So, it was just about at the begining of the year that Dailo came into my life. By chance. I took some copies of Yaz 8 I think it was into Select-a-disc as Way Ahead were basically refusing to take copies any more. So I took some in. A couple of days later there was a note pushed through the door. Jonn, the bassist with Dailo, had picked up a copy, liked it, and got in touch. We talked and he passed on a copy some of the bands demo recordings. I didn’t know what to expect. But as Twist The Knife emerged from the speakers, I didn’t care. Because this was my sort of music. I must’ve played those four tracks at least 10 times on the trot that evening. More than 6 months later as I type this, I still have those tracks playing on a compilation tape most mornings and evenings as I drive to and from work. It’s one of the happy coincidences of life that you can tumble across something like that. Better still that they are based locally to me and I can hopefully follow the fortunes as the band develops. One of those developments is that they had the track Junkmail included on the Org Radio 6 CD. Another was that they allowed me to use Twist The Knife on the Yazcore CD, and now we’re sat in drummer Simon’s living room doing this interview malarky. It goes all over the place to be perfectly honest with you. I put it down to me having a really shitty cold at the moment and having spent the last 2 days putting as many Beechams powders, nasal sprays and whatever else into my body to try and get over it. Nothing to do with me being crap at this stuff and sometimes just steering interviews all over the place. Oh no. Nothing to do with that. So, anyway, we’ve got the band sat around waiting to do this thing. So, to my right we have, no, let them do it for themselves...

Simon Russ

Shaun Jonn

"My name’s Simon and I play the drums". "My names Jonn and I’m the bass player. Who are you" he turns to Russ. "I’m Russ and I play guitar" he confirms somewhat reservedly. "It’s alright, people are only going to read it, they’re not going to see your face or anything" assures Jonn, somewhat incorrectly you’ll find if you cast your gaze to the pictures of the faces just above. Though there was a point where I suggested maybe using other peoples faces, so who would he be? "Matt Dillon" comes the reply before he corrects himself, "no, David Hasselhoff." Finally we reach the last person "Shaun, singer. God I sound terrible on the tape, even worse than I normally do. Sorry, intros over, it’s time for a brief history of the bands.

"Probably 1994 it was when we first started" Jonn starts things on a positive note. "No, 1995. It was, spring ‘95" Simon throws the spanner in. "No 1994, I remember it well" "Some point between 1994 and 95, we can’t remember exactly." Shaun plays safe. "Well I’ll tell you exactly. Spring ‘95 cos I’d just got back from Germany" protests Simon. And this sets the tone! Unfortunately about 20 minutes later, we’re still going. Ok, 20 minutes is an exaggeration, but you know, artistic license. We could quite possibly be soon on to the dietry habits of pets belonging to former members of former bands, such is the detail. So stop, some kind of sanity is called for, come on, a BRIEF historical journey please!

"Simon came back from Germany, and what we did was find his name on a noticeboard. Me and Shaun were jamming in a band called Wiretribe, Russ was doing acoustic sort of stand up Bob Dylan." "As if I would". "Well, he would do sort of acoustic stuff in the Running Horse, he’s not denying it so we’ll take that as a yes." "Basically, all of us were trying to do something. Me and him (Jonn) had been together in a different band and played with Dex who plays in 3rd Stone." This has taken us back to ‘92 / 93 now! Up to date stuff please!!! "Anyway, we were in this band put together by Dan our manager" who I’m going to use my mystical and mythical powers to predict will turn up later in the interview, "with the guitarist from Catfish, Olly the saxophonist from Catfish. And then he became out saxophonist when we started Mangacide, which is where we all started off" and is finally where I was hoping they were going to start when I asked the question! Shaun then goes on to rave about the stuff they did in Wiretribe, and how "ordered" it was. "Some of it’s still dicey in the way it was rejected and how it was labelled. But the actual idea! But I think the thing is, we had a real good idea of what it was we wanted to do. He was just all out balls out drumming, which is what we needed, whereas he tends to go out on little journey all on his own. Then we got Olly to do guitar and saxophone. Played on a few tracks live and got the rock star poses and liking the feel. Slowly start out the saxophone." "Of course you’ve missed out Bob, Bob was classically trained. " It’s pointed out that they’ve probably used their first page by now. "You did ask us to rant" protests Jonn. That may well be true, indeed it is, but I was kind of hoping that it would come at the appropriate point, not during the history lesson. Anyway, let’s save some more time. Bob ended up back in Guernsey and is doing some alleged stuff. Olly then got married and ended up in New York "nice". "And we’d done about 16 songs by this time, and realised it was time to form ourselves into something else, so we changed the name, became a four piece. Scrapped the songs." "Not all of them. We’ve kept some pieces that turn up. And the songwriting process with only four people has got so much easier."

