Puggy already have a huge following in Brussels and Sweden and have caught the eye of renowned music producer Steve Lilywhite, read on to find out about the latest band we tip to megastars of 2008.

Chloe Addo caught up with singer Mathew Irons to find out how the band formed, advice they give to aspiring bands and how they became the supporting act for Incubus. 

The band is based in Brussels, is this where you’re from?

Well my parents moved to Brussels and had kids - I was the result. My dad’s from the east end of London and my mum is from Essex. I was raised in what you call a bastard international upbringing (he laughs).

I know London really well and all my family are still there and I visit a lot. It feels like home, but so does Brussels. The only problem is I’m not seen as an Englishman in London but I am in Brussels. It can be quite confusing. Good thing is during a football match I can vouch for either side.

How did you form?

I met the bass player, Romain, in a music school in Anthrop, where we were both attending. We got along well and we started jamming. We found empty rooms in the school and just started playing. We started missing lessons and he kept talking to me about starting a band. When I was very drunk he managed to convince me to join him with this Swedish drummer. We met at this place, Waterloo just outside of Brussels and we just started jamming. We hit it off and so I started calling up all the other bands I was in and cancelling. I thought this would be the one. This is it.

How would you describe your style?

Style is a tough one; it’s obviously ours, so I guess I’ll say our style is our sound. I guess the easy one is acoustic pop. Someone called it Burlesque; someone said Emo which I didn’t get but the funniest one is someone said we sound like Fairground attractions. Who sang that song that goes like, ‘it’s got to be perfect’. I don’t really get that one. I just say give it a listen and see what you think. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, we just write up some tunes, jam them out and have a good time doing it.

Who are your influences?

It changes every week. Queen and Michael Jackson - you can’t help but be influenced by their song writing. As musicians we all have our own influences. I listen to a lot of Hendricks and Stephen Horn - that’s influenced my guitar. Our bass player listens to a lot of Iron Maiden stuff and Ziggy is Swedish so Abba is in their and any traditional Swedish drinking song will be in there as well.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

We’re listening to very different music at the moment, I think because we’re writing a lot. I listened to Sound Garden five minutes ago actually. The last thing I got really blown away by was the Blood Brothers and a French singer, Camille who is really incredibly, she’s got a record out call the Wire, and it’s incredible.

How was it touring with Incubus?

It was really really good, they’re great guys. The whole team were really friendly and cool. In the day we would be in and out of the tour bus, on stage for 40 minutes then back on the bus. It’s not a holiday but the experience was incredible. The adrenaline rush you get out of it was amazing.

How did you end up supporting them, we heard it was through a personal request?

We couldn’t figure it out at first; we played at this place in Belgium. We actually had a really good show a national TV network they were filming. But after our set there was a fire and everyone was evacuated. The only thing they covered was us and the fire. It was played on MTV like eight times day. It was really cool and it was really good for us.

Incubus were playing at another festival in Belgium and Mike the guitar player heard about it all and us. He figured he liked the sound of our music and asked our manager whether we were available to open the tour.

They emailed our manager - we were reading it as a joke and we were like ha ha funny and we thought we knew who was joking with us. We said (sarcastically) sure we can make ourselves available for a European tour.

Where has been your favourite location to play at?

Brixton academy was really fun. Playing there three nights in a row was incredible. The vibe was amazing and it just feels like home. Actually everyone in the UK was great. The audiences are really cool and just really fun. They want to have a good time. And that’s great for us. But Brixton really sticks out for us.

Do you have any pre-gig rituals or drinks?

No real rituals before hand we just go out and do it. Afterwards we start binging, drinking and relaxing, so that’s our ritual.

How was it performing in front of producer Steve Lilywhite, The Rolling Stones and U2?

That was nerve racking. That was quite frightening. The guy (Steve Lilywhite) is a legend and he had one of the biggest selling albums of all time. At that point he had also won a Grammy, and here he is in London in front of us. It’s a great venue but you could really see him and its not like someone says to you, oh by the way Steve Lilywhite is in the audience, he’s right there. He’s actually looking at you and can see him dismantling everything your doing in his head but he’s really nice. I’ve found these guys were really nice. It can be a little disappointing because you want them to be extravagant, crazy and they turn out to be like your uncle Bob.

Ever been chatted up by another musician or celebrity?

Not that I can remember or know of. I don’t think Steve Lilywhite was hitting on me either.

Who would you like to be trapped in a lift with and why?

The woman out of Transformers, someone Fox I think (Megan Fox). Her and her friend, but it might change tomorrow.

Where are your favourite hang outs?

Rehearsal rooms, pubs and a venue.

Where do you spend most of your time?

At home (laughs). No, actually in Brussels and we have an office and rehearsal space, where we spend 90 percent of our time. We’re a hard working band.

What advice would you give to new bands?

Never take the audience for granted and don’t think they wont notice if you fuck up.

So many people get arrogant and obnoxious and its funny because, like I was saying earlier, when we’ve met some of the big guys you often find that they are really nice and gentle ones but all the bands that our trying to breakthrough are the meanest lot.

We met these guys who have been selling records for a few years now and there trying to get into France and they’re pretty much at the same stage we are and they are just really obnoxious and annoying and its just really irritating. And they go up and they pretty much went up and insulted the audience. That’s was really irritating.

Visit: www.puggyband.com