Q: Who are you guys?
A: In alphabetical order: John Hendow (guitar and backing vocals), Chris Joss (keyboards, accordion and backing vocals), Stefan Mitchell (lead vocals and percussion), and Steve Okimoto (bass and backing vocals). Want a handy field guide to identifying the band members? See photos on the Band Members page.
Q: I’m confused. Which one of you is Dudley Manlove?
A: None of us.
Q: OK, then, who is Dudley Manlove?
A: Dudley Manlove (yes, that is his real name!) is our mentor and legal guardian. He was an actor and disk jockey, and appeared in what is generally considered to be the worst movie ever made: Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 from Outer Space.” He plays Eros, leader of the aliens. He gets punched in the mouth at the end of the film.
Q: Why that name?
A: First off, we thought it was a great, swanky, interesting name. Secondly, we never expected the band to last more than a month, much less 15 years and counting.
Q: If you’re a quartet, how come there are five guys in the band?
A: Very observant! We really were a quartet in the early days. Even though we’d expanded the line-up, “quartet” still sounded right, so we stuck with it. With our horn section we’re an eight man ensemble, which makes us an even bigger quartet.
Q: What are your criteria for picking the songs you play?
A: Just about anything goes. We choose songs that we’ll enjoy as much as the audience. They also have to be danceable, of course. The big difference between our approach and that of most other cover bands is that we’re not afraid to pick songs that are a little off the beaten track, and we always try to bring our personalities to the songs instead of trying to sound like a jukebox.
Q: Steve never stops smiling and bouncing around on stage. Is he really having as much fun onstage as it appears?
A: Yes. Yes, he is.