Nicest people in the recording industry

[Mr Banlon]

He used to drink in my local in Southall when he was living in a canal boat docked nearby, after he'd lost loads of weight. He was alright. Sorry I mentioned 'chunnelling' while your girlfriend was nearby, Buster, but you should perhaps try sharing less in interviews with the music press.

The Grand Junction. His dog was a little fucker.

[willbo]

edited for resize but it was the nick cave selfie

[Famous Mortimer]

Max Splodge was lovely, but it's possible because he was sat in his local on a Saturday afternoon and my mate George had gigged with him many a time.

[Brundle-Fly]

He used to drink in my local in Southall when he was living in a canal boat docked nearby, after he'd lost loads of weight. He was alright. Sorry I mentioned 'chunnelling' while your girlfriend was nearby, Buster, but you should perhaps try sharing less in interviews with the music press.

HaI I liked that story. I can almost see Buster doing an Oliver Hardy exasperated stare into camera as you were gassing away.

[Egyptian Feast]

The Grand Junction. His dog was a little fucker.

Correct on both counts, lol. That's brought back a hazy memory of playing fetch the manky tennis ball with his dog one night when I was off my tits, but I could possibly be thinking of someone else's. Most of my memories of the Grimy are pretty hazy tbh.

HaI I liked that story. I can almost see Buster doing an Oliver Hardy exasperated stare into camera as you were gassing away.

He sort of gritted his teeth and said something about ladies being present (I doubt she heard anyway), then gave me a wide berth after that.

I can't find it now, but Paul Putner once tweeted a quote from an interview Buster did where he once again talked about something disgusting he did on tour. Despite him repeatedly asking them not to print it, they used it as a full-page pull-quote, complete with his pleas for discretion. Poor Buster.

[RickOtter]

I met Chris Difford three times in less than two years not long ago. My girl...er...partner, is a massive Squeeze fan. He's a nice bloke. Isn't Gilson in Jools Holland's big band these days? He certainly wasn't in the line-ups I've seen recently.

Very true, it's been over ten years since he last played with Squeeze I think. He seems to have settled quite nicely into only working with Jools Holland, so at least he's in gainful employment (tour every other year, a Hootenanny etc.).

[kngen]

James Grant of largely forgotten Glasgow band Love and Money stopped outside my house to pet my cat once, therefore is definitely a good person. Did anyone out of Deacon Blue do that? Did they fuck! Hell mend them.

[The Culture Bunker]

James Grant of largely forgotten Glasgow band Love and Money stopped outside my house to pet my cat once, therefore is definitely a good person. Did anyone out of Deacon Blue do that? Did they fuck! Hell mend them.

I do remember Love and Money (a cousin was a fan, I think they - and Deacon Blue - got a lot of play on local radio round our way, what with us being close to the border) - bit surprising they didn't have any hit singles, though from reading an interview with James Grant, their second album cost a small fortune to make so it's not like they would have seen much loot from it.

[SteveDave]

I know a few people who've met him back in Ireland (including my Dad), and they've all mentioned his limp handshake. Doesn't exclude him from being nice, of course, but it's the only thing I associate him with now.

I met him in Victoria Station early one Saturday a few years ago and I towered over him so it's no surprise his handshake is weak sauce. I gave him a compact disc of mine and he very gallantly said "I think I've heard of you...have you been on TV?" He probably threw it away soon after.

[kngen]

I do remember Love and Money (a cousin was a fan, I think they - and Deacon Blue - got a lot of play on local radio round our way, what with us being close to the border) - bit surprising they didn't have any hit singles, though from reading an interview with James Grant, their second album cost a small fortune to make so it's not like they would have seen much loot from it.

I once saw him and the singer of Del Amitri sat at the bar of the Volcano nightclub (the one that was in Trainspotting, despite being in Glasgow) deep in conversation, both looking very morose. Me and my mate hypothesised that they were moaning about Gun outselling them by several thousand percent with that terrible cover of Word Up by Cameo. 'Ach, and here's me telling yon label to get tae fuck when they suggested we do a pishy Shakatak cover,' one of them almost definitely said.

[sutin]

When my brother went to see Ash when he lived in Los Angeles, he ended up hanging out and chatting with Tim Wheeler for ages after the show. Tim seemed genuinely excited and interested to meet a Northern Irish person in LA. Very very nice guy apparently, but bassist Mark Hamilton is a recovering alky and can't talk to people any more.

[mrClaypole]

I have briefly met Ron and Russell Mael and can confirm that they are really wonderful and friendly.  Ron has a very dry sense of humour.

Ub40 are also the friendliest band you could ever meet.  No egos and they will make sure you have a drink.

Lee Thompson from Madness is great too. If he likes you he will force a bottle of brandy down your mouth.  He is genuinely eccentric and a whirlwind of energy.

