Note to anyone trying to name their band: ‘The Polish Sausage Experience’ is NOT a good name. Fortunately, this Leeds quintet knew to scrap that name and went with Scars on 45 instead.
Singer Danny Bemrose shared with PopWreckoning’s Xander Deccio a little more about the Chop Shop band’s name, its music, touring and more in the interview below.
Xander Deccio, PopWreckoning: What bands/musicians had an influence on you growing up and influence you now?
Scars on 45: Well, I’m English so it’s impossible to say you’re not influenced by The Beatles one way or another. I’m pretty sure every new born baby in England is issued with a birth certificate and a copy of Sgt Peppers! Oasis were the band that really knocked my socks off when I was a kid though. I remember first seeing the ‘Champagne Supernova’ video on MTV, I loved it so much that I pretended I was ill the next day so I could stay off school and spend the entire day sat by the TV with my finger on the VHS record button, waiting for it to be played! Shit…my Mum’s probably going to read this! Sorry Mum…it was only Geography and Home Economics that day!…Thanks for the sick note! 
The greatest band for me though has to be Fleetwood Mac (Buckingham and Nicks era), I just think they were the perfect band: the sound, the songs, the story, everything. Rumours will always influence me. I suppose you could say that The Beatles made me want to listen to music, Oasis made me want to play guitar and Fleetwood Mac made me want to write songs.
There’s some great bands out there at the moment, The National are something pretty special and we’re big fans of Death Cab and Sigur Ros, even though they could be singing about an invisible, avocado-flavoured tennis racket for all I know! I don’t have a clue! But it sounds amazing!
PW: What are your overall thoughts on playing the U.S.? Any major cities you can’t wait to play?
S: We did our first tour of the US, supporting the band One Eskimo, late last year and we loved every single minute. It was amazing! The people we met and the places we saw just cemented the fact that we want to stay here for as long as we possibly can. We managed to play a lot of the cities that were on our “places to visit” list, but because your county’s so bloody big, there’s still plenty more to see. Cannot wait!
PW: What is the meaning of your band name?
S: I suppose it’s just a term used for scratches on a ’45 vinyl record. It comes from an Emmy Lou-Harris interview in which she said she was once accused of getting ‘scars’ on her Dad’s ’45′s. It’s a term that has always stuck in my head so when it came to choosing a band name, it was always going to be an option. It was the only name we came up with where everyone in the band liked it. I won’t even tell you some of Nova‘s (our pianist) suggestions! ‘The Polish Sausage Experience‘ is NOT a good name!
PW: What can we expect with the new EP?
S: Well it’s a 4-track EP with two album-tracks, a b-side and an acoustic version of another song. They’re mostly about relationships, both the good side and bad side of them, we’ve all been there, haven’t we? I like to think it’s quite an upbeat, energetic EP with a few delicate moments and plenty of male/female vocals of course. We know we’re not re-inventing the wheel, we’re just trying to write songs that mean something to us and we enjoy playing. We really hope people enjoy them too. The lead track ‘Give Me Something’ was one of the first songs we learnt as a band so it’s great to finally see released.
PW: How do you compare playing in the US with that of playing in the UK?
S: Playing to a US crowd and a UK crowd are very different. The primary aim of a lot of people who go to watch gigs in the UK is to get as wasted as they possibly can. “If we enjoy the music, that’s great, but if not, fuck it, we’re going to get trashed anyway!” That seems to be the mentality, which can fuel some amazing gigs…and some pretty awful ones too. Haha! Many times I’ve stood on stage and thought to myself, “I could play the theme tune to Sesame Street on the Kazoo in my underwear and no-one would bat an eye-lid!” In the US, people seem a lot more focused on listening to the songs and the music, I was shocked by how quiet most of the audiences were on the tour. We weren’t expecting it, especially for an little unknown band like us. It was great to be able to hear what you’re playing. We absolutely loved it!
Scars on 45: website
