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Dangerous Dave interviews Jay Reatard!
09/06/2008
 Dangerous Dave interviews Jay Reatard!
tags: | jay reatard | blood visions | stephen pope | billy hayes | silver dollar | memphis | more...

Cassius discuss their Nike+ workout project!
Cassius discuss their Nike+ workout project!
02/06/2008
Following in the footsteps of Crystal Method, Aesop Rock, and LCD Soundsystem, French house/electronica duo Cassius have recorded the latest Nike+ Original Sport Music track. In collaboration with the sporting brand, Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass took on the challenge of recording a 45-minute continuous downloadable track with the specific goal for people to workout to. Zdar and Boom Bass, real-names Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard, are two of the most highly respected producers to come out of the French electronic scene. Collaborations with Wu-Tang Clan, Leroy Burgess, Jocelyn Brown and Ghostface Killah, as well as production for hip hop artist MC Solaar and electo-pop/dance trio Cut Copy, are just a few examples of the pair’s credentials. The Cassius duo are also renowned as perfectionists of their art, their attention to detail highlighted in the fact that single tracks alone have taken them years to finalise. These are just a few reasons why, when discussing the Nike+ 'CASSIUSPLAY' track with the duo, Boom Bass is quick to point out that Nike approached them as first option for the project . The limited time given to record CASSIUSPLAY, and the structure of a seven-minute warm-up period, a thirty-minute workout, and a seven-minute cool down, created quite a challenge for the band. Furthermore, both Zdar and Boom Bass set themselves the added objective of recording a piece that wouldn’t just appeal to runners, but their long-established fanbase too. “It was challenging because it was new to us,” commented Zdar. “We had the guide that it was for runners, and so you need a ten minute slow-track at the start and a ten minute slow-track at the end. But the biggest challenge for us was to do it not just for runners, but also for Cassius fans that prefer to their running on the dancefloor.” Whereas previous exponents of the Nike+ series have recorded the track as a single-entity, Cassius decided to combine a number of individual tracks and meld them together to create the flow necessary for a continuous workout. “We had a lot of tracks and a lot of ideas,” explains Boom Bass, “we didn’t want to do just one track. So we tried a lot of things, put a lot of things together, and ran to them to see how they worked.” Of course, that’s all very well and good, but what are the components necessary for a project as specific as a workout track? “In fact, that’s what we asked ourselves,” laughs Zdar. “We realised by asking friends and by checking what each of us listen to whilst working out. When I was running I was running with a walkman, listening to The Clash, and then I’d have forty-five minutes of mainly disco, disc-funk, and Italo-disco. We realised that you can run to anything.” Boom Bass is quick to agree. “There are no rules,” he adds with a smile. Trying out the warm-up section, the workout section, and the cool down period firsthand, was an essential element of perfecting the track. “At the start we said let’s do everything really fast,” recalls Zdar. “And then we tried it and said ‘Oh, it’s too purposey [sic]’, so we turned-down some beats and took-out some kicks. “Then we made a little beat with some reggae, tried it, and it worked. It didn’t take me off the running, so I knew it was going to work. Some people might say ‘I can’t work with this because it’s changing too much.’ Whatever, I don’t know. But with me, if I’m running I like the music to change every few minutes.” This approach will come as no surprise to those familiar with Cassius’ sound. The pair have dabbled in a range of genres; blending rock and blues with their synonymous house and electro sound is just one example of their limitless scope. As a result, the final 45-minute-track offers a diverse blend of influences. The opening seven-minute warm-up, the reggae section that Zdar refers to, was a particular highlight of the recording process. “The first song we knew would be perfect, the one with the reggae,” Zdar beams. “We had it finished maybe two months before Nike called us and we knew: ‘This one’s going to be perfect for the starting warm-up!’” Despite having the opening section already at their disposal, Zdar points out that it still presented a problem in context with their goal. “The problem was that it was twenty-five minutes and we knew we’d have to make it nine; otherwise it’s building very slow and then going nowhere.” Something far from ideal when the warm-up period’s over and you’re waiting for a 30-minute intense workout to kick-in. As for the ten-minute cool down period, this was another section that Zdar instantly fell for whilst experimenting with their objective. “I remember I was walking to the beat - ‘dmm, dmm, dmm’ - after listening to it; and I said ‘this is just too perfect for the last track!’ You can just cool down to it; get home, sit down and say ‘Ah, I just ran like a man!’” Zdar and Boom Bass, who both contribute vocals alongside French artiste Gladys, also decided to include the theme of running in their lyrics, an approach in stark contrast to bands that have collaborated with Nike+ in the past. Gladys is no stranger to the Cassius set-up; as well as being Boom Bass’ wife, she has collaborated with the duo on a number of occasions and, according to the pair, will soon be a long-term addition to the band. “She’s been singing with us for some time and now she’s really part of Cassius,” Zdar explains. “She has two sections of the track where she sings; I have one and he [Boom Bass] has one. We’re a team with Gladys; we write fantastic melodies, we write lyrics… I think the next album will be very good because there’s going to be the three of us as a vocal group.” CASSIUSPLAY is available for download via i-Tunes. For further information visit the Nike+ website: www.nikeplus.com
tags: | cassius | philippe zdar | boom bass | cassiusplay | nike | nike+ | philippe cerboneschi | more...
Andy Cato talks Café Mambo 2008!
Andy Cato talks Café Mambo 2008!
