#Interview with @TheLovelyEggs on #ThisIsEggland , marriage, being the band, #vegancheese #punk Playing @TheCluny Saturday 10/2

Interview with The Lovely Eggs 

ahead of their gig

at the Cluny on Saturday 10th February

Hot on the heels of their rammed and raucous Autumn tour, Northern psychedelic punks The Lovely Eggs announce their next series of live dates for February ahead of their forthcoming album This Is Eggland (out 23 February on Egg Records). The Lovely Eggs are one of the most unique, innovative and genuine bands on the British Underground music scene. Setting themselves apart from the mainstream, they’ve built up a cult following which is due to blow wide open with their mild-melting new album,produced by  Flaming Lips/ Mercury Rev producer, Dave Fridmann. You can sample what’s in store with their brand new single, “I Shouldn’t Have Said That“, which is out now. They will be supported by comedian Phill Jupitus (in his guise as Porky the Poet) on all dates.


The Northeast Music Guide's Joanne Oliver spoke to Holly Ross and David Blackwell, the fantastically unconventional married couple behind the psychedelic punk mashup that is the Lovely Eggs.

JO: Thanks for talking to us. The last time we saw you was a few years back at Head of Steam in Newcastle. Then you disappeared for a bit to make a baby. I know breeding changed me, I had a much more “Fuck It” outlook than I did when I was all about my career. Did it have some impact on your musical style as well as how you viewed your music career?

H&D: No not at all. In fact we we determined to carry on as normal. If anything our sound got heavier in retaliation against all the kid and cbeebies shit we had to endure. I suppose our Fuck It philosophy came into play a bit more. We have to let go a lot and just go with the flow. But that's life you know you have to embrace it and all its imperfections!


JO: Do you feel in something of a privileged position as a married couple who ARE the band rather than a couple IN a band? It seems to me you have developed together in a really magical way and so has the music. 

H&D:Well that's the joyousness of it. We don't have all the usual band bickering and stuff. It's just dead easy to decide what we want to do and what we don't. We are usually on the same wavelength about things so that really does make being in a band easy. Stuff is certainly magical. That's life. I think the big secret to it all is just going along with whatever happens and making the best of it.


JO: Great that you are on tour, looking forward to seeing you at the Cluny. How is touring different to when you started out back in 2006 ish?

H&D: Well there a fuck lot more people there for starters!! And we've got a baby with us now! SO no more mammoth hangovers and being sick in carrier bags on the way to soundcheck. But to be honest, apart from more people being at our gigs these days absolutely nothing has changed. The spirit of what we were trying to do in 2006 (which essentially revolved around having a party) is still valid 10 years on. We're still doing it and it is just amazing to have so many people at our gigs joining in.


JO: Is real life in Lancaster still a big influence on your music or has your upcoming album “This Is Eggland” drawing more ideas from the wider global scene which is, of course  a rich  chum-bucket of ingredients to draw from? 

H&D: I think we still take a lot from Lancaster. It's hard to write about stuff you don't know or isn't in your own experience. But yeah the increasing fucked-upness of our planet and the insanity of modern day living has certainly had a bearing on the new album. And we can draw on that from a local, very personal level in songs which can also have a wider and more general philosophical meaning. A lot of the songs on our album have a double meaning. One very specific one for us and something more general and metaphoric that everyone can relate to.


JO: What colour is the tour van? I’m imagining something a bit Scooby Doo. Are there unusual things you simply cannot leave at home? 

H&D: White. Like all vans are!! We try not to leave our 4 year old boy at home! So that's probably the biggest thing. That and porridge pots.


JO: I usually ask what people’s favourite cheese is. It can reveal a lot. I know you two are vegetarian, but have you taken it a step further to veganism? If not, what is your favourite cheese? If you are, has anyone managed to make decent vegan “cheese”? 

H&D: Not vegan yet but edging more and more towards it. So as cheese eaters, I reckon it would be a toss up between Garstang blue and Shorock's Tasty Lancashire Chilli Bomb. We just sent a load of Vegan cheese to our mate Sally from a place called Tyne Chease in Newcastle!! She said it was fantastic so we'll have to make sure we get some on our rider fer the Cluny!

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The Lovely Eggs are playing The Cluny on 10th February 2018. They will be supported by Porky the Poet (Phill Jupitus) and tickets are available from our affiliate Seetickets here.

Joanne Oliver runs Jowheretogo: Press, social media and photography