FACEBOOK MESSENGER INTERVIEW with Roo Pescod from Bangers
Roo Pescod from Bangers (uk) posted on facebook: “So this is pretty narcisistic, but does anyone want to interview me about the upcoming Bangers album and how great I am in general?” And I returned: “I could. No fanzine or magazine behind it. It wouldn't make you more fame & I wouldn't ask you a single question about the new album.“ So we did. Last wednesday I had a nice chat with Roo about working two jobs, beard-related stuff, drag, dropkick murphys, brewing and something about his punkband. ME: So Roo. First of all thank you very much for this exclusive Facebook Messenger Interview. Maybe you can start by introducing yourself to all the readers, (whoever that might be) that don't know you. ROO: Well good morning The World! I'm Roo Pescod, and amongst other real life endeavours I play guitar and sing in Bangers. I also play music under my own name and work two jobs. ME: Well that sounds pretty busy. Your facebook-profile showed me you have a suit&tie kind of job is that right? So what's the other one then? ROO: Both jobs are working at the university in Falmouth. The 'suit and tie' job is working for the library where I have a desk and get my brain mashed by endless requests for books and journals. The rest of the time I moonlight as a soulless automaton doing heavy lifting and any other demeaning crap they can pin on me. It really got me down for a while, but now I've got my library job to stimulate my brain muscle I feel like it's a good excuse to keep in shape ME: Wow, cool! And if I may say your latest pics on facebook proof you're in good shape. That beard makes you also look very experienced. How do you keep your beard in shape? Do you use extra beard shampoo, do you comb it? Or is it just grown like that? ROO: Hah, for years my facial hair grew thin and ragged. I was still sprouting teenage fluff well into my mid twenties. On tour witg Woahnows last year I just let it go and after about two months of hard concentration it covered a reasonable amount of my face. I don't groom it all that much but I do trim it electrically it every couple of weeks, and I try and scratch a lot of moisturiser into it as the skin can get pretty dry through the winter. I also scissor my moustache whenever I can taste it. ME: That's pretty interesting. You still wear dresses from time to time? Could imagine a very good picture of you in a dress with your beard.
ROO: I haven't been in drag for a couple of months actually. On the recommendation of Lou Hanman I have become completely obsessed with Ru Paul's Drag Race and as a result of that I feel like I'm leaning towards a slightly more delicate wardrobe. More thin clingy arms and turtle necks. Certainly not drag but more what I guess you'd call feminised. I'm also embracing my love of women's sunglasses. That programme really shows off how good men can look both in and out of drag. ME: Men in drag is most of the times combined with beer as we all know. Yesterday I was in a Shop in Düsseldorf who sell lots of british beer, ale, cider and all. I got an Thatcher vintage somerset cider while they played Dropkick Murphys. What do you think of Dropkick Murphys & what about your own brewing? Can't you export as well someday? You could quit your boring jobs and become rich with beer! ROO: This is a big question! The Dropkick Murphys I like well enough, particularly that song from The Departed or whichever film it was. Themed punk isn't really my poison, but Dropkick do it very palletably. I'm planning a little more foraged brewing. Planning to make some fruit wine as it was the most rewarding thing I've done. We have a great ale pub in Falmouth called Beerwolf which is a pub and bookshop which has 7 rotating ales from around the world so I barely have time to try all of those without adding my own efforts. I really want to get around to brewing some cider too. I love homemade cider. Hamish and I used to drink vast quantities of Barnstormer cider at uni but we called it Brainstormer and between us and the stoner couple we lived with there was generally a two litre bottle and a joint going around. Happy hazy memories. ME: Pretty funny. I just had that same combination! Hazy memories! So whatever. I heard you have new album with Bangers coming out soon? Is that right? Will it be good? I mean should I listen to it? ROO: We start recording it in three days, and the release date is set for early August. I think it should easily be the best and most miserable Bangers album yet. It wasn't until after listening back to Crazy Fucking Dreams that I realised the whole album barely has a proper chorus on it. That's not a problem to me, I think I was going through a time when I just felt dirty churning out choruses for the sake of choruses. The new album is really over that. It feels like there aren't many lines that aren't repeated. I feel like I've focussed less on trying to get fully formed ideas into a song in a linear way, and more on just writing some good old depressing pop songs. It helped that I had a bad year, and reading issue 10 of Lucida Console this week really hammered home that we were on the same page. In short, listen to the album. At least listen to it on Bandcamp. I aim to ruin everybody's summer. ME:
DEAL!