The Smears...

The Smears

Photo courtesy of Michael Preston, DIY Media

Mark Sesin, manager for The Smears, was good enough to put us in touch with them so they could answer some questions for us - check it out!

1). Firstly – introduce yourselves.
C Doll: “Hi, I’m C Doll, I’m the Smears drummer.”
Miss C: “I play Bass guitar.”
M: “I'm M (Emma) I play guitar and sing.”

2). How would you describe the music which you produce?
M: “Brilliant.”
C Doll: “Loud, fast and sexy.”
Miss C:  “Filthy, Gritty and it makes you want more.”

3). How long have you been together?
M: “8 years.”
C Doll: “I’ve been in the band about 8 years but the girls were going for a year or so before me.”
Miss C:  “Me and Emma met in 2001 and a few drummers later our C Doll completed the line up.”

4). How did the band come to be?
Miss C: “I wrote an advert in crayons a long time ago asking for some other girls to join a band with me and stuck it up in a local music shop in Nottingham, where I live. I’d just left yet another band full of idiot boys. A few girls got in touch and after a few line up changes with different drummers (isn't that always the case?) we finally met C Doll and we’ve been that way since. I play bass, Emma guitar and vocals and C Doll plays drums. We started gigging in 2002 and we are the best of friends – we’ve been likened to a gang, but we aren’t really – we just look out for each other (and don’t take any bullsh*t)!”
M: “I moved to Nottingham from Liverpool and after months of searching found Nat's advert in a guitar shop. We met and bonded over vodka and that was it. I sent an email out to everyone I knew in Nottingham after we'd had a few disastrous drummers saying we where looking for a new drummer and someone said 'have you tried the barmaid in The Old Angel?'.  I rang the pub and luckily enough it was C.Doll.  We all hit it off and the rest has been a hell of a ride.”
C Doll: “I got a phone call from Emma at the pub I used to work at, asking me if I wanted to audition for the band. I said yes but at the time I didn’t even know what they did or who the band was. Obviously meant to be haha!”

5). Who are your main influences?
C Doll: “I listen to anything from classical right through the hardcore and metal. Growing up I listened to Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but I’ve got a really varied taste in music.”
Miss C:  “I am currently listening to Bizet, he wrote a killer opera performance called Djamileh. But you usually find me listening to Faith No More and System of a Down. I love music that’s clever, draws you in and lets your imagine run riot.”
M: “The odd, the misfits and the artistic. Musically I like people with vision and passion. I love punk, rock & grunge, PJ Harvey, David Bowie, Patti Smith...and then music like Rachmaninov's and Gershwin.”

6). What drives you guys to make music?
C Doll: “I just love it. It’s something I’ve done since being 3 years old so I can’t imagine not doing it.”
Miss C: “I have played music since being a kid, Piano, Violin and Trumpet. It was only when I turned 20 that I had the guts to pick up a guitar.  I wish I had of done it sooner.”
M: “I can't figure out if it's want or need but I'm definitely glad I do it. I think anyone who makes any kind of music can vouch for how brilliant it makes you feel, especially when people respond positively to it, and it's always exciting because there are so many ways you can go with it and so many things to do and try. It's just amazing.”

7). Complete the sentence – one day as a band we hope to…
Take over the world ;-)
Miss C: “Help kids feeling down become happy again through the love of our music.”

8). Why should people go out and check out your music? Where can they get it?
M: “Because it means something and it comes from a sincere place.”
C Doll: “‘Cos it’s a bit different to anything else you’ll hear and a lot different from the generic shit that’s churned out week in week out in the charts. You can get it online, Itunes etc, or from us. Come to our gigs and buy it from us.”
Miss C: “Our music has meaning, we don’t just write crap tunes about random things and boyfriends.  We write music from things that are going on in our lives, from breaks ups to break downs, from being homeless and hungry to having an amazing time. People are able to relate to our tracks. We have an online store you can buy our stuff from
http://thesmears.bigcartel.com/

9). What are your plans for the coming year?
Miss C: “Our new album is due out next spring, I am so excited about it because the tunes ready to go are just amazing and a joy to play.
With a new album always comes a new tour…”
M: “Album, tours in England and Europe and lots and lots of fun.  This is all very hard work and we work hard at it but we have a lot of fun at the same time.”
C Doll: “We’ve got a new album coming out next spring that we’re working on now and a few gigs to go along with that in the UK and Europe.”

10). If you were given the chance to support any band (or have them support you), who would it be and why?
C Doll: “I’d love to support Faith No More for obvious reasons (Mike Patton).”
Miss C:  “Faith No More is a given. Mike Patton is God.  I would also like to support The Dogbones again because we had so much fun.
I would love to support David Bowie – and make him wear those tight grey pants from Labyrinth.”
M: “So many choices! I'm going to say the first band I see in my CD rack....Nirvana, for both slots.”

11). Finally – say something profound which is going to make everyone think…
M: “For those who know there's no explanation  necessary, for those who don't there's no explanation possible.”
C Doll: “You can go far with a pretty pair of shoes…”
Miss C: “I'm pretty sure there's more to life than being really, really ridiculously good looking, and I plan on finding out what that is.”