Lior interview (2010)

COMING OUT OF THE DARK

Sydney artist Lior's move to Melbourne last year and 12 month stint spent re-tailoring his song-writer's suit have resulted a glorious third album, Tumbling Into The Dawn. He's reconnected with his band following his hugely popular solo Shadows & Light tour, and is set to take his new - still proudly independent - set to the masses.

Lior's well rested now that his 'brand' has legs and work means more music-making than publicity. His debut album Autumn Flow and follow-up Corner Of An Endless Road won him global praise, and his latest offering is set to continue that seamless record. Perhaps a less grueling schedule is the reason, but a blossoming optimism is undeniably present on Tumbling Towards The Dawn. Lior describes. "I think there was quite a bit of melancholy about the last album, but I'd say this one's pretty bitter-sweet rather than being overly optimistic. A lot of my songs are about everyday struggle, but I think this album is more direct and less about mood. I wanted to make the songs jump out and speak for themselves rather than hide their emotions." Making album number three, Lior claims he felt a green-light to 'take it easy'.

"You know, this is my third album, so it was time to try new things and there was a feeling of 'okay, I don't have to prove myself anymore – I've gotten past the second album test'. I know a lot more about the recording process, I've become a better songwriter over the years and I allowed myself to have that bit extra confidence this time around." He continues. "Also I guess the first two albums were made during a pretty manic five years, so at the end of the last tour I kind of took a load of time off and tried to challenge myself as a song writer again, and the result of that is an album that moves around quite a bit more I think." Lior took his rest seriously before decided on where to go on album number three. He continues. "I isolated myself as much as possible because I've discovered it takes my mind about two days to fully switch into a creative zone." He explains, "In terms of why the album jumps around stylistically, I was really just trying to avoid repeating myself too much." For this album, Lior's new approach brought with it a few changes in behaviour behind the scenes. He describes. "I wrote most of the album on piano, whereas I'd always used my guitar in the past, so that really forced me to make everything I was writing have a stronger melody. Guitar lets you have a lot more subtlety, and I wanted to get away from that sort of, smaller sound."

Lior's songs, This Old Love, Daniel and I'll Forget You have become his signature tunes over time. Their common thread is memorable simplicity with the slightest of musical backing, in the vein of Damien Rice. He makes the point. "I identify as a singer mostly - that's my main instrument, along with song-writing, but I'm a musician lastly because I'm much more confident singing and writing than playing anything." He laughs. "I much prefer to surround myself with musicians who can play their instruments well rather than trying to do everything myself, because that frees me up to just be a vocalist which is what I enjoy most." He adds. "What always drew me to music was the art of song writing. I spend most of my time on lyrics and really only play guitar or piano to build the basic track around what I'm writing." He continues. "It's an obsession for me to write, but I think it has to be if you want to get better at it." What often resonates with Lior's fans are his clearly defined stories of the relatable moments that make up life. When I point out to him, he never allows himself to get 'too morose' or too 'celebratory' he responds. "I think it's a reflection of my personality, the whole yin and yang thing resonates a lot with me. It wouldn't feel right to do a completely dark record or a sickly sweet one." He says. "When I started singing and playing guitar, I automatically had this fantasy world unfold before me and I could make any situation happen in a song, and always thought it's too easy to just go with extremes, like all bleak or all joyful – life just isn't like that."

It's notable that Lior, despite his rapid rise to fame was never pushed by a label. In fact he readily admits that he 'made it up as he went along', and only in hindsight realises his obscene good luck. "I wasn't the savviest bloke growing up, I never knew at all how to go about making a career in music. It was only much later when I wanted to get my first album that I realised I was just going to have to learn to do it myself." He adds. "Offers to sign to labels came in pretty quick once I was featured on Triple J and that, but the appeal was lost on me because I already a profile and people turning up to my shows, so I couldn't see what they could offer me that I didn't already have, except for maybe a big budget video featuring me being fired out of a cannon." He laughs. "Having said that, being fired out of a cannon is still one of my main goals."

