Music: Soundbites

Richard Parfitt, vocals/guitar, 60ft Dolls

Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia. Are the Welsh taking over?

The "Taffia" continues to grow. Talent isn't exclusive to any area, much to the amazement of the London-based media. More power to the people. Land of my fathers, my fathers can keep it. Do you feel at home in this world?

Did you feel at home in America?

Midwest hell. We were playing to bemused cowboys and mutant mods. But we had a laugh, didn't we? One geezer asked "Where you from?" When we said Wales, he replied "Gee, I'm sorry about your princess". Anyway, we liked it so much we stayed there to record our new album, Joya Magica. Rock'n'Roll is American culture; we tend to look down on it. In Britain the celebration of success and the miserable cool of failure makes for healthy friction.

But there must be something Britain is good for?

One of the things we look forward to about touring Britain is the food. Yummy. Cheese & onion pasties and Scotch eggs. Also school uniforms, zebra crossings and the mysterious gluemen.

60ft Dolls are like...?

Our music is the sound of provincial laughter rotted by insomnia. Or a bloody racket, depending on whose side you are on.

So what side are you on?

Paddington train station suits our music - it's as dirty as a glass roof and full of strangers. Jack London, Muhammad Ali, The Rebecca Rioters and free school milk are our influences.

I guess your philosophy on life is similarly eclectic...

You who are not busy being born are busy dying. One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch, girl. Peace and goodwill to all men. The portals of success are guarded by failures, embittered and wearing bobble hats.

Dare I ask about politics...

Maggie Thatcher never let you down. Why didn't you vote for Kinnock, you miserable racists? Was it because he was a ginger-haired Taffy yobbo? You got what you deserved.