And finally I can get on with some of the questions. So, apart from the songwriting getting easier, how would you say the sound has changed?

Well what I’ve heard from you as Dai Lo compared to Managacide, there sounds like there’s different musical influences in there as well.

"Well, we had Bob and Olly before, and Bob was classically trained total jazz head. And the stuff he’d write was real good, but" "The stuff you’re hearing again is just like the stuff recorded in the studio. We’ve only done one demo that gets us as we are. See us playing live, even now getting that on tape is super stressed. If you imagine that’s how we sounded all the time, it was loads harder, and live! But when we recorded it, you’d add a keyboard on top of it" "Cheese on". "We got called an acid jazz band at one point." "We also got compared to Gong, the Levellers, Iron Maiden." "It’s like, people go round, ‘what band are you in?’, ah Dai Lo, ‘what music do you play?’ rock, and then someone writes a review about you and you get called Acid Jazz!" "Who said that? It wasn’t Organ was it? I’ve got a funny feeling it was. This is where Dan would be useful, he’d just go ‘oh that was x’."

Shaun continues, as at the moment it appears that Simon and Mr Hasselhoff are content to sit back and let Jonn and Shaun talk. Or maybe they just can’t get a word in. Just a thought. Anyway, Shaun’s still going.

"That’s the thing there was loads of mixed up ideas about what it was and in reviews it was different in every one, which is good in a way but as far as getting any attention, if someone is looking for one style of band and they find reviews of a band that does a bit of everything, you’d think it would be ideal, but it works the opposite way. Ah, I do believe Russ, sorry, Matt, is about to say something! "Everyone pigeon holes constantly so that their advertising department knows how to deal with it." Even Simon’s going to get in now. "It’s a thin line between staying back and doing what you want to do and trying to be different and a bit of conformance. The motive for Dai Lo has always been totally open to all ideas and influences, but I think what we’ve done is to also be able to harness that and focus it more." "You’re going to come across well focussed" And he’s the drummer! "Yeah, destroying all myths". "The thing is, as Dai Lo we never ever ever take the piss out of each other!" Hmmm. "We’re totally honest with each other, we never lie to each other." "We just totally respect each other" Shaun is almost convincing until the laughter starts within the room.

As for the name, am I missing something obvious with it’s meaning?

"We made the stickers just because people were going to get the name wrong eventually" states Simon in reference to some of the stickers within the room. Within the band logo style, there’s Dildo and Die Low stickers amongst others. But the meaning? Jonn explains. "Dai Lo is Cantonese triad slang for Big Brother. And it sounded nice. We got a lot of Welsh references about it" Yeah, and I’m Welsh myself and did wonder. "It’s not like a deep rooted hatred for the Welsh." That’s ok, remember the rugby this year. Hey, I’m going to live on that one until we beat England again, so that’ll be another 10 years or so of references to that game. Get used to it now. "But yeah, it literally means Big Brother. And why did we call ourselves Big Brother? Because the original name we were going to call ourselves was Big Sister." "The Big Brother thing is a bit obvious, and I like the idea and the way of presenting it like this. It’s a bit less obvious." "But I mean, the name Dai Lo, what kind of images does that conjure up of the music? To me it’s Death Metal ... Daiii Looooooooo" death grunts Jonn.

And while tea is being made, it’s time to continue with possibly some of the questions I’ve written down. Primarily first, the music ones. You’ve got a track on the Organ Radio 6 CD. How did that come about and do you want to say anything about it?

