Bite My Wire

Happy Particles

2012-02-04T11:56:00.000-08:00

Glasgow's Happy Particles operate with a healthy disregard for the conventions of music industry operations, and with some admirable inattention to the notion of self-promotion.
Since his solo beginnings with the lo-fi post-shimmercore Slowness project, Steven Kane has built a six-piece band of like minds, and together this group of friends have created something quite magical - their 'Under Sleeping Waves' album exudes hopelessness as much as it does joy, and is as thoughtful and heartfelt as it is bitter and cynical. Simultaneously drawing influence from the American independent underground, contemporary classical and vintage avant garde space-rock; Happy Particles' debut is undoubtedly going to be one of the albums of 2012 - despite its considered and contrary 2011 release date.
I spoke to Steven and guitarist/bassist Al Doherty about their past, present and future.

L-R James Swinburne (Rhodes piano, saxophone), Gordon Farquhar (drums, percussion), Graeme Ronald (bass), Steven Kane (guitar, vocals, laptop, piano, glockenspiel), Al Doherty (guitar, bass), Ricky Egan (guitar). The guy in the trolley is Ally McCrae, a radio presenter.

The album came out on Christmas Day. Is it intended as a gift, or is it something holy?
S: It's definitely not holy. We just though, "When is the worst time you could possibly put an album out?"
A: It was the most obtuse time, but also just seemed the best time to put it out.
S: We did argue about it a wee tiny bit at first. The thing is, we can do whatever we want because nobody's signed us, and we paid for the album ourselves and recorded it with our pal. No one's stopping us from doing anything. When's the worst time you can put an album out? Christmas Day. But actually it wasn't that bad.

It's still being talked about in terms of being a 'Best of 2012' album.
S: Aye, I think people are thinking of it as a 2012 album...
A: Again, unintentional! It is the most ridiculous time to put a record out if you feel it's even good enough to be considered for an end-of-year list. That didn't even cross my mind!
S: It didn't cross our minds until people started saying "Why have you put it out when we've already done our lists?" We didn't really thing about your lists or whatever. I had a sneaking suspicion that people would be doing fuck all. I just thought, "I bet people are still on the internet over Christmas", because they wouldn't be at work, they wouldn't be at college. I think I was right, because people were talking about it for about a week, and it was all over the internet. That wasn't planned. But it was nice.

It's the first Happy Particles album, but do you consider it an album, or is it a collection of songs you've all had in your heads for a while?
S: It's definitely an album. There are songs on the album that are only on the album because we started recording the album. A lot of the stuff didn't have strings on it until we started recording the album. And we chucked songs out too.
A: There are songs that are there that definitely weren't for that album...
S: ...that precede some of the songs that were written for the album.
A: We started recording to record an album. We didn't just do bits and bobs and put them all together. We went with the intention of making an album from start to finish.
S: It's quite varied, but that's not because it's all thrown together. We were planning on being varied. I can see why you might think it was "Let's pick the best songs from whatever style they're in", but we tried to make it as cohesive as possible.

What's the cover? Where are those clouds?.
S: That's my girlfriend's photograph. It's up in Skye, I think. Or maybe it's at her granny's house... It's completely irrelevant. It's just the sky where she lived. She had loads of them, but she took it on this camera, called a Diana, and I just liked the look of it. I gave it to (drummer) Gordon (Farquhar), and he turned it on its side. It looks better the way he's done it. It's irrelevant, because I just chose a picture my girlfriend had, but to me it's relevant because it looks like you're falling asleep out your back garden or something. It probably doesn't mean that to anybody else in the band though. Or even my girlfriend.

Is that the best place to listen to the album? In your back garden? Or where?
A: In their own minds, I think...
S: I'd say, in the dark with headphones on. But I don't really like listening to music load with loads of people. It depends how many drugs you've taken, really. Maybe you'd like to jump about dancing.

Or listen to it in a car, tearing down Sauchiehall Street on a Saturday night...
S: Actually, that's great - when we were driving back when it was completely finished, me and him were listening to it. Driving back from Dundee, and it was still light but it was getting dark, and it was all minging and cloudy, and it was good in the car. I forgot about that.

And that's not just because it was the first listen after having finished it?
S: It was good because of that, but it seemed to suit the car as well. I forgot about that. But then I can't drive.

So the best place to listen to it is in the passenger seat of a car, while somebody drives you around?
S: Exactly. In a car, as a passenger.

Unless you're very good at hiding the bad stuff, you've had nothing but praise for the album in the press. Does it make you nervous?
S: Nervous in what way? Like we're waiting for a bad one?

No, like you're now obliged to do interviews.
S: No... I'm just getting a bit wary of saying the same things over and over again, if you know what I mean? But you're doing alright, that's not happened with you. But that would be my fault anyway. I don't feel nervous because it's quite removed. How we're using the internet and all that, and we don't have a label telling us what to do, so no one's putting pressure on us.

You can't do it wrong when you're doing it on your own terms.
S: Aye. And we don't see anyone - it's kind of faceless. Apart from you. I can see you.

You've seen me before anyway. Can you imagine, in ten years time, playing the album from start to finish at an off-season holiday camp in Minehead?
A: That'd be amazing. We'd have to have some sort of horrible fall-out though. I think there's got to be a proportion of that time when people don't talk to each other, and then they come back, and do it.

What do you think of the whole ATP culture, with everybody reforming to recite albums?
A: It works. There's bands that have done it who haven't stopped. Say bands like Low, or Tortoise. They've done it.
S: Are you talking about somebody who's specifically doing an album?

Yeah, somebody who's split up, and reformed to play one album live.
S: People have to make money. And that's it.
A: It sort of depends on your vision of who the band are, you know? If it's somebody you're not really into, you're going to think they're just doing it for the money. But if it's somebody like Codeine, you think it's amazing...

"They're doing this for me!"
A: Yeah! I suppose it's a fan thing, really.If the people who are watching it get that feeling, then it's a success.

Steven, you've done solo stuff for a long time. How did the album come about? Did you decide you needed a full band?
S: The album wasn't there before the band. There were songs on the album that existed, but the whole album didn't exist before the band. I didn't get a band together to do an album. I formed a band to play gigs, and we only had a handful of songs, and then other songs kind of popped out of that, to the point where there was enough songs to do an album. It was the band before the album. We didn't even think about the album 'til at least a year, maybe more, after we started.

When was that point, when you realised you could do an album?
S: I can't remember!
A: I suppose it was a personal thing for you (Steven), I don't think we ever really thought... We were in a band before we ever thought that it was the thing to do - you know, what you do is, you make an album. It wasn't this project that had to be completed or something.
S: It became that, but I can't remember when that happened.
A: I don't think you ever really set out to do that in the first place.
S: No. Basically we were trying to do gigs that were quite intense or whatever, and we weren't thinking about an album. I don't know when it happened, but at some point we spoke to Gordon - it was Gordon's pal Robin (Sutherland) that recorded the album - and he said that we might be able to get some time with Robin to record. Not an album, just anything. And we must have clicked then that we had enough songs, because after we started going up there, that was all we were thinking about. So it became this thing that took over a year of our lives, because we were doing it on the cheap and when we could fit it in. So we were going there once a month, or whatever. But I really can't remember when we decided to record an album now. It's weird, having been so obsessed by it.

It always seemed like you were quite private with your music when you were working on your own. You didn't do much with it.
S: That was because I was pretty much waiting for them to get their act together and join the band. We were talking through emails, and bumping into each other in the pub. It was me and him separately, and me and Gordon separately. Graeme and James came from Remember Remember, so it was me and Al talking about it over a couple of years. That stuff was up on the internet as demos, and I was patiently waiting for them to hurry up and come and play in a room with me. I wasn't being mega-private, I was just waiting for the rest of the band to get their fingers out! Haha!

People can either buy the album, or just listen to it, on bandcamp. Why did you put the whole thing up?
S: Just because there's no point in not. You can just as easily nick it. If you treat people with respect, then they might give you money. Or they might not. I don't know. It's that thing about not treating someone like a thief.
A: If you're thinking about media upload sites, there's an embedded thing that you can do where you can just put the thing there, and you can have a review of the album, so as immediately as you can read it you can press play and listen to it. The streaming thing's brilliant. In the end it wasn't that obtuse to release an album on Christmas Day because you could just listen to it. Everyone's connected to the internet.
S: It wouldn't have worked if we couldn't have streamed it.

Where did you record it?
A: Our friend Robin had just built a studio... He called it a barn but I think it was actually a stable conversion at some guy's house. The first time we went up, it was still in the process of getting finished, I think, and we were one of the first people to come in and try it out. It's just by Dundee.
S: Out in the middle of nowhere. Fields, and things.

Did your listening habits change over the recording of the album?
A: It was over such a long period of time. I think albums have a feel to them when they're recorded quickly, and albums that are thought about have a feel to them - they go through movements in small amounts of time, rather than just being a collection of influences. If something was recorded in three weeks, and all of yous were listening to the same five or six albums, it'd have a different feel to it. I suppose with the strings we were all listening to a load of contemporary classic, but we were listening to that anyway.
S: I don't think the album made us listen to anything different. I think I might have started listening to different stuff anyway, over the year. More jazz, probably.

It's always jazz.
S: Aye. I've listened to jazz for years though. I've been a saddo for years. I think I just listened to more jazz. We used to listen to... In the car going up - what was the record?
A: Miles Davis.
S: 'In a Silent Way'. We used to listen to that in the car on the way up quite a lot.
A: It was a journey every time we went up to add a little bit to it. In the morning we'd pick up everybody in the car, then two hours in the car up to the barn, and then we're usually coming home about twelve o'clock at night, knackered. On the way home you'd really get the vibe of it.

(My phone rings, and I leave to take the call. I think I've switched off my recorder, but it turns out I have not)

S: (nervously) That's still on. We can't say anything now.
A: We'll sit in silence.
S: Or give away our secrets.
A: Or how inane we usually are.
S: Our plans for debauchery on a Thursday night... We really can't say anything.
A: It's all a ruse, to get your darkest secrets.
S: That'd be a great idea...
A: ...interview bands, and then just disappear.
S: I bet a lot of bands would just not think about it. They'd think "Oh, he's switched it off". Because it's just on the table, you don't really suspect it'd still be running.

(I return)

Shit, this is still on...
S: We were talking about that. Wondering if it was a ruse.

Ha! Right, sorry about that. So, you've got a track called 'Classes in Silence (for Jess)'. Who is Jess?
S: That's actually my friend's mother, who passed away a couple of years ago. She was really nice to me when I was a teenager. I used to stay at his bit and she would be all nice and take care of me. And she passed away a couple of years ago, and I put her name on that song. That's what that is.

How is the writing shared out? A solo project is now a six-piece band.
S: I used to write the songs as demos, and I'll bring them in, and they'll finish parts of them. That's the way it's been going so far. But I didn't really write the strings, I just kind of 'guided' it. James (Swinburne) and Graeme (Ronald) wrote separately for that. In the future, other people's demos will probably be adapted, rather than just my demos be adapted. It's a very collaborative thing. It's quite a weird collage, and the album's quite like that as well, because everyone's personalities are blurred all over it now.
A: Things get transformed - for the better - into things that are completely different. Even things like 'Aerials', the first song on the album, that's now morphed into something completely different.
S: Aye, the first song wasn't even a song, it was just me singing, and a drone. Now it's a song with two keyboard parts, and a guitar part, and a bass part, and I wrote none of it. Apart from the vocal line and the chord progression. So that was pretty collaborative! But that's not what's on the album. We do everything a bit arse-backwards.

You don't play live very often.
S: We don't.

Why not? Is it hard?
S: It is hard to play live. It's hard to play live and be good. But also, it's hard to play live all the time, and not be shit. Especially if the songs are quite intense. Or if they're intense to you. You've got to make it intense. You can't saturate people. You know what it's like, someone gets their family and their pals to their gig every month, and a few months in you're absolutely tired. You don't want to hear them ever again. It's a mixture of trying to keep it intense and make it a bit special, so people have something to look forward to, rather than get bored of.
A: Think of a touring band, or someone that's releasing regular albums. You maybe get to see them in Glasgow once, or twice, a year, and it's amazing. Somebody like Earth can consistently do the rounds.

I've stopped going to see Earth, I think they play too much.
A: I still go. They change bits about. It depends on what members are there. But I suppose with us... When did we play live last?
S: That planetarium gig. I'm saying it has to be good, and not to saturate it, but also, we've not played out of Glasgow. So I don't think you should do that many gigs in the same city, over and over again. Maybe if we did a tour we'd lay more gigs. Maybe that's a factor as well.

Are you planning a tour?
S: Not at the moment!

Have you got any gigs coming up?
S: A gig on the 31st of March. And we're going to do a gig with a string quartet. We just need to figure that out, but it'll happen before summer. Maybe. It's got to be in a decent location. It's got be a somewhere that isn't a circuit gig, and it's going to have a string quartet. And maybe visuals and stuff. But we're doing a 'rock' show in March! Haha!

You seem to have sold quite a lot of digital copies of the album.
S: Well, we've made enough to fund another album. It took us about a month to get the money to record another album. So to me, that's success. If you can release an album, and a month later it's paid for the next one, to me that's success. But we haven't sold thousands and thousands. Because we don't have a publicist, we don't have a label, and we've got a narrow field of people who know us. Although that's getting bigger because of the internet.

Do you think you subconsciously hoped it would grow like that, organically?
S: Probably. If you're taking that attitude, then you can't start greeting about not having all these magazines call you up, and not being on telly or whatever. It doesn't really sit with the same philosophy. We were prepared for that.
A: I think we've been part of this circuit, this game, enough to know what happens and to know why people are in magazines or why they're not. We realised that it's just up to ourselves, and that's why we're surprised with these pockets of people that appear, like an album review from Belgium, and Mexican articles...

A review from California posted on Christmas Day...
A: Yeah.
S: We don't expect anything. So if anything comes up, we're like "Wow! Somebody's asking us to do something!" Like this. I think that's maybe the problem with some other people in bands, they expect so much, and it's unrealistic. And why do you need that much anyway? A lot of it's a bit pointless. The ego-stroking stuff.

Right, I'm going to say some words, and you can discuss them.
S: Ok. That's cool. I like that.

Based on things that have been written about you recently.
S: Haha! Ok.
A: Ha!

Discuss 'ethereal'.
S: I've no idea what that means. I think it means 'when someone's got a falsetto'.
A: I think that means 'whenever you put Steven's vocals through a pedal'. Haha!
S: It's something you can take the piss out of, but I can totally understand what people mean when they say it. It's just a word people clutch when they're trying to find a description...
A: It's a good word that conjures images in your head, and with associations with other bands who have been termed that, you can almost get a grasp of what they mean. When you read what's been written about us, then put the record on, you'd probably not be surprised at what you hear.
S: The only problem I've got with the word 'ethereal', is that it's got connotations with music that's either quite over-emotive or religious, but I think the vocals and the lyrics on this album are extremely cold, and dead inside. Haha! So that's the only problem I've got with 'ethereal'. It's far too positive a word!

The next one is two words. 'Sigur Ros'.
S: They don't interest me at all. The first album's alright. It's not even that good. It's fine. Coffee Table. I'm sure some people think we're Coffee Table though. It's just your...

Perception.
S: Exactly.

I think you sound more like Galaxie 500.
S: That's nice. They were more dead-inside. A bit of reverb, and a bit of deadness. I like Galaxie 500. They're quite minimal as well.
A: I think our songs, although constructed minimally, are a bit...
S: More colourful?
A: well there's six of us and there was three of them...
S: I'm quite happy with that comparison.

What about Stars of the Lid?
S: Ah, I really like them. But I'd rather discuss, have you heard (new project from SOTL's Adam Wiltzie) Winged Victory for the Sullen?

Yeah, but only recently.
S: I love Stars of the Lid. Do you like Stars of the Lid? I think they're just one of the most important bands of the last, like, fifty years or something. They're really important to me. But I like the new record that Adam Wiltzie's done, it's totally blowing my mind right now.
A: Yeah, it's incredible.
S: They played Oran Mor in January, and we didn't get to go. I saw Stars of the Lid twice. Remember Remember were supporting them before I was in Remember Remember, in Glasgow and Dundee, so I saw them twice. And it was fucking amazing.

Are there any bands in Glasgow's musical lineage you think people neglected? Like Sputniks Down.
S: I don't think Sputniks Down were neglected, I think they just stopped being a band so long ago. There are bands that are neglected though... Alec Cheer! Do you know that guy?

Yep.
S: He's neglected because he's a total genius, and he's put out five or six albums, basically for free, over the last five years, and they're as good as anything John Fahey has put out. So he's definitely been neglected. He's like a ghost, almost.
A: There's a lot of bands, unashamedly our friends bands, who are about to put out their first record, who have been kicking about for years. Like Olympic Swimmers.
S: They're a great band.

Did they not get Steve Albini to do their record?
S: No. Iain Cook. Same thing! Basically. So many bands in Scotland have done that though, so that's probably why you're getting confused. So many bands go over and get Albini to do their record, because he's affordable.
A: Mclusky did that.
S: I thought they were Welsh?

I think they are.
S: Who else... Pioneers of Anaesthetic. Steven's worked with us, and he's just put a wee album out. He's been doing it for a few years. He's under-appreciated, especially that new album he put out on bandcamp, which he picked from songs he'd done in one take. Not live, but he'd just done them in an hour or something, and that was them finished. Quality Control, it's called. The melodies in it are just mad, and beautiful. Ganger, they were under-appreciated, I believe. Their record's amazing, but they're ancient. I don't know if that's applicable any more.

What are the plans for Happy Particles in 2012?
S: We've got that string quartet gig, and we're writing a new album. We've probably got thirty half-songs. We need to start figuring out what the new album's going to be like. So I think there'll be a second album ready to get recorded by the end of the year. If we can do some string quartet gigs and have an album ready to record by the end of the year, then that'll be pretty good for us.

Is the pressure on for your second album?
S: Nah. I don't really give a shit. It'll be what it'll be. I don't know what it'll be yet.
A: I think we've got an idea of what we want a good few things to sound like. The relief of getting our album done, and now not rehearsing songs in order to play a gig, has kind of freed us up a wee bit. We're just going to start going back to the rehearsal studio and turning up the guitars.
S: One thing I would say, is that our first album - our album - is quite varied, and I think that the next album we do will be more specifically one part of that album. An element of that album will be more broadly represented as another album.

Do you know which element that'll be?
S: Well, I've kind of got an idea, but you don't know, because then you look an absolute fool if...
A: I think our interpretation of what we want becomes something else anyway.
S: Yeah. Because if I told you what I thought our first album was going to sound like, it would probably just have been quite indie-rock fare, and it ended up being infused with neo-classical stuff and all that. We're quite open to stuff, but there'll definitely be less elements than the first one, but brought out more. Maybe not just one element, but not as many. There was quite a lot of shit going on in the first one. I think anyway.

You can (and should) buy 'Under Sleeping Waves' here.

Frànçois and the Atlas Mountains

2012-02-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

Frànçois and the Atlas Mountains recently became Domino's first Gallic signings, and it's a pairing that seems to be long overdue - the band's indie-afro-funk-pop charms sit perfectly amidst the likes of Robert Wyatt, Animal Collective and The Magnetic Fields on Domino's inimitable roster.

Since moving to Bristol (with just a trumpet and a desire to play music), Frànçois Marry has effortlessly endeared himself, and his music, to the thinking-person's indie underground. A stint in Camera Obscura and a record released on Fence ought to be enough to convince you of that, regardless of the contract the band have just signed, and the hugely successful tour they've just completed.

I spoke to Frànçois on the final night of this tour, and in-between the background noise and signal problems, we had the following conversation...

Frànçois (left) and the Atlas Mountains. Photograph by Lola Prestowski

Who are the Atlas Mountains?
At the moment, it's an English drummer called Rob Hunter - I met him in Bristol - there's a Scottish keyboard player and singer - I met him in Fife, when I was touring - and there's two other French guys, called Amaury Ranger - he plays bass and saxophone - and there's another guy called Pierre. I met him in Bordeaux. I am Fránçois, and I am French, and I live in the UK. I have lived in Bristol for six years. We're touring the UK at the moment. It's the first tour we've done with the record out.

How has the tour been? It's probably the first time most of the audience have seen you.
It's been really good. It's good timing because there's been a lot of radio play for the songs. It's been quite busy every night. We've played in Glasgow, London, Bristol, Brighton, Liverpool, Manchester... It's been busy everywhere and we're playing the new songs, to get ourselves excited.

Are you playing any of your old songs?
No. Maybe just a couple. We played 'Royan' (from 2009), and one of the songs that was on Fence Records.

Do you think you would have still signed to Domino if you lived in France?
I live in France at the moment, but I would never have signed to Domino if I had never been to Bristol. My album came to them by way of Fence Records, and I met the people from Fence Records when I was living in Bristol.

You lived in Glasgow too, didn't you?
Yes, for six years.

Woah, really?
No, sorry! Six months. Months.

You like a lot of the music from around here, don't you?
Yeah, there are a lot of bands I really love from Glasgow, like The Pastels and International Airport. I really like anything that Geographic put out. I really like Camera Obscura. I played with them for a while. I really like Bill Wells. There's lots of stuff. The people there are quite relaxed, but at the same time it's modern music. They really keep up to date with modern music and modern sound in Glasgow,but it's a city that manages to be quite laid-back and down to earth about it.

As a French guy who loves Glasgow music and lived in Bristol, where does the African sound in your music come from?
There are a lot of African music festivals in France, and when you go to the library in France there's a lot about African culture, about African life, about African music. There's a lot of connection between Africa and France because of the colonial past. And obviously, musically, it's one of the most interesting musics because it's so strong rhythmically. It doesn't seem elaborate when you hear it from the outside, it can sound like dance music or like pop music, but actually there's lots of subtleties in the playing. And the way it sounds magical, when it's done with very simple instruments. It can sound very transcendental, very spiritual.

Am I right that you recorded the new record in a church? Why did you do that?
It wasn't really part of the process really, it's actually a community centre. Like a town hall type of thing. It was just one space that was available in Saintes, where we're from. It's been declared by the city as a sort of residency space for musicians. It was the most simple, and most available place to work in.

Tell me about what you were listening to when you were making the album. I've read that you were listening to Soundway stuff, which I can hear in it, but also Aphex Twin?
Well, I'm not really attached to any genre of music, but I really like when you can feel the artist behind the music has been trying to explore a new territory, sonically. Via sound. It doesn't matter if it's Aphex Twin, or if it's Pictish Trail doing folk music. I like when you feel that the musician behind it is looking for something other-worldly.

You've been getting a lot of good press, and loads of radio play since the record came out. Is it hard work now, or just more fun?
It's not more fun, actually. It's just the same amount of fun. It feels like it's changing, and it's always a good sign when things aren't staying the same. I'm the type of person who gets bored really quickly, and I'm really pleased that we have more excitement and more people coming to see us. If we didn't, it would feel exactly the same as it did five years ago. It is fun because it's changing, but it's also a lot of work. There's more things to organise and more people involved... Just different I guess.

What are your plans for 2012?
It's going to be a big year, we're mostly touring. We're doing a German tour in February, then we're touring France in March, and there's a big London show - in Cargo - scheduled for April as well. Then the summer festivals, and all that kind of thing. But I really want to carry on finding new songs, or new ways to play the songs we have. Trying different musical ideas inside the band, but also maybe trying to collaborate with some people on side-projects. Can you hear me?

What?
I'm in a cafe and I can't get out, because my phone is plugged in the wall. Can you hear me?

That's better.
Ok. Everything is going so well that I'm just happy to go along with it!

Did you ever skateboard?
Yeah! From the ages of eleven to about seventeen I pretty much spent most of my time outside skateboarding. It was a big part of my teenage years.

That was a good time for skateboard videos.
Yeah, yeah! There was the Plan B video, Questionable, and the 101 videos... Mark Gonzales and Ed Templeton too, I really loved those guys. And I really loved Slap magazine. There was always a bit of painting, a bit of illustration and things about music in it. I was very much influenced by the more gentle side of skateboarding. I wasn't much of a Thrasher fan. More of a Slap fan.

Cool. Do you get much of a chance to go record shopping when you're on tour?
We don't have much time. I spend a lot of my time downloading stuff from Analog Africa, of Awesome Tapes From Africa. But in terms of records, recently I've bought Ducktails, the album of the guy from Real Estate.

Matthew Mondanile.
Yeah, Matthew from Real Estate.It's really nice. And also a Robert Wyatt compilation...

You're on Domino! You should get your Robert Wyatt stuff for free.
Haha! Well, we can't get everything for free. And it's quite good to support people. We've been quite liking the new R&B sound, stuff like The Weeknd, and Drake. Hmmm... I'm sitting next to my friend and I don't think he really likes that stuff.

Darren Hayman

2012-01-31T03:28:00.000-08:00

As singer/guitarist with Peel-favourites Hefner, Darren Hayman cemented his position as one of the leading lights of British indie-pop-folk songwriting at the turn of the century. The band's four albums on the Too Pure label led to adoring praise from listeners and musicians the world over, and although band split in 2002, Darren's subsequent solo work is attracting just as much acclaim. His seventh record, January Songs was recorded - one song a day, each with a video to accompany it - in Jaunary of 2011 (with a little input from some friends), and the limited physical release is out now.

