Masters of mayhem [dweeb] tallk to Mike Rimmer

There seems to be a dichotomy emerging within the band though. On the one hand they want God to show up at their shows but on the other, it seems that their songs are so swathed with allegory that despite multiple listens, their meaning can be obscured. Even when the band included the lyrics on the 'Moose' EP, it didn't always help. Badgerman responds, "You're right, they do often need explaining. And we do hope that their effectiveness goes beyond the lyrics as well and goes on to the fact of the reason of writing and the passion that we try and put into both the live playing and the recording and everything. As we've already explained, each of us is all for him. We hope that carries across in a whole message as well as musically. Our band is as much about music as lyrics. We're playing for God as well as we're singing for God. So hopefully the whole package comes across in some form."

Tim chips in, "We want God to be showing up and working in people's lives, because we're there and because we've been praying for it and because we've been seeking it and because we're playing. But not necessarily because people have heard a lyric and then have responded to it. But just because God has shown up in that place and God has turned up." Matt shares, "On the steve tour we had opportunities within our songs where we were encouraging the audience to cry out in praise and in prayer. Encouraging them to shout out their desires that they want to see happening with God. We were playing the role of a facilitator to encourage the guys in the audience to just meet with God."

The band believe that they have enough obvious songs like "Paintings Of A Broken Heart", "Shine-O-Matic" and the live favourite "Created Image" which are lyrically obvious for people to make the connection. At the same time, there are others like "Pirate + Copse = Quandary" and "Fondue" which will force their fans to go deeper and explore the allegories.

Dave hits the nail on the head when he says, "It all just reflects our personality. There's a whole part of our personality which is just dead serious about our faith and totally sold out to God and wanting to see people get to know him. Then there's a whole other side to our personality which is that we like to have a laugh. We like to be a bit stupid. So it comes across in our songs. It's just a reflection of our personality. I think if they don't 'get it' as our live show and as our songs, then they probably just wouldn't 'get us' as people. So whichever way we evangelise, those people probably just wouldn't get it anyway because that's just us."

[dweeb]'s sense of humour is extremely endearing and it makes them stand out as a band. In interview situations, it can be a little unnerving as their surreal humour can takes things in some unlikely directions. In Christian music, sadly it's very unusual to have such a mad sense of humour and integrate it into godly creativity. Tim observes, "I think there's something really powerful in the comedy element. Especially when we're playing in the clubs, which are 'dark' places often. You've got people who are just totally depressed and totally lost in their lives. Just to make these people laugh, there's something so freeing in that. One of our goals is to show people why we're joyful. We've got a little list of goals up on our notice board and one of them says: 'We want to show people that we're joyful and that there's a reason for that.'" Matt adds, "And it makes it more accessible. It's not that we want to show them the 'religion' of Christianity. What we want to show them is the life. It's not that what we are singing about is going to church and sitting and listening to a sermon. What we're playing about and talking about is the fact that we've got this relationship with this awesome God. And it isn't just a thing that happens on a Sunday morning at 10:30 am. It happens every day - and every minute of every day! It's just about living with God. That I think is what lacks in people's understanding of Christianity. That it isn't just about church, it's about living. And in showing this in comedy and in having fun and being crazy and doing all of that, it's about showing that actually, the reason for all of this is God."

Watching the band play live, it's amazing how quickly a mosh pit can develop! Isn't the band's audience a little bit blokey? Do they tend to attract more men than women to gigs?" Dave responds, "Actually the majority of our audience tends to be 14-year-old girls!" I am not convinced by this having seen few teenage girls at their gigs. Dave continues, "I think that often, the blokes tend to get the whole Pythonesque thing. I think Monty Python is more of a blokes thing than a girls thing. I know plenty of girls that like it. I'm not having a dig! I'm just saying that they were five blokes and it's going to appeal to that sort of demographic." And it doesn't take much prompting before Dave and I are performing our own version of the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch, Just proving that wherever two or three are gathered, somebody will start quoting a Python sketch.