Indeed, and Dai Lo are pretty fucking special. I’m not sure that so far we’ve really got a good sense of what the bands about and sound like. Maybe they’re too close to the music to say. So I’ll give my perspective. Which is probably doing them a disservice to an extent. But take some of the heavier moments of Faith No More and to an extent Incubus, and you’re getting there. The ability to throw in a series of incredibly catchy, yet at times subtle choruses and you’re getting there. It’s also highly muscial, which in these days is becoming quite rare in amongst all the seeming dependancy on just how many guitar effects you can get. And currently they probably are just begining to scratch the surface, which is why as I said, that kind of restrictive comparison is maybe a disservice. I think there’s plenty more to come out of the band. But enough of what I think once more, time to return to that there interview.

You’ve also got some studio time lined up with Tony Platt?

So has he had any impact on the sound. You said how you’re all perfectionists and are always going, "let’s change this". So has he had an impact on telling you what to do?

"Well we had a meeting with him where he came along and we just set up and played. It wasn’t a whole set, just 5 songs or so. And we played so shit, we’d rehearsed and it was crisp, and then we got there and it was just .... It’s weird when you’ve got just one dude there listening, you don’t know him at all, but he’s just going to stand there and take you apart. But all the stuff he said was totally obvious stuff." "Totally analysed". "It was like, he came in and we played one song, and he goes ‘now what you need to do with the guitar is this brrrrrrmp did it. And he came up with ideas that we’d all thought, but in the places where we were holding back and didn’t go mad because we thought we weren’t going to get away with it, this guy was just going ‘do it mad’". "We needed someone from the outside to come in, and when someone says they’re from a record company, everything automatically just goes ‘right, he must know everything’. And it’s a really easy trap to fall into. I mean, I was really suspicious, and I felt a bit uncomfortable with it, because he was justing standing there going ‘that’s bad, that’s good, get rid of that, this needs sorting out, bring that back in’ And you’re just standing there thinking "what the fuck you doing to us?" "We won’t be needing those" Russ mimes the throwing away of instruments of musical creation "fucking shattered us. But everything he said was right, and it needed that person from outside to come in and say it."

So when are we likely to hear the fruits of this?

So are there plans to get this new material out, the next few months or year.

Time to move then to one of my favourite targets, the whole industry thing and support of bands.Do you think UK gets the support to create an impact, and what it deserves.

But within the context of rock music, unless you’re on a specific label at the moment, then the press won’t pick up on it at all. I think there’s loads of great bands in the UK at the moment, but no-one gets to hear it outside of those few people that go and see small bands.

"The Internet is the helping hand." "We’ve had no interest, nothing from Kerrang! or anyone like that." "The only people that have shown an interest in us as those people that have come to gigs, our mates obviously and actually fanzines. Big companies like Kerrang! are going to push bands that they are told to push. And that missed gap is where the Internet and fanzines come into it." Which is something I’m getting at. They should be taking an interest, but it takes more than one page per year on a UK band to make the impact on people’s minds. It does take a prolonged effort, and it seems that the only bands that get that effort, are on certain record labels. From my point of view, there is no reason why Kerrang! Metal Hammer, whoever puts out the "free" CDs on their covers couldn’t actually do 10 name bands, from the labels that "sponsor" them, and then 5 unsigned or demo bands, and actually let the readers decide whether they want this, rather than deciding for them. Irrespective of the fact, or alleged fact, that bands are paying to get on to these CDs, the actual cost of pressing them, combined with the resources and advertising that these magazines have means that they could afford to do it. If they wanted. It’s ok them saying that they’re a business etc, but they DO have the opportunity and influence to make an impact. They simply choose not to.

He’s right of course, it isn’t going to happen. Unfortunately. But hey, as Bill Hicks used to say, "I’m just trying to plant those seeds". "In the end, the magazines are not run by people who love music. The editors do, but the people who pay their money don’t. It’s business. So they’re getting x amount from record labels to put their advertising in. Yeah, they should be supporting it, but unfortunately we’re not seeing anything. Could the readers do anything about it? Yeah, but only if everyone shouts. At least now with the Internet, if you want to find the information, then you can get."