28/05/2008
Andy Cato, perhaps better known as one half of Groove Armada, couldn’t be a better choice to take charge of Café Mambo 2008, the first in the illustrious series without resident Pete Gooding at the helm. The two-disc CD boasts such names as LCD Soundsystem, Finley Quaye, J.J Cale, Band of Flys, Weekend Players, The Brian Jonestown Massacre (it’s true), Groove Armada and, of course, Andy Cato. Here Andy gives us a personal perspective of his choices of eclectic and Balearic beats inspired by the sunsets of and culture of Ibiza. What does it feel like to be doing a solo project? Pretty natural. Whilst Tom and I sometimes team up on the turntables, a lot of DJing is done solo. Why did you decide to move to Barcelona? Do you miss anything about England? Mountains, sea, weather, food, those small cold beers, a social way of life. I miss mates, family, and sitting inside when it's raining with a cup of tea. What was life like before you formed Groove Armada? I can't really remember. In the last ten years, we've played live to more than 6 million people around the world, put together 8 albums of different types, DJ'd in most clubs you can think of and checked out every after party we could find. I've lived on boats and in 3 different countries and worked in studios all over the world. So what happened before all that is a bit of a blur. I lived in Brixton, and things were going pretty well with another band until the van got stolen with all the gear in it. What’s you relationship with the magical island of Ibiza? Explain a little about what it means to you. As of this year, I've been going there for 20 years. The first time I went there, it was only because it was the cheapest holiday I could find. It was an18-30 thing, though I'm not sure how that worked as I was 15 at the time. I spent my time in the West End of San An. It was a time when lads went out in crisp shirts and I remember a girl getting her iron back from some boys across the way and shouting down the hotel corridor " the f`***ers pissed in me iron ". Since then, it's got better. It's become a second home, with friends all over the island. There's nowhere else I've found that has so much variety of life and beautiful things in a such a small space. It's a special place too - as people have latched onto [it] since the dawn of time. Did you know, for example, that the soil on ibiza can't support any plant or animal which is dangerous to mankind? Things are going on over there... We know its paradise in Ibiza, so tell me what your average day in paradise is… what’s your Ibiza routine? Depends on the night before. If it's daylight when I get to bed, then the routine is a few hours sleep during the really hot bit, before heading off to somewhere like Es Torrent for the afternoon. A cold beer or two, fresh fish, some Rosé, and bit of hierbas always gets things back on track. Then across to Mambo to DJ or listen to [music] and watch the sunset. After that and a brush up, it's off into Ibiza port to see mates at The Rock or Match bar. I'll probably pop in on Duji's bar too - a tiny treasure in the backstreets. After that, it's off into the night. This usually involves a club or two, a lot of dirt tracks followed by a villa party, and a bit of walking about in the morning sun trying to get home. Ibiza is a crazy place if you want it to be – can you give me an experience you have had that you would not be able to have had anywhere else? Where else can a typical night involve eating a barbeque cooked up by a local fisherman, seeing one of the world's finest sunsets, DJing at one of the world's best clubs, and ending up dancing in a villa with Kylie and Sienna? You’re used to playing at stadiums across the worlds, does that mean that small parties are very rare for you now? They are, although whenever possible, we'll do free parties, boat parties or beach parties to keep that side of things alive. How did you get involved with Mambo? I don't remember how I met Xavier (the boss) and his sons. Probably going down there with my mate Simeon and Djing for Pete Tong's radio one broadcasts. Anyway, they're family now and their spirit is what makes the place special. Why are you so fascinated by chillout music? I'm not. Most of my DJing happens at 3 in the morning on the worlds biggest dancefloors. What I love is the power music has to transform an experience - to make it really special. This applies to sunsets or peaktime dancefloors. What’s it like to play sunset at Mambo? Imagine being with your best mates, playing your favourite tunes, with a cold beer and one of the world's finest views. The term Balearic gets banded about everywhere these days, but what does Balearic music mean to you? When I go out to DJ in Ibiza, the record box will have a massive anthem alongside Chris Rea, or an up to the minute Beatport obscurity alongside dubs of Findlay Quaye. House tunes spanning twenty years. That's what it means to me. What was your plan with the Mambo compilation, how did you put it together and what tracks are the highlights? I wanted to capture the magic of the place - that last hour when the sun falls into the sea, and the first hour after, when the night begins. That's why I needed two CDs. The sunset hour features that Balearic blend that takes in JJ Cale and Coldcut, LCD or Jose Gonzalez, alongside classics that a lot of people might not have heard - Morgan King for example. Getting these things to flow takes work, and it's something that I've had a lot of practice at in the Mambo hotseat. CD2 is that kind of locked in groove which lets you move through the decades, the ups and the downs without losing that hypnotising house music core. I could keep this going all night long. Do any of the tracks included in your mix trigger any particular Ibizan memories for you? Were you there at the beginning? Well I was there in '88, which is nearer the beginning than most. Tunes like Last Rhythm take me back to big moments on the old Terrace with the plane so close to your head you could touch the wheels. Can you see yourself spending a lot of time in Ibiza when you are old and grey? I can't ever imagine not spending time there. There's nowhere better to be old and grey. Are there any up and coming acts or DJ’s you can give us a heads up on? Well, joining us at our Fridays in the new Lovebox room at Eden are the like of Brodinski & Yuksek , Herve, 8 Bit Boy, Mok and Toof, Rub and Tug, Horsemeat Disco... Words: Toni Tambourine Check out the album here: http://clients.ihouseu.com/defected/mambo/
tags: | andy cato | cafe mambo 2008 | groove armada | lcd soundsystem | fiinley quaye | j.j cale | more...
When Dangerous Dave met The Black Lips
When Dangerous Dave met The Black Lips
08/05/2008
