Can you summarise The Stills’ sound for the uninitiated?
Our sound is probably romantic pop-rock; melodic with lots of big
choruses. What’s your fantasy festival line up?
It would be pretty close to the Coachella Festival bill that
we’re playing in California. The Pixies, Radiohead and The
Cure are all there. Plus we’d have Pavement and Wilco. Who have been the biggest influences on the band?
The whole band like The Smiths, The Clash and The Jesus and Mary
Chain, but we all have different personal tastes as well. What
are the best and worst things about touring? The best thing about
touring is not having a 9 to 5 job, and the highlight of every
day is playing the show at night. The worst is the routine that
you get into; travelling, soundchecking, living in hotels.
We’ve had eight months straight being on the road playing
gigs. It gets pretty gruelling. What is the best gig that you’ve ever been to?
There’s a few: Radiohead at the Metropolis in Montreal, it
was about a week after they released OK Computer. More recently,
Evan Dando’s solo tour where he played lots of Lemonheads
classics. What’s the most memorable thing that’s been thrown
on stage during a Stills gig?
We’ve had underwear thrown on the stage, which is pretty
cool, except they belonged to a guy – I think one of our
friends had set us up. Thankfully people that have seen us
haven’t hated us enough to throw beer bottles or anything! The sex, drugs and rock- ’n’roll lifestyle: is it a
myth or a reality?
I don’t know! For us it’s a bit of a myth, but plenty
of bands have indulged in it. Motley Crue have done some wild
stuff. I don’t think it’s as available as it used to
be. If you could play with any musician, living or dead, who would
it be?
Slash from Guns’n’Roses, it’d be a lot of fun,
he’s a classic rock and roll star. I started playing guitar
when I was 12 or 13, when G’n’R were huge and all the
kids were playing riffs from Appetite for Destruction. Where do you want to be in 10 years time?
If it all goes right, we’ll have made a few timeless albums
that people really understand and are unashamed to listen to. And finally, Greg from The Stills, what’s the stupidest
question you’ve ever been asked in an interview?
I’ve been asked whether I prefer Crest or Colgate
toothpaste. And what was the answer?
Whatever’s in the bathroom at the time!ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004
Chatting Up… The Stills
