This is a mirror of an interview that appears on this unofficial Mo Solid Gold. Please read it there if it's still up - I've only made this mirror because loads of old sites I used to link to have vanished :o(

So today we're chatting to the remains of These Animal Men Who have returned under the new guise of Mo Solid Gold, with the addition of a new frontman - one Mr K and with a unique blend of gospel rock! Intriging huh?
We've caught up with them at ULU in London where they are supporting the Clint Boon Experience and quiz them about the past, the break up of These Animal Men and what the future brings with the new band and new direction.

Mo Solid Gold are: Julian: Bass, Alex: Guitar/Backing Vocals, K: Singing, Craig: Hammond and Rob: Drums.

SO FIRST OFF , WHERE DID YOU ACQUIRE THE NAME MO SOLID GOLD FROM?
Julian: em, just from bouncing different things about, it was just one of those things where someone comes up with a word each and we came out with that, it dosent really mean anything, the name just came together!

WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED THE BAND YOU WERE JUST CALLED MO WERN'T YOU?, WAS THE LINE UP/SOUND OF THE BAND THE SAME?
Julian: Yeah it was the same line up, it was Mo for a while, then all sorts of different things, it was bascially just like an umberella sort of thing till we got to Mo Solid Gold

SO HOWS THE ALBUM GOING?
Julian: it's in it's embryonic stages, but it's all up here in the head

SO NO RELEASE DATES PENNED?
Julian: no,...... Craig: no we've only just started doing it really, just a few bits and bobs

WHEN YOU INTIALLY STARTED TO WRITE STUFF AFTER THESE ANIMAL MEN SPLIT DID YOU HAVE THE INTENTION OF LIKE DOING THE SONGS YOURSELF, OR DID YOU ALWAYS HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT DIRECTION YOU WERE HEADING IN, LIKE WITH THE STYLE OF MUSIC AND THE NEED TO GET A SINGER IN?

Julian: it's really got nothing to do with that, its kinda like somewhere you go afterwards sort of thing, where your like, um , happier (laughter from Rob) , do you know what i mean, it's a lot more soulful

SO YOU DIDN'NT HAVE ANY SONGS WRITEN BEFORE THESE ANIMAL MEN SPLIT?
Julian : No the song writings completly different in this band anyway becasue it's a 5 way thing, it's not like just alex and myself have wirtten the song's together, it's not that type of thing at all

ARE THE SONGS MORE JAM BASED?
Julian: Yeah a lot of them are, it sort of comes together through the general things of being in a band - you row, then you get on and it comes together!

WHAT SORT OF STUFF HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING TO WHILST YOU HAVE BEEN WRTITING THE STUFF AND HOW HAVE YOUR INFLUNCES CHANGED , IF AT ALL, FROM WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SONG WRITING?
Julian Yeah (laughter)

NO, BUT HAVE YOU LIKE GONE DELIBERATLY MORE TOWARDS SOUL AND AWAY FROM PUNK AND OTHER STUFF?
Julian:Well nahh, i mean punk is still an influnce for us,...... Rob: Yeah definalty, I think the way we play is just in us all, do you know what i mean, you c'ant really just say like now im gonna be funky

YEAH I KNOW, BUT THERES QUITE A GAP BETWEEN SOME OF THESE ANIMAL MENS STUFF, NEARLY ALMOMST EVERY SONG HAD AT LEAST ONE GUITAR BREAK IN IT!
Rob: yeah now everything's got an organ break in it!,..... Craig: no there like two totally different things, i mean things have come from it and that,..... Rob: thats probably like, there's gonna be bits of that and of their style from These Animal Men and from all the bands we've been in before, you take the bits with you as you go along,..... Craig: thats their guitarist (points to alex who's not yet said a word!),.....Julian: you can go into a music shop and you can buy a how to play like so and so and stuff like that, but thats fairly pointless becasue you can only be yourself, you can try and copy someone else and it will be almost unintelligble to you, it sort of like growing up, although it's a different from of being mental -it's not the same one as it was before!..... Rob:it's not set out with as much as an agenda as These Animal men, everyone is a lot more open to everyone else's suggestions and record collection and what have you!.....Julian: I mean we like other peoples bands and that now (mass laughter erupts all round) , you begin to realise it's just a great thing to be doing, it's like finally you've come out of adolescence

BUT YOU'VE GOT A MORE ACCEPTING ATTITUDE TO OTHER BANDS AROUND AT THE MOMENT, THAN YOU LIKE MORE AT THE MOMENT THAN BEFORE?
Julian:it's such a wonderful time to be making music, which wasn't necessarly so in the eighties and the early ninties but now (claps hands together)!

