Jade's Music Blog

First Small, then Smaller and now The Sums were the bands perched on the brink of the big time.
“We’ve had a lot of interest, but a lot of it is from companies just trying to cash in on the Oasis thing,” explains The Sums bass player Chris Mullin.
Ah, yes, the Oasis thing. Digsy's friendship with the Gallaghers is well documented. They’ve jammed together, written together and Noel immortalised him with the song Digsy's Diner on Definitely Maybe.
He’s also mentioned in the title track of the Oasis album Be Here Now in the lyric "Your s**t jokes remind me of Digsy's."
“There’s been a lot of offers, but no-one wants to pay the bills,” laughs Digsy.
“So for now we’re just doing gigs and hoping to get a proper deal.”
But, the band refuse to be made cynical by a series of disappointments and dead ends.
“We’re having a good time,” grins Digsy. “We’re doing the Number One Project, which has been great.”
The Sums have recorded a blistering version of Paperback Writer, showcasing their dawdling psychedelia and gritty optimism to perfection.
“They gave us the list in the ECHO and said ‘pick your favourite three’,” says Chris, explaining the song selection process.
“We knew we wanted to be involved – anything that’s going to raise a million quid for six different Merseyside charities has to be a good thing.
“Originally we wanted to do How Much is that Doggy in the Window and do a bit of a punk job on it, so we put that down on our list, My Sweet Lord and Paperback Writer.”
“Then they came back with paperback Writer, which I’m glad about now,” says Digsy. “It was definitely the best choice for us.
“We didn’t want to make a straight copy, but we are a guitar band, so there was always going to be some similarity.”
“We threw in a section that’s not in the original, just a few bars, so it feels like our own,” says Chris.
“We Summed it up,” adds Digsy with an enormous, infectious laugh that lights up his face.
It’s hard to describe The Sums sound, but Digsy says he’ll have a go.
“We’re country and northern meets Scouse grunge,” he chuckles. “Not that we want to be pigeon holed.”
What are you listening to at the moment?
“Arctic Monkeys, The Zutons – the people I’m mates with – they give me it for free,” laughs Digsy. “And I listen to loads on the internet.
“The advent of MySpace has really helped us, and loads of bands like us. If a gig comes up you can promote it straight away, when you’ve recorded something you can stick it straight up and people can hear it. That’s the way it’s all going now.
A few years ago there was a Liverpool music scene, now it’s splintered into lots of scenes.
“We’re a bit older and wiser now. With having more knowledge and experience it starts to get easier to channel your creativity and you don’t get caught up in the politics tat always surround bands. It’s going well, it’s good. We’re good.
“But I still spend my days in search of a decent melody.”
The Sums play The Number One Project Concert on Saturday January 19 at the ECHO Arena. For tickets, call 0844 8000 400. For more information see www.myspace.com/thesumsrock.