20 Questions with…The Wave Pictures

10 April 2008, 12:00

They’re one of the best new acts around. The Wave Pictures write songs about meeting girls in night clubs to worrying about how to deal with a particularly bad hangover. They distill all that’s great and wonderful in the world. Their debut album is going to be one of the sleeper hits of the year and we managed to get hold of main man Dave Tattersall to put to him our infamous 20 Questions…

1. Describe your sound in 3 words.
David, Jonny, Franic.
2. What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it?
Bo Diddley, ”Greatest Sides Volume One”, from a market stall in Leicester Town Centre.
3. What’s the best cure for a hangover?
A fry up with tea.
4. What’s on your rider?
We’ve never had a rider.
5. How do you get ready for a live show?
We set up our drums, plug in our amplifiers and tune our guitars.
6. What’s your favourite song to play live?
Whichever one I have written the most recently.
7. What’s your guilty pleasure?
I can’t help you there, I’m afraid. I feel good about everything that gives me pleasure. No guilt whatsoever.
8. Who would win in a fight, a stoat or a goat and why?
I have absolutely no idea. I know only that I wouldn’t intervene if such a fight broke out in my presence.
9. What was the last album you bought?
Elton John, Madman Across The Water.
10. If you could rid the world of one song – what would it be?
Our national anthem.
11. Who would play you in a film based upon your life?
Gene Hackman.
12. Dead or alive. What 5 acts would you have play with you at a festival?
The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Skip James, Robert Johnson, The Four Brothers.
13. If push comes to shove, what is your all-time favourite album?
Bo Diddley, ”Greatest Sides Volume One”. I got it right first time.
14. What’s your most memorable on the road story?
Nothing memorable happens on the road to guys like us. We’re not The Who. The fun, exciting bit is the bit when we’re on stage. On stage, we take The Who to school. If you want fun off stage, you’d need a Keith Moon type around I guess.
15. If your life flashed before your eyes, what would be the highlights?
Playing music with my friends. Riding the Cyclone at Coney Island. Any time I went in the sea.
16. What’s the best piece of advice someone has ever given you and did you take notice?
”Work is OK but don’t ever get a career. As soon as you care about something, it’ll start to ruin you.” Yes, I took notice but like a fool I went for a career as a musician anyway.
17. If you had to leave a body part to science, what would it be?
I could maybe spare a little toe, but ideally I’d like to take it all with me.
18. What’s the best book you’ve read and film you’ve seen in the last 6 months?
The best film I saw in the last 6 months was ”Die Hard 3: Die Harder”, the one with Samuel L. Jackson in it. The best book I’ve read in the last 6 months was John Fante’s ”Wait Until Spring, Bandini”.
19. What three things could you not live without?
Aside from all the things you REALLY can’t live without… Free time. A guitar. I’m pretty addicted to cigarettes these days too.
20. Tell us a fact about yourself we probably don’t already know.
I am allergic to cats. This makes me sad as I like cats. But they make me sneeze. They make my eyes itchy.