Did you really write and record January Songs in one month?
I really did. There were two things that might be considered a cheat. The chorus to 'I Hung The Monkey' was something I'd had in my head, and I remember singing part of it to Dave Tattersall and I remember him saying he liked it, so I sort of had that in mind for the Wave Pictures. But I still had to write the verse, and structure it all, and make it into a song. The other cheat was on a day when I made some music with Mark Brend, and Mark Brend said "I'd love to do some music with you, but there's no way I could do a song in a day". So what we decided to do there, was that he made the music. So for all I know he might have spent three months on the music. I think he spent a few days or a week or something on the music, but the idea then - to try and keep it true to the idea - was that I didn't listen to the track 'til the day, and so on that day I had to write the lyric for it and record it, so it still felt like I was doing all my work in a day. So apart from that, it was all done in a month. There would be no point in not doing it, really. If you set yourself the challenge... How can you cheat when it's a competition with yourself? What would the point be? It'd be pointless. The whole thing was about me being interested in what I would do, so I had to stick to it.

So you wrote and recorded the album in January of 2011. Did this herald the beginning of your most productive year, musically? It seems like you did a lot last year.
I think that, in some ways, it felt like I didn't make that much music last year actually! It felt like I released a lot. I think there's been years where I've written more songs, and I think 2011 was more about me trying to clear a backlog. January Songs was that in itself, in that creativity can be quite quick for me, it's not always quick - I can spend a couple of years on a song sometimes - but sometimes you do something so quickly, and you're so excited by it. You have a great day in the studio, and you want to turn around and show people instantly. Sometimes the problem with the release process is that by the time you've got something out, you're already on to the next thing.
So 2011 was about releasing things, and particularly January Songs, where I hoped to, hopefully, pass on the excitement of making things quickly, and them being finished quickly.

Is January Songs an album, or is it a compilation? A compilation of your thoughts over a month, maybe?
Yeah. That's a good question, I like that question. It doesn't really feel like an album to me, and I find myself wondering if I did the right thing by deciding to release it (physically). It's a silly thing to say when I'm doing an interview to promote it, but I'm a little bit unsure whether that was absolutely the right thing to do. It was people asking, and people persuading me to, that made me do it. It felt like the point of it existed within those thirty days, and it seemed like it was something that was very suited to the internet, very suited to uploading and downloading. Something that couldn't be done previously, due to us not having internet.

Ok, I see.
Or even certain sites becoming available in the last few years, like Vimeo and Soundcloud and Bandcamp. Even though we've had the internet for... How long have we had the internet for? Thirty years? Twenty years? So no, it doesn't actually feel like an album. Perhaps it's starting to now, since I've been doing these shows. There doesn't seem to be a theme linking it other than the process. But I'd still like people who buy the record to go online and look at all the video diaries and stuff. That seems to me to be a big part of it.

Do you think your idea to hand-draw 1,500 sleeves helped you make up your mind about releasing it?
Yeah, absolutely. Because I think, a lot of people's idea - and a couple of labels that approached me about it - their idea was to make it very lavish, the idea was to have a DVD and a book with pictures. And that seemed to not fit with the spirit of the project. One review I got of it was a fair review, but it wasn't particularly glowing, because it was saying that the idea was better than the actuality. I think that's fair, but it's also my fault for releasing it, because now that I've released it I'm asking for it to be viewed next to an album that I might have... Do you understand what I'm trying to say?

Yeah, it's now a real Darren Hayman album, for sale in shops.
But it is only concept. It's all concept. It's not necessarily quality, it's whether you like the idea of it or not. So consequently, I wanted the release itself to be conceptual, and in some ways reflect this theme of hard work. I'm still really pleased with that idea actually, so that's definitely the idea that made me release it. I thought that idea was very funny. Very silly.

When I heard of this idea, I expected it to be squiggles, but it's far from it.
Well, they're not all good! Like the songs! When I was doing the songs, one rule that I didn't necessarily make public, was that all the songs must be something that your mother, or my mother, would call a 'song'. In that I couldn't necessarily do 'soundscapes', you know? Or odd art experimental music. Not saying they're not songs - I love that music too - but it had to have rules, and so it had to be something that anyone would recognise as a song. With a verse and a chorus. A traditional song. So likewise, I felt that the pictures had to be that way. I couldn't throw a bucket of paint across 50 sleeves. They had to be recognisable drawings, which I guess is an experiment of constraint, making me more conservative, but there you go.

Today is supposed to be 'Blue Monday', the most depressing day of the year. Did you write the songs with each day in mind, or did you come up with stuff one day that you used another day?
The Blue Monday thing is a complete fabrication. I was reading about this yesterday, it was invented about three or four years ago. What was the company...

I think it was a travel agent.
Right, yeah. Umm... What do you mean? Do you mean "Was it a blank page every day?"

Yeah, exactly.
No. I suppose in that sense it's a bit album-like. I was still thinking of it as a sequence, so I'd be thinking about how it would contrast, so if I'd done a run of fast songs I'd be thinking about that, and there was a desire to not repeat myself so as it got towards the end I did start doing things like spoken word, and I did an acappella song. So I think I wanted the fatigue, and the desperation, and the difficulty of it to increase, to make it more interesting.
The first few days were definitely easier, although actually the last few days weren't necessarily the hardest. The hardest bit was actually just about a week in. Days five, six and seven were really hard for some reason. Then I guess I found the rhythm after that.

What are you listening to just now?
Literally, what was on the computer as I came off to answer the phone, was Guided By Voices. It wasn't the new one, I know they've released a new one - it was Alien Lanes. It the Alien Lanes line-up that's reformed, isn't it? I like that album a lot. But in general, I've been listening to quite a lot of jazz, which I didn't think would ever happen to me. But I think it happens to everybody. Or every man, anyway, at a certain age.

I heard you've been listening to a lot of stuff on ECM lately. I suppose if you're listening to jazz, you might as well get right into it with some ECM.
Yeah, I kind of bypassed the easy stuff, really. Straight away I was kind of drawn to things like later John Coltrane, or Ornette Coleman. I always used to sort of resent it, because I thought of it as an egotistical music. On one level it is, I suppose, with all the solos, but now it almost feels the opposite. It almost seems 'egoless'. Because everyone solos all the time, there seem to be no rules, almost the opposite. It seems incredibly collaborative, and it seems a music where the bass player is definitely as important as the pianist or the saxophonist. That's kind of what I've been thinking about as I listen to it - that actually now, rock seems much more about the ego than jazz. And that's not what I used to think.

What's been happening with your live shows? Was it half the album last week and half next week? Is that right?
I didn't play absolutely everything (from the first half), I did about twelve or thirteen from the first fifteen, and I'll do the same next time. I felt that for the audience's good it just need a little editing, you know? There were a few there that they could do without, so I took it upon myself to at least make it a comfortable set length! Fifteen or sixteen songs is just a bit too long for a set.

Do you think playing it live bookends the whole thing for you? You made it in January of last year, and now you're closing the book on it by actually playing it live.
Yeah. I'm keen to move on from this one. Like I say, the idea was originally to stop the bottleneck, but what it's done is put another record in the release schedule. So I do feel that I want to draw a line under it, so I'm thinking that I won't play those songs in my regular set. It's not that I'm not fond of it - in fact I'm really, really pleased I had the idea, I've got no regrets about doing it - but I just like that the idea of it having this little separate life, like 'that funny thing he did once'. So I might retire the songs at the end of January.

What are your plans for 2012 then?
I have an album coming out in the spring, called Lido, which is my first instrumental album. It's not jazz! But maybe that taste informs it a little bit... There was a certain looseness in my approach to it. I would never say it was jazz.

But if somebody called it jazz, would you be disappointed?
I think I would actually. I think I'd say "You don't know what you're talking about!" But you can never tell how these things seep through, how things things influence you, can you? If you're listening to that much of something then it must make some impression on what you do. I make instrumental music a lot, and it's the first time I've had the guts to release it.

The full January Songs story can be found here.

Olly Todd

2012-01-28T07:44:00.000-08:00

Poet. Skateboarder. Bohemian. Traveller. Wayward Boy. However you picture Olly Todd, you need to appreciate that he's an interesting guy - with a lot on his mind. Since returning from the US to skate for London's gritty designer triangle-enthusiasts Palace, he's been filling his head with skateboarding, poetry and music; the latter of which shall be discussed forthwith.

What's your favourite video section track?
The opening credits to ‘Wheels on Fire’ - the old Santa Cruz video. I'm not sure of the name of the song but it’s by Claus Grabke’s band, Eight Dayz. (The song is 'What's So Strange About Me.') It was literally the first song I heard accompanying skating and it just embodies that excitement and awe I felt towards what was to become, for me, a whole new world.

What's your favourite video overall, for music?
Stereo’s ‘A Visual Sound’. An almost entire jazz soundtrack was the perfect compliment to the style of skateboarding and locations in that video. As a thought-out, planned concept, from start to finish, it just totally works.

Did the first skateboard videos you watched influence your listening preferences?
Of course. And it was rad because no-one at my school knew any of those bands so it felt special.

Is there a song you play in your head to get you hyped when you're trying something?
Err, ‘Let’s Get It Up’ by AC/DC?

What's your favourite album of all time, and why?
I dunno man. It always changes but for now let’s just say ‘Exile on Main Street’ by The Rolling Stones.

Where has the best music- the UK or America?
I reckon the UK’s take on American music so, effectively, both. The Stones, Led Zeppelin etc. How they interpreted and responded to what was happening across the pond.

What's your earliest musical memory?
Folk songs round the campfire in the middle of Stone Henge at summer solstice.

What was the first album you bought with your own money?
I can’t remember the name of the album, but it was Iron Maiden on vinyl.

What are you listening to just now? Tell us about it.
I think I’m having a midlife crisis because I’ve just started getting into hip-hop. Rob put a playlist on my iPod and it’s called ‘Toddy loves Rappers’ and it’s so sick. Biggie, Wu-Tang, Dre, Snoop, Ghostface, Mobb Deep… All the classics.

Who has the best lyrics?
David Bowie

Anything coming out soon you're excited about?
Oasis have split up mate!

What was your first gig? How was it?
Despite the Oasis fanaticism, it was Blur, sometime in the wonderful nineties, at Mile End. This chick at school who I fancied broke up with her boyfriend so she took me instead. Ten hour coach trip from Whitehaven, first time in London, first note I ever heard live and it’s the opening chords to the song ‘Tracy Jacks’ and I’m bouncing around with 50,000 people. Did not know what to expect. It was fucking awesome. Did not seal the deal with the chick though.

What gig in history do you wish you could have been at?
Jesus. When King Arthur serenaded Lady Guinevere at Camelot?

What's the best gig you've been to?
Wu-Tang at Kentish town summer 2011. EPIC.

Do you ever dabble in making music yourself?
No. I mean... Well... Me and my house mates plus Joel O’Connor had a pretty epic jam-sesh one night and laid down a pretty tight track. I mean, well, I screamed our address, by way of lyrics, repeatedly for an hour while the lads played guitar and harmonica. Safe to say it’s a classic.

What was the last album you acquired?
‘The Element of Freedom’- Alicia Keys. No shit.

What band do you wish you could have been inn and why?
Girls Aloud. Why? Need you ask?

Who on Palace has the best and worst taste in music?
I have the worst for sure. Rory has one of the most impressive and eclectic tastes in music I’ve encountered.

Anything you'd like to recommend?
Hall and Oates.

Chomsky argued that music is integral to evolution, as it essentially existed before language. Pinker countered that music is 'auditory cheesecake', and exists purely for pleasure. Your thoughts?
Forgive the hyperbole and sentimentality, but music is of vital importance. For our happiness, our relationships, our intelligence, our responses to the world, our everything. I think that gentleman is wrong to trivialize it. It’s not even like I’m a fan of music because that’s like saying I’m a fan of oxygen.

Snowy

2012-01-28T07:22:00.000-08:00

Daniel 'Snowy' Kinloch skateboards so well, that the good people over at Landscape make skateboards with his name on them- and pay him for it! He's also really good at listening to music, although nobody pays him to do that- he does that for fun. Everybody's always asking him about skateboarding, but nobody talks to him about music, so we thought we'd ask the Lancashire lad with the Madchester graphics what he's been putting in his ears recently.

What's your favourite video section track, and why?
I always loved Wiily Santos' part in the Birdhouse video Ravers, he had The Beatles 'Here Comes The Sun' running into 'Yellow Submarine'. It was was one of the first videos I had and one of the first parts I watched over and over. I don't know, it just had good vibes. I watched it a lot one cold northern winter, and it made me think of the sunshine...

But for hype Cardiel's section on (Transworld's) Sight Unseen with Sizzla, got it spot on with that!

What's your favourite video overall, for music, and why?

There's one video that above all just captured a time for me, and makes me smile every time I watch it. The Holy Bible of skate videos, Zoo York Mixtape forever ever be thy name, amen. "Big shout on the east coast!"

Is there a song you play in your head to get you hyped when you're trying something?

Always, but it changes constantly. I must have gone through thousands over the years. I'm not really someone who skates with an iPod so day-to-day it'll be the last good tune I heard that sticks in my head, or sometimes- embarrassingly- a bad pop song I hear on the radio while getting a drink from the shop.

Who's idea were the Happy Mondays and Stone Roses boards? How did they come about?

The Stones Roses have always been one of my favourite bands, and I ended up using 'Elephant Stone' in my Portraits part. The graphic was originally DJ's concept, the first in a series of 'one off' graphics for Landscape. We're both are big fans of John Squire's album artwork and we tried to keep it as true as possible to the original. It ended up being one of our best selling boards and we re-released it in silver. The Stone Roses re-released the special edition album, so it just seemed natural for us to release the limited edition gold version that was laser etched and numbered.

Again, the Happy Mondays have always been one of my favourite bands, I spent a few years growing up in Manchester and that era of music has always fascinated me. When we were finishing up filming for Horizons we were having problems finding a tune for my part but I always had one in mind- 'Kinky Afro'. I actually went travelling around South America straight after we finished filming for Horizons so missed the editing, premiere and what we were going to do for the next boards. I didn't even know what tune I was going to have so DJ designed it for me as a surprise. For me the best touch was the pair of Bez's maracas for the top graphic. Fucking legend!

What was the first album you bought with your own money?

Haha! The first album I ever bought with my own money was Micheal Jackson's 'Bad'. I remember this quite vividly, I was about five years old shopping in Asda with my mum and I think it was on a special. I thought he was the baddest back then, shame what happened really.

What are you listening to just now?

I'm always listening to a lot of different music, but at the moment I've been getting into quite a bit of old school house. Like rare old grooves. 808 State, Omar-S, Mr. Fingers, Inner City, House 2 House etc... There's quite a few of us down here that have been getting into it, and we have a legend friend, DJ John Night. His sets could make anyone love it!

What was your first gig? How was it?
I suppose my first real gig was Glastonbury Festival... My Mum used to work there in the early-to-mid 90s and so I used to go with her. Pretty surreal running around somewhere like that just becoming a teenager. It's a bit of a blur but I saw some wicked bands and some not so wicked. I wish I'd known then what I know now about music 'cause some real legends played back then and I didn't have a clue.

What gig in history do you wish you could have been at?

I'd always liked to have been been at Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. Maybe more for the atmosphere and what was happening at the time.

Do you ever dabble in making music yourself?

No, not really. I've jammed with friends messing about but I don't think that counts. I wish I was more musical, I just need to pick up that geets...

What's the best gig you've been to?
Seen quite a few lately, and actually watched Wu-Tang twice this year, but without a doubt GZA/Genius, he played like a three hour set in this little venue in North London. Good people, good vibes and he absolutely merked it!

What's your favourite album art?

Ha! Well this is funny because I used to pore through my dads record collection when i was a wee laddie, and it was pretty vast and varied- Hawkwind, Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Cult, The Cure, Sade, Joy Division, Fleetwood Mac... But one that always stuck out in my mind Is Jean-Michel Jarre's 'Oxygene'. I don't know why, 'cause I don't even like the music, but something about it just stuck in my mind.

What was the last album you acquired?

The last album to physically cross my palms was an album I got as a Christmas present, and I'm afraid to say it wasn't very good. It was a Gorillaz album, bless my nan.

What band do you wish you could have been in?

Damn. There's a lot bands from a lot of different times. It would be one that pushed the boundaries of music as well as other areas. If you're gonna be in a band then you have to do it properly, like the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses etc, but I'd have to say right now probably Motorhead with Lemmy. But I'm pretty sure I'd have been dead within a week.

Who on Landscape has the best and worst taste in music?

We've all got a pretty varied taste in music and at the end of the day its personal preference. If I have to call it though, I'll say I've the worst and everyone else the best!

Colin Kennedy

2012-01-28T05:23:00.000-08:00

As Blueprint pro, father, husband and Nike SB team manager, Colin Kennedy keeps himself busy. He can put up with drunk people like a champ, is ridiculously down for skateboarding and has always got something interesting in his headphones. It seemed appropriate we should take the time to find out exactly what...

What's your favourite video overall, for music?

Easy. Video Days. Short video and completely to the point. Classic tracks - Coltrane, Black Flag, Dinosaur, Milk... They broke the mould on that one. However, it was Spike Jonze's magnum opus in skateboarding, so of course it was good.

Have you got a least favourite, not including the Rhythm video?

Easy, any recent video that chose to not licence music and just took the first thing they could get their hands out without licence and completely missed the point about what makes a skate video. If you're not a big company, take the risk on the music, it'll most probably be worth it.

Did the first skateboard videos you watched influence your listening preferences?

Absolutely. More often than not we would have dubs of skate video soundtracks direct to analogue cassette from the VHS copy, with the skate sounds included. This was my listening preference, but to come back to the question, it certainly guided me towards punk and hip-hop, because more often than not that was what was used on skate videos.

Is there a song you play in your head to get you hyped when you're trying something?

I don't try so many things anymore, but when I do the main thing my brain is doing is a basic risk assessment. Last time I can actually remember a track fully influencing a trick I was trying was actually at the Berrics. It was Slayer playing and I ended up cracking my canister on the floor. We turned the music off after that.

What's your favourite album of all time, and why?

This is impossible to answer but in a Desert Island Discs style, I'd like to proffer that Brian Eno's 'Another Green World' ticks a hell of a lot of boxes.

What's your earliest musical memory?

The Alan Parsons Project - 'The Turn Of A Friendly Card'. My Dad owned it and used to play it quite frequently and hence so did I, as I got a little older. So many recordings that are vivid memories to me from the past are synth-based or have some sort of electronic influence.

What was the first album you bought with your own money?

The Communards - 'Communards'. I think my sister convinced me to buy it as she had already spent her money on another record. It grew on me. The synth influence was always there and it has stayed with me.

What's your favourite album art?

Public Enemy - 'Yo! Bum Rush the Show'.

What are you listening to just now?

Lately, some of the Berghain techno, Marcel Dettman. Some of the podcasts at Resident Advisor, Martyn, Mike Huckaby. East Village Radio was a great tip off from Mackey. That's a completely random station from NYC so it's often nice to not make a choice and have a freeform listening session. Caribou's 'Swim' Album is still a favourite and is still on steady play.

Do you get to buy much stuff on tour?

All the time, but digitally. I rarely go into music shops and no longer have any nostalgia for physical formats; files are good for me for the time-being, and a lot easier to manage. I use the phone to download podcasts and music when I'm on the move, and it's still a trip to me that this technology is so readily available. Pick up a song over the air whilst at the airport? Beautiful and seamless technology.

What do you think about the composed-soundtrack thing for skate videos? Was the Mark Jackson stuff an early example of that?

It depends to what extent someone might take it to, and the context. More often than not the celebrated scored videos haven't got me too excited. I'm from the old school of thought on working the footage 'round a great song. Mark Jackson was a close associate of Blueprint so it was a natural progression to get him involved in things in the past, but I wouldn't say it was scoring akin to other such videos, like 'The End', for example.

Do you start getting a song in your head for a section when you're filming, or does that come after?

Not at all. Magee has always been a pessimist with a vision, concept and idea for a video but he would never be public about these decisions until the bulk of the footage was in the bag. You were filming up 'til you were about 70% of a part then you might be able to talk music. It was an ingrained mindset.

Blueprint has a really strong identity despite - unlike some other companies - being 'associated' with any type of music. How do you reckon this was achieved?

Dan's aspiration to just get it right and make the videos palatable and interesting. It was a cohesive vision but the brand is communicated through the diversity of the team riders. I think the team brought a lot of those influences to the plate, and we all travelled and spent a lot of time together filming those videos, so each of our tastes and influences would cross pollinate and naturally Dan picks up on those influences.

Anything coming out soon you're excited about?

I would say the new Shed album. I don't buy many full techno releases anymore but I have always picked up his long players as they seem to have that re-visitable album quality to them and a good palette of sounds and dynamics.

What was your first gig?

It would be hard to pinpoint the actual one. There was a time when there was a rash of gigs going through Glasgow and that was perhaps the most memorable time, more so than any particular gig. Fugazi, PE, Beastie Boys, Rollins Band. Stereotypical skate sounds of the time but dynamite gigs.

What gig in history do you wish you could have been at?

I really never thought I had this nostalgia in me until recently. I was watching the Stone Roses press release interview about their Heaton Park 'reunion' gigs next year and although I am a fan of the first album, their gigs were notoriously a shambles or complete pish, but it did get me to thinking there are so many great bands that I listen to now that are in most cases not together or around anymore. Such an example would be Sabbath at the height of their career.

What's the best gig you've been to?

House of Pain, Cypress Hill and Funkdoobiest at the Barrowlands in Glasgow. Not so much for the music but for the insane Glasgow crowd and the chaos and atmosphere in there. They have an expression in Scotland for this - 'the place wis jumpin'. Absolute dynamite, tension and noise.

Do you go to clubs?

Rarely, I would go more given the chance; but I love to if the music is to my liking. Just rare to find someone in my generation who's still down to go. I can still throw down to the early hours.

What's happening with the music you do just now?

It's in a perpetual state of flux in my computer. Same old same old. Nothing new there.

What's your favourite band/label t-shirt?

Always has to be the 'DK' Dead Kennedys logo. Classic.

What band do you wish you could have been in?

Iron Maiden, mainly for the tours. They have their own private passenger jet that Bruce Dickinson flies with the whole crew and stage set. Absolute insanity.

Anything you'd like to recommend?

To never disregard the importance of challenging and 'different' music. Without it, there is no music.

Peaking Lights

2012-01-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

Peaking Lights are husband-and-wife duo Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis, and their latest album, '936' is a gorgeous, immersive mixture of dub, psychedelic space rock, minimal house, Krautrock and pop. Previously released on LA's Not Not Fun label, it's recently had a worldwide release on Domino off-shoot Weird World. The pair were holed up in New York recording their next album when I phoned them to talk about synths, surfing and soul...

Peaking Lights. Photograph by Ben Poster

So you're both in New York just now?
I: Yeah, we're here recording just now, at Mexican Summer's recording studio. We're working on our next record. We're working with Al Carlson (producer who's worked with everyone from Oneohtrix Point Never to Lady Gaga). He's awesome.
A: He's actually here, he just rolled in with his bike helmet on.

How was the move from Not Not Fun to Weird World? They're distributed by Domino, so it must be a bit of a change.
A: Amazing. It was great!

I: Everybody's just been wonderful to work with. We're just really happy to be working with a label that can take our music to the wider masses.

And with that comes touring. How's that working out?
A: It's great. We did a lot of touring in the past, but we've just had a kid, so it's a little bit different from what we've done before. In how we're able to tour, I mean. We can't play shows unless we have someone to watch him, y'know?
I: At this point we can't really do huge tours. We're doing shorter tours, but as he gets older that'll change. We're still playing! Just a little bit less frequently.

You build a lot of your synths yourself, so is your sound borne of necessity? Or did you build these things to create the sound that you wanted?
A: It's definitely a little bit of both. How much is anything a necessity, except for food and water and air?
I: I think what Aaron's getting at is that- we couldn't afford to buy some crazy $30,000 vintage synth- but Aaron started building synths somewhat out of necessity to create cool sounds, and then it turned into sort of "Well, actually, these synths make really unique sounds that no one else is making!" So now it's become a really integral part of what we do.

With that being the case, do you worry about taking your equipment on tour? Do you worry about anything happening to it?
A: Yeah!
I: Yeah! Even travelling sometimes, the synths will get out of tune or something from being bumped around, so it's always a little bit of an issue. Even flying overseas. One of Aaron's synths is in a suitcase- it looks like a briefcase- and it's just got all these bare wires, and we're always afraid they're going to think it's a bomb or something...

Peaking Lights. Photograph by Ben Poster

Do you use any modern equipment? Any emulators or anything?
I: I just use regular synths. We use a right wide variety of stuff, from pretty cheap vintage Casios to Nord stuff, y'know? The stuff that Aaron uses, he runs through his own filters that he made. He kinda uses his own synths, mostly.
A: Yeah. My own stuff mostly. I guess it's just how we managed to write songs. Over the years it's just figuring out who plays what, and what's easiest. We're becoming a bit more focused with what we're doing. It used to be that we'd play with these massive stacks of...
I: Stuff.
A: Stuff. Home-made synths and the like.
I: It was a little ridiculous. It was stacks and stacks of stuff, and it'd take us forever to set up. We've streamlined it since! We've picked our favourite stuff so we can actually play live and not have it be insane!
A: We used to have to get to shows an hour and a half early because it would take so long to set up, man!

