The Needful Things

By Christopher Duda
(SugarBuzz Tornoto)

SugarBuzz Magazine

Out of the inner most recesses of excess, filth, debauchery and all other scandalous acts performed by British politicians comes the spawn of all that is wrong and evil with this perverted fucked up society. Get’em before they implode. Balls out trash talkin’ mealy mouthed street urchins ready to crush your tweetin’ lovin fingers one snap at a time and possibly peak up your school uniform!

Since you all play in current active bands how do you find the time to form this super group so to speak and what is the motivation behind it?

Laney 74: Hilda and I spoke about doing something like this when I was out playing bass for Drugdealer Cheerleader. Hilda kind of mentioned it on the fly and I didn't really think he was serious until a couple of months later he emails me asking when are we going to get this new band together?!! He's been the task master for sure and hats off to him because he's really pulled this whole project together at a really fast pace which I think has made it easier for the rest of us. I think the time frame kind of worked out well too what with Teenage Casket Company being off the road for the summer and DDCL taking something of a break. I've always been a big fan of bands like The Starfuckers from LA and The Sin City Sinners from Las Vegas - both bands made up of cool musicians, doing nothing other than going out there and jamming on their favourite tunes, putting on a great show but doing it well with attitude!

Keef: I really don't know how I find the time as this my FOURTH band I'm doing this year but I've managed to squeeze them in somehow. Hilda was just very persuasive ;)

Hilda: Yes, I can be VERY persuasive! I said I’d go to the press with lots of sex scandal on each of the guys if they didn’t join up!

With Drugdealer out of the picture at the start of this year I didn’t really want to sit around picking clinkers out of my arse. The guys from DdCL and I have been touring and recording for 10 years without a break so once our tour with The Pleasures at the end of ’09 was over we all wanted a breather and I’d fancied doing something a bit different for a while so I kind of put the feelers out to Laney and once he said he was up for it I thought… hey ho, let’s go!

You plan to tour the U.K -will this tour be extended to Europe or North America in the future?

L: We're just kind of seeing what happens right now. Although we all know each other pretty well from hanging out at different shows we've never all played together as a unit other than the rehearsals so we'll see how it pans out, what the audience thinks of it and what the overall response is. There's no crazy commitment or game plan other than to go out and have fun. Hey, we're all pros now... what could possibly go wrong?!!

H: Well yeah the plan is to get out on the road in the UK and just have a blast. We have 6 dates booked at the end of May and once those are out of the way we’ll be lookingat some potential European shows and maybe even US and Canada? Who knows – we may all hate each other by June!

If all goes well, folks like what we’re doing, We like what we’re doing and the recordings come out ok then we’ll be ready for some big rock shows. Bring it on!

K: Hopefully, if I'm available I'm up for anything.

How did the discussion of recording a live album of this tour come about?

L: Again, that's Hilda always thinking and it'd kind of allow us to get some product out there under the band name. Hopefully we'll get some good stuff at the shows.

K: Hilda's Idea :)

H: Well the thing is, all the material we’re playing is already out there. Making a live record will give the songs a bit of a buzz and an energy kick… y’know a kinda Sugarbuzz feel… lick lick…

Who is the best looking person in the band and who has the most groupies? Do you have any crazy fan stories to share?

K: What kind a question in that!! Haha Crazy fan stories?? We haven't even played a gig yet and only had one rehearsal so no! :D

H: I used to be good looking. Now all that whiskey and coke have taken their toll…. Actually I quite fancy Oz. He has big muscles and everything! Laney has a nice bum and Xander has a growly voice. Keef is cooler than a bear with a trilby. Yes, I’m the pig of the band!

Crazy fan stories.. Ha loads! Well even going back to when I was in a band called Waterbratz! We used to get fan mail (yep through the post) with pictures and ‘stuff’ and there was one girl who became a friend later but was a mad fan back then, she’d send letters like a jigsaw that you had to put back together, reverse writing, on vampire bat toilet tissue… Mental! But I loved it! I just think it’s great if someone has spent the time to write to you – even more these days. Folks are quite happy to tweet all day or blog about being ‘bored’ but they can’t be arsed to write to a band they like telling them what a hot singer they have… pah!

