Bonjour Maryse ! Pete here - I shall be answering your questions:

- You are a renowned band now. Lens is a small town though it is pretty well-known for its football team and its very enthusiastic supporters. Is it a vested interest in football that makes you come to play in Lens?

- The truth is, we are not the biggest followers of football in the world. Andy is a Man Utd fan, Pete is a Geordie and supports Newcastle United and John supports Hyde FC. Hyde get an average gate of around 200 and the only cheering by the fans is when they see the pie delivery van coming over the hill to make its half time drop off at the canteen. The last two world cups were amazing we watched all the games in our local pub "Big Hands", it got very drunken and very passionate.

- The place you're going to play at isn't even a proper venue. Don't you mind?

- Thank you for this information. We did not know. We have played in some unconventional places and enjoy doing so. One of our 1st gigs as Kloot was in an old medieval church in the centre of Manchester. It was candle lit, 1 pound to get in which was in the form of a collection - 2 girls went round the audience with gold plates and wine was served and consumed irreverently at the back. We have played prisons, garage forecourts and occasionally squats, so I reckon we'll be ok in Lens.

- John spent hard times busking in the Parisian metro before starting a career as a professional singer. Paris didn't seem to be too good to him at the time and yet, you often play in France. Is there something special you like about France that makes you keep coming back here?

- France is special for Kloot. Paris especially so. The beauty of playing away from England is that you do not know what to expect. It leaves a lot down to serendipity and that's how we like it. The first gig we ever did outside of England was in Paris on Valentine's Day 2001 at the Boule Noire in Pigale. It was sold out and a girl fainted when we played "Twist". She was ok. Paris has a similar vibe to the city as Manchester. It has a lot of venues and clubs - it has a real atmosphere of seediness - we love it. We find that in France people's attitude towards music is very open minded - this I believe means people are independent and have strong views - the hype that is swallowed in England accounts for nothing in France - there is a really good No-Bullshit attitude. This suits Kloot perfectly. The sophisticated, artistic, ambitious drunks have found there home from home.

- The songs of your eponymous album are quite varied. "A Strange Arrangement of Colour" has bossa nova and jazzy melodies, "Life In A Day" has a rich and heavier rhythmic section, poppy "3 Feet Tall" swings and rolls but the acoustic guitar is still dominant on the whole. The noisy electric hidden track at the end of "Natural History" could let us expect a more electric second album. Was that hidden track just a joke? Does it have a title by the way?

- The hidden track is called "Give Me Love". We recorded that LP on a remote Scottish island with Guy Garvey from Elbow producing and one night we were very drunk and after a while we started playing - the song last about half an hour and that is a short clip of what was going on that night. It is pretty much what was on John's mind at the time. I remember him screaming give me love for a long time. It was not a joke as such - we had an idea of people listening to the LP and dropping off to sleep through the last song "because", so 2 minutes after that finished we placed a kind of alarm call. Always keep em on their toes. I AM KLOOT the lp, like Natural History has a range of feels on it. We are interested in a lot of different styles of music and this is what we come out with. A band should be able to express itself using everything at its disposal. The music is varied but has a very strong Kloot character. I have heard many records that are the same style all the way through - it's like listening to 1 song over and over again; this does not interest us. We write and record very quickly. We do not go into a great deal of discussion about creating music - it just comes. This keeps it spontaneous for us and hopefully that is what is on the recordings. The new record is closer to what we sound like live it is more visceral and harder and harder sounding. As far as what kind of guitars are used - it is irrelevant to us. They are just notes and could be played on anything as long as the message is communicated in the song.

- Can you tell us sth about each track's story.

