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Si
It's been six months since I last interviewed InMe, so 3 singles, an album and a lot of tour dates later, what is life like for the band now?
First off, congrats on getting to #25 with crushed like fruit. How did it feel, were you surprised?
We came in #19 at midweek, and that was just mindblowing, but to get our first Top 30 hit, it was something we never expected to happen, to get that high in the charts! At the moment the album is at #7 in the charts!
How has the tour been so far?
Its been great. On the last tour it was medium venues, now its just a step up, couple of thousand people in size, and quite a few have sold out, it's crazy!
How do you feel about the album? Are you nervous, excited, or just relieved that its finally been released?
I'm relieved it's been released. We've had it done for about a year now, been dying to get it out! We've been doing loads of signing sessions, getting to meet loads of new people so it's good.
Of all the bands you've toured with, who have you been most impressed with?
Soil I think. They're the nicest blokes in the world ever, we're like their little brothers, they gave us loads of handy hints on how to do things, what to do on tour etc. We found out we can't drink as much as them either!
Do you get recognised in the street now?
No, not really. The other two do, noone gives a shit about the drummer! laughs. I get recognised at gigs. That said, last night I stood there in the middle of about 20 fans all around me, and not one of them recognised me, not one! Dave gets mobbed!
What is the most common misconception that people have about you?
That people think we're good "for our age". We try and say that it doesn't matter how old you are!
What are your feelings on acts like Avril Lavigne and Busted? Do they make you angry or feel insulted, or do you not really care?
I'm not a fan of either of them! laughs But it's good that it's there as hopefully it'll get more kids into rock, act like a stepping stone. We have been compared to Busted, well we were told we were even worse than Busted in NME, that we were trying to be like them but failed. I had a friend that worked on Blue Peter or something, and Busted were on there, and apparently they had been styled for two hours to get that "just out of bed" look, which I find hilarious to spend that long, making it look like you haven't spent long. I just get out of bed and go out! laughs
You've become popular in a relatively short space of time since releasing your first single. Do you ever wish that you'd had more time and that it had built up more slowly, rather than you in effect, being thrown in the deep end?
Honestly I don't know. Well most bands before they're signed they tour the country in a crappy little venues, sleeping in the back of a transit van, but we were 15 and 16 and noone wanted to do that to us! So we basically just went from school and it suddenly exploded and we were like "Fuck! this is great!". laughs I mean it would've been nice to have more time but it's great as it is.
Come on, be honest, how does it feel when girls scream at you or go hysterical?
That's a bit of a difficult one, because most of them are 13, 14 and obviously that's not my ideal female, but Dave and Joe get more attention. It's quite weird have 100 people screaming "Inme" at you. We get girls breaking down and passing out because they can't breathe because they're so excited they met Dave, which is just strange!
What is the funniest or strangest present that you've been given?
I've been given painted drumsticks... dog tags, empties a bag sweets, chewing gum? Don't know if they're trying to tell me something! laughs. The dog tags are cool.
Do you feel embarrassed when fans give you presents?
I don't really feel like we deserve presents! We've been given strange stuff to sign, like dildos and stuff, with the name InMe... it's just worrying.
Are there any songs of yours that you don't really like any more, or that you don't like playing live, if so, is there any particular reason why?
Well obviously after hearing songs so many times they get a bit boring, but.... no not really, I still like them all, there's none that I don't like anymore.
What was the best part of 2002 for you?
Touring for the first time! That was amazing, was with Sugarcoma the first one.
What has been the funniest moment for you so far?
Oooh I don't know..... Kean our merch guy smashed up a chair in the hotel room and smuggled it out down his trousers and in his bag. He had the straight leg bits down his trousers legs and the rest in his bag because he didn't want to be charged for it! He got a chair from the corridor, legged it upstairs and put it in our room, it's a totally different chair but never mind! What else.... oh the video camera! There's some cool things of when we were in New York, ice skating. It's been put on an edited down video. The person videoing it just went "we haven't seen Si fall over yet!" and I fell over, got up then fell over again. They've put that in about five times in a row!
What about the scariest or most worrying? Any worrying incidents with fans?
