DARRENPOP talks to SPEARMINT: What does "A Week Away" mean ? On the surface, it's a song about a week's holiday, but the idea below the surface is that, like a week's holiday, you start off thinking that you've got all the time in the world. You're very relaxed, you can do anything, but then you get halfway through and you suddenly realise that time is running out, and you're not going to get half those things done. It's kind of a life thing. And the final track says "Saturday always arrives .." Yeah, the album is set up like that - you've only got a fixed time on this planet. It starts off all buoyant, and it's kind of sad and disillusioned by the end (laughs). It's about standing up and taking the flak. Who do Spearmint consider to be their contemporaries ? Well, we've never felt part of a scene, but … I suppose people like the Wannadies, Comet Gain, Belle & Sebastian, not bands who sound like us, but bands on the fringe. That's what so great about Belle & Sebastian. It's so them. They're so distinctive, especially Stuart Murdoch's songs. That's what I want from people - to be themselves, cos that's what's interesting. Influences ? Obviously, we don't set out to sound like people, but I know people come back to us with Aztec Camera, Prefab Sprout, Orange Juice .. Here are some other ones I came up with : the Pale Fountains, the Style Council, New Order, Belle & Seb, 60s Soul, Dexy's Midnight Runners .. Most of those we love…it comes in subconsciously if not deliberately. The Style Council (deep breath) - they stunned me all along. I used to have the piss take out of me for liking them, the lyrics are still far, far better than anything he's done - breathtaking. You've got a reputation for being an indie-soul band in some quarters. I think because "Sweeping The Nation" was Northern Soul, and "Trip" was disco, that's why Dexy's get mentioned. It's a fantastic compliment, but I don't really see it like that. How did Spearmint come to be so popular in Japan ? It's mainly down to a guy called Tomohiro Fuji. He owns a record shop called SYFT in Osaka, and he comes to England to buy singles to sell in his shop. He started buying our records direct from us after seeing us play, I think it was "Goldmine" (an early 7"), and organised a couple of gigs for us in Tokyo and Osaka. It's all due to him really. The success of "Trip" was via him, we didn't even have a deal. No-one could buy Spearmint records there, so they were sending mail orders to the UK. Nozomu at Pop iT (very friendly club in Shinjuku, Tokyo) was very keen on us, that's another reason why we became popular, and we guest DJ'd there a couple of times. All the early singles eventually appeared on a compilation album "Songs For The Colour Yellow", released on the Japanese 'Quattro' label, which also put out "A Week Away" in Japan a full two months before the UK. It came out in the summer, and it's done 10,000 already.
What about the fans in Japan ? What are they like ? They're lovely. Polite, enthusiastic, open-minded .. they write to you, give you presents, queue up to talk to you, they're interested in what you say.. it's lovely. They all look about 14 but I'm sure they're about 23 ! Well, to my English eye. They usually throng in front of Simon (keyboards) wherever we play. What kind of things did you get up to while you were there ? I know you DJd at Pop iT in Shinjuku cos I used to go there myself. We got quite pissed up, went out, did some Djing, did karaoke in a hotel, but.. when we're there, they work us really hard, we don't really have a minute. Quite right too.. You did karaoke ? I was surprised by how much they had ! We did "Park Life", Supergrass,.. I remember once finding "Big Mouth Strikes Again" and singing it to a bunch of pissed salarymen .. Yeah, loads of stuff you just wouldn't expect. Simon did "Are You Lonesome Tonight", Dickon did "Thank You For The Music", James did "Moon River", and I did "How Deep Is Your Love". I just couldn't do "I Say A Little Prayer" (NB: Shirley's fave song of all-time) - I got humiliated.
Ok, time to try and be clever here. I gave Shirley some images of Japan to consider for one minute: Pissed salarymen ? When we went for dinner on Fridays, they were so rowdy, in the noodle bars. On the trains everyone was sleeping - we were told to "shhh!" while we were talking ! The prices ? Didn't find it so bad at all. CDs especially are so much cheaper. Print Club ? We did that a few times -it's great. A lot of the fans give us stickers, and we put them on our guitars. All the stationery is really appealing - the care that's gone into it is lovely. That's what you notice most when you get letters. Sex ? Er. . it seems quite disturbing and violent for women. On Friday night the streets seemed to be covered with schoolgirls, just standing there. We didn't really know what was going on. It looked quite nice, though (laughs). As a whole ? Open-minded, and very refreshing. The work ethic really raised our standards, and made us think. We were less cynical, more courteous, and worked harder than in England. Blimey, in England we're miserable cynics. If we end up just being 'big in Japan', it doesn't worry me. To be honest, if we were big enough in Japan to live off it, and to make more records, I wouldn't mind that. It'd keep our feet on the ground if no-one knew us at home. OK, instant response time. If Spearmint were… A capital city ? Rome, then I could have Audrey Hepburn with me on a Vespa. A football team ? mmm.. a non-league team, striving for promotion - rainy day strugglers ! An underground line ? the Piccadilly Line - cos it's great, goes through groovy places, a rich blue colour .. A drink ? A nice refreshing fruity cocktail - a saucy pick-me-up. So, the new single is called "We're Going Out" .. What record would you play just before going out ? "I Say A Little Prayer" by Dionne Warwick. And that goes for 'what would you put on in any circumstance'. Every single time I hear the start, no matter what situation, I just... it's like being in love, it's got that power. What record makes you cry ? "A Little Soul" by Pulp - it's very touching. Melt ? "Please Please Please" and "There Is A Light" by the Smiths. Makes you angry ? The first Clash album. Makes you feel horny ? Erm.. Marvin, Bacharach collections … I get distracted by the music ! You've got to be careful with that, it's so powerful. It's better not to have it on. While you're ..um.. having it off… Yeah ! You're better off with something classical, or Miles Davis, with no lyrics. The intro to "Sweeping The Nation" memorably lists Shirley's previous, doomed ventures into bands. Why Spearmint and why now, and not those other 'bands that never got played on the radio' ? It's a combination of the people - something about the interaction between us. It's something about timing, maturity .. I feel different now about writing. The last two years have honestly been wonderful. © Darren Beach 2000