Black
Velvet: How long has The Holiday Plan been together?
Matt: Blue and me, we've been playing together about five or six years
now. Blue went to college with Daniel and Gary. So the full line-up
for about three years. We didn't take it too seriously at first.
BV:
When did you take up bass guitar?
M: I've been playing guitar since I was about ten. My mum bought me
a guitar in a jumble sale for a fiver. By the time I was eleven I got
my first bass. I was well into Nirvana, thought their bassist Krist
Novoselic was way cool. I've been playing bass seriously for five years
now.
BV:
Did you play covers at first?
M: At first we did covers. The first gig we played, Daniel had only
been in the band about a month. We really didn't have many songs initially
that we were happy to play, so Daniel would listen to CDs to learn the
drums.
BV:
When is the album due out?
M: Later Summer I think. We've recorded a few songs. I'm excited about
finishing it all off. We've thought about these new songs a lot more,
put a lot more into them and tried to make them as well as we possibly
can.
BV:
What was it like working with The Lemonheads record producer Julian
Standen who produced your first professional demo?
M: It was pretty cool working with Jules; we probably would never really
have happened without him. It's also been really cool working with Sal
Villanueva and Tim Giles over in New Jersey, who are producing our debut
album.
BV:
How would you describe the album?
M: The new stuff represents our band more than ever. It's more raw…
but still sounds very polished. We don't want a super kind of crisp
clean sound. We like to keep it what I would describe 'shouty', not
do it song perfect. We really find it satisfying doing our own songs.
BV:
Does your fanbase have a broad spectrum?
M: It's surprising the people that like our band. It's not like one
type of person. Some of the kids look really 'metal'. Some people are
really punk and then the ordinary type of guys. I really like that.
BV:
What do your parents think about your success?
M: My parents are very proud of me I think. I still live at home. Hopefully
they still like having me about (laughs).
BV:
Have you any siblings?
M: Yeah, I've got an older brother; he's not in a band. I was in a band
with him when we were very young - 12 or something. We'd tape Nirvana
covers. He's very cool. He designed the CD cover for our first demo.
He's going to sort out some stickers for us and other stuff. My uncle
did the design for our T-shirts. The design has got all these nuts and
bolts coming out of it, it's wicked.
BV:
Tell us about your video.
M: We've got the new video out for 'Wasting Time'. It's been on MTV2
a few times. It's pretty funny. We hired a Ford Capri. Daniel was really
pissed off at the end of the day when he had to give the Capri back.
One day when we get loads of money he can buy himself a Capri. It was
a fun day filming - they got us running about a bit which I didn't like.
I felt like a bit of an idiot. But people seem to find it funny and
like it. We don't like to take ourselves too seriously. A lot of bands
these days seem to be getting really, really serious. It's good to remember
you're doing it for fun. Our first video was really fun; we set up our
own toys and posters and basically fucked around in a basement for half
a day.
BV:
What's the story behind the band's name?
M: It's from a cartoon called Arthur. I was doing my GCSEs at the time.
I was supposed to be revising, but was watching CBBC. The cartoon characters
were talking about how rubbish school was and the clock was ticking
really slowly. There was this line by a fat ugly bear called Binky who
said "we need a holiday plan". I thought 'fair enough, sounds
good'. I was really pissed off with school at that time as well.
BV:
Are all the band members good friends?
M: We are all good mates. When you spend that much time with someone
you got to be. You couldn't be in a band with people you didn't like.
You would get very depressed. When we were in America we had to share
beds. There were only two beds per room. I was sharing with Blue - but
I don't mind… I can live with that (laughs).
BV:
So money is still a bit tight. Do you have your own road crew?
M: None of us are old enough to hire a van yet so we always have to
have a driver. But on this tour we got our own soundman Danny; he's
a really wicked guy he always does our sound when we play in London.
We were really pleased when the label said we could take him on tour
with us.
BV:
How did you meet Danny?
Matt: At The Barfly in London. We got on well with him and he really
liked the band. He knows our sound really well and understands the band…
the kind of sound we are going for.
BV:
You studied music technology at college. Did you enjoy that side of
things?
Matt: Yeah, that was very cool because there was a lot of recording
and song writing involved. But they didn't really give us the time we
needed. It was only a couple of lessons a week. I really liked it. It
was a good chance just to chill and play guitar… get out of doing
fucking geography.
BV:
What future would you like to envisage for the band?
M: Just more insanity really… record more… have TV programme
and world domination!
Look out for The
Holiday Plan. They are well worth the time and effort. You can check
them out on their official website: www.theholidayplan.com
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