"Hurricane
Ride the whirlwind: welcome back Andy Bell and his new Oasis-fuelled boxing
combo.

Who are they?
They're from Oxford, They're on Creation and they're Andy Bell out of
Ride's new band. He's joined by Gareth Farmer (drums), Will Pepper (bass),
and Alex Lowe (vocals). So, Andy's just song-writing and playing guitar. No
singing.

Does the new group obliterate the late period Ride traumas?
"I just didn't know what i wanted to do when Ride ended," Andy whispers. "I
felt like I past it.[brightnening] I've got it all back now. It's like i'm
17 y.o. again."

So, what happened?
When 'Tarentula' came out in 1996, he'd already hooked up with drummer
Gareth, a local whose first gig was Ride at Oxford Apollo. While andy
finished writing the songs, the duo auditioned singers. On the day, their
session bassist lamed out, but put them in touch with Will.

How did Alex get the gig?
"I got the job from an ad Alan McGee put in the music papers", he recalls
with a chuckle. "You know what he's like: 'Alan McGee seeks superstar!' "
He sang a cracking "Maggie Mae" at the audition and got hired on the spot.

The answer t Janet and John Ride-Fan's dreams?
Probably not. Judging from their first single "Step Into my World",
Hurricane are powerful, straight-down-the-fairway rock'n'roll band. "I
don't mind mentioning it," says Andy, "a lot of Hurricane is not
influenced, but inspired by Oasis. They're probably my favourite band ever.
We also love "Fool's Gold" -era Roses. The Charlatans and Black Grape.
They're the 90's Faces. They're influenced by black music, they're street
level and they're having a laugh."

Not like Ride at all, then...
Will: "From what i've heard of Ride, I wouldn't believe Andy could get
together a band like this. Hurricane are ten times later." Says a more
charitable Gaz, "It'll be like Black Grape carrying on from the Mondays.
Well, hopefully."

Back to Alex. Has McGee found his superstar?
Certainly. Reared in the North of Scotland, he lest school at 12 for a
career in potato-picking. He also took up amateur boxing to help his single
mother make ends meet. "You'd take on fights just for money. I'd think
'Fuck, I'm gona get bettered here, but, win or lose, i'm getting 30 quid!'
"

His nose looks in good shape. Did he never get hit?
"No", he grins, " I got my nose broken once, but i actually got it sorted
in the ring. It got broken in the first round, and the corner guy goes,
'Your nose is broke, but you're winning on points. Do I stop the fight?' I
goes, 'No fucking way!' So he put two cottons buds in my nose and cracked
it back into place again. I won the fight."

What about an album?
It's liable to be in the biggest debut album of the year. It was produced
by Steve Harris of Kula Shaker's "K" fame, who got the call-up from Oasis'
management during the recording. Will: "He came back in with this grin on
his face, and goes, 'Guess who just asked me to do their next album?', and
i went 'Oasis!', taking the piss. And he goes, 'Yeah, and I turned 'em
down.'
That's how cool it's been."

(Andrew Perry)