The Flys Talking – Taking off February 1978
by Pete Clemons
Flying Start: 'Me and David and Joe have been playing together for three or four years. The front room situation!' - Neil
'Neil started us off. We began writing songs together and recording them on beat up cassettes' - David
'We were originally called Midnight Circus. You see I was really into the Pretty Things and that came from a song of theirs. That was the first working situation, but it was not easy or right to remember' - Neil
'We all made lists of names for the band and The Flys on two people's lists. So that was it' - David
'F-l-i-e-s may be correct, but looks terrible. Flys is visually more acceptable. We were not thinking of insects, zips or anything like that. Though when zips became trendy friends accused us of that implication' - Neil
'Coventry died in the disco thing. The only live music is from club bands. We had difficulty in finding a drummer, because most to work in a £5 job in the clubs, rather than do something new' - David
'Its only recently that people have tried to get something together. There are four or five new wave bands in the area and one club has a new wave night. It may only be 18 months late but in Coventry.........' - Neil
'One club used to book us when other bands cancelled. People must have got fed up with seeing us'. 'One night Peter almost refused to play there. That night we got an encore' - David
'Four or five night supporting Buzzcocks helped us. They paid for us out of their own money'. 'Yeah, they're really decent blokes' - Neil
'EMI saw us at a gig with them. It also brought us to London' - David
'Even before EMI came along we decided our own record out. We wanted to put out value for money so put out value for money so we made a five track EP for 90p' - Neil
'We recorded 13 tracks in two days at Pathway Studios. 2350 printed and it made number ten in the Lightning new wave chart. We were going to put out 7000 then EMI showed interest' - David
'We were surprised when EMI said they wanted to put out 'Love and a Molotov Cocktail' on the single. It was on our own record label too and has been in the set for months and we were getting a bit tired of it. Now we can't put it on the rest pile' - Neil
'Big interest from EMI came after Buzzcocks Marquee gig. There were so many bands in London that it had been difficult for us yo get gigs here because we were not a London band. We've still only played here a handful of times' - David
'Coming from Coventry we felt a bit like country bumpkins. Sometimes it seems a bit strange with us in Coventry and the company in London but I wouldn't want to live here full time. I wouldn't mind somewhere we could stay when we're down here though. Whether we can afford it is another matter though' - Neil
A Fly in the ointment: 'You're the most rubbishy band we've ever seen. And I'm going to tell all the other people I know not to book you. Here's a fiver' - manager of a London club
Flying squad: 'A year ago we did a gig up Redcar way and it was so heavy we were scared stiff. There was a long line of bouncers armed with wooden clubs forming a line in front of the stage. People were shouting: 'come on be a punk. Do something outrageous'. The manager of the place told us we'd be alright the next time as the next gig was at an elite place. But it turned out to be near a skinhead stronghold and they were chucking bottles at the stage and pouring beer down the neck of the roadie sitting at the mixing desk. The manager had to take me through the crowd to get to the toilet and told me very reassuringly - 'your going to get fucking battered tonight lads'. Our van was showered with missiles. We had to have a police escort. Can you imagine the police protecting a new wave band?' - David
Fly blown: 'We supported the Rich Kids at the 100 club and had no room to play at all. Their roadies set their stuff up on stage and we weren't allowed to move it, so we ended up cramped up trying to get our gear and ourselves on the stage as well as their gear. Consequently we were pretty crappy' - David
'We've vowed that that sort of thing wont happen when we're at the stage of having someone support us. Support bands should get the chance to have a soundcheck, use of a good PA and other equipment if necessary. Groups can't forget what they had to go through can they? Some of them obviously don't remember the days when they used to be supporting better known acts and what they had to put up with' - Neil
'It's not always the bands fault. Some of the roadies get a bit bossy' - Neil
Fly paper: 'Some of our mates were dead jealous when we told them we were being interviewed by Sounds magazine, it's the first time we have been interviewed' - David
'When we released our EP that for us was fulfilling our fantasy. Then when we signed with EMI that was a further step into the dream world' - Neil
'Now our fantasy is to be on television. Your standards and hopes rise all the time as things develop. It was incredible to hear our record on the radio, even though John Peel didn't sound overkeen on it after he played it. After five years of learning guitar it is quite good to walk in a disco and hear a DJ say; 'this record is by The Flys.....' That is enough to get the heart going very fast' - David
'We're straining at the leash to get into the studio's to start work on the album. We have plenty of material to work on. We have already had six of our songs out on record, which isn't bad going (five of their own on the 'Bunch of Five' EP, with two re-done cuts on the EMI three track single now in the shops)' - Neil
Unidentified flying object: 'People tell us our songs are very melodic. That's just the way they come out. This fresh pop craze is nothing new, just another fashion. It's like at the end of the year all those one-two-three-four punk stuff just neatly disappears for the next craze' - David
'I'm glad we came out at the end of '77 instead of the beginning. We could easily have been swamped in the mass movement. By the end of '77 it was obvious you had to come out with something different if you're going to break through' - Neil
FLY-OVER
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