The Ordinary Boys are four energetic lads from Worthing whose tunes evoke raw emotion and passion from their young fans, while encapsulating the frustration of modern life. When the band played Birmingham Fused met up with lead singer and guitarist Sam Preston for a pre-gig chinwag. Preston emerged from the dressing room taking a long drag from his cigarette, if he was nervous or apprehensive about what the night had in store, he certainly didn’t show it.
Your fans seem to go crazy when you play and have even started The Ordinary Army…what’s that all about?
I don’t really know it sprung up from nothing then all of a sudden I hear that there’s this…army. It’s just the hardcore, mental kids who come to the gigs have given themselves a name – which is good. I get well jealous if I see a kid in the front row with another bands t-shirt on. I’m like - what the fuck are they doing? The Ordinary Army is a good way to keep me sane and not feeling jealous – I know the army are fucking mental about us, they’ve got the logo tattooed on them and everything.
Its been a busy year for you what with touring Japan and the States…
I love travelling anyway and it’s a good chance to get to know places. I know my way around every city in England, so to go to New York and Tokyo is great. I just generally feel a bit more worldly and cultured now, and also playing in front of a different audience is always good.
Did the Americans get where you guys were coming from?
Yeah, ska’s a bit of a four letter word over there, cuz there’s all these American bands that are supposed to be ska bands but they just sing crude jokes and its soulless. I thought the fact we do a couple of ska songs was going to be a real hindrance over there but the gigs were really good, everyone’s been really positive actually.
I’m half American anyway so it gives me an extra buzz. The thing about America is that the way it’s run is really fucked up and because there’s this huge right wing element to it there’s a huge backlash, so it’s all those kids that come out to see us - that’s why I think it works.
There’s been a bit of a revival of ska style music and you’ve been grouped together with Hard-Fi and The Dead 60s – does that annoy you?
Well we’ve only got about three ska songs, so I don’t really wanna be lumped in with anyone. It got us a few more column inches, but this whole ska revolution never really happened. Ska has always been there, and there’s always something that is really heavily influenced by ska on the radio at any one time. People like to have something to write about - it makes their job easier I suppose.
You’re supporting Paul Weller – how did that come about?
Yeah I met him and he called me up to ask us to support him which was a real privilege. We met him ages ago and he invited us to his studio and I saw his Jam guitar! Although I’d heard his crew were well old-school and thought they were going to hate us little upstarts!
Speaking of little upstarts – you’ve got a thing for Stacey from Eastenders haven’t you?
Yeah! That’s the only bad part about going on tour - I have to miss Eastenders, and on a Sunday I can’t watch the omnibus. I ain’t seen the Mitchell’s back in it, I never saw Stacey and Ruby running away...I like Stacey, she’s my favourite character. The one thing that I’d love to do before I die is have a little cameo in Eastenders with Stacey!
Morrissey was in Coronation Street twice and he had a speaking part, but I hate Coronation Street I think its rubbish. Eastenders is properly well written and the actors are good but everyone thinks it’s a little kitch, tacky programme but it’s not like that at all!
So what’s 2006 got in store for The Ordinary Boys?
We’ve done about 15 songs for the new album so we’re going to try and record that properly, try really hard on the next one and spend more time on it then hopefully it’ll be an instant classic!
Brassbound is out now on B-Unique Records
Gemma Fallon