Ant Jones Discusses THE RUSTY NUTZ's Debut Full-length We tried to make it big but something somewhere went wrong and we can't work out what that something is (Lavender Sweep Records)

THE RUSTY NUTZ are a feedback driven noisey five (or six?)-piece from Swansea, Wales, UK. Heavily influenced by the weird, the wonderful, and downright odd! A band not afraid to speak out about what they believe in: shut down pubs, microwaves, marbles, and pre-historic monsters in man-made lakes. The band's debut album, We tried to make it big but something somewhere went wrong & we can't work out what that something is, sees a world-wide release today, August 1, 2022, on over 20 different musical formats, via the Lavender Sweep Records label. This album has been many, many years in-the-making. To celebrate the occasion, THE RUSTY NUTZ & Lavender Sweep will be releasing the album on a different format every Friday for the foreseeable future.

THE RUSTY NUTZ formed as an Experimental Punk four-piece in 1998. The band recorded and released several hundred songs on cassette between 1998-2002 before splitting up. Although, several rumors have stated that the band never broke up and have never stopped writing new material. In early 2016, a number of cassettes that were feared lost, were found, prompting the band to re-record some of the tracks for an EP called TOUPÈE OR NOT TOUPÈE? released in 2017. Since TOUPÈE OR NOT TOUPÈE?, THE RUSTY NUTZ have issued a number of releases on a variety of interesting formats, including TONY GARAGE on 3-inch mini-CD, MY OLD HAUNTS ARE HAUNTING ME CD & 'zine, Farewell My Fans on DAT, Zip 750 Disk, cassette, and reel-to-reel, and Penllergaer Sasquatch VHS EP.

Now, on the heels of their long-awaited/long-gestated debut full-length, We tried to make it big but something somewhere went wrong and we can't work out what that something is (AKA We tried...,) we got a chance to speak with THE RUSTY NUTZ's vocalist, producer, and founder Anthony "Ant" Jones. Check out our interview below, which has been lightly edited for general clarity. THE RUSTY NUTZ's multi-formatted debut, We tried... is now available on Lavender Sweep Records.


I. Who are THE RUSTY NUTZ? What is each member's role within the band?

Ant Jones: THE RUSTY NUTZ are Ant Jones (vocals,) Simon Jones (guitar,) Martyn Kelly (guitar,) Rich Barrow (bass,) Craig ["The Finger"] Rees (drums,) and Lewis Hurley (keyboards.)

II. How in the world did you come up with the album title We tried to make it big but something somewhere went wrong and we can't work out what that something is and what is it intended to mean or evoke?

Jones: The title has been knocking around for quite some time, maybe, 20 years. It sums up a bunch of musicians who think they've got everything it takes to make it, but, then, when the realisation kicks in that they probably won't, they are left confused as to why...

III. When did you start working on We tried to make it big but something somewhere went wrong and we can't work out what that something is?

Jones: Even though the album title already existed, the ball started rolling in 2017 and, then, in 2018/2019, when the majority of the tracks were written. You could say the COVID Pandemic held the release back, but if it hadn't have been for COVID, I think the album would've sounded too rushed.


IV. Who or what would you readily site as some of your greatest sources of inspiration and influence while creating We tried to make it big but something somewhere went wrong and we can't work out what that something is?

Jones: The main source of inspiration would be our surroundings in the city of Swansea (Wales) and some of the surreal characters and stories we have come across over the years.

V. What did the typical writing, recording, production, creation, etc. processes behind We tried to make it big but something somewhere went wrong and we can't work out what that something is generally entail?

Jones: A mix, really... some tracks were written with a vocal melody first, some were written with the music first, and some were even written after coming up with a song title first. For instance, I had the title of “Point Me In The Direction of The Nearest Hyper Value Store” around 2016 and one day in my shed, myself and Simon were writing and he came up with this guitar riff and I just started singing those words over the top of that riff and the song was born from there. I think we finished the song the following week over my house.

VI. What can you tell us about the concept behind the image seen across the We tried to make it big but something somewhere went wrong and we can't work out what that something is album cover?

Jones: The image was created by Paul Phillips (True Spilt Milk Designs.) Paul was just given the album title as a reference and he came up with the idea of a car catching fire just as the band are about to set off on tour, basically, highlighting the bad luck/struggles that bands can face before they even get a chance to play a single note.

VII. How would you say THE RUSTY NUTZ's sound has changed, progressed, and evolved since the release of your last proper album, 2002's Over My Shoulder (of Mutton?)

Jones: It's gone from an extremely lo-fi experimental project into a feedback-driven monster. [Over My Shoulder] Mutton was only a live album with very poor sound; so, it's never really been classed as a "proper" album.

VIII. What can you tell us about the various formats Lavender Sweep Records has released We tried to make it big but something somewhere went wrong and we can't work out what that something is on?

Jones: There's been 21 physical formats in total, including Vinyl, DAT, 8-track, Sound Tape, NT cassette, Reel-to-Reel, MicroSD, DVD-RAM, Zip 750MB Disk, Audio Craft Cartridge, DTRS tape, DCC, Elcaset, Minidisc, REV Disk, Beta PCM, Beta HiFi, ADAT, Microcassette, Compact Cassette, and CD. ‬It's not been made official yet, but it should be a world record.

IX. How do you go about finding, creating, and sourcing these odd/unique super-limited edition formats on which to release your music?

Jones: Mainly eBay for blank tapes. I put the music onto some of the formats myself and, then, [created] all the packaging. Andy Vizor from AVAV Systems, then, dubs formats, like Elcaset, Sound Tape, Reel-to-Reel, NT, etc. And, then, Band CD's, CD Duplication Pro, and CD Unity deal with the rest.


X. What were the origins of the assorted material found, re-discovered, and re-recorded for TOUPÈE OR NOT TOUPÈE??

Jones: In 2016, I found a box of cassette tapes in the attic, which I thought had been binned [EDITOR'S NOTE: read as, "thrown out"]. So, I started to go through them slowly and found hundreds of old songs and releases that an early incarnation of THE RUSTY NUTZ had recorded in the late 90's/early 2000's. Out of the first few I found, I picked some of the best tracks and decided to re-record them, as the original versions were terrible in sound quality. There are still some tapes that I've yet to go through properly.

XI. How did you guys initially link up with Lavender Sweep Records to release your music starting with your 2017 EP, TOUPÈE OR NOT TOUPÈE??

Jones: Unfortunately, there's no "heroic" story, like we were spotted playing a gig or heard on the radio and, then, a label got in touch to snap us up. I just happened to run Lavender Sweep [Records] and it made sense to put out TOUPÈE [OR NOT TOUPÈE] via the label.

XII. What's planned next for THE RUSTY NUTZ?

Jones: There'll be a string of gigs booked across South Wales taking us up to the end of the year. We'll, hopefully, release some singles from the album along the way. Then, we'll look to do some mini-tours next year and, maybe, some festivals in England before bringing out an EP and, then, the next album, which already has some songs written for it. There's, also, a documentary film about the band that has been in-the-works since 2016 called RIGHT IN THE NUTZ. That will, hopefully, come out next year. The film title was, actually, taken from a headline about the band that featured in the Scumscene section of Kerrang! Magazine back in May 2000.