//Aisle16 Interview Exclusive

When Smash Hits called our manager and asked him if we wanted to do an exclusive interview with them, we said FUCK YEAH! We LOVE interviews, especially ones that we get to control and meticulously re-edit. So here it is!

It’s been a busy year for aisle16. Why don’t you tell us all what you’ve been up to?

LW: It’s been a great year for us. Really great
CH: The fans and-
RS: It really has been really great. We’ve had our book launch, our last CD sold more than we could have hoped for-
LW: It’s like the fans are really reaching out to us. They can hear our message and what we’re trying to do
CH: The fans really have been really great
JS: Need to focus
CH: And we’ve been touring a lot of schools in areas that are deprived of stuff, and that’s been-
LW: It’s been scary, but inspiring. It’s really made me look at myself-
RS: I really appreciate my money now.
JS: Focus.

You’ve just been chosen as the new face of Key Stage Three poetry. How does that feel?

LW: It feels great. It really does.
RS: We’ve been working really hard to get the poems to our fans. I went on holiday two weeks ago and my hair started going a bit blondish under the sun, so I decided to highlight it when I got home. Then I got it chopped off when I got back to Liverpool. It’s all part of the look. I think good hair sells poetry.
CH: And good poetry sells hair, so it’s like a vicious circle, but it’s cool.

Can you explain the acrimonious events surrounding your recent management change?

CH: We just needed some fresh new ideas. We wanted to push our poems to a higher level. Another level that was higher. So we basically made the decision to part company. We've been happy ever since.
JS: I think happiness is relative
LW: There’s no bad blood between us, we just needed to move onwards to a new place that was somewhere else. To keep it moving.
RS: Aisle16 taking over this summer!

Do the lads in your local pub ever insult your kind of poems?

LW: It has happened, yes. But I think a lot of it has to do with jealousy. They just want to be in a position that we are in. Naturally, we don't expect everybody to like our poetry, but-
RS: And it’s sad, because I think we present a certain image that they’re not comfortable with.
CH: It’s like they’re not comfortable with that image.
LW: And they’re really jealous of what we’ve done and the position that we are in. Place-wise, I mean.
RS: Aisle16 taking over this summer!

Do you care that so many guys might put you down, for example, out of jealousy, considering all the money you've made and babes you've scored?

CH: No. I can fight. I can bring it old school.
LW: There will always be haters. We just stay true to our image, stay humble and keep making money. That’s the secret.
RS: And it’s the secret. For real.

Do you see yourselves as poets or sex symbols?

RS: You have to be careful about talking about symbolism with poets. Bread and butter, baby.
LW: I think I’m both. I think we all are.
JS: Symbols. Symbols.
CH: Because obviously we do have sex, and that’s like a symbol for poems, you know?
RS: Recognise ladies! Aisle16 taking over this summer!

During the "Aisle16 craze," was it possible to have a normal relationship with a woman?

RS: Yes and no. I mean we weren’t supposed to have girlfriends, cos our management thought it would lose us fans, but we’d still have sex, if you know what I mean.
CH: The whole image was quite hard. We weren’t allowed to be too happy even because our manager thought it would eat up all our inspiration
JS: Disgusting
LW: I’ve been lucky to have somebody the whole time through all this madness. Big love to you, sweet-heart. Sorry ladies!
JS: Sin.
CH: People use this word ‘craze’ when all it really is, is like a shared hysteria. People were crazed. Does that automatically mean it’s a craze?

You’ve been criticised by certain groups for your endorsement of McDonalds. How do you respond?

CH: We’re trying to do something positive and you’re being totally negative. Why?
LW: We can’t carry on this interview if you keep being so negative. Our sponsors look after us. What’s the planet ever done?

How do you and the group give back today? Give back in not such a public way.

LW: We go to the hotel room, jump on the bed together and watch movies. I will go to their house in London, Joel will cook something, or our assistant, Andy, will cook up some spaghetti, and we go up into their mini-theatre, watch movies and just have a ball.
JS: I hurt myself today
CH: When I go home, I go to my church. I still support the churches and I go to talk with the youth. But this is stuff that is not publicised; it's just some stuff I do spontaneously, like, "I think I need to go here today ..." and just chill. I don't go to be recognised. I just go to encourage people and let them know that their dreams can definitely come true if they put God first.
RS: I just rap with kids on my corner in Coggeshall and try to give back that way. And I chase cats away from asthma sufferers. I suffer from asthma, so I can relate to asthma sufferers. Because I have it too.

What are your plans for the next year?

RS: Aisle16 taking over this summer!

What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

CH: Dream on! I really mean it.
LW: And don’t forget your dreams. Be patient.
RS: We’re taking over this summer!
JS: The road is fucking hard. It is crack’d and seeping. I am, finally, besmirched.

LW: Love to the fans