Introduce us to you and your musical history.
(Taff) We have Steve on lead guitar and vocals. Steve is also the main song writer in the band. We then have Chris on Bass on Taff on drums. We used to be a 5 piece with Steve, Taff and 3 others, but when the other 3 left (work and studying away) we recruited Chris, and have been a 3 piece for quite a few years now.
What was life like for you before music?
(Taff) For me (Taff) I can’t remember not having music in my life. My dad used to play Led Zeppelin and Dire Straits quite loud and we always used to listen to the charts on my sisters ghetto blaster.
(Steve) I have always had music in my life my dad was always playing music in the house from bands like The Kinks, Rolling Stones, Animals, Small Faces, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix etc. Every summer holiday we would have a mixtape in the car. I have always managed to pick up an instrument and teach myself how to play it.
What was the first song you heard that steered you into a music path?
(Taff) I’ve always loved music, and always wanted to be in a band, but I remember sitting in Great British Burger in Newport, and they were playing the stereophonic’s first album, Word gets around. I asked them who the band were and they told me it’s a local band and that made me realise that anyone can make great music.
(Steve) I would say it was while I was at college and went to see Supergrass live at the Apollo Manchester. They had just released their 2nd album ‘In It For The Money’ with the Epic tune ‘Richard III’ The live sound, shear noise, and crowd reaction was just unreal.
Where do you feel you currently sit within the music industry?
(Taff) I think we are currently sitting outside in the car park with millions of other bands, just waiting for the door to open
(Steve) We are the underdogs with some epic tunes waiting to have our break. Once out there we will be making some big noise.
What’s the biggest thing you have learned from someone else in the industry?
(Taff) Do it because you love doing it, and take no notice of people that want to put you down.
(Steve) If you love doing something keep doing it. It’s good for the soul.
Tell us two truths and one lie about you.
(Taff) I was born with an extra little toe on my right foot, which was removed when I was a baby. I don’t like tomatoes. I have never seen an episode of Game of Thrones.
(Steve) I once played at Wembley Arena in a marching band.
I hate the sound of my own voice.
I once flew a fighter jet.
If you could wish for one thing to aid your career what would it be?
(Taff) Exposure. I know we have some great tunes, but getting those songs out to the masses for people to hear, that’s very hard. People don’t want to see bands they’ve never heard of, that are playing locally for free, but they are happy to spend £80+ to go stand at the back of a stadium. I’d love to play the theme to the rugby world cup, or an advert for the premier league (our song “Good Times” would be perfect for that!).
(Steve) A Manager / Booking agent to enable us to play more gigs and really get us out there to build our fan base. Have van will travel.
Do you ever worry about people taking things the wrong way or cancel culture? Discuss….
(Taff) As long as we all have the opportunity to explain things and have the courage to realise that we may not know all the facts and possibly learn something, then we can all get along. The world is full of so many people, all of us are different, so who decides who is right or wrong? Nothing should be cancelled, we should learn from past mistakes, not ignore or deny things just because it may be offensive.
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories? If not why not?
(Taff) 9/11, way too many things that point to it being more than just 2 planes crashing into a buldling. Also, there is no way we are alone in the universe. But I also believe that you need to educate yourself and rule out the obvious. There are a lot of people that would rather jump to an outrageous theory before accepting the obvious truth.
(Steve) I believe there is a Loch Ness monster traveling through underwater tunnels to other parts of the world.
Aliens must exist. The universe is too vast for them not to.
What was the worst experience on stage?
(Taff) Back when we were a 5 piece, we travelled to Blackpool in the afternoon to be told our set would start at 1am. Finally he gets on stage and the bass player breaks a string on the second song, with no spares. The DJ starts playing a tune and that was the end of the gig.
(Steve) Apart from a random woman invading the stage, spilling a drink all over my effects pedals and knocking over my mic stand mid song during a gig. I would say the open fracture to my thumb I received after 2 gigs in one day then spending the nice in hospital and being unable to play the gig the following day at Glaston-Bury.
Tell us something about each member that you think people would be surprised about.
(Taff) I used to go out with a girl whose uncle has been in Bart Simpsons tree house!
(Steve) Liam Gallagher once told me to F@$K Off when I asked him for his autograph after I had asked Mani from the Stone Roses.
What makes you stand out as a band/artist?
(Taff) Honesty. We just want to make good tunes and for everyone to have a good time.
(Steve) We have catchy riffs, Honest Lyrics, gritty vocals, and songs the audience can get involved with singing with us joining in the act. We want to have fun and make sure the crowd do too.
I hear you have new music, what can you tell us about it.
Our latest E.P. ‘Not Gonna Sleep Tonight’ is a powerhouse of some great songs that are eligible to be singles in their own right.
The title track was written envisaging a date at a 50’s drive through with’ an over protective father who wanted his daughter home at a decent time as the night continues and spirals out of control.
‘Talk to Me’ is a track about my son and how he doesn’t really like the whole school thing and would rather be having fun.
‘Song for you’ is a song about trying to make up to a loved one you may have upset and lost contact with.
‘She makes everything Alright’ is a song about my wife during a time when I used to work away from home a lot and how things can be misinterpreted over the phone and how we can have our bad times but more than anything she makes everything good (Alright).
‘The Scientist’ We wanted to do a Rocked up version of the Coldplay song.
‘Life For A Like’ A song about the obsession with Facebook and other social media outlets and how people mostly post all the good things in their life hiding the fact that they might not be doing too well.
What was the recording process like?
(Taff) Brilliant. We had used Andy before on our previous EP, and he did an amazing job on that so we wanted to use him again. He had moved to a studio that was a lot nearer to where we lived, so that was a bonus. He would give us advice and suggest things that we hadn’t thought of, so it really added to the sound. He also recorded videos of us which we used on two of our tracks on youtube.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
(Taff) Steve will bring a new song to us and we will play it how we think it should be played and we can tell from there what works or doesn’t work. We are quite lucky that there is only the three of us, and we tend to agree on most things.
(Steve) I feel it’s trying to incorporate a melody within the chords I am playing. Being a 3 piece has its challenges when writing and performing songs we need to make sure songs are still melodic and not just a group of chords, whether it’s me on guitar playing a melody with in the chords or Chris on Bass adapting and creating a melody. That’s the best thing about Not Ned, we learn and adapt through the writing process until we have everything we want in each song we write.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
(Taff) The cost! Seriously though, we are good friends with Andy (the producer) and he gave us various mixes and asked us if there was anything we wanted to change, so there were lots of discussions before we were all agreed on the final product.
(Steve) Being self-funded has its limitations, we have done the best we could with the resources we have. of course we could improve on most things if we had the time and the money but that is what gives Not Ned the raw sound we have. I’m not sure I would want to lose that unpolished edge we have that gives us character.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
(Taff) Don’t take things so seriously. None of us will be here in 100 years, so take the opportunity to do things now. You will only regret the things that you didn’t do.
(Steve) Love each other, Respect each other. Manners cost nothing.
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