Our Perfect Weekend: Portlights

It's Friday afternoon, what's on your mind?

Are we running late for sound check? We're usually meeting up to get all of our stuff together ready for a gig and the questions that run through our minds run something along the lines of (very boringly) "Is the new song finished?" "Like, actually, properly finished?" "Should we throw in a key change?" "Kiss were so great." That sort of thing.

Who normally has the pleasure of your company at the weekends?

Anyone who happens to find themselves in a venue that we're passing through usually. We'll probably be asking you to send us dirty jokes on Twitter. If we've got a night off you can find David sound engineering other people's gigs, Matt hard at work on some project or other and Chris trying to talk himself out of trouble with the authorities.

How do you prepare for a big night out?

Hairspray.

What's your favourite party outfit?

You know the one where it looks like you're in a cage being carried around by a large gorilla? That one.

You've just arrived at the bar, what's your first drink?

It's not our first drink, but it should be yours: According to www.drinkify.org "THE PORTLIGHTS": 4 oz. Canadian Club Whiskey. Serve on rocks. Garnish with cocktail monkey.

What is your favourite night spot and why?

If the three of us are planning to hit the town at the same time, it usually involves rinsing the band bank account and finding the worst bar possible with a karaoke machine and doing a Portlights takeover. Adele's a firm favourite.

It's a sunny Saturday, what are you up to?

This time last Saturday David and Matt went on a road trip to Anglesey to sell our old pa system. We then failed to find Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, so we went and had a nice burger in the Rhug Estate to make up for it. Chris was probably sleeping.

What's your most memorable weekend ever and why?

I don't remember, and I'm pretty sure I know why . . . or maybe it was the time that we filmed our video for Breaking Down; driving along train tracks isn't something you get to do everyday!

What's your recipe for the perfect night in?

David: I'm reading a book called 'Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers' at the moment. That's not a recipe for a perfect night in but at least it buys you some peace and quiet.

Matt: Get some hot chicken wings on the go and spend the evening cramming as many episodes of Family Guy in as I can.

Favourite DVD and what would you eat while watching it?

Pulp Fiction. Kinder eggs . . . lots of Kinder eggs.

Sunday breakfast: cooked or continental?

We're big fans of Robert Rodriguez's Sin City Breakfast Tacos. Homemade flour tortillas, tomato, onion, jalapenos and fried+diced-potatoes scrambled with egg. Chorizo optional. Delicious.

Sunday lunch: home cooked or down the pub?

Pub.

Have you got a favourite hobby or unusual pursuit?

Matt likes to hang around on cliffs and other vertical locations with tantalizing hand-holds; David enjoys wine-tasting, although he often samples the same batch multiple times to make sure, while Chris prefers to follow historical philosophical debates centered around the relating concepts of Cartesian Dualism and Monism.

You have the whole weekend off and a wad of cash. Which country or city would you head to?

I think we'd all head to Vegas and decide whether or not to blow our cash in one exciting splash at the Bellagio roulette tables. If we managed to keep at least some of our wad intact, we'd head off for some Filet Mignon, Westvleteren 12, and then head to the gun store to fire off a few hundred rounds. We'd probably finish the night off with REDACTED and after all that build ourselves a nice pillow fort in our penthouse suite.

l Portlights recently released EP, ROMA, and enjoyed a successful UK tour. They also dazzled BBC 6Music DJ Chris Hawkins at the finals of #ShropshireUnsigned when they lined up with four other Shropshire acts. Hawkins was so impressed that he played their music on national radio. We caught up with band members David Schwarz (vocals, guitars), Chris Darbyshire (bass guitar, vocals) and Matt Williams (drums, vocals).