Snout - Interview  - by Leah 

It's about time we added a Snout interview to the web site … on the first day of Spring, 1998, Leah trotted off down to the wharf outside the [V] offices, accompanied by Snout's Ross McLennan (vocals, bass) Greg Ng (guitar, backing vocals) and Ewan McCarthy (drums). Ewan doesn't talk much, but the other two more than make up for him …

Leah: Leah here with Greg, Ross and Ewan, who of course are Snout … very busy on a national tour with the Cruel Sea. How's that going?

Greg: It's goin' good.

Leah: Notice you've got a head cold happening there Ross …

Ross: Very perceptive … yeah, it's kind of like an occupational hazard when you're mingling in enclosed spaces with people.

Leah: Sharing mics and germs … I'm glad you made it here, that's the main thing … What's been going on with the tour?

Greg: It's been really good, bit of driving - people! Just slow down there on the roads. There's been a few too many accidents for our liking.

Leah: When you're touring, with a band like the Cruel Sea, is there a regime you have before you go on stage, to prepare yourselves for the waiting crowd?

Greg: We've been blowing our noses ...

Ross: A lot. But, mainly probably getting a good meal in, is like the most important thing. We haven't really got a conscious regime of vocal exercise or high fives or anything. But we seem to get really buzzy naturally before we go on.

Leah: Obviously diet is important to you.

Greg: Very, very important.

Leah: It must be hard though, cos you're out between truck stops, in between venues. How do you look after yourselves?

Greg: That's alright, you just make sure you've got fresh fruit with you, and generally there's like … Asian food's a good go, generally there's a good Thai or Vietnamese or Indian place.

Leah: What about when you were touring with Ben Folds Five?

Greg: That was catered.

Leah: How different is the catering when you're touring with an international band than when you're doing your own thing locally?

Ross: The answer is: very different. It's fantastic. The only thing with the Ben Folds thing is we're basically having our dinner and walking onstage, so I was sort of burping through that whole tour. It was quite uncomfortable.

Leah: What about afterwards, when you've finished your set? Do you get amongst it, have a drink with the punters?

Greg: I don't drink, so I don't do any of that, but it's been good to get out there and watch the Cruel Sea. It's really quite inspiring.

Leah: You've just come from Newcastle - did you go to the old Newcastle Workers, throw a few coins in the one-armed bandit?

Ross: We didn't this time.

Greg: I threw a few coins in the old phone and called my girlfriend.

Leah: What do you guys do on the road for fun?

Ross: Believe it or not, despite the fact that we're playing nearly every night, that is probably the most fun part of it. At least it is for me. You don't really get that sick of playing, every gig offers something new, but it's more the actual lifestyle that's boring, the playing's fun.

Leah: What about being cooped up together in the van for hours and hours?

Greg: That's alright, we're used to it, and we haven't been cooped up for more than say four hours, so it's been alright.

Ross: And our impending death on a couple of occasions, if I can refer to it as that, has been enough to give us a good perspective on the fact that we're three lovely people and we deserve to be alive.

Leah: Who's the driver?

Greg: I drive.

Leah: So you're the man behind the wheel, gettin' all the road rage …

Greg: I'm a very Zen driver.

Leah: You'd be the Zen one, what about everyone else … how do you cope?

Greg: Oh, you just back off, you stay away from people. Like the guy in front of us from Newcastle to Sydney the other day, I'm glad I stayed well away from that guy, cos he hit the barrier.

Ross: It's the kung fu approach … wait and like, get out of their way and they crash into someone else …

Leah: Greg, I've noticed you carrying this bag around, (points to groovy black vinyl carrybag) you carry this around pretty much everywhere?

Greg: Yeah, that's THE BAG. There's money, receipts …

Ross: Tell everyone where the bag is …

Greg: Oh yeah, you can find the bag … no but there's all kinds of stuff, vitamins …

Ewan: Explosives …

Ross: Implosives …

Greg: A tour book, isotopic wipes so we can clean our mics ….

Leah: It's the keeping-in-line bag. So you're the authority on the road, the band comes to you when they need something?

Greg: Certain things - I wouldn't call myself a blanket authority … Ewan's the one with the blankets.

Ross: I cover the neurosis angle, Ewan covers absent-mindedness and Greg covers the rest.

Leah: What a team. With your new single, 'Got Sold On Heaven' - that's a Spring track. Has that got anything to do with you guys having a new lease on physical fitness?

Greg: The idea initially behind it was to capture the loneliness of the long-distance runner.

Ross: We started out with that film as a premise for the clip, because we needed to get it together really quick for starters, and it just had something … that enduring kind of thing …

Greg: And we also wanted to make my gorgeous friend Greg a superstar.

Leah: And he looks it! So does it also encapsulate maybe your new frame of mind as far as physical fitness is concerned?

Ross: Yeah, I've started running. And Greg's doing his thing too …

Greg: I'm gettin' fit.

Ross: Fit body, fit mind. No pain, no gain. Beefcake. More fuel. Oats, wheat …

Leah: We've had an election called this morning - exciting stuff. If you had to form a political party, what would some of your main policies be?

Greg: That's why we're in a band and we're not forming political parties.

Leah: You don't have political opinions?

Greg: I don't take it upon myself to speak for anyone but myself.

Ross: Our view of things is if you be a decent person, from the ground up, yourself outward, and hopefully there's enough other people doing that. As far as the technical side of getting the country running, I think you're even less competent than the present government.

Leah: As far as the present government is concerned, what would your advice be to them?

Greg: Get Lost!

Ross: Rack Off!

Greg: Go Away! Take your money-loving greed and get outta here!

Leah: With your new album too, in the slick, I noticed this lovely little anecdote, if I could call it that.

Ross: Be careful, that's actually a lyric from one of the songs.

Leah: Oh. So why have you taken it and put it inside the slick?

Ross: Um, just had something of the vibe of the whole album. That's the real reason, it's the closest thing that we've probably got to a concept album in that most of the songs on it are tied together because they were all written at the same time.

Leah: Now that you've released the album, what happens from here ? I know you've got a side project [Greg], do you do side projects, do you go it alone, how do you get inspired for the next thing?

Ross: I've got most of the songs for the next album already, so I've been inspired by just jamming with the guys, playing live, and just listening to them. And that's pretty much it. It's the same as ever, but we make a plan to definitely grow and do something different. But 'Circle High And Wide' is definitely the best thing we've done in a long time. So we're gonna sort of try and go sideways.