Last year, Lior embellished his live shows with a shadow-play performance designed by artists Stephen Mushin and Anna Parry. Visual representations of his songs were created on a grand scale for the Shadows & Light tour. But does the project have a future? "I kind of feel like moving onto something else now, but there is talk of doing a tour with some of the orchestras next year and if that happens, I'd be inclined to get that happening again." He continues a little non-plussed. "Although having a visual side to the concerts is great and everything, but I'm not really fussed about laser lights and explosions to be honest. I think that can be seen as an insecurity, like saying the music's not good enough to stand on its own, and I better have something else happening to keep people's attention."

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Suzanne Vega interview (2010)

New York native Suzanne Vega, after 26 years of capturing the gritty tales of her city across seven albums, has re-emerged with a series of acoustic offerings of familiar stories. The four planned releases (two of which are completed) revisit Vega's character-driven narratives carefully catalogued into four overall themes; Love Songs, People & Places, States Of Being and Songs Of Family. Drawing music from her debut self-titled album right through to 2007's Beauty & Crime, Vega's turn away from simply releasing studio-polished tunes follows years of on-tour re-shaping of her hits including; Marlene On The Wall, Luka and Tom's Diner. 

The project follows her divorce from producer, Mitchell Froom, who's two Vega albums where her heaviest in terms of layered noise. Could this 'unplugging' be seen as Suzanne reclaiming her songs from stifling production? Vega – the straight-talking New Yorker – is pragmatic in her response.  "No, this is just how I've been performing a lot of these songs live for a long time now, so it feels right to actually get them recorded in that way." The first two volumes capture love and witness songs, with the "darker stuff" to come on volumes three and four. "Blood Makes Noise and songs of that ilk will be on the next volume." Vega assures. As for what prompts Vega to get as dark, as she does on Blood Makes Noise – a song that recounts the imagined agony of a hypochondriac, she offers. "Well I've always thought, Suzanne, you've gotta have a Morrissey song you know!" She laughs. 

A lot of fans where introduced to Vega's music through her break-through single, Luka. Many will recall the storyteller warming to an abused child living in her apartment building, and note the beginning of a run of frequently confronting tales from the singer. Its Vega's fascinations with these less flattering sides to human nature have perhaps kept her out of the mainstream. "Oh I know that's the truth." She smiles, "Certain subjects just make people uncomfortable, I know but the song writers I've always loved are the ones who can go really dark. Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan – those guys go dark as anyone could want." Suzanne explains, "I try and write about what I want to hear, and if you're trying to cover the full spectrum of human experiences, you can't just ignore what's uncomfortable, it makes no sense to me."

"But you know, I kind of set the (re-interpretations series) albums apart for that reason." She continues. "You've got the love songs one because sometimes you just wanna hear that. You don't wanna know about blood and all that other stuff." She laughs, "But then a song like Caramel, which is a pretty straight forward love song, still gets a lot of different reactions from people." Caramel is doubtlessly a love song, but also one packed with warnings. It describes love as an addiction, and one the author is willing to overlook any bad effects from. Suzanne continues. "I'm a pretty fearless person, I'll tackle anything in a song, and that means confronting myself and being honest about what my own experiences have taught me. I'm not saying everything is about me, in fact a lot of what I write, as you've pointed out, is in the third person. I get other journalists saying, 'you're songs are always so personal, why is that?', so you've picked up on the other side of my writing." She informs me, "The truth is I switch back and forth, which I think comes from when I was younger, I liked the idea of pretending to be other people." Suzanne adds, "I've always disliked the more confessional songs, so I struggle to stay within my own headspace when I'm telling these stories." Suzanne allows herself a quick name-drop to illustrate her point. "I had the opportunity to sit with Leonard Cohen and have breakfast with him, and I remember saying to him, 'you tell the truth in your songs, how do you bare your soul so easily?' and he told me 'you tell the truth, you lie, or you do whatever you have to do to make the song work.'" Vega laughs at the memory. "Of course, he was right. Pretending to be someone else is a lie, but sometimes it's practically the only way I can write. I, as a songwriter have to be the journalist, the censor, or the book and other times I can just be me."

