midway still | q and a

Q and A

Why did Midway Still split up originally?
Er, because we weren't really getting anywhere, Fire were dicking us about, Dec had left to be a daddy and the new stuff wasn't working with the new drummer. There's a whole album recorded with him, but it's shite.

What are the current plans for the future?
To have a laugh and make a racket. The single will be out one day. It's like it was in the beginning - no pressure, no reason to play other than it's fun. So we'll no doubt be playing again soon.

What about Grouch?
Grouch suffered from a serious lack of interest by the industry as a whole, and as we had no backing financially, the drummer jumped ship 'cos he had to work for a living, and then the rest of us just never got round to doing anything else. I don't know where that leaves it, but I suspect 6 ft under.

Fave gigs ever played?
Reading and Glastonbury in 1992; supporting Nirvana in Bristol at very short notice just before Nevermind went huge; a Xmas gig at TJ's in Newport which had to be stopped after 5 songs 'cos of insanity. That one with Leatherface the other day was pretty good as well. Snuff's final gig in 1991. I could go on....

Fave gigs ever been to?
NoMeansNo at the Grand in Clapham in 1996 was unbelievable. AC/DC in 1980 (first gig). Metallica's first ever UK gig in 1982 (?) at the Marquee. Motorhead at The Marquee for Lemmy's birthday or something. Leatherface at the (new) Marquee was astonishing. At their peak. Nirvana at Reading in 1991 or the Astoria supporting Tad and Mudhoney in 1990. Again, how much time have you got?

Fave bands?
At the moment there's not much: Grandaddy, Girl v Boys, NoMeansNo but in the good old days, Dinosaur Jnr, Squirrel Bait, Husker Du, Motorhead, AC/DC, Venom, The Damned, Peter and the Test tube Babies, Anti-Nowhere League, The Scientists, The Vibes, Black Sabbath, Jacob's Mouse, Leatherface, Snuff; what you'd expect really. I'm not averse to a bit of Bacharach and Erik Satie as well.

Fave 3rd division punk rock bands?
The Test Tubes were class 3rd Division material as were the League. The Fuzztones? I don't know if I'm being a bit hard on these people....

Equipment?
2 x Fender Mustang Guitars + distortion and EQ. Marshall 900 100w and cab. Dec at present has no drum kit at all. I think he has some sticks. Russell has a Fender Jazz bass and no amp. And a plectrum. Pretty gearless really.

Why the Hawaiian shirts?
When we met, Dec and I were scarily similar: Arsenal fans, punk/pop/metal fans; owners of several hideous shirts each, and seeing as we were wearing them anyway we thought it could be a sort of image for us. Other than that we didn't plan our "look" too carefully. I think anything to set us apart from all the introspective shoegazing stuff that was about at the time.

Why "Midway Still"?
Midway Still were two words that I saw on two adjacent pages of News headlines and I thought it sounded OK (at first). Compared to some of the others we were coming up with. Within a few weeks I hated it but we were stuck with it. The intention was to NOT have a name like ACCELERATOR or NAILBOMB or DIE DIE DIE etc. but a softer name that sort of contradicted the music. That sounds a bit dumb. The fact is that I was pissed and Dec and Jon agreed.