Karl Steiger 19 February 2006

► the last... book you read?

► I’ve been pretty bad with reading lately, I’ve been reading the same Dean Koontz book for what seems like forever. The last time I completed a book I kind of binged, just sat down and read three in one go. Let me think... I read ‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’ by Jon Ronson, ‘Snake Oil’ by Jim Rose, and ‘Yes Man’ by Danny Wallace. The Danny Wallace book is apparently going to be turned into a Jack Black movie, and I have to say it’s one of the funniest fucking books I’ve read in years. I got the Jon Ronson one because I loved his book ‘Them’, and I wasn’t disappointed, it was actually pretty scary. I’d recommend all three, go buy and read them! I wasn’t paid to say that by the way [laughs].

► the last... time you made an idiot out of yourself?

► A few days ago on Wednesday while drinking with Natasha in Camden. I got a bit too drunk and made a fool of myself. It’s okay, it’s all in the game. It happens to all of us. I’ll just have to stop letting it happen too often.

► the last... song you wrote?

► We just wrote a new song called ‘Things Change’, which we’re due to record this coming Thursday. It’ll probably be an Internet-only mp3 single just after ‘Rat Candy’ [the new Malfated CD] comes out, though it won’t be on the CD. It came about a couple of weeks ago, I found a drum pattern I liked and encouraged Natasha to come up with a riff to go along with it, and it was weird because what she came up with sounded somewhat like something Siouxsie and the Banshees might have done, even though Nat had never heard their music. So we made the beat faster, and I came up with some music, and then some more, and we used Natasha’s original riff for a bridge and then stuff I wrote became the chorus and verse. It’s fucking awesome and the finished song sounds so damn fresh. I wrote the lyrics during a rehearsal last Wednesday and I don’t think anyone’s going to be disappointed. It’s our favorite Malfated song at the moment.

► the last... movie you saw at the theater?

► Well I usually wait until stuff comes out on DVD, but the last movie I actually saw at the cinema was probably ‘The History Of Violence’ by David Cronenberg.

► the last... album on your stereo?

► Technically that would be ‘Rat Candy’ by The Malfated because we’re mastering it at the moment. But to answer the question I’d say ‘Horses’ by Patti Smith.

► the last... tattoo you had done?

► I don’t have any tattoos. Natasha would be a better person to ask, the girl has ink.

► the last... rumor you heard about yourself that wasn’t true?

► Someone sent in an email claiming they heard that I just got married. That wasn’t true. God knows where that came from.

► the last... thing you bought from a thrift store?

► Not sure... Hmm. I bought a few Ian Fleming paperbacks from some charity shop or other a few weeks ago.

► the last... time you were recognized?

► You mean because of the band? The other day in a bar. It does happen, usually by savvy alternative types, but it doesn’t happen often because we’re pretty small and cult right now. When it does happen we’re talking like public transport or in certain bars and clubs. On one hand my ego loves it, and on the other hand it can make me feel nervous, especially if I look a bit shit [laughs]. It’s satisfying when someone likes the band, but even more satisfying when they name an actual song that they really love, because that’s really what it’s all about, you know?

► the last... time you took cocaine?

► To be honest when I want to be naughty I’m more of a cigarettes and alcohol man. ‘Cocaine & Callgirls’ was written a time ago. We’ll do a nice new recording of it for proper release at some point, but it isn’t something I wrote yesterday.

► the last... weird band-related email you received?

► It was a message from someone who stumbled across the band online and clearly took no time to listen to the lyrics. It was about how I’m a friend of Satan and how I worship Satan. It said I was what was wrong with the world, and that I should repent and accept Jesus into my life or I would be burnt forever while God laughed. Whoever sent the message was a real barrel of joy.

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