Leonard Cohen makes it sound so easy, but Vega knows he's a tireless slave to his work. "Oh brother, and he wrestles for ages over one or two lines, but that's what makes him so good at his craft." She adds. "I get that struggle too you know, I think that's why my career has lasted so long, because I spend years trying to finish songs." The pending second volume of Vega's re-interpretations CDs – People & Places features a new rendering of her classic 'being-someone-else' tale, Tom's Diner. Aside from earning her legions of fans on its release, the a-capella poem also made the establishment of the same name an icon of New York City. Seinfeld fans will have seen the diner in just about every episode of the program, as it's where the characters always met for lunch and hatched their bizarre schemes. "People used to come from all over and go there because of my song initially, but then Seinfeld kinda made it doubly famous." Suzanne laughs, "I don't know if anyone really thinks of it as 'Tom's Diner' anymore because they changed its name for the show, but for a time at least I can say I put it on the map." 

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"Tom's Diner" - also known to Seinfeld fans.

Click to watch:

SUZANNE VEGA - "Blood Makes Noise" video

SUZANNE VEGA - " Caramel" video

Quan Yeomans (Regurgitator) interview (2010)

BINGE AND GURGE

Naturally, for the latest Regurgitator "release", there's the now customary twist as the band celebrate 16 years of keeping fans guessing  on what'll-they-do-next? For starters - they're going one better than Radiohead - there's to be no actual CD, no full-page spreads and definitely no glass 'bubbles'. What would've been album number seven, is instead an ongoing series of blogged tracks turning up - as each one is completed - on their official website at no cost. For the most prominent band in Australia to really grasp the potential of various media obsessions, this ain't so surprising. 'Gurge main-man, Quan Yeomans - almost to a flaw – believes his band's move away from the regulation promo-hype surrounding CD releases, is so next year.

Beginning our talk, Quan highlights a rarely discussed risk of leaving behind the world of hard-copy CD releases and what it means to 'move on'. "I've had a lot of time in therapy over digital data loss, so I can still appreciate the more conventional forms of recorded and released music." He laughs, "But I've learned to let go now - it's like relationships, you know. Some you really miss, but its always exciting developing new ones."

The singer's currently in the process of developing a relationship with his new home-town, Melbourne. Quan set up base in Hong Kong last year to record a solo album - Quan The Amateur – but found he had 'commitment issues' with the city. "Hong Kong was just a bit ridiculous for me. It's a great place, but it's also a kind of 'Never-Never Land' where you can go, never grow up and just bum around and have fun. If you're looking for a creative community though, it's very hard to find one like Melbourne has." He continues. "Also I've just moved here so I'm still in that 'new-city-rush' mode, but I have yet to actually get out there and meet new people and really get involved." Quan quickly adds. "Oh, obviously I have lived here before - in that bubble in Federation Square for three weeks - but that didn't do a lot to enhance my Melbourne experience." He laughs.

Mention of the 2004 album, Mish Mash, resulting from the 'Band In A Bubble' exercise, has Quan recoiling at its shortcomings. "I really don't like that album at all." He sighs, "I think that project worked as a social/cultural experience but probably failed as a musical one." He continues. "I do music, and I'm in a band to have bizarre, weird experiences so I'm really pleased that we decided to do that, and (that we) are still pushing ourselves but as far as music goes, the danger is it can come second place to the experiences."
 

If there's a Regurgitator method at all, it's their willingness to try just about anything musically – but really just for shits and giggles. Whether they're laying down some hip-hop, 2 Live Crew style (Fat Cop); cutesy-ing along like Vengaboys; (Polyester Girl) or thrashing like Big Black (F.S.O.), the sense was always of a band not wanting to be pinned down. That said, Regurgitator's greatest success was undeniably their electro-rock album, Unit, which many believe was their one true peak; Even Quan himself. "I don't think we've really done a great album since Unit, if I'm being brutally honest with myself. I mean I can look at a lot of our work objectively now because when we did the Bubble thing, it made me so aware of how important objectivity is." He explains. "By the end of it, we didn't know what we had made – was it good, bad, or whatever – being in a band already limits your ability to listen to music in a completely non-critical way, which is kind of the curse of the artist."

