the Hepburns

Spinzone interview with MATT JONES - March 2004

That night when I looked I found a copy on ebay, and what's more it was autographed by you and the entire band. It seems you were at a Welsh band competition shortly after the album came out, and you got to talking with a chap named Jamie Reid-Sinclair who was there with his band, and you gave him a signed copy of the album. 16 years later he decided to cash in and sell it. That album has now hopped the pond and belongs to me, and here I am oddly enough interviewing you. The internet certainly has altered the world in an amazing way. Does all this wax nostalgia, do you remember the incident? (And before you ask, it topped out just over 15 Pounds)

Matt Jones - We used to gig regularly at the time the record was released. The only one I can remember where there were other Welsh bands playing was at Trinity College, Carmarthen. We played with a band called The Crumblowers, crumbs of which became Catatonia. I turned up slightly the worse for wear after an afternoon drinking gin with my associate, the self-styled King of Wales, and behaved outrageously. I can’t remember signing any album, although I might have, I suppose. (£15, eh? That’s not bad)

Spinguy - Here's a picture of it. Is that you're moniker, or was I taken?

Matt Jones - That’s definitely my signature - can’t remember signing it, though.

Spinguy - It's even more interesting now as I have a window back on your beginnings I did not have before. It's curious, as it's clearly you, but not exactly what the Hepburns do now. However, what you would be is in there, on tracks like "Five-Twenty-Five" or "(In pursuit of a) Running Buffet" which are laced with he "ba ba baa's" and tinged with the melody and irony which you would make your own. The songs however to me seem to be hearkening back to the earlier 80's in melody, as if you were dis-avowing the whole C86 thing. Many people looking back on their beginnings have distaste. Are you happy with that record, as it seems the seeds of what you would excel at were certainly planted at that time?

Matt Jones - It wasn’t a conscious disavowal of the C86 thing. Living in the back of beyond you were totally unaware of all the goings on in London from whence the NME and Melody Maker hacks occasionally strayed. C86 was a media construct if ever there was one, so, I thought it was pathetic when they deconstructed it and turned on so-called Indie bands they’d hyped up in the first place. You’re quite right, the songs were harking back to the origins of Indie music, which I see as Orange Juice and The Smiths, primarily. Songs with a sense of fun and a sense of irony underpinned with passion and the proverbial jangly guitar. I certainly don’t have distaste for my beginnings although it has to be said I don’t own a copy of any of our albums or singles. The "Magic of" was a good album, as I recall, like you say, sowing the seeds. I remember discussing it with producer Richard Preston, aka Prestatyn, who drove me back home after the session was finished. The album was recorded inside two weeks and I’d just spent four days doing guitar overdubs. I was exhausted but I remember having the feeling for the first time that we’d achieved something important and created something that would last.

Spinguy - I would have really liked to start this interview with a poignant question, but unfortunately the only thing in my head is: "skoodley-dah, doh, dee-da, doo-dah-day, on my window pane". Get out of my head already you Welsh bastard! I wonder if the whole trick, or should I say "the magic of the Hepburns" (pun intended) is your ability to weave rainbows out of dew drops and so mesmerize the great unwashed?

Matt Jones - Ha-ha! Great question! There’s a lyric on the new album that goes "Confounded the critics with some conjuring tricks, still, no Ali Bongo" which is a reference to the first album. Ali Bongo, as you may or may not know, used to be the main man in the Magic Circle. We liked the title because it was funny, portrayed us as like a cabaret band, this, of course, in the days before it was in any way cool to like easy listening or to admit to owning a Michel Legrand Greatest Hits album. I liked it even more than the rest of the band, in my own conceited way, because I knew there was some alchemy afoot, something strange and wonderful and inexplicable going on. Of course, people looked daft at me when I suggested that the title wasn’t that ironic, which brought me back down to earth, quite rightly so.

Spinguy - I meant it as a compliment of course. I can't think of anyone else who writes songs with such a quirky yet classic nature, teamed to lyrics with an equally avant garde theme. It could only work if it was completely brilliant, and it is, yet it seems the sort of thing that by it's very nature would illicit the strongest passions or obliquest confusions. Do you find your band received that way?