Indra, you're from a punk background, and Aaron, you're from a noise background. Do you think the DIY aesthetic- and the rawness- of these cultures have contributed to the sound of Peaking Lights?
A: It's definitely contributed. There's a lot of our past influences that have helped us develop with this.
I: I think life leads you to where you are. So what you've done in the past leads you to where you are in the present, y'know?

A lot of the press about Peaking Lights talks about the krautrock influence, but not so much about the dub side of it. Did you plan to have such a dub sound, or was that the product of your home-made synths?
A: It's something we definitely set out to do. It's a big influence to us, especially with the home-made synths. Dub definitely influenced me in building stuff like that, just being able to say "Fuck it, I can do whatever I want to do!" It's definitely a conscious decision to let that influence shine through.

You both listen to a lot of hip-hop too. Do you pay attention to the production methods in modern hip-hop?
I: Maybe subconsciously. Not in the way that we're looking for sounds, but it's something we both really like. It's not like we could ever be a hip-hop band.
A: Well, Indra might think that...
I: It just seems a little more possible to create a dub sound, and of course that's our own interpretation of it too. It's not like we're gonna sound like a Jamaican band, y'know?
A: We just look outside. We really listen to very little modern music. We really just listen to older music. Lots of reggae and dub, soul music, Latin, jazz, Afro. Even old techno and disco. We don't have a CD player, and I don't think either of us really listen to stuff on the internet.

Aaron, Mikko, Indra. Photograph by Ben Poster

How significant was your move to Wisconsin?
I: Well I'm from there, and Aaron's from California. We've lived in Wisconsin for four years but we did meet out in the Bay Area, because that's where we were living. I think it's been a good opportunity for us to just... focus on what we're doing. We lived in the country for a couple of years, we had this great house we were renting, we had a lot of space with not distractions. We created the music for fun, it was like an activity for us. It wasn't like we could go out and do much in the evenings so we would do stuff at home. Create music.
A: It definitely helped us focus, with the space. We were able to build a studio up more. There was time, so I was able to do a bit more circuit bending and building.
I: We actually ended up opening a store, in Madison, selling vintage clothes and records. It was called 'Good Style'. We just sold it this year, and it's doing really well, actually. We had a lot of in-stores and art and that kinda stuff. We tried to start a little cultural centre. But we're moving back to LA.

How come?
I: We both miss California a lot! The ocean, the weather... Wisconsin was really good for us- to focus and start what we're doing- but now that we've established that we're really missing the coast.
A: I miss the coast. Where I grew up, on the beach, I was pretty much surfing every day. For real man, I miss just being able to go surfing. I miss the ocean a lot. It's in my blood!

Aaron, I'm told you worked on a 'legendary soul project' in a record shop in Oakland. What was that?
A: Oh, that dig? I was working at Saturn Records in Oakland and we bought this collection. It was a couple hundred thousand pieces. It was from a warehouse that had been repossessed by the bank, and it was all these unplayed 45s that had, like, personal notes from all these people. One was from James Brown. It was like "Hey, my band's playing in Oakland, can you book my show for me?" Just stuff like that. My job was to catalogue the records, so I was just listening to stuff and pricing it.

Do you think that if you'd met each other ten years ago, and moved to Wisconsin then, you'd still be making the same music? Is there anything from the last ten years reflected in Peaking Lights?
I: Ten years ago I was just starting with that band Numbers, and I was in a different headspace. I was really into punk and post-punk music. I feel like Peaking Lights is a development for me. Maybe like something you can't really create until you're at a certain point in your life. I should say that Aaron and I played in a band called Rahdunes first, which was a kind of psych-noise Throbbing Gristle sort of band. That was a huge departure for me, from what I was doing in Numbers. It opened my mind to improvising, and playing such a different kind of music. I think that was the turning point for me.

There seem to be quite a few people stepping away from Noise music just now, and a lot of people are mellowing out- even Merzbow's toned it down. And of course it's now fashionable...
A: I think it's just changing. There are always gonna be people who are not gonna tone it down at all, and then there's people who just have an experimental mindset, who just want to try whatever is out there. For Merzbow to tone it down a notch, it makes total sense. When I think about it I'm like "Well, how the fuck did he get there in the first place?" And it was just by experimenting, and fucking around, y'know?
I: And you don't want to just play the same thing over and over either. You want to develop, and explore new sounds.
A: Our friends Wolf Eyes played in Madison recently and they were just so good. It felt like where they were at when I would see them in the late nineties. To me they still have this amazing energy, it's just a different tone. They're still developing, they're not stagnating.

What's the new Peaking Lights record going to be like?
A: It's probably a little bit of a step away.
I: It's not going to be totally different, but it's definitely going to be a continuation, another chapter. A development!

Here's a mix Peaking Lights made. Keep up to date with their touring schedule, new material and remix album at their site.
MIXXED-UP by Peaking Lights

Records Of The Year, 2011

2011-12-27T07:09:00.000-08:00

OFF!- First Four EPs (Vice)
As close to Keith Morris-era Black Flag as you could reasonably hope for, 2011 brought the release of the first OFF! records. Featuring Keith himself (and former RFTC drummer Mario Rubalcaba) OFF! deliver with the short sharp brutality of primitive LA hardcore. There's plenty of referential humour intertwined beyond the title of this release - the band are also named after a flyspray and Raymond Pettibon is on graphic duties once again. The existence of OFF! voids the last 25 years worth of Black Flag indebted false punk.

Tom Waits- Bad As Me (Anti)
Dog-eared bar-room poetry from the 61 year-old, on his 17th album. As focused and game-changing as anything he's ever done.

Real Estate- Days (Domino)
Hopefully the dawn of a new C86 era, the shimmering delights of Real Estate have been delighting audiences over the world since their moved to indie-major Domino. Spotless pop-melancholy oozes from every groove of this, their second full length album.

Roedelius/Schneider- Stunden (Bureau B)
Piano-and-electronics post-ambient experimentalism, from one of the genre's founding fathers and a modern master. At once clever and playful, music for an open mind in an empty room.

Wolves in the Throne Room- Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord)
Transcendental, relentless black metal in the truest sense; the sound of a rain-drenched spectre looming on the edge of a foggy forest. Witness new constellations coalesce...

Zomby- Dedication (4AD)
Smart, synth-y soundsystem psychedelia. Post-everything piano electronics for the discerning rudeboy.

Vittorio Mazzoni - Geografia Della Campania (Not on label)
The soundtrack to a vintage future of disjointed voices, lost guitars and haunted dub. Vintage modernism on cassette.

Git- Imagination (BBE)
Party in your head to the Pete Rock flavoured Bay-Area hip-hop like it's 1995.

Peaking Lights- 936 (Weird World)
Psychedelic kosmiche-dub with other-worldly analogue electronics, but pop.

Gang Gang Dance- Eye Contact (4AD)
New York art-dance-pop of the most fun and experimental kind. A necessary, modernist advancement of dance music.

Tarwater

2011-12-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

The release of the eleventh Tarwater album, 'Inside The Ships', finds the Berlin duo drawing reference from 1950s sci-fi, kraut-minimalism and experimental cinema; even eliciting the atypical circumstance of a film being made around their album- rather than the other way around. While the voice, effected guitar and analogue electronics of Ronald Lippok (also of To Rococo Rot) and Bernd Jestram seem rooted in an entirely post-modern space-age, it is inevitabley borne of their country's kosmiche heritage, flickering B-movies and their 1990s 'post-rock' contemporaries. Inevitable comparisons to Tortoise, Sonic Youth, Neu! and Stereolab abound, yet Tarwater are time-served alumni of this school, and continue to explore the furthest reaches of their (Forbidden) planet of sound. Their new record is clear testament to this, so I thought I should ask them a bit about it. This interview took place when they played the 'Eastern Promise' festival, at Platform, in Glasgow's Easterhouse.

Tarwater. Photograph by Christoph Voy

The album, Inside The Ships, took two years to finish. What happened during those two years?
R: We were working on stuff like film music, theatre, and radio plays and so on. When we started doing the album in the beginning we didn't have any idea. A friend of ours was working on a space opera- a science fiction space opera- and that was the kind of initial inspiration for the album. We thought that was interesting, and we started listening to space rock, to the Ladbroke Grove scene, and to old science fiction music from the GDR- East German science fiction film music. Actually, it was meant to be a space opera radio play. That was the initial inspiration for the album.

How much of the two years was writing, how much was recording, how much was mastering?
B: Because I'm running the studio, it's always one process. We don't compose at the beginning... We just say "Today is a Tarwater day, let's record something", and we start from zero.
R: We start to do something, and it's not very strategic. We don't write songs in the classic way where you start with an instrument- it always starts with sound, soundscapes... that's the best way for something to happen. When you never know.

The album has inspired a short film. Tell me about that.
R: There was a guy who said to us "Let's do it the other way around. Don't write music for the movie, give me the music first and I'll do the movie". We wanted to see how the video developed, based on the tracks. It's not like a video clip really, it's longer- it's 35 minutes- and it's based on Tarwater tracks. It was good doing it the other way around, because when you work on film music normally, you do the music when you have the pictures and this time it was the other way around.
B: We were recording and making the album at the time, so he got tracks that we didn't put on the record.

Tracks that were meant for the record?
R: Tracks that died!

What did you think of the film?
R: I really liked it it. It was done on Alexanderplatz in the centre of Berlin. Since we were children we've known this place, but looking at the movie we didn't know it was made on Alexanderplatz. It was interesting seeing a place that we're so familiar with, and not noticing it. Imagine going to the most famous spot in Glasgow, and you shoot a movie, and people don't know where it is...
B: It was shot at nighttime, just using the light that was coming from the surroundings.
R: They didn't bring any extra lights, it was just the lights that were there.

So if this guy approached you while you were making the album, did it change the way the album was created?
R: Hmm. Good question. Actually, I don't think so. Working on the album was taking quite a while, for us, because albums have their own needs. It's like when you try to attract an animal, and you go "Come! Come! Come!", we were waiting for the songs to come. To come together. We'd think one was good, then we'd think one was fantastic, but the album had no 'face'. Then when it started to come together, then we thought "OK, let's tour, we've got an album". Recording an album should be a microcosm. It doesn't necessarily have to be a concept album, but you should be able to listen to the whole album and see that this is a little world in itself. You never know when this is going to happen.

The press release for the album says that it definitely isn't a concept album.
R: (Laughs) I know... Science fiction was just an inspiration, but if you listen to the tracks there is a certain theme. Like 'Radio War' is about Orson Welles and the whole story about his radio play (War Of The Worlds) when everybody went nuts about the martians coming to Earth, and how at the time there was this big fear of communism. 'Do The Oz' is like a science fiction dance- "Put your left wing in, take your left wing out"- even though it was inspired by Oz magazine, because Oz was going to stop, and we wanted to support this underground magazine. Science fiction was an inspiration, but I think a concept album has to have a weird story going through it.

Like a Soft Machine album.
R: We love Soft Machine.Soft Machine was one of the inspirations for the album. We did a DJ mix for (excellent music website) The Quietus that you should check out. It's a one-hour mix of science fiction music.

Were you watching a lot of films when you were making the album?
R: Science fiction was always interesting to us, but we were watching a lot of Russian films at the time. We weren't doing 'research', science fiction is always around, it's to do with our lives. It's not like fantasy that puts you someplace completely else, with science fiction you still have a connection.

The science fiction that comes to mind when I listen to the new record is the science fiction of the 1950s and 60s. Stuff that was set in the year 2000. It's this vintage future that never existed.
R: That's a good way of putting it. When I was a child I expected to be living underwater by the age I am now. When you listen to 'Forbidden Planet', it's a very interesting soundtrack, made electronically. When you listen to a science fiction movie from now it's very boring. It's just standard. In the olden days they thought "OK, how could music sound in the future?" That was far more interesting than what science fiction music is now. I think it's a pity that people don't try harder now.

People like Delia Derbyshire, and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, who did the Doctor Who music, don't exist anymore.
R: Doctor Who is a very good example. That's fantastic, frightening music. With science fiction there's so much more in the 50s, 60s and 70s than there is now.

Is there any music out just now that you like?
R: I really like the last Kreidler album. I'm not saying that because we're on the same label. I really appreciate that a band like that can make a statement with a record like that. Is there any other stuff?
B: I quite like the new Wire record! I've listened to it several times now, and I like the songwriting, and the singing. I was really impressed. I've been a Wire fan for so long, but the new one just made me say "Wow!"

How has the Tarwater sound developed over the years? The first album was quite beats-based, but do you think your music has begun to merge with the soundtrack work you do?
R: It's hard for us to say. I never listen to the old albums, unless I'm really drunk. Although I was listening to an old track today, for the show, and it sounded quite different to the version we play live. If you work for a long time things will change. With 'Dwellers On The Threshold', we had an interest in folk music. Like psychedelic folk, and soul. I think that changed the sound in a way. But we have always worked in Berlin. We've never worked in, let's say, the countryside. We're always in town, and we're out listening to DJ sets. We're always surrounded by people doing stuff that has an impact on our music. It's not very strategic. We don't go "The next record should be more song-based, or have less guitar" or anything.

Each album seems like a new sound.
R: I like that some people only know the new album, and some people only know the old albums. Some people will only like the albums from the mid 90s, with the singing and electronics. This curious mixture of sound and song. It's hard to say as a band. We don't ever plan anything. For our career that might not be good, but that's the way it is.

Are you touring the new album in a big way?
R: Tonight, we're playing the songs for the first time. It's a special night- it's an adventure! We've been rehearsing at our studio, but we don't know what they sound like through a sound system.

When you're writing a song, do you think about how it'll sound live?
B: No, never. When we're in the studio we just record what we like. We never think about live. So later on we sometimes have massive problems. Like, "How can we play this song, it's not possible".
R: Or we'll have something that we just can't repeat, from an old Korg or something.
B: We can't play all the instruments with just two people.
R: Playing live is like a parallel process to doing the album. We have to think "OK, what can we play live? How can we translate this?" And then we find out.

Ronald Lippok, me, Bernd Jestram

Tarwater - Inside The Ships sampler by Bureau B

Check out Tarwater's mix for The Quietus here- http://thequietus.com/articles/06987-tarwater-mix

Real Estate

2011-12-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

Now signed to the mighty Domino label, New Jersey's Real Estate have just released their second album, and what a beautiful piece of shimmering, melodic, lo-fi indie pop it is. Drawing comparison to Felt and Television, the Strokes and The Stone Roses; they owe as much to the UK's C86 sound as they do to New York new wave. With greatness and mainstream success beckoning them forth, we caught up with frontman Martin Courtney for an interview as he prepared to take the band on a world tour.

Real Estate. Alex Bleeker, Matt Mondanile and Martin Courtney. Photograph by Shawn Brackbill

So you've just signed a worldwide deal with Domino. How's that working out for you?
I guess it's been a really big change, but it's nice- everybody's really cool. I guess it was kind of a goal of ours to be on a bigger label. The different thing with Domino is that it feels like we now have a career or something! There's like a team of people there to help you out with stuff. They're just excellent. For us to just be doing what we're doing, it's great.

Was the new record recorded with Domino in mind? Even subconsciously?
We'd already decided we wanted to go with them when we started recording, and to be honest, we wouldn't have been able to record in a studio if we didn't know we were going to be getting some money from a label. We didn't actually announce that we'd signed to Domino until a couple months after we did sign. We just wanted to have the record done. We started talking to them about November- pretty much a year ago.

Had you already started writing when you were speaking to them?
Yes. The album was about half-way done. We'd been touring so much over the last couple years that we didn't really have time for writing. We did a tour with Deerhunter which finished in early November, then we just spent three months writing the album, and February was when we started recording. I spent January waking up every day and trying to record a demo or something, like it was my job, which was pretty cool.

What's the difference between the Real Estate that recorded the self-titled debut, and the Real Estate that made this new album?
We definitely have more of an identity formed as a band. Some of the songs on the first album were recorded before Real Estate was even a band. The first record was much less of a group effort, more like just trying to get some songs down. Almost like demos, y'know? And then we sort of coalesced into a four-piece rock group, and we toured a bunch. Right before we recorded this album we lost a member. We recorded this album as a three-piece, without a solid drummer. I played drums on some of it, Matt played drums on some of it and our friend Sam who plays in Big Troubles played drums. He was just helping out, so we didn't even know who was going to be our drummer live.

Yeah, I've heard you described as a 'jam band'. To what extent is that true?
I guess we like to 'jam', extend sections of our songs, or have them not be as planned out as maybe some bands. Our songs aren't always the same length! But it's only certain songs where we do that. With some songs we can be "We're gonna play this section for a long time" and maybe just improvise a little, but it's mostly because I really like repetition. I really like playing something over and over again until it becomes sort of hypnotic. On the new album we do that on the last song. It's a seven minute song, and the last four minutes are just the same thing over and over again. It's kind of like a Krautrock kinda thing.

Metronomic.
Yeah, I guess as part of our identity as a band we always did that. That's what people latch on to and call a 'jam band' I think. Our bassist is like a closeted hippy. He likes to go and see Phish and stuff, so he's actually into jam bands. And we all the the Grateful Dead.

What were you listening to when you were putting the record together?
When we were making the record we were listening to a ton of Television. Television has always been a favourite of ours, and Felt was one we were listening to a lot.

If you're on Domino you're going to be obliged to listen to Felt.
Yeah! Definitely. This thing Cleaners From Venus was one that we listened to a lot.

Who? Spring Cleaners From Venus?
No, no- Cleaners From Venus. They're great. I feel like Guided By Voices listened to Cleaners From Venus a lot. Robert Pollard probably listened to them a lot. His voice sounds like this guy. They're cool. They're this home-recorded thing from the eighties. And we were listening to The Strokes a lot. It's funny, I was kinda reminiscing about high school. I dunno if that came through in the music, but we were going through this weird obsession with The Strokes. But I don't think you can hear it. Hopefully not (laughs). Stuff like Cass McCombs too...

Who's on Domino too.
Yeah, sure. That's what was funny about talking to Domino, they put out so much music that we really like. We were talking to a couple other labels too, but we thought how great it'd be to be associated with these acts that we love! Now that we're on the label I'm listening to all this other music they put out that I'd never heard before. Like Robert Wyatt. The re-issued all his older stuff, it's great!

His new stuff's good too.
Yeah, I don't think I've actually heard any of his newer stuff. I've only really been listening to 'Rock Bottom' and 'Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard'. But yeah, anyway- I'd say that probably the two biggest things for us was Television and Felt. Not that we were trying to sound like anything. With Television- we're a totally different band- but I do idealise the way that their arrangements were so melodic. Everybody's playing something different but it all fits together so well, and it's so rhythmic.

Real Estate. Photograph by Shawn Brackbill.

Your first album was extremely well received. Did that put pressure on you, or do you think that helped?
There was definitely a little bit of pressure. It was a different experience. Recording the first record, I wasn't expecting that anybody would hear it. That was definitely in the back of my mind. I tried to not let that ruin it for me, but it was definitely there. The fact that the first record was so well received almost made it easy for us. It's not like we didn't try with the first record but it, it wasn't like it was hard to make and people really liked it, so I was like "Well, if people liked that..." All I can hear is mistakes when I listen to it, but if people really liked that they're gonna love this one. When I listen to the new album I feel really good about it, so I'm not too worried I guess.

The track 'Out Of Tune', which was a single last year, is on the new album. Did you not want people to miss that one?
That's the only track on the record that wasn't done at the same time as all the other ones, and it's the only one that still has our old drummer on it. We thought about redoing it, but it was really hard to get someone to replicate his drum track. That drum track was like his crowning glory, and we can't figure out what he was doing there. We can't replicate it, and the recording sounded really good. I don't like to re-use songs, but everybody around us said we should put it on the record, because not enough people heard it. It was really just released as a seven inch, and it never came out outside the US. And I like it.

The album's coming out on CD, LP and cassette. Did you have a format in mind when you were making it?
We were always recording with vinyl in mind. And CD obviously too, but we were sequencing it for vinyl, because of course you can only fit a certain amount on a side of vinyl. We toyed with the idea of doing a double LP...

A bold move for your second album.
Yeah, yeah, so I was like "I guess we can't do that!"

The Stone Roses did it!
Haha, yeah. But it would've been a stretch! But with the cassette, we were excited about it. It wasn't really our idea, it was kinda Domino's idea. It's obviously gonna be a bit more limited, I think they're only gonna do 500. I doubt more than 500 people are gonna buy the cassette, but I know a lot of people who still listen to cassettes in their cars or fetishise it or whatever.

Your guitarist player Matt will be known to a lot of people through his Ducktails releases. Did his work there inhibit the making of the album at all?
I guess in a way... When we were mixing the record he had to go on tour. He couldn't be around for certain things that maybe he would have wanted to be around for. When we got the record mastered, he had just come back from tour. We went to this really nice mastering studio in Manhattan. The guy who mastered our record mastered Marquee Moon, and he did Born To Run. He had a note from John Lennon, because he mastered Walls and Bridges. This handwritten note from John Lennon with his phone number on it.

How did you get hooked up with this guy?
Our producer knew him. He did the new Titus Andronicus album, which our producer did, and he did the new Kurt Vile record. He does indie stuff as well, y'know? But they're this big famous mastering studio called Sterling Sound. His name's Greg Calbi. He did some amazing stuff. But yeah, Matt couldn't be around for that, and he wishes he could have been. But we factor it into the band. We schedule it, almost. Like we know when for the next couple of months Real Estate is going to have to be a focus. Like now we have to tour, but Matt's working on an album now, so that'll probably come out when we take a break from touring. Maybe when he's doing that I'll have time to write material for the next record.

Do you find yourself drawn to a certain an era of music? A certain time and a place?
Not really. I dunno. Yeah, late sixties, early seventies music... I mean I love Television but I don't necessarily love...

Patti Smith?
Yeah. Or like the New York Dolls or something. It's not like I'm obsessed with that area of New York music. I went to school in Olympia, Washington, and I was really excited to go there- although it wasn't the reason- because I knew that in the late eighties, early nineties, it was this really great place for indie rock. Like K Records and all that stuff. But pretty soon after I got there I realised that that's not what it's like anymore, it's just like any other college town. Except you seen Calvin Johnson around now and again. I don't find myself drawn to a particular time or place. I just like the music I like. I think that's probably the same with most people.

Your press release described New Jersey as one of America's "less cool states". What do you think of that?
It gets a lot of shit from people in New York. People in New York like to pretend they grew up in New York, even thought they're probably from Ohio or something. New Jersey is close to New York, but it's not New York. It's like the suburbs, so it's not as cool. There's a lot of industry there, so it's ugly. The highway, the I95, runs through New Jersey and it runs through this industrial part that just smells bad, 'cause there's all these oil refineries there. There's this huge swamp there called the Meadowlands that they've never been able to build on, and it releases this natural gas into the air, and it just smells bad. It smells like farts. People just get this bad impression when they drive through New Jersey. But there's some funny people that come from there. Like the whole Jersey Shore thing. Those people do exist, but it's a very small aspect of what New Jersey is. We were lucky where we were, because we were able to go to New York for shows and stuff.

Was there a show you saw that stands out? Anything you look back on that meant a lot to you?
There's a lot of them... I saw Television, which was kind of amazing. They reunited for a couple of shows, and I saw them when I was 17, which was kinda cool. I was even thinking recently, "Did I imagine that? Did that happen?" but it did! It got really bad reviews, but I remember it being incredible. If anything it's probably that we saw so many shows. I saw Built To Spill three or four times, I saw Yo La Tengo a bunch, we saw the Pixies when they got back together, but we became aware of this other scene in Brooklyn, all these loft shows that this guy Todd P put on. He's this DIY promoter guy who's put on shows for years. He really helped us early on in our time as a band. He booked us for a lot of shows. I think if you grow up in a place where you're not really exposed to a lot of live music you don't really think of it as a reality, or as an achievable goal.

What are your plans for the band in the next while?
We're doing a lot of touring. We're coming to the UK. We'll be touring all of November and a little bit of December. I'm writing some songs right now, and we're planning on doing an EP when we get home. I really want to get back in the studio and try to fire off a couple more songs.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius

2011-11-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

The electronic pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius is a legendary figure in modern music. He founded the seminal bands Kluster (who later became Cluster, and now Qluster) and Harmonia (where he worked with a young Brian Eno), and he made music using the world's first drum machine- Drummer One. His work is considered across the world to be the blueprint for electronic music. He turns 77 this month, and rarely gives interviews, but Bite My Wire managed to trace him to his house in Austria for our conversation. He's just released his collaboration album with Stefan Schneider (of post-rock pioneers Kreidler and To Rococo Rot) and it's one of the most beautiful things you will ever hear.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius.

How did you meet Stefan? How did the collaboration come about?
I met Stefan a long time ago, when I was playing somewhere. He invited me to one of his concert series in Düsseldorf, and that was the first time we played together. Now that's four years ago, I think. When we did these concerts we said "Let's do a record, and let's try something else". We needed about one-and-a-half years to get this thing on tape.

