Part 1 - The 'INTERVIEW'
1 - What was your earliest musical memory and what inspired you towards perusing a career in music?
Pedro: "Probably having a battered second hand guitar from a shop in Wales when I was on holiday as a nipper, thinking I wouldn't mind having a bash with this block of wood with strings on! That and Range Records that we used to have in the hills, first album purchase was at that place."
Joe: "Earliest memory would probably be listening to the brother's Sex Pistols CD and trying not to get caught listening to it by the old man. There was no inspiration, just boredom, didn't pick up the guitar till late in the day and started playing when I was on the dole a few years ago. Picked it up quite quickly I must say!"
Dan: "Listening to The Passenger by Iggy Pop in my dad's car whilst en-route to swimming lessons."
2 - Had you been involved with any other bands prior to Casual Agenda?
Pedro: "Nah, had a couple of jams with lads who played, nothing came of it. Everyone's to interested in their Xbox's round our way..."
Joe: "Nah."
Dan: "Stereotraffic and Nova Son."
3 - How did Casual Agenda begin?
Pedro: "Me and our bass player were battered at a Miles Kane gig in Birmingham, I wanted to start something and had a couple of songs knocking about that I'd written when I was on the dole (sorry, jobseekers allowance - must be politically correct!) We got practicing in a local studio and got a drummer in that lived locally."
Joe: "Me and Pedro went to see Miles Kane at the O2 in Brum, he asked me if I fancied playing bass and coming down the rehearsal rooms for a jam, think he had a few tunes written, I was absolutely paralytic and said yeah go on then."
4 - Where did the name Casual Agenda come from?
Pedro: "Well it was either that of The Trip! Joe came up with the name, we originally thought of The Agenda but that was taken!"
Joe: "I came up with that one, it came down to a vote with our mates in the pub and Casual Agenda got the nod."
5 - How would you describe the sound of Casual Agenda?
Pedro: "Casual Agenda."
Joe: "Peter Pedro Roper, Joe Service and Dan Bott."
6 - Your latest song, 'The Notion', is now available online. What is this song about and what influenced it?
Pedro: "Far too many people are influenced by others and incessant opinion. I'll leave it at that to be honest, I don't like to explain what songs are about too much, it misses the point really. I mean if someone had to spell out what The Specials were about, there's not much hope. Is there? For the record I'm not making any comparison there by the way! I can't really jump on the bandwagon of lyric description as we may as well all go home now! Musically though there's a bit more of a modern northern soul feel about that track that we haven't put down before, our early demos were a bit more rock and roll."
Joe: "Dunno but it's fucking good though ain't it?"
7 - Who would be your dream collaboration?
Pedro: "Weller."
Joe: "Johnny Marr."
Dan: "Paul McCartney."
8 - Any new songs in the pipeline?
Pedro: "Loads! We're putting a few tunes down in the studio at the minute, we've not long been signed up with MAS Records, and we're in the initial stages."
Joe: "Yeah, quite a few actually. Sounding a bit different from when we first started out. Sounding good."
9 - When can fans be expecting a new single, EP or album?
Pedro: "We'll be recording a new single this side of Christmas."
Joe: "Gonna try and get that Christmas number one for 2013."
10 - Any live dates coming up?
"We're playing at the Shed in Leicester - it's an audition for next year's Glastonbudget Festival! 4th October - hope to see you there! Spread the word!"
11 - Who would be in your dream super group?
Pedro: "Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr, Mani, Matt Helders, Serge Pizzorno and Louis Gilbert on the bell of cow."
Joe: "Reni on drums, Andy Rourke on bass, Johnny Marr on guitar and Mark E Smith on vocals."
Dan: "Kate Bush on vocals, Jimmy Page on guitar, Paul McCartney on bass, John Bonham on drums and Benny Anderson on piano."
Part 2 - The 'QUICKFIRE ROUND'
1 - Favourite Beatle?
Pedro: "On behalf of the drummer, McCartney. I'd probably say George."
Joe: "Dunno? Probably a Volkswagen."
Dan: "Paul."
2 - Favourite band?
Pedro: "Oasis."
Joe: "The Lemuns."
Dan: "The Beatles."
3 - Favourite new band?
Pedro: "The Strypes."
Joe: "Fanny and The Crysis Loan."
Dan: "John Grant."
4 - Favourite song?
Pedro: "Man In The Cornershop - The Jam. This changes from day to day to be honest though! Song For The Lovers by Richard Ashcroft is genius. Good songs for me can't be covered for the better, Riverman by Nick Drake, prime example. Gimme Shelter - The Stones and Love Reign Over Me - The Who are epic."
Joe: "The Old Wooden Cross."
Dan: "Hey Jude."
5 - Favourite album?
Pedro: "Dunno but I'll tell you what are the bollocks! Definitely Maybe - Oasis, No Love Lost - The Rifles, Strangeways - The Smiths, Never Mind The Bollocks - The Pistols, The Stone Roses, Arctic Monkeys first album.
Dan - "Abbey Road, RAM, Band On The Run."
6 - Vinyl, CD or download?
Pedro: "Tape."
Joe: "Tape."
Dan: "CD."
7 - Style icon?
Pedro: "David H Smyth."
Joe: "David Howard Smith III."
Dan: "Eddie Izzard."
8 - Favourite clothing brand?
Pedro: "Fred Perry until spice boys got their sticky paws on it."
Joe: "None."
Dan: "Primark."
9 - Favourite film?
Pedro: "Jurassic Park. Not the last one though, how can a phone battery last longer than a week, really? Second place - Quadrophenia."
Joe: "Empire Strikes Back."
Dan: "Halloween."
10 - Favourite TV show?
Pedro: "Phoenix Nights, anyone that drinks out of a vase gets my vote."
Joe: "The Royle Family."
Dan: "X Files."
11 - Who would play you in a film of your life?
Pedro: "Will Smith."
Joe: "Harrison Ford."
Dan: "Richard Burton."
12 - Favourite food?
Pedro: "Nanza."
Joe: "Cheerios."
Dan: "Mexican."
13 - Football team?
Pedro: "The Kaisers or Chelsea."
Joe: "Aston Villa."
Dan: "What's football!?"
Hope you enjoyed this feature on Casual Agenda! Check out our previous feature on Andy Gallagher & Overhaul!
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