Matt Jones - We were intentionally obtuse, it was in our nature, collectively. You know, it’s like having your picture taken and not being able to take it seriously. The Hepburns hated having to present themselves in any given way, the very idea of image was laughable, we weren’t shy, we genuinely did see it as a sham. Personally, I get a real buzz out of writing lyrics with challenging themes and setting them to quirky little tunes with an element of elevator music in there. The songs are daring you to go ahead and judge the book by its cover and that’s exactly what a lot of the journalists did. We were Indie shamblers, the welsh Smiths, the Welsh Housemartins, the list went on.

Spinguy - While I can't recall exactly, I sort of remember the press not being exactly fond of what you were doing, not that the papers ever had a clue or were not agenda driven. Sadly, that might have been the reason the Lp went back on the shelf for me. Was it indeed a case of your bands novel flair going straight over the heads of those who would receive it?

Matt Jones - My reaction to the press was mixed, my feelings ranging from disappointment to outright contempt. The only journalist I ever really got on with was Chris Roberts from Melody Maker. Chris was the only writer who ever rumbled that our "ordinary" personas belied something a bit darker under the surface. The fact is, though, our attitude, which was crystallised in the songs, made us practically unmarketable. I knew it inside but never cared about it because I also knew we’d be around for a long time. Now you’ve got me thinking about all those people like you who put our album back on the shelf...

Spinguy - As I missed the first album initially, my first exposure was Champagne Reception. There were a number of intervening years betwixt these two. You had a few twelve inch releases around the LP, but then a ten year lay off. Can you fill in these lost years for us?

Matt Jones - Just after that Crumblowers gig our drummer, Les Mun, suffered a serious leg fracture during a game of American Football - he played for the Swansea Dragons at wide receiver. We needed a replacement quickly as we had some London gigs coming up. There was a boy from town we’d met a few years previously. He was a great drummer but we were a bit wary as he had a liking for jazz rock. Anyway, Aled turned out to be a perfect Hepburn, self-effacing but prodigiously talented! We went out for a pint together and when we saw him returning from the bar with his customary two pints, one in either hand, we knew Aled "Two Pint" Richards was the one for us. The years that followed were hugely enjoyable but artistically barren. It was pure coincidence that when Aled left to join Catatonia and Pat Grover joined us, we somehow started to click again. Still no recognition, leave alone a record deal, but there was some of the old magic there again. During the 90s we were that worst of all things, a band who’d received critical acclaim from the media, zero financial reward for our troubles, still sticking to our guns artistically, though, and making music the same way we had done back in the 80s. There was absolutely no way on earth either the record companies or the music press were going to give us a second thought. We kept on going anyway, out of pig-headedness and the sheer pleasure of being in the band. It was hard being a ‘has-been’, though. I remember a bloke in a pub toilet saying "Ah, Matt Jones, 80s throwback!" He wasn’t joking, either. Then everything changed, of course, and all because of the internet. We found out that, maybe as Cherry Red and Mike Alway had intended, our "Magic of" album had gained us cult status. Now, incredibly, people were contacting us to see if we’d like to do a record with them. These were a new breed of label ‘bosses’, not bosses at all but aficionados and enthusiasts who only cared about the music and nothing else. It all became clear. This was meant to be The Hepburns era, not the time that went before, neither Cherry Red nor the awful, 80s throwback bit.

Spinguy - I have a love hate relationship with Champagne Reception, love because it's one of the most imaginative and well conceived albums I own, hate because it's one of those Radio Khartoum James Bond sized 3 inch "free in a box of cornflakes" discs. I appreciate the effort to be original on the labels part, but those discs are not only a nightmare, I keep losing them. It takes me a half hour just to find the damn thing if I want to listen to it. In fact I wanted to listen to it as I typed this and couldn't find it for the longest time. It eventually surfaced under a postcard, which is not as romantic as it sounds. I'm glad Alexander stopped using the format. Do you think it hurt sales? You can't even stock it next to regular CD's. If mice bought records, it would be perfect for them.