SO WHO DO YOU RATE AROUND AT THE MOMENT?
Julian:DJ Shadow, Moby and that sort of thing, just the way records are produced now, it's not like when we were making records before, there's a lot more open-ness now to make wilder and madder sounds and things like that, we're very lucky!

YOU SEEM TO HAVE HAD A BIT OF A BETTER TIME WITH THE RECORD COMPANY SINCE FORMING THE NEW BAND, THAN AT THE END OF THE ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY ERA?
Julian: Yeah theres a lot more electricity now

WOULD YOU SAY THERE IS A GREATER COMMERCIAL MOTIVATION NOW THAN THERE WAS WITH THESE ANIMAL MEN?
Julian: You have to accept you're not a subsidized form of art and art is none the less, selling a lot of records, you c'ant sit there and say - oh no, we didn't sell a load of records casue we're too good -thats just pathetic! I mean K and us it's just a really obvious thing -who could resist that????
The new boy

WHERE DID YOU ACTUALLY FIND K?
Rob: It was just a really rude ad in Melody Maker, which basically amounted to -even if you're like a millionith of a gimp d'ont fucking come, it was as simple as that really, casue we like had auditions and theres people turning up and reading poetry over our music and talking about two headed snakes, it was just getting fucking silly, so we just thought up the rudest ad and put it in the paper and K came along, .......K: I didn't even think it was rude, i just thought it was fair enough, i saw it by chance, went along and had a chat, did my thing and everything was cool

WHAT SORT OF STUFF HAVE YOU DONE BEFORE?
K: I was in a band for a couple of years, that was totally different from this, it was more yer adject rock kinda thing, we had a label looking at us and they kept saying (adopts comical voice) -oh Rage against the machine, Chilli peppers, but we're looking for the new Oasis, so it was more that kind of thing, but i like all kinds of stuff, and i'd sorta got that out of my system -jumping around , etc and just wanted to do somethig a bit more tiered, it's a different vibe, it's still like a bit mad, so this was like for me - like exactley where i should be

WAS IT LIKE AN INSTANT THING WHEN YOU TURNED UP AND STARTED PLAYING TOGETHER?
K: Yeah definaltly, they were auditioning someone else and i got let into the room by accidentand they like clocked me and thought please let him be able to sing and i just thought oh cool, if they are nice guys and i like the music, then it's all gonna be good - i did my thing and they liked me and i liked them so it turned out ok!

SO DIGRESSING HOW DID THESE ANIMAL MEN FINALLY CALL IT A DAY, WAS IT JUST A CASE OF LETS KNOCK IT ON THE HEAD AND TRY SOMETHING NEW?
Julian: Yeah it's the sort of thing where you just do it for a bit and then to make it seem better, well not to seem better but to make it exist in a bubble you have to leave it, .......Rob: It had no where to go, casue i came into it late in the end, both me and craig and i thought it was better than it ever was, i wasn't on the album, it just had no where else to go after that, it was just brilliant, it had to end!

SO IF THE SECOND ALBUM HAD TAKEN OFF, WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN HAPPY TO CARRY ON?
Julian:Probabley not, no, we were talking to each other on the last tour and saying about like just totally changing the whole vibe of things anyway, becasue we kinda existed in a place before that big scene afterwards, sort of thing and it was a little bit embarrassing, that was their thing, some people made a lot of money and got very famous during that, but it would be unfair if we kind of associated with that, it was time to do something completly different from everyone else and just leave that where it was, so no one could confuse the two things

MIND YOU, ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, WHEN IT CAME OUT WAS QUITE VISIBLEY DIFFERENT FROM ANYTHING ELSE AROUND AT THAT POINT, YOU WERE QUITE LEFT OF THE INDIE FIELD
Julian: Yeah but not quite enough

