Interview by J & G:
PHOENIX - on a mission from the North -

Phoenix are Chris Holland (21) - guitar and vocals,  Jordan Holland (18) - bass, Kevin Bee (22) - guitar, Sean Bee (26) - Drums. … Yes, they are brothers…

J: So, you're all from up North -  where exactly? And what brought you down to play in Reading and London?

Chris: We're all from Preston, which is about 30 miles outside of Manchester. We've been going three years. We formed up North and came down with the band to Reading about a year ago 'cos it's cheaper than London, but we'd like to move over to London soon anyway. We've been playing all over London (the Garage, the Red Eye, Dublin Castle) - the only problem we've got at the moment is getting people down to the gigs, but we're slowly building up a fan base. There's just no music scene up North apart from Manchester… there was nothing going on up there, just really bad bands - I don't mind slagging them off. So we thought it was just make or break…

J: What's your maddest gig been so far?

Chris: I'd say our last gig was the best one we've had. We got the best response - loads of people went crazy and we're fighting to get on the mailing list!
Kevin: There was this fat bloke pissed up and throwing beer everywhere, he was like a mosh pit all on his own.

J: I can hear Husker Du / Sugar / Bob Mould type sounds in your music, would you say they're an influence on the stuff you're  writing?

Chris: Yeah, they're an influence, and the Pixies, the Beatles and Led Zepplin…
Sean: There's no direct influence on our stuff, we're all into different things…
Chris: …grunge, the Seattle sound and Punk and U2.

J: So who writes the songs, is it a group effort or just one of you?

Chris: I write 'em and I just say "right, this is how it is." I've got a cane y'know.
Sean: He's like a sergeant major he is.

J: Is there like any overall message running through your music?

Chris: The songs are about lots of different things,  the general thing is that we're all passionate about music - we've all got our own ideas about what the songs are about - it's more of a feeling, not a direct message.

J: How much do you go for the sex'n'drugs'n'rock'n'roll?

Sean: Ah, we're just regular guys, it's very pretentious that sex'n'drugs'n'rock'n'roll thing. We like a drink like anyone else…
Chris: But we don't drink before we go on…
Kevin: We're old farts.

J: What about groupies?

Chris: We don't really get any groupies after us, just the odd under-age girl… dunno how they get in… They come up and it's like they "really, really" like the music and that, but it's best to avoid that kind of thing - it just gets… complicated.

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