Who is in Dina, what do they play and how did they get together?

Dina are Ged (guitar/vocals), Paul (drums/b vocals) and Chiz (bass). Ged and Chiz were playing with each other in Ged's bedroom (Ha!), I was at art college and Paul had a nice part (haircut) and he looked like Duncan (of PJ + Duncan) so we got him in and that was Dina.

Were any of you in bands before Dina? Were any of them embarrassingly bad?

I was in a rap/metal band called "Category D". We had too many songs on KERRANG compilations. Paul was a session drummer for ASWAD (not really) and Chiz spent his time singing in the bathroom mirror and perfecting his stage presence.

Is the split with Grampus 8 the first thing you recorded? Are you happy with how it turned out? Do you have any other releases planned?

No, we did a 2 track demo, but we don't play the songs anymore. The stuff on the split CD is over a year old now, the songs these days are sounding a lot tighter and have a lot more scope. The songs on the CD are OK and in a way I'm glad we released it coz it's a good reference for us to see if we've got any better or not. No plans to release any other stuff but we're gonna record six new songs late March so we will have songs ready if anyone's interested. We do have a tune coming out on an ENZK fanzine compilation.

Do you get to play many gigs? Have you played with any bands who have particularly impressed you?

Not too bad, loads in Liverpool, a couple of times in Leeds and we did a 6 date mini tour with Grampus 8. We went up to Dundee, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Wigan and ye olde Liverpool. Impressive bands, definitely 86, they're nice guys with good songs, Spy vs Spy were great though we were not so great that night and the Grampsters.

How did the tour with Grampus 8 go? I heard there was a bit of an "incident" in Dundee...

We played a gig in Dundee on the mini tour with this old punk band called The Eddies. They turned up late, played for an hour and a half and totally took the piss out of us i.e. "calm down" (you know the old Harry Enfield way), "play some fuckin' punk, oi oi oi" etc. Three songs into the set I said "this one's for cunto" and played one of our faster tunes. This skinhead guy started running at me tried to have a go at my neck but he was too busy pretending to be held back by his buddies. Then our drummer was throwing his kit at him saying he was gonna put his drum sticks up this guy's ass and the lady who managed the place was threatening to phone the police so we got out of there. He'd been giving them out all night so I thought he might take one back but never mind, it was fun anyway. We drove 280 miles to play 2 songs but hey.

Does Liverpool have much of a "scene"? Are there many bands, gigs, zines or places to play? Do you personally put on gigs or anything?

There are loads of great bands in Liverpool at the moment. I try and sort a few gigs out. I've got Servo, Ohno Express and Inside Right playing in the next few months. There's only one place that I can put bands on but the guy is always trying to get more cash out of me so that can be annoying coz were only trying to help bands out that are in the same boat as us really. I'm doing a fanzine with Mark Grampus called "The Kids Can't Understand The Emotion" which should be out in March.

Would you describe what you play as "emo"? What do you think the word "emo" means? Does it even have a meaning as far as being a musical style goes?

I guess our songs are emotional but so are Lionel Richie's. "Emo" is funny word; it's kind of crept in over the past few years. I guess every style of music needs a category name tag i.e. soul, metal, punk etc. All music is fuelled by some kind of emotion. I think "emo" is just basically in link stemming from a mix of indie, punk, metal and pop.

What sort of thing do you tend to write songs about? The songs on the CD seem to be mixture of introspective, personal lyrics and observations... would you ever write blatant "songs about girls" or political songs?

I write songs about lot of things really, but not obvious everyday stuff. Take the song "Ten Benson" off the CD, which is about a man whose smoked all his life and now has to terms with dying for his habit. I don't really wanna go into it too much coz I don't want to sound too much of a plonker. I do find it a lot easier to write lyrics these days and maybe they're a little more direct. Political songs and heartbreak; I've had my little heart broken once don't wish to write about it, I got over it. As for Political songs I don't really dwell on that subject. I have strong views like a lot of people but it's hard to write stuff like that without sounding corny.

Whose idea was it to use a sample from "The Royale Family" at the start of the CD? Are you all fans of the show? What other TV shows do you all watch (OK, not the best question in the world, I'm just curious...)?

It was Dina's idea, we all like him. He's just really old school Scouse. He's also good in "Riff Raff" and "Raining Stones" with Les Battersbey, what a combination! Also I'm a sucker for me soaps, I just cringe when I miss Coronation St, Brookside etc, sad I know. Paul and Chiz are bang into Clerks, Chasing Amy and all that Jay and Silent Bob stuff.

What's planned for Dina over the next few months?

Dina have a split CD out now with Grampus Eight. If you fancy a copy send a cheque for £5 made out to G COOGAN, this includes your postage and a free zine if it's ready on time. We're doing another tour in April with Grampus Eight to try and shift some CDs. Anyone who fancies doing a trade gig get in touch, but no scary old Scottish punk bands.

Anything to add sir?

Paul thanks for the interview, baa, bye !!

Thanks a lot for doing it, Ged! You can get in touch with the band by post at Dina, 43 Blackmoor Drive, West Derby , Liverpool L12 9ED, by e-mail on [email protected] or by phone on 0151 228 1448, and they also have a website. Their split CD with Grampus Eight is currently available and is well worth a listen, and make sure you go see 'em if they hit your hometown.

(from Scary Sheep #3)