How far can a band go and expect to survive without support?

Depends if you want to do a part time job doesn’t it.

So, can for example a band survive selling out venues like the Vic in Derby. The Vic holds what, say 250 people, and American punk bands can come over, again, if they’re on certain labels, and sell the place out. You wonder how they can manage to afford to tour the UK playing the same venues as many UK bands, yet the UK is totally apathetic to it’s own. There must be something going on here.

I think the organisation needs to be sound. It’s totally possible, because you look at the US bands that come over, do 20 dates, in the toilet venues as they’re called. 200 capacity, though you may get some bigger places, like say downstairs at Rock City. But you’ve got to have a really solid grass roots fan base that you’re in contact with and is highly scene driven. You see bands like all the Nitro bands, and the Revelation and Dischord bands, and you’re lucky if they can pull in anyone really because nobodies heard of them, but they’ve got really good grass roots support, they work well with fanzines, they get their little editorial slot, 30 words in Kerrang! or Metal Hammer. The Americans are coming over with a certain attitude, and the English bands are just trying to emulate the Americans in their approach. I think there’s still this idea that there are actually huge deals out there. It’s difficult, how can you get to that point. If you’ve got your own record label, you own all your own publishing, you’re not giving anyone else your material, it still makes it very difficult, because you’ve still got to go out there and do the hard work, do the 2 men and a dog shows and all the shit and nail it down, and you’re not getting that initial push that someone else can bring. It’s like that 10 or 15 grand that could really set you on your way. And then you can stand back, release your own material and once you’ve gained a certain amount of profile, go out and arrange your own tours, do your own merchandise, release your own records. That would be a lot better, but it’s getting that initial buzz in the first place and it’s very difficult in the UK market.

It has to be said, that at this point in the interview, things are totally unorganised and unstructured. Don’t look at me like that, it’s been well structure until now. Anyway, the reason for this is totally my fault. I’m drive this thing round in circles but eventually it dawns on me what I’m actually trying to get at. And so, to spare you some repetition of the same crap on my behalf, I’ll try to summarise things. The point is that music is more a part of the culture of society than some people realise. Until now, it’s always been "oh, he’ll grow out of it", but I think now’s the time to realise that some people don’t. It’s a part of culture. It needs a solid grassroots foundation and support that allows music to flourish and allows for bands to survive without having hit singles and gold records. The successful bands generate enormous income and revenue for this country, and it’s time to use some of that to support the lesser known. Just because something doesn’t sell, doesn’t mean it has no value or meaning. Quality should not be judged on sales figures.

There are levels. There’s the upper level. Some will say there’s the underground level that exists to make extreme music, or to play in squats, and people who don’t want that to change. That’s ok, it won’t. It’ll always exist. But there’s a middle level that is ignored. And it’s the level that should be coming under the microscope. Much like in sport, people should be able to make a living and devote their lifes and time and energy to it even if they’re not international class. It becomes even more important if you consider the arguments about what’s happening socially in the world. We apparently have to plan for more leisure time in the years to come as jobs become increasingly more automated. It’s an idea that’s floated around for years. So maybe then some long term fundamental structures need being put in place.

Venues should exist for the purpose of putting on events, be it music or poetry or some kind of performance art, not for how much they pull in at the bar. Secure the audience on a regular basis, and you’ll secure you’re revenue. Rehersal space and studios. Hell, I’d love to be able to survive doing this, promoting bands and putting out CDs and the like. Not be a millionaire. Just be able to do this and make enough money to live on rather than holding down some other full time job. Where’s the point in saying to people "you have to get a job, you can’t do music." Why not? The only reason you can’t do it, is because the infrastructure isn’t there to allow it. It ultimately requires government support and a solid long term vision. But we have lottery money being generated. Isn’t there a cultural department or something within the government? It may actually go some way to solving some problems that exist within society. We are changing, and these changes need to be acknowledged and absorbed into our culture.

