The Hot Melts A Devil Exclusive

The Devil's fellow scousers took time out from their campaign to rule the musical world to provide an exclusive insight into the band, their influences, the strangest place they've played and some tips to beat the credit crunch.

So, without further ado, here is another exclusive Devil interview with Jai Otsa the bass player with one of the hottest (groan!) bands of the moment...

The Devil - Where did you get the name and what were other names that you considered before deciding it had to be The Hot Melts?

The Hot Melts - Will, our singer, says that it was written in the condensation that had collected on his mirror after taking a shower one day. Someone had written "You are The Hot Melts" and he thought "we are The Hot Melts....". Names we considered include The Broke Back Mountains, Daddy Was A Violent Man, and Too Much Crack. These may or may not be true.
The Devil - Was Edith (one of the Hot Melts classics in the making check it out here) inspired by someone you know and if so who?

The Hot Melts - The song Edith is basically a collection of different anecdotes from the life of a teenage Will trying to be normal and fucking things up. It's about smoking weed, being a loser, being incapable of looking after yourself....this isn't painting him in a very good light really but he's turned out ok.

The Devil - Who are your biggest influences?

The Hot Melts - We all have quite diverse tastes in music really, but we all appreciate the art of good song writing no matter the genre. Will's into a lot of great American pop/rock like Weezer, Green Day et al, a lot of Britpop (Pulp, Divine Comedy, Straw) but also lo-fi American stuff like They Might Be Giants, Giant Drag, Devo, Grandaddy....oh and a 50's girl group called The Chiffons who are amazing.

The Devil - What is your Unique Selling Point?

The Hot Melts - I would say our USP is that we are the Liverpool version of your favorite things about American music. Quirky songs with good lyrics and a good melody, and I think our live show is pretty good. We're not trying to bullshit you or be fashionable, we just play the music we like to make.

The Devil - What was the first record you ever bought and why?

The Hot Melts - I don't know about the rest of the boys but I think the first record I ever bought was possibly Nevermind by Nirvana, but it may also have been Smash by The Offspring...I bet loads of people lie on this question to try and look cool. I was like 10, and Nirvana were the coolest thing I had ever heard.

The Devil - What's the strangest place you've ever played and would you go back there?

The Hot Melts - Good question! (why thank you kind sir). There have been many, many, many strange gigs...I reckon the weirdest was maybe in Blackpool, we played in this place that was like a kids birthday party restaurant downstairs with a venue above it and got heckled by a man in a suit who was shitfaced. He just kept shouting "Radio 2!" and "Wogan!" and then afterwards told us that we sounded like The Strokes and Kings Of Leon, which I wouldn't say was a bad thing. Unfortunately he got a bit gobby and Jonny our guitarist pushed him over a table.
The Devil - Other than the Hot Melts who are the most exciting bands around at the moment and why?

The Hot Melts - If we're talking about exciting bands in Liverpool I would strongly urge people to check out Wave Machines and Screaming Lights (first covered by the Devil back in March, Blinded By The Lights)who are both amazing bands full of great musicians. As for elsewhere I've been listening to a lot of Johnny Flynn, Jeffrey Lewis and Seasick Steve for quiet times, and a lot of Gallows for the loud times. We get some free CD's from our record label occasionally and we got sent albums by The Beatsteaks and The Weakerthans (check out the link below for a Weakerthan MP3) which were both incredible.

The Devil - If you weren't in the Hot Melts what would you be doing?

The Hot Melts - I would be drastically failing my Archaeology degree at Liverpool University, Jonny would be designing web sites, Jack would be working in a drum shop and Will would be writing songs in his bedroom and watching old horror films on VHS.
The Devil - If you were interviewing yourself what would be your killer question and how would you answer it?
The Hot Melts - What's the speed of dark? Deep man.

The Devil - What are the band doing to beat the credit crunch? Any tips on saving money for the Devil's readers?

The Hot Melts - We've been doing some serious crunch-beating lately so here are our favorites:

1. Use your skills. We busk, £35 in an hour isn't too bad for standing in the sunshine playing music.
2. Check the back of all sofas/chairs.
3. Go for phoneboxes/arcades/vending machines and check the return slots.
4. If you're seriously fucked you can turn to begging. We met a guy once with a sign that said "Need money for booze, drugs and prostitutes - at least I'm honest!" and he was raking it in.

The Devil - If there were an election tomorrow how would you vote?

The Hot Melts - I would vote whatever was most likely to keep the BNP out and so should you.
The Devil - Anything else you'd like to say?

The Hot Melts - This has been fun, we should do it again some time. Check us out at www.myspace.com/thehotmelts and come down to a show - cheers!

Check out one of Jai's favourite current bands, The Weakerthans...

MP3 - The Weakerthans - Last Last One
MP3 - The Weakerthans - Our Retired Explorer (Live)
MP3 - The Weakerthans - Pleas from a Cat Named Virtue
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from the Weakerthans website so are already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.