01. Why did you start in this business we call show?
Hannah: I actually found I was quite good with the instrument I was given, and what’s more entertaining and fun than getting paid to sing to total strangers every other day?
02. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Pete: So many things. Here are some pedantically specific examples: The last 20 minutes of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar solo in Highway Star. Blackadder Goes Forth. Chapter 2 of Wuthering Heights, where Mr Lockwood has a nightmare about Cathy’s ghost trying to get into his room. The final movement of Mahler’s Ressurection Symphony. Custard Tarts. And as I’m currently listening to it and it’s awesome, Inno A Satana by Emperor.
03. What is your favourite swear word?
Hannah: Can I really swear in this interview? Alright, fuck it then!
04. What would have been the worst possible day for you to sleep through the alarm?
Pete: The day the Royal Philharmonic knock on the door asking to play a gig as Across The Sea’s backing orchestra. Fortunately, I don’t really sleep enough to sleep through alarms, so if this day ever comes I’ll be ready.
Hannah: Same but I would sleep through the alarm and it would haunt my dreams forever!
05. Presley or Costello?
An Elvis impersonator bought one of our cd’s at a gig in London once, so we’d better say, Presley…
06. What was the one gig (yours or someone else’s) that made time still for you?
The best gigs, whether playing or watching, go by in one delirious transcendent moment. Bands we’ve seen that actually make time stand still are for all the wrong reasons, so it would be ungracious to name them here.
07. What sound or noise do you love?
Hannah: The sound of birds singing outside my window at the crack of dawn…which I hardly hear cause I sleep too much so it’s a rare occasion which makes it more special I suppose.
08. It’s 3am. The promoter stole all the money. Two people turned up to the gig. Your name is spelled wrong on the poster. It’s raining. What makes you get up tomorrow and do it all over again?
The alarm clock neither of us slept through.
09. Where do all the odd socks go?
To a far better place than this: a utopian wonderland where socks live in peace, free from such perils as nails sticking out of floorboards, hungry pets and puddles of water. A tranquil paradise where all socks are treated equally and embraced for their differences and none are referred to as ‘odd’.
10. What will it say on your tombstone?
Hannah: ‘Here lies Hannah Lewis, Made In Worthing’
Pete: ‘This tombstone was paid for with exposure and free drinks’
You can find Across The Sea here:
Plugged In Brighton 