Pete interview

Cut Chemist's new album, Lily Allen's album (i know, explanation later, but it's so infectious and invokes such a great mood!), DJ Shadow's new record, Liz Dirstene, Spanky Wilson, Rasputin's Stash. Idris Muhammed. Chet Baker. Swound! Pocket Promise.

Not much guitar music at the moment. I love Matt's new band tho – Je Suis Animal. I spend alot of time wandering around myspace listening to all sorts of weird and wonderful trash, not bookmarking any of it and deeply regretting it. You must all listen to 'Shit Robot', a sort of post modern german techno thing. It's kind of shit, but good, in a robotic sort of way. Also, his logo is a really shit robot.

Last year I was really listening to ZZ Top's 'Tres Hombres' from 1973 and I really got into a load of old glam tosh, like The Sweet. I think that was 'Life on Mars' fault (you know, the tv show?) XTC i really got into as well. I bought a Trojan Records double sampler and started listening to a load of crackly old 60s ska.

Never thought that would happen! I feel like I've grown up a bit more and I'm not afraid to embrace a pop record – I bought a human league record (to sample it, funnily enough) and was astonished by how perfectly crafted it was. Didn't go to any festivals this year but was captivated by the performance 'The Fall' and 'You Say Party, We say Die!'

A tatty MP3 player, a Nokia 6230i, a dentist's oral torch (I use it at work a lot, they're perfect for poking in small holes) a small tin of vaseline (this is also work related, don't ask!) and my gym pass.

terrifying, surreal and, dare i say it, liberating. The thing I remember most is Matt's guitar breaking down about 5 minutes before we went on. I had to rewire it completely because i didn't have time to track the fault. From that day on, all the pickups were on all of the time and neither volume nor tone worked anymore! Matt never seemed to grasp this and would spend hours flicking all the switches on his guitar before playing it and I gave up telling him that it didn't matter what configuration he set on them, it didn't make the blindest bit of difference to the sound.

Fave – see above. Coventry General Wolf was the worst. it was reggae night, we were supported by a stripper. Matt got wasted and called the audience wankers, we had to be escorted off. I smashed up my bass.

Who can say? some people think we were on the verge of big things. We had the Bush tour, so that might have put us up with the likes of Feeder had we been able to do it. But, we never produced anything as derivitive as them. But, I think Korda was running out of patience anyway, to be honest. who could blame him? Every marketing trick he wanted to try, we poo-poo'd it. I think we were a bit too precious about our art then. We perhaps should have 'loosened up' a little. I'd do it if it was up to us what we did and when. Whether it be recording or gigs. I was a bit put out when we suddenly had a whole tour proposed recently. I thought we might be able to record something, just by sending each other our parts and throwing them in a computer. A bit like how pavement worked. I'd reform permanently if we were offered something with six noughts after it!

Oh god, all the time. Usually got hit in the face by someone's guitar on a stage like exeter cavern. Often got a bit of drumstick in the eye when the Mills snapped one. At a gig in holland I burnt my hand pushing valves back into the back of Matts amp in the middle of a song. I could see one was hanging out and his amp was cutting on and off, so without thinking, i just grabbed it and pushed it back in. We played somewhere like Worcester Uni and some nobhead thru coins from a balcony – one cracked me on the head. Afterwards, I saw him on the stairs – he was with his mates and made some wisecrack about 'how's your head mate?' I just went mad and shoved him up against the wall, with a pint pot held to his face – I was shouting 'how about I bury something in your head? Like this glass, f**kface?' He was a massive rugby type and i'm astonished he said sorry!

Amelie. Or Fight Club. Can't decide. album… ooh that's terrible, erm…Surfer Rosa.

Yes. A Hamster. A dog. A Horse. In that order. Was also persued by a cow.

We just finished recording 8 songs with Paul Tipler. We've mixed 4 out of the 8 so far. It's even more laid back tempo wise, but is quite hard dirty blues rock. It's kinda lazy sounding. I guess that's the Tres Hombres thing coming out. It's interesing doing something the opposite of cable, but with the same tools.

Yeh. Alot. Mainly at gigs. I'm the only one 'representing' in derby still, u see. The HS6 boys get a bit fed up I think. Half the audience come up with Cable cd's and ask me to sign them. No it's true! There is a whole younger generation of fans in Derby, the type that could only come to the few all ages shows we did – they're now in their 20s and forming bands and stuff. Once, we were rehearsing and these 2 kids were hanging outside The Bakery. They were bunking off school, stood listening to us in their uniforms and stuff. We invited them in and gave them a special gig all of their own! Now those boys are in their own band and rehearse in that old cable room. We're good mates and see each other socially a fair bit. Weird to think they were like 13 or 14 back then.

Elated, because the gig was so good, but in the pit of dispair. Angry as well, so f**king angry. We were robbed. Robbed of our dreams and our livelihood. Does that sound a bit gay? I don't care if it does, it's true. Utterly lost too – I had absolutely no f**king idea what I was going to do for a living then. My wife lost a baby around that time to, so it was just the f**cking icing on a big cake of shitness.

For a long time, my whole outlook on life was changed by those events – I just expected things to go wrong all the time – the natural order of things just seemed to be 'bad to worse'. For a long time nothing seemed to go right. I felt like we were getting our just desserts for getting away with being in a band as a job for soo long when most of our mates couldn't even get a deal.

brigham glaser.

OK, list of useless HS6 facts:

1. The old album is still available from us. I think Cargo ran out ages ago, so I'd be surprized if you'd find it in the shops now. Tho I saw one in Leicester recently…you can find us on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/hudsonsupersix

2. The new album is recorded, but only half mixed. Paul Tipler recorded it and is mixing it right now. It will 8 songs on it, mostly about satanism, promiscuity, drinking and the big crowd pleaser, death.

3. We're not sure whether to stay with Sumo or look for another label with a bit more oomph.

4. 3 songs were played on Granada's 'Men and Motors' recently, for some reason.

5. We got asked to do a reality tv gameshow that was Rock School (like the Gene Simmons thing) but for CBBC. We had to teach some kids to 'rock' in 7 days or something. We decided not to do it.

6. Davina McCall came to one of our London gigs.

7. We're going to do some shows with Swound! and Pocket Promise.

8. Kramer likes us.

9. We wear a uniform on stage, which includes matching shirts with a number six embroidered on them.

10. Like cable, we almost never play Derby.

11. We generally rip off Cream or early ZZTop, but with Steve Turner playing guitars.

12. We've never sent a demo to a record label of any kind and we intend to stay that way. Some guy from parlophone asked to be put on the guest list for our last London show and I politely told him to pay like everybody else. Now that IS FUN. Cos they don't get it. And they don't like it. Naturally, he didn't show up, cos he's a fickle scarecrow brained fuckwit. When we get a bit of attention from some teaboy on an errand for some major label scumbag, it really throws them when you tell them you're not interested and they can piss up a rope. Try it. It's a truely liberating experience. It's great to not be desperate to succeed or get a deal or get on.