[scarecrow]

Richard Dawson seems genuinely free of ego despite being one of the most interesting songwriters around. He very graciously put up with my patience testing behaviour when we met at Stew Lee's ATP.

Robyn Hitchcock chatted to me for a while after a Berlin in-store, when I had just wanted a quick photo opp. I felt quite uncomfortable given that he's used to talking with people like Peter Buck and Joe Boyd, but I really appreciated him making an effort largely unsolicited.

I met Ron and Russell Mael in a train station. The former wanted to buy a Newspaper from WH Smiths, but was struggling with the currency. I offered to buy one for him, and would have been delighted to do so, but he very politely refused. I wonder how often they get recognised, as Russell seemed pretty appreciative my the intrusion. Maybe he was just being a big LA phoney.

David Tibet sent me LOADS of free stuff, all inscribed with personal messages, at the behest of a mutual friend when I was having a Bad Time.

Rose McDowell is insane, but really sweet, from my experience anyway.

[sovietrussia]

Hamilton Leithauser from The Walkmen - he accidentally cut in front of me in the queue for the gents (while the support band were on).  I was gently " 'ere, 'old up mate!!" and he was pleasant, apologetic.  Came off as a nice guy in our (brief) subsequent chat.

A friend lost his footing (due to drink) whilst talking to Guy Garvey upstairs in the old Cornerhouse bar in Manchester - I was mortified but Guy just looked very concerned and helped him up, made sure he was OK.  Not a fan of his music but came across well at a day to day level.

Had the brief acquaintance of Jon Stewart from Sleeper back when I lived in Brighton.  Nice fellow, although seemed sad and troubled at a deeper level.

Wire (2008 incarnation) - all nice blokes except sullen Robert Gotobed.

The aforementioned Noble from BSP - completely off his face at a gig (about half an hour before he went on and played flawlessly) but was happy to do the stop-and-chat, very down to earth.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Wire (2008 incarnation) - all nice blokes except sullen Robert Gotobed.

Probably just needs a good night's sleep.

[Brundle-Fly]

Mark Shaw from Then Jericho was very warm and friendly, although he seemed quite pissed when I chatted with him waiting at the bar. I think he just seemed chuffed that I recognised him and knew his name in front of his lady companion. No money passed hands.

[DenzilHolles]

When my brother went to see Ash when he lived in Los Angeles, he ended up hanging out and chatting with Tim Wheeler for ages after the show. Tim seemed genuinely excited and interested to meet a Northern Irish person in LA. Very very nice guy apparently, but bassist Mark Hamilton is a recovering alky and can't talk to people any more.

Met him a couple of  times in the States and a thoroughly nice chap, as is Rick.

I was trying to get a last minute ticket for Brian Wilson at the Festival Hall in 2002 and Ray Davies gave me a spare that he had, and signed the ticket I had for the night before. So he's a good 'un, for sure.

Chatted to Neil Tennant a few times when I've been plasterered in clubs and always lovely, when I probably wasn't.

[Custard]

Ah yes, Neil Tennant seems a really nice bloke

Watched the Pet Shop Boys Glastonbury set the other day on the iPlayer, and Tennant's sheer enthusiasm and bopping about made me love that band a little bit. Someone who's clearly still giddily excited to be on stage, even after all these years. Infectious and lovely to watch

[The Mollusk]

All the people mentioned in here, I met them and they were all rude and unpleasant - in fact I'd go as far as saying they were downright twatty. What do you make of THAT eh? Blowing this thread wide open.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'm trying to recall if I've ever met a tall Welsh person. I have a friend from Cardiff and she's tiny, her husband is about twice her size. They're like a Newfoundland and a chihuahua.

My mum sold Paul Heaton a cake once. I see him around my area from time to time.Was that when she was in Catatonia? She had a bit of a drink problem then.

She was just about still in the band but they split a couple of months later. And a brief google suggests she's had issues with drink a fair few times, though at least she seems okay now.

[Jackson K Pollock]

My usual anecdote about meeting Tracey from Voice Of The Beehive.

Big V.o.t.B. fan, but never heard anything about them one way or the other. Any chance you could please share this again? Thanks!

The Johns in They Might Be Giants always come across as nice, Flansburgh is possibly even lovely. And also their bassist Danny.

I'm not saying they're *not* nice guys, but I had kind of a weird interaction with Linnell about 20 years ago (bloody hell!) where I very politely asked him for an autograph after a screening of their movie Gigantic, and he spent about a minute explaining why he wouldn't sign it (I honestly can't remember the exact reason now as I was kind of shell shocked, but it more or less boiled down to the fact that he didn't want to). But then, seeing that I was clearly massively, massively crestfallen, he offered to shake my hand instead.

Totally, totally reasonable not to sign it if he wasn't in the mood or whatever, but it was a really bizarre encounter. And at that time I'd spent over half my life absolutely idolizing them, and this moment was to be the pinnacle of my young existence. So it left me genuinely shaken for a while as I didn't really understand what had happened.