Did you have any idea how you wanted 'Stunden' to sound when you started working on it?
I had no idea which way it would work, so it was very surprising how it came out in the end. The rhythms came out really nice, because of what Stefan Schneider did to it. I'm more the abstract, melodic part of it.

Stefan Schneider and Roedelius. Photograph by Fabian Schulz

You've always done a lot of collaborations. Do you find yourself to be more productive in the company of strangers?
I think it gives a lot of new ideas, it enriches my own work and my own type of working. It's a challenge, especially to work with people who are almost half my age. It's a good challenge for me because I don't want to fall asleep whilst I'm still on Earth. I'm 77 now, and it's good refreshment, this well of youth. It's good to get together with young people and work with them. It's only young people I'm working with at the moment- the youngest is a girl from Pakistan. She's living in Croatia, and is a bass player and a computer specialist. She's 30. Onnen Bock, who I'm working with in Qluster is in his 40s... I think I'm only working with the younger generation!

Your music has appealed to people for over 40 years, without you ever having to try, and without changing your sound. Why do you think this is?
When it's a collaboration, it's always about friendship. I think that's the main ingredient- my love to work with other people. Sharing the same values is basic, for being able to collaborate with people. With Moebius, it was 40 years we were working because we were good friends, but we stopped at a good time- because we ran out of ideas. Especially with the live stuff. It was like we were always doing the same thing. People appreciated it- and they loved it- and it didn't get boring, but I think it was a good idea that we split after the last work. It was a good swansong for a group that existed for 40 years.

So how important is playing live to you? Has the way that you present your music changed over the years?
After I found out that music is my thing to do, it was of great interest to me to work live. It's a different quality from studio work. Playing live in front of the public- who expect to be entertained- they can get into it, get something conscious from it, find themselves in it... find their own reality in it.

Cluster. Photographer unknown.

What inspired you to start making music?
I had a different approach, I was never bound by music theory. I always wanted to practice, I wanted to find out how I could express myself and my values in life, my being in life, musically. That was the main thing. Since the beginning I just wanted to express myself via music or via text, because I am writing as well, you know?

Of course. So how would you describe your music to somebody?
It's more or less philosophy in sound, or a cinema in sound, what I'm doing. But I'm always telling people, "Don't look at it as if it was music, in the general meaning, it's something else". It's something else. It's like writing a diary. Every piece is a part of a diary of my life, and it's a joy to do it. It's the way I have to work- to express my respect of nature, of creation, of whatever you call it. To give back what I'm getting. It's a gift what I'm getting. If it comes, then I'm doing it. I don't go "Oh, now I have to do a piece of music that is ten minutes long, to express this", if it happens it happens, and then there's a piece. And then I have to find the right name for it, which is the second creative process, to explain what I am thinking of that piece to make it easier for people, perhaps. But a piece of art speaks for itself. If you listen to my music you don't need an explanation about why I did it or what for. If it's ready, it's something that has a certain value.

It's said that before the artist paints in the abstract, he must master fine art. What do you think?
I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I think it's up to the individual. People like me, who had a different profession before... I was a physiotherapist and masseur, so I got together for a long time- for about ten years- with many, many, many people and I touched a lot of bodies and listened to a lot of voices. That was a totally different way of approaching life and of approaching art, and that made a big difference. People who really want to study an instrument, and study music, it's a totally different method. I'm privileged to be able to express how I feel, and my existence, and so called 'reality', and I'm happy to do what I'm doing. Especially because I can really do what I want to do. There are many people who aren't able to do that, because they are not allowed, or they don't allow themselves.

Cluster. Photographer unknown.

When you started making music, the technology you used was new. Now that pretty much everybody is able to make music at home on their computer, how do you think music has changed?
I really had to practice, to find out which sort of sound, which sort of tone, which sort of complex composition would fit my ears first so I could allow the piece to get out to other ears. It was not a problem that we couldn't use the machinery. We started with really simple stuff, and I think that's a good way to practice music. If you learn about noise, if you learn about tones and structures by just trying to find out if it fits your ears. Something different from learning an instrument or being able to read scores or write scores, which wasn't what we did when we were starting, and it isn't how I work now.
With technology, it's nice that it's easier to transport the microKORG (analogue modeling synthesizer), and to transport material to make noises, than it was in the past. It's good that it's easy to compose on a computer, but I'm not really doing it. I'm still very analogue in my mind, and analogue in my whole existence, so I just use what I'm able to. Little instruments. Presets in keyboards, and piano now of course, because my main interest is in piano sounds.

You don't compose on a computer at all?
With Stefan, we composed on a computer. He took everything we did here in my studio on to his computer, and he produced everything on his computer. He brought it to me and we listened to it together before we agreed to release it. When I'm playing my piano I put the digital recorder on, and I put it on digital tape, and if I like it afterwards I'll possibly put it on my computer. I have a very easy computer program, it's called 'Reaper'. I'm not even able to use a computer with eight, or ten, or even 24 tracks. I always have friends who can help me to do it!

Stefan in this case.
Stefan in this case, and Onnen Bock in Qluster. These guys are really able to handle the material. Onnen Bock really is a genius in every field he works. I'm very happy to have him as a colleague in Qluster!

You've put out a tremendous amount of work in the 21st century. What's inspired you to be so busy over the last ten years?

I have to take care of a big family! I have three kids, and two grandchildren. I'm hoping I am taking care of the house. My wife is a teacher so she gets regular money. I'm promoting, and taking care of my career myself. It's not a long time ago that I got an agent, in Berlin, who takes care of my concerts. My day is full of work. I'm cooking for when my wife is coming home. It's all part of my art, because my life is not divided into an 'art part' and a 'living part', it's all together.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Photograph by Camillo Roedelius.

Do your children, and your grandchildren, listen to the music you do?
My children love what I'm doing. All three, and my grandchildren- the oldest is 11 and he likes very much what I'm doing! He's sometimes in my studio, playing piano and trying to find out if he ought to want to be a musician. But that's not decided yet. He has to learn. He has to go to college. I think because I'm so in love with my art, everybody around me is infected by it!

Are you impressed by any modern music?
The only time I have to listen to music is when I'm driving my car for some distance, and I'm listening to the radio. But I'm not listening on purpose to modern compositions, I have no time. I have masses of CDs to listen to listen to but I can't do it because there is no time to do it.

With digital distribution and file-sharing, all music is now available to everybody. Is this the end of an era or the beginning of a new one?
It's very nice that every bit of music that's been done in the world is available online, so people can make a picture for themselves of what's going on in the world of music, or in the world of art. For me, online distribution is good because now it's feeding me! Just a few years ago it started that I get some money for my work. If my wife hadn't been there I would never have done such a lot of work, such a lot of recording. She allowed me to do it. Also, in Austria I'm privileged to get support from the state, and by many institutions, so if they wouldn't have helped me I wouldn't have done it. All gifts. When I came to Austria in '78 the institutions and people enabled me to work easily and freely, and with restriction. I could do what I wanted to do.

How did Harmonia come about? What was it like being in two groups at the same time?
Michael (Rother) came to us when Cluster had been five years on the road, and we settled down in the middle of Germany. I think he was a little bit bored with the work with Klaus Dinger in Neu!, so he tried to find a new situation, a new feel to work with, so he found us. Because we liked him and we liked his guitar playing we said "OK, let's try a second project beside Cluster". And it worked out.

Did he come to you wanting to join Cluster?
He came to join Cluster. I think the idea- which we didn't know about at the beginning- was to create a kind of 'supergroup'- Neu! and Cluster, under a different name, but it just didn't work out. So he stayed with us, and Dinger stayed in Düsseldorf and created La Düsseldorf instead of continuing working further with Michael Rother and Neu! So we tried to do a different thing with Harmonia, being influenced by Rother's guitar playing and by Rother's ideas about how to create music. We thought it could be a little bit more successful, because Cluster at that time was not very well known. It was well known, but not very successful money-wise. So we tried, and in the beginning it was fun to do it, but we couldn't really afford to rehearse the same piece of music every day, so we left it. It was not our aim to re-do the same stuff every time, all day long, so we left Harmonia after two albums. We had a last shot with Brian (Eno) when he came to our place to work with us. So we had three albums. The last one was 'Harmonia '76' with Brian. We did this when Harmonia had already split, but we still didn't get together anymore afterwards. This came out twenty years later, or so.
With Cluster we continued to work, and everybody did his solo stuff. There was a lot of solo stuff. I'm really glad that Bureau B is re-releasing so much. They're doing good, good work.

They're a fantastic label.
They're fantastic, and it's so noble. The quality of what they're doing is just perfect.

Do you think Brian Eno took a lot of your ideas when he went solo, or were these ideas that he already had?
Brian sent Cluster into the spotlight. He came because he loved what we did before, and he wanted to support us, in a way. And that's what he did with 'Cluster & Eno' and 'After The Heat'... It kept us alive for the next five years, the success of these two albums. Brian was more or less an ambassador for art, and he came to us to give us advice about how to work, and about how to get deeper into what we did. Not to be produced, just to do our thing. He still supports us in many ways. He wrote the foreword for the book, he wrote forewords for my new records, we've just been interviewed by him in London for a little festival in Austria. So he's still on our side because he's a big fan, and he's a good friend of ours.

Anything you think the readers of Bite My Wire should know?
Well, first of all, that Bureau B is doing splendid work. Not even just the re-releases, but all the new stuff they put on the market, like the 'Stunden' record. And they're taking care of the legacy of Conrad Schnitzler (contributor to Kluster and Kraftwerk who died in August). They're bringing out some music we did after the band split, and they're bringing out the first three Kluster records, which I'm very happy about. Please say hello to Brian Eno (laughs)! I've been invited to play Moogfest in Asheville at the end of October, in the states. I'm playing there as a soloist as with Tim Storey as party of the Lunzproject. So I'll see Brian there. Say hello to everybody in Britain. I hope I can come there again soon. I played a solo show at the Vortex Club in May and it was very nice. People liked it a lot.

Vittorio Mazzoni

2011-10-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Like a hypnagogic soundtrack to a retro-future of disjointed voices, lost guitars and haunted dub, the Vittorio Mazzoni cassette is the one thing I would urge you to purchase this year. They're a two-piece, and they create their music hundreds of miles apart. Dan lives in London, and Josh lives in Cumbernauld- a town recently voted the worst place to live in the UK- yet this geographical juxtaposition seems to suit their creative process perfectly. This interview took place on the afternoon of Josh's 20th birthday.

If you got reviewed in the Wire, what section would it be in? Assuming they're going to change it back to the old catagories...
J: Possibly somewhere inbetween 'Avant Rock' and 'Outer Limits', I'd like to think. 'Avant Rock' just because it's so guitar driven and influenced via not-just-guitar-playing but offcut noises, and the tape experiments used. 'Outer Limits' mainly because I like to think that the project of the tape we made was more of a one piece thing. We used a lot of field recordings and noises and voices ripped from films and whatever else we could find. We didn't want there to be any silence unless it was intentional. In the same mind, we put all the pieces together so that it was like a smooth trip through various atmospheres or imaginings.

Have you ever met each other?
J: Yeah, we hung out in the summer and did some rioting... We tried to do some music then but it's hard to force stuff out, especially when we mainly only had a mate's Jen SX1000 synth which makes mostly terrible noises. But we had fun trying to make Eurotrance on it anyway. Plus it was easier to get distracted by dodgy mixing and drinking Rubicon.

What were you listening to when you started making music? Have your influences changed?
J: Probably a lot of Not Not Fun records. And Ghostbox releases interested me, and made me want to explore that sort of aesthetic. The warped atmospheres that still had an interest in being pop influenced.
D: I love really drums-based music so with everything I make I'm always trying to jam in loads of different percussive elements. So I guess people like Sabu Martinez, Art Blakey and people on the Hessle Audio label might have all influenced me in some way.
J: Plus when we started doing this we were both really into lots of French and Italian library records, mixed with the score work of Ennio Morricone and Piero Umiliani. Which we've sampled a few times, and obviously been influenced by in the name... In terms of 'have these influences changed much since then?', then no, probably not that much. We've actually thought about trying to go deeper into our jazz influences and trying out what Underground Resistance and James Stinson could do with electronic jazz, but still mix it up with our previous influences and some sick Grant Green guitar lines. Haha!

Kaiser Chiefs just won a Q award for 'Innovation in Sound'. Pretty cool, don't you think? What's your favourite era of Kaiser Chiefs?
D: I'm so chuffed for them. I can only see them as modern-day prophets after so accurately predicting this year's riots. Ricky Wilson is something of a messiah.

Josh, how the fuck do you cope with life in Cumbernauld?
Ahaha! I don't. Although it has the best undercover skatespots in Central Scotland in my opinion.

Do you get a chance to see much stuff live?
J: Yeah, as much as I can afford anyway. Lately it's mostly been clubs, the recent highlight of which has been DJ Stingray. He pretty much just played solid 140BPM bangers all night, was crazy. Gig wise it's been sort of quiet this year for some reason... Thinking back, the best think I've seen has- surprisingly- been Ducktails who was just unbelievably tight and super fun. Mega hyped for Actress soon.
D: Since moving to London I haven't been going out too regularly, but I got to see Ben UFO play all night at Plastic People the other night, where I really got my groove on. He started off playing Herbie Hancock on Blue Note and ended several hours later playing some pretty hype dubstep and grime. I like eclectic DJs. I also saw Trim recently, which was a laugh. In terms of live music I havent seen anything recently, but there's lots on. I should go out a bit more. Oh, and over the summer I saw and really fucking loved DJ Stingray too, that was something special, I'd never really heard much Detroit electro like that before.

Practicalities aside, do you have any plans to play live?
D: I think we would both love to do something live together, even to DJ together would be fun.
J: Yeah definitely, I think it could be a lot more impressive live too if we worked it out right. A lot of the sounds- and the general vibe- of a lot of our stuff lends itself to a more volume-expressive and bassy environment than it does within what we can record.
D: Yeah, It's just a logistical nightmare, but it's definitely something I've always wanted to do, and we will figure out a way of playing somewhere, sometime, be it in London, Glasgow or Manchester.

What's coming up next from you?
J: We're both chilling on working together right now, but with winter incoming we'll probably get going again.We seem to work together most then.
D: Yeah, plus we're both working on other projects just at the moment. Hopefully sooner or later Josh will be able to move down here for a bit and we can do some stuff in one place.
J: Hah, yeah. I just need some of dat cash.

Tell us about that your solo stuff then.
J: Well I'm always doing little bits on my own, but I struggle to fully get into something that way too. The band I'm getting going with some friends is gonna be a sort of 60s/80s/90s sort of indie pop affair, mostly based on guitar jams, which I'm gonna try and make as weird as possible but it's hard when the other people ain't into doing that stuff as much as you. I'll see what can be done whilst mostly trying to jack Felt tunes anyway.
D: I've been trying to make dance music for quite a long time now. I've only just started to put out a few things I like onto my Soundcloud, and I'll be self-releasing a CD-R very soon. Haven't been trying to nail down any particular sound with this stuff, I'm just making stuff I would dance to myself, so it's all quite rhythm based. (Listen to Dan's stuff at http://soundcloud.com/bacarybamba)

Anybody you'd want to collaborate with? Who do you think is on the same musical wavelength as you just now?
D: I'd love to do something with Konono Number 1, they seem to have a pretty amazing array of homemade instruments. It'd would be a dream to have access to all those sounds.
J: Umm... We're open for collaborating with anyone willing to send us stuff to be honest. Even one of the tunes we made, it was all based on a song we liked by another friend of ours. I'd like to think it's a pretty open project that anyone can get in on. Although if you want a highly masturbatory fantasy level probably Actress who is pretty much the best dude in the world. On a slightly less fantasy level maybe Moon Wiring Club, or anyone who's released something on Housecraft Recordings.
D: Yeah, I'm also pretty open to collaborations, it's fun seeing what other people can do. On a realistic level I'd love to do something with Panabrite, that stuff is really deep and textured, plus they have some lovely synths.
J: As for wavelength, I'm not sure, we take inspiration from lots of stuff so we're hyped on anyone trying to pan over several influences with no money.

Where can people get your tape?
J: http://vittoriomazzoni.blogspot.com/ Gis ya money please.

Dark Captain

2011-10-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

What with having been compared to the likes of Stereolab, Fleetwood Mac, Nick Drake and even a 'folk-Fugazi', Dark Captain's (formerly Dark Captain Light Captain) music probably holds something to intrigue most of us. Having recently scored a number one on the US iTunes chart, they prepare to release their second album, 'Dead Legs & Alibis' on the always-excellent LoAf Recordings label. Moving onwards from the alt/psych-folk label they earned with 2008's debut LP 'Miracle Kicker', we're expecting big things from this London five piece. We arranged an interview with guitarist/vocalist Dan Carney to find out more.

Tell us a bit about the music you make.
It's quite folky, a bit dark, psychedelic but hopefully without too much of a 'retro' feel, bit krautrock-y with electronic tinges. Lots of smooth vocal harmonies, like butter dripping down your face. And hopefully hooky and memorable.

Photo by Will Morgan

Who was Light Captain? Did he leave or get thrown out?

No, nothing like that. We just felt that the name Dark Captain Light Captain looked good written down, but was a bit lengthy and repetitive to say out loud. We always referred to the band as 'Dark Captain', and so did loads of people, so it seemed like the obvious thing to do really.

When were you skating?

From about 1988 to 1998, a good solid decade of throwing myself gleefully at, or off, concrete and wooden structures. I wasn't very good, but I could do quite a lot of no-comply variations! We could usually be found at Wanstead High School, near the north-east London suburb where I grew up, Romford or South Bank. Skateboarding is an extremely noble art- I still keep up with what's going on in the skate world a bit, although nothing like I used to. Skaters who had a big effect on me were Ray Barbee, Gonz, Neil Blender, Ricky Oyola, Tom Penny, Jamie Thomas and Rodney Mullen.

What do you remember about the music you were listening to then? Did the stuff in the videos influence what you do now?

I remember reading in the old 'Skateboard!' magazine about all these hardcore punk/indie bands with exotic, slightly nihilistic-sounding names, and realising excitedly that there was a densely-populated musical world beyond Metallica, Guns & Roses and the like. Back when I started I remember skating as being more synonymous with that type of music (the hip-hop thing, as far as I'm aware, was more a 90s thing), so my being involved with it led me to investigate things like Black Flag, Minor Threat, Fugazi, Sonic Youth (still relatively obscure at that point) at a much earlier age than I would naturally have done had I been into stamp collecting, snooker or falconry. So skating and music listening were two pretty inseparable activities when I was young.

As far as musical moments in skate vids, nothing I would say really 'influenced' me as such, but there's a few classics. That Aerosmith song to Rodney Mullen's part on that Plan B ('Dream On' in Second Hand Smoke) vid is always one I remember. And after seeing 'Public Domain' I remember covering 'My Weakness' by Chuck Treece's band McRad in a number of pre-pubescent punk bands I was in. And Toy Machine always used to have great music on their videos - isn't it 'Welcome To Hell' where it goes from the Misfits into a jazz-fusion/funk cover of one of the songs from 'Jesus Christ Superstar'? Marvellous stuff.

How did you get hooked up with LoAF?

The old 'put CDR in envelope' trick. Early on we didn't really think much about gigging, but were quite adamant that we wanted to put records out pretty quickly, and not just drift along. So we thought of about 20 or 30 record labels that we really liked, and were hopeful might like us, and sent them a few demos and bits and pieces. We had about five offers come back, which I was amazed about, but chose to go with LoAF as they seemed really into what we were doing, or trying to do at that time, and are clearly doing it for the right reasons, coming from the right place. They've consistently shown faith in us, and have trusted us to do good stuff without interfering with the creative aspect, so we're well happy with that.

What's the new album like? How is it different from 'Miracle Kicker'?
It's more of a full band sound; some songs are a lot more full-on, or full-on by our standards anyway! But there's still a couple of whispery ones like we used to do. When we played in the Czech Republic earlier this year someone told me that they thought the new songs sounded happier, so maybe that's a difference as well!

Why did it take so long?
Well, it's a cliche, but when you make your first album you can pick from all the best songs you've ever written. Once the second album comes around, you've inevitably used all that stuff already- we had a couple of bits kicking around, but were pretty much staring at a blank piece of paper when we started. We were also a bit stricter - as we were mainly recording at home this time we weren't so time-pressured; that enabled us to follow various creative whims to their oft-unsatisfying conclusions, but that in turn meant quite a few songs didn't make the cut, or got ditched along the way. So the set-up this time definitely helped from a quality-control point of view. There's a couple of songs on the first album (won't say which ones) which wouldn't have made it on there if could do it again, but we didn't have the luxury of time the first time round. And then with this one we weren't sure who was putting it out, who to have mix it etc... The actual writing and recording of about fifteen songs in total (album, b-sides, couple discarded) took about nine months, which I don't think is too bad! And we've got 14/15 new demos on the go for the third one already! We're quite prolific and work pretty quickly when we get going, but we also want to be sure that what we're putting out there is the very best we could have come up with at that point.
Also, I was doing my PhD throughout the making of this one, so that was pretty time-consuming, as you can imagine!

What were you listening to when you were making it? I'm hearing some kosmiche stuff in there...When we're knee-deep in lyric sheets, chord changes and overdubs I try not to listen to anything, as I find I get too easily swayed by anything which I'm significantly impressed with. Like, "I want to sound like this, now!" But in general, German 70s/psychedelia is never far from the equation. Also lots of folky/acoustic stuff (as I guess is obvious), bit of drone and soundtrack stuff, Canterbury stuff like Soft Machine and Robert Wyatt, as well as no small amount of questionable heavy metal! But I'm just as likely to be found listening to grime or hip-hop as Pentangle, Neil Young or Elliott Smith.

What are the best and worst bands you've played with?
We've been lucky enough to play with lots of great bands in the last couple of years. Highlights were maybe touring Germany/Austria with Sophia (the current project from Robin Proper-Shepherd of God Machine fame), who also featured Adam Franklin from Swervedriver on guitar. Also playing with Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) this year. And in London we've put on shows with people we know and love- Jess Bryant is an amazing singer-songwriter- kind of dark, swirling and beautifully unusual folk-pop with a voice which can silence a room in under two seconds. Check her out!

As for worst bands, I'm too nice to single anyone out here! Just because I don't like something, it doesn't mean there's no value in it. This is an outlook I'm forcing myself to adopt as I hurtle towards middle age. But I don't think it's nice to be negative about anything, or anyone, in print.

The Lo labels are known for their amazing artwork. How does the design process work out? How much input do you have?
Yes, that was one of the things which made us want to go with Lo in the first place! Shallow lot, aren't we? A company called Non-Format are the ones responsible for the LoAF "look", although we get quite a bit of input. Our drummer Chin did the last album cover, while this one, which features a parachutist, is a collaboration between Chin and Giles (other guitar player).

Mark 'Fos' Foster

2011-09-07T06:59:00.000-07:00

Simultaneously the brains behing Landscape and the evil mastermind behind Heroin, Mark 'Fos' Foster has always had a lot going on. In between filming for the next Heroin video, working as Art Director at Altamont Apparel and regular trips from his native London to Japan; Fos is still endlessly enthusiastic about the music he loves. Naturally, we wanted to find out what he had to say, so we hassled him for an interview. Now pay attention.

What's your favourite video section track?
Oh man, probably that McRad track 'Weakness' on the Rubber Boys (ams) section of Public Domain. Just 'cause when you see that for the first time when you're a kid who grew up in Lancashire and you hear that jam and see how much fun they're having skating down the street then it kind of sums up all the reasons that you skate. That's closely followed by Andrew Reynolds part in Stay Gold (Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros- 'Om Nashi Me'), which I think is possibly the best video part ever made.

What's your favourite video overall, for music?

Hard to say. I grew up in the 80s so stuff like Santa Cruz Wheels of Fire, Streets on Fire and Speed Freaks introduced me to bands I'd have never heard of otherwise, so they were influential. I liked the early Consolidated videos too, they were all great for the skating as well as the music. I actually think that the video I have watched the most times is Scarecrow 'Disturb Not the Sleep of Death'. They have Slayer, the U.S. Bombs, Nerve Agents and even Patsy Cline.

How do you go about choosing music for your videos?

I grew up listening to punk and metal almost exclusively, but when you start making videos you need to listen to a lot more music, 'cause not everyone wants to listen to that stuff, so I started listening to way more types of music. As far as Heroin music video choices, me and Alan Glass just usually argue about stuff or try and find stuff that either takes the piss out of the teamriders, or makes 'em look good. Like Pulman sent us loads of weird stuff for his Live from Antarctica part- some of it was kind of ridiculous- and in the end he just said, "I trust you guys, use whatever just as long as it's not the Smiths or Morrissey", so of course we used Morrissey. It's just what we feel works for the rider an has good bits to edit to.

What's your favourite album of all time?

The one I always go back to is Minor Threat, 'Complete Discography'. It's just amazing, pure energy. It's hard to say one, can we say it's closely followed by 'Scumdogs of the Universe' by Gwar?

What was the first album you bought with your own money?
I'm pretty sure it was Iron Maiden, maybe 'Killers', and definitely on tape.

