The Zutons

Return of The Zutons

	I’ve got a leopard skin suit I’m going to wear at Glastonbury. It’s tight as fuck and it’s got the cock cut out.

Nicknamed “Mad Dog” after getting expelled – for cutting off another student’s hair ­– Zuton frontman Dave McCabe is newly minted after Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson turned “Valerie” into an international smash hit. Now the sax-wielding popsters are back from LA with a new album. And sunburn... 

Your new album’s great, was it an easy one to make?

Dave McCabe: No, it was the hardest. We had a year away just writing songs, so to come back was a bit shit-ifying, because you can’t afford to make a bad album these days. I think it’s our best. We’re not trying to change and do world music, we’re just trying to make the Zutons album. 

You recorded it in LA. Did you get sunburnt?

Yeah. If you look on the album cover I’ve got a pink gingham shirt on and I think there’s no difference between the shirt and my skin. LA started to do my tits in after a month. The people there are all networkers, they’re not very real. I found it was the Texans who were the real people in LA, so I mixed with them. It was funny because when I was a kid in Liverpool, you’d say someone was a ‘Texan’, and it meant nobhead. I don’t know why. Then when you go to America and meet a Texan, you’re like, ‘They’re actually alright.’ 

Did you hang out with any celebs?

I became mates with Anna Friel which was pretty cool. She took me in when I was drunk and looked after me. I just bumped into her and was like ‘Fucking hell, you’re the bird off Brookside, aren’t you?’ and she said ‘Well I’ve done other things’, and I was like, ‘But you’re the bird off Brookside, come on!’ and she was like ‘Yeah, best take you back to ours!’ 

Amy Winehouse had a big hit with your song “Valerie”. Did you approve?

I’m made up about it. I love her, she’s fucking boss (cackles wildly). Now I can say I had a number one in Germany, I just didn’t perform it. I met Mark Ronson but I was a bit mashed so I don’t know if he understood a word I was saying. I was just saying thanks. She’s always been nice when I’ve met her, I haven’t got a bad word to say about her. 

How are Abi Zuton’s legs? We’ve missed them.

Yeah they’re looking good. I mean it’s a bit weird she’s like a sister to me, but she’s put a bit of weight back on. Not that she ever lost her legs, but she’s looking good. 

Have you ever thought about competing by wearing some cycling shorts on stage?

Yeah man, I’ve got a leopard skin suit I’m going to wear at Glastonbury. It’s tight as fuck and rather than the arse cut out, it’s got the cock cut out. The guitar covers so you can just see the plums at the bottom. 

What’s been your most embarrassing moment on stage?

I had to run off stage to have a shit once. I think it was just some dodgy food, it was like that felling where you better just get to the toilet otherwise you’re gonna have a smelly gig. But it was pretty rapid when it came out, it weren’t like I was sat on the toilet waiting. It was all done fast. 

Do you dance to your own songs when they come on in a bar?

No, I literally run out the fucking bar. I’m a bit of a piss taker, and I think most Scouse people are, so when you’re song comes on it’s like when you drop a glass and everyone goes ‘Wheeeey!’ It’s like that for three and a half minutes. Then you get the haters come over giving you shit, then it gets violent. When I go out, I do think, ‘I hope they don’t fucking play our songs.’