Stalwarts of the local indie scene, The Shrugs seem to have finally settled on a cemented line up in releasing their fourth and possibly finest album ‘How To Knit a Pony’ this Saturday, 24th May at Yellow Submarine. Guitarist and Vocalist Geoff Doube took a moment from his hectic schedule to answer some questions for us.

MM: I heard someone say that your album titles were supposed to describe a sequence of events between two people meeting (A Slight Hitch, An Awkward Silence). How does ‘How To Knit a Pony’ fit into this string of events?
GD: It is an anagram for ‘Wink to a Typhoon’.

The Shrugs current line-up has stuck around longer than any of the countless previous line-ups. What has happened differently with this formation or is it about time to re-introduce a rotational policy?
This lineup is the most versatile in the range of music that we can play. I guess that’s one of the main factors because it means that nobody gets bored or fed up with being musically tied down.

Will you always be a Hamilton band or will you ditch us to form a synth-pop band in Melbourne?
Nah we like Hamilton, well, Paul and I do. Gordon hates it but keeps having to come back for band practice.

The Shrugs seem to get labeled with a ridiculous amount of multi-genre tags. Alt-Indie-Country-Punk-Rock is one that springs to mind. What single genre would you pigeonhole The Shrugs as (feel free to invent one).
drum n bass n guitar n vox n flute n trumpet n piano n bongos

Did The Shrugs attract more or less groupies after the lead singer cut all his hair off? How did it affect his songwriting?
Now he gets heaps more chicks because they can see his chiseled jaw and he can actually hear what they are saying because he has no hair in his ears.

Which Shrug can handle the most piss?
Paul …although he does tend to become slightly incoherent after about 25 beers.

If you could be another band who would it be?
I’d be The Magnetic Fields and Paul and Gordon would be Booker T and the MGs.

Mammoth has a copy of The Shrugs ‘How to Knit a Pony’ plus a double pass to their release show to giveaway.To enter the draw, e-mail win(a)mammothmedia.co.nz with your name and contact details and send us a picture of a knitted pony.