WHEEL ME OUT - Chips For The Poor

Chips for the Poor are a London foursome whose live shows are synonymous with mirthful, high energy exposition. Their recent 7", Tell Your Mum Bolan's Back (Invisible Spies records), is an instant classic, featuring the especially winsome I am a Warrior, a one note masterpiece which, when played live, is sustained for up to 22 minutes – though it's clear from the enrapt faces in the audience that they'd happily listen to it forever.

Wheel caught up with CFTP frontman Scott Bradbury to find out what he gets up to in the daylight hours, when he's not busy tearing up the equilibrium of sonic space.

Chips For The Poor

What do you do? I work, ahem, in a office for a homeless charity based in London. I have many friends in the office and they all like me terribly. My daily grind is admin-related and quite a snooze fest to be truthful but then again what’s a guy supposed to do?

Do your co-workers know you’re Chips For The Poor? Well people at my work know I do a band but to be honest I don’t think any one has checked it out and if they have no one has said anything. Ha ha ha, makes you think don’t it? Ha ha.

So I suppose you would be qualified for other admin jobs. Why did you choose this one? Well as one knows what lives on Planet Earth, to keep spinning on it like a clown on a beach ball you gotta earn some wonga, and after many moons on Skint Street I went for a job and was sent to the charity to start. So really I didn’t choose but I chose to stay. Beats fighting off that wolf at the door. Savage teeth and matted hair.

Have you ever been homeless? My mind is the motherfuckin hidden homeless. I sofa surfed till the blankets got wet but nothing street-wise apart from crashin after a bash. But then you know you got a bed and it’s just for the buzz ha ha.

How much contact do you have with homeless people? My contact is pure phone enquiries only and try and point people in the right direction for help, although if they met us, they’d be, “Take advice off that Colonel Dcik Splash,” ha ha ha.

What’s the most common reason people call you? Mainly they dig me sexy voice ha ha ha. Otherwise it’s cos people need contact info to get themselves booked into accommodation.

Is there anything else that you do? I doo doo doo. At work? Ha ha I hang five with my crew. Surf the waterlogged avenues of my mind’s eye. Keep them closed and wash out the salt. It’s like Venice plugged into the Beaumont Leys wave machine minus the rabbit eggs on the side haha.

Wow. How would you compare your level of dedication to this job to your level of dedication to your music? Footing on an ice rink I would say. If you ever seen me roller booting then you know what I’m saying. I get distracted from both ha ha. I tend to wander lonely as a cloud.

So if you had a choice between full time music and full time homeless admin, what would you choose? Well, the choice between gettin me wobble gob out full time and sittin in the dark ha ha then it pretty obvo, but then if you heard my music sh*t, then N-Power and me wanky banky be on me faster then a starvin leopard...bills bills bills. Pay up and shut up int it.

How hard is it to get paid for music? Well since Radiohead f*cked it up ha ha ha gettin paid in full is a tough one. The main thing is getting rid of paying to play. F*ckin promoters thinkin its a special privilege to play their venue so the new artist has to fork out. If a promoter likes an artist’s sh*t then give them some bleedin cash. I’ve put bands on and manage another so you can’t make them millionaires but you agree a price and pay up int it. Me and money don’t always walk hand in hand ha ha ha. I have to still look both ways unless I want flat feet ha ha ha.

Do you think you’ll always be in a band? Let me look at me magic eye poster... I see a pirate ship and I see some skeletons dancing to a band. Oh, who is the band, I like it. The lead singer has a long yellow beard but what beautifool eyes, they are so bluuuuue. Agh yes that’s me in the future... lez hope that poster int lying else someone is gonna be in the recycling bin ha ha. Save the planet, save the whale, save the football, save the frail. tbc. WMO

C4TP on Myspace

www.myspace.com/CFTP