Alas, the pen is a dangerous tool; a tool with great ability - and not just if jabbed into the retina with such force that pus spews forth, like liquid from the tested needle of a junky. No, the pen has the ability to produce information for us to see and learn, albeit without an ink-stamped Guarantee. Ah, how one takes the pen’s work as a given, eyes scanning data like a puppy-dog drooling beneath a dinner table - ever eager to sink it’s teeth into yet another juicy scrap of meat. Mmm... Many stories have been written about self-professed ‘Flower Punk’ (“we came up with that to stop the media trying to label us”) Atlanta four-piece The Black Lips, and yes, a lot of it is probably true. The pissing on stage, the vomiting, the nudity and male on male bonding RE: a tongue jammed down the throat, cannot be disputed. Nor their mad-cap live album Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo shot in location in Tijuana, Mexico, where money buys momentary peace from the authorities, drug wars are rife and pimps, prostitutes and thieves walk the streets and seedy back-alleys like wolves on a midnight prowl. Ah, the pen can reveal such exciting truths; but it can also distort the subconscious of the reader. Sometimes one has to dig deeper, like a dog with a bone, to reveal the changing of the guard or the facts behind the facts. In this interview The Black Lips reveal that how they're perceived may be true, but there's far more to them than mere debauchery. They're a band with the same energy live on stage that they showed when pissing in each others mouths, and they still evidently have fond memories of the hedonistic Tijuana but… well, they've matured somewhat. The Black Lips history, their struggle to get signed to a major label and the hard rigours that led to its eventuality, have given them a deeper respect for their music - all too apparent on their last album Good Bad Not Evil. A modern masterpiece; no doubt. Alas, this isn’t merely an interview with bass-guitarist Jared Swilley and drummer Joe Bradley, it’s a morality tale in the vein of: “If at first you don’t succeed, keep fucking trying”… PN: Okay lads, we’ll start with the new single, Bad Kids; I heard through the grapevine that it was inspired by your time in detention centres. Any truth to this or was it inspired by something else? Jared: I think just for getting in trouble as kids - just crap, a lot of vandalism. I mean, I actually had to go to a detention centre but it’s not actually about being in a detention centre. We all hung out together in school and destroyed a lot of things; got drunk a lot. We did pretty good… Well, I guess I didn’t do so good in the end because I got caught, but we had a good run. I’d had a bad week, I got kicked out of school and got arrested a couple of times. PN: What about the other track, Leroy Faster, is it based on any experiences or… Jared: I think its just nonsense that song… Joe: Might be about a crack head who got hold of the wrong stuff. Jared: Yeah I think it’s about a crack head. Joe: There’s a lot of crack in Atlanta. Lots of crack heads too. PN: So what was it like growing up in Atlanta, other than there being shit loads of crack heads; was growing up there an inspiration to your music? Jared: Well we grew-up in a little suburb, so I’d imagine growing up in the city would have been a lot different. I enjoyed where we grew-up because there was a lot of like-minded kids… Joe: Locked up for break… Jared: I think it was maybe an inspiration to our music - cos there was just nothing else to do. I think bands from the suburbs tend to make better music than kids that grew-up in the cities. PN: Your live shows have gained notoriety for being debauched affairs, pissing in each others mouths and the like. When did you first start causing such onstage madness and what inspired you to start doing it? Jared: That was in the very early days when we were still teenagers - like a lot of that stuff doesn’t happen anymore. I mean the shows are still crazy and energetic but mostly it was just, um, being immature and not knowing how to play our instruments - I think that was it. PN: So would you say that you’ve done a lot of growing up? That you’ve matured as band? Joe: A little bit, yeah, well we would hope so… Jared: Not too much! But, um, I don’t know why we did that stuff. I think it was, you know, punk-rock - that’s what you’re supposed to do, so… We were really into The Germs and stuff like that and they were a big influence. We still have the energy we’re just not as dopey anymore. We didn’t want the antics to get in the way of the music. PN: ‘Good Bad Not Evil’ is an extremely diverse album - the way a lot of The Stones albums were in the 60s… Joe: You don’t want to constrict yourself to one type of music; you really disable your career with your ability to evolve as a band. Plus, you get bored if you play the same music all the time - it gets really boring, so we always like to explore new things. Jared: We have a lot of different influences and stuff so they all kind of creep up along the line, you know? PN: Sure… Okay, what’s the story behind the live chicken on stage (Siren Festival), was that some kind of fucked up voodoo ritual or… Jared: (laughs) It was mostly just because… Sometimes at festivals it’s hard to, you know - you’re like a tiny speck to most people, so we got our friend to build this air canon. And it was mostly just an excuse to shoot out tons and tons of feathers but it was supposed to look like we’d put a chicken in a canon and exploded it. The chicken was fine, we used food stamps to buy it at a Puerto-Rican market. The chicken was fine. We set it free in McGolrick Park in Brooklyn; someone probably killed it and ate it. It was just a pretty cool thing to have tons of feathers, like - snowing down! It looked pretty cool. PN: What about Tijuana in Mexico (The Black Lips recorded live album Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo there), that must have been a pretty cool, debauched affair. What was it like playing there and what sort of things did you get up to? Joe: It was cool because, like - over half of the audience were - like, Mexican kids; and we played with this awesome band who came down there. It was a really dangerous place; you had to worry about the people as well as the police - probably the police more. Jared: The police are the most dangerous thing. It’s not such a great place to play shows; we had a good show just because the circumstances were right, but it can go really wrong down there as far as getting robbed or - getting arrested is the worst because they’ll arrest you for anything. We gave everyone eighty bucks in cash when we went down because that’s the going rate for a bribe. PN: Shit. That sounds like Columbia! Jared: Well, just a couple of days ago there was a battle on the street - the street we played on down there - like a big gun battle between local drug gangs. Like, all down the street there was a high-speed chase with people shooting from car to car and, like - thirteen people died. It was pretty hairy down there. The drug wars are getting bad along the border. We had a couple of things stolen and our tour manager got shaken down for eight-hundred bucks, but that’s kind of mild compared to what could have happened. You get stopped a lot - you’d be insane to take your car there; actually some people did but you had to pay someone to guard it - a lot! But we walked over there and on the way back I got stopped, like - three of four separate times. They’ll take everything out of your pockets, take your money, smell your fingers to see if you’ve been smoking joints. When you walk down the streets they’re selling prostitutes and they’ve got, like - sticks in their hands and they jab you in the side… Joe: Like that (makes jabbing motions) ‘CH-CH-CH-CH’ when you walk by… Jared: And we tried to take a picture of them right then and they started blowing all these whistles and waving flags and stuff, and all the prostitutes ran inside and all these guys were blowing whistles to try and distract you. PN: I guess you didn’t have a lot of luck with the Tijuana women then? Jared: No… Joe: You really don’t want to… Jared: It’s pretty much the most hedonistic city. It’s kind of cool that it’s still there because, I mean, San Diego’s just like an affluent Californian, Southern City town, and within a two minute walk you go straight into dirt-ball country. It’s kind of creepy to see middle-aged white men walking round alone there because you know they’re doing horrible things. It’s like a poor mans South-East Asia, I guess… for Americans. PN: So when did you first develop an interest in music? Was there a standout moment of clarity when you realised ‘this is what I want to do?’ Joe: My Mum was real musical in the church so she got me into the choir and shit when I was like, five… Jared: I was kind of the same. My Dad was a musician and I sang in church when I was a kid. But it was mostly, you know - your Beatles and stuff? And knowing about punk bands when I was real small I kind of wanted to be in a band. It was like skateboarding sure got me into it a lot because I’d skate with older kids and they got me into ‘Black Flag’ and stuff like that so… I mean, I really loved punk-rock and ‘Black Flag’ and stuff, but I was really into The Beatles and The Stones so it’s kind of a merger… PN: If I hadn’t been a journalist I’d probably still be working fruit and veg in a supermarket. What would you have done if you hadn’t done music? Joe: Engineering. Jared: I’d probably be either a garbage man or in the army. PN: Back to the live stuff, do you have any pre-stage rituals, touching a cross or going for a massive shit, or do you just get pissed before you head on stage? Joe: We slap our faces and warm-up our voices. Jared: I like to take a shot of whiskey. But we don’t really have any - I don’t know… Some bands pray. Joe: Yeah, or huddle and touch each-others butts. We’re not into that; we just go out there and do it. PN: Some writers, particularly the likes of Ginsberg and Hunter S. Thompson, have been described as outlaw writers. Some people might describe your music as outlaw music, would you agree with that? Jared: I’d agree with that mentality as far as there are a lot of bands around who are cowardly and safe and I don’t think anything artistic should be safe at all. Joe: People conform to too many norms… Normally. Jared: I don’t know - not doing what everyone else is doing and not being afraid to take risks. Joe: Not being a pussy… Jared: Yeah not being a vagina about having to be on the road all the time. Joe: Too many people are waiting for people to lead them in a certain direction and that’s just not the way you’re supposed to do things, you’ve got to find your own way. Jared: Yeah, I get real bent out of shape about a lot of these bands – they put a song on MySpace and they’re huge and they’ve never struggled or had to do anything; it‘s just kind of happened… Joe: How are they supposed to appreciate all that they’ve had when they’ve done nothing to earn it? PN: Sure. I totally agree man. But those bands are mainstream, you know? Don’t you think the mainstream’s an important thing to break into? Joe: No, that’s not true. Jared: Yeah, I like the mainstream. I mean, like - The Beatles were the biggest band in the world but they put in their time in Hamburg and slogging it out in like strip-clubs and stuff like that, so I admire that. But I don’t admire stuff that - if you don’t work for stuff… There’s nothing wrong with being on a major label. You know, maybe if they’re really good they deserve it, but there’s something that bothers me about it. Joe: It’s not them doing the hard work it’s someone else paying someone else to do the hard work for them, and that’s just not something we admire. PN: I guess it makes you stronger as band to go through the shit-run to success, right? To have to slog it out… Jared: Yeah, I mean we had to deal with four years of homelessness and poverty. Joe: Eating out of trash cans and stuff like that… Jared: And more. It just recently got more comfortable. I mean recently we’ve been able to eat and stay in hotels and pay our rent and stuff like that. PN: Man, I guess at that stage you carried on going just for the love of the music? Joe: Yeah. Homeless shelters - I mean basically they were the only thing keeping us going. We didn’t have homes to go back to or like - food to go back to so the only thing we could do is find some way of like - getting to the next show and play it… Get closer to getting home. Sheer determination! Jared: Yeah, sheer determination. And I knew if I went home I’d just be washing dishes and stuff like that. A lot of people would have quit a long time ago. PN: And it’s paid off! I mean you were on the Conan O’Brian show for Christ sake. I read, and I don’t know whether it’s true, that when you were on the show there wasn’t a single crime committed in New York. Jared: (laughs) I never heard that before; that’s awesome. Joe: A ridiculous statistic. Jared: It’s slightly crazy. I think New York’s pretty tame now. It’s pretty safe there; it’s a lot safer in New York than anywhere else. PN: Do you think you have to have some form of rebellion to make good music… Joe: Not necessarily. It doesn’t hurt though. It usually comes down to, like, when things are bad the music’s good and when things are good the music’s bad. Like when Bill Clinton was president, like, that’s when we had all the Backstreet Boys and N-Sync and all that crap; and then when things started going bad, you know, the music got better. Not always at a constant, but that’s normally how it works. Jared: I definitely think that there needs to be some rebellion in good music. I mean, even straight-laced guys - the people who make straight-lace music that my parents like, are fucked-up… Buddy Holly was a total fuck-up! Joe: Yeah, but at the same time in the 80s you had the Yuppie culture come in and that was a rebellion to everything before, like it goes both ways, you know? But you definitely need some kind of something. PN: Okay, so on the theme of rebellion, what about drugs and music? They were synonymous in the 60s - kind of went together hand in hand, to some extent. Do you think they can help with the song-writing process? Joe: It’s more about the perspective. Drugs change your perspective, you know… Jared: I think they could; I don’t necessarily think they have to. I think the only reason they’re synonymous with it is because the type of person who’s usually a musician has that kind of lifestyle – it’s what they’re around all the time. But, I mean - I’ve written good songs drunk before, so… But I think with some characters it probably helps them. I think some people with, like, predispositions to take drugs are probably pre-destined to do something like music or write or paint or something like that. Joe: Yeah, but doing drugs doesn’t necessarily always mean you’re gonna make good music. Jared: Yeah, I think cocaine makes really bad music. Joe: Yeah, unless you’re doing hip-hop. PN: What about the ‘Flower-Punk’ tag that you’ve been categorized into. Was it your idea for your music to be known as ‘Flower-Punk’ or was it a media creation? Joe: We came up with that to combat the media trying to put all types of labels on us. We got called, like, 'garage, rockabilly, punk' or something. They’d gone too far. They love to have a definition of some sort so we just came up with a definition of our own so people would stop keep trying to make up stuff. Jared: I think rock n roll’s a good enough description most of the time. But you know you don’t have to put a label on it, you don’t have to describe it. Some people do it better than others but we just kind of say it as a joke. I think there are probably other ‘Flower Punk’ bands out there now. PN: What about the track ‘How Do You Tell A Child That…’ [A thin guy in a scruffy suit two sizes too big - and a tasteless tie, probably early to mid forties, thin grey hair and a moustache like Graeme Souness circa 1980 - approaches the table with a look of lo-fi excitement strewn across his face] Guy: Are you guys playing tonight? Jared: No, no… Guy: Um, are you in a band? Jared: Yes… Guy: Um, and you’re Kula Shaker? Jared: Yeah… Guy: Come on - what’s the name of your band? Jared: The Black Lips. Guy: What? Jared: The Black Lips… Guy: Um, who? Jared: The Black Lips! Guy: The Black Lips ? Oh… Do you know Kula Shaker? Jared: No. Guy: Oh, well apparently… You know Drink Tea? Well Kula Shaker, um, they covered that. Yeah, Drink Tea, they did that. And, um, they… They had big ‘taches so I just thought… I just thought… PN: Yeah? Man, that’s great, but we’re kind of doing an interview here so… Guy: One of them, um, one of the really great songs had an Indian theme. Yes… Um, which is apparently something to do with King Arthur… [The guy walks over to the bar and takes a seat, smiling at us every now and again as he necks pint after pint after pint. He later asks a sexy blonde if he can take her photograph on his mobile phone - “You look like a model, are you a model” - to which she gives a look of genuine distain] PN: Right. The track ‘How Do You Tell A Child That Someone Has Died’ from Good Bad Not Evil - was that in anyway based on the loss of Ben (Eberbaugh, original band member killed when a drink driver going the wrong way collided with the car he was driving)? Jared: Well, no, no. It’s just about the death of everyone really. I mean, I guess if you put it into… It was mostly an ode to these old trucker sounds - an old genre of country called trucker country; and it was just, like - ballads where they talk over the music. And all of them were like, so heart-retching and depressing but like, so comical. PN: I mean, the only reason I ask is because there’s a section of the song that refers to someone getting killed by a drunk driver ( The teacher you loved Mr. Peterson / Has sadly passed away / He was killed by a motorist in a drunken act of rage )… Jared: Oh yeah! I mean, Cole wrote that and I don’t know whether that was his intentions but we’ve told people that maybe it could be. But it’s just about… We had a load of friends that died, maybe that was… But it’s kind of like a tongue in cheek song. We like to mix black and white together so it’s supposed to be, like, kind of sad but funny at the same time. Joe: I mean it sounds kind of happy, but then the contents are like, really dark, you know? Kind of like black comedy. Black comedy meets white on white crime. PN: I guess not all of your tracks are related to reality then? So how do you come up with songs that come from the subconscious? What’s the song writing process? Joe: We’ll just write songs and then come together in the studio and just show ‘em to each other. Jared: I’ve just written a song. I had just a few minutes to write the lyrics while we were in the studio so I just went through ‘The Song of Solomon’ from the Old Testament and just picked up random sentences from that. I’ve used that ‘Might is Right’ book to pick out, like, brutal things from that. Joe: I’ve got one song I’m writing. I got some lyrics, some words, from a Conservative ‘Right Wing’ talk radio show host. He had some really good one-liners like: “The Violence in Europe is oozing like the pus from a broken scab.” That was a good one. You’ve got to get it where you can. PN: Woah! This morning I read a story about Uma Thurman getting stalked by a fan. Maybe he was a maniac, who knows? Have you had any weird letters, turds in the post, or fans that follow you about in a weird fucking way? Jared: We’ve got some creepy fans. We’ve got a lot of kids who follow us around. Most of them are nice - you know, they’re just not, like, creepy. But we’ve definitely had some people that creep me out that I avoid. If I know they’re gonna be there I’ll hide! Joe: Yeah, they creep you out, you know? You’ll be standing there, you’ll start to shiver, you feel a chill up and down your spine, you’ll turn around and the person’s just standing there. Just like that... Jared: It hasn’t been so much any more, but we used to have like, old men following us around. Lately it’s been nicer because it’s just like, teenage girls, and that’s harmless. I’ve had kids say things to me that scare me; we have these like, crazy teenage boys, and I was sort of like that at their age - but they say really depraved things and they think we’re crazy and stuff like that. That freaks me out. I don’t wanna like, make some kid shoot himself or do heroin and stuff. Some kid thanked me the other day - saying he dropped acid for the first time and he was saying like, “Thank you, I dropped acid for the first time because of you.” I don’t know how I feel about that… I don’t feel too good about that… PN: You can’t blame yourself for that shit though. So how do you chill-out away from all that crap – away from the music? Jared: When I’m at home I play tennis or I BBQ. Yeah - tennis and BBQ. I’m not as good as John McEnroe - I’m not as angry as John McEnroe. I wanna start playing golf more to; I think that’d be really relaxing. But we never have time at home; when I’m at home I’ll be working on other music projects. Joe: Yeah, that’s usually the way it is. I’ll do some yard work; it feels nice doing a bit of work on your yard. Jared: I take online Spanish classes but I’ve been really slacking on it... Joe: Normally when I get home I gotta clean up my house because my room mates are kind of messy. I like to get it nice and clean so I can relax. I’ve got three room mates, it’s the only way I can like, afford to be on tour. It’s a nice house but you’ve gotta find some ways to cut corners. Jared: I share an apartment with my girlfriend so we split it. PN: Any amusing stories from your recent tour? Jared: I’m trying to think of anything funny happening. The tour we just got back from was pretty uneventful as far as… PN: I guess that’s what you were saying about growing up a bit, right? Joe: Well normally on our tours we have more time but on these last European tours all our drives were like, eight or ten hours between shows; we tried to party but then we’d have to get up at like eight-thirty in the morning so we couldn’t really hang-out and have as many funny times as usual. PN: Finally, what about a new album, any plans or details you can reveal? Jared: Yeah, we’re taking the majority of the summer off to record a new album; we have to find out where we’re recording it though. PN: Any song ideas at the moment or any that you’ve already got? Jared: I think everyone has ideas. I kind of like it when it just kind of flies by and you go in there without really knowing what to do and… Joe: It keeps things fresh. If you play the same song over and over again and then try and record them you usually find that they’re normally pretty stale… Jared: The way we did our third album I really enjoyed - the one before, Good Bad Not Evil, because a lot of that was written that week. Like - we just came up with a lot of stuff right before it. And I don’t know about the rest of the guys but I tend to work better under pressure, like, when you have to do something. If I’m sitting around with a guitar all day and it’s like, “Oh, I have to write a song” then I probably won’t, but if it comes down to the wire then I’m better at doing that. Joe: I think everyone works better under pressure… Well not everyone. Highly strung people don’t work well under pressure. If you have a deadline to meet it depends on how determined you are. If you have determination then you’ll work harder and work better towards your goal. Words: Dangerous Dave! Photograph of Jared, Joe, and Dangerous courtesy of the Kula Shaker fanatic! Bad Kids is released on Vice Records on May 12th. Check out the Black Lips MySpace page!
tags: | the black lips | good ban not evil | los valientes del mundo nuevo | jared swilley | more...
Sugar Blue: A true harp hero!
Sugar Blue: A true harp hero!