Sharing front-person duties with Ben Ely in Regurgitator, Quan has always had a second set of ears to run ideas by. However for their new recordings, Ben and Quan are set up in their own separate studios, rarely communicating in person. Quan discusses. "Ben and I probably rely on each other's opinions quite a bit, its true, but at the same time, we rarely agree on what's good." He reveals. "We're very different creatively, but at the same time, we sort of push and pull against each other in a good way. He or I might say, I don't get what you're doing, or I don't like that – and then it's up to you to argue your point and work that bit harder to make them see." Quan adds. "But Ben and I have gotten along so well the last ten years or so that perhaps we don't have the edge we used to, so our decision to kind of work separately means we can't slip into old comforts and end up in another kind of bubble, I suppose."

Talking about Quan's current release method of song-blogging is complex. On one hand, it seems he's very happy with the band's new music; but he also acknowledges, zen-like, the ease at which it could all just be lost in the rush. "That is a risk you take." He reasons. "The way I approach music on-line is searching for anything that appeals to me instantly and getting obsessed about it, but then abandoning it just as quickly for the next thing." He says somewhat coldly. "It's kind of strange, but there are a million bands out there so having any loyalty to one for too long becomes a time management thing."

A loyal 'Gurge fan might be disappointed that there's no physical release of the tracks they've been working on, but Quan has serious doubts that many will even notice. "I only listen to music on-line, 90 percent of young people now only listen to music on-line." He retorts. "It's just the way the market has moved at this point and you gotta move with it." He offers. "Emerging technologies eat into a lot of industries and affect a lot of jobs, it just so happens that it's my job that is being affected now." Quan adds. "I don't think we'll bother making albums anymore in the future. Maybe if there's enough call for it, we'll have limited compilation albums available at the shows, but the album as it was, is a kind of dead concept now."

Quan's decision is clearly a practical one, but was it difficult shifting with the times as a relatively 'vintage' band? "We began when it was all album oriented promotion and hard touring to get your name out there and being on a label was the dream. Now we realise that the business side of it was all crap. Essentially we always felt that we were a punk band, so the DIY approach makes me a lot happier anyway and the (new) music we've produced so far hasn't suffered in any way by not being released on a major label, as far as I can tell."

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Click to watch:

REGURGITATOR - "The Drop" video

Charles Bickford (The Paradise Motel) interview (2010)

The outpouring of sympathy usually reserved for women who lose a new born was never to be offered Lindy Chamberlain. The mother at the centre of Australia's most enduring lost child story faced a rarely seen level scrutiny and criticism following the 1980 death of baby Azaria. Her story of wild dogs in the harsh landscape against one tiny infant seemed almost too horrific to be true, and it was precisely that seed of doubt Lindy's detractors would exploit for years to come. Now, as the news of Chamberlain's innocence is finally to be recorded as the official outcome, focus on the latest Paradise Motel album - which conceptually deals with the event - is sure to be high. Titled Australian Ghost Story, it marks the return, both musically and geographically, of the celebrated masters of song-noir. 

The combined efforts of sloppy police investigation and the media of the day managed to turn a wild dingo hunt into a slasher-mum thriller, in the process awakening Australian's disinterest in the facts over a possible gory tale. The Paradise Motel come in to the picture 30 years after the event as campfire-story tellers, backed with a chilling soundtrack plump full of suspense. However their exploration of this familiar tale avoids what many Australians were divided on – where to point the finger of blame. The Paradise Motel's founder and songwriter Charles Bickford walks me through his band's unique take on one nightmarish event in our history that never really seemed to go away. "The reason I wanted to make this record is to address the question of what's important to us as Australians and why do we react to things the way we do." He begins. "The second reason is that I've always been interested in examining individuals' lives when they're confronted with extreme experiences. When I put all these ideas together I was very conscious of letting the decision-making process stay in the hands of the judge and jury and avoid accusations of any kind."

