Who are Chimp? Alex Cook on guitar and vocals; James Gardner on bass and backing vocals; and Matt Morris on drums. Where in Somerset are you from? Minehead When did you form?
 | | James from Chimp |
2003 How did you get together? We started playing together in free periods in sixth form, mainly playing Nirvana songs in a small, hot room. We didn't have a mic or a PA, so Alex had to sing very loudly over the top of everything. How would you describe your music? Well, we like to think it's good. We try to keep everything different by including different styles into each song. We have heavy songs, smooth jazzy stuff and catchy-rock tunes. How did the band gets its name?
 | | Alex from Chimp |
It's named after the bassist's nickname. It came about when we got asked to play at the Bridgwater College party - they asked for a name and being highly creative individuals, we came up with Chimp. Who are your musical influences? All sorts really. We are all quite open-minded about music. Our main influence is Nirvana, as it's their music that brought us together. We are also influenced by bands like Incubus, Foo Fighters, Joseph Arthur, Feeder, Radiohead, Jaco Pastorius - the list goes on and on. What is your most memorable gig so far? Probably the battle of the bands competition at Tropiquaria. There was a huge turnout for our set - one of the biggest so far, and we won! Where would you most like to play?
 | | Matt from Chimp |
All over the world. Nowhere in particular - it's the crowd that makes a gig good, not the venue! Finally, tell us some interesting facts about yourself We are all 20 years young. Alex was exposed to music from birth and has been playing guitar and other instruments for many, many years. Matt first decided to be a drummer when he heard Nevermind by Nirvana - he spent hours in his room air-drumming to all the songs. Then in 2001, he got his first kit and started bashing away. James was influenced by the other two to learn the bass. Matt harassed him to buy a bass, and once he did he started learning like 15 songs a week, just to play with the other two. | 
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