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Spacepunx: an interview with Pete Bentham & The Dinner Ladies

By John Owen

What is the album and why concentrate on space in the first place?
When I was a kid I was mad on space and David Bowie and when I heard about Yuri Gagarin he seemed like a kind of real life Ziggy Stardust. Then recently it was the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin being the first man in space and there was quite a bit in the papers about him. I read a story about how the Russians cheated in the race to put a man in space because according to the plan, the guy was supposed to be in the craft when it landed. However, they couldn't work out how to do this so they parachuted him out of the craft before he landed but pretended he landed in the craft and swore him to a state secret never to tell.
A funny consequence of this was that he landed in a field miles from nowhere and appeared in his spacesuit to a bewildered peasant woman and her daughter. The woman said "Are you from outer space?" and he replied "Well yeah". Unfortunately, he couldn't tell this story as it would have given away the secret. This is depicted on the back of the record cover.
After he came back he became a worldwide celebrity, just like a rockstar, and befriended the American astronauts. A lot of the establishment didn't like this, thinking it was un-communist behaviour and also suspected that he'd told the secret. He then died in an accident on a fairly routine training flight and some suspected he had been bumped off.
It inspired me to write the song 'Hey Yuri'. Then we thought wouldn't it be great if all the songs on an EP were about space? We released it as a limited edition 7" vinyl and most of them are sold out. You can still play it and download from our bandcamp.

What style of music is it and if you could describe it culture wise what impact does it have on its listeners?
Our stuff is generally described as 'Punk Rock & Roll', which is quite accurate, the energy and attitude of punk, but with raw rock & roll influences. We often get compared to the Velvet Underground, The Cramps, X Ray Spex or The Fall. We have our own name for it: 'Kitchencore', which we made up for fun, to take the piss out of people always putting music into different boxes and genres. But it's actually been adopted quite a bit. When we go to Europe you see posters saying 'Kitchencore from Liverpool', which always makes us laugh. There is quite a lot of variety in our stuff though, we aren't a bog standard three chord punk band. The space EP, 'Hey Yuri!' has a bit of a Two Tone thing, another track is a bit surfy, there's a slower one and we tried to make the 'Mr Astronaut' song like a kids Sesame Street song.

What do you find most rewarding; gigging, writing or recording?
It has to be gigging. Some bands seem content to play Liverpool all the time but we try and travel as much as we can. We play all over the UK and go to Europe two or three times a year such as Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and France. It's the places you go and the people you meet that makes doing music great. Playing in a DIY band isn't going to make any of us millionaires is it! Writing just happens naturally, when it happens and I don't really enjoy recording.

Who were the musical influences, if any, in your lives?
Personally, I grew up the youngest in a house of seven in the sixties and seventies so absorbed all the great sixties bands like the Kinks, The Who, Small Faces, later Bowie, Roxy Music plus Soul and Motown. Then when punk and Two Tone happened that was my music. Jez our sax player is the product of arty parents from the Eric's scene and so is mostly into electro like Kraftwerk, Devo and experimental stuff. Tammy our bass player is from Trinidad and so grew up with reggae influences, but she also likes heavy stuff like Motorhead and AC/DC. Tony our drummer is into all kinds of stuff but well into his DIY punk/ska scene.

What food best reflects your image: is it custard with a skin on or roly poly pudding or more smashed carrot and turnip?
Defo carrot and turnip on a Sunday dinner. That's our band...gritty northern realism.

Where and when do you hope to go from here i.e. plans and future ambitions, or is space the final frontier?
Our next album is called 'I Heart Here - Ten Songs About Rights & Wrongs'. It's released in June 2014 and it's on the theme of 'community' and the idea that people are becoming disillusioned with authority and starting to think for themselves and organise themselves. Not necessarily in a revolutionary way, maybe just starting co-operatives or growing their own food etc. It's important for us to sing about things we believe in. There's a lot of bands that don't you know. It would be good to tour space. Ryanair will probably have it boxed off soon, but you'll have to pay extra for your food capsules and your jetpack, knowing them.

For more info on Pete Bentham & The Dinner Ladies: facebook.com/dinnerladiesliverpool

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