The band, after a long hiatus spent living in England, has cruised back into the local landscape, asserting themselves firmly with a set of powerful impressions on Australian Ghost Story. Charles recalls his welcome reconnection to music. "When I came back to Australia a couple of years ago, I found something in me that had been slumbering for so long was suddenly awake again. Then it was just a question of talking to the others in the band and I think we all agreed there was some unfinished business." Yet recording together again after an eleven year gap, meant finding the right environment to fully capture The Paradise Motel's renewed fervour. Charles explains. "The idea for the record and the period in which we recorded it was such a short space of time, so it was really important for us to get the mood right. We chose a place in Warburton (rural Victoria) - which was just a barn really - because it was a very beautiful, spooky and still place which we thought suited the material."

Although the album was Charles's pet, it also proved to have a healthy uniting factor for the group. He continues. "Paradise Motel is such a collaborative thing, I really just had this loose idea about a group of stories involving people who were perhaps linked by that event and everyone responded to the idea - and responded musically which was brilliant. The whole thing seemed to assert itself, if you like, and we didn't have to really talk about it that much." He adds. "Plus it was a really tough time for the band with our friend passing away." The Paradise Motel's original drummer, Damien Hill, died at the end of 2008. "That helped propel us into this project I think." He adds further. "There was definitely an energy in the band that had to be harnessed, but I wouldn't really want to examine it much more closely than that."

Although a new currently shelved record had been completed prior to Australian Ghost Story, Bickford explains he was moved to get a long-held interest in the story of Azaria out of his system. "I've been thinking about making a record based on this story for a very long time - Probably 12, 13 years - and the material came together I guess in a very short period because it had already been developing in the back of my mind." Charles remembers. "The event took place in 1980 and it had seared itself into my childhood memory, even though I didn't understand the subtleties of what was going on, all I knew was this terrible thing happened and everyone was talking about it."

Bickford approached his version of the events from a spectral observer's angle. There are references to recorded events, but mostly his songs etch out perspectives from those indirectly involved. "I was interested in the lives of the characters around the central event, and the paranoia Australians tended to harbour towards outsiders." The Chamberlains belonged to a relatively small religious denomination, making them in effect outsiders to the particularly singular faith most Australians of the day grew up with. "With the track Stations Of The Cross, I did touch on the religious aspect of her story - I think religion is something that can certainly feed our suspicions - but also I was interested in our childlike tendency to always be wondering what's actually lurking in the scrub, and when it does emerge will it be a little bit different from us."

The Chamberlain story is handled with great care through Bickford's words, but the album takes the listener much further than the central psychodrama. It also holds a mirror up to Australia, circa the 1980s. "I was trying to portray a nation that seemed to be buzzing, yet slumbering at the same time." He pauses for thought, "(It was) sure of itself but seemingly without a specific identity." To maintain the objectivity important to critiquing bygone events, Charles resisted engaging in too much fact finding about the case details to avoid slipping into a potential narrative. "I kept a journal over a few years and picked out just little bits of information that I thought were interesting, but the last thing I wanted to do was sit at the computer and google the facts." He adds. "I just tried to remember the event from my childhood and rely on that alone to inform the songs. I mean a lot of the record is about an imaginary life as well - like the possibilities had things turned out differently."

In some ways, it's hard to believe nobody in Australian music has attempted an album based on such a powerful story, though its artistic potential didn't escape The Paradise Motel, Charles offers. "Well it is a very attractive subject. It basically divided the whole nation, and outside of the sporting field that is a rarity in Australia." Charles explains further. "Look at Sidney Nolan's paintings of Ned Kelly and the bush rangers - they have become so iconic because, like the Chamberlain case, there's a sinister element but they're also very compelling."