We've had men asking us to sign their arses! That's worrying. I didn't sign it, I refuse to sign another mans batty laughs so I didn't do it! We've had people following us around for about 9 or 10 gigs or something. Random people! My sister's had people coming up to her in HMV going "are you Si from InMe's sister?", it's really strange! Everyone knows where we live, people have been to Upminster trying to find Dave and Joe's flat which is really funny. We're never there most of the time anyway!
Si, does it ever annoy you that Joe and Dave are focused on more in the press? Do you ever feel left out or are you grateful for it?
Half and half really. Sometimes you do feel left out, but other times you're grateful for being out of the limelight. I've been doing a lot more interviews recently, been doing phone interviews.
What is the weirdest thing you've read about yourselves?
Strange thing.... we've been misquoted on names and stuff, like I've been called Dave, and Dave and Joe have become Dan and John! Our name has been wrong a few times, like InMine or something. Our quotes have been taken out of context a few times, we've had some dodgy quotes,like Dave in Kerrang and the "Shit I look a bit pretty" comment, he was being sarcastic! Its a big part of a speech he was saying but they took a little bit of it.
Any ideas as to what your going to release for the next single? Will it be another album track or new material?
laughs We know exactly what we're releasing next but we're staying hush about it!
Is it new material or off the album?
Off the album. We're going to do a video soon.
What is your favourite video of yours?
Crushed Like Fruit. Its the same as the first one in that we're just rocking out. All that stuff you see actually happened, dust, dirt the works! There was a massive fan about 7 feet wide, if you stood in front of it , it would actually move you. They put this massive dustbin of dirt and plaster in front of it so it went everywhere, bits of wood and paper falling everywhere! All of the crew had big goggles and gas masks and theres us going aaarggggggggg. laughs
How did it feel to do so well in the readers polls?
It was great! We got #1 best new band, it was fantastic! It's like "fuck!" considering we beat Audioslave! Apparently we were 93rd in the top 100 songs as well which is like "wow!"
Finally ,what are your ambitions and hopes for this year?
We've already got our entire year planned out on a schedule for us! laughs. It's just gig gig gig gig gig! More gig! We're going to Japan as well! It's going to be mad.
We came in #19 at midweek, and that was just mindblowing, but to get our first Top 30 hit, it was something we never expected to happen, to get that high in the charts! At the moment the album is at #7 in the charts!
How has the tour been so far?
Its been great. On the last tour it was medium venues, now its just a step up, couple of thousand people in size, and quite a few have sold out, it's crazy!
How do you feel about the album? Are you nervous, excited, or just relieved that its finally been released?
I'm relieved it's been released. We've had it done for about a year now, been dying to get it out! We've been doing loads of signing sessions, getting to meet loads of new people so it's good.
Of all the bands you've toured with, who have you been most impressed with?
Soil I think. They're the nicest blokes in the world ever, we're like their little brothers, they gave us loads of handy hints on how to do things, what to do on tour etc. We found out we can't drink as much as them either!
Do you get recognised in the street now?
No, not really. The other two do, noone gives a shit about the drummer! laughs. I get recognised at gigs. That said, last night I stood there in the middle of about 20 fans all around me, and not one of them recognised me, not one! Dave gets mobbed!
What is the most common misconception that people have about you?
That people think we're good "for our age". We try and say that it doesn't matter how old you are!
What are your feelings on acts like Avril Lavigne and Busted? Do they make you angry or feel insulted, or do you not really care?
I'm not a fan of either of them! laughs But it's good that it's there as hopefully it'll get more kids into rock, act like a stepping stone. We have been compared to Busted, well we were told we were even worse than Busted in NME, that we were trying to be like them but failed. I had a friend that worked on Blue Peter or something, and Busted were on there, and apparently they had been styled for two hours to get that "just out of bed" look, which I find hilarious to spend that long, making it look like you haven't spent long. I just get out of bed and go out! laughs
You've become popular in a relatively short space of time since releasing your first single. Do you ever wish that you'd had more time and that it had built up more slowly, rather than you in effect, being thrown in the deep end?
