Lulu and the Lampshades: Interview

Crowdsourcing is the hot thing nowadays. So when I had to come up with some questions for Lulu and the Lampshades whilst laid up with a cold and with their PR guy giving me the bums’ rush, I tasked it to my Twitter followers. The response: I should ask them the Proust questionaire. Which is why I’m asking the country’s finest new ukulele band for their opinions on military history.

Reasons to love Lulu and the Lampshades:

– They write great songs.
– Their list of instruments includes ukuleles, yoghurt pots and nipple-tassels.
– They’re buddies with Peggy Sue.
– Luisa (vocals, ukulele), Jemma (guitar, bass) and their flatmate (background historical knowledge) were game enough to answer these questions.

What’s your present state of mind?

Luisa: Fuzzy
Jemma: Fine, ok, alright.

Which natural talent would you like to be gifted with?

L: I’d quite like to be bendy, but on second thoughts a really good memory would be very nice.
J: Flying.

What’s your favourite virtue?

J: In general or my own?
L: I think they mean your own
J: Depends what you think is a virtue is, err…
L: Mine is the ability to sleep anywhere/anytime, not really a virtue but it’s very handy.

What’s your chief characteristic?

J: My nose.
L: An inability to make up my mind.

What do you most value in your friends?

J: Honesty
L: Play-fighting skills

What’s your idea of happiness?

J: When I feel like a cat on a windowsill.
L: Yes! I second that, basking in the sun with outstretched paws, they do happiness better than anything, if I’m half as happy as my cat looks I’m doing well.

What’s your main fault?

L: An inability to make up my mind
J: I’m a bit cynical sometimes
L: That’s not a fault

What characters in history do you most dislike?

Jemma has left the room.
L: What, aside from all the Dictators and Imperialists and their ilk? It’s too much … pass.

Who are your heroines in world history?

J: Joan of Ark? A suitable martyr.
L: These are really hard questions to do on the spot. Emily Pankhurst? Sophie Scholl? Actually yes, I just watched a film about her, I’ll go with Sophie.

Which event in military history do you most admire?

J & L: Ukehunt we have a question. Is this a military/history/feminist/ukulele website? [UkeHunt: I like to think it’s more intellectually diverse than most uke blogs.] This based on the fact that we’re asked to like heroines in history, but we can hate anyone regardless of gender, but more to the point, ukehunt … sounds a lot like … is that intentional?[UH: I’m far too pure of thought to have any idea what you’re talking about.]
But flatmate says: What about King Harold, when he marched his army to the southern front to meet William’s troops, thousands of soldiers, they must have run.
J&L: That’s very impressive.

How do you wish to die?

L: I might live for ages.  My Great-Grandma just died at a 107, when she turned a hundred they threw her a big party in her village in Colombia, and counted 100 great-grandchildren alone, 100! That’s an army not a family … so I’ll have one of those, the massive family and the big party bit, and die when they’re all gathered to celebrate my century, probably of consumption, or a stray firework.
J: I have no intention of dying now, anytime soon, or ever for that matter. Hopefully they will have invented a way for me to stay alive in the foreseen and unforeseen future.

What’s your motto?

L: Nowhere is that far away – but I definitely don’t mean that metaphorically. I just cycled to Florence with a friend and it was a simple conclusion we were pretty chuffed to arrive at. We also discovered that there is no such thing as a flat road (also easily misinterpreted as a life metaphor), and we discovered escargot butter, it should be used in all cooking but goes particularly well with fire-cooked snails.
J: I don’t have a motto but I have a theme tune.
L: How does it go?
J: Naaaa na na naaaaaaaa na.

Visit Lulu and the Lampshades on MySpace. Their debut single is out on 26th October and catch them supporting Peggy Sue at the ICA