It could be argued that leading up her conviction, Lindy Chamberlain was reduced to the status of a savage animal herself. She made the mistake of not openly grieving on camera for Azaria, sparking a media obsession with emotional response as the only true indicator of guilt or innocence. Perhaps a few tears could have spared Lindy years of trauma? Charles responds. "The image of a lost child is a very strong one in any culture. Seemingly in the backs of people's minds were thoughts of 'what if it was my baby' and 'I certainly wouldn't have reacted like she did.'" He adds. "So the story has continued to remain compelling, I think, because the threat hasn't really gone away. There's always that chance another child could fall victim to one of these animals."

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Click to watch:

THE PARADISE MOTEL - Brown Snake (video)
(from Australian Ghost Story)

First Aid Kit interview (2010)

PREPARED TO HEAL

With a family in full support of their career and an endorsement from Fever Ray's Karin, Stockholm's First Aid Kit are primed to break-through - minus the hype usually reserved for adolescent musical acts. Sisters Klara and Johanna Soderberg after learning the basics of music from their manager father, developed their own somber anti-folk catalogue. One viral video and an EP (Drunken Trees) in the bag, along with comparisons to Coco Rosie pointed sharply towards a very bright future.

Following their debut album - The Big Black & The Blue – global tour plans, including Australia, were underway. Exciting yes, but elder sister by two years Johanna's just happy to be anywhere outside of Europe. "I haven't heard anything about Australia so I'm excited to check it out." Johanna beams, "We just did a tour of the US and although we played to a lot of people who didn't know us, it went really well. I think they loved it more than European audiences in fact." Johanna exclaims, "European's are a lot more reserved and so it is harder to know if they are really into you." She claims, "But the US was the best, man. We're kind of obsessed with American culture and to play there was a dream come true. But who knows maybe when we come to Australia we will get obsessed with that and it will be even better than America."

Before 2007's debut EP, the sisters had long been practicing harmonies for fun resulting in an eerie a-likeness to their voices. "We'd go round the house singing together all the time, so I suppose subconsciously we have adapted to each others voices." Johanna offers. "Klara started writing the songs, but I would do harmonies with her and work out the melodies and that's how we always write now." Initially First Aid Kit's exposure was entirely internet-based and following a filmed performance of Fleet Foxes' Tiger Mountain Peasant Song. "After that, we put some demos up on MySpace, and a lot of offers started coming through from record labels wanting to sign us."

Karin Dreijer-Andersson (The Knife/Fever Ray), made contact with the girls through their mother who met while dropping their respective kids off at school. Karin's own label Rabid soon became First Aid Kit's home. "We were big fans of Karin's work so it was a really big deal for us when she asked us to be on her label." Johanna explains, "She let us do everything the way we wanted to, and I don't think any other label would allow new acts like us have complete control over our music. Also Karin gave us a lot of advice on the business side of it, because we were being offered a lot of deals. She's become our mentor and role model over the last couple of years because she does everything on her own terms and is a very strong woman."
 

Along with Karin, Klara and Johanna's immediate family have taken an active role in helping the girls maintain their burgeoning music career. "Our father comes on tour with us as a tour manager and sound engineer, our mother works from home answering e-mails that kind of thing. Plus our brother, whose six years old, plays drums but he's only learning so he won't be touring with us obviously," she laughs. So everyone in my family is really involved with First Aid Kit, and we wouldn't be where we are without their support."

The delicate music First Aid Kit play points toward a harmonious union, perhaps unlike many siblings share and Johanna's keen to enforce there's no cattiness with these sisters. "We never fight at all really because I think we kind of see things the same way." She confirms. "Maybe we might disagree over songs or songwriting - sometimes if we don't know where the songs are going, we might fight about what direction to take them in, you know, but we get along fine generally coz I think we trust each others judgment."

