INTERVIEWING TAPES ‘N’ TAPES (By Ben Shafran)

Months of music blog hype meant that by this year's South By Southwest festival Tapes 'N' Tapes were basically the hottest band in America. They will be hitting these shores for Reading and Leeds in support of their debut album The Loon. We cought up with singer and founding member Josh Grier for a quick Q&A.

You have a gun with only one bullet – who do you shoot out of George W. Bush, Osama Bin Laden and Paris Hilton?

Due to national security concerns, and the concerns for my general well-being and health, I can not answer this question at this time.

Can you tell us a little about how the band started?

A few years ago I talked two of my friends (Matt and Steve) into forming a band with me and a CD player as a drummer. After a few shows, Steve went off to graduate school (I guess playing in a band with CD player really wasn't all that enticing). Shortly thereafter we found our first real drummer, Karl. That was really the start of the band. Matt, Karl and I recorded our first EP on our own back in 2004. Then after a few line-up changes (Matt left and then came back on keyboards; Karl moved and Jeremy took his place on drums), we self-released The Loon - our first LP in November 2005.

The question all bands hate – what have been your biggest influences?

Pretty much all music that I've listened to growing up. When I was young, my step dad made me mix tapes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, 50s and 60s R&B, etc. Then, since I started to buy my own music, I've been really affected by Nirvana, Radiohead, Blur, old Smashing Pumpkins, Pulp, The Flaming Lips, The Replacements, etc.

How has coming from the Midwest affect the way the band turned out?

I'm originally from Oregon (on the West Coast). I moved out to Minnesota for college. I've been here for about 8 years now. I think it definitely affects our music. When you can't really go outside for 3-4 months a year (due to the winter cold), you get a level of cabin fever that I think can't help but infiltrate our music.

When did you first realise that the band would do well and that this will basically be your career?

I'm still wrapping my head around the success that we've had in the past 9 months. And I'm not sure if I've even still realized/accepted that this will be a career. I'm just trying to enjoy everything that's happening.

You were THE band of South By Southwest this year. What was it like being the focus of so much hype?

I don't think we really realized how much attention people were paying to us at SXSW until after it was all over. We were just running around playing all these shows, and trying to take everything in, so I don't think we really knew that so many people were actually paying attention to us.

How have British audiences and the British media been treating to you so far? And how do they compare to the US?

They've been great. We were first over in the UK in May, and we really didn't know what to expect (especially since The Loon hadn't been officially released yet in the UK). But everything was great, and far exceeded our expectations. It's been pretty similar to the US.

How much do you know about the Reading and Leeds festivals, or British festivals in general?

I actually attended the Leeds festival in 2002. I was over in Europe at the time, and couldn't resist the opportunity to see Guns 'N' Roses. It was an amazing experience. I saw so many rad bands and so many drunk kids. I think the weekend ended with some rioting in the campground, I got out of there pretty quick once that started. I'm really excited to come over and play the festival. It's pretty crazy to be playing a festival that I was at only a few years ago.

You’re on at the same time as metal “legends-in-the-making” Mastodon. What’s your plan for pulling a crowd?

I guess we might have to bring out our pyrotechnics and our synchronized dance routine. But we'll probably just end up rawking our asses off, and try to give Mastodon a run for their money. But since I don't really have an ass to rawk off, who knows...

Lastly, would you rather have a super-intelligent talking monkey or a human servant?

I'm gonna have to go with the monkey. I'm not really into servitude, and I've always been a fan of talking monkeys.

Thanks to Josh for taking the time to answer our questions.
Tapes 'N' Tapes will be playing the NME/Radio 1 Stage at Reading on the Sunday.