Ep. 1: Eddie and Joe talk to the deeply lovely Manda and Steve from the amazing Bis - possibly the most DIY of all the British bands that also managed to break through to the big time. They talk about how the band formed as teenagers; how Manda migrated from the side of the stage to centre-stage, transforming their fortunes overnight; drawing your own artwork; and how they stuck resolutely to their DIY guns - and why this was so important to them.

Oh, and once the band was formed, a load of wild stuff happened: they were the first unsigned band to appear on Top Of The Pops (much to Eddie’s delight); sign to the Beastie Boys’ record label (and hang out with them by the pool in LA); have a bespoke Casio Baby G watch created in their honour; write the Powerpuff Girls closing credits theme song; Bis’s ace song “Kandy Pop" came 49th in an NME reader poll of the "50 Greatest Britpop Songs Ever"; and whole load of other fantastic stuff.

(Also, maybe they weren’t the first unsigned band on TOTP – we find out the SHOCKING TRUTH.)

Anyway, it’s a great chat, and it went so well that after recording it, Art Brut and Bis played some shows together. Oh yes: this was recorded a while ago, so you might have actually been to one of these shows already.

Finally, hang around for after the Bis interview for THE ARGOS CATALOGUE: the part of the show where we try to capture the life, times and tribulations of one Eddie Argos, one absurd story at a time. This one involves extremely smelly feet – but who did they belong to?

Bis: https://bisnation.com

Bis bio: Since forming in 1994, bis have continually mutated their initial influences of Synth-pop, Riot Grrrl and DIY Punk into weird and wonderful songs with a natural gift for melodic earworms with a disco heartbeat. Sci-Fi Steven, John Disco and Manda Rin first caught the UK underground’s attention with the “Disco Nation 45” EP in 1995. Its cross-breeding of Huggy Bear, Blur and Devo made it stand out in the dreary death of Britpop, fanzines had new saviours and before long the underground went overground. With the next release, “The Secret Vampire Soundtrack”, suddenly bis were playing “Kandy Pop” on Top of The Pops - as the first unsigned band ever to appear - and riding high in the “proper” charts.

A frantic bidding war resulted in bis turning down big-money from big business and opting to sign for Wiiija Records in 1996, a spiritual home where the band could maintain absolute control. Choosing the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal label in the US was based on the same philosophy. The first album “The New Transistor Heroes” came out in early 1997, the album sold 100,000 copies on release in Japan and saw bis support acts as diverse as Bikini Kill, Pavement and Foo Fighters across Europe and the US. The band were even seen as the ideal candidates to write and record the theme tune to Cartoon Network’s classic cartoon, “The Powerpuff Girls”.