Beta Max

The last time The Beta Band graced us with the presence of a long-playing album, they famously dismissed it as "fucking awful" and "the worst record of the year."

This time around John McClean, the Beta's multi-instrumentalist and visuals man, is eager to affirm that they are genuinely happy with the results of their latest work Hot Shots II.

"The mood in the camp is higher and a lot happier," John enthuses. "We learnt a lot with the last album and made a few mistakes. We were set up this time to make a good album because we spent three months writing and Steve already had most of the songs done in demo form. This time around it was a lot less pressurized so we had a good time putting it together.

"It was recorded in the countryside in a farmhouse near Hastings. There was a painting studio there so I'd be off painting so it turned out to be a very productive time. We also made lots of films as well as recording the album. The films will be used for the shows so people can see them for themselves then. We're making videos for a change as well. The title is not really about anything. I think Steve (Mason) dreamt it. I think it's a nice title for a second album though. Hopefully we're hotshots now, whatever that means."

But did you really hate your debut album that much?

"There was a hell of a lot made of that," John replies. "I suppose it’s just because people don't usually say things like that. But in total honesty, there are a lot of songs on the first album that I just don't like and there are a lot of songs that are just far too long. The whole album could have done with being chopped down. As Robin (Jones - drums, piano, tape loops) says, it would have made a really great EP. But us not liking it was just a comment in the pub that got blown out of all proportion. Blown out of so much proportion that it made the cover of the NME. I think the thing that baffled us most was that people seemed to get the impression it was some sort of marketing campaign. Which is stupid, because obviously it didn't work! Also, if there is any one band in the world who don't know a single thing about marketing, it is us."

In the hiatus between The Beta Band and its far superior successor, Hot Shots II, the Beta's received a huge amount of global exposure for the track 'Dry The Rain' from their very first EP Champion Versions via a very funny memorable scene in High Fidelity.

"It was in the pipeline for so long," John states. "First of all, they wanted us to score all the music for the whole soundtrack, so we were really up for doing something like that but it just didn't happen. In the end it was just reduced to us putting 'Dry The Rain' on it. We knew that would be on it, but we didn't know they'd write a scene around it! So when we actually saw it, it was a huge surprise. I don't know how it seemed to other people, but to us it was really bizarre the way the film stopped and 'Dry The Rain' came on. It was really good because it wasn't a marketing thing at all. We ended up in that scene because John Cusack is a fan and he wanted to use it. That's always the best way for something like that to happen."

The Beta Band will begin touring this year in Ireland with dates in Belfast, Dublin and Cork before embarking on a US tour with

Radiohead.

"We're looking forward to getting out and about again," raves John. "The songs always improve live. There was one article that said I didn't dance around enough onstage and they were trying to portray it as some kind of an insult. They were saying I should take tips from Bez! Fucking hell! I have to play the piano, sampler, decks and remember everything I have to remember so that's hard enough work. I'd like to see anyone else trying to dance around and do all that at once. I'd really prefer to have the whole thing on DAT but unfortunately, we do play live. Sorry if that disappoints anyone." b

The Beta Band play The Limelight, Belfast (June 12), Red Box Dublin (13) and The Savoy in Cork (14). The album Hot Shots II will be released on July 2nd on Regal