What's your favourite album art?
I loved all the Iron Maiden covers when I was growing up. They were always rad. I'm gonna go with 'Killers'.

What's your favourite band t-shirt?

A Bootleg Tom Waits tee from the Edinburgh show in 2008. I wanted to buy a real one but the merch there was total crap, it was like skinny fit tees of artwork that he'd done with oil or something, so I got this one outside for a tenner and it's amazing.

What are you listening to just now?
I saw the Black Angels play just before I left L.A. recently, they're amazing. Stoked on them right now, I saw Thee Oh Sees recently, they were sick, I'm trying to see Grinderman this year, and I've been listening to the latest No Age album a lot. Mainly those four bands with a smattering of Tom Waits and some Japanese Pop thrown in there.

Anything coming out soon you're excited about?

Well, I'm working on a new Heroin video, so we're just filming for that at the moment. Had a few ideas for songs I wanna use for my part if that comes together, but everything else is still up in the air, we're all just filming.

What was your first gig? How was it?

I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1990 in Manchester. I was 17 and obviously first gig is always amazing, but the fact that it was seated and it was a bit weird, and the Chili Peppers were still really a punk band back then.

Favourite gig ever?
Tom Waits in Edinburgh 2008. Tickets were £100, I had to buy 'em for both me and my girlfriend at the time, plus plane tickets to Edinburgh, then hotels... That was basically my holiday for that year, but it was incredible. I feel lucky that I've been able to see him perform live, he's such a legend.

What gig in history do you wish you could have been at?
Any of the Sex Pistols shows would have been amazing, early Tom Waits shows, wish I'd have seen the Stone Roses or Joy Division, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, or the Rolling Stones at Altamont when the Hell's Angles beat the shit out of the Hippies.

Do you play any music yourself?

Yeah, I was the singer in a punk band with a load of crazy Japanese kids, called Doku Dango, for a while. They kind of tricked me into joining the band it's a long story, fun times though!

Ian MacKaye

2011-07-18T04:28:00.000-07:00

This Ian MacKaye interview was a long time coming. Interviews with him are scarce, since he is not in the business of self-promotion, and throughout his time in Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Fugazi and now The Evens he has steadfastly refused to speak to the music press. I'd starting exchanging emails with him about six or seven months ago, trying to figure out a good time to call. He's endlessly busy all the time, running every aspect of Dischord Records- as he always has. Even during our conversation I could hear him working away. The label does not employ a lawyer, a press agent, an accountant or a booker- Ian does everything himself, down to driving the tour van. Another thing that held this up was the death of my father, and despite such opposite lifestyles, I'm pretty sure he and Ian would have got on.

Fugazi with Jem Cohen. Photo By Michael Ackerman

What are you up to right now?
There's always lots of crazy administrative stuff going on, at all times. At this point Dischord has a fairly vast catalogue, and we keep all the records in print in one form or the other, and we pay royalties on all the records so we're always looking after everything- keeping records in press, and right now we're re-issuing some things. Like a Faith re-issue that has their first demo on it, and a Void demo record that's going to be pretty mind-blowing. It's a demo that nobody's heard and that the band doesn't even remember making. It has 20 songs on it, it's pretty crazy. So I've been working on that, and on trying to work out what we're going to put out in the fall. I guess just digging around, but digging around means me going into my archives and for the last couple of years I've been working on organising that, and that's a huge job still.
I've also been working on this Fugazi live series website which we're hoping to start up in December, which basically, eventually- we have about 850 recorded shows- we're going to put them all up by the end of it. That's an enormous amount of work. We've created a massive database with all the shows, all the opening bands, all the information we can get about each show. We've created a page for each show. We've played about 1,100 shows so we're going to create a page for every show and post as many photos as we have for each show, flyers, anything like that. So we've been building and building that. It's huge.

Will people viewing the site be able to contribute?
Yeah, that's the idea eventually. Eventually you'll be able to post photos and whatever, but that's still being built. Now we're just trying to get the basic frame of it up, but every page will have a comments section and a scrapbook where you can post photos.

Ian MacKaye. Photo by Amy Farina

There's a massive amount of bands reforming just now to play their so-called 'classic' albums. What do you think about that? It seems to be happening at every festival now.
I'm not too interested in that concept. I actually just read an interview with Barry Hogan, who does ATP, and he was saying that people want to hear bands play the albums. He might be right, but I don't really care if that's what people want. It's not something I'm interested in. Actually, I saw Devo do their first album and it was nice to see tham play such great music. It's always nice to see these people play, these geniuses, who've created something that's so good, that it couldn't not exist. Depending upon your relationship with the music. A lot of the music... they're just like perfect songs. All these bands and musicians have created things that are somewhat forever and so it's always nice to see the people, but I was very struck by this idea of sticking to the format of the album. An album format does not jive with live music. When Devo made their record for instance, it was vinyl. It was two-sided. You would start your record with songs that were strong, and the middle of the side was songs that were slightly less strong- especially into side B. The songs at the end are not necessarily songs that are the real corkers. But if you see a band play live, at the end of the show you want to kinda come out swingin'! So it was interesting to see them play the last couple of songs. They're good, but you could tell that the emotional arc of the show was an uncomfortable one because it wasn't related to the audience. To Devo's credit they did the whole album except for the last two songs, and then they came on and did the last two songs as the encore which was just weird because they're not the strongest songs. But then, because the crowd was unsatisfied to say the least, and the lights came up and the music came on, people kept screaming "More, more", and then they started chanting "Bullshit, bullshit" and Devo came back on. They did a couple of their other songs and it was great. Suddenly you saw that these are people, not actors.

Minor Threat, 1980, by Susie Josephson Horgan
Right.
I saw maybe one other band do that 'album recital', but it just doesn't mean anything to me. I'm not interested in that. I can always listen to the records. I kinda think that if bands want to play music- and they want to play music with each other- then that's great! And if the audience wants to go along with the journey, then great! If the audience doesn't want to go along with the journey, that's great too. But if it's a matter of getting together just to do these particular albums then I have to think that a central driving factor has to be economics. A fiscal rationale. No band I've ever been in has ever played music for money, so the idea just doesn't appeal to me. People listen to Minor Threat now and are like "You could make so much money from Minor Threat!", but Minor Threat never played a show for money, so why would we start now? Same as Fugazi! Fugazi never played a show for money, ever. We played a show to play a show.

From Jem Cohen's outstanding 'Instrument' documentary.

How do you feel about the maleness of hardcore music? Every time I saw Fugazi there would be people drunk, beer going everywhere and a lot of aggression in the crowd. If this is counter to all the things you stand for, did it not demoralise you? Was any of that what led to the Evens?
People who are drunk, and going crazy, do not represent everything I'm against, you know? What I'm against is war. That's what I'm against. You know- war and murder! People's perception of me in Minor Threat, people's idea was that I was a fundamentalist, that I wanted everybody to behave themselves- that's just not the case. That wasn't the case with Fugazi shows. What I wanted was to be at the table with everyone else. If I'm part of a band, and the band's playing a show, then we feel a responsibility to our guests. I don't care if people are drunk or if people are going wild. As long as they're not going wild on other people. If people are drunk, I don't care. I think you and I can both agree that alcohol is a toxic substance. That's just the reality. It's obviously a matter of how it's applied, but ultimately it's a toxin. Obviously I'd prefer if people didn't put poison in their bodies, that's just me, but it doesn't mean that people who do are not welcome in my life- they are, and they're around me all the time. They've always been around me my whole life. What was far more discouraging for me, and what was far more compelling about the Evens' approach was the business of it all. When you get to a certain level as a band, you end up being corralled into a really specific type of venue. Where do you live?

I'm in Glasgow.
So we'd be like "Hello Barrowlands!" That's the venue that we would play. And that's where we did play. Generally that's the room. In any given city there'll be one or two rooms like that. They're venues, and on any given night there's music being presented, or every other night or something. If you look at the upcoming shows there's like a hardcore band from 1987, then some band from Black Rock Arkansas in the seventies and then there's a trip-hop band. It's like you're just in this circuit of bands, and it's hard to transform those spaces because those spaces are process centres. Every night they process whatever sort of music it is. By and large with those venues their economy is based upon self-destruction because they're bars! This is not about drunk people, this is about the business of selling alcohol. There was something for me that was deeply discouraging, for me, that this form of expression that I got can only be presented in these specific kinds of rooms. It's very discouraging for me because I don't think of music as self-destructive, I think of it as self-constructive. It bothers the fuck out of me that you have to have alcohol at every gig. With the Evens, we did a show at the Canterbury UCA. and with the Evens we have our own PA and our own mics, and we've played all these galleries and all these museums, and we can play anywhere. We were invited to play this art college so we think "Great!", and we go down there and there's all these giant empty gallery rooms, just perfect for us. Perfect rooms. But we had to play in the pub. The pub, of course, is a noisy affair, with folk slingin' beer around. It's loud. A lot of people don't go to the pub to hear music, they go to talk.

The Evens, live in London at Regent Hall on April 7 2006

And to buy alcohol.
Right. And right next door there's this beautiful, empty, quiet room that we could fuckin' make magic. That to me was such an indication of this deeply perverse notion that music- popular music- must have alcohol. I think that people, by and large, have swallowed this hook, line and sinker, and that's why when people go to see shows they just have to have a beer in their hand.

That's why you get brewers sponsoring venues now.
Of course.

Over here Miller do a weekly 'showcase' for unsigned bands, and all they sell is Miller. I can only presume that if any of these bands were to actually make it, they'd very much be under the control of Miller.
That's the thing. You know Kathmandu in Nepal? It's a city that's buried in the middle of a bunch of mountains, but it's an active city, and people have lived there for thousands of years. But at some point, the British decided to pay a visit, and take the fuckin' joint over, and they're like "What, you grow food on the mountainside? You do terrace farming? Here's a can of beans. Eat these instead." And then they start just flying food in, so people start eating the beans out the cans 'cause it's easier than farming. Then at some point they realised they forgot how to farm, and now the planes have to come in every day. They've become dependant upon that. I think it's the same in music. At one point people were playing music, and it was just a reality, and then the alcohol industry got involved and they thought "We can make this more lucrative, we can do this for you", and at some point the bands just forgot that they can do it without them- they've become dependant upon that industry. And that's exactly what they wanted. Precisely what they desired. And they got it.

Fugazi. Photo By Michael Ackerman

Dischord releases are on Spotify now, whereas they were not before. Did something change in the Spotify model to elicit this change? Or in your own thinking?
Spotify is not really a known quantity here. I know it's huge over there, but it's not really made its way into America. How people want their music is endlessly baffling to me. I'm not a 'formatist'. I remember when cassettes came into demand. When 'Repeater' came out, I think we sold more cassettes than we did vinyl. We sold 150,000 cassettes or something, right off the bat. We were like "Jesus Christ!" Cassettes are just the worst format, in terms of quality. But I've always believed that if people want cassettes, we'll make cassettes. When CDs came along, we made CDs. We're never cutting edge, we always let it go for a while and see what the people want. When downloads had been around for a few years, and the bands said "We want downloads", we did downloads. Our basic premise is that we'll make it available, but there always has to be an option- an alternative, another way of doing it. So for instance if people have an issue with something like a Spotify service, then they can always come to Dischord and download from us. There's a guy we're working with who's looking after music services in Europe and I think Spotify fell into that. I can tell you from a label's point of view that it's absolutely mind-numbing the number of services and the different ways that they work, the different ways that they report, the different ways that they pay- if they pay- and so on. We're just trying to get our minds around it. With Spotify, I'd never really heard of it, but somebody was saying that it's absolutely massive in Europe. I'm assuming it's streaming?

Yeah, it's a streaming service. It's £10 a month for unlimited music, which I think is pretty reasonable.
I think it's reasonable. This is a thing that at some point people are going to have to make a decision- everything that's ever been recorded, in theory, they can listen to for free for the rest of their lives. If they're not interested in supporting the arts at all, if they're not interested in paying for anything or feel they shouldn't have to pay for anything, then they are going to risk not ever having new music again. There are actually costs involved with recording, you know? Even for me right now, I've been so busy dealing with the commerce of Dischord, and business stuff, that I don't have any time to write. Amy and I practice three times a week, but I have no time to write at all. I can't just sit down and finish a bunch of songs because I'm always working. People have to make a decision. I think if people didn't want to buy our records at all, then I'd be really screwed. The populous is going to think "We want new music!", and if that's the case then fuckin' stop thinking everything is for free all the time! There's two things going on. One is that people think they're patrons of the arts, and these are all billionaires who've just dropped off a $100,000 ranch or something. Another thing is advertising, and people assume that that's how you make your money. People say nowadays that the only way you can make money through music is to "have your music in ads". I think that's a load of fuckin' bullshit. The fact that that phrase has been repeated so often makes me think that in fact the advertising people themselves have planted that notion. It's not true! People become lazy. It's like "You can't get there unless you buy a car", and that's not true, you can fuckin' walk! You know? But if people just repeat something often enough it becomes true. I think that this thing about 'the only way you can make money playing music is making music for ads', that's just not making a living. That's just a bummer.

Minor Threat skateboarding, and Steppin' Stone live 1982

Do you ever feel like you've become some kind of underground legend in spite of your approach? To what extent do you think you can control what people perceive you as?

I don't try to control anything. So I can't control how anybody thinks about me. I can't control all the mis-information that gets handed around. There are so many things that people think about me that are so wrong, but who cares?! As important as you or I might thing Fugazi was as a band, 99.99% of the world will never even hear of us. At all. If Fugazi was to simultaneously explode, and every record disappear, the Earth's rotation would not be altered at all. It's just not that big of a deal. People who are obsessing about me, or about the band, or about the label, who are trying to steer things are irritating to me. But I don't care really. Ultimately it's a manifestation of their own power issues, their own control issues. When people try to steer you, or tell you what to do, that's because they are at a loss in their own lives.
You might say "What about at shows, when you're telling people not to jump on each other's heads?", and that's me being a good host. Asking my guests to not stab each other with forks at the dinner table. And I think that's fair enough.

The Evens- Ian MacKaye and Amy Farina. Photo by The Evens

Despite being the home of the White House and of Congress, Washington D.C. doesn't have a senator, and its citizens are the only ones in the country without the right to vote for one. What's it like living in a place like that?
Well, I've only ever lived here so I don't really have any sense of what it's like to live elsewhere. What's maddening about living in the District, is that we are essentially under the control of the Federal Government, and we are- as a city- a very liberal town, so the conservatives always try to make an example out of us. So for instance, the District had a handgun control. In D.C. there are laws that you can not have a handgun. The Republicans were trying to get money for the City, and came up with a rider, basically, saying we'd get money for the City if we agreed to waive the handgun law. The people in the City don't want to have handguns, but the Republicans want to make it OK for us to have guns. That's frustrating, and it happens all the time. Just being told, "Oh, that's too bad. That's what's going to happen". D.C.'s people have to come up with creative ways to navigate these new laws. For instance, our court system here is Federal, because we're a Federal enclave, and the Federal guidelines about cocaine and crack are really, really strict. People are getting busted all the time for these things. The judges don't agree with the Federal guidelines for these things, but, by law, they have to follow them. So what they do, they way they navigate it, is that they change the charges. So instead of the charge being 'Possession Of A Controlled Substance', they might change the charge to 'Loitering'. They'll do something to get it away from these Federally mandated sentences. The people are still guilty, but they won't have to go to jail for something as ridiculous as having drugs.
I think living here has played a role in the way Dischord is operated. Washington D.C. is a bureaucratic town, and you never ask for permission, because the answer's always no. That's how bureaucracy works, because if you ask to do something, and they say yes and something goes wrong then they're in trouble. If they say no, then nothing goes wrong!

And everybody's safe.
Right. In this town I've always said "Don't ask for permission, because the answer's always no". If you think about our work, when we started Dischord we didn't register the name, we didn't copyright the name- we still haven't. We didn't get a business licence, we didn't get a lawyer- we've never had a lawyer. We didn't have contracts, we just made records because that's what record labels do. We didn't ask for permission, we just did it. If we had asked for permission, and we tried to do it formally, then I don't think we'd be having this conversation now. Being 18 years old, starting a record label and asking someone how you do this and they give you the formal structure? That would have taken the air outta that fuckin' thing right away! I would have quit immediately. But instead we just went in and did it. With Fugazi, we just played so many shows in D.C., and with the exception of the shows that we did on Federal property- the park system, where we had to get permission from the park police- by and large we never asked for permission or a concert licence or anything. We just did the shows. It's not hard to do! You need to learn that lesson- don't ask, just do!

Is there anything on Dischord that you think the readers in Europe should know about that they might not be aware of?
I always encourage people to listen to Lungfish. Lungfish to me is like a spring, a beautiful body of water that everybody should take a swim in. But nobody seems to know they exist and if they come across it they don't know if it's a safe place to jump in. It is fuckin' safe, jump the fuck in, people!

Lungfish- Love Will Ruin Your Mind

Big thanks to Radio Magnetic for letting me use their Skype computer to record this interview.

Corey Duffel

2011-06-17T01:51:00.000-07:00

Know for jumping off things high enough to make a normal person shudder, Walnut Creek's Corey Duffel is also a huge music aficionado and an avid record collector. We caught up with the now-beardless Duffman- in between him finishing his section for the next Foundation video, playing with his dogs and collectiong speeding tickets on his new motorbike- to see what he's listening to. More than just the Ramones, it seems...

What are you up to?
Well hello there Neil, I'm on my couch watching The Simpsons, wishing I wasn’t doing this right now, so I could pay more attention to the show.

What came first, music or skateboarding?
I've been listening to music since I can remember. My parents were really hip and always had great music playing while my brothers and I were growing up. So we were always listening to great music from their generation. I got into skateboarding on my tenth birthday. By that time, I was already listening to the oldies station to fall asleep and buying tapes.

What was the first record you bought with your own money?
The first vinyl I bought was The Ramones self titled original pressing from eBay. That’s the first memorable one. I think I bought a Kiss one from second hand shop as a kid even though my record player was broken.

What was the first skate video where you really noticed the music?
I liked it when Matt Hensley skated to The Jam (in Plan B's Questionable). It seems to me that I've always noticed good music in skateboarding videos. Since I first started I always liked certain tracks. I loved it when Ronnie Creager skated to the Stones (in World Industries' Rodney vs. Daewon). That was killer. Black Label always had a good music selection, so did Tum Yeto videos. It helps when you have guys producing the videos like Tod Swank and John Lucero. They grew up with great music so their videos always had good songs.

How do you go about getting hold of music just now? Do you have a favourite record shop in the world? Do you buy much on tour?
I think eBay is the best place to buy rare records. All the best stuff is in the UK. The UK produced all the best bands. So it's no wonder why all the stuff I buy is easier to find out there. It just costs a packet. My favourite shop is Amoeba Records here in the Bay Area. If I'm lazy and have extra coin I buy stuff on eBay. The last three years I haven’t really bought many new records, I've been listening to tons of stuff that I've had for years and forgotten about. I have so much music, sometimes it's good to just listen to what you have compared to finding some obscure jams. I forget about the classics that I grew up on. I used to love buying records on the road, but they never come home in good shape.

Are there any records you're trying to get hold of just now?
I'd like all the Real People and Inspiral carpets albums and singles.

Where's your favourite place to skate in the world, outwith your home?
My favourite place to travel is the UK. Even though it's only been two times that I've been there. But for skating I really like Oz.

If you lived in Britian in the sixties, would you be a Mod or a Rocker?
I'm guessing a Rocker. I don’t think I could afford to shop at Carnaby St. Actually, I'd be a Mocker! I love the 60s Mod movement and music but I'd want to ride faster. So I'd trade in my Lammy in for a Bonneville. But truthfully I'd rather have been in the USA in the sixties. We had free airwaves and could actually listen to the radio. Plus at the time all the great British acts were over here too.

Do you play in a band?
Nope. I'm a talentless stunt devil.

Quadrophenia or The Great Rock n' Roll Swindle?
That’s a no brainer mate! Quadrophenia has the greatest soundtrack! Pete Townshend is a genius! I love that movie. I like the animation in the Swindle but I'm not much of a Pistols fan. My two favourite songs are the ones in the movie. Where Paul Cook sings his song with the video and Steve Jones sings 'Lonely Boy'. But I do love Quadrophenia. That movie and album touched me growing up and still does every time.

I'm not sure anybody in the UK knows much about Death Beat- tell us a bit about that.
DIY at its finest, haha! Death Beat is a silk screening project I took up. I wanted to print shirts for my fans. Death Beat stands for two strong passions of mine- eeriness and music. I combined the two and came up with Death Beat. www.deathbeatsite.com for more info. If you ever wanted something from me personally, this is how.

Is it fair to say you prefer British music to American stuff?
It's fair to say the UK has the best music scenes to ever happen. The Americans invented Rock'n'Roll but the Brits did it better! The 60s, 70s, the 1977 punk rock movement, 80s darkwave and gothic rock, the Madchester scene, the 90s, Britpop... I'd say 90 percent of my music is from the UK.

So what's your favourite year for music?
1977-1982, the whole uprising of the punk rock, powerpop, Mod revival- and later the darkwave scene. Those five years produced so much good music!

Have you ever bought a record based on the artwork, and it turned out to be amazing?
That I haven’t, I have been let down many times. I think a name and album art looks good and it turns out to be an utterly horrid noise.

What record have you played the most?
Teenage Fanclub's 'Bandwagonesque' gets a lot of play. The most played record I have is... Wow... I really don’t know. 'The Queen Is Dead' has always been a constantly played one. That record doesn’t get old.

Is there any current music you're digging? What was the last album you bought?
The Biters. They are some good friends of mine from Atlanta. They're amazing. One of the best bands I've heard in years. Powerpop at its best. They play an amazing set too. If you're into early glam rock and powerpop, you're going to love these guys. Check 'em out. The Biters. The song 'Melody For Lovers' is my favourite track.

Are there songs you play in your head when you're standing on top of something big to get yourself psyched?
For ten years now I've been singing the same verse- Motorhead, 'Ironfist'... "You know me, evil eye, you know me, prepare to die!"

Do you have a favourite Foundation video?
I really like Art Bars (2001).

How do you come across the music you have in your sections? Ice and the Iced aren't exactly a household name.
From record collecting. Listening to a song over and over and getting stoked on it. Sometimes I hear the meoldy and I'm like "I need to skate to this song!"

In the UK, Iggy Pop sells car insurance.
Trip out! I'm not sure how selling insurance keeps him that buff though.

Do you have a favourite label?
Stiff Records has always had great bands. I think there are some great compilations out there. Killed By Death, Bloodstains, etc.

What's next with Foundation?
'WTF', the new Foundation video. Coming out soon! Its going to be awesome!

What question do you wish people would stop asking you?
"Why do you have a beard?"

Errors

2011-06-12T04:36:00.000-07:00

Having not long returned from a tour of the states with Mogwai, Glasgow's Errors are about to pack up their electronic post-rock pop, take it to Brazil and let it out all over some festivals. We managed to speak to Steev Livingstone, who I'm pretty sure is the tallest in the band, so therefore is probably in charge.

You're just back from a month-long tour of the US with Mogwai. How did that go? Did you go record shopping much?

It was great. We did a lot of record shopping. To the point that we had to buy extra suitcases to carry them home in. We visited a couple of excellent record shops in Seattle in Capital Hill. Sonic Boom, and one round the corner from that were especially good. I found a basket of neglected Italo Disco records under one of the racks. I stayed for over an hour listening through them. Got some absolute gems. We went to Amoeba Records in Hollywood as well. Could really have stayed there all day. Greg got a limited edition Can VHS and CD box-set.

Why isn't there any singing on your songs? Are you all too shy?

There's a lot of singing- you just need to look for it. The new record has quite a lot of 'vocals' on it so far too. We aren't really that shy any more.

What do you find easiest?

a) Playing in a band

b) Working in a busy pub

c) Doing remixes

d) DJing

They're all easy. Except DJing. I still get sweaty with stress whenever I do that. I'm not much fun to be around at that point.

Should people feel obliged to dance to Errors?

People should do whatever they want. I don't move at all when I go and see bands. If you feel self-conscious at a show it's probably the band's responsibility to fix that. Sadly being so tall and awkward, the band would have to be extremely talented to fix me.

Your first EP- and subsequent two LPs- are all very much Errors, but still very different. Do you consciously set out to change the sound each time you make a record?

We don't ever talk about that. Our tastes and the music we listen to changes all the time. We'll talk about what we've been listening to and what blogs we've been on and stuff and because we all DJ together we get an idea of what each other are digging at that moment. There are a lot of cross-overs but also a lot of surprises. I would be disappointed if all our albums sounded a-like, I guess we're quite lucky that we've been able to create a sound that is our own without too much repetition.

What were you all listening to when you decided to start making music together? Have your influences changed since then?

We were pretty young. I guess we all liked Pavement collectively. I liked mainly 80s pop music, Greg was really into guitar music from the 90s and Simon like most left-field stuff. I arrived late to electronic music. I played in many guitar bands when I was young before I realised there we're actually other instruments out there.

What's been the most amusing description of your music that you've heard?

"It's not something but it is like whatever."