15/04/2008
There’s no business like show business, you often hear them say: “Its so glitz and so damn glam”. The thing with the showbiz game is that we tend to skim over the surface; we don’t look beyond the bright white veneers, diamond rings, jet black hair, personal number plates, poodles with designer jackets, champagne breakfasts and white fur coats. I’m certain it’s a mask; a front to preserve the public image of perfect mother, sister, husband, brother, presenter, actor, actress, fucker. Music’s the same; we’ve got a tendency to ignore so many aspects of music and song. A tendency to hear what we want to hear. It’s like we don’t want to get our hands dirty and dig deeper; to find out who’s responsible for that piano intro or harmonica solo because whoever it is bares no relevance to us. Who cares? The old English spirit of caring died when people started singing about drive-by killings and gang war with the same relish Sir Cliff sang about Summer Holidays. One such guy, a guy you’ve probably heard but haven’t heard of, an amusing, engaging and humble New Yorker - rated as the greatest harmonica player by legends in the business - is Sugar Blue. He’s a master of his art and a guy you really should be aware of. Sugar’s played with everyone from Fats Domino to Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan to Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones to Buddy Guy, and he talks about such encounters in this very interview. I caught up with Sugar on a rare London visit as part of his Code Blue album tour. We sat in a small, cramped dressing room as I sucked on a Stella and Sugar reminisced on his career, the state of the music business and learning to master his art… When did you first start playing the harmonica and what attracted you to the instrument? Well I started playing harmonica when I was about, I dunno, fifteen or sixteen years old. My introduction to the instrument was through my aunt, who bought me one, and then my mother took me to see little Stevie Wonder who was about eleven or twelve at the time, and that was it. I was like: “Wow, I can do this.” I started playing around with Dylan records and The Rolling Stones came along and I was playing along with that. There was a Stones record; I think it was… What was the name of that record? Decembers Children! They did a Muddy Waters song and I heard that and I went to check out the author of the song and when I found out the author was McKinley Morganfield, Muddy Waters, I went and picked up some of his music at the library. And I heard Little Walter on the harmonica and that was it; I knew that I WANTED TO DO THAT! How did you learn the harmonica though, it’s a pretty tough instrument to master, right? You know - all instruments have a certain degree of difficulty when it comes to the technicality of learning to make the instrument speak. Harmonica is particularly difficult because you can’t see what’s happening while it’s being played; you know? You see two hands in front of the face and that’s all you see. On the inside of every harmonica, at least back in those days, there used to be a little piece of paper that showed you the technique that was required. I looked at that little piece of paper and ignored it [laughs] much to my chagrin. Because about ten years later a guy told me, Bill Dicey, a great harmonica player from New York City said: “If you want to sound like Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, you know that little piece of paper in there? That’s the way they do it” [laughs]. So I had to start all over again from scratch, okay? I thought I really was good, you know, and then I had to go back to square one. But, I’m glad I did. It’s not a difficult instrument. But like any other instrument does it requires love and dedication. You know; I mean the same thing your girlfriend wants: Love and dedication, man! [Much laughter] When did you first start playing to an audience? Other than relatives obviously… I started playing in Central Park, you know? They used to call them ‘be-ins’; there’d be huge gatherings of people - everybody playing an instrument. Nobody gave a damn how good or how bad you played, everybody just got together; it was like a communal thing, you know? People bought bongos and percussion instruments and guitars and jaw-harps - those things that go ‘boing-boing-boing-boing!’ We’d start playing at like, ten or twelve in the afternoon, and it would go on way after sunset. This was the 60s, okay? I never thought about practicing, I didn’t think of it as practicing or working, I just thought: “I wanna be able to hit that note, sound better and sound good with the guys and stuff”. When all the hippies disappeared I was just like: “GEE-WHIZZ, I WAS JUST STARTING TO HAVE FUN! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PARTY?” [Laughter] [Laughing] Yeah man, good times… Yeah! So, I ran into some guys that were still playing and some old blues cats like Charles Walker, and they said: “Well why don’t you come down and play with us?” And they were playing at a little blues club, well it wasn’t necessarily a blues club, it was a place called the Fat Black Pussycat where Jimi Hendrix used to play. So I started working with them and I think that was the first time I played in front of an audience. It was fun, we had good times, I think I made about ten bucks and I said: “What? That’s the most enjoyable ten dollars I’ve ever made!” Then I started listening to a lot of Sonny Boy Williamson and reading about the history of blues guys on the road. And I said: “Well, hey; these boys used to just set-up on the street corner and play, why can’t we do that?” So we started doing that and suddenly I started making like, two, three, four-hundred bucks a day - on a really great day we could pull in five or six-hundred bucks! I was like - “Shit!” That was a lot of money back in 1971-72. It I’d work all summer long, save money, and chill! In a Stones book I read there’s a quote by Ronnie Woods claiming you were discovered playing on the streets of France by either Mick or Keith and they were so impressed they took you on for the ‘Some Girls’ album… Is there any truth to that? Well I’ll tell you what, if Woody said it, Woody don’t lie! Woody… That’s my boy, you know? I LOVE RONNIE WOOD AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS IT! [Laughs] That’s my boy - he’s a good guy man a real good guy. Sweet guy, great guitar player - plays a hell of a good harmonica by the way! I really enjoyed the time that I spent with those guys; it was a real trip… Ronnie also compared the way you play harmonica to snapping a guitar neck in half and playing both halves separately… [Sugar laughs]… I mean, to play harmonica, and get that range of sound out of it, you usually need more than one harmonica. Where did you learn to create such a range of sound with just the one harmonica? Well I’ll tell you the truth man, I listened to the old guys. People like Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and Jimmy Wells. Man they were making all that noise back before amplifiers, okay? They were raising pure hell with a harmonica. When I heard what Big Walter could do with a harmonica, just plain and simple in his hands - in your face, I was… What’s the word you guys say? Gob-smacked!? I was flabbergasted; I couldn’t believe it, you know? I mean such powerful sounds, so much volume and such a beautiful tone. These guys were doing that long before I even thought about it. I’ve just tried to continue in the footsteps that they already laid and add my little bit to it. How did it feel though, to be invited to play on the ’Some Girls’ album? At the time the Stones were - in fact they probably still are, the biggest band ever… Well I’ll tell you man, I kept almost running into Mick Jagger in New York for years. I would play a gig and he would show-up an hour after we left; and this happened about three or four different times. I said: “Somewhere or sometime or another I’m gonna play with these guys, because all of these almost meetings means that something’s going to happen in the future.” When it happened I was like: “YYEEESSS!” [Much laughter] Getting the work with them was really a gas man; I had a lot of fun. A “gas, gas, gas.” [Sugar laughs] Were