Action Spectacular - PRESS RELEASE FOR "EVERYTHING'S GOING TO BE KO, REALLY..." ACTION SPECTACULAR INTERVIEW MARCH 2002 1. after releasing the first album "FROM HERE ON IT'S A RIOT…" what have you been doing music activity wise, (It is about 1year and a half since that last album I think). We have done some extensive tours around the U.K entertaining both royalty and the common man. We have been on national television a couple of times and on one occasion had the honor of featuring with Badly Drawn Boy. Probably the highlight of the last year was playing the Reading festival where us lo-fi superstars got to rub shoulders with our corporate equivalent. Oasis got paid £500,000 for the gig whilst we were paid £100 but they still had to hang out with scum like us!!! We have taken the name from a British 1960's television show which was all about a perfect future where mankind's every whim would be catered for by robots. Consequently, we have adopted the slogan "We'll build a brighter world" as the motto of the Action Spectacular recording foundation. We have also written a song called Tomorrows world which may appear on our next album. This is in addition to a whole body of songs we have been writing and recording over the last 6 months. 2. the feeling is more laid back on this KO album. could you let me know about the story behind this music changes? (the album is more folky and laid back but rock music!) I think we realized that the songs that worked best on the first album where the more quiet, introspective numbers. My song writing has always been about telling stories and coming from the north of Scotland where folk music is a really big way of life I suppose it was inevitable that I would return to that. Also, I think records can work well if there is a continuous mood running throughout them. Everything that has happened to the band over the last year gave me great cause for reflection and I think this too has had an influence on the music. 3. any interesting episodes while recording? We had a mad day when we used the orchestra from a local infants school. From my earliest years I have always found the sound of school orchestras absolutely hilarious and enchanting. They have this way of sounding just ever so slightly out of tune and nauseous that is impossible to reproduce with trained session musicians. Basically we acted as child minders for the day whilst the kids laid down some of the crazy orchestration for "My Glorious Career." Also, I remember hazily the day when shaking from paranoia I recorded "Sunday night, Monday morning" in a room that was so cold it was snowing indoors- I kid you not. 4. is there a particular concept behind the album? I wanted to express the paranoia of the times we live in-and I think we all felt a real surge of fear after THE EVENTS on September 11th. In addition to this there seems to be real fear and loathing on a microscopic level regarding the pressures and strains most people of my generation feel-being trapped in a job or lifestyle that is soul destroying for them (the song "We All need more sleep") Also, there is the overwhelming feeling particularly in Britain just now that everything is bland and re-processed whether it is fashion, lifestyle or art. (The song "Popstars/No Alternative" deals specifically with this.) The concept behind the album is there in the bad joke of the title. "Everything's going to be okay, really..." It can be said two ways. On some songs such as "Beautiful Gurl" the world seems a bright and fantastic place to be. However on other parts of the record the title can be a question or a plea. Is everything going to be okay really? That's for the listener to decide. What do I think? Well, we made the artwork read "Everything going to be KO, really." 5. what song is your favorite among the songs included in the album? I think my personnel favorite is the song "White Dove Morning" The minute we recorded it there just seemed to be an aching sense of sadness about the actual sound of the record that perfectly captured what the lyrics are about. I think anyone who has walked home watching the sunrise, after a night on mind bending chemicals will identify with the songs atmosphere of wistfullness and regret. Apart from that, all the songs are my babies and I love them obsessively. 6. what bands do you listen to recently, Favorites? Belle & Sebastian, Zero 7 and Ian Browns latest record have all been played heavily recently- I feel they are more likely to influence what we do next rather then this current release. However, I have been listening to a lot of early Elton John recently so you have been warned!!! 7. what tunes/bands do you think you are influenced by...? The story telling aspect and the idea of communicating very important to me. In that respect the songs of Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra have been incredibly influential. Musically the bands continues to draw influences from a wide range of the "Classics." There's a lot more of an electronic influence on this LP and I can hear references to New Order, The Happy Mondays and even Fatboy slim on this album. Overall though, I feel we have really established our own sound with this record rather then being in awe of our adolescent heroes. One of the  best things about our music I feel is that the song is the most  important thing and the appropriate influences are selected for each track rather then being a rigid ideology. I think this is really well shown with "My Glorious Career" which has a lot of Serge Gainsbourg, Divine Comedy, Sinatra influences being next to a White Stripes style song like "Sunday night, Monday morning." In both cases I think we take these influences and make something that could only be described as "Action Spectacular" 8. with what albums do you want KO to be displayed in someone's CD rack.? "From here on in it's a riot...! FIVE THOUSAND COPIES OBVIOUSLY!!! "The White Album (The Beatles)" by The Beatles. Obvious again really but it's good to remind yourself how much further you have to go, and how far to fall. "Unplugged in New York" by Nirvana- just such a heartbreaking record everyone should own it. Anything by the Bonzo Dog Doo-dah band- quintessential English psychedelic visionary buffoonery. In a strange way perhaps the most punk rock band of all time in terms of not giving a fuck. "If you're feeling sinister" by Belle & Sebastian. An introspective  classic. "Sunday morning coming down" by Johnny Cash. Because sooner or later you will get your heart broken and then you will need this man.

Tracks... 1. You're a good looking man but for me it's a full time job 2. Beautilful gurl 3. Ballard of the third rate band 4. The spiral 5. North of nowhere 6. Pop stars/no alternative 7. We all need more sleep 8. White dove morning 9. The roxy music 10. This is elvis 11. Good thing 11. No, it's never going to stop raining 12. My glorious career 13. Sunday night, monday morning SUGAR SHACK RECORDS FOD 038  CD ALBUM