I hope Dai Lo "make it", but if not, is there any reason why they or so many other bands shouldn’t be able to survive? Oh, you mean it’s much more beneficial to this country if instead of being supported to make music, they’re pulling pints in a pub somewhere, or on the dole as many in bands are, or are asked to do some menial job instead. Ah yes, that’s forward looking. Ok, that may seem off the beaten track and irrelevent within this interview, but it’s something to think about. Because it isn’t going to happen. If anything is to happen, then it needs for people to start things. Of course it’s not that easy. There are loads of issues to be detailed and ironed out and it’s most definitely a long term project. But why shouldn’t it happen.

Right, that’s me trying to crystallise some of what I was getting at as we wandered around in circles. And I’ve ranted enough. Time to turn it over to the band to rant about anything they want, doesn’t have to be related to music. Shaun takes up the baton.

"Work. I got a good 20 years in before I even had to think about work. And now it’s dragging me down." "Nothing really, we’re all quite mellow at the moment." Well, apart from Jonn. "Football fans. The reason I hate fucking football fans is that whenever there’s an important football match, Simon and Shaun are never at rehersals." Simon retaliates. "Well I hate the way he grinds his teeth" he points at Jonn. "They’re wearing shorts man, and it’s fucking winter" Jonn continues against football. "It’s passion man, surely you understand passion". "Yeah I do, just not football. There’s so many better things in life. Fine art, opera, fine wines. Tight fitting slippers, don’t get me started on them".

Dan is sent from the room for another brew. I’d heard rumours about computer games being a pet hate of Shauns."For me. These two are just totally into them." "What you saying" asks Russ. "I’d just like to say that I’ve just discovered the world of computer games" "Woo hoo, welcome to the 21st century. Shaun basically is a technophobe and that’s what it comes down to. He loves Mario Super Cars" He defends himself, "there’s just some games that you can’t help but get into, but as rule just waking up and immediately thinking of going to a computer game" "aww, it’s so good though." "Your staring at a screen when you turn the TV on, but it doesn’t involve interaction" "that’s why it’s interesting" is Russ defence of the games. But Shaun is still not convinced. "You put the TV on and it’s there, but you can do other things. I think people play computer games believing that they exorcise demons. People that are seriously angry play a serious shooting game and are then going to be less angry when they finish playing. Like walking out of Rocky, you’re not just going to go and punch someone."

The tea and coffee’s arrived. You say about relieving the tension via games, with all these shootings going on in the States then at the moment, what do you think is the solution to that, ban guns or politicians?

"Banning politicians, if politicians were actually proper politicians that had no stances any other way. If you eliminated them, obviously there’d be chaos" deadpans Jonn to much amusement in the room. Maybe you had to be there. "At the moment, we’ve got politicians and we’ve got guns, and there’s absolute chaos." Yeah, but at least before the chaos you’d have a massive party. "Totally, but then the chaos would kick in. We’d not get out computer games anymore, I’d plug in my bass guitar, there’s chaos and I wouldn’t have any electricity and I’m fucked. We’re all going acoustic. That could be a really good stance for us. We all go acoustic and we’re ready for the apocalypse, we can just carry on playing. Banning guns. What do you reckon? Should we ban guns?" he asks the rest of the band "yeah" "uh, ok then. Russ reckons we should ban guns, I don’t." "Well it’s not the actual gun, it’s the people that use them. What about people like Charlton Heston who claims you should ban the gun, you should ban the trench coat because you can hide the gun in it. Do you think there’s any kind of logic to something like that? "He’s obviously senile." It’s still the bullet that puts the hole in the head. "Ban the bullets. We can just have the guns. We can stand there and pose with our guns and our glasses and we don’t have the bullets in it."

Talking of poses then, any temptation to do some gangsta rap poses.