L: I think Oz is going to be the ladies man! He's quiet but I think there's a dark horse right there! Crazy Fan Stories? Yep. To share? Maybe not so much!

What will the process of be of picking the songs to play from the former bands?

K: I kind of came in a bit late so all the songs were pretty much chosen already

H: Yeah Keef didn’t have much chance since he was last in... but he did choose Long Way Out which is an amazing Dead Identities song.

We all sort of said, ‘Right, which songs get the best reactions when you play them live with your bands?’ We all chose 3 each, a Bulletboys tune (Laney plays with them) and a couple of covers. We’ve rehearsed and slimmed the set down to about an hour and I’m itching to get out there and blast everyone away with TNT (oh god that’s cheesy! But keep it... I like it).

L: We all put forward which songs we thought would work then we just bashed them out in rehearsal. It's kinda weird to see a song that you would think would work great fall flat on its face then others are the total opposite and really come into their own when played by different musicians. I think we'll definitely put a new slant onto songs which some people are familiar with. Come and check out The Rock Show!!

Do the Needful Things have much material themselves?

L: Not right now, its early days. Hopefully so.... the quality of the songs from each of our bands ought to bode well for collaborations in TNT!

H: Laney doesn’t know but I’ve written an album already….

Who are your biggest influences?

K: Ramones, Kiss, Bracket, Little Richard and Lieutenant Pigeon

L: For me, I get influenced by everyone around me. It doesn't have to be a bass player or even a musician. I learn from the way people perform both on and off stage and try and take something from everyone I meet. I'm stealing everything!! I guess my biggest musical influences are Todd Jensen (Hardline / David Lee Roth / Alice Cooper), Jaret Reddick from Bowling for Soup and Ryan Roxie who played a long time for Alice Cooper and has his own bands Roxie77 and Casablanca.

H: mmmmm musically and songwriting wise I’m influenced by lots of bands across quite a lot of genres but as a singer I take bits from Bruce Dickinson, Dave Lee Roth, Freddie Mercury, Seb Bach and Paul Draper (Mansun).

What are you favourite clubs or cities to play?

K: Anywhere in Europe as they know how to look after bands and the crowds are always mental.

L: I think your hometown is always kind of cool but you got to take something from everywhere you play. I love the chance to play abroad though and that is really special. It seems European audiences are incredibly appreciative of international acts and it's always an honour to get the opportunity to do that.

H: Well I enjoyed playing out in New York City supporting the Wildhearts. That was kind of special. In the UK I think the towns which are not normally considered ‘big circuit’ towns are always a blast. Mainly because people really appreciate you making the effort to come and play. My personal favourite is probably Bradford in Northern England and a club called Gasworks. I’ve had MANY crazy nights there!

I’m hoping folks make the effort to check out the band on tour or make some noise locally and to the media. Although we’re not starting at square one, we have a lot of ground to make up to get heard out there. Come friend on Facebook and myspace by visiting www.theneedfulthings.co.uk

Debut UK Tour (May 2010)
Fri 14th Selby, Riverside
Sat 15th Bradford, New Gasworks
Thurs 20th London, The Gaff
Fri 21st Grimsby, Yardbirds
Sat 22nd Newcastle, Legends
Sun 23rd Nottingham, Central (Cryptfest)

To join the Needful Things mailing list write - the_needful_things@hotmail.com

Drugdealercheerleader (featuring Hilda)
www.drugdealercheerleader.com
http://www.myspace.com/drugdealercheerleader

Kitty Hudson (featuring Keef)
http://www.myspace.com/kittyhudson

The Dead Identities (featuring Keef)
http://www.myspace.com/deadidentities

Teenage Casket Company (featuring Laney)
http://www.myspace.com/teenagecasketcompany

Bulletboys (featuring Laney)
http://www.myspace.com/officialbulletboys

Phluid (featuring Oz)
http://www.myspace.com/phluidband

SugarBuzz Magazine (featuring a bunch of bad ass rock journalists)
www.sugarbuzzmagazine.com