ADDICTED TO NOISE

It�s 1994. You�ve just spent the past few years working as a rapper with such high profile acts as 808 State under the alter ego of MC Tunes - a dreadful name by anybody�s standards - when everything goes pear-shaped, your record label dump you and you end up working as a plasterer. Feeling disheartened that your five minutes of fame have been snatched from you long before the watch had stopped, you lie low for a while before throwing your influences into the blender, re-hatching plans for world domination and channelling these through a live band. On paper it�s a plan bound for disaster, but nobody�s sneezing at the Dust Junkys. EmptyNet Reviews finds out why.

It�s the band�s homecoming gig on a marathon tour to promote current album �Done�and Dusted� at Manchester Sankey�s Soap. Drummer Mykey and bassist Steve (who�d also have you believe he plays "bass for the entire human race") are in understandably good spirits. Their gig tonight is a sell out, their last single toyed with the Top 40 and the albums going steady. So, Dust Junkys. Who are you and why should I care?

"Basically" begins Steve, "it�s five guys from Manchester who all have their own idea of being in a band, getting together, making it work and getting this far. Nicky (aka MC Tunes) wanted to take that big beat thing to another level and get a band. He basically poached me out of the band I was in and I knew Mykey and Sam, and it just went from there."

There were stories that Sam, a young talented guitarist in the mould of Jimi Hendrix, both aesthetically and stylistically, was voted in before he even knew about it himself and that it took a series of threats to convince him it was in his best interests to join.

"Sam was really a typical teenager" says Steve "and he was like (slipping into typical teenager voice) "Oh I can�t be arsed", but he was really good, a massive talent for his age, so he just got continually harassed until he joined"

In fact, since he joined he�s been voted a pin-up by girl mag �More!�, so I suppose he hasn�t looked back.

"Yeah, Sam as a sex symbol (laughter)!! He�s actually a bit embarrassed about it all, but he�ll get used to it I guess. We always knew it�d happen!"

It�s been a few years since the Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and the like brought Manchester�s music scene the recognition it deserved, but is there still a �Madchester� scene and are the Dust Junkys part of it?

"The way I see it" starts Steve, the self confessed cosmic one "different areas of the country have different energies and some places just produce good fabrics. Some areas have good comedians, some have good artists�"

"And good slippers" chips in Mykey, helpfully.

"All of this is just because of the way people are" continues Steve. "In Manchester there isn�t all that much opportunity for working class guys, so that could be a blessing. You have to turn to other resources and that makes you find creativity. There�ll always be good poetry, art, acting and music in Manchester. It might not be the big thing, but it�ll always have a big influence."

I point to fellow Mancunians Black Grape as a reference point for the Dust Junkys.

"Yeah, in a certain fashion" agrees Mykey "but with Black Grape it�s more about Shaun Ryder, whereas I think with the Dust Junkys it is about the Dust Junkys. The only real similarity is that we�re from Manchester."

"The two front-men don�t give a fuck about the way they express themselves" adds Steve. "They�re not typical Englishmen, they�re not polite, but that�s where the comparison ends. I think we�re completely different musically."

Have they got what it takes though to stay around as long as Shaun Ryder?

"Well, there�s a lot of growing to do. The first album is, I think, just a small part of what the Dust Junkys are about. I think we�re still defining our sound. We�re not stupid. We want to make money so we can keep doing what we�re doing"

"At the end of the day" says Mykey "it�s about moving people with the music, especially live. The British market is all very trendy, all very hip, and you can get lost in that. So I think our success may not be in this country. If we have major success in England I think it�ll be on the back of success in America or elsewhere."