"We're better than the Mad Caddies!"

Rob: “Hello, we’re Cod Locker and we’re absolutely brilliant! We’re a five-piece ska band and I’m the drummer, my name’s Rob. Our trumpet player is Dave, the singer is Wez, the saxophonist is Richard, obviously known as ‘Rich’ and our bass player is Alex, who’s very, very tall! We all like to be very English on stage because there’s so many English bands that try to be American, it’s unreal, man!”

James: “Can you describe the Cod Locker sound?”

Rob: “Absolutely bloody brilliant!” Dave: “Yeah, it’s kindda like Edna’s Goldfish and Less than Jake” Rob: “We’re a lot better than the Mad Caddies!”

“How would you describe the live experience?”

Rob: “We’re wicked live! Everyone jumps around, we wear funny costumes, Rob on drums does stupid backing vocals which are so out of tune it’s unbelievable!” Dave: “And Link 80 said we’re the best British band they’d seen on tour.” Rob: “They were onstage and they go “We’d just like to say Cod Locker are a great band and they’re excellent people! They’re drummer’s amazing, he just hits the drums and talks at the same time!” Dave: “And the Chinkees said that we could play with them whenever they’re over here.” Rob: “And they would sign us to Asian Man but unfortunately we’re not a West Coast band.” Dave: “I think we’d have to be a little more mature as well! We’ll have to work on that aspect of the band!”

Wez + Alex

James: “Who are Cod Locker?”

Wez: “Cod Locker are a bunch of small rodents west of the coast of Mongolia!”

“What do they sound like?”

Wez: “They sound like a coconut in a blender! Or Less than Jake, depends which day of the week it is! Just take Less than Jake, a pinch of Reel Big Fish and mix it up in a big pot!” Alex: “With an element of Mustard Plug.” Wez: “Yeah, let all them simmer for ten minutes.” Alex: “And add spices!”

“What’s the live experience like?”

Wez: “It’s like a big squirrel going round and collecting nuts! Just picture that squirrel…and that’s Cod Locker live!”

“So what’s the deal with Asian Man Records?”

Wez: “I’ve been speaking to Mike Park and apparently there’s interest in putting one of our songs on one of his samplers.” Alex: “And Link 80 think we’re a great band…and we are.” Wez: “The lead singer from Link 80 keeps a journal with pressed flowers in!” Alex: “And the bassist thinks I’ve got a nice garden!”

“So are you happy with your current line-up?”

Alex: “The rumors are we’re going to get a tuba player.” Wez: “We’re thinking it’s going to be a squirrel! But it’ll need a brace to hold up the tuba otherwise it would squash it and that’s not good! We can’t have our tuba players being squashed all the time!” Alex: “Not again anyway!” Wez: “Not after the great Nut Incident of 1999!” Alex: “It was terrible!” Wez: “There were nuts everywhere.” Alex: “I still haven’t got over that!” Wez: “I’m mentally scarred for life!”

J: “Do you see ska becoming anymore mainstream anytime soon?”

W: “Ska becoming mainstream? Well no not really. I mean we're hearing less than jake on the radio now, and every where you go there's tons of little skater kids wearing their t-shirts, but i wouldn't call that mainstream. I don't think we'll be seeing 'em on top of the pops. Commercial ska in America has really come and gone, and although loads more people are listening to it over here now, i don't see it taking ever off in a big way.”

“Where do you see yourselves in a years time?”

W: “Ha. We have a song called Give Us A Year... Bitch! It asks that very question. In short we really haven't got a friggin' clue. We'll have a trombone player and a few LPs under our belt but i really don't see us being huge. We already have fans in Derby so there's a start!”

“What do you think about bands like Green Day and Blink 182, have they sold out?”

W: “Just cause a band has made it into the mainstream doesn't make them sellouts. What makes them sellouts is turning their back on their fans. If a band has worked their asses off for years playing in front 20 people and are finally making some cash then good for them. I have absolutely no problem with bands making money. The problem occurs when the band stops caring about the music (and the fans) and are doing it solely for the cash. Take for example everyone's favourite target, blink 182. I don't think they've 'sold out'. I don't think they've changed their musical direction to get more cash. Sure they pissed me right off by cancelling the warped tour date in '99 for a fucking interview, that got on my tits. But not sellouts, just humorous, good-lookin' guys who pump out music that happens to grab a load of people's attention. Now face to face, there's a band i can wave my hairy ass at...”

“What do you think about the scene in Birmingham?”

W: “Shit. Utter fucken shit. It once was great and i think its slowly getting better, but people have just stopped caring, y'know? You go skating round city centre and you'll see a whole bunch of kids in lagwagon and nofx t-shirts. But do they support the scene and go to the shows? Do they fuck! They must all go back to their parents houses and bung some blink 182 on their stereos. I remember when we put Diesel Boy in march this year and the place was packed out. Which goes to show how many people there are out there, but they prolly came just cause they heard them on a FAT sampler. At Against All Authority last week there were like 50 people max. 30 at MU330. And in terms of local bands who have we got? Hmmm.. Farce. Haha fucken farce! No its getting better, slowly. There's like us, Pignut, Zero-chance, and the others just aren't worth a mention. Well no, we now have Ten Men Jen. They're our old singer's band. They sound a lot like Five Iron Frenzy. So it kinda seems like things are getting better but you never know.”

“What’s been the best gig you’ve ever played?”

W: “Best gig we've played? Shit I dunno. The best set we've played was probably supporting Dead Set Against. The one i enjoyed most has gotta be with Diesel Boy. It was our first gig and we were all so pissed it was funny. We played absolutely shit but it was great, and I got hate mail from Dave from One Car Pile Up for ages after cause we didn't give them a cut from the profits.”

“So why the obsession with squirrels?!?”

W: “Well... Squirrels are like politicians, y'know. Deceiving little bastards. They seem all nice on the outside, but down inside they're malicious conniving creatures. 'Specially the grey ones.”

“If there was one band you could tour with, living or dead, who would it be?”

W: “Personally i think Edna's Goldfish, or maybe Catch 22. The most amazing 2 ska bands ever. I'd probably spend the whole tour sucking their chequered cocks. Haha.”

“So how long can you carry on?”

W: “I think the band will go as long as everyone still cares. No doubt next June some of us will be leaving brum for university, but new members are easier to find than a whole new band. I'm not going anywhere just yet. Anyway, we've only really just started out! Plenty of years left in Cod Locker yet.”

“How did you get your name?”

W: “The name came from my screwed up little head. We used to be called Longshot, but there just too many bands called that. We needed a name change and no-one could think of anything better so it stuck. We're not gonna have a locker full of fish on our CD cover or anything, its just a crazy name. Al (bassist) wanted us to be called The Carpet Munchers.”

“Rob wrote a song about his ex-girlfriend beating him up…is it true?”

W: “Yes! Poor rob. He would have new bruises each time we saw him, and he would just say "I fell down the stairs." She looked like the S&M bitch from that Samiam video, "She Found You." Tash her name was. Very unpleasant character indeed.”