Matt Jones - I doubt it hurt sales. The thing sold out as far as I know. You’re the first person I’ve heard of who doesn’t like the format but maybe you represent a silent minority? Alexander is into the artwork, packaging, booklets, etc., in much the same way as I’m into the music, so I just let him get on with it. Much as I hate to sit on the fence, I’m a neutral on the matter of the mini CD, in fact, the only time I ever think about the format is when Alexander talks about doing something on vinyl. We have a 7-inch single coming out soon, our first ever, I’m like a kid, I just can’t wait to see and hear it.

Spinguy - I don't dislike them, they're just so damn hard to find when you want them. (and store) I don't want to think about the vinyl, I much prefer it and I know "Champagne" came out on a 10" but I didn't get a copy. I wish I had one.

Anyway, when I got it, it really rocked my world. Usually, it's the music that makes most LP's special, but in this case it wasn't just the music, which was very fresh and original, but the lyrics which were obtuse genius. I would love to list some as example, but I'd have to transcribe the entire album. Where do you start with a song, the melody or lyrics, or the ba ba baa's?

Matt Jones - Ha-ha! I eventually had to get a trumpet player in to actually play all those ba-ba ba ba baa’s. Writing songs the way I do, there are a set of rules you draw up with yourself when you’re, like, 16 and never depart from. I can’t read music and never wanted to learn. I’ve never had a device of any sort for recording demos, I just trust everything to memory. I compose the lyrics, quite often, before writing them down on paper, more often than not when I’m out walking. I almost always start with the words. And I never molly-coddled my guitar by buying it a guitar case. You could say this is more a ritual than a set of rules, so maybe I’m superstitious, whatever you call it, for me it has been the way I kept the creative spark going.

Spinguy - "Bastinado" is a brilliant instrumental which sounds like it came right out of a Clint Eastwood western. What was the inspiration for it?

Matt Jones - Yeah, Ennio Morricone is a huge influence but only his spaghetti western stuff, he kind of lost the plot with soundtracks to later movies. I liked the word bastinado, but only the sound of it, which seemed to fit the music, the word itself has some rather dark connotations, of course.

Spinguy - I don't know what it means. My guess would be "bastard", but that isn't an especially dark connotation.

Matt Jones - It’s a form of torture - caning the soles of the feet - which is a bit of a bastard! We shouldn’t joke about such things.

Spinguy - On "I Am A machine", which is the most beautifully ironic of songs, you write the lamentations of an old soda machine. He has grown tired of dispensing drinks for strangers while they make comments about his ragged age, which bothers him only slightly less than the cold, loneliness of the building at night. It occurs to him then to make a deal with his friends, the engine and the wheel, to find a way out of here. It's as heart rending as it is fucking brilliant. What inspired it?

Matt Jones - The inspiration came from a few places. First of all I wanted to write a lyric that was, like, me looking back twenty-odd years to Woody Allen in "Sleeper" looking forward to the future. I loved the idea that the people who built these machines back in the 60s and 70s would install devices to enable the machines to say "Have a nice day". Then you take it a stage further and give this kitschy, imitation robot a real heart and soul. There are obvious references to my own plight as a journeyman songwriter of some twenty years but I guess you’ve picked those out already.

Spinguy - It wasn't long after that record that I kept hearing rumblings about the next offering, but it certainly took a while, and in the space of that time I was very leery as to what you would do. "Champagne" seemed far too unique and grand a work of art to possibly surpass, let alone equal. Did this thought occur to you, or do you view all your work with equal majesty or repugnance?

Matt Jones - I’ve been writing for so long now I’m wise to all my own personal quirks, the tricks that your mind plays on you when reviewing your own work. I like listening back to the records but I don’t do it too often as I genuinely am a bit afraid of looking back. It’s just another one of those strange rules I have and it’s why I don’t keep copies of the records. Most common amongst all tricks of the light is that the song you’re working on now is the best you’ve ever done. There is another reaction at the other end of the spectrum that says you’re not half so good as you used to be. That’s why it’s best to look straight ahead. Yeah, it is scary sometimes, having completed one album full of so many magical moments, but you quickly forget about it and just concentrate on the next song, although, oddly, you are never quite sure whether you’ll ever write another song again.

