Battle of the Planets - vocals 'v' drums

FOUR PIECE Keyop - Chip, Tab, Rick and Jonny Special - are on their way. A cross between Frank Zappa, Massive Attack and Ultrasound, they have a single ready for release on Too Many Cooks - the label owned by Aiden from Arab Strap - while their recent releases on the flexi:POP label have been attracting the attention of a number of big record companies and alternative and college radio stations around the country. Since their appearance as a tip band in CMU they've been Record of the Week in the Big Issue, there's been good words about the band in Melody Maker et al, and interest has continued to grow in the industry. And despite the recent, and somewhat acrimonious, departure of their drummer they are now busy writing material for their debut album.

So Keyop, where are you coming from?
We're definitely a pop band ... the root of our music is essentially guitar, but then we like to add some more. We're not really going out of our way to be awkward though - to be all avant garde - the whole premise for us is to keep everything as simple as possible.Are you trying to deliver messages through your songs?The lyrics aren't the main concern for us. If I was to go through the lyrics of one of our songs we could probably get the meanings back, but there's no strong political meanings there, or anything like that. With us its music first and then the lyrics.

There's been a lot of big label interest in you - how does that feel?
It was great when Aidan from Arab Strap got in touch about doing a release through his Too Many Cooks label - that's a project that will hopefully come into fruition soon. Other labels have shown interest too, but we're happy on the independent route just now - working with our label Flexi:POP. To be honest, I'm not too keen on walking the corporate path. That said, Keyop is not just a joke project, you know. We really would like to make enough money to focus completely on the band - to stop having to squeeze in the day jobs around the band.

Would you make any concessions for a commercial deal?
Well, we'd go topless if it was artistically necessary!

How did you lose your drummer?
We started off relying on a drum machine for our beats. Then we took on a drummer - but he was much younger than us and it didn't really work - it all got very tense. Don't get me wrong, he was a nice bloke and all that, but his younger mates were more his scene. It all came to ahead when we played the Ashton Court festival in Bristol. We had a word him before the show - we asked him not to dance when he wasn't drumming. But he ignored us and got carried away - Tab got so annoyed he swung his guitar at him. It made for a very dramatic set, but wasn't practical, so we've parted ways and, for the time being, its back to a drum machine. It works well. Some people say our set is even better with a drum machine.

Aside from the bust up, how was the Ashton Court event?
Well, playing there was great - it's a huge event, allegedly the largest free music festival in Europe. And at the end of our act we threw pizzas into the crowd, which seemed to go down well. People were sitting there eating them - which was pretty mental! We intended them to splatter.

And how do the rest of you get on?
We've all got obsessive personalities, that's for sure. And we all have really different personalities - we're in little worlds of our own. But generally we work well as a team. Having said that, we do argue a lot - normally about really petty things, the silly things. But, at the end of the day, the rest of us are happy as a band.

So what's next?
Lot's of singles leading up to our first album. We've amounted so much material - we've easily got enough for one shit hot short album, and a couple of neat b sides. And we've got a new song called 'Keyop Lose A Drummer!' ... no really! As soon as we get the opportunity we'll be getting that album made.

And any live stuff planned?
Yeah, we've got a London gig planned, and a few more local nights. We're a Bristol based band, which isn't great. Bristol's a lovely place, but perhaps it's too lovely. The gig going audience isn't huge. Some great bands come here, but they don't get the support they deserve - that arc of indifference is really bad here. And it's difficult to get Bristol people to come to noisy gigs when you're small ... playing to an empty room is actually nervewracking. Things are getting better, though, as we get more established. The last three or four gigs have really seen us open up, and the London date should be really good.

With or without someone on drums Keyop are worth a look in. So get yourself a copy of their CD, try and check out a live date, and keep a look out for their name.