SO HAD YOU COMPLELTY RELOCATED TO LONDON IN THE ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY PERIOD OR WHERE YOU STILL BRIGHTON BASED?
Julian: Burgess Hill, in a tiny little studio there, we lived there for a year or so

IS THAT STUDIO 125?
Julian: yeah thats the one, we messed around there, then accident and emergency came out, it's a good record, i'd still sit and listen to it -and i really love it.....K: I did'nt have any time for These Animal Men up until I heard life support machine, so like when i spoke to the management about the set up, went down to audition and they said it's like the core remains of These Animal Men, casue i'd heard life support machine and had gone out and brought it and got some respect for the band - cause of that I had got some respect for the band, cos of that I thought yeah it's all good and i can definatley try and be a part of this, their stuff before you know - i don't wanna upset anybody, but I just dismissed it, like i don't know what that is, where's with the accident and emergency stuff that i'd heard when i joined up with the rest of the guys i thought-oh yeah there's definalty something good going on here and i'm glad to be a part of it, but it's that sorta thing that it probabley came too late, certain things happen and you create a certain vibe and you could be the most amazing thing and the label's still gonna go like nahhh, thast kinda what happened as i see it anyway, but there you go, it's proabley gonna be one of those cult classics!!!!

ANY SORT OF LINGERING DISAPPOINTMENT FROM THE WAY IT WAS RECIEVED?
Julian: No not at all...... Rob:It was recieved pretty well, but not sales wise, even press wise i thought it was a lot better than you would expect from that was involved with new wave or whatever, it was a fucking good record, probabley just a little bit too late

YEAH ON THE OUTSIDE IT SEEMED LIKTHINGS GOT BETTER AND BETTER AS YOU GOT LESS POPULAR
Julian:Yeah, but thats not something you'd put under a band name - thats why we stuck together....Rob: We could of all just like fucked off, when it ended with Virgin, we just all like sat down and we were all up for carrying on, it was a blistering band band as well, that last tour was blistering and you've still got the core elements of that and something more incendiary as well, so it's a plus now!

YEAH WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE REST OF THE BAND THEN (THESE ANIMAL MEN) WHAT HAPPENED WITH STEVIE (original drummer) WHY DID HE GO, DID YOU HAVE SOME SORT OF FALLING OUT
Rob: It was down to his bad taste in knitware (Mass laughter errupts from everyone)

DO YOU STILL HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH PADDY (these animal men bass player)AT ALL?
Julian: Yeah definalty, i mean Paddy left because he had other things he wanted to do

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE YOUR BEST MEMORIES/ DEFINING MOMENTS OF THESE ANIMAL MEN?
Julian: (long errrr) There are no best memories to be honest, it was one of those things you look back on and go - o.k it was all right, it's very hard work, it's hard to put them on hold, it wasn't plesant, it wasn't a plesant experience, not through our own fault really, but through really the pressure that was put upon us, we used to have reviews like the men they could'nt hang and stuff like that - it was like Boag gets gets hit over the head with a scaffolding pole and it's a question on radio one the next day - do you know what I mean?, you c'ant exist under that kind of thing, no matter how strong you are!

DO YOU THINK MO SOLID GOLD IF THEY CHART AND GET ON TOP OF THE POPS ETC, WILL FIT IN WITH ANY EMERGING OR EXISTNING SCENE OR FOR THAT MATTER WITH ANY OTHER BANDS AROUND?
Julain:I hope so.....K:I think we will be our own scene, no I d'ont think we're really fit in with any scene, casue we're not like anything else going on!.....Rob: I d'ont think there is a scene any more really, i d'ont think there will ever be another britpop or Camden type scene again!
BUT YOUR GONNA BE SUPPORTING OCEAN COLOUR SCENE SOON - DO YOU THINK THAT SORT OF AUDIENCE WILL GET WHAT YOUR DOING?
Rob: They should do