Will your next album title be a pun on a TV show? What about doing an easy listening selection called 'The Only Way Is David Essex'? Or a Detroit techno album called 'America's Next Top Model 500'? 'Celebrity Stars In Their I-Pods'?

I think it's time we moved away from all that. Funny as it is.

Were you worried about handing out your second album to people to remix?

Not at all. My only worry was that someone might remix it so well it was better than the original. Like when Fat Boy Slim remixed 'Brimful of Asha' and he basically re-wrote the song turning them into one-hit-wonders and it wasn't even really their song anymore.

Who would you like to remix? Is there anything out there you think could benefit from a quick once-over?

Can't really think of anyone. I'm open to suggestions though.

What's your favourite video game music?

I was brought up on the Megadrive so I guess Sonic 2, California Games, Road Rash... All that stuff. I recently downloaded a band's DJ mix and they opened the mix with Emerald Hill Zone 1 from Sonic 2 and it reminded me how excellent and imaginative that music was. I'd love to do that as a job, that or making music for children's TV shows. I reckon I could do that pretty well.

Do you follow people like Andre Michelle, and what they're doing?

I don't think I've come across him before so I guess that's a no.

Do you get much money from your music being on Spotify? Have their recent changes made a difference?

We get a little bit. We probably get more money from being played in gyms though. It seems like people like to work out and get sweaty to Errors.

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Bear in mind you'll need to be practical.

Pepperoni Pizza. What do you mean practical? It's a pretty impractical situation. I'd probably not survive long if I ate exclusively one type of food regardless of what it was.

Mogwai have had a couple of tracks on adverts- are there any products you'd like to endorse? Or would refuse to?

As long as it wasn't a company that made landmines or the BNP or anything I'd be happy if the money was good.

What are you listening to yourselves just now? Anything you'd like to recommend?

I've been listening to Tropic of Cancer who I really like. They use some old gear and it's all kind of two-chord Spectrum stuff. We're all into the Peaking Lights album. I'd also highly recommend Midnight Star's seminal 1985 album 'Headlines'. That's pretty much all we listened to in the van on the US tour.

What's coming next from Errors then?

An album later this year. Maybe. with an exstensive UK tour to follow. Probably.

Errors are signed to Mogwai's Rock Action Records.

SciFi Stu

2011-05-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

From his beginnings as part of an experimental avant-rock sound collective to his production work with the likes of Count Bass D, Vast Aire and Moka Only, Stewart Hamilton knows that his work in the studio is as much about pushing boundaries as it is about pushing buttons. From John Coltrane to Shellac, and from Public Enemy to Stereolab; Stu knows his stuff- and it shows. As he gets to work mixing his forthcoming album, we take a minute to hear his side of things.

We've just narrowly avoided being Raptured. What would you have done if you knew you only had a couple of hours left before being blasted into oblivion?
a) Fuck
b) Drink beer
c) Smoke some shit
Haha! I've never really thought about it. Probably all of the above… But let's hope we don't see that event any time soon. Things are just getting interesting.

What do you think about piracy- on the high seas, and within music?
I have infinitely more respect for the seafaring pirate.

Bootlegging is destroying the music industry. Full stop. People make up all kinds of excuses to justify bootlegging, but at the end of the day artists are receiving zero support and are struggling to make ends meet. I have had folks email me and ask where they can get my music for free!? What the fuck? Both my albums were ripped and distributed for free on release day. Like anything else on this planet, music is a product, a product as desired as any other. Why people think it's fine to steal is beyond me. I wish people could see the damage this causes. Soon enough they will, because independent artists will begin to think "What's the point?" To my true supporters I am eternally grateful and I thank you.

What was the first record you bought with your own money?

Hmm...Def Leppard. 'Hysteria.' I think. That was a looooong time ago! Haha!

What was the record that really switched you on to Hip Hop?

Although I'd heard bits and pieces before, my first real engagement with Hip Hop was probably the cover/collaboration on 'Bring The Noize' with Public Enemy and Anthrax. I was mainly a metalhead before that.

You used to play in some pretty interesting post-rock bands. How did you come to start producing hip-hop?

I was messing with electronic music around the same time I was playing in bands. Hip Hop has always been a sound I love so I thought I'd try it out…Haha!

Back then, which artists drew you towards the kind of Hip Hop you make now?

Back then I was listening to a lot of different types of music. Acts like Wu, Cannibal Ox and MF DOOM really inspire me... Generally people making smart music.

What's your favourite era of Hip Hop?

I'm mainly inspired by the 'golden era' sound. 1990s.

Do you make tracks with particular people in mind? Is it always a collabo from the beginning, or do you have instrumentals sitting there for when you need them?

I tend to make a beat then decide who might suit it. I recently produced a full LP for a group called Veteran Assassins, and that was the first time I had to focus on a collection of tracks. The album is out in August. I'm working on my third LP now. This album will be more cohesive... Slicker.

Is this a change of direction then?
Nah, not a change of direction, but a more focussed approach. An alignment of skills I have gained in beat production, post production and the way I approach a project.

How do you get in touch with the artists you work with? Who's your dream MC to have on a track?

My US label connections have been really helpful getting in touch with dope MCs. I'm really proud to have some important artists on my music. I'd like to work with DOOM, Planet Asia, Mos Def and Has-Lo in the future.

Who's been your favourite artist to work with?

I like working with people who are enthusiastic and honest. The MCs I choose are typically humble dudes who buck the trend and continue to make real music from the heart. I have to mention my early work with Tha Connection from Hempstead, New York. Hus and Smoovth are real musicians with a genuine love for Hip Hop, they brought me here really.

What kind of set up do you use

Ableton Live 8, Akai MPD 26, various VSTs… Beer.

How long does it take to have a finished track ready for release?

Depends really, I can make a demo beat in a few hours... After that it's up to the MCs to write and record. This can take a while, understandably, and then comes post-processing. I think the quickest I have brought a track to life is about a week and that was only due to a deadline. I think the process should be a natural as possible. On the other hand you could make a classic in a day with the right motivation and some luck.

Do you get a chance to take in much live Hip Hop? Do you play live yourself?

Live music doesn't thrill me like it used to although I will still make an effort to see the stuff I love. My dream festival would be Shellac, Wu Tang, Slayer, Stereolab, MF DOOM, The For Carnation, Public Enemy, Radiohead, Do Make Say Think, Cannibal Ox, Venetian Snares, Vektor, Moka Only, Aphex Twin, Bjork, Low, Weezer, Tortoise, Squarepusher, Non Phixion, Rodan, Oddisee, Portishead, Megadeth, Broadcast and eh... John Shuttleworth for the close.

As for me playing live, I plan to get into action soon. I'll be looking to hook up with some touring MCs next year. I also have some provisional plans to head to the US for a mini-tour next summer.

Tell us about Digi Crates and Domination Recordings.

Digi Crates was set up by my dude Hus in NY. He's from a group called Tha Connection, one of the first groups I worked with- back in 2008. I will be releasing again through DigiCrates in the near future. Domination is my other label… It is incredible to be releasing music on a label with some of my favourite artists, guys like Count Bass D, Moka Only, Spectac and Remarkable Mayor… the list goes on. I have a great amount of respect for new labels bringing out good untainted music and Digi Crates are doing just that.

Shout outs?

Shout out to Neil Macdonald for the interview and generally being the MAN... And my supporters for making it all worthwhile. I truly appreciate it.

To prove how much SciFi appreciates it, he's giving away 100 downloads of 'The Will', his track with Vast Aire, 4th Place and Jonwayne. Get it right here...

The Will Feat Vast Aire, 4th Place & Jonwayne by SciFi Stu

You can reach out to Stewart at his facebook page, here. His itunes page is here, and there's more stuff on the Veteran Assasins here.

Baron

2011-05-16T03:50:00.000-07:00

Although he's probably best known to us for writing and producing the soundtrack to Flip's 'Extremely Sorry' video, transplanted Englishman Piers Baron has worked with drum and bass superheroes Adam F, DJ Fresh, Stanton Warriors and Pendulum- with whom he scored a number 1 in the UK Dance Chart. In making the Flip soundtrack he worked with Dave Lombardo of Slayer, Snoop Dogg and Motorhead's Lemmy, and is a contributor to the werdlife.com blog, along with Geoff Rowley, Arto Saari and Todd Bratrud. Enough reason for us to want to talk to him right there.

You've been putting out a load of records for about ten years now. How did you come to be hanging around with a load of smelly skateboarders? Do you skate?

Ha, well, I used to skate, SS20 being my local store. It was actually Mon (Barbour) who gave me my first break DJing at Source (a night SS20 sponsored). I met Geoff Rowley around 2003 and did a little bit of work on Really Sorry. Our friendship grew from there. As did my relationship with the rest of the team.

How did the Extremely Sorry soundtrack come about?

Geoff and (Jeremy) Fox really wanted to do something that would set their video apart from all the others, an original soundtrack had never been done before, so they asked me whether I could pull it off.

How much of it was 'written'? It all sounds live, but I'm guessing there's a lot of samples in there...

No, it was all played. I played everything on the soundtrack with the exception of drums- some of which Dave Lombardo played- and the bass on 'Stand By Me', which Lemmy played.

Who's idea was it to have Lemmy doing 'Stand By Me'? It worked really well for Geoff's section.

We originally had something different in mind for Geoffs part, when Geoff spoke with Lemmy and we found out he was down, it was a no brainer. Geoff and I decided that something old would be great, Lemmy absolutely nailed it. He loves old music, he has another band called 'The Head Cat', check them out if you don’t know, they play rockabilly, blues and rock and roll. Some really fond memories of making that song for a lot of reasons- not all of them musical!

What's Lemmy like? Did he drink JD and Coke with speed or was it all vitamin shakes and Berocca?
Lemmy’s a gent, a really nice guy. He’s really cool to spend time with as he has lots of stories from his past and other bands he’s met. We definitely got through some booze, he loves a tear up, he loves Jack and
Coke!

Was it hard to get the guests you had to agree to contribute? How did the process compare to collaborations you've done in the past?

It was actually pretty easy, we got our first choice on each song. Flip is a big deal in the USA, most people have heard about the brand, so between mine and Geoff’s connections it came together pretty nicely.

Were you actually spending time in the studio with these people, or was it mostly done via email?

Mostly in the studio together, it's always nice to be in the studio with people, but with some people it just wasn’t possible. For instance Steve McBean from Black Mountain was done via email and a few phone conversations, and that song turned out great. The unique thing about about a project like this is that we were working with consummate professionals who have lots of experience of making records. Based on that it made my job easier than it could have been.

Photo by Arto Saari

How much input did the team have during the production?

All the riders got their say, it was a team effort. Myself, Geoff, Ewan (Bowman) and Fox had the final say. David (Gonzales) actually played on one of the tracks as well- he's a pretty gifted lead guitar player- so he came in and unleashed some hell.

I seems like quite a big move for an established British D&B artist to move to LA. What made you take the plunge?

I guess it was a big move, but with my drum and bass career I had achieved everything I'd set out to, it was time to move on before I stared repeating myself. It felt like a natural progression.

Could you feel the pressure of having to soundtrack one of the most-anticipated skateboard videos of all time?

No, you can't think like that on any project, no matter how big or small. You're just putting unnecessary pressure on yourself, its not conducive to writing good music. The night of the premiere was pretty monstrous, there were 4,500 people there, and the whole skate industry. I guess it hit me a little more then. Flip did a really good job at keeping me shielded from any of the nonsense that can come with working on a project of this size.

How was the reaction to the soundtrack?
It's been really good, anyone in the industry who has made videos knows full well the enormity of what we did. There was a few dickheads talking shit on the forums, but in all honesty they're not qualified to pull apart an audio visual production in a constructive manner. I have had nothing but love from other pros and film makers.

Do you think more videos will have a specifically-scored soundtrack in the future?

Without question, the way skateboarding is now, with the budgets involved and the crossover potential, scored music is the future.

How did the Pendulum collaboration come about? Was it always your plan to take it as far as you did?

When I was making drum and bass I was signed to the same label as Pendulum (Breakbeat Kaos), myself and Rob (Swire) got together for a night in the studio and made a track which got released, great memories from that period of time albeit a bit hazy, I definitely used to get pretty out of control back then, the first house those guys lived in was a full blown party house, it was fucking mental. And I don’t say that lightly.

What do you think of drum and bass moving back into a retro jungle sound? Is there any new ground left to tread?
For sure, drum and bass has some of the most talented producers in the world- it'll never die, it'll just keep diversifying. Personally I like it, jungle is where it started. It went retro 10 years ago when Total Science hit the scene.

What do you think of dubstep?
It's personally not for me, in fact that whole thing kicking off was one of the reasons I started to feel some distance from the drum and bass scene and moved to LA. Maximum respect to everyone involved though,
it’s a highly creative scene at the moment.

What piece of music are you the proudest to have worked on?

I'm proud of everything I have released, I don’t put my name on anything unless im 110% happy with it. Extremely Sorry and Volcom’s 9191 Snow movie have definitely been high points. Working with Lemmy, Dave Lombardo, A Place To Bury Strangers, those have been high points also.

What do you have on the horizon?

This year is looking pretty busy. I'm currently working with Greg Hunt on a TV commercial for Vans to promote Geoffs new shoe. Working on my solo album a soundtrack with James Lavelle and a yet to be announced action sports soundtrack...

What's the gnarliest thing you've seen hanging out with the Flip lot?
Skating wise, its Flip! its always fucking gnarly, Gonzo and Luan are fucking ridiculous, going to the Mega Ramp when Bob was filming his Extremely Sorry part- as you can imagine- was mental. I think Bob put
together something that people will talk about for years to come.

Are you glad to see Arto back on Flip?

Yeah without a doubt, it's epic, Arto is a top man, he has been wrestling with leaving since he left I think, respect to him for coming home! I'm looking forward to working with him once more.

Take A Worm For A Walk Week

2011-05-16T03:36:00.000-07:00

Chances are you might not have heard of Take A Worm For A Walk Week, but it's quite likely- as they prepare for the release of their third album- that you'll be hearing and seeing them soon. Although they admit they create quite a niche sound, there's something about them for everybody. Whether you're a fan of mind-boggling musicianship, stupid songs, jumping around, laughing, drinking or going deaf there's something for you to love. They're all these things rolled into a big musical sausage and thrown at your face. After two albums of exquisitely crafted technical mayhem, they've honed their sound, taken time out from their day jobs (they all play in successful indie bands), got their act together and written their masterpiece. A good time, therefore, to thrust some questions at guitarist Johnny Docherty and singer Joe Quimby (his real name).

Describe what kind of music you do. In one word. One word not ending in 'core'.
JD- Useless.
JQ- Not ending in 'core'? Ironically I've just updated the Wikipedia page that somebody did for us, and I think 'ending in core' makes sense this time because it's an original term. 'Pattercore'. I think that's a wee bit more acceptable. We'll be the one and only 'Pattercore' band.

If you cut a worm in half you get two dead worms. What would happen if I cut you in half?
JQ- There'd be less of me. Less of me, but twice. There's a lot of my belly, so I wouldn't mind being cut in half. Vertically. I'd be slimmer.
JD- My guts would spill all over the floor. It'd form the shape of a German Shepherd. With two heads. And three legs.

Why is the new album better than the other two?
JD- When I started writing for the new album the songs were still in the same vein as the first two. We decided to all contribute, and re-write what material we had. We've got a record now that combines all our personalities.
JQ- We took a lot more time to write it. There's a lot more ideas in it. With each album we've done we've changed our sound, but there's a very drastic change here. There's no more screaming. I want to sing in my own accent, which I did previously, although you couldn't tell because I was screaming so horrendously. This one is a lot more intelligent, but still frantic. This one I can listen to over and over, and I think the first two very much represented our age at the time- I just liked to run around and piss people off and scream in their faces. It's a lot more mature and coherent. We were too metal for the indie fans and too indie for the metal fans so we wanted to change that.

Are there any cover versions on it? Why do cover versions? Can you not write enough songs?
JD- None. We only liked doing covers because it felt great to destroy somebody's heart and soul, with our concoction of misery.
JQ- I've no idea why we did that cover, although a lot of people seemed really into it. It helped the album get to a bigger audience, but with this album we had so much stuff that there was no room for a cover.

Has this album got songs with verses and choruses?
JQ- This album very much does. That's one thing that we wanted to incorporate. There was verse/chorus on the second album (The Monroe Transfer), but to the outsider it just sounded like a whole bunch of parts.There was repeats, but no-one could really get their head round it or identify them. This album is a lot more song-based and a lot of that was premeditated before we went to record.

You're all in other bands. Do you get more pussy playing in an indie band?
JD- We're all celibate hardcore Christians.
JQ- No. I actiually get more tang playing in Take A Worm. I think a lot of that comes down to, err... the nature of the audience. But I don't think being in a band gets a person tang. It comes down to the patter, and what he's willing to do to the opposite sex. Or same sex.

Who's the most talented?
JD- Me. They say I've got the fastest fingers since Captain Birdseye lost his boat.
JQ- All of us. Everybody's talented in different ways. I think for the instruments, each one is the best at their instrument that you could wish for. There's no one that could be replaced. Although Johnny's the most gay. And he's the most covered in chicken.

What's been your best experience since the band began?
JQ- Being able to get away with writing music that people enjoy. It wouldn't come down to doing shows or anything like that, but the big thing for me would be doing the Maida Vale session in London for the BBC. That studio's got such a history. Joy Division recorded there. That's pretty much it for me. Although I was really hungover and couldn't stop farting so it kind of balances out.
JD- Maida Vale was fun, but I'd probably say getting a really herb-y kebab in Newcastle once.

Have you ever had a near-death experience?
JD- I ODed on ketamine in a hotel room in Sheffield on the Twilight Sad support tour. That was really nice...

What kind of music were you exposed to as kids?
JQ- When I was wee my mum was really into stuff like Wham and Tears for Fears. In the last four years I've kind of went back to Tears for Fears. Before it became popular. I realise they're becoming quite popular again. When I got a bit older I got really into The Cure.
JD- When I was growing up I was subjected to Chris Rea, Simple Minds, Eurythmics... great artists like that. Then I got into grindcore and sludge bands, like Hard to Swallow, Iron Monkey, Logical Nonsense, Unsane... all that stuff.

What are you listening to now?
JQ- Right now? I'm pretty much exclusively listening to drone, of the ambient nature. Things like Xela, anything on Type Records, 12k Records, Digitalis Ltd kind of stuff... Pretty much a bunch of bands that nobody's heard of. I'm into really pretentious stuff. The most straighforward answer would probably be Katy Perry's 'Firework'.

Would you do a show with Lady Gaga?
JD- YES! I'd give her fellatio.
JQ- Of course. Yes. Hands down. Straight away.

If you had a screensaver for your brain, what would it look like?
JD- A bottle of booze.
JQ- Burritos.

Does your van stink?
JQ- It stinks all the time. It stinks of piss, shit, cum, rape, shit, burritos, alcohol... did I mention cum?
JD- It smells of Iain's cancerous asshole. It smells of piss, pies and booze.

What's the stupidest thing you've been compared to?
JQ- Grindcore, as a genre, as a whole. 'Technical thrash'. All that sort of bullshit. Bands that we've never heard of, never listen to and would never want to listen to. We were coming from the spazzy edge of things, and it just seemed to go over everyone's heads. Although that was purely in Britain. Anybody in Britain that hears something really fast and quick, they automatically call it 'grind'. Fuck that shit.

I once read a review of one of your live shows and it said that you 'emit a disquietude'. What do you think of that?
JQ- That we stink? We do. We make no bones about it. We get up people's noses both with our music and our odour.

What's your favourite record of the 21st Century?
JD- I can honestly say that 'Happiness' by Hurts is my favourite record of the 21st Century.

What are the best and worst bands you've played with?
JQ- Worst were Ministry. Although itt was a great show to play, playing to 2,000 people and pissing them all off. The best tour we've done was with The Twilight Sad, because that's more our kind of crowd. Other worst ones would be... just any smelly, short-wearing shit grindcore band that we had to play with every time in London.

What are the plans for the year, once the album's out?
JQ- With being in other busy bands, we'll have to take our time with it this time. Once it's out we'll tour sporadically, but we're all full-time musicians so we have to go with our other bands a lot. But we're definitely going to play as many shows as possible.

Listen to TAWFAWW here.

Alex Moul

2011-05-15T05:22:00.000-07:00

A Bite My Wire interview with Alex Moul is long overdue. The guy turned pro at 15 (we think) and immediately beat Ed Templeton in his first pro contest. He went on to blow minds with every one of his video parts, noseblunt-slid handrails 15 years ago, and late-flipped over picnic benches. You should do yourself a favour and track down as many of his parts as you can. When he went to the US with Flip in '94 industry heads turned, and the rest is history.
All the while, Alex has been DJing and producing drum and bass music, eventually signing to DJ Lee and Brillo's 'Timeless' label. He's still skating- repping Santa Cruz- still making beats and is one of the nicest people in skateboarding.

What are you up to just now? What's happening?
Music-wise, I've just started a few new things. There's a few bugs in the studio that need fixing... when I say studio... I mean my bedroom. Dead tech! It might take a bit, I've got to get some new hard-drives and stuff like that. Skating-wise, I've just got over a couple of injuries. I was out skating the whole weekend. I'm pretty cream crackered, I got kidnapped by the Santa Cruz team- they whisked me off, I thought I was only going out to skate for the night at the Vans park but it ended up all weekend, staying in hotels. Skated a pool with Salba on Saturday! It was pretty cool to meet him. An old legend, he's currently on Santa Cruz veterans division.

Is there any trick you can't late shove-it out of?
Haha! Many. There are many tricks I can't late shove-it out of!

What do you think of the current crop of 'live' drum and bass bands like Pendulum, who sell out arenas, compared to what people like London Elektricity and Reprazent were doing years ago?
Hmm... That's a good question. I think Pendulum, and Chase and Status, and people like that make wicked tunes and they're bringing drum and bass to a much wider audience. I heard a Pendulum tune on KROQ out here, which is a rock station! I don't know if I can really compare it to London Elektricity and Reprazent back in the day, I only really saw Krust play live in LA- which was a long time ago- and that was pretty cool, but obviously that's on a smaller scale. Seeing anyone beat the drums at that speed is amazing anyway. So anyway, I think it's a good thing. Why not?! The thing about drum and bass is there's no rules. Go for it, do what you want!

What do you see in the future for drum and bass?
I don't know, usually with drum and bass it goes full-circle. I've noticed there's a lot more jungle sort of tunes being produced again at the moment, which is nice. Then there's all this drum-step malarkey which is happening, you know? Some of it I get along with, but mostly I like to keep it drum and bass. It's quite trendy out here in California at the moment to just play big drum-step tunes and shy away from the actual drum and bass, and I'm not really down for that, although I'll lob one in every now and again if it's good. As far as the future, production's just going to get better and better. I hope mine does anyway! Ha! There's all sorts of genres coming out. You've got the electro, the disco-y vibe, and then the tech-y stuff. It's going to be good. I like a bit of everything so it suits me!

Where do you go to find music nowadays?
Well, it is the MP3 era, so I actually get a lot of music off artists I know in England, they tend to send me over tunes on AIM and things like that. Off of people like Total Science and Camo and Krooked. That bloke Camo... I hit him up last year to ask him to send me some tunes, and he was cool with that, then I saw some skate footage of him- he's an absolutely amazing skater! If I can't get the tunes I'm looking for I'll find them online, on Drum and Bass Arena or Trackitdown.com, or any of those sort of sites.

Who's doing it for you at the moment? Any recommendations?
Yep, again- Camo and Krooked. The Brookes Brothers, (DJ) Fresh, Total Science... there's too many to mention, there's loads of really good people out there at the moment. Artificial Intelligence, Days of Rage, VIPs... loads of people!

How did you get switched on to drum and bass?
I got into DJing and the music scene before it was really called drum and bass- it was just rave music. When rave music cut off into all different genres, when all of a sudden it went from just being 'dance music' to house music, techno, jungle, drum and bass, all these different categories. It was kind of a shame. I just went the drum and bass route. All the new drum and bass is influenced by the old scene, so that's pretty good.

It seemed like you totally committed yourself to it, with skateboarding taking a bit of a back seat for a while, around about the time your records came out. Were you conscious of this at the time? How did you split your time between the two?
I don't know if I totally committed myself to it, or if maybe I didn't really notice... I'd kind of got burnt out on skateboarding for a bit, on the way he whole attitude was in England, and I was DJing a lot and working in a record store. I met this bloke called Graham, also know as Lucida, and he had a little bedroom studio, and he was like "Would you be interested in making a tune?" He was from my hometown, Abingdon, so we made a tune and it got a bit of interest, so we made a couple more, and we had a little release on Code-001 Records. Then the next thing we did, we got signed to Timeless Recordings so we started doing stuff for them. As for skateboarding... I suppose I was mostly DJing, working in the shop and making tunes at that point... skateboarding do go on the backburner- I'm conscious of it now, yeah! I would skate every now and again, it's not like I just totally gave up but I'd just skate on my own rather than be in any kind of limelight. I wasn't skating a lot, every few months or something. Skating was on the backburner and music was my main focus, so it's not even like I split my time between the two! Haha!

