Few people have heard of Men, Women & Children, and to those that have, there is still a mysteriousness about the band that you imagine could never be fully described… unless of course it’s by the band themselves. So, sitting in the corner of King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut across the table from bassist Ricky Penzone and keyboardist Nick Conceller, it was time for some answers.

As people come and go around us, some arriving early for the gig and others just enjoying the atmosphere and overpriced drinks of the famous venue, both Nick and Ricky seem at ease hanging out in the bar 35 minutes before they are due to play a gig in the very same building. This is, most definitely, a band without ego. Now, you could argue that as a relatively unknown band, they’re not supposed to have egos… but when you look at the bands they have shared a bill with over the past 12 months; Gang of Four, Head Automatica, Brand New, RX Bandits and the much-hyped Panic! At The Disco, you begin to see that this band must have something good going on. Having just finished a 7 date tour of big venues with Kasabian in the US, I asked Nick how it felt to be playing small venues for their first ever headline tour. “It’s amazing,” fires Ricky before Nick gets a chance to speak. “And we get to play a long time, usually we have like 30 minutes and then it’s like ‘get out of here’, now we can do whatever we want,” Nick finishes. As for smaller venues, Nick explains how the band prefer playing to smaller, more intimate crowds, a statement a statement which seems to contradict the funky, electronic sound of their self-titled debut album which would seem more at home in large arenas.

Judging by tonight’s interview Nick, with a mess of longer ginger hair and matching beard, takes great pride in speaking on behalf of his band and talks frankly not only about the music they make, but about the relationship with their fans. “I feel like we’re still yet to be heard about everywhere, the same for our record… at the moment, we’re just working hard to spread the word,” explains Nick, and working hard they are. Tonight is one show in a string of 21 dates spread over 23 days. Using the Red Hot Chilli Peppers as an example, Nick goes on to explain how not every band can be a break-through success off the back of one album, “and right now it’s cool for us to just hang out and meet our fans, being with the people who enjoy what we do.” Ricky has some interesting comments about certain former tour-mates and their place in the current music scene and he makes it clear that none of the band members want Men, Women and Children to be just another band that takes their 15 minutes and then fades away, and that they are no way jealous of the bands which are doing just that. Nick adds; “We’d much rather be known as a band through word of mouth than number one singles and all that right now.”

Sitting talking to the band about their place in the scene and touring provides a stark contrast to the band’s live show; an all out, neon-light, conga-ing with the crowd, smoke, bubbles and the whole shebang experience. It’s interesting that the band, made up of TJ Penzone, Mike Sullivan Kaplan, Jason Giullmule and former Glassjaw guitarist Todd Weinstock as well as Nick and Ricky, can switch between all out fun-loving performer mode and serious business-mode so easily, and it also shows the dedication of the band to getting their music heard and making Men, Women & Children a huge success, a mission that was almost destroyed whilst on tour with 30 Seconds to Mars as part of an MTV2 tour in the US. Their van including all their equipment, clothes and personal belongings was stolen from outside their hotel in the middle of the day. Ricky describes the moment he discovered they’d lost over $100,000 worth of possessions; “I thought it was a joke, we all came out of and stood there and there was just nothing, nothing“. It was only through help from the other bands on the bill that they managed to finish the tour and since then donations have been made by fans and friends towards getting their entire show back together. “It was pretty cool to see people really cared about us, who our friends are“.

After playing some “either/or games” with my co-interviewer, which revealed Nick’s love of Hot Chip, Ricky’s opinion that Roger Moore was the greatest Bond (pfffft), and that both members would rather ride dolphins than sharks, we started to see the fun side of Men, Women and Children that is so evident on stage. That’s what this band are all about, it’s not about image, it’s not about trends, it’s not about being part of this scene or that scene, it’s about good music and fun, and the only real mystery is “why aren’t more people having fun with Men, Women & Children already?” …