They moved to London less than a year ago but the Trap are already making a big impression on the hard-to-please music scene in our fair capital city. We caught up with them and gave them a grilling so hard that this whole piece only needs a very short introduction.

Who are the Trap?

Tom - We are Des Fitzgerald on vocals, Tom Perrett on guitar, Al Catto on bass and James MacDonald on drums.

Why are you called the Trap?

Al - (to Tom) Your mum.
Tom - My mum.
Des - Because of my enormous mouth.
Mac - It represents the impossibility of escape from one’s soul.
Others - Indeed.

How would you describe your sound?

Tom - Come with us down the valley of groove towards the black rocks of chorus.
Al - Loud - we get our bass drum sound by driving a truck into an elephants backside.
Des - Apparently it’s a ’soft looped psych delight’, bollocks.
Mac - Eminently sophisticated.

Who are your influences?

Al - George Clinton for my hair.
Des - ROCK of any decade.
Mac - Van Gogh, Botticelli and John Bonham.
Tom - Graham Coxon for his genius and weird noises and George Harrison for his subtlety.

When is your next release coming out?

Tom - Release? Well that depends on who signs us, but we’ve got a three track demo available at the moment with Nigel, Thieves and When The Night Comes on it, and we’ll be recording another track in the next month or two.
Mac - My bowels.

When can people see you play live?

Tom - Tuesday May 7th at Barfly in Camden, London. Next one after that is Saturday 8th June at The Bull and Gate in Kentish Town, London.

What makes you better than any other band?

Des - It’s very kind of you to say so.
Al - Because we can actually play.
Tom - Exactly. And we’re really very attractive.
Mac - Because I’m in it.

What was the worst gig you ever played?

Tom - In someone’s back garden in Godmanchester when I was 16. I broke 3 strings in the first verse of the first song.
Des and Mac - At the Jericho in Oxford.
Mac - I’ve wiped all memory of that gig from my mind.
Des - I jumped off the stage to dance on the floor and fell over in a big puddle of beer.

You all met at Oxford University; do you worry about Radiohead comparisons because of that?

Des - Not as much as they are.
Al - Isn’t everyone? I’ve heard some punk bands are getting worried about their next release.
Tom - Who?

What bands are you listening to at the moment?

Des - The Cooper Temple Clause - See Through This and Leave.
Mac - Aphex Twin - Druqgs
Al - James Brown - Sex Machine
Tom - The Dinosaur Record.

If you could be in any band other than the Trap, what would it be?

Al - Crap.

If you achieve major label success, how will you abuse your new found fame?

Tom - WHEN we achieve major label success…
Des - I’d do everything I could to get Simon Cowell, and then…
Tom - Yeah! Steal his belt!
Al - Open a vodka bar…
Mac - …and hold black magic orgies.

What one thing do you never go on stage without?

Des - Your attention.
Tom - Indeed. And a packet of Fruit Pastilles.
Mac - A sweatband my auntie gave me when I was 7.
Al - My trousers!

What would you do if you had a JCB?

Al - Abuse my new found fame.
Tom - Go Diggin’!
Mac - Recreate the opening scene from Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.
Des - See above (Simon Cowell).

What are you going to do now you’re finished doing this?

All - Have a cup of tea.