- John writes most of the songs on guitar and comes and plays them to me and Andy and we join in. After a number of run throughs we generally have the song down and like to record quickly while it is fresh. We had a number of people help us record this record. "Here for the world" and "same deep water" was recorded in Manchester with a friend called Keir Stewart. Keir has worked a lot with Mark E. Smith and the Duritti Column. "Here for the world" is based on a conversation John had with a friend of his who works making pornographic movies. "The same deep water as me" is an old song that John wrote many years ago. When we were rehearsing it my house mate Bob Sastry turned up to hang out and he is a French horn player, hence the French horn at the end. When we play live and Bob is not too busy at his job as a criminal barrister he plays with us and he always gets the best applause of the night for his horn solo. He does not often get the chance to play when we are touring for a long time as he can't take time off, so we are asking for French horn players from wherever we play to get up and play his part - maybe you know someone who may be interested - please let us know. "Life in a day" was recorded in Liverpool with Ian Broudie. He has worked a lot with Echo and the Bunnymen, Julian cope and The Fall. This song was done in a different way. Andy started playing this jungle style rhythm and I joined in on the bass, John appeared late as usual and just shouted keep playing that - plugged in his electric guitar and 10 minutes later we had the song. The lyrics were made up in the studio and the take on the record was done on the spot. John had beginnings of verses and endings, so he just filled in the middle bits. It was amazing to hear what he was coming up with and had a real intensity because of speed at which we were working. It is often the best songs that are created quickly, I believe you get a clear insight into the artist with this approach. "Because" on "Natural History" was only played twice and the second time is what is on the record. "Untitled no. 1" was the first song we recorded for the new LP it was done in Manchester with help from Scott Alexander. He owns 2 of the best bars in town and plays with a great band called Indigo Jones. It was recorded in a top floor derelict office building over looking Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester (city centre). The window was open and many strange street noises found there way onto the recording. Any ideas anyone had were just put down and it turned out to be a trail of thought type song. The lyrics I believe were another conversation John had and then embellished.

- Lyrics play a very important part in your songs. They were printed on the sleeve of "Natural History". Why don't they appear on the sleeve of your second album?

- The lyrics and the singing are obviously very important. The reason they are not on the 2nd LP is because at John's request he did not want them printed. He believes that the words and voice are part of the music and when extricated from the other instruments they re different. "It is not poetry" John says on many occasions. John's lyrics are bold and courageous in the respect that you get to know the person when you listen to the words. This is how it should be with lyrics. To have an insight into the artist and at the same time not to have to clear a picture. Mystery and intrigue are very important. The listener can take what they will from the lyrics, there is not just one meaning, they exist on many different levels. If lyrics are patronising or incapable of different interpretation they are weak. Chris Potter who mixed and recorded a lot of the LP is renowned for getting a good vocal sound. The vocals are loud and clear and so they don't need printed on the sleeve.

- Your second album is an eponymous album. Does it mean that it corresponds more to the identity of what you want to be than "Natural History"?

- We were sat on a tour bus and our tour manager Peter Hill gave out laminates which were black and written in the middle was I Am Kloot. We all just agreed there & then that it looked great and that should be the LP cover & name. The artwork is sharp and simple. We wanted it to be to the point. When we released our first singles ourselves in Manchester (ltd edition 1000 runs) we would print posters and put them up in town. These posters would feature lyrics from songs. I was a screen printer when I got involved with Kloot so I could get these big posters done for nothing. I had some red ink left over from a run of blood donor posters I had just done. We put 100 big red posters up in Manchester town centre with "there's blood on your legs, I love you". The poster did not mention the band, just a lyric. The response was great - people were ripping them off the wall - writing letters to the papers outraged. We are interested in the situationist approach of creating a reaction - just something different to make you think. We do not feel that the new eponymous LP is any more definitive of us than "Natural History". They are both who we were at the time.

To John
- John, I find your singing and voice more sensuous in "I AM KLOOT" than on the previous album. Is it me or was it something you intended?

- I'm glad you're feeling it brother. In truth I am answering these questions for John as he is in France as we speak having a baby. We spent much time finding the right keys for the songs and this was so the voice would sit perfectly to purvey the message of the song. If a key is too high it can be forced, too low and it can be dragging - it must be emotive. After much live performing John is at one with his voice and the key thing is how it makes you feel, what it leaves inside you - like the barb of a hook. Sensuous indeed; spotted.

- At the La Route du Rock festival, you ended your excellent set with « Black and Blue ». That's an old song of yours, right? Can you tell us sth about it?

- "Black & Blue" was the first song John wrote when he was about 15. We do not play it very often. La Route du Rock was an amazing gig for us and I think John was so moved by the reaction from the audience that he played that song. That was the last song that he sang that day if I remember rightly. I am hoping it will be on the next LP. Sometimes songs have memories attached and so they stay under wraps but a lot of people remember "Black & Blue". We shall see how the wind blows.

Love from kloot *******
Vive le difference!

Maryse LALOUX
For PRESTO! Fan et Webzine Rock du Grand Nord, http://www.presto.presse.fr

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