’ song is your favourite and
why?
Dexy - It changes from day to day. Today I reckon 'For All My Sins' or
'Too Rich For Water', but it really depends on my mood.
MM - Do you think it’s weird that without bands, music channels,
magazines, labels and venues would not even exist but now they exert so
much influence over bands that they almost control them?
Dexy - I think it's down to the individual band though. If you're willing
to compromise everything about your band for some success then you'll get
shown up for the chancers that you are in the long run. We've never been
ones to shrug our shoulders and accept something we feel is wrong, we'll
always stand up.
MM - Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘N’ Roll – Necessity or Myth?
Rob - All three are great in good measure and certainly open up and expand
your mind. It's just sad that previous generations of rock legends fuck
themselves up to the point of no return which is in turn mimicked by
otherwise promising artists in search of some holy grail. There is no way
you can justify wasting your talents.
Dexy - Sex and rock n roll are vital. Drugs are there if you want them.
MM - Do you feel that rock bands in general don’t have that genuine sense
of hedonism we saw in the past?
Dexy - I think a lot of them lack the 'genuine hedonism', like Rob said
they seem to do it to follow in the footsteps of their idols. That's a
pretty sad reason to fuck up your body. The people who're really 'rock n
roll' are the ones who do whatever they want whenever they want regardless
of what anyone else might think, not someone who does it to look cool.
MM - On your website you invite fans to ask you questions, which they do
frequently. If you could ask THEM one question what would it be?
Dexy - What do you want for Christmas?
MM - Are the band optimists or pessimists? Is the glass half full half
empty?
Dexy - Again it changes on a day to day basis. Today? Half-empty...
MM - When you're not touring and living the high life of rock n roll
rebels what do you do for a living?
Rob - I quit my job managing a clothes store for the band on the day of
the single launch. Now I'm a man of leisure! only broke.
Dexy - I carry boxes, deliver post and make drinks for overpaid comedians
that could very easily do it themselves.
MM - If you could have anyone locked in a room so that you could torment
then for a day, who would you choose, and how would you torment them?
Dexy - There are so many...firstly I'd lock George Bush in a room and make
him read a book above primary school level whilst listening to 'Hot Shit'
by Quasi. Then batter him with his own shoes for being the most
dangerously idiotic fool on the planet.
Otherwise I'd lock Liam Gallagher in a room and force him to watch their
Glastonbury performance and make him try and justify the money they were
paid for such a heartless show.
MM - Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to all our readers
out there?
Dexy - Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb.
