‘“Coffee rhymes with toffee”’ – so says the legend emblazoned above our heads as we sit in a coffee shop in central Cardiff. “That’s a load of bollocks, you could put ‘Mary had a little lamb’ up there and people would still love it!” is the response given by Rhodri Viney.
The man called Teflon has had an incredible year, in which he’s had experiences most 19 year olds could barely imagine – from playing gigs to a handful of uninterested people last winter, he’s released an EP with songs displaying lyrical maturity which is encountered all too rarely, appeared on one of the albums of the year in Gorky’s How I Long To and supported the Super Furry Animals in front of thousands of people at their city-wide revolutions in sound, Furrymania. His debut release, Farming In Space, was even released on the Furries’ own Placid Casual label. I ask him if he was worried that people may pick up on him for the wrong reasons?
“Not really. I mean, both the Super Furries and Gorky’s picked up on me for the right reason, that is to say the music, so if they did, hopefully everyone else will too. Any exposure is good exposure, in a way, but I don’t want to sound like a media whore!”
How many did the EP sell in the end?
“I honestly don’t know! Now you say that, I’m going to go and find out, though. It got some radio play, 11 times in two weeks on Adam Walton’s show, and of course Radio Cymru, Radio Wales and Huw Stephens’ show. I also went round at the acoustic shows selling the EP, but not many people at all bought them off me. Apparently Spillers’ sold quite a few more after the CIA gig though, but it’s probably sold as many as it’s going to now.”
After having played solo for around a year, Rhodri recently announced that he was forming a band, still under the name Teflon Monkey, but with a full band sound. What were his reasons for doing this?
“I just got fed up of getting up on my own time and time again. It just got too repetitive, and with a band it’s so much more fun, the camaraderie and all that. It’s still going to be the same Teflon Monkey songs as before, though.”
Will the band be featuring on the album?
“No, that’s just going to be me again, but there will be some drums. A bit like the White Stripes, but not as bad! It should be out in April, with a single in March. I’m going up to record it at Sylem [Melys’ recording studio] soonish.”
Will that be out on Placid Casual again?
“No, this time it’s going to be on Multiball Records which again is just a friend’s label.”
Having been a solo artist up to now, what is Rhodri’s songwriting technique like? Is it a case of walking down the street and getting a tune running through his head, or more straightforward songwriting sessions?
“The former has been happening a lot more recently. I come up with a tune in my head and then try to get to a guitar as soon as possible. A lot of the time, though, I just sit down with a guitar and see what happens, or try and turn bad ideas into good ideas,” he says. “I look for inspiration wherever I can find it, really. If something inspires you then it can't possibly be seen as a bad thing – within reason, anyway. It can be bad things that inspire you, it can be good things that inspire you, but as far as inspiration goes there's no such thing as bad inspiration, if you know what I mean.”
Any examples of things which are big inspirations and influences to him?
“Julian Cope recently, but again that's one of those things which changes day to day, week to week. Whoever I'm listening to at the moment, that's who I want to sound like! I do like Datblygu a lot, but anything… books, films. Catch-22 is definitely my favourite book.”
One of those which you can read over and over again without getting bored, I agree.
“Absolutely. Hunter S. Thompson, as well – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. On music, though, you can't be influenced by any modern bands, other than in looking at bands you hate and trying to sound different from them! Corporate indie, I have a strong disliking for that.”
Reverse influencing, often as (if not more) effective as direct influencing!
Being as prolific a gigger as he is, I ask Rhodri if he has got any recent interesting experiences he’d like to share with us?
“Not many things, really,” he muses. “I’ve just been playing gigs in and around Cardiff, nothing interesting happens in my world! Although, I have been throwing my guitar around at the last few gigs – I’m trying to bring rock ‘n’ roll back into acoustic music! People are mortified when I do that, but I’m still going to, ‘cos it’s good fun! There's a lot of pent-up aggression that you can't really release when you're fingerpicking,” laughs Rhodri. “I've recently been buying really cheap guitars just so I can throw them around!”
Has he had any bad experiences with gigs?
“The worst… No contest really, it was a gig in Manchester, with Mountain Men Anonymous - I've played with them a lot, but they're a fantastic band - but this gig, about three people turned up, and that was after I played. You judge a gig by the audience reaction but there was no audience there, just Mountain Men Anonymous and the other band who were on the bill. I don't like reliving that experience!”
At the level he is at now, is it difficult to get enough money to afford himself the luxury of smashing a guitar up at every gig?
“It is quite hard, I’m definitely not getting enough to live on at the moment. I get the odd fifty quid for gigs, hopefully the odd TV appearance or radio show. It does build up over time, but again it's not enough. My ideal scenario would be being able to do this for a living, because as it stands I’m on the dole. I still have to look for a ‘proper job’, for want of a better term! However, money's not a problem unless you have none, and I've got enough for now.”
I invite Rhodri to have the last word in the interview, and ask if he has any soundbites for us.
“I can’t think of anything intellectual or good to say offhand, ‘cos I’m not Howard Marks! So, all I can say is: listen to the Beach Boys and Julian Cope. And ‘Coffee rhymes with toffee’, think about that!” |