As most of you already know, Patrick Hannan and Kerin Smith are on MySpace, and i had the opportunities to talk to both of them, and they were kind enough to reply. Patrick, in fact, was nice enough to let me interview him online for my (then) website (Soph-ology). Just thought i'd put up the interview here, so others could read...
INTERVIEW WITH PATRICK HANNAN (Apr 7, 2006):
HELLO PATRICK!
Hello!
WE KNOW YOU AS THE DRUMMER FROM THE BAND theaudience. YOU'VE ALSO WORKED IN A NUMBER OF OTHER BANDS. WORKING WITH WHICH BAND HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE?
Theaudience was a great time in my life as a musician with many memorable episodes, but the first band I had real success with was the sundays and we were a big band in the USA. The tours over there were really amazing. I don't think we ever played a show which didn't sell out. I was 24 when it kicked off and I had the time of my life. Meeting and hanging out with Depeche mode was a high light. Theaudience only ever played 3 shows outside the UK, and in my opinion the UK is one of the worse places in the world to tour.
theaudience BROKE UP SOON AFTER THEIR DEBUT. IT WAS VERY TRAGIC TO SEE A GOOD BAND FALL APART. CAN YOU TELL US WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED
Right, here is the second lp (short) story. After the first LP was done and dusted we started writing for the 2nd record for Mercury. Me and Kerin were trying to co-ordinate all the ideas that were coming in. Billy was not involved. The first bunch of stuff was about 20 demo tracks by various members of the band and 3 by Mr. Boyd. SEB was very keen to use his material but the band didn't really like it. This was to become a big problem as she was adament that we should use him. We were put into a studio with various big expensive producers and recorded 4 0r 5 of the tracks as masters. Producers included Youth, Stephen Street and Dave Bascombe. The CD that was on Ebay had demo versions of the songs listed on it. There are a about 25 tracks in various forms un-released. The band were dropped because they couldn't see us selling enough records to re-coupe the vast amount that had been spent. I still have some of the demo's and some mixes of the masters.
AFTER THE BAND BROKE UP DID YOU KEEP IN TOUCH WITH ANYONE OR DID YOU ALL GO IN SEPARATE DIRECTIONS?
I worked with Kerin for a while and we tried to put another band together but it didn't really work out. I also played drums in Nyge's band PMFF, and we had a single out, but Nyge had to concentrate on his production work. I have only seen Dean once and have not had any contact with Sophie. After Billy had his car accident we were in touch again. He seemed to have a different view on life and we met several times and are in contact.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR? HAVE YOU LISTENED TO HER SOLO MUSIC? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?
Sophie was a really great person and we had a good laugh together. She was going through a lot of changes in her life when we worked together. I think she has had an amazing career so far and I'm very pleased to see her success.
My kids love her music. I like her choice of material and enjoy the light hearted feel of it. I was worried that she was taking it too seriously when the whole point is to have fun. I don't much like po faced artists. But she surprised me with some of the singles.
WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO AND WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE ARTISTS/BANDS?
I listen to a lot of Radio, mainly BBC 6music, and If I hear something I like I might buy it. I Like Elbow, Ed Hardcourt, Josh Rouse, Ben Folds, The Editors, XTC. I'm also into 60's easy listening and film sound tracks.
I SAW YOUR "BAND-WAGON" SITE. SO I'M ASSUMING THAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR QUITE SOMETIME NOW. OTHER THAN THAT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED ACTING OR SINGING OR SOMETHING ELSE?
Bandwagon and my home life keep me busy enough. I do drum with a few artists on one off gigs. It's still fun. I haven't ever considered any other type of performance. If I'm not drumming I will be behind the scenes.
TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE...
A partner, Sarah and five kids. Four girls and a boy all under 12. We live in a semi rural location in Hampshire where I grew up. I balance touring with lots of time at home hanging with the family, cooking, dancing and laughing mainly.
OKAY. HERE'S A QUICK ROUND OF RANDOM QUESTIONS.
FAVOURITE FOOD: parsnips
FAVOURITE TV SHOW: Poirot for the classic detail or Midsommer murders.
FAVOURITE CLOTHING BRAND: Oxfam
FAVOURITE MOVIE: Laurence of Arabia
FAVOURITE theaudience TRACK: I got the wherewithal
FAVOURITE theaudience MEMBER: Patrick E D Hannan
IF NOT MUSIC...: Sex or gardening... or both!
THANK YOU SO MUCH PATRICK. ITS BEEN WONDERFUL TALKING TO YOU. WISH YOU THE VERY BEST IN (WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING). HAVE A NICE DAY...............
No, Thankyou.
KERIN'S REPLY TO MY POST (Jun 13, 2006)
Although being in the band seems ages ago now, we're all still in touch with one another (albeit infrequently). Billy I hear from regularly and am often down at his club "Aftershow" in Kentish town. Patch has been very busy and now has his own touring company called Bandwagon. I've used his services and heartily endorse them! Dean's still doing his thing and working in music - as is Nyge who's always impossibly busy with lots of projects and rarely in the country! Sophie and I did some writing and recording together for her new album - and while it was great to see her again and hang out, the tracks we came up with weren't really the direction she needed to go in. I'm intrigued to hear what it's going to sound like - especially the B52s stuff.
Recently, I've been working with an electro band called Knights and also writing and producing the debut record by Nicolai Prowse who was in a band called DoMeBadThings - follow the links on my myspace page and you'll be able to hear some tracks we've done.
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