Ruth PO!

The way you present yourself on stage in your first gigs can make a big difference to the success and longevity of your band. The music can be terrible, howling with feedback, out of tune or time. But with character and energy, you can gain fans who will come to more gigs and allow you to develop and improve musically. Just by having confidence, you can make it a great band! In your head, you might aim for this perfect musical gift for the audience.... However, deep down you know that it's more like this kind of gift.... And that's where the first bit of learning comes in. Don't feel bad about what you do; be proud! In your first gig, you are showing what you can do. Yes, you should rehearse and plan and promote all that you can, but being a good band is about persuading people that you are a good band. So which of these statements after the gig sounds like a good band? "It's usually better when the drummer's in time. Sor...

My ambition for PO! was serious; that's why I paid for a Post Office Box so that we could receive letters and not have people knowing where I lived. I also thought it made us look very professional. PO! recorded three tracks for a demo tape, funded by Leicester City Council and sold copies of the cassette at gigs. As a result, someone called Charlie offered to make a flexi-disc to go with his fanzine ‘Samantha’ The songs were 'Confidence' and 'Appleseed Alley'. At this time, before the Internet and social media, the only ways to find out about new indie bands were through fanzines and John Peel’s Radio 1 show. The mainstream music press, such as the NME also promoted a small number of ‘next big things’ according to the whims of the writers. The PO! flexi peeking out from Samantha Fanzine Fanzine Charlie was a lovely person; he was so dedicated to promoting new bands and single minded in his efforts to make his fanzine successful. In fact, ...

I wanted to make a new band fuelled by my own shell-shock. After a long, plain and lovely childhood, I had suddenly encountered the cruelty of the world and been badly affected by a short spell of 'adult bullying'. Suddenly I could see terrible treatment and inequalities everywhere and I had to tell the world about it. From my 'Spare Rib' Diary of 1987, it looks like I auditioned drummer Marc Fuccio as a potential new drummer for The Soviets but then hijacked him to form PO! with bass player Julian Glover in February. We practised at Archway Studios initially, with Julian coming round to my flat on Highfield Street, Leicester to write songs.  I did not have much furniture, so we sat on the floor. The first time, I came up with a song called 'Fairweather Fowl'. Like PO! songs until the very end, the mood was anger, sweetly sung.  In those early days, I wrote the song 'Danny's Girl' in an attempt to portray how you can love som...

I have little idea of music theory. I am not an amazing guitarist or piano player, yet I have been able to write songs that I'm proud of and that have produced effusive responses from people who have never met me and don't owe me any loyalty in praising my creations. I know that you can go to music college and learn the theory that will make you effective at playing and writing, but I also believe that there is an element of personal passion and the wild nature of beginners and amateurs that stands tall and makes good songs. So: Most songs consist of a vocal melody that is sung (unless it's a rap), with a rhythmic and chord-based backing. A lot of people write songs by playing around with chord riffs or patterns and then singing over the top of it. Often the result is a vocal melody line that just follows the changes of the chords and is therefore either simple perfection, or more likely, rather dull. However, if you're a young band just starting out, or a gro...

I love Community Arts.  It used to be a kind of yogurt-weaving joke; the idea that rough kids from inner city estates would do a bit of circus skills, parachute co-operation games and muck about with old lorry tyres and somehow get civilised. I still think it works. I still think that it's better than doing nothing. http://can.uk.com/ There are half-dead men in their 40s, who grew up in affluent suburbs and never experienced Community Arts. If you grow up with financial stability and success as a default, it must seem weird that anyone would ever want to do those things -  how can making a giant elephant out of old pallets be useful for young people who should be training for jobs? I guess there's always been bad parenting; there are selfish ones and immature ones and ones that just aren't around enough. But when I was younger, Community Arts filled that gap. There were dens and adventure playgrounds and youth centres, and arts wo...