Press Articles & Interviews
Interview With Ben Mills [Reload Magazine - January 2008]
Any news on the album?
At the moment everything's fantastic, very much so. All I can tell you is that it is going ahead and it sounds amazing... And the management are very excited, the record company are very happy and that's pretty much all I can say really.
So, no release date then?
Absolutely not, because I'm writing pretty much the whole thing myself so it's kind of like "it'll be done when it's done" but I'm hoping that there may be a single out in January.
Will there be a single or will it get pulled at the last minute?
Well we'll have to wait and see how good it is. If it's good enough then, yeah!
"Beside You" was good!
"Beside You" was ok.
Well I liked it!
Yeah, ok. Good.
Okay, first question. If you had to describe your music to someone that had never heard it before, how would you describe it?
Ok, so if someone came up to me and said, "What kind of music do you play?" I'd say I play all kinds, you know. You know yourself that there's no category that you can put my music in, because I play anything from blues, rock, jazz. Which may well be one of the problems, because of everything that I do. If I'm playing to an audience that I think'll like to hear a certain kind of music then that's what they get and that's what I do.
What's your most embarrassing stage moment?
There's so many! My most embarrassing stage moment was... In fact, can I give you someone else's? Because it's funny, because I was on stage at the time and it was someone who was in the band but... also a very grumpy guy but... What we used to have was a little wheelie that we used to roll the amps on, right? And it was like a skateboard which would go in any direction... Anyway the guitarist was on stage and he was playing his guitar solo and stepped onto this wheelie, which then rolled off the stage completely and I think he might have done himself quite an injury. Shortly after that (laughs) he walked home and got hit by a car and broke both of his legs! Now that was an unlucky night for anyone, wasn't it? Since then he's found his sense of humour and he's alright.
Where's the furthest you've had to travel for a gig?
Estonia.
Where's that?
Estonia? It's miles away! It's a long long way. That's the furthest I've ever been. (laughs) That's how far it is!
If you were stranded on a desert island and could only take one item with you, what would you take?
Water! No, beer... Dammit. (laughs)
Not your guitar?
...And my guitar! You can't answer these questions! If I was stranded on a desert island and I could only take one item, I would take water! Because without water you can't live and you can't drink sea water. It might not rain, if it's a desert island then it's probably going to be hot! So... (laughs) It's not Noodlebug!
It's NoodleThug.
NoodleThug, it's not NoodleThug! You can't live off just playing the guitar. I learnt that a long time ago, that's why I learnt the keyboard. (laughs)
What's your favourite song EVER to perform?
My favourite song EVER to perform? I never get to do it, but... if I could perform it... it'd be great! It would be "Postcard From A Hooker In Minneapolis" by Tom Waits. My ideal moment would be to play that. Probably with the band that I've got tonight. Maybe we'll do it tomorrow at the gig!
I'm not here tomorrow.
Dammit, someone will probably film it! (sings) Charlie, I'm pregnant.. Living on 9th street. It's a great song!
What inspired you to become a magician?
What inspired me to become a vegetarian?
A magician... Musician!?
A magician? What inspired me to become a vegetable?! Well, my mum was a carrot, my dad was a cauliflower and I kind of had no choice... but to be a butternut squash! In the end. That's what I was. (laughs)
What inspired me to become a musician? I've already told the story to someone. This isn't news but there was a hurricane back in 1987 or '88, I can't remember. Michael Fish said there will not be a hurricane and all of a sudden, there was this big hurricane. And where I lived out in the sticks all the trees were blown down. I was basically stuck in this village at the time. My mum and dad (who were together then) had a friend over called Robin who played the guitar and he came over. He was stuck with us for about a week while they moved all the trees out of the way. Because we really lived out in the sticks and he had his guitar I said "Can you teach me how to play?" and he practically had no choice because there was nothing else to do. (laughs) You know? At the time computer games were... We had an Atari, but that was like... After we got bored of playing tanks, he then gave into me and said "Yeah I'll teach you a few chords", then I became obsessed with it. You never saw me without a guitar or a piano in my hand. Which was kinda weird because I was really small but I'd always walk around with this huge piano. (laughs) Everywhere I went!
...And that's it.
That's it?! I was just getting into the swing of things!
Well you think of a question!
Ok. What was...
Ok. What is your favourite song from the album "Picture Of You"?
"Picture Of You"! My favourite song from "Picture Of You" is... "Picture Of You". It's the only song I wrote single handedly on my own. It's the only song I did NOT allow anyone else to interfere with... (laughs) and I've got no faults. I've got no problem with "Picture Of You"... And yeah, that's my favourite song!
Ben Mills was interviewed following a gig in the Music Room at Pizza Express, Maidstone, in November 2007.
Author: Jess Saunders
Publication: Reload Magazine - A Youth Group publication in association with the Reload Project.