Bungy jumping, train drivers, drag racing and cicadas in buckets - these are all part of the Ratcat life story! Claire Issac sat Simon, Andrew and Amr down and asked them everything about being in Ratcat and those are just some of the things they talked about! Read on to find out more…

How did you all get together?

Andrew : Simon and I met at a bungy jumping seminar!

Simon : I was just going to say that! No, scuba diving!

Andrew : Yeah, Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef! We saw a fish that looked like a cat and a rat so we chased it and then formed the band! And Amr was back at the hotel on the Great Barrier Reef, playing bass at the pool with three gorgeous girls around him and we thought he was a cool guy to have in the band so we asked him to be in the band and went from there!

Amr : It happens all the time! I can’t say that it actually happened on that occasion, but these sort of things just happen all the time.

Simon : It wasn’t The Great Barrier Reef. It was Balmoral beach! (Oh, look boys, be serious! - Ed) I was driving this new hot rod that I’d bought and I saw this guy in a really revved up car and I said ‘I’m the meanest guy on this strip mate. I’ll give you a drag race!’ - it turned out to be Andrew! We played a game of chicken where you had to drive as fast as you could down the road and then turn and go onto the sand and the person who chickened out first was the loser. So we both ended up driving down onto the sand, into the water…

Andrew : And we were driving along under the water and we saw Amr coming by! And he had an accident with us underwater and we started the band from there!

Amr : I was being chased by a shark. (Look, I’ve just about had enough of this! - Ed)

Simon : We could tell you that we all met in jail, but that would be a lie! You want the “we played in pubs for five years” story, do you? Well, for us it was always going steadily up hill and it was only since the release of Tingles that it has gone really way out! National charts kind of stuff. Before that we did really well in the alternative charts, but it took us getting RooArt and getting distribution in this country and a bit of promotion and a good film clip to get us to this point. The years we spent in the pubs and stuff gave us good experience in that we know now how we want to represent ourselves. No regrets!

How did you feel when you had two records in the Top ten?

Simon : Unbelievable! Top four actually - Nah - just hassling! It’s great! Life is getting weirder and weirder. Just with people coming around and things we have to do.

Andrew : Yes, I know what you’re saying, I have something to tell you when the microphone is turned off! (Oooh err, readers!)

Simon : The amount of work we’ve made for ourselves, it’s a monster! It’s really become quite busy for us, it’s more work than we’ve ever done.

Andrew : We can meet really influential people.

Simon : Yeah, I met Sophie Lee the other night! And Michael Hutchence…

What was it like working on the INXS tour?

Simon : Oh, great fun! Really professional, like everything - you had to be onstage at a certain time and the lights would go out, you know what I mean, everything was like clockwork, it was really really good. They’d feed us, and they looked after us. They were really friendly. The stages were big, the audiences were big…It was kind of nerve wracking at the beginning but once you got used to it it was great fun. The band sounded really good, everyone sang along to That Ain’t Bad.

Do you get lots of girls now that you’re famous?

Simon : More people want to talk to us, yeah more people want something from us! Yeah, a lot more attention definitely! It’s pretty weird getting recognised all the time.

Amr : Truck drivers go past and beep their horns.

Andrew : Do they?

Amr : No! Ha ha ha! Train drivers do!

Simon : Train drivers! That’s good, they recognise us as they go past! Boooooop! Yeah, but there are lots of girls around.

Amr : What are groupies?

Andrew : Let’s not go into that, OK?

Do you have any rock and roll rituals you go through before hitting the stage?

Simon : No, we just sit around and tell each other jokes!

Andrew : No, we sit around, drink beer and smoke cigarettes, that’s all.

Simon : We have met some bands who do weird ritual things, but we don’t!

Describe each other :

Simon : Amr’s a pyromaniac!

Andrew : Amr’s a man of extremes, put it that way! Simon is a chameleon-like character. In his outlook, not necessarily his appearance, but his views and stuff.

Simon : Sometimes, not always. There are certain things that I hold steady at. Don (Andrew’s nickname) is a hellraiser.

Amr : Don does damage.

Simon : Amr is half Lebanese and half Sri Lankan! Ha Ha!

Amr : Simon’s got a sharp tongue.

Simon : Double edged sword eh? Ha ha ha!

Do you get nervous meeting famous people?

Simon : Sometimes. I got nervous when I met the Buzzcocks because I was a really big fan.

Amr : We got more nervous after we met them!

What’s the worst part of your job?

Simon : Having to travel all the time gets a bit tedious.

Amr : Late nights and bad food.

Simon : I always find myself every second night on the road, going straight to bed and sleeping for 24 hours almost! You know? You get so worn out!

Amr : I can usually make it to the third day before I do that! I think Andrew could tell you more about that than I could, I don’t want to talk about it…

Andrew : I personally go out to nightclubs with our crew and have a few drinks and a dance and then go home. Ha ha!

Amr : I get left behind, so I spend the second night trying to get back to the hotel! I get lost all the time.

Andrew : Amr’s the Nomadic member of the band.

Amr : I wander all the time…I wonder how I wander!

Andrew : Amr wandered out of the hospital when he was born! And his parents couldn’t find him! And he wandered to school…takes everything in, gets every perspective!

Amr : Depending on what sort of perspective I’m trying to get…!

Andrew : We gamble a lot, go to the casino.

Amr : We saw the street cars in Perth.

Andrew : We had pornographic cards.

Amr : They were so hot we had to leave them in the freezer of the hotel.

Andrew : They were bondage cards!

What did you dream about last night?

Andrew : I had a really good one last night. I woke up really suddenly, I was with Simon and Amr and I was getting a drink at a fair. I went to get it and this guy was scooping cups into a bucket and there was this huge cicada in a bucket. And then I went round this other bridge and there was this eagle there all curled up and didn’t want to come out and it came out on my shoulder and it turned into a lady and she was really weird, pure white and she’d never seen any sun or any light and she was hidden in all this hair. It was weird!

Simon : All my dreams are really strange, but I never remember them. Sometimes I do if I really think about it but I don’t think this one was worth it!

Amr : I can never remember my dreams and if I did they wouldn’t be publishable!

Andrew : Oooh, Amr - vying for sex symbol!