What kind of people were you DJing with?
In those days it was people like Total Science, DJ Lee... I had a gig at Speed (legendary drum and bass club) for a while, so LTJ Bukem, Fabio, Kemistry & Storm, all sorts of people. I used to DJ at the Zodiac too, in Oxford. I had my slot there, and whoever was headlining would go on after me so pretty much everybody who was big in the drum and bass scene!

What kind of gear were you using then? What about now?
All we had was an Akai MPC60 and an SY85 keyboard. That was it. We didn't even have a mixing desk at first. Then we got a little 12 channel mixing desk thing, and we got some sort of an effects unit. We'd have to borrow DAT machines to master stuff. That was all we had then. Nowadays I use a computer, I've got the bedroom studio going on here, so I do everything myself. I use Logic and various Native Instruments plug-ins. Probably the same shit that most people use these days for making electronic music! No outboard stuff, it's the digital age isn't it?

What do you think of all the changes that have come about since you had records out, like digital distribution and the lack of vinyl?
At first with CDs I was like "Oh God, how terrible", because I do love the feel of vinyl. I missed the feel of it, the smell of it and cutting dubplates and stuff. But financially it wasn't that good for me anymore. I'd have to spend $40 on a dubplate and travel up to LA. Or to Music House when I lived in London to cut plates.Now you can finish a tune, burn it and play it out that night. It's a lot more convenient but I do miss a bit of dubplate action! It's good now. You can't really bring it back. Why would you? You can play stuff out now and see the reaction. You can think "Do I need to change the levels, or the mix down?" or what have you.

Do you still DJ as much out there?
Yep, I'm DJing out here in LA and in San Diego. Wherever I can get bookings. I do some stuff for a crew called Adrenalin who put on nights out here. There's a good crew of drum and bass people out here, like DJ Toxic, the Heavy Hitters, STF-1 and the Merge crew. There's some good stuff in LA, but I haven't been playing up there recently. My last gigs have been in San Diego, Orange County and around here in Huntington Beach. I'm still loving it an enjoying the vibe.

What music do you think works best in a skate video? Have you got a favourite skate video soundtrack?
Good bloody question. I don't know. I think probably the good old rock music vibe is still the best way to go. The Lakai video had some pretty wicked tunes actually, like that Fischerspooner tune ('All We Are') and M83 ('Lower Your Eyelids To Die With The Sun') at the beginning. Arcade Fire ('No Cars Go') too. But I don't know. Probably the rock, sort of indie vibe is best. Favourite skate video soundtrack... that's too difficult. My favourite video is Blind's 'Video Days' so I'll probably just say the soundtrack to that. I hope I can get away with that!

What do you think of music being commissioned for a skateboard video?
My mate Baron did the Flip stuff, and I thought a lot of it was pretty good. Unfortunately it was kind of hated on a little bit but you can't please everybody every day of your life can you? I thought the tunes were good and I love Baron's music. I love what he makes drum and bass-wise, and whatever else he makes, whatever his vibe is. If people want to do it they should go for it. It's good for producers, they can get paid for a big project, but if I was making a full skate video I don't know if I'd do it. I certainly put some of my tunes in an old On Video part and I don't know if people really noticed. It was all down-tempo stuff that never got released, and some people know about it and some don't. But why not? Get the music out there anyway you can!

Were you the youngest ever UK pro?
I don't know! Probably? I didn't even want to turn pro. They sort of forced me into it. What was I? 15? I think they wanted me to turn pro even before then, but I was like "Hell no! I'm too scared!"

Chuck Treece

2011-05-11T09:21:00.001-07:00

Anyone who saw the opening street section in Powell Peralta's 1988 video 'Public Domain' will know- or be able to tell you- how that section smashed open the floodgates for street skating as we know it today. It's likely that if that section hadn't appeared when it did, things would be pretty different now... we might well all be wearing lyrca and doing flatland freestyle, or vert doubles in pink headbands. As much as the filming and skateboarding in this ams section shook the skate world, this grainy black-and-white televised revolution wouldn't have had quite the same impact were it not for the tune used- 'Weakness', by former Santa Cruz pro Chuck Treece's band McRad. The music fitted the section perfectly- both were raw, fast, hard, gritty, innovative, stylish- and punk. These few short minutes were a massive, necessary, turning point for skateboarding. And that's not all Treece has done.

From being a pro skateboarder and soundtracking some of the most influential Santa Cruz and Powell Peralta videos of all time, to playing with artists as diverse as Bad Brains, Urge Overkill, Sting, Pearl Jam, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy and Billy Joel it's fair to say that multi-instrumentalist Chuck Treece has achieved a lot. Still living in Philadelphia, Chuck finds enough time to record and tour with the re-formed McRad, look after his kids (who also play music and skateboard) and rip the FDR park as often as he can. He even made time to have a chat with us here at Bite My Wire. Read and be inspired.

What have you been up to recently?

Making things happen they way I want them to go and all... Mainly recording more music, writing more songs- different styles of songs. Skateboarding as much as I can, enjoying my kids and family. I just won a Pew (Philly music college) grant and I'm about to finish a new McRad LP, and re-release a bunch of music... more than anything have fun.

Have you always been musical? I'm guessing you started out pretty young...

I started out with music at age 2 and started playing drums at age 6. At 8 years of age I was playing shows with my father’s top 40 cover band. My parents supported my music from the start- I'm so stoked they took a chance with me and music. They weren't music industry people. I learned a lot from going through the motions and learning how to support myself and my family though music and skateboarding.

Who first switched you on to punk rock? What bands were you digging at the time?

My friend Mark Manuti started me off on my punk rock sessions. We had a band together called Jerry's Kids in '81. We all lived in Delaware and Mark and I skated Sherry Hill all the time, and he would crank Devo, Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Police, 999, Buzzcocks, Joe Jackson and a bunch of other groups. The Sex Pistols were my favourite. Then I started listening to Black Flag, Minor Threat and Bad Brains. Tom Groholski was responsible for turning me on to those bands. Music was always centered around skateboarding. It's so crazy to think that skaters would act like real artists when it comes to the music they listen to. I always loved music and would listen to most styles of music as well as punk rock. I wanted to learn how they were getting the tones, and the energy behind the music got me thinking about the way I lived my life. Then I learned how to play 'God Save the Queen' by the Sex Pistols from a good friend of mine called Todd Werny. Todd also showed me how to play a bar chords on guitar- I freaked out and went right into learning all my favorite punk songs, and then I went back and learned all the songs I listened to on guitar, bass and drums.

So when did skateboarding come into the picture?

I started to check out what skateboarding was all about around the age of 11- it was metal wheels and decks with no grip tape. Then I moved to the 'burbs and my dad went out and purchased a skateboard for me. I've stayed on since age 13. I'm 46 now and I still love skateboarding. FDR skatepark!.

What were your parents and teachers like when you were growing up? Your parents sound cool, but skateboarding and playing punk rock aren't the most widely accepted things for a teenager to be doing...

Growing up in the 'burbs rocked. My school was fun and my parents let me do the things I wanted to do. We all go through the process of being accepted by the people we look up to. I'm glad I had the chances to live my life through the events that I chose, and the times and hobbies that I loved and put my effort and respect into. That’s the only way kids learn how to be responsible- get out there and get it done. No one really understands why kids do what they do... it’s all living at the end of the day, we all want our families and loved ones as safe as possible.

As you were growing up, how did you find the East coast scene at the time? Your first show was with Minor Threat. That must have been pretty rad.

The East coast scene and the Philly scene were filled with tons of creative people. I grew up with the best skaters, musicians, punk rockers and all these other people living out their dreams. We had Love Hall in Philly and that’s where McRad opened up for Minor Threat. I still have the VHS tape from that show. I trip out the the shorts and socks we are were rocking. We didn’t care about much other than having fun and playing shows with the bands we looked up to. That and skating and hanging out with the people we looked up to. Philadelphia is a great city to grow up in.

Did the music take a back seat when you turned pro?

I put the same energy into to both. My responsibilities changed when i turned pro. I had more pressure on myself to skate better and to create better- that’s all being pro is- take it to the next level and respect what you're going for. Direction in proper thought tactics. Goal driven people get things done at a pro level. Turning pro means you've turned your entire world into being as perfect as you can get it. The business is another story...

How did you get involved with Powell Peralta?

Through Stacy Peralta. I wrote him a letter when i was 14 years of age after reading his interview in Skateboarder magazine. I was so stoked that Stacy took the time to tell me about all of what he was doing with creating the Bones Brigade and how he wanted to make skateboarding a bit different from how he grew up in it. It’s amazing when you get good thoughts to come to life.

Who do you think were the best out of all the other Skate Rock compilation bands?

I liked them all. If I would have to choose it would be JFA and the Big Boys, however Earl and H.R. (of Bad Brains) were skateboarding before most of us- they lived in Hawaii with their parents and learned how to surf and skate when they were kids. So the Bad Brains would be my favourite skate group.

Who have been your favourite musicians to work with, and why?

All musicians are my favourite to work with. I've had fun learning from all sorts of musicians. If I were to choose it would be my kids, and then my parents. I have a blast making music with my family - my brother Chris too - he plays guitar, bass and drums. My kids play music... Creating with people that you respect is the best.

Who have been your favourite people to skate with, and why?

My favourite people to skate with would be the FDR skatepark locals, Tom Groholski, Tommy G from SF, Isaac Treece, Kieran Treece, Jurni Treece and Dovi Treece (Chuck's kids). So many sessions and so many parks, ramps and bowls. It was all about having a good time with people you met at the spot and then people who you considered family. That’s what made skating and music have the best memories.

What are you listening to these days?

Black Sabbath. Tons of reggae music. I've been listening to whatever makes my ears happy.

You've worked with so many people, musically- what was it like recording a whole album completely on your own?

I learned how to create music from the respect and love that I had for music. The people and all the great situations made learn how to keep it moving through my age of music. Now I get to choose what I do and how I do all of my work. Before I felt like it was choosing me. Being around talented people or people with a ton of drive for what they want to do rocks. Pushing the limits makes a certain sound in life. It’s like walking down the street and hearing a band rehearse off in the distance, it sounds like fun... Or when a skater is cruising down the street. You know there's some dedication and/or just plain fun happening... always moving.

Do you still skate FDR every day?

I skate FDR about once a week, or whenever I can get there. I was there a couple of days ago. I love that park, it keeps you on your toes... concrete...

Who would win in a downhill between you and Brian Brannon?

Brian would probably win and all, for where I am now with downhill skating... I still have to practice my downhill skating. Brian is a rad skater for sure. I'm so stoked he still has JFA going.

What's in the future for Chuck Treece? What are you working on?

'Never Ending Dominant Force' is the next McRad LP. I have a couple of side-projects titled Jessie Texas and Jah Jah Rank’n. Reggae style rock and some punk-country with Pink Floyd styles thrown in the mix of all of it. I plan on being a better father and overall person. I have a lot more to do and I don’t want it to get in the way of having a good time with being creative.

What records do you think are essential listening?

Black Sabbath, Basement Five, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Bad Brains, Squeeze, David Bowie and whatever make you feel good about music... music is like your personal doctor. It heals your life up and makes you think about what you're doing at all times. It can also take you away to a better place when you're stressed or unhappy. Whatever you put into to music you get it right back.

Cool. It's been a pleasure talking to you. Is there anything else you want to say?

Stoked to be involved with Robot Gut, Ace Trucks, Bambusa Skateboards and all the people who have supported my dreams thougout my life and onto the future.

So stoked to make these dreams come true- it may sound like fantasy talk, but it makes a fantsy much better when the talking comes the person who follows their dreams..

Thanks for having me involved with this interview.

I've been working on a trip to Brazil with Ray Barbee- we leave today and it's been some work getting our work visas.

All of y'all learn how to travel and learn about what it takes to get in and out the place you live in....the right way...

Mogwai

2011-05-11T08:24:00.001-07:00

Mogwai are a rock band from Glasgow, and they can sometimes make some pretty beautiful music. Sometimes it's barely there, no more than a distant hum creeping out of the speakers, a delicate melody suspended in the air. And sometimes it's ferocious, brutal and crushing, with volume and tone that you can physically feel. And very often these two sonic extremes occur within the same 'song'. It would be wrong to suggest that Mogwai write 'songs', as their music is devoid of verse and chorus, and the amount of tracks they've written with lyrics over their fifteen years can be counted on one hand. Stuart Braithwaite- former skateboarder, guitar player and writer of Mogwai's music thinks "lyrics are a real comfort to people. They like to sing along and when they can't do that with us they get a bit annoyed".
It's never been clear whether Mogwai set out to annoy people, although producing 'Blur are shite" t-shirts at the height of Britpop, naming an album after a notorious Glasgow gang (Come On Die Young) and dressing head-to-toe in Kappa ned-wear tracksuits did little to endear them to the mainstream.
Despite refusing to play by standard industry rules, Mogwai have been releasing stunning records for fifteen years now and their new album, 'Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will' should be out right about now on their own Rock Action label in Europe, and on Sub Pop in the US.
You'll know of the cute, fluffy little guy in the Gremlins films that turned into a deranged, vicious killer. Whether deliberate or not, it makes for a good comparison to the band's music. 'Mogwai' translates as 'evil spirit' in Cantonese- which also seems entirely appropriate.
We spoke to Stuart while he was stranded in a snowbound Swedish airport, but words can do very little justice to hearing- or witnessing live- the power and intensity of Mogwai's music. Do your own research, and fall in love with them.

When were you skating the most?

Probably the late 80s and early 90s. I've skated since then but that's when I would skate from when I got up to when I went to sleep. I used to skateboard on tour quite a lot.

Why the move from Matador to Sub Pop in the US?

We'd blagged all the Pavement records and thought we could do with some Mudhoney!

Can you describe the new album? Are there lyrics?

Only one song has lyrics. It's mostly instrumental and is pretty varied. There are quite a few songs that are relatively fast for us.

What are you listening to at the moment/albums of the year?

I love 'King Knight', the Salem record (see last month's BMW for more info) and the Oneohtrix Point Never album 'Returnal' (cinematic synth retro-ism from Boston). There's been a load of great records released this year. It's been a good year for music.

Photo by Neale Smith http://www.nealesmith.com/

Mogwai are justifiably known for their live shows. What's the best live show you've ever seen?

I saw The Cramps at a festival in Spain soon after we started and it was the best show I've ever seen. They were outrageously good!

I bet you're delighted that all the Britpop bands are reforming.

I like Pulp actually so I'm pretty into that one.

Mogwai always get compared to Slint. What do you think about that?

I think we were one of the first bands to really name-check Slint so I think there is an element of laziness. I can think of worse bands to compared to though to be fair!

What was it like working with Roky Erickson, leader of the seminal 13th Floor Elevators?

It was awesome. He's a lovely guy and one of my all time musical heroes. It was an honour.

Is there a track or an album you're especially pleased with?

I think our second album C.O.D.Y. is our best. I'm proud of a lot of our records but that one stands out for me.

What's in the pipeline for Mogwai and Rock Action in 2011?

Mogwai will be on tour for most of the year and the label will be busy too I'm sure. I'm looking forward to the second Remember Remember (groovy, psychedlic, pastoral Glaswegian post-rock) album getting done.

I seem to remember you being sponsored by adidas. How did that come about?

We've never been actually sponsored by anyone but we have a good friend at adidas who gives us shoes and another friend of ours used to give us Kappa stuff too. I had an awesome Juventus bathrobe!!

Records Of The Year, 2010

2011-05-11T08:21:00.001-07:00

Forest Swords - Dagger Paths (Olde English Spelling Bee)
Sensational psychedlic hip-hop/dubstep/drone, made from processed guitars and bass, fragmented vocal samples, dubbed-out drones and David Lynchian atmospherics. A widescreen vision of an indefinably bleak yet lovely late-night England. This one-man project from the Wirral has constructed one of the finest albums the UK underground has heard for a while- imagine Burial crossed with the Velvet Underground crossed with Aphex Twin crossed with Ennio Morricone and produced by Timbaland and you're getting close.

Various - The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia In 1970s Nigeria (Soundway)
A compilation of some of the most exciting music from one of the world's most exciting places, and its most exciting time. The audible nods to Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and James Brown ensure this collection is going to be appreciated across the board, and not just by the crate-diggers. Afro Rock and spaced-out funk like you've never heard, these tracks from forty-ish years ago are an astonishing hybrid of the psychedelic sounds of San Francisco and London at a time of genuine musical revolution.

Darkstar - North (Hyperdub)
It's easy to love the Hyperdub label but this, Darkstar's debut long player, truly is exceptional. Like a mixture of the synthesized sound of seventies Sheffield or Berlin, the trio have created the perfect accompaniment to the dark skies and rain outside. Blissfully melancholic, this will appeal to fans of the Human League as much as it does to fans of Burial and Radiohead. An instant classic.

Grinderman - Grinderman 2 (Anti)
Nick Cave has been paying more attention to his Grinderman 'side project' than to anything else since its 2007 self-titled debut. Scuzzy and schizophrenic, this album explores the same themes as it's predecessor- love, life, fear, death and sex- and forces you to take the side of the unhinged sociopathic storyteller. Intense, lurching and savage. Like a good film sequel you don't need to know the first part to love this. And you should.

Errors - Come Down With Me (Rock Action)
Gorgeously textured and layered to perfection, these ten mind-bendingly brilliant instrumental tracks from the Glaswegian art-rock four piece make LCD Soundsystem look about as much fun as an album of Jereme Rogers B-sides. This is fizzy, pulsating dance music made from the heart, by humans. A beautiful, soaring, joyous record that will sound as good on headphones at four in the morning as it will booming out of a PA in a sweaty club.

Salem - King Knight (IAMSound Records)
Menacing, narcotic atmospherics laced with other-wordly, disjointed raps. Like a mixture of southern hip-hop and early shoegaze, Salem have released one of the most truly unique albums we've heard all year. Tinny percussion simultaneously holds the music together and pulls it apart, crushed beneath abrasive distortion and over-driven bass.

Quantic presenta Flowering Inferno- Dog With a Rope (Tru Thoughts)
Will 'Quantic' Holland has always had a bit of a gift for blending rhythms and breaks from an enormous range of genres, usually ending up with the kind of soul/funk grooves the average crate-digger could only imagine. Thankfully this latest project is no different, and mixes Columbian musicians with his own innovative beats, creating a South American hip-hop dub-funk masterpiece. Totally unique, and utterly essential.

The Drums- The Drums (Moshi Moshi)
Never mind the hipster hype, The Drums' debut album is genuinely excellent. Although hailing from Brooklyn, the four-piece make jittery post-punk that's so melodic you'd swear they were California born and bred. Reverb-soaked guitars, Jesus and Mary Chain drums and lyrics that could pass for Morrissey's own mean there's a lot to like here- if you can get past the aforementioned hipster stigma. Whether they can follow it up remains to be seen, but this album will secure them a place in a lot of 2010 best-of lists.

Watain- Lawless Darkness (Season of Mist)
Steering closer to the crust-punk and thrash sounds that were always underlying in Watain's previous three albums, 'Lawless Darkness' sees the Swedish black metal band turn out their most immediately-accessible record so far. And access it you should. Don't be confused into thinking black metal is all about painted faces and sheeps heads (only some of it is), this is as melodic as it is malevolent and as dynamic as it is demonic. Watain banish any preconceptions to hell - yet this is a hard-hitting, relentless, complicated, precision-crafted piece of work.

Caribou- Swim (City Slang)
Intended as "dance music that sounds like it's made out of water", Dan Snaith (Caribou) has- probably by accident- created an album that's going to stand tall as a benchmark in electronic music production for years. A distant, melancholic album about loneliness employing elements of minimal techno, space-rock and house? If 'post-electronica' existed, this would be its most important album.

U.S. Girls- Go Grey (Siltbreeze)
Raw, lo-fi tape and vocal manipulation. Warm currents and complex beauty, like a 23rd Century Brian Eno.
Best Coast- Crazy For You (Mexican Summer)
Classic indie-pop with honey-glazed female vocals. Shimmering, melodic and charming.
Flying Lotus- Cosmogramma (Warp)
A synthesized retro sci-fi view of a futurist LA. Fractured hip-hop from another dimension.
Liars- Sisterworld (Mute)
New York art-rock made to charm and confuse.
Lali Puna- Our Inventions (Morr)
Lo-fi electronic pop at it's finest, and in 2010 it has never sounded more relevant.
Big Boi- Sir Lucious Left Foot The Son Of Chico Dusty (Island/Def Jam)
The solo album from the, err, 'other one' in OutKast is quite an achievement. It's not often the boundaries of hip-hop get pushed any further- they're almost about to burst as they are- but 'Sir Lucious...' does exactly that.
Darkthrone- Circle the Wagons (Peaceville Records)
14th album of crust/black metal from Darkthrone, and quite a polished production. Essential for fans, or a great place to start for anybody else.
Four Tet- There Is Love In You (Domino)
Burbling synths, detached vocals, clicks and cuts. Effervescent and exhilarating
Richard Skelton- Landings (Type)
Ambient modern-classical post-rock. Expressive, haunting and beautiful.
Strong Arm Steady- In Search of Stoney Jackson (Now Again)
Heavyweight west-coast hip-hop from modern-day musical mastermind Madlib.
Gnaw Their Tongues- Rend It Each Other Like Wild Beasts (At War With False Noise)
Harsh shrieking noise colliding with detuned symphonic strings and horns, and piano. A bad trip in a John Carpenter movie.
Tricky- Mixed Race (Domino)
Haunting, melancholic and tough. An absolute return to form, this is Tricky at his best. Up there with Maxinquaye.
Deerhunter- Halcyon Digest (4AD)
Mind-boggling, intricate and technical. Exhilirating experimentalism from Boston.
Mount Kimbie- Crooks & Lovers (Hotflush Recordings)
Smart, spooky dance music with pop sensibilities that mixes hip-hop and R&B, drone and dubstep.
Wavves- King of the Beach (Fat Possum)
Major-key party-punk that owes as much to the Beach Boys as it does to 70s and 80s skate-rock.
Aloe Blacc- Good Things (Stones Throw)
Absolutely authentic 1970s-soul sounding record, from LA's answer to Gil Scott-Heron.
Brotha Lynch Hung- Dinner and a Movie (Strange Music)
Concept horrorcore hip-hop. BLH has been in the game for 13 years now, and this is his finest moment. Not for the faint of heart.
How to Swim- Retina (Or More Fun Than a Vat of Love) (Personal Hygiene Records)
Dizzyingly thrilling orchestral indie nine-piece, sounding like the offspring of Pavement and Vampire Weekend

Tommy Guerrero

2011-05-11T06:08:00.000-07:00

As a teenage member of Powell Peralta's legendary Bones Brigade, San Fransico's Tommy Guerrero had a massive part in defining street skating as we know it. In the mid-to-late eighties, Tommy was the Bones Brigade's 'street guy' in an era moving on from vert domination. Along with the likes of Mark Gonzalez and Matt Hensley, Tommy pioneered fast, smooth stylish skateboarding. Just check Powell videos Future Primitive, The Search for Animal Chin, Public Domain and Ban This for proof. While all this was happening, Tommy was playing guitar in Bay Area punk band Free Beer, playing with some of his heroes and featuring on countless Thrasher Skate Rock cassette compilations.
After leaving Powell, TG and his mate Jim Thiebaud started up Real. Tommy still works at DLX, but nowadays spends a lot more time on his music, usually latin-soul-jazz-folk-funk-rock instrumentalism, but occasionally- as in 2000's 'Hoy Yen Ass'n' collaboration with Gadget- wandering towards downbeat hip-hop.
With 12 years worth of essential albums and EPs on labels like Mo' Wax, Galaxia and Quannum under his belt, it seemed like it was about time we had an interview with Tommy to learn a bit more about what he does...

Which came first, the music or the skateboarding?
Skating. Around 1975. Music came around 79-80...

And did one lead to the other?

Yeah. Skating was so inline with the punk ethos at that time. The whole 'fuck you' DIY ethic.

How do you manage to split your time your time between music and Real/DLX?

Well I'm not involved in Real too much these days, I'm the art mis-director for Krooked- I do most of the board and ad layout. I'm a computer monkey really, but I'm going to switch modes here soon. We're talking about a TG online show of some sort- music guests and shit. It could be cool, it could be lame. We'll see. I work at DLX four days a week, make sure my shit is taken care of then off to the studio. I have a six year old son so I have to make sure we get plenty of hang time. Two jobs plus working with Levis Japan, random design work and a fam is exhausting... too fragmented... trying to figure it all out...

Non-stop then? Cool. Who would you say are your musical influences just now?
Everything under the sun.

Are they the same as when you started playing?
Yes. I keep the punk attitude close- never know when your gonna need it!

Did you plan on making so much of your music when you retired your pro board?
No. It just sort of happened. I need to be in motion at all times or trouble comes my way, need to be in a creative mode to stay sane.

You've never really built any connection between your skateboarding and your music. What do you think of people using their position as a professional skateboarder to kick-start a music career?

Great! I just have a hard time with the self promotion. I guess if you tell everyone that you're hot stuff constantly they start to believe it.

I want a large stick that says "TG's great! Buy his music or die!" and I'll run around cracking skulls until they submit their cash to me.

The masses aren't the most self thinking lot. I also want the music to be able to stand on it's own. The whole 'skater-musician' or 'skater-artist' label is a misnomer- you're either an artist or not. Same with music.

