PLAN A

"Don't you just love it when Plan A comes together?" - Hannibal, The A-Team

(Interview With Jef, Gary, Nick and Paul Taken From Black Velvet 25- Aug 2000)

By James Brown

NB. Since this interview was in print, The Wildhearts have reformed although Jef is not a member - he's still an integral part of Plan A

Above: Plan A Photo By Mark McDonagh

Plan A are the most recent band to have formed from the ashes of the rock beast formerly known as The Wildhearts. Jef, Gary, Nick and Paul kindly give time prior to their support slot with The Jellys to talk about Plan A swimwear and the folly of having drummers with heart conditions in bands.

Black Velvet : As you are relatively new and a band a lot of people will be unfamiliar with who you are, who's who and what do you play?
G: I'm Gary and I play drums.
N: I'm Nick and I play bass.
P: Paul, I'm rhythm guitar.
J: Jef, who makes all the noise in the middle.

BV: You all come from bands that have received some level of recognition. Which bands were you in, and what happened to them?
Jef: I was in The Wildhearts, and we got sick of each other.
N: I was in Sugarsnatch and I don't really know, yet. You'll have to ask Tom (The Yo-Yo's).
P: I was in a band called Pitbull, and I left it to join this one.
G: I was in Q*Sling, and I left it to join this band. They're still going though, as far as I know.

BV: It's taken quite a while for Plan A to get together. How did you meet each other, and why did it take so long to get things off the ground?
Jef: I've known Paul for f**king years, since school, and I think we've been destined to be in a band at some point.
N: I met Paul for the first time in Shepherd's Bush Empire, we were talking absolute rubbish to each other whilst very pissed, and Gary met us when he had to play with us at Sack Trick.
Jef: It took so long to get the band together because we couldn't find a drummer.
G: I've never had a problem finding one!
Jef: He was like the first drummer we never asked. Everyone else we asked. He more or less said "I'm joining".
N: Most of them had jobs, or better things to do with their time. Fortunately Gary's got nothing to do with his time!
Jef: It's like f**king Spinal Tap, we had one drummer that ended up with a heart condition. He only found out when we recorded our demo. He got a bit hot and flustered one day after spending too much time in Paul's toilet.
N: He was having his early morning ablutions!
Jef: So he had to go to the doctors and he found he had a heart condition!

BV: You were originally called Plan B. What prompted the change of name?
P: Pretty much when the three of us got together.
Jef: Plan B was closer to Plan B in every f**king sense of the word. Plan B was like a scrape at an idea to get a band together. It is now so much more appropriate to call the band Plan A than Plan B.

BV: What plans (S: No pun intended, I hope) do you have towards releasing records? Do you have a record deal yet?
Jef: No we're taking everything pretty steady. We want to get something out definitely.
N: We're f**king fussy though, that's our problem.
Jef: I can't give you a date or a title of anything. I can give you a cover though.
N: We've got a cover. We've got T-shirt ideas, so we're working it that way.
G: The best thing to do is to go out and do loads of f**king gigs.

BV: Do you feel that there is much pressure upon you after the success that Danny (McCormack) has had with The Yo-Yo's, and Ginger with Clam Abuse?
Jef: That's not what we're about. As things have gone this is almost like a completely new start.

BV: How many gigs have you played? Are we going to see you headlining any time soon?
G: You tell us how many gigs we've played.
N: Have we reached double figures yet?
P: Yeah I think so, I think we've done about ten or so.
N: Nearly ten, we're not sure.
Jef: As for headline gigs, it depends how many people come and see us. There is no point in booking a headline gig and then playing to twenty people.
P: It gets in the way of drinking if you've got to headline.

BV: Do you have a website or a mailing list so that people can find out about the band?
Jef: We have got a mailing list.
P: Our website's under construction.

BV: Have you had any Spinal Tap style moments of insanity?
Jef: Yes.
N: Like a drummer exploding with masturbation! That'd be one of them.
G: Jef's girlfriend coming up with our stage outfits. Plan A bikinis!

BV: What have you got planned for the next few months? Just gigging and more gigging?
N: gigging, writing, recording. More gigging.
Jef: We're planning to do the same as we plan to do every night. Take over the world!

BV: Sum up your state of mind at the moment using one word only.
N: Sober.
P: Positive.
Jef: Positively sober.
BV: That's two words, so it's not allowed.

Visit www.plan-a.co.uk for more info.