In case you don't know them (at a-a-all... sorry...) Dagobah are a three-piece from Grantham who play top notch pop-punk with a hint of garagey rock'n'roll. Here's a chat I had with Andy (guitar, vox) and Tony (bass) after an awesome set back in November. Helping out were Judy (who is, presumably, a punk) and Cindy (who probably wasn't on methadone). But enough shitty name gags and on with the interview!

OK, brief history of the band?
Andy: Me and Tony used to hit Quality Street tins full of peas around. Then I learned to play guitar, Tony learned to play bass and Nick played piano and we were called The Glynn. Then Nick thought it'd be a laugh to learn drums so he learned drums and we called ourselved Dagobah. And that was it. We've been going for about three years now.

What was the first punk record that really sort of clicked with you? The one that made you say "Yeah, this is where I want to be"?
Andy: Oh, God, I don't know! "Seventh Son of the Seventh Son" - Iron Maiden! Yes! Yes! Weston - "Got Beat Up"!

OK... What other British bands do you know?
Andy: Chopper, Panic, er, that's it! They're sort of good friends. We know a lot of other bands, but... yeah, just put them.

Do you think zines are important?
Andy: Yeah, definitely. I mean, you need a zine to go around people. If you don't have a zine you get shitty magazines and stuff. People don't read them. If you get a good punk zine... I'm talking shit!
No, it's good! It's good!
Andy: It's good, it's true. I mean, cos you're doing a zine! Although punk zines... the worst thing about punk zines are zines that you can't actually read. If you can't read 'em then they're always a load of shit. If they're written in hard-to-read writing, and they're printed and they're all like that (shows example of messy-as-hell zine)... I don't know, I don't get on with them! My eyes are all going in different directions! I need twenty eyes in my head to read them!

What's the punk scene like where you're from? Is it lively and healthy or is it shite?
Andy: Judy lives in Grantham. What's the punk scene like in Grantham?
Judy: Pretty shit to be honest, actually. That's my say.
Andy: There's a lot of people there that are stuck in their own little ways, and they're all full of shit. Like, "Oh, I like Propagandhi. I nearly went to see Pansy Division the other day but they're all fucking poofters, aren't they?" It's that sort of attitude. They sort of like their punk but they're more into their old-school punk where they don't give a fuck about anyone. They're very sort of bigoted, racist and homophobic. That's what it's basically like and that's what things we've got to sort out. I like my pop-punk - I write songs about girls - but at the same time people have got to be up on their... is your tape going to run out there?

No, it's fine! Have you got any more releases planned in the near future? (remember, this interview took place in late November!)
Andy: Yeah, we're probably gonna record around Christmas time, and then, er, we don't know.
Are you gonna do anything else with Crackle?
Andy: Yeah, hopefully we'll do another single. Maybe get another Kerrang! "Single of the Week"!
Yeah, I was gonna ask about that! Were you surprised at that?
Andy: Yeah! I bought Kerrang! when I was like 12!

(I ask about plans to play, but those dates have been and gone...)
Andy: Check out the website!
The website, right? Are you all really into the internet and all that technological stuff?
Andy: No, Tony is.
Tony: I'm a computer programmer.
Andy: Tony's job is a computer programmer.
I was impressed with the website cos it's better than a lot of bigger bands' websites cos they're usually pretty poor, but your website was spot on.
Andy: Yeah, cos Tony's a geek! He's on the 'net all the time!
Tony: I haven't got a life!
Andy: I go on about once a week or something, which is probably too much. You should cut that!
Do you think the internet's a good or bad thing in general?
Andy: I think it's the best thing.
Tony: I think it's a totally good thing because it's... cheap!
Andy: Yeah, and people like the BBC are always going on about how bad the internet is because it's got porn on it and stuff, and that's like letters or something. You could always say, like, "Oh, there's always gonna be porn in letters", or something.
Tony: The thing is it's cheap, it's very cheap...
Andy: It's cheap! Cheap!
Any more advantages?
Andy: No, you can get so much information. You can get bad stuff but the positive stuff weighs up much more than the bad stuff.
Tony: I can e-mail 80 and it takes, like, one minute local call charge, which is like 5p or something. I can type quicker than I can write.

Did you see Star Wars when it was rereleased?
Tony & Andy: Yeah.
Did you think it was good, or did you think the original was... did you think they improved it?
Andy: Well, yeah, but I wasn't really alive, y'know?
Tony: Some of the new stuff did look a bit sketchy. Didn't you think?
Andy: I've got a poster from the rerelease that Cindy got me...
Cindy: Real cinema poster!
Andy: Yeah, it's a real cinema poster, and it's worth about sixty quid. I'm going to get it framed and stuff. It's cool, cos I actually went to see it with Cindy as well. It was nice!
Tony: Didn't like Jabba.
Andy: Yeah, Jabba was all a bit (wibbling sound)! Apart from that it was alright!

Another standard question: Would you ever sign to a major label if you were offered?
Andy: Yeah, but I'd probably do the same sort of thing that Green Day's done, which I didn't know until we went round Screw 32's house. Because Green Day have basically given everything that they've gained from their first two albums to Lookout. Since Green Day have been big they haven't actually been making as much money as Rancid, for instance, because this guy knows both, and Green Day aren't half as well-off as Rancid because Green Day basically give half their money to major labels and all their money from their first two albums to Lookout. They don't make a penny off their first two albums. If we were going to be on a major label we'd probably give a lot of money to Crackle.
Tony: It'd all depend on what the deal was.
Andy: It would depend. I don't really know much about that, but we'd have to get involved in it.
Tony: They say stuff like you've gotta cut your hair to make yourself look nice.
Would you do anything to compromise songwriting or anything, like if they said white a song about this, would you do it?
Tony & Andy: No.
Tony: We write about bad kung-fu films, horror films and girls!
Andy: Yeah, that's about it! Kung-fu films, horror films and girls. That's all Dagobah write about.
That's all you need!
Andy: Yeah. Films and girls. That's about it.

Dagobah's excellent Good Rockin' Tonight! 7" is still available from Crackle and their next 7" should be out around April. Write to them to see what they're up to and to see what swell merchandise they're selling: 326 Harlaxton Road, Grantham, Lincs. NG31 7JY. Oh, and if you're a geek (yay! Geeks unite!) check out their fancy website.

(from Scary Sheep #1)