*(Simon, promoter)Did you go to the Indian to eat, its
fucking awesome isnt it?!
* (RR) Im glad youre here Simon, you can ask some sensible
questions!
* (S) Im drunk, I cant ask any sensible questions...
* (Sinead, landlady) Simon, you never ask any sensible questions!!
* So heres the first question - The Applicators,
who, what and why?
- Who? Us. What? The Applicators. Why? Because we rock.
* So you come from Austin Texas, near where the Dixie
Chicks come from...
- Yeah, but we dont know them!
* No I was just thinking about all that trouble they got in for dissing
George Bush.
- They should be able to say whatever they want.
* But werent they pressurised into retracting as they lost
so many fans?
- They also gained some. And they earnt back some respect.
* What was it like working with producer Greg Hetson
(Bad Religion, The Circle Jerks)?
- We love him, hes one of our best friends. He produced our first
album, which has been out in America for a few years but wont
be coming out in Britain. Weve just done a 4 track ep U
Got It Allwhich is available in Britain on B- Unique, and then
were gonna have an album available here with a label or without.
This is our second visit here so were still bigger in the States,
weve done 11 U.S. tours and we play big shows in our own area.
Then weve toured with bands such as The Buzzcocks, The Distillers,
Evergreen and when we get home were touring with The Proxies.
* Do you find that the reactions different in
Britain than at home?
- No we dont.
* What about being 5 women in a band, do you find that you suffer
from sexism?
- Yes, sometimes ...
* As when people ask you stupid questions about The Dixie Chicks?!
- Yes! or when they compare us to The Donnas constantly, we love them
as people but were a different sound!
* (S) Can I ask one question actually? What do you make of the fact
that at your last Cambridge gig for instance, the majority of the audience
was male?
- We want more girls to come!
* There were a lot of girls at the front during Cosy Cosy's set,
I think tonight is less male.
- I think on average we have a 50/50 girl/guy crowd. The more we tour
here, the more people will realise thats what were about.
* I teach 7-11 year olds guitar...
- Cool! She has a 7 year old girl, I have a 3 year old girl, and they
both want to play!
* But learning guitar does seem to be mostly a boy thing, how can
I counteract this?
- You have to market yourself to girls. Also I know that doing what
were doing helps; I know for a fact that our drummer was inspired
by a female drummer and that some girls have taken up drumming cos of
us!!
* Yeah, theres a woman teacher at our school who also drums,when
she plays to the kids you can see girls especially thinking Hey,
I could do that!. It'd be cool if she could take some lessons,
maybe aimed specifically at girls.
- Yes, she should do that!
* Whos your favourite female drummer?
- Umm...
* (S) Sleater-Kinneys drummer?
* Juliet from The Saffs?
* Who have been your inspirations in general?
- We all have different inspirations, so many different ones, thats
why the band works, we knew that we were all very different and that
therefore collectively wed make a different sound. And its
pretty cool to play and travel with the girls, we can say everything
to each other, it wasnt supposed to be like that but its
the way its turned out. If we all listened to the same bands then
wed just sound like our influences, but the way it is makes the
dynamic of the band more interesting.
* (S) Have you ever played with the Donnas?
- No, but wed love to!
* (S) If they ever play the UK, Ill try to make sure you get
the support.
* So, whats next for The Applicators?
- Were playing the Reading and Leeds Festivals, and then were
going to record our next album and hopefully come back here.
* What songs do you listen to when youre vacuuming
- and yes I do ask blokes that question too!
- Something loud. Nirvana, sixties soul, something fast and funky!
* Finally, whats best, chips or cream buns?
(Simon then translates the question into American)
- Fries, chips!
* (S) Youll be happy with that answer.
* Thats it then, thank you very much!
Thanks too to Simon for organising the interview
and guest list, and to all at The Boat Race for letting us talk on their
stairs!
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