Dodgy - the Safeconcerts pre-tour interview - Dodgy Tour Details

Soooo - Dodgy are due on tour - we were lucky enough to get a pre-tour interview with the guys - this is what we asked them and this is how they responded:

Safeconcerts:
To have done some 300 tours in just one year must have been quite some experience - what were the highs? what will you remember forever?

Andy:
Yes it was an experience and very exciting to be a part of. You get to see a lot of fields and motorway embankments if you're not trying to catch up on lost sheep, i mean sleep. What were the highs? Hmmm. Walking out to a packed hall was a fantastic feeling. I can underline that feeling now from touring with my other bands, starting at the bottom again, playing to empty rooms and buckets and brooms. It wasn't always empty though hahaa! I certainly appreciate whatever it was i was supposed to....er, appreciate back then.What i'll remember forever is that i used to play in a band called Dodgy and it was a feckin brilliant time which gave me so much that i could never fully re-pay.

Safeconcerts:
Would you tour to that same extent again?

Andy:
Well there's nothing stopping me from doing so again, but I don't think that'll happen. We don't have the machine behind us, the record company who wants a new album to be followed by a single, then a dozen tours... To be followed again by another album and so on.... like you say, on the previous extent. And two of us have family commitments to satisfy. But just to be out playing alongside the boys again is fine enough for me and i'm certain the same can be said for the other two.

Safeconcerts:
Do you have a top favourite venue - one that just makes you feel you could just play there again and again?

Andy:
Yes, there's a place in Denmark, the Christiania neighbourhood, we've had some great times there. It's not like it's a huge venue or anything. More an intimate gig with dead friendly people, pretty girls and a relaxed atmosphere. We did one of our best shows there, and recorded it, but someone in the band or crew has gone off with the tape and we've been trying to find out who's got it for ages now. Though it's probably me.

Safeconcerts:
You even played the famous Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury - can you give readers a feel of what it's like to walk out onto that iconic stage?

Andy: Nerve rackin' as you can imagine. You walk up the metal stairs at the back of the stage and your heart is pounding, but you keep your head low and just get on with it. Then you see the masses of people and your mind takes a picture, a moving picture. Happy faces, warm and welcoming. You think, 'they can't all be here for us'. And quite honestly, not all of them are, but they're there nonetheless because they're curious, or completely out of it and think we're the Verve. And then it's over in a flash and you leave wondering if you could of done more. It's a complete trip. The best.

Safeconcerts:
If you were to go back and play Glastonbury again in 2008 how do you think the festival would compare to the one in '96?

Andy:
There'd still be the mud, that's for sure. And we wouldn't be on the Pyramid stage (sad face). The nerves would return though, in a bag. They did well for themselves since the last time they we're here. It having been well documented and photographed, we've seen 'the nerves' falling in and out of VIP bags, the highs and the lows, the time spent in rehab when it was in fashion. These boys are gonna be around for a few years yet... Obviously too much time on my hands here.
Hard to compare really, it's not just about playing the show I suppose, even though we'd still give it 100 percent. It's about the aftermath too, what comes after is usually what we remember more than the gig itself. We set a bar up in the backstage camping area at Phoenix '95, consisting of two camper vans parked on either side with tarpaulin draped over the gap between for a roof. We put a bamboo cocktail bar at one end and Math, dressed in a rabbit costume, would give out a drink to anyone who could play a beat on the bongo's next to the bar. But it wasn't long before you just hit the bongo like a monkey with no form of a rhythm to get a drink.

Safeconcerts:
You're known for involving your audience at gigs - how does that work?

Andy:
Just give Mathew a microphone and let him insult the audience. Or sometimes it would be a laugh to get someone up from the audience to sing or dance with us, we'd play I Will Survive and have a girl come up to sing it. It was something that, i thought, was never really planned, we just went with it to see what happened. We'd try things out on the spur and then it would sort of become a part of the set.

Safeconcerts:
You seem keen on nurturing young talent - we all know how hard it is to break into the music scene these days - so for any budding musicians out there what would be your best advice?

Andy:
Practice practice and then practice some more. The only way to make people take notice of you is if you're good at what you do and don't give up. I've said in the past that they need to either move to London, colour their hair etc... but that's all naff advise today. The only exception to practice is someone like Pete Doherty, where he doesn't need to be an alien on guitar, because he's got a distinctive voice and has great lyrical talent.
A lorry load of luck is needed. There's no secret society, witches brew or some magical moonlit dance to perform like we did, the local authority put a stop to that. Just be smart and work on it.

