::The Henry Road ::

Nottingham-based The Henry Road
and their debut EP, ‘Loggy Log’
sound like they’re about a country
dump being taken on an obscure,
mediaeval road by a stuffy, rahrah
wearing a tight, pink cravat and
knee high yellow socks. But hold
your horses and hang on to your
top hats as this couldn’t be further
from the wicked truth. The Henry
Road are tacitly working towards
saving the world and after hearing
the first few seconds of ‘Loggy’s
Theme’ you will be reaching for
ammunition to support The Henry
Road saviours. They are
phenomenal visionaries with the
rare and acute sense of mixing all
styles and instruments to create
magically dark fairy tales for adults.
I wish they would read me my
bedtime stories at night...

As the listener is taken on an
enchanting journey mapped out
with immense precision and
pleasure, The Henry Road boys
watch the world and laugh from the
top of their Loggy Land Castle.
Armed with musical catapults and
songs as heavy as drawbridges,
welcome to the Henry Road fortress.
Make sure you get there first before
the hoards of other Loggy pilgrims.

Ben and Phil from the band answer
some random questions..

Let the questioning commence....

So you are creators of Wagon Pop, have got 2 EPs under your belt and a strong live following…don’t you think it’s
time to retire now?

I think you can only retire when you are too old and have finished what you set out to do. We are not and we haven't. Is
there an end to creativity? I have always suspected not, although there is probably an end to a song or a painting if
you really want one.

So Benjamin, as well as being a drummer, you’re also a secret writer/artist. If you had to choose between loads of
money for a record deal or loads of money for a publishing deal, which would you choose?

It's no secret that I paint and write every now and then, however being a 'secret' painter sounds quite good, adds a
pinch of mystique, perhaps I'll try it....I'll just hide everything first. When I have done something that merits being in the
position of choosing some kind of business offer, I'll go for whatever comes along first, I'm not fussy. If the offers
come along together I would go for both....I'm not busy.

Who is your favourite author?

It varies from book to book, which is not a cop out! I have cultivated a philosophy for my opinions, and that is that
they are not fixed. It has taken a while to get to this point and I follow it religiously. People who believe in fixed and
concrete opinions in life bore and scare me, I allow myself the freedom to change my mind about things whenever I
want to. Something I believed to be correct in the morning can change dramatically by the evening (usually much
sooner).... I have complete freedom and it means I rarely have to argue.

I read a lot more when I was younger. All pretty existential. Hesse, Kafka, Kundera, Sartre, and Camus. But
depression soon followed. I am a lot more light hearted about everything I do now days. I have been going steadily
through 'The Times' 100 best novels list. I am doing it in order so that I flit across different styles, it starts; Don
Quixote, Pilgrims Progress, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, Tom Jones etc etc. I rarely read contempory
stuff.... I dabbled with the beat stuff a while ago, that's about as modern as it gets. My favourite book was Crime and
Punishment a minute ago.

Who’s the biggest diva in the band?

Who's the most flamboyant? Or who looks and sings like a 19th century female opera singer? I sometimes wear
eyeliner and was once really into frilly shirts. Philip still very much digs the shirt.

For those of us who haven’t seen you live, sum up what we should expect in a sentence.

BEN: Pretty standard, sometimes have props, sometimes draw on themselves, Metempsychosis shine lights and
film all over their faces.

PHIL: With a combined height of eight furlongs, The Henry Road are easily audible and look really nice.

Will you stay on in Loggy Land for future material or have you thought about venturing musically
elsewhere…somewhere exciting, like Hull?

BEN: Tim could tell you all about Hull, he went to art college there, although I think he went for other reasons...there
was definitely something fishy going on. Loggy 2 will probably centre around Loggy Land, we will record it in a
week at the end of September, with the help of anybody that passes by and wants to get involved. There will be
sing-a-longs, hats, wine and Duncan (the crap cat).

If you could take part in a tribute show, who would you like to pay tribute to and what song would you cover?

BEN: I would like to do something for Coldplay. One of their songs with piano in it at the beginning.

PHILIP: Coldplay's piano stuff is lovely. I'd like to arrange a massive festival of music for "piano" (Coldplay, Keane,
Elton John, etc) and then use guns to destroy the piano. Meanwhile, we will be playing a tribute show to ELO, using
stolen synths and prosthetic beards.

What makes you anxious?

Ben: Plums.

PHILIP: I suppose any soft fruit makes us anxious. And things that are too big for the room in which they are
(grandfather clock in small downstairs toilet, very big horse in tiny stable etc).

What is your favourite sound?

Ben: Turning off the light when you are knackered either that or 'plops'. I also like things that are 'poggy'.... candles
clacking together, tuppaware containers, fingers on keyboard....all extremely 'poggy'.

PHILIP: Any noise that is unexpected and unlikely. I heard a leaf fall on the ground and the noise it made can be
roughly transliterated as "pwaat!". That doesn't happen very often, usually they just go "put?" or "glat:".

Name 3 people that you’d like to big-up (i.e. greet in the style of a homeboy/ghetto male).

Barry Pincers. Michael Knight. Stig. Seriously - Jaymiblu, our beautiful friend and webwizard.

The band are currently recording their
second album.

For more info:
www.thehenryroad.co.uk and check out
Ben's poetry, stories and art here.

Thanks to the band for their time and
pictures. Interview by Dee.

THE
HENRY
ROAD