The title of the EP is reminiscent of Python. "Moose Moose, Moose, Chicken, Moose" is not far away from "Spam, spam, spam, eggs and spam" is it? Dave explains, "This boils down to our really surreal sense of humour. But I think we've always found it really funny repeating random words! And so, I don't know. We just found it funny. It was just one of those things. I don't know how we came up with it. I think it was Tim actually.surprisingly! Exactly the same reason why the first EP was called "This Is Not Our Shed". There is no reason."

And then all of a sudden, Tim produces a poster of ducks and geese and the band start riffing about the various aquatic birds on it. Tim is a bit of a fan of the Netta Ruffina apparently. Hmmm. Like I said, with these guys it's always hard to know where a conversation might go next! They actually got the poster whilst on the steve tour so it's signed by Andy Hunter and the steve guys. Don't be surprised if you'll soon be able to get [dweeb] posters of ducks and geese after gigs! The band are on a mission to help the general public identify various aquatic birds.

The hidden, shameful secret of [dweeb]'s history is that Badgerman and Matt used to be in a band together in Gloucester. Matt reveals that the band were called Tripwire. Tim muses for a second, "Oh that's not so bad!" but then continues, "Matt, tell them the name of your other band Matt! Your rap band!" Uh oh. This sounds ominous! Badgerman immediately declares a disclaimer. "I wasn't in this band!" Matt is only squirming slightly in his seat as he reveals, "I was about 13 or 14. We were called 3 4 The 1!" However he denies ever rapping. He confesses, "I only ever sang." The rest of the band are not convinced. "We do have a CD lying around with Matt doing a rap somewhere!" Hmmm.. Maybe that'll turn up on Ebay one of these days. I do hope so!

When it comes to a response, [dweeb] seem to be like Marmite. People either love them or hate them. They're either the best band in the world and c'mon let's form a mosh pit or it's blank stares from people who don't get it. The band are actually encouraged by this. "It just means we must be doing something a bit different," says Matt. "If you are doing something that works, that has been done so many times that everybody gets into it then you're probably not anything massively different."

It seems to be very much like the band personally. Off stage you're likely to find them crying with laughter and joking around whilst everybody around them is wondering what's so funny? Badgerman comments, "It's like the whole aquatic bird thing. People look into it too much. They think there's something to 'get'. They think there's some sort of really complex hidden meaning that makes us laugh."

Badgerman describes one incident after a show on the steve tour. "And at the end of the gig we man our merchandise stand. Steve had played so it was the end of the night. I legged it to the stand and we were busy serving people and this girl comes up and buys a T-shirt. It was quite a busy time. So naturally I just took her seven quid and said, 'You enjoy the show then?' And she was like, 'Yeah, really good evening. Got to be honest, I didn't really like your music at all but you've got cool T-shirts!' So what can you say?!"

Currently the band are doing a mixture of gigging and rehearsing and trying to write a few new songs. In the past the deadline of recording an EP has galvanised them into action when it comes to penning songs but as it seems likely that 2006 will see the band record their first full length album, the challenge is on to get some new material.

On the live front, the band have been playing a lot more Christian gigs. Dave explains, "That's definitely been our focus recently. Before that we were trying to get an even 50:50 split between secular stuff and Christian stuff. I think it's kind of slipped more towards the Christian side of things, which we love doing, but I think we're quite keen on getting back and doing some more secular stuff and getting on that scene again. I think that's the plan for now."

Although it's all hush hush, I know that the band have had some interest from record labels. What are their thoughts there? "This band exists," Tim states simply, "not to get a record deal or anything; we exist because we want to see new Christians. We want to tell as many people about God as we can because that's what we're excited about. We want to see people who are already Christians encouraged through what we're doing and perhaps get a little more passionate about God through what we're doing. So if the best way for us to do that, if what God has for us in terms of doing that, is to stay as we are for 20 years, then we will. But if the best way for us to do that is to get a record deal, perhaps get more exposure and get through to more people in that way, then that's what we'll do as well. So if some kind of record deal would help more people hearing about God through what we're doing, then yeah absolutely! But if not, then we're not interested."