Far from being a genuine freakshow, the Reading-based band that bear the name are actually quite a normal-looking bunch. You know, nicely dressed, not particularly freakish and far less likely to get funny looks on the street than a bearded lady, circus strongman or a troupe of midgets.

Maybe that’s doing them a disservice, but it’s difficult to grasp how the Tom Robinson-endorsed seven piece have laid claim to the name.

The music’s not terribly freakish either, but thankfully it’s really rather good.

After some re-recording they put out debut album Oftentimes in November, and it’s a veritable pot pourri of stylings – a dash of post rock here, a smidge of pure pop there… all told they sound like a close relation of Tidal Wave’s recent Aussie live heroes Architecture in Helsinki, never more so than on latest single Hopscotch Machine Gun Madness.

Strings and brass are used to great effect, and while we blatantly missed the album at the time of release it’s still a treat and worth revisiting.

We checked in with trumpeteer John Dunstan for a blether.

So who the hell are you?

I’m John, but you can call me Dunce. I play the trumpet and a couple of other things in A Genuine Freakshow.

Describe your sound in ten words or less!

A seven-piece post everything pop bonanza (sorry, that’s a quote, but we like it).

How did you all come together to make music?

Simon (Evans – guitar) and Tim (Sutcliffe – vocals/guitar) met over some spare Radiohead tickets a few years ago. It started out as a duo and has now kind of snowballed into a seven-piece. We did try to add another member last year but our manager drew the line at seven. For now at least…

 

A seven piece band must have in interesting dynamic – what influences have you all brought to the table and how do you all get on together?

There is a lot of variety in our music tastes and influences, but it never seems like we’re each trying to pull in different directions. There are some common favourite bands amongst use like Mew, Radiohead and Sigur Rós. The primary songwriters are definitely on the same wavelength, so are our drummer and bassist, both metal-heads. We try to influence each other as well, although I’m having trouble getting everyone to appreciate Jimmy Eat World.

We’ve just spent a week in Cornwall with the seven of us plus our engineer living in a static home that sleeps five, and are all still here to tell the tale, so we must get on to some degree.
 
How was the experience of making and releasing Oftentimes and will it influence what you do in the future?
 
Oftentimes took a while. Recording it all twice because we didn’t like the way it was going first time around, having seven people chirping in their ideas during the mixing process, completely changing the artwork, putting back the release date for one reason then another, all led to this. But the relief of getting it out there, looking and sounding how we wanted, was pretty special.
 
We’ve written almost half of the second album now, and we’re feeling quite confident about how we can make it better than anything we’ve done before.
 
The new single’s called Hopscotch Machine Gun Madness. Uhhhh… what??
 
“Imagine playing a game of hopscotch with a loaded machine gun in your hands…” is how Tim describes what was going on in his head.

Have you any festivals lined up for the summer?

Not as many as last year. We’ve got a couple of smaller ones (which are always better than the bigger ones in my opinion), but we’ve still got a lot of writing to do over the summer, so we’re quite limited for time.

Let’s say that you’re guys are NOT a genuine freakshow. Give me seven people, dead or alive – even fictional – that if they were put together as a band would absolutely be ‘a genuine freakshow’.
 
Hmm… I think this could work a number of ways:

Peter Crouch, Vocals. A gangly front-man is great. One of our favourite bands, Spring Offensive, have a singer who looks a bit like him, so it definitely works.
Charlie Sheen, Guitar. He wins here, he wins there. Always useful for a guitarist.
Tom Baker, Bass. You know, the fourth Doctor, who came between Jon Pertwee and Peter Davison? Plus, it works for Cats and Cats and Cats.
Captain Scarlet, Violin. An indestructible guy, yes, but let’s not forget he’s also a marionette.
Nigella Lawson, Cello. I imagine she’d pull some quite good faces.
Rick Waller, Trumpet. You have to be fat to be good at the trumpet. That’s my excuse, anyway.
Edward Scissorhands, Drums. Absolute nightmare.

That’s probably the best fantasy band we’ve ever heard about – make it happen John!

Oftentimes is out now and here’s blast of Hopscotch Machine Gun Madness and its colourful video:

There’s some live action lined up too…

May 9, Guildford Loud & Live Bar, Star Inn
May 11, Cardiff Buffalo Bar
May 14, Leeds The Well 
May 23, Bristol The Croft
May 26, Wimbledon The Grove
May 28, London Bush Hall (acoustic set with Melissa Auf Der Maur)
June 10, London Proud (Camden)