Features The Enemy

Hotter-than-hotly-tipped Coventry teenagers The Enemy are set to mark the comeback of Stiff Records with the release of limited edition 7’ single ‘40 Days And 40 Nights’. About to head out on tour with ramshackle East London rockers The Paddingtons and not afraid to be outspoken, we caught up with frontman Tom for a quick Q&A.

Why ‘The Enemy’? Have you got lots of enemies?
Who needs enemies when you’ve got friends? We ain’t got time for enemies, we’re the only enemy anyone needs! Although five rascals in Leeds last night would have disputed that. He who laughs last… Great gig though.

Do you feel any pressure being the band to effectively resurrect Stiff?
There is no pressure, no. Stiff is a legendary label, and we are proud to be a part of it. But to be fair, the label shut before we were born, and we were totally unaware of it. We’ll level with you; we were just made up that a label gave a fuck about our band, after we’d been together such a short time.

How do you plan on dealing with the hype that’s beginning to build up?
Don’t believe the hype, see it for yourself. Get to a show, we ain’t gonna tell you you’ll like it, we don’t really care if you do. It’s essential you make your own mind up.

You’re described as ‘Oasis-loving’, yet also ‘punk’. Are the two compatible?
Of course it’s compatible, because punk is an attitude. We’re not prepared to let people pigeon-hole us in to a genre anyway. People can decide where we fit in to their record collections and their lives themselves. They don’t need the music press to sell us to them as some sort of tried-and-tested brand. Yeah, we love Oasis, but apparently in the trendy end of musical cool in London this is a dirty word. Well, here’s some words for them.. suck my glowstick.

Does Coventry deserve the bad reputation it gets?
Cov’s dead on its arse, yeah. But where in the UK ain’t at the moment? It’s the demise of industry across the UK in general that gives places like Cov a bad reputation. We’re not political, but people should wake up and start giving a fuck, cos it affects all of us.

What do you think 2007 will bring?
We don’t really think about next year, we’re more interested in today. We ain’t a career band! We’re just in to making great music - end of!