Interview w/The Rutherfords
How and when did The Rutherfords get started?Early on in 2006 Glyn got kicked out of the band he was playing in, he’d been playing guitar in hardcore bands for years and wanted to do something that was still fun and aggressive, but something different and with his own songs. He’d been a huge fan of a UK band called Raggity Anne since his school days and always liked how they put together great pop songs inspired by the likes of Screeching Weasel, but with their own very British take on it. He drew on this along with his great love for the Ramones to write the first Rutherfords songs..
Glyn and Greg had previously played in a hardcore band called the Dodgems, and although he had been lead guitarist in the Dodgems, Greg also had a drum kit. In May ’06 Glyn asked the slightly bemused Greg if he fancied a go on the drums playing pop-punk songs and Greg said yes. After the best part of a year of bass players coming and going Greg and Glyn finally met Lee through an add they’d placed on a classifieds website. Blowing away the other applicants, Lee joined the band and we started the band for real in April ’07, playing our first gig in June.
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How would you describe The Rutherfords to someone who had never heard your songs? ‘Ruddy Grand’ as we say in our regional dialect. Or, to expand on that a little: we play fun, danceable, catchy pop tunes with loud, obnoxious guitars. A few years ago you could have told people that we sound a bit like Green Day, but that is sadly no longer the case.
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What is the most interesting thing Google has to say about The Rutherfords?
‘- In 1872 The Rutherfords left for London (due to Phylloxera which decimated most of the vineyards in Madeira) and started up a wine importing business at the Old Trinity House in Waterlane.’
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We have more interesting google facts on our myspace site.
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If you were to be a porn star, what would your name be?
Glyn – Jeremy Knobcake
Greg – Woody Longtime Lee - Jizzmaster Zero
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Do you have any upcoming tour plans?
We have every finger and toe crossed that we’ll be touring the UK and Ireland with the legendary Darlington sometime next year. Glyn wrote about him in our song ‘Rotterdam’ and he said he’d like to have us on the tour, but nothing’s set in stone just yet so we’ll have to see. We’re hoping to get some gigs out in Europe some time in the next year too – promoters please get in touch!!
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What is your favorite Rutherfords song?Glyn – I don’t really have one, I kinda like them all pretty much equally. If I had to choose it’d probably be either ‘Rocket Ship’ or ‘She’s the Greatest’. ‘Rocket Ship’ was the very first song I wrote for the Rutherfords and ‘She’s the Greatest’ really gets us fired up and energetic.
.Lee – Tough choice. If I was forced to pick, I'd probably go for "Rocket Ship" because it's insanely catchy.
.Greg – Again it’s difficult to choose but I think it’d have to be a toss-up between ‘Rocket ship’ and ‘She’s the greatest’. Rocket ship for the sheer catchiness of the whole song, and the inventive lyrics, and ‘She’s the greatest’ for the energy. Although, while they are my favorite tracks, I have more fun playing Rotterdam and Leave home. There’s more going off in the drum tracks which makes it more fun for me. I don’t think I ever leave them 2 songs out when I’m practicing at home.
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How did you go about choosing your songs & recording your demo? The demo we’re using now is the second one we’ve recorded, there were 4 songs on the 1st one and we just chose 4 of the others for the current demo. Both our demos were recorded in Greg’s bedroom. All the equipment we had to use for the recording was one vocal mic and one guitar amp. Both the demos were recorded and mixed over one weekend – nearly every part was recorded 1st take.
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Greg – I’m actually pretty damn proud of our latest demo. All recordings in the past have been ok, but they’ve always sounded like a ‘demo’. To say this was done at home how Glyn described, and there was only one mic for the drums I’d say it’s pretty far out.
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Give us the highlights & Lowlights of making The Rutherfords?
Glyn – When we were making our first demo we were recording a song called Seaworld and I insisted that the intro was quite short… it wasn’t. We had to re-record the entire song. That was a lowlight. Working on the harmonies is always the most fun part for me; we always end up expanding and improving things when we record, but especially with the vocals. A perfect example would be the chorus of our song Victoria Inn; the harmonies really make the song what it is.
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What are the future plans for The Rutherfords?We’re planning to record our first album next year, it’s (probably) gonna be called ‘Take out the competition’. We’re making sure not to rush it; we wanna have some more songs written first so we can pick the best of the bunch and then have it recorded in a studio. Our buddy Rick (ex-Dodgems) just opened up a studio and is a big supporter of the band so we’ll probably try and squeeze some cheap time out of him..
Greg – We’ve actually started discussing some plans with a label in America. We’re not gonna say too much at this point but a split record with the Prozacs looks like a strong possibility. We’re super excited!
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So word on the street is that the members of The Rutherfords sold their asses on the streets to fund your demo. What was the dirtiest thing that one of your “customers” made you do to earn that 3 Quid? Have you seen our asses? Worth every penny my friend. Our demo’s the cheapest thing in the world, it just cost us a bunch of CDRs. Oh, and I heard Greg had to suck off a pony.
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Where is your favorite place to do shows?
Without a doubt it has to be the Victoria Inn in Derby. It’s the CBGBs of England. It’s a really friendly little community there and you feel like your playing in your living room. Every punk band in the world must’ve played there at some point and we’re proud to be one of them. They’ve got pictures on the walls from great bands that have played there and we’d like to be up there right next to the Queers and the Groovie Ghoulies.
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Is there any one place you’ve done a show and decided to NEVER play there again?
Hell no, we’ll play anywhere! We even played in a garage at a homeless shelter to about 8 people. We’ve been lucky so far, some promoters have messed us around over equipment a couple of times, but generally everyone’s been great and we’ve had good crowds.
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What do each of you do when you’re not playing music?
