MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS' songs are quiet, melancholy songs that are reminiscent of early Sarah bands such as Another Sunny Day, and, more particularly, Brighter. For those of you who are wondering who's in the band, most songs just feature Chris on his own, apart from the track on the Waaaah! Sound of Music LP, which a friend of his sang and played most of. Mary Queen of Scots have also released a 10-song tape, and a split single with Peru on Waaaah! Chris has also written three issues of "Scholarship is the Enemy of Romance", one of the few fanzines I’ve been really enthusiastic about.

You seem to have gone a bit quiet lately, since the release of the split single with Peru. Are there any plans to record/release anything in the near future?
The single happened back in late '93 and it is a shame that nothing followed. There are some good songs still lying around but I guess I lost the enthusiasm to record any more. I never liked recording. And to record and release stuff just for the sake of it is kind of insincere in my view. I don't honestly think that MQS has anything interesting or new left to say, not in that particular style at any rate. I hope Peru get another single out soon. Their demo stuff was great.

You told me a while ago that you were going to start a noisy band called Bricklayer. Is this still going to happen? And just how noisy is noisy?
This is true I must admit. I've always had a great affinity for bands with BIG NOISY ARSEQUAKING GUITARS!! How noisy? We are talking about RUTHLESS NOISE! Yeah, "Bricklayer" is an early Husker Du song. Nuff said. But as for whether any songs will get done, I don't know.

What made you want to cover the "Home And Away" theme?
I used to watch "Home and Away" when Dannii Minogue was still in it. I didn't watch it because of her, you understand! Anyway, it suddenly struck me one evening about how great that song would sound if you stripped away all the fancy production and arrangement and sang it with only one guitar. It's got some nice words and melodies, better than the "Neighbours" one!! My only regret about doing the song was that no-one would sing a duet with me (sad eh?)

In Redditch, most people just listen to rave or metal. What do you think of these types of music?
I can't get too excited about rave, it's all too busy sounding. But I guess it has to sound that way if you're going to dance to it all night. Not that I'd know, not having been to too many raves. As for metal, well, soft metal is mind-numbingly terrible but I do like BIG NOISY ARSEQUAKING metal guitars. Are Sepultura metal? What about Motorhead? Yeah, heavy metal. I liked them both!

What was the last single you bought?
I saw Hole on TOTP doing "Doll Parts", so I bought that. I also got "Basket Case" by Green Day, which I heard in a pub one Sunday evening whereupon I pushed my friend up to the jukebox to find out what it was because I was too coy to do so myself. It sounds great but very familiar, a real mix of Buzzcocks, Undertones and Lemonheads.

Who's best, The Sea Urchins or Delta?
If you're asking which meant more to me then it's the Sea Urchins, of course. When I think about lazy, sunny evenings in my room back in Sevenoaks listening to "Please Rain Fall" off the "Shadow Factory" LP, well, it was pretty sad to be honest, all by myself! And that other song they had wasn't bad either. (Er, which one?! - K)

Footnote added November 2003 - there is now a Mary Queen of Scots website featuring mp3s - here

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