| Bambino lineup: | Karl Whaldram (bass/ backing vocals), Jon Lees (drums), Sam Paylor (guitar / metal voice), Tomas Pearson (guitar / vocals). |
With all four members aged just 16 and 17, Bambino are possibly the youngest gigging band in Nottingham. In November 2004 they won the Bands in the Sand competition. Their prize for winning the event, was two days in a recording in Confetti studios with a professional engineer. Tom and Sam from the band tell us about recording their demo, winning the Bands in the Sand competition and mysterious producer Andy from Doncaster. Aren't most people your age meant to be listening to rubbish bands like Good Charlotte? What are you doing in such a succesful band? Tom: Well first of all, we listen to Million Dead, Cooper Temple Clause, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, loads of other metal The Haunted, Anaal Nathrakh...It's nice to know we're getting somewhere as well. We just want to go as far as we can with everything we do musically, something to make us feel proud. How long has the band been together?
 | | Bambino |
Tom: We got together about 2 years ago. Me and Jon (drums) decided to start a band that could actually play together. Bambino is the result of a failed punk band that couldn't hold a note. That band is still together. You recently recorded some demos - what was it like being in a professional studio? Tom: Amazing! Using a mixing desk bigger than my bedroom... such a great feeling. It's definitely what I want to do for the rest of my life. Your very first demo was called The Fudge Sessions, produced by the mysterious sounding 'Andy from Doncaster' - Who is he? Tom: The full title is: 'The What The Fudge Sessions Recorded By Andy From Doncaster.' He was a lovely chap.
Sam: He looked a bit like Ozzy Osbourne though. Acted like him too.
Tom: Bless him.
Sam: We'd both like to work with Ben Harvey and Ian Beverly again though, the two who engineered the most recent EP, 'Back In The Days Of Tomorrow'. You are all still at school and college - does Bambino effect your academic work? Tom: Academic work affects Bambino. This band always comes first. Also, my parents support everything I do. Sure, they worry about how I'm doing in school, but they also know that this is what I want to do. You won Bands in the Sand last year and Sam has won it two years running - were you surprised to win, what's the secret? Sam: We were surprised to win. Tom broke down in tears...the girl.
Tom: Yeah. It took my breath away.
Sam: The secret is to put all your effort into what you want to do. In this case, Bands in the Sand was something we wanted to do. You all seem to be in other bands apart from Bambino. Can you tell us about some of your other side projects? | "Amazing! Using a mixing desk bigger than my bedroom... such a great feeling. It's definately what I want to do for the rest of my life." | | Tom talks about recording their first demo |
Tom: Me and Sam have just finished our EP for our electronic project SheBop. It's a mixture of drum and bass, intelligent dance music, experimental, industrial and ambient.
Sam: Jon's got a couple of metal bands on the go. I think, being a drummer, everyone wants a piece of him. He is a very good drummer too. A lot of venues have 18+ policies for people going to gigs - What do you think of this? Tom: Fair enough, if they don't want underage people trying to get served at the bar, but if someone wants to see a band, let them. To me you sound very much like early Nirvana and you've covered 'School' and 'Love Buzz' from their Bleach album - Do you agree? If not, who do you sound like? Tom: We don't really sound like early Nirvana. We did at one point, when we were pulling out the faster, punkier songs like 'Headcase' and 'Qurres Me' (intentional spelling).
Sam: Our songs are a lot more mature now, songs like 'Novena' and 'Silence'.
Tom: Yeah, we've done Nirvana covers... I think we sound a lot more like ourselves now. Is there a good rock and metal scene in Nottingham? Tom: There's loads of different scenes. A scene in Nottingham is like a family - a handful of bands that network together. Bands that like each others sound stay together. There are some great bands, you just gotta look hard enough and you'll dig out some gems. Is Nottingham full of chavs?
 | | Bambino in the studio |
Sam: Yeah. Some of them are alright, but most of them are out to cause trouble. Have you got many fans or groupies? Tom: I hope so. There is one guy that we've seen almost every day in the past week. He ran down the tram tracks at Cinderhill, pointed and shouted, "Bambino!" Which was nice. And then there's all the lovely faces who manage to turn up at all of our gigs, so thanks, if any of you are reading this... Other bands that have been made up of people your age: Hanson, Jackson 5, The Osmonds, Ash, S Club 7 - which one are you most like? Tom: Haha, I like that. I personally have been asked if I were in Hanson at some point, about 5 or 6 times.
Sam: We're probably most like Jackson 5, because we have a song called 'Billy Jean'.
Tom: Ash are our age? I thought they were about 40.
Sam: Fit guitarist though. What do you write your songs about? Tom: Hate, murder, beer, prostitution, the great sites of Nottingham, the odd past experience...
Sam: Whatever we're feeling like at the time.
Tom: Usually I write lyrics and THEN relate them to something, instead of finding something and writing lyrics about it. Music comes first though. What is your favourite kind of cheese? Tom: I don't like cheese on it's own.
Sam: Austrian smoked, or cheesestrings. Which song do you wish you'd written? Tom: 'I Have To Laugh', by Mudhoney.
Sam: 'Come To Daddy', by Aphex Twin. What do you think of the charts in general? Sam: It's full of mindless, gormy, same one-chord-wonders.
Tom: Karl and Jon like 'Robot Rock' by Daft Punk though. Will you still be together in 5 or 10 years, or will you all hate each other by then? Tom: We secretly hate each other already, ha ha.
Sam: It depends if we're all still alive. If you'd generalise the question, like, "what will you be doing in five or ten years?" My answer would be, "either in a pub, drunk somewhere else, or dead. Or all three."
Tom: Good answer. How should I end this interview? Sam: Dancing naked on your PC, listening to MC Hammer.
Tom: Or sit down and watch 'Ichi The Killer'.
Sam: With a kebab pizza. Yum yum.
Tom: You could watch an episode of Burnt Face Man. | 
