Doing It For The Taxman - Goldie Lookin Chain

The boys who put the ‘cum’ into Cymru are back. Yes, Goldie Lookin’ Chain are about to embark on a Christmas Party Tour. They’re also in the studio recording their new album with the as yet untitled project hitting the shelves early in the New Year.  It’s the eighth outing for the Welsh wordsmiths if you count their underground releases before 2004’s ‘Greatest Hits.’

Last year’s ‘Safe as Fuck’ met with some mixed responses and hit the headlines courtesy of Mrs Beckham and ‘Your Missus is A Nutter’ but what can we expect this time round? Earlier this year, it was announced that the GLC had parted ways with Altlantic Records, which led to the lads forming their own label Gold Dust Records and rumours of a film being planned. Now before you start thinking of a hip hop version of the Jackass films featuring lots of herbal remedies and in depth appreciation of the female form, think again. The rumour has been dispelled by the lads management.

Are you sitting comfortably... or to use GLC slang ready to ‘get in nice’?

Then let’s set the scene. It’s half past two. The lads are involved in an enthusiastic debate about which beer to buy. Billy Webb’s been washing up. After a brief exchange about the merits of washing up gloves and discoveries of mutual Welshness, he apologises for the rowdiness and assures us that material is “amazing” and that the GLC are using “their proper singing voices.” When probed further about it all, a number of sketchy hums and ah’s come out in that familiar brogue and then he stops and says: “It’s all good, we sound just like Prince or Squiggle or whatever you want to call him only sexier.” Nice. He adds with a laugh, “God knows what will come of it.” And it’s at that moment that images of Adam in a tight yellow jumpsuit slashed to the navel become scarily vivid.

Billy laughs and jokes a lot, sometimes checking you know it’s a joke. But of course you know it. You’s fucking knows it boy. He explains that they are having difficulty deciding on their first single and that a lot of the material might not get played on the radio because of content. The naughty boys. Ah the good old wireless! Surely that isn’t a huge obstacle to the band who has won Best Urban Act at the BT Digital Music Awards before now? Billy would still like to hear the GLC on the radio despite the recent internet and digital explosions. Fair do’s like, as he says: “You can’t hear a click when your car window is up… the radio is still just as important.”

Eggsy has recently spouted that their Christmas tour will be about “ …spreading peace, goodwill and beer via the medium of loud music, draw and leisurewear.”  Billy is just as enthusiastic about the upcoming live dates starting in Liverpool on December 2 and ending in Wolverhampton two weeks later. He comments: “Touring is going to be amazing. I enjoy it more and more. It makes me thankful that I’m doing this. It keeps us fit, we’d be the size of a house if it wasn’t for touring.”