Spinguy - When I did get it I was floored. It was everything the last Lp was and more, and was also on a "real" cd this time as well. What especially caught me was that not only did you seem to develop your style further, it has taken an even larger than life and more obscure twist, yet it remains as infectious as ever.

This odd nature of your skill is presented (and mentioned) on the opener, "Tokyo Rollerball Cheerleader Chant" which has to be the most unexpected song title one could be presented with, but it's fantastic none the less. The booklet claims the song came as an example of your ability "to pick a discarded phrase from a top hat and turn it into chrysanthemums" As unconventional as that sounds, it really is what you do. How do you do it, and when did you discover that you even could?

Matt Jones - Mmm, I’ll have to think about that one. Firstly - how do I do it? I suppose it would be easiest to talk about what I’m writing right now. In my current frame of mind, I seem inclined to write about a world which is nostalgic, you know, ‘quaintly anachronistic' whilst, at the same time, fantastical and also a little disturbing. I recently wrote a song called " Popular History of Motoring" which illustrates what I’m trying to say here. The narrator was buried in concrete during the construction of a motorway back in the 1960s. He knows the sounds of the different juggernauts, supported all the British political leaders (Wilson, Heath, Callaghan "and some old bitch that I can’t remember"), and the funeral cortege of Princess Diana. The song was inspired by passing under a bridge and looking up at the underside of the M4, at the lichen and stalactites. If you don’t get inspired by things like that then you probably won’t end up a writer. Although it hasn’t been written yet, I have another idea for a song called "Sunbeam". I saw an old Hillman Sunbeam this morning, a beautiful car that I remember from my childhood. I like the title because there are other connotations which will take the lyric off in different directions - sunbeam as a term of endearment, again, an old-fashioned one, and in its simple meaning as a ray of light. When did I discover I could do this? I really don’t know. I didn’t start writing songs until I was about fourteen, when I learnt to play the guitar. It was just the perfect way of expressing yourself, you could write a story and you could perform it, too, give it some feeling.

Spinguy - It's the damndest thing too. No sooner had I discovered I completely missed the rollerball song connection to the movie when the next night the movie was on TV! I had no idea it was coming on after the film I had just watched, and was floored when they said it was next. It was late, and I couldn't stay up for it all, but I stayed up long enough to see them play Tokyo. They did have a chant, but it was "Victory, Tokyo" I have no idea what you say in the song, but it sounds like "yo-ka-ko, tokyo". That wouldn't be japanese for victory would it? So what inspired this song anyway?

Matt Jones - Bizarre story about Rollerball but just another indication of the fact that The Heps are tuned into another wavelength and somehow, through no effort our own, are able to make strange things happen, sort of like teenage girls attract poltergeists and unquiet spirits. The film? Well, it was showing in the local cinema when I was a kid, it had an '18' rating and I couldn't get in to see it. There were other boys in school who had manly looks belying their tender age who got in to see it, told me all about it, so it automatically acquired a special place in my psyche as something wonderful yet forbidden. These same boys were some two years later to stick safety pins through their cheeks and lure me into punk rock, btw. When I eventually saw the film - it must have been many years after I was legally entitled to - there was a new twist on it, the futuristic theme now so retro, if you see what I mean. As for the chant, what we're actually chanting is 'Go Pat Go, Tokyo'.

Spinguy - Terms like "cinematic" have been used to describe your music. I don't care for categories, but as someone who reviews I can say it is necessary to have a bin you can load something into if for no other reason than to inform those you would enlighten. The object of reviewing is after all to give the unknowing clarity, and categories certainly help in doing this. That being the case, how would you categorize the Hepburns?

