"Knowledge is power", once declared a wise man, which is why we've trawled the country to bring you the best bars, music hang-outs and gigs in one handy guide. We've even thrown in a weekly music quiz in for good measure, so you can measure your expanding rock 'n' roll savvy. Enjoy!
My Booze Hell
Tips And Tales From The Indie Frontline.
Joseph Mount
Metronomy
"I think the problem with university is that you end up spending most of your time trying to impress girls. Once you realise it is impossible to impress them by talking about your conceptual art, the only option left is to get them drunk. I tried this on several occasions. In most instances I managed to get my self to a very suggestive level of drunkenness, but it was rare for anyone to take advantage of me. The times they did I was almost far too gone and thankfully sensible enough to make my excuses...or excuse. I would say 'I'm sorry I have to go home and feed the cats'. Chicks dig this because they love cats and it makes them think you're sensitive, it is also a great euphemism for going home to vomit."
Hangover Cure: "More beer - the option I usually take."
David Thorpe
Pete And The Pirates
"We used to go to free parties in Bristol, and I remember once downing 2l glasses of red wine in the course of a couple of hours, then having a terrible lost journey home - it took about three hours, I nearly fell straight down a gorge and I'm still not really sure how we found our way back. I remember being newly-arrived, going out drinking and coming back having forgotten where I lived, wandering around all these anonymous halls of residence until dawn, just trying to figure out where my bed was."
Hangover Cure: "Stay in bed."
Samantha Valentine
Ipso Facto
"I once fell asleep on the floor of the 453 bus in Deptford. We'd all been out to White Heat that evening, and gone very heavily on the lash. I woke up to find people stepping over me as I lay pretty much in the middle of the aisle. I managed to recover enough dignity to get up, but not the presence of mind to just get off at the next stop - I stayed onboard until I actually I was opposite my front door."
Hangover Cure: "A cold shower."
Faris Rotter
The Horrors
"I've packed in boozing, personally. I just got bored with all that. It's life - you have to live it to the full or not at all. However, our drummer can't go on stage anymore without a drink. He does literally get the shakes. We tried it once without giving him a drink, but it went dreadfully."
Hangover Cure: "A very long walk."
Andy Stone
The Displacements
"We all went out drinking one evening and our guitarist, Owen, suddenly went missing. We phoned him up, and asked where he was, and he said 'Club 22'. Needless to say, there isn't a Club 22. Then someone else came up to us as we were walking up the road and said 'I've just seen your guitarist throwing up and writhing around on the floor on your doorstep. I got back to him, got him stable, and called him a taxi. I phoned him up the next day, and he says all he remembers was winding up in a field - clearly after being thrown out of the taxi, and spending three hours wandering around, lost, looking for civilisation."
Hangover Cure: "Drink less."
Uselful Numbers
- Benefit Enquiry Line: 0800 88 22 00
- Frank - Drug Advice: 0800 77 66 00
- Samaritans: 08457 90 90 90
- Shelter: 0808 800 4444
