Every once in a while a band comes along that epitomises ultimate cool and must be taken seriously. Dodgy is not that band.

They started out as the Primal Scream it wasn't okay to like, then they became the Suede it wasn't okay to like and now they're the Oasis it's not okay to like. They are not young, they are not beautiful. They are, however, perhaps the best exponents of guitar pop on the planet. Come join Dodgy and the merry motley youths of the musical uprising.

It's 8.45am and the connection is made. I'm now talking to Andy Miller, guitarist and one part out of the three-part harmony experience called Dodgy. On the phone from somewhere in Germany, of all places. But first, some history. As with most of the current crop coming out of England at the moment, Dodgy have a firm understanding of their pop roots and they're not afraid to use 'em. They have been compared to everyone from the Who to the Stone Roses, but they differ to acts such as Oasis, in as much as they don't steal from what has gone before, but rather share. Out of a mid-80's Birmingham gloom, Mathew Priest (Drums) and Nigel Clarke (Bass) decided that rather than go nowhere, they should go to London. With nothing except sheer obstinance and hope, they took the plunge, on the way signing up Andy, via a personals advert. For years they did nothing except juggle crap jobs with their song-writing. Nigel had a car, a mortgage and was engaged to be married!

"That's why every couple of songs he writes, he's always returning to those themes. He's always singing about getting away from the factory, about leaving everything behind and looking for something fulfilling instead of the 9-5." explains Andy. He is married now, but to someone else. The band played everywhere that would have them, pubs and coal bunkers alike. Then came the now famous Dodgy Club, where in between live sets, the band would DJ as well.

1993 saw the release of the The Dodgy Album, packed full of hits that hardly anyone bothered with, despite recommendations from countless journos and even one Noel Gallagher, although he was still a roadie then so what would he know, right? No matter, they were a proper group now writing proper songs. They started to get chummy with the London in-crowd. "There's this Greek kebab place in Camden" says Andy "that doubles as an all night drinking place where you can basically drink to your limit. It's where most people usually end up."

"You see living your dreams is what Dodgy songs are all about" says Andy in what is probably the best advice you can get for free. Even though Nigel writes most of the songs the royalties are split 33 per cent each, which is commonly known as putting your money where your mouth is. They have Charter 88 stalls at their gigs, which is an organisation that calls for vigorous campaigns against evils like Royal fax hunts and anti-rave legislation, and also for things like drug education. "The Government should be facing the fact that people take drugs, they always will, so give us some f---ing information! All you get is press hysteria and people dying of ignorance" said Mathew in a recent interview.

Ignorance, as they say is no excuse, which brings us rather nicely to the matter at hand the second Dodgy longplayer, Homegrown. A veritable treasure trove of hits, it is, and you'll get no argument out of Andy. "In England, you're not allowed to like your own music. If someone asks about your favourite song and you mention something of your own, then they think your conceited. But why can't you, you make it, you're proud of it. It's crazy."

We hear stories of Camden (A London borough, famous for it's night life and indie-glitterati). Are they true or is it just a media beat-up? "It's down to who you know, really, cos it's like the journalists are only writing about it, it's 'the kids' that are living it. There's always some one hanging around though, trying to get you to slag off some band or smash in a shop window. It's only the news that they're after. But all in all, Camden's a good place to pull actually, you know 'I'm in a band'. Desperate little shites, we are."

Desperate times regardless, Dodgy don't stand to lose that much if they don't crack it here, they'll still be Dodgy. You just have to take a look at The Ways of Dodgy, a series of advice about life and love jotted over their releases. "The answers lie in yer heart, not in yer head. Head off in a heart direction." I was just leaving.

Clem

Interview courtesy of the Scene Magazine