Munch Munch: One to Watch for 2010

Munch Munch ride on it’s muscular body, shouting and screaming in wondrous voices as they gallop across the musical landscape of 2010.

Three lads and a lady from Bristol who are the missing link between Broken Social Scene and the power-pop stylings of early Weezer, you know, when they were good… It’s the charged rumbling chords of their synth’s, turned up to 11, combined with their rambling vocals that seem to suggest they’re having the biggest party in the world… and YOU’RE invited. Ace.

We asked them some questions, they responded, and even gave us a seasonal Spotify playlist! Result.

For people out there that have never heard of you. Give us three reasons why they should…
Tight riddims
Throbbing organs
Sexy bods

Can you recall the moment when you first decided you wanted to become a musician?
I don’t really consider myself a musician, more a person who works on a computer in the daytime and then mess around on instruments in the evenings. I guess I’ve always been interested in making music though. My dad was in bands when he was younger and there was always a guitar lying around in our house. I think I was 4 when I decided I wanted to play it so my mum took me to have lessons but they said my fingers were too small, so I went back when I was 6 and got really into it. I think that happening is actually one of my earliest memories too.

Where do your songs come from? What’s your inspiration?
Myself and Tom normally just play around on one keyboard and one drum set then take tiny bits we like and make them into full songs. Actually Tom will normally record a drum idea I have then cut it up on his computer to make a song out of it that sounds completely different to how I thought it was going to sound, but in a good way. Lyrically we often write together and throw in a load of different ideas, which I guess is why our lyrics sound a bit jumbled sometimes.

Name your Top 5 records.
That’s a hard one, at the moment:
Vowels – Pattern prism
Desiny’s Child – The writing’s on the wall
Beach Boys – Pet sounds
Gentle Friendly – Ride slow
Fleetwood Mac – Tusk

What was the first gig you ever played and was it a success?
The first gig I played as munch munch was in a room in our uni halls. Could you really describe a gig where there’s more people in the band than the audience a success? If so, then yes.

What one piece of criticism has stuck in your mind and was it justified?
I can give you an actual quote from a blog I read ages ago… this guy said
“The lyrics themselves were poor at best, by way of example a ‘standout’ lyric was, “Touch my freaky body or you’ll be sorry”…”.
I think that’s completely justified. We wrote that song before we even formed a band and just whacked it online. I think our lyric writing ability has improved since then, but only slightly.

What one thing has caused you to waste your free time in the past 6 months?
Watching Countdown. The new girl that replaced Carol Vorderman is really great.

If you weren’t making music, what do you think you’d be doing?
Curing cancer.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
The highest responsibility I’ve probably ever had was being in charge of yoghurts at Waitrose. I had to put them all out and make sure they were constantly at the front of the shelf (we call this facing up). I actually really like yoghurts but obviously I wasn’t allowed to eat any so I used to pretend to drop this one that was in a glass container then take it downstairs to throw it away but really threw it away in my mouth. Actually thinking about, it was quite fun.

We’d like you to make us a mix-tape. Pick five tracks with a theme of your choice.
I’m not really big on Christmas, but here’s a Christmas playlist put together by me and my girlfriend:

Destiny’s Child – 8 Days of Christmas
Deerhoof – Xmas Tree
Greg Lake – I Believe In Father Christmas – without orchestra
The Beach Boys – Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
The Ronettes – Frosty The Snowman
Parenthetical Girls – Festive Friends (Forever)
Daz Dillinger – Christmas In The Hood
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone – Cold White Christmas
Carpenters – Do You Hear What I Hear?
Snoop Dogg – Twas The Night Before Xmas
No Kids – Another Winter In A Summer Town
Abba – Happy New Year