RAT IN THE KITCHEN's THOUGHTS ON:

THE JAMS BOARD

"I stumbled across the Jams Board, quite by accident late one night at work. We had just spent the last eight months rehearsing in a fairly unpleasant, cold room at a little studio in Birmingham called Muthers. Situated on the other side of Digbeth from DEP and the Abbatoir (which is about a mile away), we struggled with large pieces of wood, plastic and metal until we could make a noise not unlike UB40 with the flu. It was then decided that we should do something about some gigs. As at the time I was the only one that admitted to some sort of marketing ability (I once minded a market stall for 10 minutes, almost over qualified!) I got the task of ' getting the name round '. I decided that the best way of doing this was a little bit of cyber fly posting. So I began to drop details of the band on to any UB40 related site that I could find. Admittedly some of my first efforts we not appreciated, Aston Villa fans were less than delighted, as were Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and so would have Wolverhampton Wanderers if I could have worked out how to use their fan forum. Then I found the Jams board, OK I admit it!!! I used to put mentions of the bands gigs on there and answer them myself!!! Not very cool, but the best I could come up with at the time. The Jams Board has since made us many good friends and allowed us to air our less than brilliant demo tapes all over the World (OK, mainly the USA!!)."

UB40

"Most of the band have followed UB40 since we were kids, except Mick, who is the band's Dad and was about 30 when they kicked off. It was a natural decision to play the bands music, as we are all Brummies and the Bee Gees music really doesn't suit the accent, although Box reckons he can do a falsetto and grow a decent beard. I find both fairly unlikely to be honest...."

BEING UB40 FANS

"It's easy really, we love the music, it's rewarding to play, and it mirrors the time and the place that we grew up in. Maggie Thatcher's Britain, school, the Two Tone explosion of the same time and puts a lump in your throat under the right circumstances (when you've got the mumps)."

MUSIC

"Personally, as a fairly average musician I can't imagine a life without music. If I lost my hand and I could no longer play , I think the sheer torment of not been able to amaze people with just what a chancer I am, would put me in an early grave for sure. I'm positive that goes for the rest of the band too...."

THE JAMS POSSE

"What can I say, I think most of them have taken us to their hearts, just for our 'Bare Faced Cheek' if nothing else. I can honestly say that I have rarely encountered such a rich vein of warmth and human kindness without meeting people in my life (the ones I have met have been terrible and usually drunk!!!)."

A PERSONAL QUOTE from ERLY

"I can only speak for myself on this one, the rest of the band aren't here, if they were we would still be arguing over what to write. My quote is from a song I once wrote....

'If you see a brother, who maybe needs your cover,

Never turn your back and walk away,

Coz the state of mind we proffer, has everything to offer,

To rest your weary ass upon the way.'"

THE BAND

"Me (Eddie aka ERLY), Sax , I am married with a three year old son and I sell classic Jaguar spares for a company in Bridgnorth in Shropshire called SNG Barratt who sponsor the band.

Dave (Box) Guitar and lead vocals, happily co-habiting with his lovely girlfriend. He works a as chef for Britannic Assurance.

Simon Drums, single and a rather too clever student who has studied most things of a technical nature (mainly netball!).

Joey Keyboards, single, works as an electrician at the NEC. He has seen UB40 set up and break down too many times to mention, (he mentions it all the time)!

Bill Bass, lives with his long time girlfriend and puts his hours in making car seating for Rover (when he feels like it)!

Ian Trombone, recently married to Stellar and has 3 kids and a troublesome Cavalier. He works for Severn Trent Water who refuse to sponsor us unless we drink more of their product!!!

Mick Guitar, Mick is our dad. He gets us there, he gets us back and he loves us all. Mick has a life of leisure due to back problems, its stuck to his settee!!!

Matt Soundman, single with a great little six year old lad. Matt is a full-time parent and an inspiration to us all (he is the only one who can read music!!!).

We are Rats in the Kitchen, RITK, and we are 100% Brummies representing the 4 corners of the UK's real capital!!!!!"