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Smoke signals
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| Tree's a crowd: Harry, Joey and Lee |
When Reading-based indie rockers Does It Offend You, Yeah? chose We Smoke Fags as support for their 2007 tour, they must have known what they were doing.
But, gig posters aside, the biggest impact came from the size of crowds the north Londoner trio were able to pull in.
In fact, such is their fanbase that We Smoke Fags have now bagged their own headline tour, visiting an impressive 35 venues in 47 days, including The Watershed in Wimbledon this Sunday. Even allowing for those who only turn out in protest against the cigarette ban, that's a lot of gig-goers.
"We have never really had any mainstream Press," says lead singer Joey, on (what else?) a fag-break during rehearsals.
"It has all come through touring, MySpace and good tunes. If I'm honest, I'm proud we have done it without being hyped up to the teeth. A lot of bands write sub-standard songs but we mix electro with punk rock without it being too obviously crossover'."
Three years ago, Joey was busy making Buzzcocks-style punk with garage-rock band The Stetsons, while using his newfound programming skills to create some dance-heavy demos posted on MySpace under the joke name We Smoke Fags.
Weeks later and he was a featured artist, getting 50,000 plays a day and thousands of friend requests. Cue the enlistment of friends Harry and Lee on guitars and a new sound that was part-punk, part-Prodigy, dusted off with a surprisingly 80s sheen.
"It all came from wanting to mix it up," says Joey, whose leg is being stroked affectionately by Harry as he talks.
"Growing up, I always liked different kinds of music. So I guess this is an amalgamation of all those tastes. Everyone looks at the 80s as New Romantic, forgetting there was a lot more going on. What about post-punk?
"We are all huge fans of bands like James Chance and the Contortions and Xray Spex. And disco beats, too. We love a bit of disco."
The reason, perhaps, why We Smoke Fags gigs are such energetic affairs. Many a speaker has fallen down mid-set, apparently. But, with so many gigs and so few nights off, what is the band's plan of attack for the tour?
"Just to have a good time," says Joey, whose tour-bus habits stretch to nothing more dubious than a penchant for lorry-spotting and Nathan Barley DVDs.
"We have been taking it easy of late so we are really looking forward to playing these shows and meeting our fans.
"We are not about pretentious music or trying to alienate anyone. We're not trying to be overtly cool. We just want everyone to enjoy themselves."
And you can't get more inoffensive than that. But does he ever regret his chosen band-name?
"If I'm feeling twee, I'd say yes," he admits. "But a name's just a name. When you think about it, Arctic Monkeys sounds weird but hear it every day and it becomes normal.
"We Smoke Fags was something I came up with at the end of 2006, a flippant thing. Now we're dong well, it has taken on new meanings."
We Smoke Fags, plus Good Shoes DJ set, The Watershed, The Broadway, Wimbledon, April 6, 7pm, £6/£5, the-watershed.co.uk and myspace. com/wesmokefags
Age 16-plus show.
4:52pm Wednesday 2nd April 2008
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