Weekly > Interviews
No Hope in New Jersey
When we got the chance to chat to Andy Garratt, lead singer of rapidly rising stars, No Hope In New Jersey, it was too much of an opportunity to turn down.
Already having had extensive coverage on MTV2 and winning the best new band competition on Radio 1, their tight, fast paced style is something to watch out for over the coming months.
You’re signed to Infectious/Atlantic now. What were you all doing before being signed?
I was selling my soul teaching guitar part-time as I wanted to spend most of my time song
writing but ended up spending more time travelling to the lessons but did gain an extensive
knowledge of Greater Manchester Transport.
*I guess life’s a bit mad for you at the moment, did you ever think things would turn out quite
so good? You’ve only been formed just over a year haven’t you!?*
We formed in early 2003. Things are steady at the moment but we’re expecting plenty of chaos to come. Just living off our nerves at the moment.
*It must be a bit weird hearing/seeing yourselves plastered all over MTV2, the radio and the
like?*
Craig [drummer] is the only one in the band who can afford Sky, so the rest of us are unaffected. But it was weird when by chance we heard the single on Radio 1 driving over the Snake Pass [Sheffield to Manchester] on the way back from a gig.
You must be getting re-quoted on this to death but are you in the 1% that’s great, stage of life at the moment?
The 1% has just been used up when reading this question. The joy was overwhelming. So now I have to plough through the rest of the 99%!
Always glad to help.
You changed your name from Marfa Lights to NHINJ, so what exactly is wrong with being named after strange unexplained lights in the sky and how did you arrive at the new name?
We changed the name because we loved a headline in a broadsheet after Bob Hope died, “100 years of Hope now gone”. We then found in an atlas a town called Hope that happened to be in New Jersey but took more of a pessimistic stance. We thought it would be strange to
grow up in a place called ‘Hope’.
So did any of you actually ever see the Marfa Lights?
No.
- No Hope in New Jersey
- Interviewed by: Small Beer
- Published on: 17 Aug 2004
- Comments: 0
You seemed to have luck on your side with your chance meeting with Funeral for a Friend’s A&R man. Have you any advice for other new bands trying to get noticed?
Copy new trends, sound the same, wear the same clothes as your friends who work at H&M and to live off the nutrients of your tears.
How does it feel to get so much hype so early on in your careers when some great bands can plug away for years without achieving the success they deserve?
We haven’t really had any success yet, at the moment we’re concentrating on a great album,
writing and recording, which is the measure in which to judge success. Led Zeppelin put an emphasis on their albums, they didn’t release singles in this country, hence their greatness.
Your first single, Sober/Narcolepsy was released 26 July. Have you started working on the album yet?
We have demoed it, just waiting to find the right producer.
You’ve already been likened to highly charged bands such as Nirvana. Would you say they’re one of your influences? Any more subtle inspiration?
Not really. We are influenced by bands who influenced them such as The Pixies and The Stooges. The Stooges influence is very apparent in “Narcolepsy”. Fugazi and Melt Banana [Japanese band] are favourites too.
And do you think you have any kindred-spirits in the music world at the moment?
Jon Chapple from Mclusky and Ron Maell from the Sparks.
I was disappointed to hear your Leeds gig (my home town) has been cancelled. What am I gonna be missing out on seeing you live?
Well you will have less money in your pocket and could possibly accumulate a considerable amount of sweat around the brow.
I don’t feel quite as bothered anymore, cheers.
As always, thanks very much for the chat. All the best.
Have your say...
Comment Guidlines
You must be logged in to post a comment. Go Login or Register first.
We waffle on enough without letting you lot do it too. Comments are limited to 300 characters.
Try and keep on topic if you can and no insulting the contributors. All hate mail can be addressed to Kev.