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Bye Bye Johnny Interview and Exclusive UKEvents.net competition to win tickets for their gig at the Aftershow@Sankeys in Manchester on 13th December!

Andrea interviews Bye Bye Johnny - 1 November 2007

Rochdale band Bye Bye Johnny are a group of salt of the earth, northern blokes. Go to one of their gigs and you are literally one of their friends, there's no messing about. They'll invite you onstage to have a sing song with them - just as long as you're prepared to stage surf back into the crowd!

Bassist Russy D gave me a 15 minute insight into what Bye Bye Johnny is all about.

How did you get involved in Aftershow@Sankeys?

Danny McNamara, do you know him, out of the band Embrace? He's put a gig together to showcase the best bands in Manchester. He sent emails out to loads of bands, asking them to send CDs to him. We were chosen out of 300 bands, that's pretty good isn't it? We played at Aftershow@Sankeys in September, supporting The Magic Numbers.

How did that go?

It was brilliant. We took a load of our mates from Rochdale down, there was about 100 people supporting us. We outshone The Magic Numbers which were the main act, well I thought so anyway! We do proper gigs, we involve the audience. At the Aftershow in September we have about 10 people on the stage with us, some of them singing down the mike - there wasn't hardly any room for us and we were just pushed out of the way! People were throwing themselves back into the crowd, it's great! That's like a normal show for us! The crowd sort of dispersed when we'd finished playing. That was the best gig, though we did one in London at the Hope & Anchor which is in Madness territory. That was a good gig, we had a load of mates from Rochdale come with us for that too.

When you come down to one of our gigs, you'll find you'll be coming to another, then another.

How long have you known each other?

Bye Bye Johnny have been together since last October. We all come from the same town called Norden in Rochdale and we all went to the same school. We were in different bands and it took 7 years for the magic to come together!

We get on alright, we have a few fallings out when we are writing songs and that, because we want our songs to be the best they can be. But at the end of the day we go to the pub and we are alright again.

What is good about Rochdale?

I'd like to say the clubs and nightlife, but I'd be lying! Probably the kebab shops. The Brown Cow, which is our local haven. You don't know what you're missing until you visit Rochdale! It's an experience!

You have 4 songs on your myspace profile and each sound completely different to the last. Was that intentional so you cannot be pigeonholed?

No, we haven't gone out of our way to make our songs sound different. We are an exciting and different band and it's good if it is recognised. Most bands out there are boring and crap. What you hear on myspace or on our website isn't like anything you'll experience at a gig.

Do you have a record deal?

No. We had a load of offers when we first started our demo, but these people wanted development deals - they wanted to own us. We knocked all the offers back and at the moment no one is interested in us, which is alright. We want to develop our fan base and get more people to our gigs. Playing to the biggest crowd of people is what we're aiming for!

We want to release a 3 track single ourselves and our management have been talking about taking one of our songs off our myspace profile and releasing that as our first single.

Do you have to put a lot of effort into the band?

We practice 3 or 4 times a week - we are always practising and writing.

Is it hard work?

No, it isn't difficult, it is enjoyable. Playing in places like London and Manchester is not hard work, it is what we enjoy!

You have a song called Postas Valias ma Galias, what does that mean?

We wrote that when we were on holiday in Greece. We asked a Greek bloke what "how are you now?" means in Greek and that is what he said. We had another song in mind that we wanted to write, but Postas Valias ma Galias came out, and it came out quite quickly!

How about Girl on a Train, have you ever fallen in love with someone you've never met?

I can't tell you that!

That means you have!

Does it? Oh alright then, I have but it was definitely more lust than love.

How great a band are you?

If we sound interesting, come and watch us play a live gig. You won't be able to watch just one because you'll be hooked!

We have tickets for you and a friend to see Bye Bye Johnny at the Aftershow@Sankeys on 13th December.

Bye Bye Johnny have a gig coming up at Danny McNamara's new club night - the Aftershow@Sankys in Manchester. They are supporting The Delays there on the 13th December.

We have tickets to give away to you and a friend if you can answer the following question:

Which internationally acclaimed band did Bye Bye Johnny support in their last performance at the Aftershow in September?

Send your answers on email to andrea.ukevents@hotmail.co.uk

Competition closes 1 December
Winner picked at random.

Bye Bye Johnny links:

http://www.myspace.com/byebyejohnnylive www.byebyejohnny.com.

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