Hi guys, firstly please introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about the band, its timeline, and who plays what etc.
We are A Multitude Of Sins - often abbreviated to AMOS - and we play a blend of punk/rock music in our own unique style. Our set usually consists of a 70:30 split between tracks we've written ourselves and a few covers such as Blitzkrieg Bop, England Belongs To Me, The Kids Are United etc. The band was formed in 2005 by Chris and Al, and after several line-up changes now consists of the current bunch of reprobates - Al on vocals, Chris on guitar & backing vocals, Fran on guitar and backing vocals, Andy on bass, and Rich on drums.

Who are your Punk/Rock/Metal heroes?
The Stranglers (our band's name comes from the title of lead singer Hugh Cornwell's autobiography), Foo Fighters, Peter & The Test Tube Babies, Cock Sparrer, Sham 69, the Sex Pistols, and many more.

How do you go about writing the new songs? Are they based on stuff you read in the newspaper that makes you angry?
Alan has written hundreds of songs that we have yet to learn - we usually sit down and each of us puts some input in to the structure and wording of the song. The lyrics are about anything we see, hear or read, e.g. Code Red, which was a headline in the Daily Sport, and then we built lyrics around it. Alan also gets headlines from his porn collection!

Peace & Quiet is about one of Al’s best mates Pete Bould who is generally smashed out of his face 20 hours a day. He used to have his music and telly on full blast at 3 o’clock in the morning and this was always causing run-ins with his neighbours. He used to strap a tape recorder to his Alsatian dog to promote the band and turn it up full blast at 3am!

Our song Self-Destructive Kind Of Guy is a totally true story, about an ex-band member who was a compulsive liar. One of his many lies was that he was a top chef - and then we caught him selling hamburgers! ’77 Those Were The Days is about the great bands still going strong and who have stayed true to the punk movement we love so much - 999, UK Subs, Stranglers, Damned, Gonads etc. etc. etc. All our heroes!

I heard that you once played 24 gigs at 24 venues within 24 hours. That's crazy! What was that all about, and did you also have a video of the TV series 24 projected onto the backdrop? If not, you shoulda!
We were in the Guinness Book Of Records after breaking the record for playing 24 gigs at 24 different venues whilst using the same PA and equipment in 24 hours. We had the added advantage of the Daily Sport sponsoring us and supplying us with several glamour models for the day, who followed us from venue to venue. We appeared on the TV, on the regional news and also in national newspapers and the Daily Sport.

On the back of this exposure we were asked to play at Alfreton Town Football Club, but when we got there we found out that it was for the Under-12s youth club! After twenty minutes of playing we had parents removing their kids in disgust. We do support local charity events and have played many gigs in the past to raise money for good causes like Help for Heroes, and Stroke associations. Incidentally our 24hr record was broken just a month later by a German band!

Tell us about your part in the Rock Against Knife Crime campaign.
Rock Against Knife Crime came about after one of Al’s friends was murdered in a frenzied knife attack, followed two days later by another stabbing of one of his friends while using a cash machine. We wanted to make people aware of the rising knife crime within the Nottinghamshire community. We wrote the song Scum City shortly after the fatal attack to raise awareness.

To balance out Scum City, what are the good things about living in the Nottingham/Mansfield area?
Mansfield is a shit hole but we love it, apart from idiots who carry weapons. This is cowardice and it's what Scum City is about. We also have a good football team in Nottingham Forest. And football is all the band talk about much to the dismay of Rich who doesn’t like football.

How relevant is punk and oi in today's music scene? And in today's political scene?
Unfortunately Punk and Oi! Has gone underground and been taken out of the public eye to make way for manufactured X-Factor style ‘bands’. We strongly feel that we need another John Peel type to push the music forward that we believe people would really want to hear, and not just what people are forced to hear. John Peel was a legend; he brought many great acts to the ears of the general public. Jonathon Ross is a good bloke, but again he is told what to play because of his bollocking by the BBC.

What gigs/recording etc have you got coming up?
We're currently recording a new CD as a follow-up to our first 13-track CD that was released last year. We also have some UK dates coming up, including a show in Blackpool in February 2012 with Garry Bushell's band The Gonads. Keep an eye on our website for more information.

What have been the proudest moments for A Multitude Of Sins?
We are always proud to support charity events and raising money for a good cause, and of course holding the world record (albeit for only a month!) was a very proud moment for us.

What's the bonkers'est thing that's ever happened to AMOS?
One quite bonkers thing was Al wearing a dustbin throughout the whole set! But I’m expecting to see worse in the future!

What are your ambitions?
Our ambition is to brainwash kids into listening to us and no one else, haha. We want to tour everywhere and build up a following, we want to continue working on our stage presence and become the band that people can have fun watching, and write very catchy songs. We are most certainly the punk rock version of Tiswas!

© Get Ready To Roll - 7th December 2011