you surprised by the success of the album - and the single as well? ‘Miss You’ reached number one in… ‘Miss You’ was number one worldwide! It was the top man. It was… How do you say it? It was the TOP OF THE POPS! [Laughs] I mean I thought it was a great song when we cut-it. I said: “Man, this is jamming, this is the best thing.” For me it was the best thing on the record. I said: “Well this shit could do well.” I had no idea that it would do as well as it did; I don’t think they did either. [Laughter] The Stones went in a completely different direction with ‘Miss You’ than I think they ever had before. It’s certainly more disco oriented than… Yeah, yeah - it had a disco groove and it had that kind of little Stonesy edge they always had. It cracked with everybody. I mean it crossed generations, it crossed racial divides - everybody loved that song. That’s one of the things I like about music. It unites people when it’s really good. When it’s really special it unites people that would never think they had anything in common. That’s one of the beautiful things about music. What was it like to record with the Stones though? Oh they were great man. It was like: “HEY, COME ON OVER MAN, LET’S DO SOME OF THIS. OKAY, NOW IT’S TIME TO RECORD. OKAY, HAD ENOUGH OF THIS? OKAY, THAT’S COOL. OKAY, BACK TO THE STUDIO - HEY PUT THAT OUT! COME OVER HERE! [Laughter] ALRIGHT, NOW WE’RE GONNA GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!” And Mick would be prowling around like this: [Mock Jagger tone] “It takes ‘em forever, it takes ‘em forever to come on in!” And then it was like “HAS ANYBODY SEEN KEITH?” [Much laughter] Before I move on from the Stone there’s just one more question. What was behind your decision to pull out of the ‘Some Girls’ tour? You know, they had their thing to do and I had my thing to do. Let’s face it - DO I LOOK LIKE A ROLLING STONE TO YOU? [Laughs] I don’t think so; you know, they do what they do and… Mick plays harp and I think he wanted to get back to his harp playing. I had songs that I wanted to do that I couldn’t do with them too, you know? It was great meeting them and it helped me to get known and to get a chance at my first record deal and, you know, worldwide press and notoriety… Hey, if they’re ever on tour again and they say they need a harp I’ll be there, because it was great for me and I think it was great for them. If they ever give the call, I’ll play, you know? Stones aside, the list of people you’ve played with… Ray Charles, you know, and Stevie Wonder and… Good god man, Dylan… Yeah, and Bob Dylan was a huge inspiration to you as well… Well, I mean, it was great. Bob is such a generous, unimposing - I would say even humble man. You’d go into the studio with him and he’d be like [imitating Bob]: “Okay we’re, err, gonna play this, okay… Are you ready…? Are you ready?” And it’d be like ‘ding-ding-ding’ - “GOD-DAMN-IT!” BOING! And Bob’s broke a string. “Aye, wait a minute, somebody get me some strings.” We’d sit there and laugh and talk and jive around and by the time we got ready to record there was no more nerves, you know, because Bob just made everybody feel so secure. I met him through a wonderful lady, Victoria Spivey. Actually Victoria Spivey discovered him, okay? She introduced him to the guy who at the time was head of Columbia Records. She introduced us and she acted like everybody’s mum! So she was like: “I want you to meet my son.” So I go with her and she introduces me to Bob Dylan and I was like “You’re son?” “Yes, my son, YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THAT?” “No mam!” [Laughs] Bob acted like that was mama; so that was cool. So we were like brothers, sitting there in the studio trying to work out: “How did she do that?” [Laughs] Tell us about Fats Domino and friends? Oh Fats Domino and Friends; that was great, you know? I mean to get to play with Fats Domino and Ray Charles and Ronnie Wood and some of the other cats that were there man, that was really a great, great pleasure. Actually I think… What was this guy’s name? Played piano? Great Balls of Fire? Jerry Lee-Lewis - yeah Jerry Lee-Lewis was there too. I had a ball. Shit, how can you not enjoy yourself man, surrounded by some of the best musician’s planet wide? I never dreamt that I would have the opportunities that I’ve had and I’m very thankful to the muses and the music itself for giving me the life that I’ve always dreamt of. Let’s talk about the Grammy’s… What was it like to be involved in winning two separate Grammy’s? Well I didn’t even know we were gonna win a Grammy, you know? I did the record in Switzerland at the Montreux Jazz Festival. At the time it was called the Montreux Jazz Festival. That’s before they got hip and dropped the Jazz. I think Koko Taylor was there, Ricky Lee Jones was there… (The door directly behind Blue swings open, hitting the back of his chair, sharply. A young, rugged French guy with greasy dreadlocks peers through and apologises as Blue turns to face him) ALRIGHT! YOU DON’T LIKE ME, I CAN TELL! [Followed by much laughter] (The French guy asks where he can smoke. Blue and I tell him you can only go outside. The French guy thanks us and starts rummaging around in the room for a can of Coke before leaving) Ricky Lee Jones was there and… let me see… Brandford Marsalis and his brother the trumpet player; I can’t think of his name now. B. B. King was there; a lot of really great players. I think Stevie Ray Vaughn was there - and it was great man. Actually the real bomb was the jam session, which nobody recorded! Well somebody recorded it but I think they better not put it on record or somebody’s going to jail [laughs]. I remember I had to follow Stevie Ray Vaughn as a solo act, just me and my harmonica. I’m like: “What the hell am I supposed to after all that god damn - RRROAWL !” And he was like: “Just go out there and do what you do” - so I did. And the record won a Grammy, much to my surprise. When they presented it to me I was surprised, but very gratified and appreciative. Blue, I’m going to talk about harmonicas as a modern instrument. I know you’re a modest guy, but you‘re regarded as one of the best harmonica players of the last century… Well gee-whiz, that’s nice to know! [Laughs] You are - but that only seems to be among certain harmonica, blues and music enthusiasts. When you started playing the harmonica was a popular instrument, do you think the reason it’s less popular now is due to the modern audience and… Well I’ll tell you what man, when I was a kid the harmonica wasn’t very popular – it really wasn’t. It was very rare that it was played that much. I mean Bob Dylan played it a little bit, Stevie Wonder played it, but outside of those guys it wasn’t really that well known. Jagger played some and stuff but it wasn’t really looked at as an important instrument, you know? What, you mean in the mainstream? Because obviously it was widely used in traditional blues? Well, you know, there were some guys like Big Walter and Little Walter and Sonny Boy and stuff, but these guys weren’t really known to a large audience. They were basically known to the blues audience and some rockers. You know when harmonica really popped back onto the scene? I think it really came back with ‘Miss You’ - okay? When that harp part sounded in people’s ears and the solo part, people were going: “What the hell is that?” I’m glad to have been a part of that - I think it really brought the harmonica back to the forefront of music. [Blues phone rings and he excuses himself, leaves the room and re-enters about a minute later] [Speaking on phone] Okay… Well, good, man. I’ve got to go man, I’ll talk to you later - I’ve gotta go. [Hangs-up phone] Man I shouldn’t have done that. [Laughs] You’ve made the blues sound your own; given a certain funk to it. Was that your own interpretation or… Well I remember way back when I was trying to sound like Little Walter. There was a guitar player called Larry Johnson, who I’ll never forget as long as I live. I was doing my best Little Walter copy licks and I thought I had gotten as close to Little Walter as anybody was gonna get. Larry told me, he says: “You know, you sounded exactly like Walter tonight”. I said “Yeah” and I was feeling all great and he says: “But god-damnit I’m