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NEXT BIG THING
A DEAD CERT IN OUR BOOK! FOLLOW US TO SUNNY SOUTH AFRICA AS WE HANG OUT
WITH BROTHERLY NEW BAND 'NEXT OF KIN'...
Last month we introduced you to Next Of Kin, one of our hot tips for '99,
so when we found out they were filming the video for their super-catchy
'24 hours from you' in South Africa, we hopped on a plane to bring you an
exclusive behind the scenes gawp. In the video we see brothers Nathan, Mark
and Kieran whizzing from place to place on their rather nifty and futuresque
hover-boards causing all manner of havoc and chaos. It's all very high-tech
but not at all that glamorous or in fact comfortable, as the lads explained
when we sat them down for a quick chat...
SO GUYS, HOW ARE YOU FINDING THE WHOLE VIDEO-MAKING EXPERIENCE?
KIERAN:It's really draining...
NATHAN:But good fun.
MARK:It isn't exactly hard work, it's just more uncomfortable than anything.
Especially those harnesses!
WHICH HARNESSES WOULLD THOSE BE THEN?!
MARK:Well, to create the effect of us flying we have to wear these harnesses
which are attached to this massive crane. There are all these wires and we have
to wear these foam nappies! Let's just say they're not the most comfortable of
things to wear.
NATHAN:Also, we had to keep dropping our trousers so they could attach the
harnesses! That was a little embarassing, just standing there in broad daylight,
with everyone looking at us!
KIERAN:There was a point where Nathan had to drop his trousers to take off the
harness, and there was this huge group of tourists just stood around watching
him.
NATHAN:So I just turned to them and said, 'Having a good look, are you?!'
WEREN'T YOU NERVOUS?
NATHAN:We were more excited than anything. We just wanted to get it done so we
could see the finished version.
KIERAN:Just having to change our clothes so much was a bit of a pain. We had three
outfits in total and we had to keep changing all the time.
NATHAN:On the whole though it's been pretty good.
YOU HAD TO DO QUITE A BIT OF ACTING TOUGH. HOW DID YOU ALL HANDLE THAT?
KIERAN:I've done quite a bit of acting in the past. In fact, until all this came
along, I always wanted to be an actor so it wasn't that much of a problem.
NATHAN:It wasn't too bad actually - and can I just point out that we performed
most of our stunts!
MARK:Which I wasn't too happy about at times cos I had my guitar strapped on my
back and I was really scared it was going to get scratched. (We should point out that
Mark's guitar is a Joe Santriani-approved model, a v highly respected and admired
guitar player. In other words, it cost a packet!)
NATHAN:Never mind that, I grazed my elbow! (Cue the dirtiest of infectious laughs!)
THERE'S QUITE A LOT OF WAITING AROUND THOUGH, DOESN'T THAT GET TO YOU?
NATHAN:It does make the day drag on a bit. To be honest we usually do one shot and then
we get to lie down, for like, half an hour!
MARK:The worst part though is when we're on the harnesses and we're just dangling around,
nothings happening. After a while it really starts to hurt.
SO WHAT'S BEEN THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR DEBUT VIDEO SHOOT?
MARK:It's difficult to say cos the whole thing's happening so quickly.
NATHAN:Easy! We got a tan!
MARK:Nathan loves sun-bathing but I can't be bothered.
NATHAN:Seriously though, the most exciting bit was probably when we were filming in the
town and there were loads of poeple just stood arouns watching.
MARK:Yeah, we were strapped to the back of this van on our harnesses and we were just
being driven around with all these people staring and beeping their horns at us and
stuff. It was mad!
KIERAN:We also signed our first autograph which was really exciting. These girls who'd
been hanging around most of the day came and asked us. I was dead chuffed!
SO HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW IT'S NEARLY OVER?
NATHAN:Knackered!
MARK:I'm a bit worried about this little rash I picked up from the harness, which is
really nice!
NATHAN:We're more worried about Kieren though. He's been acting a little more barmy
than usual! We reckon all the sun's bleached his brain!
KIERAN:Oi!
FINALLY, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF SOUTH AFRICA?
NATHAN:Very different.
MARK:Nice though. Really lovely.
KIERAN:Whenever you see South Africa on holiday shows, they always show you the outback.
You always think it's the kind of of place where you'd go on holiday. But when we got it's
all...town!
NATHAN:We didn't expect it to be so hot. Not that I'm complaining!
KIERAN:We definately want to come back though. We've made a lot of friends here and of
course, it holds fond memories of our first ever video shoot...
