1. Why the name of the band? Is it your favourite part of the day? How would you describe the afternoons in Wales?
 The Afternoons were initially four friends who loved music and decided to form a band. I wanted us to be a cross between GOFFIN-KING and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND. THE AFTERNOONS evoked, for me, both the Brill Building groups of the early sixties and also a sense of shadow and shade. I also think that the name conjures a feel for words and imagery which I would like to think was one of our strong points.

2. What's with the sunny west coast harmonies? Maybe it's the sun you miss in Wales? Where do you find the inspiration to write those beautiful songs?
 I grew up on BRIAN WILSON and THE BYRDS and THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS, so it is entirely natural for the American west coast harmonies to have tinted our sound.
 I am obsessed by songs and think about them constantly, waiting - often nervously - for the next one to come along. Pop music is everything to me, and the band have sacrificed a lot to try and make the most wonderful records we can. In our heads we are competing with our heroes (Paddy McAloon, early ROXY MUSIC, Ron Sexmith). The core of sadness that lies beneath the surface of the AFTERNOONS' songs is due to the way I see life: a fragile, ephemeral thing that passes by quickly, irretrievably. I think I read too much F. Scott Fitzgerald when I was twenty!

3. How do Welsh bands feel different from the rest of the bands in the UK?
 Often, London-based bands spend their time chasing big record deals. The best Welsh bands (SUPER FURRIES, GORKYS) inhabit their own musical universe. They stay separate from the coke-snorting cocksuckers who work in A+R and spend their time listening to their BRIAN WILSON and ROBERT WYATT records. Also, a lot of us speak Welsh and put out records in Welsh. There is a whole pop subculture with loads of great records sung entirely in Welsh. Our most successful single financially was actually 'Dwi'n mynd i newid dy feddwl' ('I'm gonna change your mind'), which was a Welsh-language radio hit.

4. How did you sign with Dockrad?
 I had known David Lloyd fairly well for a number of years. Then he set up the Dockrad label and put out some cool stuff and gained a lot of respect in the Welsh music scene. He had integrity and he was honest. Before going in to record ‘My lost city’ (our second album) we got out of the deal we had at the time and suggested that David put it out instead. He went for it.

5. How is your relationship with Dockrad?
 Good, I hope. I think both parties respected the intelligence and honesty of the other.

6. ‘Fading fast’ is released under Saturday Records. What is Saturday Records?
 ‘Saturday’ is our own label. Dockrad's schedule didn't permit ‘Fading fast’ to come out in the summer when we wanted, so we decided to put it out on our own label.

7. How did the collaboration with Rosie Thomas come about?
 I heard one of her songs on local radio in Wales and assumed that she was Welsh (Thomas is a Welsh name). I thought how fantastic it would be if she would sing record some of our songs. We got in touch with her manager and discovered that she is actually from Seattle in the States! Coincidentally she was touring the UK so she came up to Cardiff to do a session with us. ‘Fading fast’ was from that session. Rosie was absolutely lovely and I loved the way she sang the song.

8. When will your website be available?
 Don't know. Our designer had a bad accident so we're waiting for him to get better. I'm not big into websites, I have to admit. I like a bit of mystery.

9. How would you describe your music to someone who has not heard your songs?
 Dream-pop.

10. As almost no-one lives on music nowadays, what do you do in a normal day?
 I teach Physics in high school. This gives me loads of time to do music. The others get by on music: tutoring and playing.

11. What are your hobbies?
 I play lots of football and read. My favourite authors are Lorrie Moore, Alice Munroe, Raymond Carver and Scott Fitzgerald. Pete chases girls. Paul runs a school orchestra in Tenby, and Sarah plays football too. We're best friends and the band takes up most of our time. When we're not playing and rehearsing and writing we drink in our local bar (The coach and horses) in Tenby and put on Jimmy Webb and Glenn Campbell records on the jukebox. We like to travel and have been many time to Spain, walking in the Pyranees and the Picos mountains. We had a great time too in Granada, Barcelona and Madrid (Moby Dick club - fantastic!)

12. Name a recent record you can't stop listening to.
 DONOVAN's ‘Greatest hits’ (Jennifer juniper, Wear your love like heaven). JOYZIPPER (American whip). THE KILLERS (All the things that I've done). BRIAN WILSON (Wonderful, from Smile), JOHN CALE (Paris 1919 - check this out, it's fantastic!).

13. Do you prefer gigs to the studio? Have you played live a lot?
 We played live a lot before our first album came out, less so for the second because the sound was more orchestral. For the new album, which we record in October with Greg Haver (who, incidentally, has just finished producing the new MANICS album), it's a combination of power pop/psych pop and sixties ballads which will make it a lot easier to tour with. I can't wait to record it and also to play live and to make a lot of noise! I like the studio and live work both, but I could easily just exist in the studio.

14. Which bands have you toured with?
 We've played with bands ranging from THE DIVINE COMEDY to MATTHEW JAY to DELTA to the COSMIC ROUGH RIDERS, whose attitude, humour and self-assurance I really liked.

15. What are your main influences?
 Early PREFAB SPROUT, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, NICK DRAKE, THE BEATLES, THE KINKS, RON SEXMITH, mid-period SCRITTI POLITTI, early ROXY MUSIC, early-mid DAVID BOWIE, ROGERS AND HART, GOFFIN-KING, BRIAN WILSON, SUPER FURRY ANIMALS.

16. Is there a pop scene in Tenby?
 Tenby is a small Victorian seaside town so there is no pop scene to speak of. Cardiff is the nearest local scene. Bands like THE KEYS and McLUSKY.

17. Your favourite Welsh bands?
 GORKY´S, SUPER FURRIES, JOHN CALE. World class all of them.

18. Will you ever come to Spain to play shows?
 I adore Spain and would love to. I saw GORKY's in the Moby Dick club in Madrid and was so impressed by the way it was run. We've always been grateful for Luis's (Elefant) support and I always thought that Spaniards have good taste, ever since I went into a clothes shop in Granada and they were playing Abbey Road (in the UK clothes shops play shit chart music).

 Richard Griffiths, Cardiff, October 4th.