Super Furry Animals

Alison and Alyson talked to Gryff from those welsh upstarts, the Super Furry Animals.

I'm sat here in front of an enormous tank. Why've you painted it yellow and blue?
Gryff- (in his inimitable Welsh accent) Well, it could be Cardiff city colours... We wanted a pink one, but we couldn't get pink tank paint.

Do you need special paint for tanks then?
Gryff- Yeah- you need special tank paint because it's amphibious, it can go underwater.

Whose idea was it to have a tank?
Gryff- We'd fancied one for a while, you know, but it took months to get it together, well, years.

Who actually painted it?
Gryff- Some friends.

Did you bribe them into doing it or did they just volunteer?
Gryff- No, we paid them.

Whose names are on the tyres and are they anything to do with the band?
Gryff- Nah- they're just graffiti.

Can you tell us what the Welsh says on the tank, please?
Gryff- Yes, on the front it says "Is there peace?" and on the back it says "Peace". It comes from a Welsh ceremony.

Have you ever got into trouble from taking a tank out anywhere or has it been okay?
Gryff- It's been okay so far, but they didn't let us in to T in the Park. They're refusing us from some festivals because they don't trust us with a tank, you know.

How do you transport it?
Gryff- It's illegal to take it on the road 'coz it would churn up the road. So we take it on a lorry and then drive it onto the field.

Gryff from SFA was talking to Alison and Alyson, at Phoenix 96.