Tom Dinsdale and Simon Franks (aka Audio Bullys) at Jersey Live 2007 (00506567)

THEIR headlining slot at this Sunday’s MASS Festival will kick off a season of mass pandemonium for Audio Bullys duo Simon Franks and Tom Dinsdale.

‘We’ve just released our third album so at the moment we’re still not really properly touring or anything, we’re just letting the record get out there, then we’ll start to tour a bit more,’ says Simon.

‘It’s early days at the moment but we’re really pleased with it, we’re really pleased with the whole album actually. It all seems to be getting some good feedback and people seem to like it so far. It’s definitely one of our better ones. I think we’ve got better with time – I definitely know I’ve pushed myself more,’ he says.

It would be true to say that this record – Higher Than the Eiffel – is the Audio Bullys most complete album, and it’s one they are particularly proud of. Yet like the albums which have gone before, it sources numerous, completely eclectic influences.
‘We listen to all sorts of stuff,’ says Simon.

‘My influences are things like Bob Dylan and The Beatles, lots of 60s stuff, as well as some new stuff like Crystal Castles, Aeroplane, that sort of thing. I like Biggie Smalls, I like rap and hip hop. I like lots of music. I think everyone does really.

‘To be honest there isn’t a lot of new stuff out at the moment that I really like, though – everything I hear on the radio is pretty s***. I like Kasabian, though, they’re decent, and there are a lot of bands who’ve been going a long time who are still relevant,’ he says.

You’d say the Audio Bullys remain pretty relevant here in Jersey, where they’ll be returning to a crowd who were rapturous at their mindblowing Jersey Live set a few years back.

‘We’ve done Jersey Live and we’ve played in Jersey a few times. I like coming to Jersey. ‘When we’re DJing we play a lot of our own club stuff that we’ve made, but to be honest it’s more Tom who picks the tunes and does the DJing, whereas I do the vocals. It’s the live shows I love, though, I love singing and playing like that, but don’t get me wrong – I get a buzz out of the DJ sets, too.

‘At the moment we’re just promoting the new album completely, but we’ll start gigging more in the summer, we’ve got a pretty good summer lined up.

And as for this weekend, we’ll just come out and have it like always, like we did at Jersey Live,’ he says.

MASS
The MASS Festival debuts at Fort Regent this Bank Holiday Sunday, with live sets from Audio Bullys, Beardyman, Example and Dirtyphonics, plus guest slots from Pendulum, MC Jakes, Nero, Fuzzbox Inc and Schema. For tickets and further information, log onto www.massfestival.org.uk