Their reaction to being called an indie-band? "Better than being called a reggae-band..." Laughter. "Flattered, basically, because it means we can reach out to a wider audience." They recently played a gig in London, and it was advertised as 'indie-night'. "Loads of indie-kids. Great fun!"

But pop music? Covers of bands the likes of ABBA and Kylie? According to Harry, Jesus H. Christ was meant as a "tribute to pop music. Pop culture is important. And we want to reclaim pop - to reinforce the meaning of what is sung. Pop music is what 'most kids' listen to, and though we may have forgotten what impact pop music had on us, look at bands like 'New Kids...' Thousands upon thousands of fans. Of course they listen to the lyrics!" Quite.

Unfortunately, the pop stars' record companies did not want this kind of exposure. Even though many themes, riffs and verses are 'stolen' from record labels every year, and Chumbawamba did absolutely nothing to hide the fact that they were 'stealing', the record labels objected strongly. "It didn`t matter to us whether we were sued or not, we wouldn`t have been able to pay anyway. What stopped the production was the fact that our label (Agit-Prop) would have had a lot of hassle, and we didn`t want that to happen."

But they were proud of the 'attempted theft'. To have been able to say "We ripped of so-and-so`s song..." Their interpretation of pop culture is the ability to take two, three or more different things and mix them together. "The art of that, that`s what pop culture is all about. Even the Rolling Stones - when they first started out, they took old rhythmÇnÇblues and mixed it with their own ideas. Sure, that`s not why they`re playing nowadays, but it was then..."

They compared it with jackets, or jeans, or whatever. "You see someone walking down the street with something you like, you want to buy it. So you do, if you have money and find the right shop. There is no uniqueness when it comes to clothes, even when it comes to haute couture. So why can`t it be the same way about riffs?"

So what did they want to do next? "End it all. Do like the KLF (who broke up and subsequently deleted their entire back catalogue...) It`s no fun anymore when you`re looked on as an album-band. I mean, we hardly know how many albums we`ve released... But we don`t want to play gigs all our lives either. What I mean is, my dad`s a cabaret singer, singing the same songs night after night, year after year. He`s so frustrated..." This from Harry. Then Boff interrupts him for the last time: "It`s so sad about reunions. Like the Sex Pistols, talking of re-forming again. What`s the use of ripping up the past?" Would they ever do that? "NEVER!" I left them with a grin on my face. Punk bands playing pop music? What ever was the world coming to?