"How can I miss you / When you won't go away?"

Well, they have gone now, and so let the missing commence.

Just a day after releasing new album Artists Cannibals Poets Thieves, Six. By Seven's three remaining members - Chris Olley, James Flower and Chris Davis - announced they'd decided to go their separate ways.

I'd approached them for an interview with the intention of writing a piece for the BBC Nottingham site to coincide with the album release. In the event, it's more like an obituary.

Me and Six. By Seven go back a long way - and I've written about much of it as part of this live review. The records are by and large great, but it'll be for their live shows that I'll remember them most fondly. Three gigs particularly stick in the mind: the first sighting, when they supported Fugazi at the Ballroom in Nottingham in May 1999; the triumphant and blistering homecoming show in honour of the Social's first birthday in October 2000; and at the Leeds Festival 2002, when, when all around them were losing their heads to dirty garage riffs, the boys from Nottingham crafted a stupendous set of their most mesmeric spaced-out gems.

Anyway, for anyone who's interested - and frustratingly there were never enough - here's the interview I did in full (all three members contributed):

I last interviewed you back in October 1999 when things were very different – you were a five piece and had just released the ‘Ten Places To Die' single in advance of your second album. How do you feel things have panned out since then? Has it been a struggle? And have the adversities you've faced made you stronger as a band?

"After the release of the second album things built up to a point where the band was gaining a much bigger audience, people were starting to take notice, we seemed to be constantly touring. It was great fun but it put a strain on band relationships, eventually Sam [Hempton, guitarist] snapped and bailed out! We remained a tight unit and the record company remained faithful and we agreed to record the next record as a four piece. Since then things have become harder, we changed as people and members, management, agents came and went, but we still believed we had better music in us which made us forge on. All these changes definitely made us stronger."

Do you feel hard done by with regard to the way your records have been received by the critics or the public? How much notice do you take of the press these days?

"We have our moments where we've felt we've been passed by, but that has never affected the music we make, I think we still have a massive amount quality control when it comes to writing and recording as well as the live show. As far as the press goes, we've had a lot of fans in the press who've stuck by the band through everything. It becomes harder to get press attention as you get older as a band because the media are always chasing the next big thing."

Artists... comes barely a year after its predecessor. Was there an eagerness to follow :04 up quickly? Are you feeling full of ideas and creative energy these days?

"We've always felt full of eagerness and creative energy. Unfortunately when you are with a record label, they only want you to release a record every two years so they can market it and you can tour it. Now we have our own label we can tour without financial support, but we really need to get two records out a year to make enough money to pay for the record and to be able to live off it. This is what bands used to do in the 70's, but not to survive, to make more money!! All our music must pass quality control, we wouldn't ever put a record out for the sake of it, it would damage us too much."

The new album is being released on your own label and was produced by the band at your own studio. Are you enjoying being in complete control of what you do? How does this compare to the amount of creative freedom you were permitted before?

"We were allowed to do what we wanted before but the emphasis was always on finding a single, we don't need to do that anymore. We still work closely with Ric Peet, who produced the last Beggars Banquet album and most of the second album. It's good to produce your own music I think, so long as you can!"

You’ve said you regard Artists... as your "first real release as a three piece". What do you mean by that?

"Well, on the :04 album there were tracks that were still a hangover from being a four piece and we still had this thing about playing a bass guitar onto the multi track. We didn't do that with this record, all the bass-lines were generated before, electronic keyboard bass-lines or we just left the bass off altogether!"

How enjoyable was your time on a major label?

"Yeah it was great, I wish we could do it all again sometimes, but then I think no fuck it, it's better to be in full control and to be an artist rather than just another cog in a sour industry where cash means prizes."

What's the best thing about running your own label and putting out your own records? And the worst?

"The worst is the financial stress and the organisation and knowing that people write you off. The best is that you only need to sell one third of the records you did before but you make more money and you are in total control and can do it exactly the way that you want to!!"

Are you able to support yourselves through your music and your label or has the change of circumstances forced you to make compromises and get day jobs?

"Our change of circumstances i.e. getting dropped from Mantra initially had quite a profound effect – yes, we had to get day jobs and / or sign on. This meant we were having to divide our time between surviving and trying to keep the band running. At this point unfortunately Paul [Douglas, bass] was forced into a position where he had to work rather than do the band, such is life… The three of us however managed to keep our enthusiasm and creativity going, we made :04 and the Peveril album [Left Luggage At The Peveril Hotel] over the last couple of years, and now Artists… That time in day jobs paid off, now (at least for a while) we can live off the money we made. Not many bands can do that... It wasn't easy though..."

What was it (apart from the Nottingham setting) about 'Saturday Night Sunday Morning' that inspired you to name your label after it?

"‘Saturday Night And Sunday Morning’ is an inspirational film, it is both tragic and comic. A guy works by day in a factory, and then lets off steam at night by getting pissed and getting into various scrapes – all he can do is live for the weekend. It kind of sums up all the injustices of modern living... I suppose we relate to this. 'Don't let the bastards grind you down' (a famous quote from the central character, Arthur Seaton) can be applied to anyone who aggravates you – Bush, Blair, why even the music industry!"

Do you have plans to use the label to release material by bands other than yourselves?

"We'd love to put some music out by other bands at some point – send us your demos!"

What does the future hold for Six. By Seven?

"World domination – one day everyone will own a Six. By Seven record!"

Links:

Nick Southall's Stylus review of Artists Cannibals Poets Thieves.

My review of Artists Cannibals Poets Thieves for Vanity Project.