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From the moment The Wonder Stuff burst on the music scene in 1988 with their debut The Eight Legged Groove Machine, lead singer/guitarist Miles Hunt has made absolutely no attempt to hide behind an image enhancing scrim. In fact, the band have often gone out of their way to explode the myth of pop stardom with venomous attacks on lazy journalists and record company big wigs.
But despite his often caustic tongue, and the band's seemingly endless appetite to bite the hand that feeds, Miles Hunt is quite possibly one of the most genuine and friendly characters you'd care to meet. What sets Hunt apart from other pop stars is his desire to never let the gap between band and fan widen beyond his reach. In a word, he's honest.
With the release of The Wonder Stuff's new album, Construction For The Modern Idiot, Hunt seems happier then ever and only too keen to talk about the course of the band. Via fiber optics, we caught up with Hunt in London as he baked a pizza and settled in for a lengthy discussion of the new album.
IE:
The title Construction For The Modern Idiot seems a bit abrasive. Is this an indictment of your fans?
Hunt:
That's not a light note to start the interview on, now is it? (Laughs). It's not directed toward the fans at all, its more my take on the state of the world today. I'm totally disgusted by the triviality of the human existence, and that applies to being in a pop band as well. I mean, what the fuck is being in a pop band going to accomplish? So Construction For The Modern Idiot is an album of trivial tunes for trivial consumption!
IE:
As with all of your albums, this one is quite a departure from the one previous. It seems that each time out The Wonder Stuff always manage to avoid repeating themselves while retaining an element of continuity. Is this something you are conscious of?
Hunt:
Well, we never say, "Oh, 'Size Of A Cow' (from '91s Never Loved Elvis) was a big hit so let's write it again!" Basically we change because I'd be bored to death if I had to record The Eight Legged Groove Machine today.
IE:
But "Cabin Fever" from the new album does sound a lot like "Size = Of A Cow."
Hunt:
(Laughter) Yeah, lots of people have told me that! Basically it's because I wrote both of them on piano and I can't play piano for shit! So I sit down and go 'OK, here's my new tune,' and the band goes, 'It's fuckin' 'Size Of A Cow!' And I say 'No it's not! I've changed the chords around!!' Fuck it, I like the bloody tune!
IE:
On the last couple of albums Martin Bell (fiddle/accordion/mandolin etc.) has taken the spotlight quite a bit. I noticed that on Construction he's not quite as prevalent.
Hunt:
It was Martin's idea to take that approach because when I write a tune and bring it to the band I usually say, 'And here's where the blinding fiddle solo comes in!' I love the fiddle and Martin is so brilliant that I shove him in there whenever I have the chance. This time around Martin said, 'Fuck that. I'm not doing it again, Miles.' So instead he wrote string and horn arrangements.
IE:
A lot has been made of the often irreverent attitude in your songs ("Radio Asskiss," "Astley In The Noose," "Who Wants To Be The Disco King?") It seems like the track "I Wish Them All Dead" won't do much to dispute that assumption.
Hunt:
I've got this reputation as being this angry brat, but in reality I think it's usually been frustration and I express that by getting assy. "I Wish Them All Dead" is about this group in California called The Man Boy Love Association which is an organized group of adult males who exploit kids sexually. I've never gotten political in my songs before because I've never thought it was my place to tell people how to feel or vote. With "I Wish Them All Dead," though, I figured it was an issue no one would disagree with. I mean these fuckers are ruining kid's lives and they're holding meetings in public buildings! When I heard about it my first reaction was 'Kill 'em!' You know, these TV reporters were figuring out ways to get into these meetings and I was thinking,'If you made it in, why don't you take in a knife and slit these bastards throats!' It's a knee jerk reaction, I know, but it sickens me that these cunts are getting away with it.
IE:
"Swell," on the other hand, seems very optimistic with it's repeated chorus of 'We've never had it so good.
Hunt:
Well, actually, it's sung totally tongue in cheek! We had this prime minister here in the 1950's (Harold Macmillan) when Britain was in the midst of a serious recession, and this foolish PM got up and said, (stuffy, upper-crust accent) 'You've never had it so good!' So the nation was like 'What the fuck does this over-educated, Tory bastard know about what's going on?' It's a famous saying in Britain, so though it sounds optimistic to your ears, it's sung in total irony!
