Article Feature: 1st Draft

After months of trying to get hold of her, Melz of Cliche has finally agreed to an interview with me. The teenage rocker has made it clear that her band are not here to sign autographs.


1. Your sound is said to be following in the footsteps of X-Ray Spex- do you agree?
Melz: The sound is very much inspired by artists such as Poly Styrene, Johnny Rotten and Joe Strummer but it has a wider spread of emotions more than the thorough expression of anger and rebellion. A track on the album actually refers to bands such as The Sex Pistols and the message of their music which should be remembered. The 70’s was more of a time to be angry, times have changed but there are still things that people are fed up of.

2. Being quite young do you find the music world harder to cope with?
Melz: It’s not easy but that goes for musicians of all ages I reckon. Many young artists tell you what you wanna hear: that it’s all wonderful and ‘la-di-da’, it’s not easy, it’s hard at times. I have to go days without sleep sometimes. There are audiences that don’t like what you have to say and that it’s not all ‘my girlfriend broke my heart’ bullsh*t. Then theres the audiences who are absolutely fed up of seeing identical bands with the same message over and over, they wanna hear something different, they wanna hear the truth.

3. Rumour has it that you’re collaborating with The King Blues, is this true?
Melz: People love saying what they wanna hear that’s all. The King Blues are absolutely f***ing amazing. I've always found their sound original and they tell it like it is. I spoke to Itch a few months back and he's a really down to earth guy, I respect him as a person and musician. Maybe in the near future we'll do a track together but they're touring in the USA right now so that clearly is a rumour.

4. How do you find living up to your new image?
Melz: What image? I didn't think i had one, there should be no difference between who's on the stage and the audience. The media are typically after an easily manipulative sound and image, thats the last thing I want to be. Anyone can be in this position really, but half of 'em are too f***in' lazy. I've never wanted to be the kind of artist that people go crazy over or audiences idolize, it's just not me. At my gigs I want the audience to just have a blast, forget what they're told and just be themselves.

5. Do your views on politics influence you when writing songs?
Melz: You could say that but only for some of the songs. There's a song about the unheard voice of the youth and the desperacy of young people without jobs. The working class don't even know what it means to be working class anymore, that sort of thing pisses me off. It's more about equality and being proud of who you are. The government aren't helping you so you have to help yourself. It's whats's happening to the people around me that influence me more.

6. What was the audience like on your first performance?
Melz: Majority of them were a bunch of rich kids with nothing better to spend their money on, very posed and no: not many of them could relate to the music. There were some people who were the only ones who seemed to not be wearing the 'uniform' that the others were, they were just enjoying the atmosphere and going f**king mad which was great. They all seemed quite shocked that there was a band talking about the real world and the music was not just a form of escapism. Most of them want to just escape and pretend the real world isn't happening; you can't be having that with our band. They would swear at us and we would swear back, Whilst on stage I couldn't help but take the piss out of the posed way they were standing. They hated me (*laughs*).

7. How do you think people reacted when you threw your award for Best New Comer in a recycling bin?
Melz: Why Should they care what the band does with the awards? It really didn't mean much to us so we put it to good use. Awards and speeches, thats not what we're here for and it means nothing to us which is why we hardly turn up to these things. It's all a mugs game if you ask me. If they think we're doing this for fame then we may as well not be here. We're here for the people fed up of the way some things are.

8. How do you plan to succeed in the industry?
Melz: Carry on in the same way we started, i don't want this to change any of us as people. We'll play our music and hopefully come accross an audience who understand our music and enjoy it. There will be audiences who'll prefer a track about how wonderful life is or relationships -poor them. If we don't succeed, at least we'll have done what we came here to do: get our message accross and have a good time on stage. It's the best feeling in the world when you're on stage. One thing we will definitely succeed in is not being what the industry want us to be.

9. What advice would you give to young people who want to be in a band?
Melz: Not that they would actually want it but I would advise them to be themselves 100% and forget what's in the charts. They must stick to what they think is good and not what everyone else does. Being in the industry isn't easy but that don't mean give up when the going gets tough. Just do what you want to do and stick to it.

10. And lastly, give two bands that you would recommend.
Melz: Definitely The Sex Pistols and The Clash, you can't go wrong with them. They have influenced me and others all over the world to do what they want to do which i respect them for. I've always had a huge crush on Johnny Rotten and Paul Simonon from their younger days. The music is just amazing.