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Delays

Delays have just got back from the States where they were touring with Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads.

Psychedelic sunshine pop with soaring melodies, crunching guitars and killer beats, like The Beach Boys meets The Stone Roses and quite unlike anything else around at the moment, Delays have just got back from the States where they were touring with Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads.

"There was a gig that we did with Franz in Toronto in front of three thousand," bass player Colin Fox recalls, "and the reaction was as if we were headlining. They were so enthusiastic and so passionate. I don't know whether it's that they just don't get a lot of gigs, but it was really special. And Drew Barrymore was there, of course, so that added to the excitement."

"A couple of weeks ago I was at the Grand Canyon..." Colin muses, "that's the sort of thing I may never have seen had I become a ceramic tiler like my Dad."

"You don't realise until you go home," singer and guitarist Greg Gilbert adds, "and people ask you what you've been doing and you start telling them. And then you have to check yourself."

Having already started work on material for their second album by the time the first hit the shops, 'Lost In A Melody', the band's recent single, has been a firm favourite with fans for some time.

Constantly striving for bigger and better things though, Greg claims he hasn't achieved any of his musical ambitions. "In terms of the goals that personally I set myself, I haven't achieved any of them," he explains, "in terms of quality I want to be a much better songwriter and a much better singer, to the point where it's undeniable."

"Really all you can hope for though is that you go as far as you can go making the music you want to make without comprimising. If we wanted an easy ride, we wouldn't be making the sort of music we make. We always say though, that if we get parodied on The Simpsons then we've made it. Magazines always have things like 100 Greatest Albums, and I always read them and it's rubbish really, but I want our albums in there. I really do."

With influences so far-reaching and at times peculiar, it's pretty difficult to sum up who Delays really look to for inspiration. In terms of musical genius though, Greg reckons there are five pop music geniuses ever – Prince, Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan, and he can't remember the oher two.

"Some people have moments of genius and then nothing else that quite lives up to it," he explains, "when you look at someone like Mozart, or even in terms of art someone like Picasso - their genius never wavered. Like Da Vinci, he was a genius..."

"Wouldn't it be annoying if you went to school with Leonardo?" Colin remarks, "He was good at everything."

"Well you'd just stay away from him," Greg responds, "he was supposed to be the nicest man ever too – he'd go around finding birds with broken wings and fix their wings."

"That just makes him even worse, doesn't it? He's perfect..." Colin groans, "he was quite good looking as well, apparently, and a mathematical genius..."

But then Leonardo never wrote 'Long Time Coming' or 'Stay Where You Are', did he? More than just four pretty faces, Delays are here to save the shamed name of pop, so get your stripy jumpers and trilby hats at the ready and prepare to be dazzled.