This interview was meant to take place at the London Mean Fiddler show of the UK KO tour but due an extremly hectic day, the interview was done on an cold January morning via e-mail with the drummer from Phinius Gage Matt Steele.

So how's things?
Things are good thanks Trig, right now it's a few days after Christmas and I'm just eating anything I can see, it's quite satisfying.

For those who don't know you, explain who you are, what you're all about and how the band got it's name?
Yeah sure, my name is Matt I play the drums in punk rock band Phinius Gage. Phineas Gage was an American guy who worked on the railways in the 1900's, he got a hole blown in his head and lost bits of his brain, he did live but became rude and nasty.

You've just finished the UK KO tour, how did it go?
It was a knock out – sorry. Yeah it was cool, touring with three other bands is always fun but sometimes very hectic, one day we were late to the Northampton show because the M1 was shut so we started our set just as we got out of the van using borrowed stuff from the other bands… crazy. But it was cool yeah, hope we played to some new fans.

You played the Mean Fiddler on the UK KO tour what was it like to play such a big venue?
Do you want to know the truth? … that place stinks of piss so bad it made me feel sick, like the back stairs bit that leads out to the load in bay is just slippery of piss…. Apart from that it was great, nice sound onstage, cool crowd… yeah it was nice, more London venues that size please, maybe we'll hit the main Astoria this year!

How did the tour happen?
Well we got a call saying it was on the cards from Deck Cheese, basically Spunge wanted to take out some UK bands that represented different genres, and we have been meaning to hook up something with Whitmore for a long time so it all came together really well - I hope people enjoyed what we brought to the shows….

What was it like playing with the 3 bands who were on this tour with you?
Really cool, there were like (counts in head) I dunno, 30 odd people on the tour so always people to talk to and have a beer with and stuff, really friendly.

You've been doing a cover version of Poindexter's 'Are We There Yet'. How did this come about?
Well, they are very good mates of ours and we thought that it was a shame that this song wouldn't get heard by as many people as it deserved when they split up - so we kind of adopted it like a little punk rock child and have been jamming it around a bit. We did fuck with it a little just for fun though, and it should be on our new album.

You have just been in the studio to record your first full length album. How has the recording gone so far, and what can we expect from it?
Yeah it's going cool we've tracked everything so far and only have a little bit of vocals, some small fixes and stuff to do before we mix it all together and get it mastered and stuff - it's sounding like a beast, but I have no idea how to describe what it sounds like, guess you’ll have to decide for yourself!

When will the album be released and whats the band got planned after the release?
It should be out in the shops in early March. After it’s out, we're off on a headline tour which we hope should take in all of the major UK cities, then we're ploughing on with some cool support slots, and a tour with Streetlight Manifesto in April / May, after that we hope to get out to Europe for the first time.

You have been confirmed as support for StreetLight Manifesto's first UK tour in April how did this come about?
Not sure really, we were on the Spunge tour when we found out it was on the cards and it's just (luckily) fallen into place since then, it's SLM's first time in the UK so hopefully a lot of people will be interested to see them and us.

Will the video for 'Home And Away' ever surface on TV or the internet?
Haha, well, not sure if people know that Scuzz TV had loads of personal changes at the end of 2004 and no new uk bands were getting on, so we took some time out for them to re-plan and stuff and we're now planing to do another vid to promote the new album (and new tunes) in early 2005 - videos are cool but if you learn about new music purely from the TV then you're only going to get a very small bit of the big picture - so get out there and watch some shows too!

How's the gold van?
It’s cool thanks – but sadly it is on it’s way this year as we’ve outgrown it, if you want to buy it email me!

You've toured many places and with plenty of bands, but who's been the best band to play or tour with?
Wow that’s hard, you get good friends with every band you tour with really, but if I had to pick one I’d probably say Not Katies, just because we get on really well and share the same sense on humour and stuff – they took us on our first proper our too (by proper I mean a few weeks) and we learnt a lot.

Whats the most memorable gig you've ever played and why?
At the end of the Deck Cheese vs Good Clean Fun tour in April I got covered in cake at the end of our set, I remember that, my kit smelt weird for weeks after.

What band would you love to tour with who you haven't already?
Aside from our professional respect for Girls Aloud, probably Pennywise just because it’s so amping every time you see them.

What was the last gig you went to as a fan? Any good?
I went to the Deck Cheese Christmas gig just before the holidays which was cool because loads of mates were there, and I like the Underworld….

Disc currently in your CD player is...?
Let me check – well it’s actually the Epitaph DVD so I’ll say, er, Hot Water Music.

Where do you see yourself this time next year?
Well, it would be really nice to outsell the old record and get some good reactions from people, I’ll be happy with that – but in reality I wanna be sitting in Vegas, rich, drunk and rich…. And rich. And drunk.

Monkeys or Zebras and explain your choice?
Zebras. Because they are stripy. Is that ok?

Interview by Trigger