Interview with The Ga*Ga*s at Asylum (2/2) By Andy Dykes

(1/2), (2/2).

I read an article somewhere that compares you guys to The Darkness. Having heard what you sound like, I'd have to say that's a rubbish comparison... Toshi: Thank fuck. Everyone laughs. Rob: Good lad. What do you make of such comparisons? Rob: I think that that kind of comparison is happening when we were first getting any recognition.

Tommy: We've been doing this for a long time now. Any comparison stops at the haircuts and the brand of guitar pretty much. And our appreciation for big choruses. We've had Velvet Revolver comparisons too, but actually, our album was finished probably before they had even formed.

So, what are your influences? I noticed a touch of Mötley Crue in there... Tommy: Yeah, there's a bit of everything in there really, from heavier stuff to like, Bob Dylan and real song writers like that. I think it's that kind of a mix that makes a band good. We each bring a whole load of influences to the band. You talk a lot on your website about this vision that you have behind this band. What is this vision?

Tommy: Me and our co-manager Ronnie sat together on the South Bank and kind of hatched this plan. We figured a band's only as good as its drummer so we formed a solid basis on that and personal chemistry. And we built a gang. It couldn't work otherwise. I don't believe in that thing where members of a band work together and hate each other. We've all been in bands where that happens and it just doesn't work.

J the drummer walks in. Tommy: So anyway, J's an asshole. Everyone laughs. Tommy: For me it's about having seen Slash on stage when I was 11, playing guitar in front of thousands of people, and that moving me and thinking, I want to do that. It's about trying to move people in the same way that I was moved by people. Plus there was this massive void in music that wasn't being filled and we wanted to fill it. And I think there's the same feeling throughout the band. Everyone nods in agreement. Tommy: We just wanted to write great songs with...big muscle.

So is that a 'pop-y' element to the band, writing catchy choruses? Tommy: Big choruses aren't a conscious thing. It's just the way we write songs. If we can see that a chorus doesn't have that lift to it, that energy, we change it. But your album isn't all like that. There are some tender moments on there. Tommy: We're not a one trick pony like that. We wanted to create a record that was like a story. Toshi: Yeah, this record's like a journey.

So, individually speaking, who are your biggest influences? J: Pantera. Just everything about them: the passion, the energy. They were kick-ass. Toshi: Nicky Sixx from Mötley Crue. I've always just wanted to play and have a laugh. The Ramones taught us to play. Rob: Brian May, Hendrix...your classic, big haired rock guitarists who could make a solo sound as individual as a chorus. Tommy: I used to love Extreme. When they split, Nuno Bettencourt made this beautiful solo album which was more about passion than anything he did with Extreme. Also, Stone Temple Pilots. I forgot about them, and then returned to them when I met J.

And finally...The Ga*Ga*s in five words? Tommy: A pain in the ass! J: Rock 'n' fuckin' roll man. Toshi: Rock 'n' fuckin' roll motherfucker! Pause. Toshi: We're...not...cock...rock...band. Pause. Rob: Yeah. But that's only five words the way Toshi talks. The Ga*Ga*s debut album Tonight The Midway Shines is available now in all good record shops.

Photographs courtsey and Copyright © Mo thisisUll.com 2005

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