What are you currently up to?

Dave: Got a few gigs arranged, recording a new 4 track ep at the end of this month as we
had a bit of record company interest from our last one. The new one will, we hope, take us
way up the ladder.

Who were your influences?

Phil: It was Pearl Jams '10' LP. We were just coming into our teens and realised that music
like THAT was out there and decided we wanted to be part of it.

Brief history of the band plus the style of music you play.
Dale: We've only been together as this line-up for a few months. The usual things, trying to
get other members who are committed as us, stopping playing covers as we had enough
songs that we thought were good on their own...
Phil: We call it 'odd-rock.' Intense yet with melodies and hooks.

What do you think of the current state of UK radio and the live music scene? How
easy/hard has it been to get exposure for the band?
Phil: Although in a lot of ways it's good, the problem is it's too diverse. Where do you start?
It used to be just a few radio stations and magazines but now every band can get
coverage, so it's hard sorting the wheat from the chaff. UK radio is pretty dire, but then
music is so personal that it would be impossible to get a station that catered perfectly to
any one person.

What has been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?
Phil: Highpoint was playing France (see biography) as it's the first time we got across to an
audience who, although they don't speak the language, really got into us. Haven't really
had any low points yet- I'm sure they'll come!

How did you come up with the band's name?

Phil: Well...Dale was pretty broke a while ago. Rather than go into a bank, get a loan, up
his credit or stuff like that he went to the casino and blew everything-EVERYTHING-he had
on one chance. He decided to play roulette and put all his cash on one number-black,
number five. He ended up winning £8,000. So it seemed like a lucky kind of number that
we decided would make a good name!

Any other new bands and/or new albums that you would recommend checking out?
Phil: Ooh, Audioslave I s'pose, but it's difficult to hear new bands. Any we recommend
you'll probably have heard already!

What CD's do you currently have available and where can they be purchased from?
At the moment only one, 'The Station ep'. It's four tracks and is available at £3.00 from
Loose Management.

Message to your fans... why?

Dale: Stick with us while we're at the bottom and when we're at the top we'll buy you
jewels and fags.