ST:THATS THE SORT OF AUDINECE THAT I WOULD THINK THAT YOU WOULD APPEAL MORE TO?
Julian:Yeah but its a timeless thing really , a little bit......Rob:I think anyone with a sensible fucking record collection will get it really, i'm not talking about sort of 14 - 16 year olds, but you know people who dig Ocean Colour Scene would get it i reckon as much as people who dig Primal Scream would get it! - it's pretty hardcore when you see it, it's not just kinda mainstream

ARE YOU WRITING WITH MORE OF A RADIO FREINDLENESS IN MIND THESE DAYS?
Craig: With singles and that you sort of have to, cause thats what the compant demands......Julian:It's kinda likehow do you make it artistic?, how do you make it have integrity?, and it becomes an element of things that you loved, it's like, when I think of the singles that I loved - there's nothing wrong with making people happy and stuff like that.....Rob: I d'ont think there are many truely great artists that have not made recods in the hope that that people wouldn't listen to them - Whats the fucking point, if your just gonna make records for 50 people in Camden - then fucking great but who cares?

WHAT YOU MEAN LIKE THE BETA BAND PHILOSOPHY OF BEING OBSCURE FOR THE SAKE OF BEING OBSCURE?
Rob:It's bullshit, it's fair enough for them, but it's just not what we're about at all, I definaltly d'ont wanna be obscure, I c'ant see the point in it, I just c'ant, it's like -James Brown , he's a bad mother fucker, but he's a bad mother fucker to millions of people1 , i'd rather do that, you make a great song - you want it to be on the radio - of course you do! , I wouldn't go out of my way to make something that no one wants to buy!

SO JULIAN ARE YOU HAPPY ABOUT SWTICHING TO BASS FROM GUITAR?
Julian: Yeah it's a bit fraught, i think it's a really cool thing to do!, I had no idea of what i was letting myself in for, but i enjoy it - you get more happiness being part of the rythem and part of the melody, than i got being kinda detached from it......Rob:It's the fundamental sound isn't it - the bass and the drums, it's the arse end of everything (Julian and Rob chuckle away!)

SO HAVE YOU CURTAILED YOUR WELL DOCUMENTED EXCESSIVE LIFE STYLE OF A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK? - LIKE FOR INSTANCE THE PIZZA DELIVERY STORY?
Julian:Yeah, it starts to become a bit sad, it effect's your psyche and you become paranoid -everyone knows what happens, we had to get some kind of new attitudes!

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU CAN ACCOMPLISE AS A BAND THAT YOU HAVN'T ALL READY DONE, YOU KNOW WHAT KEEPS IT INTERESTING AND WORTHWHILE AT THE END OF THE DAY?
Julian: Purely out of interest, not desperation or greed, or anything like that - just to see what it's like, like you go off to war!.....Rob: It's like when you just know, like when you walk into a party and just know your gonna have it, everything's just right and you walk in and you know your going to have it, it's being part of something like that, like when we're in a building together, we just go onto stage and know we're going to have it, it's undeniable - even when we fuck up, it's still better than anything we've done before, that for me means i can walk round with my head held high - 100% happy with the situation everyone else feels like that as well, it's a good feeling , a really good feeling that we've got going on at the moment definatly, you're not worried about press and stuff really!

DON'T YOU EVEN THINK YOUR BE WORRIED EVEN WHEN YOU PUT OUT THE FIRST SINGLE?
K: There's no point in being worried, like people from the first gig I ever did were like saying are you scared? - What's to be scared about,it's like you want something and people say before you do it, that you proabley c'ant do it, and you keep thinking about it and then you get off your arse and do it, it's like getting up on stage and getting your dick out and saying it's fucking big enough all right , rather than saying is it big enough? I'm saying if you put yourself on stage, you say i can do this, we've done what we've done and we're fucking proud of it - let's have it and thas's it, we're not gonna get all gimpy about things like that!

SO ENDING ON A TEASER CAN YOU STILL REMEMBER ANY OF YOUR TEN COMMANDMENTS?
Julian:No,.....K:we've just got the one, thall shall not be crap!!!!!!

So there you have it with K laying the plans out pure and simple for Mo Solid Golds quest for world domination!!!!

the boys were given a good going over by mark & rory at the ulu london 11/2/2000