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"I think initially, everything was wrong," laughs Sleaford Mods instrumentalist Andrew Fearn, quizzed on the public perception of the band . "There was this guy at a gig who thought we liked the Sex Pistols. He said 'Oh, they're a big influence, aren't they? I went 'Not really', and he walked off. Of course I liked the Pistols when I was about 13 or 14."
Watch our video interview with Sleaford Mods above
Frontman Jason Williamson chimes in: "People think we're Fall fans or John Cooper Clarke fans...which we're not." Anything else they've got wrong? "That we're drug addicts...crackheads, people think we're hard - we're fucking not!"
The aggressive image of the Notts duo probably comes from their no nonsense, no compromise approach - where attitude is honest but never contrived, and their sound is as abrasive and dark as it is because it's the only way they know how. "The big picture, reflected in the toilet bowl" is how Stewart Lee describes them, and it's a true image of real life that just isn't being projected anywhere else in music.
Fearn continues: "I think that's part of the interest though. There are no instruments being played apart from Jason's singing, and fans saying 'It was so interesting to watch' kind of makes me laugh - I'm like 'What are you looking at?' But brilliant too - maybe there is an honesty missing from a lot of modern and contemporary music. Maybe guitar bands are a bit self-absorbed with the new pedals they've just bought and the valve amp they've just bought. Maybe that is true, because audiences aren't really having as much fan as the people on stage are."
He adds: "It doesn't help music be progressive. People wonder why there's no scene, there's nothing going on, it's because everyone is sitting on their laurels going 'Remember the Pixies? They were a great band'. Which is great, but at 43, I want to hear something different."
Watch our video interview with Sleaford Mods above
Watch above as Sleaford Mods talk to us about 'stale' guitar music, and how they keep pushing things forward as they look towards new material.
For more:
- Watch Sleaford Mods talk Kasabian, Noel Gallagher and working class rock here
- Watch Sleaford Mods share their best piece of life advice here
Sleaford Mods' upcoming UK dates are as follows. See below for tickets and information.
MAY
THU 14 Waterfront Studio, Norwich
FRI 15 Manchester Academy 2 Manchester
SAT 16 Brudenell Social Club Leeds
SAT 23 Concorde 2 Brighton
JUNE
FRI 5 KOKO, London
SEPTEMBER
FRI 4 – SUN 6 End of the Road Festival 2015, Salisbury, UK