IE:
The NME in England sort of slammed Construction. This comes after years of praise for the band in the British press. How did that review affect you?
Hunt:
I really support the British music press. Without them The Wonder Stuff would be nowhere. For them to come out and say 'They're fuckin' brilliant' every time we put out an album would be pointless. There are people who don't like us, and I'm totally comfortable with that.
IE:
When you recorded The Eight Legged Groove Machine in 1988 the confrontational attitude of the album almost suggested the band would be over before it had really begun. Did you have any idea that five years on you'd be selling out huge stadiums?
Hunt:
We had no idea where we were going. We thought we'd knock it on the head then and there once the album was done, you know. I've always wanted the band to come out with its integrity in tact, and at that point I thought breaking up might be the best way to do that. Now that we're older, we have to justify why we're still at it. We look at ourselves like bands like The Cure and R.E.M. and New Order, not in success stakes, but in the sense that those bands have just done what the fuck they like. They've made records to please themselves over the course of ten years or more. We're dead comfortable with that and it looks like we're gonna be around for a while now doesn't it? We're pleased with what we've got and I'm very very grateful as well.
IE:
As a result of that, though, you've got to admit you'll be forever at the mercy of the promotional machine; an aspect of the music business you've admitted to hating. Hunt:
I've always had nothing but disdain for the whole promotion aspect of the music business. When we were young, we were totally naive and when I started getting involved with promo I was totally disgusted. I mean, the idea of the record company taking you down to a radio station because meeting the program director might get him to play your record... Come on! The damn record should speak for itself! I ran into Paul Weller in Amsterdam recently, and I can be cool around anyone, but Paul Weller makes me feel like a 13 year old again! So I asked him, 'Are you playing tonight?' and he said, 'No, I'm here on fucking promotion!' I said to myself, 'If Paul Weller can still have that fire and conviction in the face of promotion, I guess I'll be alright.'
IE:
The new album has a certain vibe your other album haven't. It really sounds like it was a lot of fun to record. How was the recording of Construction different from your previous albums?
Hunt:
Well, foolishly with Never Loved Elvis we really didn't bother to rehearse the material before we went in the studio. I'd get my ideas down on a portastudio and the band would tart things up as we went along. With this album we didn't want to go through that again; we didn't want to spend five months in the studio. So we rehearsed all the songs and had the arrangements totally down before we started recording, and I think that's what makes the album so vibrant because we weren't fucking around grasping for ideas. We actually did spend five months in the studio this time, but for Elvis we only recorded 16 songs and this time we did 31! It was great to wake up every day and go, 'Oh, great, another day in the studio!' Whereas with Elvis it was, 'Oh, shit, isn't this finished yet?'
IE:
So given the fact that you recorded 31 songs for this album, does this mean the next one will be out sooner?
Hunt:
I'd absolutely love to have it out by this time next year. In reality I don't think it will happen because of touring. I'd like to close the gap between albums because two years between them really pisses me off.
IE:
When can we expect you to tour?
Hunt:
We'll be through in January. I hope we play Caberet Metro again - that's a brilliant venue! The last time we played there some guy comes up to me after the show and says, 'Miles, I think your music is so cool I named my kid after your ass!' And I said, 'What? You named him spotty?' because I've got a lot of pimples on my ass! It was extremely flattering, really.
IE:
How does that sort of fan appreciation affect you?
Hunt:
Well, it's all in perspective because our American manager just named his kid Miles and he said to me, 'Now I'll have at least one Miles in my life who'll do as he's told!'
After much laughter, Miles confessed he had to go to the studio to finish a re-mix of one of Construction For The Modern Idiot's best tracks, "Full Of Life." "I've got to run down there now, get piss drunk, and turn "Full Of Life" into an eight minute epic!" For a character such as Miles Hunt, the song title couldn't be more appropriate, and with his good natured, honest enthusiasm at the helm, how could The Wonder Stuff fail to charm the pants off of any idiot in there path?
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