Were any of you in bands before?

Tim: I was in some kind of art-punk band (I won’t name names to save their blushes), but it was starting to take the direction of hairy old rock and the other members weren’t as committed as myself, especially when it came to all the non-musical ‘jobs’ involved in being in a band, so it was time for a change.

Stacey: I wouldn’t call my past attempt a ‘band’- it was more a case of ‘ideas that never took off the ground’.

What records have you released so far?

Tim: We recorded Swoosh in early 2005, put that out before we’d played any gigs, then added some songs to comprise a mini-album called Season Of False Dawns. We recorded another EP of four songs called Books About Cities late last year and plan to record the newer songs we’ve just started playing live within the next month. We’ve left recording a while this time, but are very excited about these new songs.

Stacey: I’m looking forward to recording the new songs. We have more ideas about what we want and hopefully with an additional day we can add more nice effects.

Do you have any gigs coming up?

Tim: These are the shows we’ve got confirmed. If anyone reading would like us to play your town, nag your local promoter- we’ll play pretty much anywhere if you cover our costs and bill us with other interesting bands. 7 th May, Medicine Bar, Digbeth, Birmingham 13 th May, 80p festival at Barden's Boudoir London 6 th June, Catch, Shoreditch, Howl Night 12 th August, The Social, Nottingham , Drowned in Sound night

Do you have any plans to play outside the UK ?

Tim: Yes, I’m very keen for us to play Berlin . I love the atmosphere of the place, and am attracted by it’s musical heritage- Nick Cave , Neubauten and Lou Reed more than Bowie ! We’ve been reviewed a couple of times by Berlin-based zine Soundmag.de, but perhaps surprisingly at this stage no promoters have offered to fly us over. Basically I’d like to play all the cities I’ve enjoyed visiting, like Copenhagen , Bergen , Stockholm , Amsterdam .  

Where is your favourite place to play?

Tim: I’m not sure I have a favourite place, but our gigs at 93 Feet East have all gone very well. The staff there seem to genuinely care about getting the sound right for each band. The venue is a good size, and gets pretty busy on free entry nights. Some of our smallest shows have gone very well too, and I like the intimacy of playing little crowded pubs.

Stacey: Yeah free nights are always a good idea, you’re guaranteed an audience and there’s no pressure to get a ridiculous number of people through the door.

What influences your music?

Tim: Red wine, disaffection and middle-class malaise. I’d imagine a big record collection comes in there too. I’ve been playing guitar of long enough to get bored very quickly, so effects get used and abused liberally to keep things interesting.

Stacey: Well, being miserable always helps when writing, and of course, collecting music. Wanting to write just as well as bands/artists I admire always spurs me on.    

Who are your favourite bands/artists?

Tim: At the moment it’s Crime and the City Solution, Xiu Xiu, Kinski, Kind of Like Spitting and I’ve just re-discovered the first Bob Tilton album.

Stacey: I’ve been listening to a lot of ‘Do Make Say Think’ lately, the manic depressive Texan Daniel Johnston , such a sweet and fragile voice. The honesty in his songs, it can make you flinch, he’s so open yet I admire that.

Are there any new bands you would recommend?

We can wholeheartedly recommend checking out Captain Polaroid, National School, NosferatuD2, What the Moon is Like, Hunting Lodge, Time Space Repeat, all of whom can be found on myspace.

What are your plans for the rest of 2006?  

Tim: Sleeping, and when I’m done I think we’ll finish the new songs just in time to record them at the beginning of June. What we do after this is pretty much in the hands of labels and promoters. Whether we record or tour. We’ll have to see.

Stacey: Keeping Tim awake/playing/recording/sweet talking…   Where can we find out more about you? www.myspace.com/thesailplanes - to hear us www.thesailplanes.com - to read reviews/interviews.

May 2006