Honestly I don't know. Well most bands before they're signed they tour the country in a crappy little venues, sleeping in the back of a transit van, but we were 15 and 16 and noone wanted to do that to us! So we basically just went from school and it suddenly exploded and we were like "Fuck! this is great!". laughs I mean it would've been nice to have more time but it's great as it is.
Come on, be honest, how does it feel when girls scream at you or go hysterical?
That's a bit of a difficult one, because most of them are 13, 14 and obviously that's not my ideal female, but Dave and Joe get more attention. It's quite weird have 100 people screaming "Inme" at you. We get girls breaking down and passing out because they can't breathe because they're so excited they met Dave, which is just strange!
What is the funniest or strangest present that you've been given?
I've been given painted drumsticks... dog tags, empties a bag sweets, chewing gum? Don't know if they're trying to tell me something! laughs. The dog tags are cool.
Do you feel embarrassed when fans give you presents?
I don't really feel like we deserve presents! We've been given strange stuff to sign, like dildos and stuff, with the name InMe... it's just worrying.
Are there any songs of yours that you don't really like any more, or that you don't like playing live, if so, is there any particular reason why?
Well obviously after hearing songs so many times they get a bit boring, but.... no not really, I still like them all, there's none that I don't like anymore.
What was the best part of 2002 for you?
Touring for the first time! That was amazing, was with Sugarcoma the first one.
What has been the funniest moment for you so far?
Oooh I don't know..... Kean our merch guy smashed up a chair in the hotel room and smuggled it out down his trousers and in his bag. He had the straight leg bits down his trousers legs and the rest in his bag because he didn't want to be charged for it! He got a chair from the corridor, legged it upstairs and put it in our room, it's a totally different chair but never mind! What else.... oh the video camera! There's some cool things of when we were in New York, ice skating. It's been put on an edited down video. The person videoing it just went "we haven't seen Si fall over yet!" and I fell over, got up then fell over again. They've put that in about five times in a row!
What about the scariest or most worrying? Any worrying incidents with fans?
We've had men asking us to sign their arses! That's worrying. I didn't sign it, I refuse to sign another mans batty laughs so I didn't do it! We've had people following us around for about 9 or 10 gigs or something. Random people! My sister's had people coming up to her in HMV going "are you Si from InMe's sister?", it's really strange! Everyone knows where we live, people have been to Upminster trying to find Dave and Joe's flat which is really funny. We're never there most of the time anyway!
Si, does it ever annoy you that Joe and Dave are focused on more in the press? Do you ever feel left out or are you grateful for it?
Half and half really. Sometimes you do feel left out, but other times you're grateful for being out of the limelight. I've been doing a lot more interviews recently, been doing phone interviews.
What is the weirdest thing you've read about yourselves?
Strange thing.... we've been misquoted on names and stuff, like I've been called Dave, and Dave and Joe have become Dan and John! Our name has been wrong a few times, like InMine or something. Our quotes have been taken out of context a few times, we've had some dodgy quotes,like Dave in Kerrang and the "Shit I look a bit pretty" comment, he was being sarcastic! Its a big part of a speech he was saying but they took a little bit of it.
Any ideas as to what your going to release for the next single? Will it be another album track or new material?
laughs We know exactly what we're releasing next but we're staying hush about it!
Is it new material or off the album?
Off the album. We're going to do a video soon.
What is your favourite video of yours?
Crushed Like Fruit. Its the same as the first one in that we're just rocking out. All that stuff you see actually happened, dust, dirt the works! There was a massive fan about 7 feet wide, if you stood in front of it , it would actually move you. They put this massive dustbin of dirt and plaster in front of it so it went everywhere, bits of wood and paper falling everywhere! All of the crew had big goggles and gas masks and theres us going aaarggggggggg. laughs
How did it feel to do so well in the readers polls?
It was great! We got #1 best new band, it was fantastic! It's like "fuck!" considering we beat Audioslave! Apparently we were 93rd in the top 100 songs as well which is like "wow!"
Finally ,what are your ambitions and hopes for this year?
We've already got our entire year planned out on a schedule for us! laughs. It's just gig gig gig gig gig! More gig! We're going to Japan as well! It's going to be mad.
© 2003 Jen Thomas
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