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| INTRODUCTION | DISCOGRAPHY | MP3'S | LIVE DATES | PICTURES | P.S. | |
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS SO WHO'S THIS ALFIE? Lee Gorton, Ian Smith, Matt McGeever, Sam Morris & Sean Kelly. SO WHO DOES WHAT? Lee Gorton - Sings. Ian Smith - Lead guitar & Keyboards. Matt McGeever - Cello. Sam Morris - Bass Guitar. Sean Kelly - Drums. The band collectively write the songs. Lee, Ian & Matt all write the lyrics. THERE SEEMED A FEW MORE ON STAGE WHEN I SAW THEM LIVE? That's because when they play live they enlist help from friends such as... Dee - Extra Guitars. Ben - Trumpet. Amy - Flute. WHERE DOES THE NAME 'ALFIE' COME FROM? Although the press often likes to make references to the mid 1960's book and film of the same name ("what it all about?" etc...), the reason why the band choose 'Alfie' as their name in fact had nothing to do with either. According to a conversation I had with Lee on the phone while I was compiling this: The story was... Just prior to the bands first gig they were still without a name. In desperation the whole band went around Lee's house and engaged themselves in a game of 'word association'. Everyone sat in a circle blurting out random words - simply whatever came to mind. Most of the words made little impression, but along the way someone said 'alfie' and this hit a chord. Lee and Ian thought it sounded intriguing and with little time left to come up with anything else they played the gig as 'Alfie'. This gig ended up being 'accidentally' reviewed by the NME and published. The warm review and exposure meant that it became difficult and daft to change the name. So it was ruled out and the band continued with it. There are however a couple of 'happy coincidences' that link the band and the book and film... 'Don't Be Blue' one of the first song written by the band mentions star Michael Caine. The 'Alfie' logo - designed by Andy Votel - is the same font that adorned the book and film poster. CHEERS FOR THAT It's ok. SO WHAT IS THAT FONT? Cooper Black. WHAT'S 'IF YOU HAPPY WITH YOU NEED DO NOTHING' MEAN? A while ago Lee moved house. He informed his doctor that he had moved so he could register with another doctor. She wrote back saying that he didn't have to if he didn't want to and at the bottom of the letter she had written in pen 'If You Happy With You Need Do Nothing' to summarise. The moment Lee read it he knew it was the perfect album title. WHAT'S THE CONVERSATION GOING ON DURING THE TRACK JAMES' DREAM? It's a tape recording of Lee and his brother made 20 years ago and they were little kids. It's about an adventure. SO WHAT IS BEING SAID? Read the next question below. WHERE CAN FIND LYRICS, I'D LIKE TO SING THEM IN THE SHOWER AND ON MY WAY TO WORK? Nowhere at the moment. Various fansites have attempted to transcribe some. Most of them are not accurate, but Lee is fascinated by reading people's mis-interpretations. We'll see what we can do. The inside sleeve of the LP and CD does however have the lyrics to James' Dream hand written on the piece of cardboard - although technically they're not 'lyrics' as such. "A door opened right beneath our feet. We fell through a massive hole into a dungeon. A futurised dungeon. We all had our survival belts on us. A length of 7 metre rope, a penknife, a portable stove with food cakes and a small laser and a normal torch." I WANT TO BUY ALFIE'S EP1 / BOOKENDS EP / MONTEVIDEO EP BUT NOWHERE SEEMS TO SELL THEM. HOW COME? The three EP's that comprise the album were initially released as very limited edition vinyl on Twisted Nerve and sold out within a couple of weeks. Since only 'Ooze A Lullaby' and the brief instrumental 'Montevideo (Reprise)' are the only tracks absent on the album (James' Dream part one and two merge again together, as they originally did when the track first premiered on our Bends for 144 Miles EP) it's highly unlikely that the three EP's will ever be re-issued. Various second hand record shops on the internet do occasionally get the odd copy, but since they sell out so quick it's not worth listing any of them here. Sorry. TELL ME SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT THE TRACK 'MONTEVIDEO'? Erm... PLEASE? The track existed as an untitled instrumental demo for a while. One day Ian was sat on his toilet listening to the demo tape. He was pondering his shower curtain in the bathroom on which was printed a map of the world. The popular holiday destination Montevideo (the one in Urugary not Minnesota) caught his attention and he thought it would a good title. HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE 'MONTEVIDEO'? 'Monty-vid-dayo'. Not 'Monty Video'. WILL BOTH PEEL SESSIONS EVER GET RELEASED? No plans at the moment to.  |