NC: I’m looking at the vinyl copy of that album framed and hanging on my wall right now. Yeah, it was a very momentous day on a personal level, and still is. I have a handful of the vinyl copies left and only one CD in my collection so it sold out, which was nice! I love the cover, which was done by Tiernan, who at the time was a cartoonist for 2000AD comics; we chose that sleeve ahead of a landscape that looked like multiple nuclear explosions but were actually brains growing on stems out of the ground! The album was recorded using blood, sweat, lots of fights and lots of tears and is by no means perfect, but it stands the test of time; at least I guess it does as I’ve not heard it for years (ask my boy, he plays it all the time despite not being born when it was released).

MM: Of course, having a recording contract and all the Radio 1 airplay paled into insignificance when the real pinnacle of your career came about; Sunday 9th July 1995 – the gig I got you at The White Hart in Frimley. I remember it was a stiflingly hot and humid day, circa 33° at seven in the evening, and you ended up playing to a near empty pub coz everyone was listening from outside! I warmly recall the first words you ever spoke to me in the flesh; “Fuck off, you southern twat.” Happy days. My enduring memories from the night are of both you and Cumi Pants (the drummer) having a nasty dose of the shits and you running off with all the money after the gig. Poor Serious Plankton never got paid. That was the last gig they ever did. Had to sell all their gear to pay for food or they would have starved. Chris couldn’t afford to stay in the south-east and had to move to Northampton. Ian was reduced to recording ‘Jungle Book’ covers. Oo-be-doo. You’d see them begging on the streets for months afterwards, bless them. But don’t let me make you feel guilty, let’s get back to the interview. I believe you guys were on the way back from a festival in the Netherlands, must have been quite a hectic few days over all, what are your memories of all those mad dash days and sleeping in vans stuff?

NC: They were shit at the time, but great to look back on. The Dutch gigs were a pretty amazing experience, playing in Amsterdam Arena and at the Vlietpop Festival in Den Haag. We got a raw deal when the promoter in Amsterdam (his name is Koos) ran off with the money, and Koos, if you ever read this, I will one day break your face with one punch. Relying on this money meant we had to live on our wits for a couple of days, but it was good fun, although we were hungry. Our first proper food in two days was the rider backstage at Vlietpop, which gave us the shits! Steve Sync, our keyboard maestro came back from Porcupine Tree’s dressing room with all their beer. He nicked it for revenge as they were staying in hotels while we slept in a hostel with Kava Kava (which was a scream!) and on a beach! The gig on the way back at Frimley Stadium I remember for being so hot and I was dehydrated already because of my bottom problems. It was weird as everyone was looking through the windows while we played to a near empty room because it was so fucking hot (or we were shit, or both). We had to stop the van on the way back in an emergency so Cumi and me could plant our arses over someone’s garden wall in the early hours, The house owner was banging on the window as we did the deed, but I’m sure they’re thankful now for their prize roses.. ha ha!!

MM: We still had the one more SOS live album after that on M&E, the excellent “Now Give Me Back My Cake” (M&E 321 – September 1995), our 12th best selling album, then there was your second (and last?) album for Delerium; “Fire In The Hole” (1998), after which I gather SOS finally started to wind down. I remember at The White

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