The D4 - Interview - Contactmusic spoke to Jimmy Christmas

24 June 2002

The D4 Interview:
The D4 Interview

Contactmusic spoke to Jimmy Christmas from D4 before they made their way up to Nottingham to play one of their first gigs in the UK.

So how are the English people treating you??

Yeah everyone has been great, all very friendly, we've been received well its all been fantastic, we're all enjoying being over here.

So how did you guys get together? Have you all been friends for long?

Well Dion and I have known one and other for quite a few years (as Dion shouts too f**kin' long) and Vaughn and Beaver have been with us for about 3 years.

The D4 Interview @ www.contactmusic.com
The D4 Interview @ www.contactmusic.com


So did you do any auditions to find Vaughn and Beaver?


No not really it all turned out to be totally organic, me and Vaughn got it all together along with our original drummer who left to pursue a career in taxidermy and our other bass play disappeared - but around that time Vaughn arrived just looking for somewhere to live and he could play the bass - so he kinda just joined and we picked beaver up hitchhiking!
So from there it all just fell together, we were pretty lucky really but I guess it was meant to be.

So tell me about your process of making music do you record everything on a computer?

We aren't really into computers and stuff; we use four tracks and Walkman cassette recorders and things like that. So yeah we just go and work things out in the practice room and our bedrooms and finally get it all together.

What type of music do you like when you are not working on The D4?

I like lots of different stuff really a lot on Garage rock 'n' roll funk soul R n B stuff, I'm quite eclectic when it comes to music I try and listen to as much as possible I'm totally open to anything.


If you could collaborate with anyone who would it be?

I don't know really! Im pretty happy just collaborating with Dion at the moment, well it seems to be working!

What bands are you listening to at the moment?

Well in my CD player at the moment I have The Saints, they are an Australian Rock and roll band from the 70's

Who are your main influences in music? What are your early memories of music?

I remember the live inspiration, I heard the Buzzcocks playing in New Zealand once and they totally blew me away! It just totally made me wanna play in a band, I was wanting to make a band before watching them but just seeing those guys was fantastic they excited me and inspired me to play.

6TWENTY has been really well received in the UK by the musical press, what are your favourite highlights on the album?

Oohh well I really enjoy the guitar solo on Invader Ace, its just so wild and it kinda sounds like its gonna collapse and fall apart, but really I like all of the songs we had such a good time making it.

There is a couple of cover songs on the album, did you pick those just because all the band enjoy those songs?

Well each of those songs has a special meaning to the band and they are on there for a special reason but mainly because we thought we could do them justice.

Contactmusic.com has an area dedicated to unsigned artists, what advice would you give them?

Umm well just do what you do, believe in what you do, the main thing is just to work hard, you can't really expect to get a free ride, so if you work hard and do what you want you've got to succeed…..surely?

Do D4 prefer to work in the studio doing the recording and writing or performing live?

Well both of them have their own appeal, but we really just enjoying playing live, you can kind of use it as an outlet you know - when you have any frustrations or energy so yeah playing live.

The D4 played over in Japan did you enjoy it?

Yeah we did a few days in the middle of summer and we were playing these underground clubs, both the temperature and crowds were though the roof! It was just fantastic. The rock and Roll scene over there is one thing but it's like a scene out of blade runner just so many people and it's intense, the people are so respectful and I just love the culture. They took to D4 really well we played one of our best shows for enjoyment factor it was just packed out and the crowd were so receptive, they just gave it up for us, their wasn't a feeling of self conscious or cool or whatever, they were just their to enjoy. If you don't get a good feedback off the crowd in Japan you have to be bad!

Have you got any support band organised already for your tour around The UK?

We are just picking up support bands in each town as we go along, everything is kinda coming together as we go along, I'm just looking forward to seeing some new bands but I still don't know too much about the bands we are going to be playing with.

Is there anything else in the pipeline for D4 at the moment or is it all about promoting 6TWENTY?

Well we have this tour over the UK, on to Ireland on Saturday followed by Scotland then we go back to New Zealand for a few weeks for a tour - then back over to the UK for Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds Festival.

View D4 in our music store @ www.contactmusic.com

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