I have a vague memory of seeing a few other people who'd politely lined up behind me surreptitiously putting cameras back into bags and caps back onto marker pens as he was talking to me, and backing away slowly.

That said, about two years ago I got to play a song with Dan Hickey's wedding band at my friend's wedding in upstate New York and it was the thrill of a lifetime. We had a long chat afterwards and he was very generous with his time and happy to talk.

[Jockice]

Big V.o.t.B. fan, but never heard anything about them one way or the other. Any chance you could please share this again? Thanks!

It's not particularly exciting but she used to go out with Steve Mack of That Petrol Emotion who I was a big fan of and had gone down to interview before their soundcheck. I stuck around for that and ended up chatting to her. She was really nice.

After a few minutes she asked me if I had a spare cigarette. I didn't. In fact not being a regular smoker I didn't have any cigarettes at all. So she went off to try and scrounge off someone else but said:"If I get one do you want one too?"

I said yes of course. I'd never been offered any type of drugs by an actual pop star and wanted to keep talking to her. And true to her word she returned a couple of minutes later with a couple of fags and we stood there looking really adult and sophisticated while chatting away.. She just seemed like a really lovely person. A bad girl with a heart.

Never seen or spoken to her since but she always has a place in my heart for that.

[Jackson K Pollock]

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

[Glebe]

Friend spoke to TMBG after a gig years ago and said the pair of 'em were a bunch of great lads.

[Lungpuddle]

To be honest, I have heard a few stories of Linnell being cautious and wary with fans, but Flansburgh seems to make up for that. If anyone has any stories of Flans being a prick my faith in mankind will be destroyed.

[IsavedLatin]

I was trying to get a last minute ticket for Brian Wilson at the Festival Hall in 2002 and Ray Davies gave me a spare that he had, and signed the ticket I had for the night before. So he's a good 'un, for sure.

I've nothing more pertinent to say than WELL JEL!!

[DenzilHolles]

I've nothing more pertinent to say than WELL JEL!!

:)

He said half-seriously 'now don't tell anyone' and I thought that is definitely never going to happen, and has of course been wheeled out as an an anecdote probably several hundred times. Sorry Ray!

[sutin]

It's well documented that Linnell is uncomfortable with fame stuff. He's always awkward with fans and rarely socialises after shows, whereas Flansburgh is the complete opposite. If I saw Linnell I wouldn't approach him but Flans I would be in there in a heartbeat.

[PaulTMA]

To be honest, I have heard a few stories of Linnell being cautious and wary with fans, but Flansburgh seems to make up for that. If anyone has any stories of Flans being a prick my faith in mankind will be destroyed.

Make your own mind up, but the singer of the Presidents Of The United States Of America had this to say:

Musically, it reminds me a lot of They Might Be Giants, and I was wondering if they were an inspiration for you.

Oh, yeah, totally! I remember when their [first]record came out, and I was in college. I bought it and went home and sat down and listened to it, and my immediate thought was, "there's somebody else doing this!" That was very validating, when I heard it, because I was writing similar type songs at the time. Years later, we got to play with them. We did a show in Seattle and a show in Vancouver.

You know, very coincidentally, I happen to have interviewed John Flansburgh yesterday...

Oh, really? I have kind of a funny memory of him, man [laughs]. I don't know if I should tell the story...

How about if I promise not to print it?

No, you can print it. I don't care. It's just one of the ten most embarrassing moments of my life. We opened up for them in Seattle, and I was standing on the side of the stage watching the show, and they put on a really good show — they had the crowd in the palm of their hand. I got excited at the end, and [then] they left the stage before the encore. For some reason, sometimes, in my mind, I dare myself to do things, and I have to do it — it's just this thing I do — so I dared myself to run out and grab the mic and yell something. So I went out and grabbed the mic and yelled something, like "They Might Be Giants! Rock n' roll!" or something, and John Flansburgh came barreling from the side of the stage and tackled me, and threw me on the ground, and like dragged me off stage, and was just like, "we don't need that shit, man! We don't need that shit! This is our show! Our fuckin' show!" And then he was yelling at the stage manager, "From now on, no more opening acts on the side of the stage!" He just freaked out!

Wow!

So, the next day — I could barely sleep that night, I was so mortified I'd messed up my relationship with one of my influences, and everything — then, the next day, we were playing Vancouver together, and we were all border crossing at the same time, so I went out and bought them all Frisbees [laughs], hoping that would maybe smooth the relations. The other John [Linnell] sort of confided in me and said that everybody else thought it was kind of funny that I went out there, and appreciated the enthusiasm, and that they were kind of confused by the other John's anger.

https://ink19.com/2000/10/magazine/interviews/the-presidents-of-the-united-states-of-america-2

[sutin]

Flansburgh definitely overreacted there but those guys are notorious control freaks of every aspect of their act.