Wetdog: ‘This Needs A Futon’

Wetdog release their new album 'Frauhaus' on 30th November and hold a celebratory party at The Lexington this Friday. Kim Redgrave talks to the band about recording in a shoebox, touring with The Slits and making Grade 5 on the futon....

Neu Magazine: So how did you start Wetdog? Were you all friends before you got together?

Rebecca: No, well you (to Sarah) were friends with Billy weren’t you?
Sarah: Well we’re not really friends now are we (laughter)…Professionals… Associates
R: Musical colleagues.
S: Before, we were close friends, now we’re associates!
Billy: Business partners. Purely business, nothing more. I don’t like to mix business with pleasure
S: And this is definitely not pleasure!
Me: So how did you get the band together then?
Billy: Umm, Job Centre!
Rebecca: Well the songs were just so easy to play.
B: It kind of just happened.
Sarah: It was just kind of organic man (laughter)
B: In the beginning basically what happened was Becca started a band…
R: and everyone else left… I was doing all the parts
S: Yeah she drove everyone else away and we were the only people left!

NM: It's been a long while since then though? You've done so much recently. How did you find playing with the Slits on their latest tour? Was it a dream come true?

Billy: Mega fun times.
Rebecca: They were nicest band we’ve ever played with, the friendliest
B: Yeah the they were best band we’ve toured with… they were really good fun
Me: No divas then?
B: No not at all!
Sarah: I think Ari Up is slightly diva-ish but only as I would want her to be though. In quite a fun way.
B: In a funny way.

NM: Have you picked up any favourite new bands on tour?

Rebecca: Does it have to be current? I don’t like anyone at the moment!
Me: Ok no it doesn’t have to be. What are you listening to at the moment?
R: Talking Heads and Syd Barrett
Billy: They are not a band of the moment! I want to talk about bands at the moment – I like Electricity In Our Homes and Factory Floor
Sarah: Who do I like? Ariel Pink, he’s still this decade. And I like Plug and the Pheromoans… Trash Kit, Teenage Panzercorps, they’re really good.
R: I like Micachu and the Shapes and Private Trousers (Rebecca’s other band)...
B: You can’t like your own band!!
R: I’m just saying I really like it, honestly… I don’t write the music!
B: Well I like Wetdog actually, they’re my favourite band

NM: You often get compared to post punk/new wave girl bands like Delta 5, The Raincoats, The Au Pairs - do any of these bands actually influence you or do think people are too quick to pigeonhole you?

Rebecca: To be honest we hadn’t even heard them when we started playing together. I’ve never heard Delta 5 or The Au Pairs
Billy: I couldn’t even name you one of their songs I don’t think
Me: The Raincoats?
B: I could name you a Raincoats song but before I joined Wetdog I’d never really listened to any of that music
Sarah: I do love the Raincoats and I love Kleenex and I do quite like the Au Pairs
B: Someone played me some Delta 5 the other day cos they were like, oh they must influence you. Often at gigs you get people come up to you and be like oh you must like Delta 5 and quite often I just go ‘yeah!’ and then think actually I’ve never listened to them… they’re really good, but…

NM: Do you think people are just pigeonholing then?

B: Yeah, but often I do it as well when people say what do you sound like I go well people often compare us to the Slits an the Raincoats because I don’t like describing our music or comparing music, I’d rather people just listen to it rather than I describe it
S: But I can see why people do that
B: Yeah totally, I mean we do sound a bit like some of these bands, we’re not trying to say that we’re totally original though… I mean things do obviously subliminally influence
R: Yeah we’re not totally original but I wouldn’t say that the girl bands are our heritage or necessarily our influences
S: Did you just say we’re not totally original?! (laughter) I think you’ll find we are
R: Mostly, yeah

NM: How do you think you have evolved since Enterprise Reversal? The tracklist is slightly shorter, are any of the tracks ones that didn't make it onto the last album or is it all new stuff?

Rebecca: Well Joe (Angular Records the band’s label) said we couldn’t put on as many as we wanted to – I was gunning for 17 so it went down and down but we sneaked two on the B-Side of the single
Billy: We tried to make more of an album this time rather than just a mass of songs, so we thought about it a bit more and, um, I think that’s one of the ways Wetdog’s evolved actually. And there are a lot more different sounds on this album
R: I think we play better!
B: I think we’ve just become a lot more confident and experimental really.
Sarah: And a bit more mental

NM: Your production values on the last album were often heavily criticised. One reviewer said it sounded "like it was actually recorded in a shed".. don’t think that’s such a bad thing but…

Billy: If only. It was recorded in a fucking shoe box mate!

NM: …do you think the new album is polished and more produced or have you kept the raw punk sound?

Sarah: I like that sound!
Rebecca: Not entirely, some of the songs are slightly more produced…
B: but only if that song required it, not because we went in there to make a more polished thing but I reckon people might find it more accessible or might not notice the production so much because of the variations between the songs, ya know… it goes on a bit of a journey.
S: I have no idea why people have an aversion to sort of rough sounding music
R: Also I don’t think that first album was rough sounding! I think it sounds amazing listening to it recently!
B: I think all it is, is that its so long and quite similar sounding all the way through so after while its.. a bit harsh. People should get used to it, there’s a fucking recession on!
S: I really hate that overproduced polished sound!
R: I like recording stuff yourself, it means you can go home and add loads of bits to it which is much more fun…
B: basically we’re not making songs to end up on adverts…
R: yeah like on this album we added things like a futon and just hitting radiators
B: haha a futon! We added a futon, just for that final touch. We thought, we know what this needs, this needs a futon

NM: I think that has to be the tagline of this interview!

B: Becca’s got to grade 5 in playing the futon… it’s a bugger to tune though isn’t it…


NM: Do you have long term plans for Wetdog? What can we expect in the future?

Billy: Marriage and a couple of kids. Yeah, no I do have long term plans actually
Rebecca: Conquer America. (pause while everyone thinks) Yeah I wanna buy that village… do you remember I told you about that village that was being sold for £40 million in southern England…
Sarah: (puts on posh voice) yes we’d like to buy the whole of the south coast…
B: I often fantasize about our comeback tour, you know when all the young kids suddenly find us cool in about thirty years, when the Noughties or whatever you want to call them come back round again
Me: and you headline Glastonbury
B: yesss

NM: what about future albums?

B: There’ll be hundreds.
R: Yeah we’ve started on number 3, bring it on… more touring. We’re gonna tour loads this year
B: America
R: I think we’re touring Switzerland and Germany in January which should be good
S: I’d love to do Japan, that would be great

Frauhaus! is available to buy from Angular Recordshttp://www.myspace.com/wetdogthebest or any good or not so good record shop.