THE RIPPS interview

• 5th Mar 2007

When The Ripps landed in Manchester last week Emma Robson caught up with brother Patch of the Lagunas tribe to ask a few questions like, “What's all this about a band from the very heart of England?”

So firstly, hows the tour going?

Amazing! We’ve been going to lot’s of stripclubs and the gigs have been going really well.

What’s been your favourite moment so far during your tour?

In Middlesbrough after the gig I got a bit pissed and ended up topless wrestling with a guy who’s house we crashed at. I’d only met him a few hours before. It was hilarious. Raul and Rachel were busy playing with a replica of Isildur’s sword from ‘Lord Of The Rings’. Those guys were well cool!

It’s been said your music is ‘indie’. What influences do you have in this sense?

We’re influenced by the late 70’s punk movement. Ramones, Dead Kennedy’s, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Rezillos, The Buzzcocks. The energy and attitude of those bands are incredibly inspiring. We’re also really into comics and films.

Some have said you’re music resembles that of ‘The Jam’. To what extent have they impacted your musical development?

Our manager is actually a mod! He always says how we remind him of them. I think because of us being a 3-piece there is an obvious comparison to make however it ain’t intentional. We’re really love The Jam though. They are a great example of a kick ass 3 piece. I think it’s more to do with the fashion. We wear a lot of modish clothes. It’s fun gettin suited and booted but wearin it more street.

You covered ‘Too much too young’ by the Specials who are the most famous of all Coventry bands. How do you feel about the contemporary music scene in Coventry? Does it live up to bands such as the Specials?

The music scene in Cov is a bit stagnant really. Birmingham which is just up the road has a lot of good bands. Saying that it’s getting better in Cov. No band from Cov will ever live up to The Specials. They were around at a time where racism was rife and started a Global Movement in 2- tone. They are legends and always will be.

Your musical sound is fairly retro, which is not in keeping with the modern ’indie’ scene. Is this a representative of you being dissatisfied with the contemporary indie sound and it’s seemingly unstoppable popularity?

You could say that, but when we formed we didn’t set out to make music as a reaction to all the music around we hate. (We hate most bands around now).
Our tunes are written either to highlight something which pisses us off or in the spirit of fun. We were bored of watchin' bands take themselves way too seriously and wanted to have a laugh and fuck around on stage. Our shows are our reaction to that. Every gig we kick ass and piss about.

Basic question, why the Ripps?

Cus it’s an ace name. The 2 p’s cus it looks better 😉

Keeping it local, are there any bands in Manchester than have given you great influence?

Well the band that most people have compared us to are The Buzzcocks and that is really flattering. We love them. They wrote some great pop songs and the drums on all the tracks are ace! Hopefully some day soon we’ll meet them and we’ll get to kiss their arses.

We all love The Stone Roses and Oasis up until Morning Glory. I actually lost my virginity to ‘I Am The Resurrection’! So I love that band.

Of recent stuff a mate of ours told me about an upcoming band ‘The Answering Machine’. They sounded pretty good in a twee indie sorta way.

What plans do you have for the future, any plans for more albums??

We’re planning on touring throughout the year and hopefully play Japan and a few festivals. That’s what we want.
With regards of another album it’s funny you should ask that. A few days ago our manager said to us ‘You need to write another 11 tracks by next week!’ We were like ‘Ok……We’ll write 5 tomorrow!’
Nah saying that we’re constantly writing, so a bit of pressure is always good. We’ve written some new stuff n we love where it’s goin. New album maybe next year titled ‘The Best Of The Ripps!’ 