"Yeah" is the admission amongst the laughter. "Considered it. Hair nets, vests." "Oh yeah. Hair nets, string vests, white shirt done up at the top, trousers up here. We’d like to do that, but purely in jest. The last set of pictures that we did were done in very strange sort of cowboy look. White, around a pool room, we’re all playing pool and throwing loads of money around. That’s about as cliched as it comes. If we do some pictures of us just standing there, it’s just going to be a picture of four blokes standing there" is the impeccable logic. "Having a bit of something to it, I just look at some pictures and think ‘how cheap is that?’ and I like it for that. One of the shots is basically Shaun knocking the 8 ball, and there’s loads of cash on the table, and we’re all just standing around with sunglasses on, Simon being very very pissed. And basically the 8 balls going up and it’s right in the middle of the shot, and it looks like it’s been Photoshopped on, but it’s not I swear. Shaun did it. Daddy Mack at pool.

And the tape ends. We turn over. Talking about the photographs then and gangsta poses, do you think music’s more trend driven these days than it’s ever been? Yet everyone claims it’s just them being "who I am", which is the trend in itself.

"It’s street isn’t it. Youth culture. Put them in their what is it, their army combats and skate board t-shirt and they all fit in. But we all dress like this because we’re comfortable in it" "Gone are the days, there’s no room for fantasy any more. I mean we’re not just like pixie goblin" says Shaun, and I’m still trying to figure that bit out. "I like the idea that just seeing a photo in a magazine and it says good stuff, then they’ll go and see it.

But doesn’t it all mean that some people will then just dismiss some kind of music based purely on that, and on the image not fitting that of their scene. I mean, hardcore is a great example, with the harder stuff, the NOFX stuff, the emo-style. All based on one fundamental style yet attracting completely different audiences.

"Back to the magazines again though, it’s unfortunately what they sell. In every Metal Hammer and Kerrang! they’d sell t-shirt’s with band names on. Now they’ve got in to advertising t-shirts without band names on, it’s an image t-shirt."

People claim to be more open minded because they listen to techno-rock, but they only tend to listen to techno-rock.

"Yeah, but people have always wanted to listen to music and be able to say ‘it’s all mine’." "Yeah, I’d agree, but unless you start up a fanzine, or get in on the inside to be able to corrupt it, what are you going to do? Go round smashing people’s heads together until they listen?" Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, sounds good to me! "I’d love to. The number of people I might that are narrow minded on any sort of music, ‘I like house music and that’s all I listen to and I see no emotional value or anything in any other type of music’. What’s the point, they’re just cutting themselves off." "People just don’t seem to be creating scene’s any more, supporting their local talent and getting behind them."

Do you think that the computer games mentioned earlier have had an impact on that, in terms of people playing them and that at the moment there’s just more things competing for people’s attention?

"Yeah, I mean kids the used to go out with their money and buy records are buying a Playstation game now." "But a lot of it’s the record companies as well, they’re not signing the bands."

But couldn’t they use this as well, add the music to the game CDs. "Yeah, there’s loads of ways music could be pushed on people, advertising, getting your music on an ad, or on a TV slot, theme tune to a TV programme."

Time to turn away from the music. When I arrived, there was talk about missing the James Bond film that’s on TV at the moment, so, who’s the best James Bond?

Let’s face it, this has gone on a while. Actually, they’ve just dived forward and taken both One Minute Silence and Earth Crisis on the line for the longest interview on tape. So, let’s bring it to an end. Millenium. Doing a gig in the Bahamas on New Years Eve?

"I’d love to. I really want to do a gig on New Years Eve. But we’ve got to receive mucho dollar and be guarranteed to be on early so that we can then go elsewhere. Preferrably in the Bahamas. Amsterdam would be good as well. Don’t think the world’s going to end. Millenium bug could be a bit of a problem. Got to check my computer is clean." "Pouring bleach on the computer is not the way to do it" advises Russ.

Final words. Why should people listen to Dai Lo.

"If you like a nice tune you’ll like us." "It’s very good and we like it" "Come and see us play".

There, done. Another one bites the dust. Probably one that should’ve been videoed. I need to get a video zine together to bring the real affect. And save me typing. Though I’ll be blanked out obviously. Anyway, yeah, Dai Lo are pretty ace, you should do yourselves a favour and keep an eye out. Whether or not you read about them in Kerrang!, there’ll be more in here. Trust me on this one ok.

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