Steve Mason aka King Biscuit Time answers our Questions of Doom!

03/10/05

Steve Mason of King Biscuit Time and formerly of the Beta Band stopped into Poptones.co.uk’s Questions of Doom offices to have a chat about King Biscuit Time, the Beta Band, Lone Pigeon, his new label that he is setting up with Alan McGee called ‘No Style Records’, the forthcoming Glastonbury show and explains why the ex-Betas are doing it themselves

Hey Steve, how is it going ...?

Very well...

Now that the Beta Band has broken up what are your plans?

Focus on the rest of my life, next part of which is King Biscuit Time...

How is the record coming along?

Almost done now...

How do you think the new King Biscuit Time album is different from the Beta Band.

In some way it is ... don’t really know. I’m not qualified to answer. Suppose it is ... but I dunno. Not qualified to answer that.

You’ve been playing shows with Lone Pigeon ...

Me and Gordon (Lone Pigeon) have been friends for fifteen years on. He was originally going to be in the Beta Band, the Beta Band was essentially our band. Unfortunately that didn’t work out that way ... and when I was kind of done with the Beta Band, I had time to do things like that. It was the right place and the right time. And of course, Gordon and I co-wrote some of the earlier songs that appeared on the 3 EPs.

I’ve seen Lone Pigeon live a few times and like the Beta Band he reigns in complete chaos to demonstrate moments of sublime beauty. Have you both mutually influenced each other?

He wasn’t really in the Beta Band. He never really was in the Beta Band when the three of us became the Beta Band so any chaos was strictly my doing.

Do you have a sense of relief now that you are doing-it-yourself.

Yeah, but I have a bigger sense of relief that I’m not in the Beta Band anymore. Alot of the fans of the Beta Band didn’t understand why the break up was happening because we just made the best album of the Beta Band. They didn’t understand that we owed the record label a million quid, none of us were making any money and everyone around you is getting paid. Except you.

You recently went on holiday after the split of the Beta Band was that to get your head together.

I’m not very good on going on holiday. I hadn’t really had a holiday in about fifteen years so I went to Brazil for six weeks. The tour, the final Beta Band tour was the first tour that we actually were paid for ... I went to see Brazil becuase I’ve not had another opportunity.

Alot of people think you’ve signed to Poptones Records ...?

No ... Alan McGee and are starting up our own record company called ‘No Style’. It’s 50/50 all the way. It’s the right thing to do at the moment. I just don’t want to sign to another majo. Majors mean to me, working with people who are mostly inept, and while being completely inept, they also manage to spend shitloads of money which they want back from you. The thing is—a band doesn’t really need a record label. As long as they have a website and pull in an audience to their shows, major record labels are redundant at that point.

That’s what Norman Blake basically said when they decided to set up their own record company.

Really? Ha ha..because it is true.

Is ‘No Style’ going to sign other artists.

Maybe, maybe, but I want to concentrate on my own stuff at the moment.

What’s the new single going to be called?

C I AM 15 (a play on our favourite big brother associations CIA and M15).

What’s been going down on your stereo?

MIA. Just sounding that out. That and the new Kills album ... No Wow.

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