The Poppies chat to Sarah Pavey - May 2006

THE POPPIES – INTERVIEW WITH SAM JAMES 22nd May 2006

Aberystwyth trio 'The Poppies' are causing quite a stir in the Welsh music scene. After forming in March 2004, they have written songs in Welsh and English in what we believe is a clever ploy

to get the whole of Wales addicted to their particular brand of infectious indie-pop. They won Best Welsh Language Act at the 2005 Pop Factory awards as well as being recognised as young talent by BBC Radio Cymru. With a similar sound to the Arctic Monkeys, the catchy 'Sex Sells' and potentially anthemic 'Streetlight' hint at exciting things to come.

In between 'Poppyism', supporting Brazil in the World Cup, Welsh speakers on Big Brother who 'should be doing their exams' and drunken DIY, The Poppies singer and guitarist Sam James had time to chat to us just a few days before their opening slot at The Full Ponty, and we found out just what the little tyke had to say -


Do you prefer writing songs in Welsh or English?

SAM: Lyrically I think I'm more comfortable in English. But certain songs do sound nicer in Welsh. Welsh can be a funny language for rock 'n' roll you know? With all the "ch's" and "ll's" it's almost like German, but then it can also be very flowing, and like, nice sounding.

So will The Poppies be moving more towards writing in English?

SAM: "Yeah we have been, I mean it doesn't mean that we don't wanna sing in Welsh, but there's only so much you can achieve, you know? The biggest gig you're gonna play is the National Eisteddfod, and we've done that. If we wanna take things further, we're gonna have to do more in English and play in England more as well"

Big Brother…

SAM: "It's cool, I like that there's Welsh speakers. Glyn should be doing his exams though!"

How did you guys feel about winning The Pop Factory award?

SAM: "We were chuffed, I got wankered, really really pissed".

Welsh music. Verdict?
SAM: "I think it's kinda coming out of a pretty quiet phase, Supper Furries, Catatonia and Gorky's all kinda came out of the Welsh scene at the same time, and after that there was a bit of a lull. It's not that good, I think people need to work harder. You can make money out of S4C, and it's very easy to get complacent, a lot of these bands think they've made it after they've been on television and it's not true"

Best gigs you've played?

SAM: "The gigs in North Wales, they're always very crazy even though getting there and back is a bit of a nightmare. Those gigs are always well attended. But drinking has a lot of influence, sometimes you can be standing there thinking 'I could be making all sorts of mistakes and singing anything and they're not gonna know'. But you just want people to have a good time really, so that's all that matters"

World Cup, what are your thoughts?

SAM: "We're really really looking forward to it! Disappointed Wales aren't in it, 'cause it looked like they were gonna be in there. But we're really excited about it as a band!"

So who are you going to be supporting?

SAM: "Not England! I quite enjoy watching England playing but I can't really support them! I'll probably be supporting Brazil, Germany aren't very good, I don't think their team's great at the moment. I think Brazil's gonna win. They've got a striker called Adriano who's very hot at the moment"

How can Welsh music break onto the British music scene?

SAM: "At the moment, it's very much Welsh speaking people listening to Welsh language bands, I think Welsh music needs to engage itself more with the English language music scene. I don't think the Welsh rock scene is doing itself any favours. For us though, it hasn't really been a problem because we've always been bilingual."

We heard you were planning a single with James Dean Bradfield?
SAM: "It was the plan to record a single with James Dean Bradfield producing it, but we haven't heard from him in a while! I was well up for it, I've been a massive Manics fan for a long time. We're still kinda planning it, it depends when he's available!"

So, what's the most rock 'n' roll thing The Poppies have done?
SAM: "If we did something really rock 'n' roll then I couldn't really tell you! But we did get really drunk the other night, and we painted our house with murals, all over the walls. It was quite a shock when we woke up in the morning 'cause we'd done all these massive portraits of each other. Some of them were quite good considering the state we were in. We've also been doing DIY in the garden. Fixing stuff. It's quite dangerous, power tools, 'Cause if you have a few drinks and then you think 'ooh I have a good idea, why don't we fix that bench outside?' And then you have a hammer and nails and electric drills…" Put the hotel room television down boys!

Crazy fans?

SAM: "There were some kids in North Wales who said they were gonna start a religion called 'Poppyism' on an internet forum".

So what does the future hold for The Poppies?
SAM: "There's a buzz growing about the band, it's about making the most out of it, and I suppose developing the band into a situation where we'd get signed. It's very hard though, there's lots of competition. We're trying our best and I think we've got a lot in us to come"


So, put down your pints and pay attention to The Poppies ... and James Dean Bradfield, hurry up and get working with these boys, we're waiting!