You grew up in the thick of a pretty amazing music scene. What do you think's the best show you've seen?
Bad Brains hands down. When they first came to bay area we played with them at Ruthie's Inn. They blew minds and shattered any preconceived notions about Rastas. I seen 'em at the Stone is SF way back, and me and my friends were nearly in tears... So intense.

I just seen 'em a few weeks ago- I almost cried again!! (laughs) ...old seashell collector.

Is it a coincidence that so many of your old Bones Brigade team-mates were musical? Have you ever thought of recording together?
Skaters are creative. And tenacious. Me and Ray (Barbee) have a band called BLKtop Project with Chuck Treece and Matt Rodriguez. I also play with Matt and Ray occasionally. Me and Stevie made a flexi-disc for Thrasher about 100 years ago too. Funny tune...

Do you record at home?
Yeah. Also at my friend Monte Vallier's studio, Ruminator Audio. He's recorded and mixed many of my projects

What kind of set up do you normally use?
Pro Tools, and a four track at times. Outboard mic pre-amp and just a bunch of instruments.

What do you find is the best environment for writing music? A lot of people have said it's on tour...
I don't really write. I just go. So much is written in the studio, I don't have the time or luxury to make demos- what you hear is what you get. I think the road has the ability to free up the mind from the daily bullshit. It cleanses. I wish i was on it now...

You've worked with a lot of people in the past- do you have any plans for further collaborations?
Perhaps with DJ Krush from Japan. I have some others in mind but we'll see - everyone's so damn busy! The hustle is on twentyfour-seven!

Can you recommend some albums to the Sidewalk readers?

Too many. Here's a few...

Bad Brains - I Against I

john Coltrane - Ole

Bill Withers - Just as I Am/Still Bill

Anything by Joy Division

The Cure - Head on the Door

Grant Green - Ain't it Funky Now 1-2

Squeeze - Singles

Rush - Moving Pictures

Talking Heads - Remain in Light

Nice one. Finally, do you see any current skateboard companies doing the kind of thing Powell Peralta achieved?

Not even close...

James Lavelle

2011-05-11T06:01:00.001-07:00

Since forming the 'genre-defining' Mo’ Wax record label in 1992, James Lavelle has since introduced the world to DJ Shadow, DJ Krush and Money Mark, released records by OG Bones Brigader Tommy Guerrero and collaborated with Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, Josh Homme, Mike D, Kool G. Rap and Ian Brown. With his band UNKLE he has written the music for the second Relentless ‘Lives of the Artists’ full-length documentary, which will be available for free right about now.

We took James to one side for a quiet word.

So how did you become involved with the Relentless ‘Lives of the Artists’ project?

I’d worked with Ross the director, many years ago, in the early days of Mo’ Wax. I hadn’t seen him for about 15 years when he approached me about wanting to do the documentary. He showed me the first film that they’d done and I was really into the whole concept behind it, and the stuff they’d been doing with relentless, and the potential for help with what we’re doing as a band.

You’ve had your music appear in a number of films before, but other than the ‘Exit Music for a Film’ album you’ve never really done a proper score. Was this something you’d always been keen to do?

We’ve had stuff in various films, and ‘Exit Music for a Film’ was really just work that we’d done over that period that hadn’t seen the light of day- from working on various multi-media stuff, from film, TV, computer games, stuff like that. We wanted to get the music out because a lot of the time nowadays music doesn’t get released in the soundtrack format. It’s great to score this. I like the way they’ve done it- it’s taking place in such extreme places and it’s so beautifully shot, it’s great to be able to put some music to it. Even though it’s strange being in it... It’s amazing looking at the shots of Jeremy and Xavier, and kind of going “Why am I in it?”.

Have you been able to put forward musical ideas that you previously wouldn’t have been able to use in your own material?

Working on film gives you a different template to work with, it’s a very direct emotion. When you’re writing a song you’re reflecting on whatever subject matter it is. You’re just putting it out there. Whereas with a film it’s like “Ok, that bit’s scary, does it need scary music or do I juxtapose it?”. In that sense it makes the process a lot easier at times.

So how did you go about scoring it? Did you see the finished film before you began putting music to it or what?

We started with a rough cut, and had discussions about ideas. Ross had quite a specific feel that he wanted to get across, so you start referencing those and building ideas from that. With this film, there are three characters, three different identities throughout the film that you’re trying to address, and give a direction to.

Where do you do most of your writing? On the road or in the studio?

I find that lyrics tend to come when you’re away, just randomly, and then writing is mostly done in the studio.

So how did it work on this tour, knowing that you’d be writing the score to whatever happened when the camera got pointed at you?

I really just didn’t think about it very much, and most of the time when the filming was done it was fucking absolute chaos. We had a nightmare in Russian, Japan was cool because it was just DJing and running around, and it was the initial meeting. It was quite adrenalin-led, because you’re in Japan and just want to stay up 24 hours-a-day because there’s so much you want to do. I hadn’t struck me until I watched the rough cut. It was like “I’ve agreed to do this, and now I’m scoring myself...” I find it hard to look at myself on camera, but all of us involved were quite happy to throw ourselves in the deep end and not really think about what we’re doing. It tends to be quite like that with me and Pav and Aidan within the band.

Going back to the beginnings of what you’ve done, it’s fair to say Mo’ Wax was a pretty important label. A lot of people reading this will have heard Mo’ Wax stuff in skate videos. The music was always excellent, as was the artwork and packaging. What was your intention when you started the label?

There wasn’t really much thought. I just wanted to put records out, DJ, put my mates’ records out and have a platform to be heard. Beyond that it just... happened.

What went wrong in the end?

We worked with Universal, then worked with Beggar’s Banquet, and the dynamic just changed. The landscape of the record industry changed, and the landscape of the people involved with the label changed. The best analogy for me is that it’s like a band that’s split up. It just didn’t really work anymore.

Can you imagine a label like that happening again nowadays?

I don’t know. There’s a side of me that’d like to say yes, because there’s still great music out there, but the industry’s so different, the life-expectancy of records is so different and the desire to invest in packaging and identity is so different. It could never really be the same again because it was also a period of time, in the same way that a band like Led Zeppelin could never happen again, a band like the Beatles will never happen again, The Clash, the Sex Pistols - any defining moment in musical history can’t be repeated. That’s not to say that something similar can’t happen. It’s evolution. I don’t think there’s a label around just now, but that’s not to say it won’t happen. Things are always about reaction- everyone’s always got a million ideas and concepts, but in the record indusrty I don’t think anyone’s really got a clue about how people are going to change, and what formats there will be. I’m a great believer in the end that people do want something to hold and feel, and feel that they’ve invested in. I think music has to come back to that place to a degree, and maybe a label that could do that would be great. I was 18 when I started Mo’ Wax, and it was something that a particular generation could understand. There’s a lot more clued-up 18 year olds around now than there was when I was doing it.

Do you think it’s more diluted now?

Everything’s disposable now, the internet’s changed everything. Everybody has the information, kids are more savvy on every level possible than when we were kids. I’m 36, and when I was a kid it was definitely a much smaller group sharing ideas. But it seems like it’s saturated now, and there’s not much time to develop anything. That’s the big problem, I think.

With UNKLE, you’ve worked with a lot of massively well respected musicians. How do these collaborations come about?

It really just comes in a lot of weird ways. From the first record, everybody was beginning to come together and people were beginning to interact socially because a youth movement was happening. So Thom (Yorke), Richard (Ashcroft),(DJ) Shadow and myself were all at a similar place in our lives. At that time walls were breaking down, whether it was working with Alexander McQueen or working with Thom, everyone just kind of met. You just kind of meet people through these scenarios, it can be from going to a gig, or a band is a friend of a friend. Very occassionally you’ll put it out there and get in conatct with people. Sometimes that’ll result in something, sometimes it won’t.

So what’s in the future for UNKLE?

I’m working on a big exhibition just now, trying to keep this record going- promoting the record- doing new videos, a new single coming up, touring and then working on another album. A lot going on!

Gentlemans Pistols

2011-05-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

Gentlemans Pistols (no apostrophe) might be known to you through their regular appearances at UK skate events, or they might be known to you through the praising reviews they'd had in the international music press. They might not be known to you at all. Either way, they're a brilliant band doing a kind of music that not very many others can get right. Late 60s/early 70s smoky heaviness without sounding retro, glam rock grooves without sounding pop, and a punk attitude without being a cliche; Gentlemans Pistols are as heavy as a bag of rocks and more fun than a party on a bouncy castle next to a free bar with all your best mates. Imagine the best bits of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple exploding in a massive pile-up on the highway to hell and you're getting close...
Formed by James Atkinson in 2003- after his time playing guitar UK hardcore band Vorhees- and with A Third Foot shralper Doug McLaughlan on bass, Gentlemans Pistols have evolved to include former Send More Paramedics drummer Stuart Dobbins and grindcore pioneer Bill Steer. That's the same Bill Steer who co-founded the legendary Carcass and even played with the ground-breaking Napalm Death.
Following some extensive touring, the debut Gentlemans Pistols 7" 'Just a Fraction' appeared -on the Art Goes Pop label- in 2006, followed by the 'Lady' 7" on the mighty Rise Above Records. The band's self titled debut album was also released by Rise Above, in August 2007, and as we approach the release of new album 'At Her Majesty's Pleasure', we were able to bribe frontman James into telling us a bit about what's been going on.

In the last issue we asked a load of people what their favourite album of all time is. Let's start with that.
It's difficult to pin down an all time favourite album as there are different ones for different moods, but I'd definitely say that the one I go back to the most is 'Curtis' by Curtis Mayfield

That's a great record. Although not exactly what I expected from you. I expected Blue Cheer or something heavy and psychedlic. Are there any albums that you think are reflected in the music write? Does hearing certain music changes the way you approach writing?

Don't get me wrong, I love the first two Blue Cheer records, and bits of some of the later ones, but 'Curtis' is just a record I liked since I was young, and I can keep going back to it. If I was to pick something heavier, I would almost certainly say that the first Sir Lord Baltimore record ('Kingdom Come', the New York heavy metal band's album from 1970), or any of the Sweet's LPs would be up there. As for records changing the way you approach writing - yeah, it has to. When we first started we definitely tried to keep our influences within the classic 70s rock years and were listening to loads of glam records and heavy blues stuff and I think that can be heard in the first LP.

There are a handful amazing/authentic 70s-sounding heavy rock bands around just now, including your labelmates Withcraft and Electric Wizard. How did you get hooked up with Rise Above? It seems like the perfect label for you.

Back in 2005 we had a demo out and I handed it around a few of my friends, including a mate of ours who knew Lee (Dorrian, formerly of Cathedral and Napalm Death) and Will from the label. I had asked him if he could pass it on to them and instead he got us onto a gig with (legendary 70s hard rock/stoner band) Leaf Hound at the Borderline in London which he knew they were going to be at. They saw us and asked if we'd do a 7" with them, which we agreed to, and then a few months later, we talked about doing an LP.

It's quite a specific sound you have. Do you scour ebay for vintage equipment? I'm guessing you must be quite fussy about the gear you use.

We try not to get too fussy about the whole equipment thing. Some people can go crazy with it. As far as the amps we use, it's all old Marshall stuff, but if we have to play a gig using someone else's stuff it's no big deal.

Bill Steer, formerly of Firebird and Carcass, plays guitar in the band now. How did he get involved?
About a year ago, Chris (Rogers) left the band to start a family. We had previously done a tour with Firebird and were just about to go out and do some Irish tour dates with them and we had become pretty good friends with them. I called Bill knowing that he was busy touring and was unsure if he would have the time, or even want to do it. Luckily for us he agreed to join and we continued gigging almost straight away.

It must be pretty cool having somebody you've looked up to for so long playing your songs.

It was totally amazing for me that Bill wanted to play with us. Bill is a really cool guy and an amazing guitar player. He brings so much to the new material and we are really happy that he's in the band.

A lot of people reading this will know of Doug, your bass player. You've played a few skateboard-related events too. That must be pretty good fun, especially as you're not exactly the public's idea of what skateboarders listen to. A lot of people will be hearing your music that wouldn't normally think to seek it out.

The skateboard park gigs are always pretty funny and pretty hectic. Everyone seems to go crazy for it when we play at them. It's good for us if we can get across to a different audience when we play and the world of skateboarding has a lot people who seem to like what we do when we play at these events. Doug is awesome - watching him skate is amazing, and when we do these events he is always skating his arse off before and after we play.

Do you ever worry he's going to break his wrist or something just before a show?

All the time. He's pretty limber though, and seems to slink out of those slams like a cat.

Gentlemans Pistols have played live a lot over the last seven years. Do you have a favourite place to go?

We've definitely had a lot of cool gigs. As far as favourite places, there are a few... Liverpool has always been a favourite, definitely some great people there. Belfast and Dublin were amazing. London has always been good to us too. Leeds has it's moments.

Do you have authentic 70s rock tours, or do you all tend to turn in for an early night with a cup of cocoa?
We do the authentic 'driving round in the back of a van and sleeping on people's floors' tour. We tend to have a drink or two whilst we are away and by the end of the night we will wind down with a few White Russians.

Any disasterous gigs?

We've been pretty lucky with live experiences, we played at a festival in Gloucestershire and it rained all day until we played and the sun stayed out for the duration of our set, only to start raining again as soon as we had finished. We had a gig in a little town in Italy in a small seated theatre which seemed to be filled with everyday random people from this town, and I had lost my voice and was struggling to even speak. It was pretty wierd going out on stage in front of this small seated audience of normal Italian townsfolk, but the fact that I couldn't hardly sing and we had to do two 45 minutes sets made matters even worse. Somehow we stumbled through it and received polite applause all the way through. Afterwards we thought that we had really done a bad job, but in true Gentlemans Pistols style, everything turned up roses, as everyone bought loads of our merchandise and helped load the gear out afterwards. The next day our host was showing me around the town and introducing me to people who had been at the gig, like the man from the butchers shop and the guy who owned the pizzeria, it was quite a strange event.

Is there any music you'd like to recommend to people who dig what you do?

As far as old stuff goes, definitely bands like The Sweet, Atomic Rooster, Sir Lord Baltimore and Wishbone Ash. There are so many amazing old records out there but I'd say they are a good place to start.

Do you all have day-jobs and stuff? Is it hard finding time to write, practice, record and tour?

It can be pretty difficult. We all work outside of the band in some capacity. As far as writing, practicing and recording - that's not a problem as I have my own studio. Touring is another matter altogther. We are currently in the process of putting the finishing touches to our new LP and as soon as that is out we will be out touring the record.

Can you desrcibe the new record? Has it turned out the way you planned it? Did you even plan it?

The new LP is called 'At Her Majesty's Pleasure' and it will be released on Rise Above records later this year. There was no real planning except for that we wanted to do a new LP. As for the sound, we are really happy with it and have taken a little more time over this one than our first. It's definitely a step forward for us and the songs are more developed that the first LP. We're really excited about getting it out there.

For the people who don't live near those places, where can your single be got?

You can get it from www.gentlemanspistols.bigcartel.com or from us at a gig.

What's that you're listening to?

2011-05-11T04:46:00.000-07:00

Ben Leyden

Recently I've been listening to a lot of Elliott Smith, the 'XO' album. I'm sure it came out in 2005, it's really mellow but there's some lively tracks on it too. I went to Glasgow last week to see Wolf Parade play. Their new album comes out at the end of this month- from what I've heard it sounds promising but nothing seems to beat their first album, 'Apologies to Queen Mary'. I've also been listening to a lot of Stereolab, Mountain Goats and Neutral Milk Hotel. People should definitely check 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' by them.

Josh 'Manhead' Young

My favourite album of all time is 'Just a Fraction' by Gentlemans Pistols. I pretty much love this album because of the people involved with it and just how rad the music is. No matter how many times I listen to a track off this album it never gets old. Also at live gigs they never fail to entertain, no matter who's attending, they'll all be nodding heads. I first heard of the album and band at an event at the Works skatepark when they put on a small gig for the night. I already knew the bassist (Doug Mcglaughlan) through skating and meeting the rest of the band was cool because they're all comical and rad dudes.

Mike Wright

Basically when it comes to listening to music I like most types from new pop to classical music, classic rock, techno, rap and prog rock... But my tip to skaters- seeing as though this is a skate mag- is to check out and listen to the works of Frank Zappa. He was so far ahead of his time and in my opinion came up with most of what we're hearing today. Even the titles were amazing. 'Who are the Brain Police', 'Heavenly Bank Account' and 'Camarillo Brillo' are a few of my favourites. He was extremely inventive musically, verbally, and in person. Definitely worth checking out in my opinion.
This user http://www.youtube.com/user/reldditmot has a bunch of live recordings, interviews and anything else you could wish for. Also check out the Zappa website at www.zappa.com

Ben Grove

At the moment, my favourite album is Paul Weller's new one 'Wake Up The Nation', it rules! I don't think I could name an all-time favourite. It's hard to say, but stuff by The Stone Roses, Joy Division, Ian Brown, Oasis, The Jam, The Beatles and The Verve- to name a few- are all up there. Oasis was the first gig I went to, at Maine Road in 1995.

Ron Calow

My favourite album of all time is 'De La Soul is Dead'. I got into it in the summer of '91 when I was watching the vert skaters at St Neots, Cambridgshire. They had a boom box and were playing it super loud. I wasn't skating then but when I got back to Darlington I got this album on tape and got a skateboard. The rest is history as they say... I was stoked that Mike Carroll used one of the tracks from it in his Goldfish part, 'Oodles of O's' a few years later. I still listen to this today, however thankfully not on tape.

Nick Zorlac

'Forever Changes', by Love, is my favourite album of all time. The first time I heard it I was having a mellow one at this squat in South London when I had first left home in 1990. Good times. I didn't like or dislike the record to begin with. But she kept playing it, and after I heard it a few times I started to get my head round it. Its complex- there is so much to it- it took me a while to see the light. Or is it the dark?
I hadn't heard anything like it before, I had to adjust. But once I did I was haunted and hooked.
This album flows over you, upbeat and beautiful but with dark and paranoid undercurrents.
I still listen to this, two decades after I first heard it. To me it is timeless.
Seeing Love play is also one of the best gigs I have been to - the music, the atmosphere, everything. I was lucky to see it because Arthur Lee passed away soon after. RIP.

Photo by Styley

Tom Shimmin

Ok, my favourite album ever would be 'Calypso', by Harry Belafonte. I've loved Harry Belafonte since I heard that song 'Day-O' in Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice is my favourite film of all time, I fucking love Winona. I bought that album as soon as I saw the film. It's the best kind of dance music. That song 'Shake, Shake, Senora', it's just perfect music man. I want to give a shout to Fingers, and say that Mrs. and Mrs. and Mr. kirsten dunst will never die.

Danny Garcia

2011-05-11T04:18:00.000-07:00

Danny Garcia, one of the all-time most-stylish technical skateboarders of all time has been putting out jaw droppingly rad sections since skating for Kareem Campbell's legendary City Stars back in 1995. Currently pro for Habitat, eS and Royal, Danny is also massively passionate about music, whether listening or playing. He was nice enough to shoot the shit about what he digs, before heading off on the European eS tour.

Ok, standard question - what were you into first? Skateboarding or music?

Music. I didnt skate 'til I was fifteen so I think music was first. I played piano and violin in grade school.

Is it just guitar you play now? Or do you still play piano at all?
I play a handful of instruments. Usually when I record at home I will run through the basic instruments. Guitar, piano or organ, bass, drums, percussion, etc.

Do you record stuff at home? What about the tracks you had on (Habitat video) 'Continental Caravan' ? That was really cool. How did that come about?
I record at home a bunch and my friend has a studio close to me that I have used a couple of times. I have some cheap home recording equipment at home that I use. Sometimes I'll do some instrumental stuff and pass it off to (Habitat film-maker) Joe Castrucci.

So who would you say influences you when you're writing? I expect it must be quite a few people.

Yeah. I go through my phases, but it's usually American music from the past. Lou Reed, Dylan...I have got really into the Phil Spector groups recently, and I have been listening to country guys like Merle Haggard and Townes Van Zandt. Townes a lot.

Do you remember when you first started being aware of, and buying, music?

My Dad played saxophone. I would always want him to play I think i just liked to hear a real instrument. I'm trying to think back... I would have to say that MTV had something to do with my exposure to music. I would always watch MTV. As bad as that could of been for me...

So what was the first artist you got really into?

I'm trying to think... Lets see... I was really into whatever was on the radio or TV, so it changed constantly, like Nirvana and Snoop Dogg within a week. The first tape I bought was Bad Religon. I do remember that. Skate videos influenced my musical tastes. Thats when I started to really get into music.

Does anything stand out from then?A lot of hip-hop stuff. Things that stood out were like...that Cream song Jeremy Wray used... Almost every song in Penal Code, that FTC video. Penal Code was like the perfect mixtape. That soundtrack is perfect. The Plan B videos too.

Hierolglyphics owed Mike Ternasky a lot...Yeah. That's when I got turned on to them.

You skated to The Chocolate Watchband in 'Mosaic'. It fitted really well. Do you have a say in your section music?I have a say but I didnt pick that song, but when Joe showed it to me I agreed with the song. I really wouldnt trust myself with picking the music for my parts.

Why not? You picked the tricks.
I think I listen to music for different reasons. I dont think like someone who is editing a video.

Do you get to see many shows? Either at home or on tour?
Not lately. I used to really make an effort but its been a while. Its wierd. I usually dont have the best time at shows. I'm not totally sure why. Sometimes the people around you can affect a show, and the sound. Sometimes I can get uncomfortable at a live show I guess. But don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good show.

Do you play your own stuff live at all?

No, not really. I don't have the desire to. That may change, but I'm into recording right now. Someday I probably will want to perform, when the well is dry. It feels like it's coming, I'm sore right now and I havent skated in a few days.

I guess you use your downtime to write music?

Yeah. Guitar on tour is for downtime really. Sitting in the hotel or something, it keeps me from getting anxious.

Can you give us a list of songs that you're digging just now, maybe stuff that could act as a starting point for anybody wanting to investigate?
Sure...
Townes Van Zandt "Waitin' Around To Die"

Captian Beefheart & His Magic Band "Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I do"

The Gonks "Woman Yeah"

Merle Haggard "Mama Tried"

West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band "If You Want This Love"

Charles Manson "Cease To Exist"

Lucio Battisti "Dio Mio No"

Tom Waits "Hoist That Rag"

Chuck Berry "Havanna Moon"

Caetano Veloso "Lost In Paradise"

The Ronnettes "I Can Hear Music"

The Band "When I Paint My Masterpiece"

So let's have a look at some of these...

Townes Van Zandt 'Waitin' Around To Die'
Hard-drinkin', gun-slingin', drug-addict, depressive, country/folk musician from Texas. Van Zandt never found success with his music, and spent most of his life touring bars until his death in 1997 at the age of 52, just days before he was due to start recording an album for Sonic Youth's Ecstatic Peace label. Check the 1975 documentary 'Heartworn Highways' for a lesson in how to drink straight whiskey.

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band 'Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do'

A track from 'Safe as Milk", the debut album from everybody's favourite 1960s psychedlic surrealist. Captain Beefheart influenced everybody from Tom Waits and The Beatles to The Minutemen and the Sex Pistols. Simpsons creator Matt Groening declared Beefheart's 1969 LP 'Trout Mask Replica' "the greatest album ever made", so the least you can do is find yourself a copy and make up your own mind.

The Gonks 'Woman Yeah'
The B-side of The Gonks 1967 'Nobody But Me' single. The Gonks were a South African garage/R&B (in the true sense, look it up) band who released a string of amazing records between 1965 and 1974, but never achieved chart success or critical acclaim. Not to be confused with a current Belgian garage band of the same name...

Merle Haggard 'Mama Tried'
Hard-livin' Haggard recorded this track in 1968, during a rare spell out of jail, as an apolgy to his mother, who had no luck whatsoever keeping Merle on the straight and narrow. Featured to great effect in Big Brother magazine's 'Number Two' video, the song went straight to number one on its release and is a fine example of how punk rock country music once was.

Charles Manson 'Cease To Exist'
Murderous cult-leading lunatic Charlie Manson certainly knew how to write a tune or two. 'Cease To Exist' was even covered by his mates the Beach Boys, albeit with different lyrics and a name change. It's safe to say that if he spent more time writing music, and less time trying to convince people that the Beatles had predicted an apocalyptic race war he might well have been better known for his songs, and not locked up in jail with a swastika tattooed on his forehead.

Caetano Veloso 'Lost In The Paradise'

Chances are, few of you will have heard of Brazilian composer/singer/guitarist/writer/political activist Caetano Veloso, and and even less of you will be familiar with all of his 47 albums, but rest assured that his forthcoming collaboration with Lil Wayne and P-Diddy will be nothing if not interesting. For now, the best place to begin would be Veloso's autobiography, 'Tropical Truth: A Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil'.

The Ronettes 'I Can Hear Music'
1960s girl-group pop at its absolute finest. Written by Phil Spector and previously recorded by the Beach Boys, 'I Can Hear Music' is a perfect example of the work of one of the few people in music who can legitimately be called a genius. Even if he also happened to be a mad-haired, gun-toting murderer.