I used to play guitar in Oxford Indie/Grunge rockers Place Above, and am now doing some solo acoustic stuff.

1.What do you think you sound like?

I’ve got a basic folky sound, but thanks to my very basic guitaring ability it’s mostly strummed. I’ve been compared to the likes of Damien Rice, Jose Gonzalez etc.

2. What do you do when you’re not making music?

I am training to be a secondary school Drama teacher. I also work part-time as a support worker for people with special needs and learning difficulties.

3. Recommend us a good band or album and tell us what’s good about it.

Graham Coxon’s new record, “The Spinning Top” has completely blown me away. I hated his other solo stuff where he tried to be all punky with the fuzzy guitars and Rottenesque snarl, but this album is more folky and has a really dreamy feel with some really wonderful acoustic guitar playing and sweet vocals, and some tracks which have even got a really Hispanic feel. It’s worth an illegal download for sure!

4. Where did you get your band name from?

My name is Ben Phillips, and I have no imagination. Whenever I get booked for a gig the sound men quite often expect some rapper to be showing up because of then name. When a scruffy little hairy bloke with nothing but an acoustic guitar in his hand shows up they’re usually quite relieved.

5. What do you like and dislike about Oxford and its music?

I love the fact that despite the fact that over the past couple of years things have changed an awful lot, fantastic bands like Smilex and Dive Dive have still got the drive to carry on gigging and putting out music.

I think it’s a real shame that so many of the venues we all knew and loved are no longer around, venues which it was always so easy to bag yourself a show at. It’s also a shame that the young side of the scene seems to have declined massively. Back when I was playing in Place Above we had such a wonderful time playing local venues with peers of ours who were also in under 18 bands, some of whom were really promising. Places like The Net and The Vibe used to get some great bands and great crowds in and it was always great showing up at soundcheck because you’d always be playing with at least one band you knew which made the whole experience so much more fun. Get the young bands back!

I got that just after i’d done it. It said it needed moderator approval which I hoped would spare the blushes of my incompetance, but alas…nay. All point at Ben and laugh.