not Muddy Waters and I don’t need that kind of shit.” He said: “Now find something - Little Walter lived and died making that his sound! Now, you see that fine sound, if you can’t find your own sound, find another job!” From that day on I started trying to find my own sound. That was very handy - it was very important. I’ll never forget it because… He shocked me; he really did shock me and he was right to. You’ll never sound as good as somebody else doing there own style. You have to come up with your own style. Its like ‘damn’, you know? If you don’t have anything to say that’s important enough to say your way - shut up! [Laughs] You’ve been touring the Code Blue tour for sometime now, how’s it been going? Hey man, it’s been doing very well. We’ve just come back from doing a tour of the United States… We continued the tour in Italy and we’ve also been up to Switzerland. We’re heading for Hungary soon. It’s going well, you know? We’ve finally got to drop in on the Queen’s realm and to see how her son and stuff dig what we’re doing. And by the way old girl, you’re invited if you wanna show up!? [Laughs] I’m of the opinion that unless you’re inspired by older records, music isn’t particularly inspiring now. During the era you started playing would you say it was decidedly more so? So many people… I mean the music has become such an industrial monster that it tends to… It dehumanises it! It’s like “If I’m not a perfect little tart with plastic boobies, you know, and a thousand dollar hair-cut I can’t be an artist”. I’m sorry, that’s not the way it goes. At least not in my day... Are there any modern acts you particularly like? Well, I don’t know how modern they are but I love Stevie Wonder; I love Prince… let me see… I mean, I’m an old school kind of guy. You know with a lot of the new stuff man, there’s just not enough melody; there’s not enough meaning. I don’t know, maybe I’ve gotten too old that I don’t get it. But to me, just having your nosed pierced doesn’t make you a musician, you know? I remember back when Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix and all that kind of stuff was on and it was like “Guitar players forgot how to play the fucking guitar! Now all they do is slam-it, they put a bunch of effects on it, but they don’t know how to solo; they don’t know how to use the instrument to speak!” I say that’s a great loss musically - I don’t envy the youth of today and the music that they have. I don’t. But that’s life. But I figure like this: After a while they get tired of all that noise and then expect some music from the people they’re listening to. But they’re not going to get it until they expect it. Finally, any plans to collaborate or tour again in the future? Well actually I’ve got a thing that’s coming up with [former Stone and solo artist] Mick Taylor. We’re going to be doing a thing together here soon. Keep an eye on my website and you’ll see it coming up. Or look on his website and I’m sure you’ll see it there… And that just about sums it up; unless there’s anything you’d like to add? Keep rocking! To find out more about Sugar Blue, including a biography, discography, tour dates and news visit www.sugar-blue.com Words: Dangerous Dave Dryden
tags: | sugar blue | fats domino | frank zappa | bob dylan | ray charles | the rolling stones | more...
A Murmur with Mulletover promoter DJ Geddes!
A Murmur with Mulletover promoter DJ Geddes!
09/04/2008
Mulletover has long been at the forefront of the underground party scene. Whether indoor car parks or abandoned warehouses, for the last four years Mulletover has simply been the best. “A number one, king of the hill, top of the heap” as Old Blue Eyes once sang. Legendary. What, with fellow Mulletover promoter and house legend Rob Hives venturing into the pub game (he’s recently reopened The Star of Bethnal Green) it was about time partner in crime DJ Geddes took-up a side-project of his own. Let’s face it, it was never going to be origami, or Warhammer, or bird watching with Bill Oddie. No. Geddes has created his own record label, and the man has high ambitions, as Planet Notion found out… Mulletover’s come a long way since it first started four years ago - where do you think the success behind it all lies? By doing something different to what everybody was doing, or still doing. Going to the same club night every month can become a little boring; same venue, same music and same people, it’s nice to change things round, change the elements that make the party. For us, moving venue every party works, it keeps the excitement there, not just for the people who come and enjoy themselves but also for Rob and I; if were still doing the same club for nearly 4 years I think we both would be pretty bored. How did you first get involved with Mulletover? I organized the first Mulletover party that was due to take place at the Fortress Studios off Old Street. At the time the owners were having grief from local authorities and on the week of the event The Fortress, sadly was unable to host the party. Through the grape vine we heard Rob, who at the time was running his own event called R House was having another illegal rave down in Whitechapel. A few phone calls were made and it became apparent Rob had a spare room in the venue he was using, we joined the party, got smashed, had an amazing after party and decided to do it all again. From then on we decided to work under the same banner and form a partnership - Mulletover Would you say the night has brought new life into the underground/warehouse party scene? Some would say that due to a crackdown on illegal warehouse parties it was in a slow decline before Mulletover came along? I think we did inject some life into the scene, but we weren’t the only ones. When we started there were lots of little illegal parties happening every week like Dove Bridge Studios, djscandance, Slack Alley et cetera; I remember it being a really vibrant time in East London back then. I think we stood out because when things started to get tough we continued along the same path, we both wanted the night to be successful and we knew where it could go. I suppose today is a reflection of our vision You’re just about to release the first 12” on your very own label - Murmur Records. How did this come about? I’ve promoted parties for a while and I suppose I wanted something new to get my teeth into. Running a record label never really crossed my mind, especially considering today’s market, but it feels right and I’m excited with the prospect. It’s something new and the typical model for running a record label no longer exists; this I particularly find interesting, because music is isn’t going anywhere, its just the way in which we receive it that’s changing. Instead of the ‘Product’ being rammed down our throat by the industry, music is becoming more of an experience, we have more choice and this can only be a good thing. Is Murmur an attempt to further broaden your personal musical landscape? I love music and I do what I do because I’m really into it and wouldn’t change that for anything; starting Murmur is cementing my commitment to something I love, I see it as the next stage in my career. Is there an ongoing theme for Murmur records or is it set to cover a diverse range of music? For the moment we plan to stick to a club sound that reflects the style of music I’m into. In the fullness of time I would love to broaden our musical spectrum and delve into different genres and areas that excite me. What are your hopes for the future of the label? In the future Murmur will be one of the top labels around, it will be recognised for its music, artists, ideas, vision and creativity. Murmur will be at the forefront of house and techno, setting standards and implementing innovation. I want to change the way we operate to a modern path; the typical record label model no longer works. I want to mould a new foundation, a new way of working that will inspire others to get involved. For further information on Murmur Records, regular updates and all-round news visit: www.murmurrecords.com www.myspace.com/murmurrecords www.mulletover.co.uk
tags: | geddes | murmur records | the star of bethnal green | rob hives | r house | more...
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