W&H recently interviewed rising star DOMINIC MASTERS from London's dynamite urchin rockers THE OTHERS, but - having been enchanted once - were keen to catch up for a second chinwag in as many months when we bumped into him at a chaotically brilliant Others show in Brighton. As ever, Dominic was full of information, opinion and keen to respond to his detractors. And he filled in a few gaps about his past into the bargain.
W&H: You were recently featured in the NME; did you feel the article sensationalised your private life? (Dominic’s relationship with a transsexual man was rather luridly emblazoned as part of the article’s headline).
Dominic: "Look, would you rather have me like the lead singer of Ocean Colour Scene, a Mr Simon Fowler. A great singer, but poor old Simon couldn’t hold his boyfriend’s hand in the street; there were no photos or video footage… because he wanted his own privacy. Then what happens, is because he’s been in this idea of denial, is The Sun and The Daily Mirror do a week-long campaign, destroying (his) career where they say “the guy couldn’t even admit he was gay and say that he had always hidden the fact”. So what is it better to do… hide my relationship?"
"It’s better just to be honest with people from the start. I’m honest with people over whatever I do, whether it’s what drugs I take, what political ideas I have, ideas on class and sexuality. That’s why it’s sensationalised."
W&H: You think of the NME, you think quite a tolerant, open minded paper…
Dominic: "That’s what you’d think. Ah, I just knew they’d focus on it. They have to focus on it, so that other people who are younger have a possible role model for people like myself who are bi-sexual, maybe open on drugs and also keep their shit together and are well organised."
W&H: Your honesty seems to extend to your lyrics, I’m thinking of a song like ‘How I nearly lost you’…
Dominic: "That one’s about how I nearly lost my life. But I couldn’t write it in the first person because… I didn’t wanna look like a guy going “I nearly died”. So what I did is I wrote it in the second person. After a particularly heavy night my heart stopped, my mate had to put his fingers on my wrist to see if I was alive. All of the songs are like an autobiographical account. Everything that I say has actually happened."
W&H:There’s been an American election recently, apparently, how can you see the next 4 years going?
Dominic: "What you’ll see now is a demilitarised Iraq, with UN peacekeepers. I should think that you’ll see the American’s quietly withdraw their troops and try to replace them with UN peacekeepers from African countries who will take the work. What you’ll see is a slow retreat by America from the bloody mess that they’ve caused. The economy’s the big question regarding domestic policy, the USA is going into its first recession, but Bush could just be a foreign policy president. Then when it comes to giving up the reigns in 4 years time, he’ll be grooming his brother (Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida), who’s very right wing and ultra conservative, as the next President."
W&H:Are you happy mixing music with politics? How do your fans respond to this?
Dominic:"You see (Our fans) are such a broad church; it’s hard to tell people what to do. You can guide… you can give hope… direction and ideas. My ideas on certain subjects might not be what other people see as right."
W&H: How did the 853 (the Other’s infamous Kamikaze Stage diving division) come about?
Dominic: "We’d played a gig at the Red Rose, near Finsbury Park and afterwards we had to get fans across town. About 100 fans, fucking loads. We got two double Decker buses to the East End. On the way, we’d been discussing politics and wealth. When we got off the bus we saw a car, quite an expensive one, a Bentley or Mercedes or whatever with the number plate 853. Me and Ben Bailey, bless his cotton socks, got out a screwdriver, took of the number plate and we christened the kamikaze stage-diving crew the 853 as an act of rebellion."
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W&H: Your latest single likens Pete Doherty to the famous QPR footballer, Stan Bowles. Which footballer do you see yourself as?
Dominic: "Tony Book. He was the most successful captain in Manchester City’s (Dominic’s team) history. There are so many parallels. My first band failed, I’d split up with my wife, for a while things weren’t going well. We didn’t get signed until I was 26. I’m from Somerset…"
(Conversation veers off to subject of Razorlight, who The Others' supported once at the Freebutt in Brighton)
Dominic: "Yeah, that was the gig where we learned to never speak about Razorlight ever again, because he’s a…we’ll… aw, I’d love to say so much…
"...Anyway, Tony Book’s from Somerset ,a village called Peasedown St John. He didn’t leave his village until he was 27, he worked in the local coal mine. I was late into getting signed and so was he.. Between the ages of 29 and 41, he won, as captain, (the) European Cup Winners Cup, League Championship, FA Cup, League Cup twice, Charity Shield and Super Cup. He was just the bollocks, man! Give me ten years and maybe I can be as good as Tony Book!"
W&H: Obvious question- how did you guys get together?
Dominic: "After my first band failed I went clubbing for ages. Clubs like Dirty Water, Last Rockers and Club for Losers. Anyway, my face was getting recognised and people where starting to ask ‘What did I do’ and I didn’t want to tell them I had a shitty job"
W&H: What was your job?
Dominic: "I’m not telling you. It was a shit job. It was good pay, three times what I’m getting now. Let’s just say I was… a consultant. It was depressing… When you’re working for ‘The Man’, everyday you’re going in, all you’re doing is helping that company’s profits get higher for the expense of your own labour. It was better to quit."
"Anyway I kept telling people I was in a band, cos it wasn’t very rock n roll to tell them I was a consultant. I got away with this for about six months before people started asking questions like ‘When’s your band playing’ and I’d be like, “Ah, we don’t play much…” One day, when I’d been hanging out with my drinking buddies, and Victor (from The Parkinsons) asked (adopts drunken accent) “What’s the name of your legendary band? What’s the name?” And I said “Err, we’re called…. The Others?”.
"Victor goes to Max (club owner) ‘Put The Others on, put The Others on!’ and he books us to support the Parkinsons in two weeks time. I didn’t wanna lose face so I thought, fuck it, I’m gonna form this legendary band, so I phoned up James (Jimmy Lager, Other’s guitarist) and James being the honourable bloke that he is and he said ‘yep, I’ll do it’. He got hold John (Others) on bass and a session drummer. "
"In a prolific period of three rehearsal sessions, about eight hours long, we wrote six songs. Turned up for the gig, slightly nervous. Anyway, we got through the six songs in about eighteen minutes, I think, maybe twenty… they were certainly whisked through fast! We finished the gig, everyone clapped their hands and afterwards a guy called Fern, who signed Franz Ferdinand, said ‘When’s your next gig?’ And we took it from there."
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