Matt Jones - I’ve been discussing this with Alexander recently. We dedicated the last album to Jake Thackray who was described in an obituary as "the father of the English chanson". I had no idea what a chanson was but one thing I did know, Jake had a way with words and also wrote some great tunes, so my curiosity was pricked. I did some research, which basically means I typed in the word ‘chanson’ on Dogpile and started coming up with names like Kurt Weill and Jacques Brel, both of whom I’d heard of although I knew nothing about their work. Having said that, there may be some kind of subliminal influence on me, as I was brought up on Thackray and he is often likened to Brel. One point of clarification here before we go making any claims on the English chanson. We’re Welsh! I take your point about "cinematic" but that’s saying pretty much the same thing, it’s a story put to music. I used to call it pop music but the term has now been defiled by a procession of idiot karaoke singers. I’m not really answering your question, am I? Put it this way, if we were painters we’d be surrealists. Or interior decorators.

Spinguy - I didn't know what chanson meant either, so I looked it up. It's a music hall or cabaret song.

Would I be incorrect in saying you had a strong affinity for the English language? More precisely, a strong affection?

Matt Jones - Of course. It’s a common failing amongst the Welsh.

Spinguy - Do you know your way around a cooker?

Matt Jones - Certainly do, I’m a dab hand in the kitchen.

Spinguy - How about a carburetor?

Matt Jones - You are joking! Cars are like guitars, you don’t need to know how they work to use them so why bother?

Spinguy - Does that line of thinking also apply to women? I would never suggest that, but you are a rock star after all.

Matt Jones - If I was the rock star of which you speak, Spinguy, then maybe I would have those Tommy Lee Jones tendencies. As plain old Matt Jones I am shy and retiring in the company of the opposite sex.

Spinguy - Why are there no decent pics of you or your band? I had to go back 12 years to find one. Do you enjoy creeping in the dusk of the shadows? Do you wish to retain an aura of mystery?

Matt Jones - No, we’re just ugly bastards! With the clever use of lighting and a mask, I can look quite photogenic.

Spinguy - Is Pat Grover quite the fossil he appears in this picture? How did he come by the job of drummer? Did you strike him with your motor carriage one day as he crossed an intersection and decide keeping him close was the best recourse?

Matt Jones - Ha, ha! These are brilliant questions. The thing is, Pat, he’s a living, breathing blues legend. I kid you not. He played harmonica with all sorts of other legendary sorts back in the 60s when he used to live in Ladbroke Grove, the Brits’ version of Haight Ashbury. Anyway, such was his talent as a blues harp player, what could we do but offer him a job as our drummer? Seriously, his timing is better than anyone I’ve ever played with.

Spinguy - That's very curious. Does he have a nickname? In your love of irony I would think "pacemaker" would be quite appropriate for many reasons.

Matt Jones - Obviously the photo has led you astray, Spin. Pat’s kind of like Pablo Picasso or Charlie Chaplin, he just gets better and better with age. He doesn’t have a nickname although he is referred to, in hushed tones, as The Grover.

Spinguy - What can you tell us about the "other" Hepburn, Mike Thomas? He's been in for the long haul as well. How do you keep their moral up in the face of such critically acclaimed obscurity?

Matt Jones - Don’t need to. Being a Hepburn is an end in itself. That’s why Catatonia were so jealous of us.

Spinguy - Perhaps you need a motto, such as "The Hepburns - Fourth best band from Carmarthenshire"

Matt Jones - Come on now - we’re not that good. Mike is, officially, the second best bass player in Llanfynydd. Unfortunately for him the 15 yr-old bassist with the school band just moved to the village!

Spinguy - So are you quite pleased with the new LP? Has it received good press? I think it is just wonderful. Beyond anything, it gives me real joy to listen to it. It takes me to a very, very happy place, both mentally and spiritually.

Matt Jones - I think it all hangs together pretty well, the whole thing, songs, artwork, the booklet. I’m really glad you like it so much. A happy place, eh? That’s interesting. The songs are often born out of conflict and even despair and the voice you hear is often that of someone singing their heart out in the darkness. "Smaller than Life", for example. That was inspired by a friend who went on to do great things - actually, she’s the press officer for the English National Opera, she handles the press calls for people like Domingo who I think is her favourite. It’s actually about squandered opportunities, even about wasting your life whilst others have made the most of what they had, got great jobs, brought up families. It’s not exactly cheery, is it?

Spinguy - Life is all about pain. The Smiths were very depressing lyrically, yet they were uplifting to all their fans. Why? I don't know, but perhaps it's the beauty of a shared moment, a human tie which becomes even more poignant when told with keen insight. "All that is gold does not glitter..."

