Moneen recently supported emo-stars Brand New on their UK tour. After arranging to interview the band at their Birmingham gig, I wasn't able to make it to the show, so after a lot ofof organising, I finally managed to do an email interview with frontman Kenny Bridges. Read what he had to say about touring with Brand New, their adventure at the airport, using cats to sell merch and swinging monkeys.

You've been touring the UK with Brand New and Straylight Run. How did this come about and do you get on well with both bands?

Yo yo yo! first off, I'm here in the house yo!!!! to be honest I have no idea why we were on this tour. Don't get me wrong, it is the greatest thing ever, but I just don't know why they would want such ugly canadians on their tour. But really we have toured with Brand new a few times before so it was great to get to tour with friends again. That was the greatest time. Everyone was so cool, there was such a good vibe on the whole tour...that and the fact that I tried to make out with will from straylight run. I love it.

Is it a very different experience from playing Canada and the US to playing the UK?

Actually canada and the U.K. were very similar...see we are sort of cousins. At least that is what I tried to tell everyone. I really thought that the people at the shows really reminded me of the canada kids. SO open to lots of different kinds of music and always ready to have fun...not that the people in the states are not the same or anything...but we do eat better...what? canadians smell really bad...o.k. not really, but everyone likes the rock...like rock as in keep the flow goin...you know, like you digits are blowin off the vibey scale! we had the best time in the U.K. met so many good people and we left with some really good friends (in our suit cases that is).

Do you have any funny tour stories you could tell us?

Hippy breached security on the plane before it took off and got it evacuated...stupid loser. never leave the line before a security check...and then when you do and are asked to bring all your belongings off the plane to get checked again, don't leave you bag behind on purpose...stupid hippy. we have a great picture of hippy getting interogated in front of everyone while the flight was being delayed at least 2 hours, people really loved the hippy.

What's the one item you can't do without when you're on tour?

My cats...I need to bring my cats on tour...well reallly just the one "Udaskamala" he is the big fat white cat. he poos alot. I like poo, well not really. I wish we could bring Uda on tour with us he would rock out real good...and if we sat him at the merch table with a little sign that said "kittie needs to eat...help!" then we would sell tons of merch.

Last year you released 'Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now?' How long did it take you to record this album? Did it turn out how you expected it to?

We took about 2 months off to write the songs and then we went to california to record for about a month. the nicest thing about that was that it was so cold back at home when we were there, so we missed the cold canadian winter. If I never see a cold day ever again I will be so happy, then there was that day in London when it snowed...we are sorry for that, we brought it with us. The recording turned out better than we could have ever imagined. Trevor keath from face to face produced the record and chad blinman recorded it. they were the team of all teams. so many bad jokes and research of new words. I just hope that our next record will be as good as this one. it is good to have to push ourselves.

How do you start writing songs? Have you got a favourite track that you're really proud of?

Writing songs takes awhile for us, it starts with me in my basement recording riffs into a little ghetto blaster. then playing another guitar over the little ghetto blaster buddy. that is how I write most of my songs...hippy on the other hand just opens his mind and uses his third eye to acheive solidarity with his inner harmony. after we have the shells of the songs done we bring them to peter and he tells us to shut up so he can work his magic. Then we all argue and yell things like "I'm the best...I'm the best!!!!" so after a few ass pinching fights we then arrange and re-arrange the songs until they are beaten out of all creative love...and then bam! we have a moneen song. My favorite song off the new record before would have to be "the last song I will ever want to sing" to me that is our finest work. It goes on a little journey for about 12 minutes. The lyrics really mean alot to me as well. It is all about the last few days of my grandmas life and what was going on in my head at the time. It is a song that I can look back on and remember exactly how I felt...I want to remember, I need to remember (two points if you get that one)

What kind of music are you listening to at the moment?

I love MUSE. I am so hooked on this band. I bought their records when we were in the U.K. and have to listen to ABSOLUTION on everyone of my drives. that and "the bends" by radiohead...my obbsessions yo!

What music did you listen to when you were growing up?

Lots and lots of punk rock...it went from the red hot chilli peppers to the sex pistols and then green day and one day I saw a band called jimmy eat world and it was all over after that...I knew exactly who I had to rip off from then on.

When you were younger, what did you want to do when you were grown up?

Really nothing...I wanted to figure out how to get by in life with doing nothing...and hey here I am, I have done it. I love life.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

Walter from quicksand once told me to just keep working hard and never give up and anything could happen...while he was telling me that I was blacking out due to the fact that I was talkiong to walter from quicksand, and I kept trying to touch him. bad scene.

Have you got a favourite movie quote?

Well, one of our songs is named after a quote from a jack nicholson movie...wow now we are going to get sued, thanks alot.

What has the band got planned after this tour?

To tour and tour and tour...right now we are on tour with BOYS NIGHT OUT and THE BEAUTIFUL MISTAKE and SENSES FAIL. after that we do a bunch of touring in canada...oh sweet canada, then we do our first headlining tour in the states...scarey, but it will be fun...we want to come back to europe really soon...and we will.

Is there anything else you'd like to add (or promote)?

I like monkeys...they can swing real good...I love monkeys...thanks yo!!!!!!

Thanks a lot to Kenny for the very funny interview, and I also want to thank J from Smallman records and their tour manager Lisa for all their help. Check out their site at www.moneen.com.