Safeconcerts:
The new tour - but first I must ask - just where do you get a 6ft high bed? and is there a printable reason as to how Andy fell out of it??? and did you keep it after it turned on you?

Andy:
Lol! I built it, and never worried about the drop. But it shames me to say it but there isn't really a cool rock n roll explanation for it. It's been funny though, hearing everyone else's take on it.
I don't really know what happened, just that it was 5am and i woke up on the floor all confused with my duvet underneath me. I never felt a thing until I tried to get up. It must of made such bang, but yet it didn't wake anyone else up! And yes i've still got it, I haven't learnt my lesson and i'm hoping it doesn't happen again! I have got my eye on a tree house though.

Safeconcerts:
So - the tour - with Richard traveling back from Australia the tour must be pretty special - we'd like to ask Richard how the Aussie music scene compares to the UK?

Richard:
Ah, I don't know. There's lots of great live music in Australia and in Melbourne especially but you know, when a band gets particularly good they bugger off and live in London, or Los Angeles. The nice thing though is seeing bands that are big back home play in little pubs over here. I like that. And I like being all proud and British and saying "Oh yeah, the Beatles, they were from my country, sorry, who's that on the radio, John Farnham? Oh, he's one of yours isn't he ...".

Safeconcerts:
Do you think that doing another tour will pull you right back into the circuit again - can you combine your various interest and tour or will the tours be few and far between?

Andy:
I suppose it could bring a few offers of more shows on the table. We're getting on really well and it's enjoyable again, having a laugh like we used to. And that makes a difference if we plan to head out on the road again more frequently. So we'll make time and combine things when the time comes.

Safeconcerts:
What differences do you find in audiences in different parts of the country?

Andy:
There is no real difference once an audience is into the gig. The only difference to speak of is when playing London compared to playing small towns or cities up north. The majority of people in those small towns and northern cities tend to be more laid back and friendlier. I'm not saying you don't get that in London, you do, but it's more frequent in other parts of the country.

Safeconcerts:
Can you tell us a bit about the support acts you've chosen for this tour?

Mathew:
Well Misty's Big Adventure are an amazing band who I have worked with for a while. I love em basically, totally unique and they are fans of Dodgy!! well, they were when they were youngsters.
I think Amsterdam are supporting because Ian Prowse, the inimitable leader of the band, hounded me when I was in Liverpool once. Also, they're great and he always brings down loads of ladies, I don't know how he does it.
The Fast Camels from Glasgow won an online competition to support us - good band and the mighty Mark Morriss is an old old friend from the early days and he called me up and asked if he could come out with us. Of course he can! Oh and James Rea is someone that Nigel suggested, he's from Brum and is very good, quite funny.

Safeconcerts:
I guess fans will want to know if you have any plans to play at any of the festivals this year?

Andy:
Absolutely, we are a band that carved out a bit of a reputation for shows at festivals and are certainly looking into playing at some of them this year. What we need to do now is have a good go at this up and coming tour, get our live shows up to scratch so that we can say that we are ready to put the word out. So watch this space.

Safeconcerts:
Can we expect a new single and new material on this tour?

Andy:
Yeah why not? The 3 of us got together a couple of weeks ago and put some ideas down. Already there's 3 or 4 ideas that sound cool and have got us all excited. One of those we'll concentrate on getting show worthy. But it's not as easy as it was due to us living so far apart nowadays, gone are the days of us walking into the converted shed in the barkyard and spending most of the day working things out. But we are determined to play at least one new track for the tour.

Safeconcerts:
Finally, as we are all about festival safety is there any message you want to give out to support the message from Music Not Mayhem?

Mathew:
Yeah, don't be a twat and respect the people around you, Dodgy have never really got on with all this crowd surfing nonsense, you could tell that the girls down the front who the fat chaps landed on never seemed to like it too much.

Safeconcerts:
We're very keen on pushing random acts of kindness for 2008 - what would you do?

Mathew:
Encourage any nice ladies to go up and randomly snog any slightly over weight drummers from Birmingham. I also intend to kill Kerry Katona and Jordan, I think that will help a lot of people.

Good luck with the tour guys - we think you're gonna have a great time - even better - we think the fans are gonna love it!