Matt Jones - Without pain there wouldn’t be any humour. Imagine a world without laughs.

Spinguy - It will quite likely be my Lp of the year, unless the next one indeed comes out this year, as I understand it is supposed to. For the rest of you, I have been informed by Alexander that this is the first of three albums in the "can", and a delay on his part put the releases off, and that the second is indeed slated for release this year.

Can you tell us anything about it? What is the title?

Matt Jones - It’s called "Something Worth Stealing". It was written and recorded in less than a year during a turbulent time in my personal life. "The Last Thing", by contrast, was assembled from various sessions spanning a 3-year period and in my mind is practically a ‘compilation’ album. The emotional highs and lows on "SWS" are much greater than on previous releases. There is hope and expectancy, elation, followed by disillusionment, despair and the odd car chase. The album after that is a bit of an epic, it’s got 18 songs on it and has the imaginative working title of "18 Songs". Oh, and I have about 10 songs written for the album after that but they haven’t been recorded yet.

Spinguy - I can improve upon that I think. How about "18 Chanson de Geste"? It has all the double entendre you love, as it sounds like a street address, but it means "18 songs of heroic deeds" and segues into your past comments. Come on, how about it? I'd wet myself if I got to name a Hepburns album.

Matt Jones - I’ll think about it, Spin. Don’t go building your hopes up - all I’m saying is I’ll think about it.

Spinguy - That means no. I wasn't expecting it, but you must admit it's a good title.

Would you call yourself a prolific writer? Does it come when it comes, or can you pull it from the ether whenever you wish?

Matt Jones - I’m aware that songs come easier to me than they do to most. I’ve also contributed to Anthony Rochester’s next album, just the odd lyric and melody but it was such an unbelievable buzz to hear someone else singing your words on such great songs. Normally - yes, you’re quite right - it does come when it comes and there may be weeks between each song. I find I write good stuff when I’ve got a hangover, I don’t know why. Oh, and you have to stick to the rules that I mentioned earlier or you’ll never write again.

Spinguy - In case there are those who did not pick it up from my previous comments you are of course Welsh. Sadly, that only brings to most minds coal mining and the Alarm. However, I have an episode of the Woodwrights Shop on tape where Roy visits some historical tradesmen in Wales, (a clog maker and spoon carver) and it is one of my favorite episodes. (I am a joiner by trade who works with and teaches hand tool woodworking use when not reviewing Hepburns albums) There seems to be a gentile civility and grace to your country I like, and I wonder why you don't seem to get more of your share of notoriety? It would be one of the first places I'd like to visit were I ever to get over there. Do you live in a rural or urban area?

Matt Jones - You’re welcome to visit and, by the way, Mike is also a woodwork teacher so if you stayed with him you’d be sleeping on a futon he made himself! Yes, it is a rural area, at least, Carmarthenshire is. The town I come from, Llanelli, used to be a big manufacturing town and was famous for Tinplate. Nowadays it’s a post-Industrial seaside town they forgot to close down, to paraphrase the great man. It’s the perfect setting for Hepburns songs, lots of disused railway sheds and warehouses alongside the Millennium Coastal Path and a new golf course specially designed by Jack Niklaus - more irony than you can shake a big stick at.

Spinguy - I'm welcome to visit? I could swear I read somewhere you hate people "popping" in on you. Yet you'd roll out the rug for an uncouth Visigoth like me? How gentlemanly of you. Was the quote correct however, are you a miserable hermit?

Matt Jones - I’m as sociable as the next guy, providing the next guy’s Salman Rushdie. Having said that, you are welcome to pop in if you’re ever over here, unlike most Brits we think Americans are okay!

Spinguy - Well, thanks for not stereotyping an entire nation.

Are you married, and/or have kids?

Matt Jones - I was married twice before I was 30 but my Epiphone semi-acoustic survived both relationships so I’m now a happy bachelor. I have a 17 yr-old daughter called Billie who lives hundreds of miles away on the Isle of Mull off the West Coast of Scotland.