Glyn – I work in a shitty boring office, shuffling papers and picking my nose. I write short stories when I get the time; otherwise I’m at a gig or reading a book.
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Lee - Watch Greg sucking off ponies.
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Greg – Donkeys too! Other than that I’m the Guitarist / vocalist of a Metal band called Mantus. I write all the music for that band, so it’s nice that I get the best of both worlds in a way. I get the chance to sit back and follow the ideas that Glyn has without much artistic pressure which is a luxury I don’t get in Mantus.
The term "Pop Punk" is thrown around in many ways. What makes music, "Pop Punk" to you? I think punk music could really do with a re-classification. Pop punk is way too broad a term; at least it is if you’re a fan of punk rock. I see the basics of ‘pop’ as simplicity, catchy melodies, and not taking the songs too seriously. The punk bit would be the aggression, loud guitars and attitude. This is why I consider bands like New Found Glory, Blink 182 etc. are a better fit for pop-rock than pop-punk - because where’s the attitude? I’m not saying these bands are bad because of it, but if a Blink fan came to our pop-punk show I don’t think he’d get what he was expecting.
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What is your favorite Rutherfords song to play live?
Glyn – Has to be ‘Ok, Alright’. It’s catchy as hell, really short and has bits where I can step back from the mic and go nuts. Sometimes at our live shows it comes with an impromptu Elvis impersonation.
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Lee - I love playing anything that doesn't have more than 3 notes to remember.
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What’s the funniest thing you've seen at a show?
Glyn – Back when I was 16 I was playing a gig supporting ‘Sic Boy Federation’ in a dirty little pub in a dirty little town. Somebody threw a 2 liter bottle of Shandy at us which only just missed my head. Later on Sic Boy were shooting fireworks out of their asses (inside the pub), spraying fake blood everywhere and breaking concrete slabs on their chests with a pneumatic drill. Then the police turned up and closed it down. Damn funny gig.
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Greg - Nakedness is always fun too. Go see ‘Speeding bee’ who we did a show with – they’re a bloody good laugh.
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Most bizarre place you've played a show? Ha-ha! Droitwich!! It’s actually a real place! Nah, probably the gig in the garage at the homeless shelter that was a little bizarre.
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If the three of you got in a fight with each other, who would win?
Glyn – Oooo, I’m not sure. Lee’s only little, but he’s the oldest and could use his cunning to take us down. He could also bite our knees. Greg would have the assistance of his beard (Greg’s beard is a separate living creature) so I’d probably say Greg.
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Greg – I’m not violent at all, I ain’t been in a fight since I was 11 but I’ve never got a severe beating. I’d like to think all the knocks I take in mosh pits would contribute in some way.
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Lee - I don't know how to fight. I'd probably give them a girly slap then run away.
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What is your evaluation of the current punk scene? Glyn – Some good, some bad. I think the hardcore scene’s dropped down the toilet; there’s been nothing to get excited about for a long time. I don’t even recognize the big ‘punk’ labels like Epitaph and Fat Wreck anymore. On the other hand, there’s plenty of great pop-punk out there at the minute, too many to name! I’m completely addicted to a Johnie3 song at the moment, but I’m also really liking the Guts, the Accelerators, and the Copyrights - again the list could go on.
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Do you prefer slutty girls that dress like whores or preppy girls that are whores?
Glyn – ‘I like ‘em small, I like ‘em tall – I like ‘em all!’… Especially my girlfriend.
Lee - I like any girl who would willingly put my winkie in their mouth.
Greg – Here here
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Who are your musical influences?
Glyn – Well Green Day got me playing the guitar back in ’96, then Minor Threat really inspired me and I wanted to do stuff like that, but it was with the Ramones that I really hit on the style of playing that I enjoy the most. The Rutherfords’ sound is mainly influenced by the Ramones and Raggity Anne (see the ‘how we started out’ question), but I also like to think of Wimpy Rutherford as something of a spiritual leader for the band.
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Any bands you really want to do a show with? More than anything we’d like to do a show with our namesake Wimpy Rutherford of the Queers, he’s an absolute legend. We were originally called the Wimpy Rutherfords, but decided it might give people the wrong idea because we don’t sound anything like the Wimpy-era Queers or any of his other bands. Wimpy has been in touch through our myspace and said he’d ACTUALLY LIKE TO DO A SHOW WITH US. We’re praying he’ll come over to tour with the Queers sometime and we might actually get a chance to meet the guy and play a song with him.
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We’re really excited about our (hopeful) tour with Darlington next year and we’re hoping we might get to play with the Apers next time they’re over in the UK.
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Who's the wildest band you've ever done a show with?
Glyn – Sic Boy Federation were pretty wild (see ‘funniest thing at a show question’), but they’re rubbish. The Human Targets from Nottingham are pretty wild when they play, they’re a great band.
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Lee - The Vandals know how to put on a good show. But then, after being together for 72 years they ought to by now!
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Anyone you want to thank? Glyn – Yes actually. Thank you to everyone who’s come along to see us, promoters who’ve booked us, bands that have lent us equipment and anybody who’s helped promote us or help us out. Special thanks go to PunkRockReview, my girlfriend Jo for driving us and being kick ass, the Sedations for all their help and support and of course, Wimpy Rutherford.
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Next - Word association, Type the first thing that comes to your mind
when you read the following words.
> Punk-> PLEASE
> Drink ->SCRUMPY
> Porn ->SCATOLOGICAL
> Eat ->BOGIES
> Tour-> GROUPIES
> Whore ->LICKS
> Sex ->OFFENDER
> Sleep-> HAMMERSMITH
> Leather ->JACKET
> Police ->BRUTALITY
> Movie ->LEBOWSKI
> Government ->UNINTERESTING
> TV ->EDDIE IZZARD
> Life-> INSURANCE
> Death-> LEOPARD
