Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Amongst other things, 'Man from Reno' is a song by Goran Bregovic & Scott Walker and that chap Johnny Cash sang about shooting 'just to watch him die'.

It's also the name taken by the Felixstowe band when they formed in 2007, but guitarist James Jenkins said they chose it for other reasons:

"It actually comes from the movie Four Rooms of which Quentin Tarantino directed one section. In it they refer to an Alfred Hitchcock Presents film about a man who used to go around the country making bets that people couldn't light their cigarette lighters 10 times in a row.

Jamie Spall, singer

"If they won they got his car, if they didn't he'd cut off their pinkie [little finger]! However, I certainly wouldn't bet my little pinkie for it."

The rest of the line-up is Jamie Spall (vocals), Steve Munnings (drums), Rob Burgess (guitar) and James 'Peach' Pollard (bass).

They're all from Felixstowe and in their 20s, and they say that in a small town like-minded musicians gravitate towards each other fairly easily:

"I'm more into 1970s/1980s rock music, some of the others like Joy Division and our drummer's more of a dance music guy," said James.

"Some of us were at school together and we've all known each other a fair while. It was just a case of getting together when we weren't all in other bands and then we played it out to see what sort of sound we got.

"Peachy would be dismayed if we started turning out 80's-style lead guitars. The idea's really two guitars complementing each other and creating a band sound rather that any individual going off on a solo.

"Nine times out of 10, Jamie sings about a broken relationship."

I'm not gonna crack

2008 saw the band win the Lithium Promotions Battle Of the Bands competition at Ipswich's Great White Horse as well as the Road To Swanfest. You can see pictures from both events using the links on the right.

The band's also playing occasional gigs in London at places such as the Bullet Bar and the Bull & Gate.

"A lot of these places ask you to bring around 25 people with you before you get paid. We usually manage that quite easily, but we'd probably be in London going to a gig anyway, so that's not really an issue.

"However, we haven't quite got to the point where we're making a profit. As long as everyone's still enjoying it and we keep writing stuff then it's all good.

"We weren't too happy with our previous attempts at recording, but the new three-track EP [which you can hear on this page] is better. We've all come together and begun to realise you can't just turn up at a studio and play what you do at band practise.

Drummer Steve Munnings

"We've got enough songs for an album and the EP is very much the direction we're going in."

If you can't get to London, you can bet your bottom dollar the band will be playing their favourite local Felixstowe venue, the Cork Bar, soon. For the latest gig and recording news visit the band's MySpace page.