Spinguy - Are there any recent bands you are currently fond of besides your own? What sort of music do you listen to?

Matt Jones - I think Keane are absolutely fantastic, such passion, great lyrics, too, "something I forget now but I've seen too little of". Genius. Heard the new Graham Coxon single yesterday, I think it’s called Bittersweet Bundle of Misery and it was brilliant. Also, The Lucksmiths, an Australian band, they have the same deceptive simplicity as The Go-Betweens. Oh, and George Formby the ukulele player, too.

Spinguy - Yes, everyone here knows the Lucksmiths. Deceptive simplicity? Well, I quite like some of their songs. Let me see, they're written about 700 of them, and 4 sound differently I believe.... Yes, I'm being a bastinado again.

The ukulele hasn't had much traction in America since Lawrence Welk went off the air, and the name George Formby is known for wood finishing products here actually. I did a look up for your man however and if this cover is any indication of what I'm missing I am sorry indeed. Cor, what a looker.

Matt Jones - He’s a stunner, isn’t he - bet he had a regular harem of Lancastrian lasses.

Spinguy - While your talent should be paying your bills, I can't imagine it does in todays musical climate. Do you do something to maintain your lifestyle otherwise? In other words, are you privy to any other manual art besides that of the songsmith to which you can earn a tuppence?

Matt Jones - I am a civil servant, occasionally naked.

Spinguy - I hesitate to ask but which part of that sentence is the one that earns you money?

Matt Jones - Ha, ha! I would have thought it was obvious…civil servants don’t get paid!

Spinguy - Any plans to play in the US, or anywhere? Do you play live often? If so do you think the Hepburns comes across better live or in the studio?

Matt Jones - No plans for the US but we have been invited to play in Barcelona later this year and I’ve heard Sweden mentioned, too. Wales is an absolute desert when it comes to music venues although we did have a great launch for the new album at the Four Seasons, Nantgaredig, a few days ago. Yeah, I think the Hepburns are, on balance, better live, more scope for improvisation and a bit of banter with the audience. Anybody who says they prefer recording to performing live is a liar.

Spinguy - No, really a lot have told me that and I don't think they are lying. Some bands really hate playing live. If they could never do it they would, and many do.

Are you going to keep at it as long as the songs keep coming?

Matt Jones - Yeah, makes you wonder when that black day will finally arrive....

Spinguy - I usually ask bands what their favorite dish is as a curiosity because so many mention things like Thai or something exotic. I don't know what Wales is known for gourmetically, but I'm hoping it's not organs or blood baked in something. What do you like to partake of, remembering of course that beer is not food.

Matt Jones - Bearing in mind that cooking is one of my great passions, it’s hard to think of a single, favourite dish. I did this great crab salad the other day. You take the meat from one fresh crab and mix it with chopped avocado and a coriander and lemon juice dressing. Serve it on a bed of fresh lettuce leaves, whatever your preference is, and you won’t believe how good it is. Takes about a minute to make. Another fave is poached chicken breast served with Savoy cabbage, cannellini beans and a little chorizo, topped off with smoked paprika.

Spinguy - What in Gods name is smoked paprika? And what are cannellini beans? Sounds like the Three Stooges canapeas, but you probably don't know what I'm referring to.

By the way, and I hate to be the one to break it to you, but making a salad isn't cooking. These dishes sound very "wind" intensive if you get my drift. Is that perchance why skiffle beats are uppermost in your mind?

Matt Jones - Just call me Mr Methane - and hey, Spin, you may not have to cook salads but it’s still food so stop splitting lentils!

Spinguy - Thank you very much for taking the time to do this, and I hope it has given the readers a closer connection to you. I would also like to thank you for the music, which has and will remain some of my most cherished audio moments. My kid loves your stuff as well, and I am sure your legacy will endure as you have made some truly brilliant and classic songs. So with that I will pass along the thanks of all of us.

Matt Jones - It really has been a pleasure - my regards to your kid. Thanks.

Spinguy - You're very welcome, and I did.

She said "Who?"

Matt Jones - Give me twenty years - they shall speak my name!

Spinguy - This is the only thing that comes to mind....