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Click to watch:

FIRST AID KIT - In The Morning (video)

Flying Scribble interview (2010)

Percussionist Gray Taylor and singer/keyboardist Louise Terry formed Flying Scribble as a vehicle for the Melbourne based girls' love of make-it-up-as-you-go music. The emphasis is on happy accidents, atmosphere and mood created through mixing ethereal singing with clatter-percussion. Their signature move is to take the bare basics and push it as far as their 'no rules' approach will go, which leads to engaging and surprising melodies fighting for supremacy against some wicked crunching beats.

Today as the girls are driving back from Adelaide, a not-very-shy Gray Taylor shares a peak into the world of Flying Scribble starting with their perfect long-drive soundtrack. "All we've been listening to is '50s and '60s do-wop ladies as we're pinging along the highway." She laughs. "Listening to that music is just like going to a different time and place." Off the road, it's clear this duo is feasting on some much wilder fruits if their debut album – We Are Chameleon - is any indication.  "I listen mostly to programmed beats and vocal stuff, but Louise and I have really broad tastes." Gray asserts. "But I don't think our music is really any reflection of what we listen to. It's far too weird!"
 

Louise and Gray have thrown out the book on how bands usually operate. Trialling bizarre recording techniques and often employing a first-take approach is Flying Scribble's ideal way to create. "Sometimes Louise and I don't see each other for weeks." Gray continues. "It's kind of like we're both enrolled in our own universities and we just meet up to swap ideas, so we're really free to explore our individual contributions to the music." For the sessions that produced We Are Chameleon, intent on getting her drum sound right, Gray explains she even put the dog out of its home in an effort to find the right result. "I use an electronic drum kit, which has this very clean sound, so I needed something to offset that." She adds. "I got these old tweeters and isolated them in the dog kennel with an amp, and covered them in a blanket to get that crunchy, rougher sound you hear in our album." The question is if the tweeters went in the kennel… where did the woofers go? "The woofers went into the elevator shaft at my warehouse actually." Gray confirms, "You can kind of hear the bass-y sound I recorded in there way down in the mix, but I fried the amplifier in the end, so it wasn't a complete success."

The process of creation it seems is equal too, or even more important than the result for Gray. "I think there is an organic hap-hazardness in our sound that isn't forced or faked because sometimes I just go fuck it, I'm not doing it again – the first take will have to do, I don't care if it's not perfect or whatever." She exclaims. "The world needs more imperfections because you know everyone's obsessed with photoshopped finishes." Gray's words are misleading in that the work is by no means sloppy. In fact, her fascination with discovery and passion for her instrument is far from lazy. "I've got a collection of really beautiful old drums ranging from the '20s to the '40s. My favourite snare drum's called a Radio King which dates back to 1940 – I call him grandpa." Gray laughs, "He (grandpa) really taught me how to ride a horse. I got him and was like, oh I have a cool drum now, and then I hit him and he went 'is that all you got?'… I had to really work hard for him."

The mixing on Flying Scribble's debut album was done by Cornel Wilczek – who's better known as Qua. Gray describes why he was the right man for the task. "He was perfect for us as a producer because he comes from that same world of organic/electronic experimentation." She adds. "I actually played drums on his record, but how we met was I jumped on stage with him at a party two years ago and I said; I'm usually pretty monogamous, but if you ask nicely I'll play drums with you." She laughs. "He was really into the idea and before I knew it I had volunteered."

The band can take or leave elaborate stage presentation; "We're really lucky because Flying Scribble is kind of daydream music where you get to make your own mind films while we make the soundtrack." Gray claims. However the album launch is billed as an audio/visual spectacle. True to form though, Gray is happiest not knowing what to expect herself. "This tour coming up will be the first time we have attempted to co-ordinate our music with live visuals, so have no idea how that will go." She adds. "We are having a lady improvise lights and projections and that sort of thing while we play, but I like to keep myself in the dark about it so that when it happens I'm surprised by it." She grins, adding. "Everything's more fun when it's unexpected I think."

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Charles Haddon (Ou Est Le Swimming Pool) interview 2010

News of Charles's death at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium has just broken as I write this. I was lucky enough to interview him for the band's first Australian tour due to take place in October. Despite much of the interview's irrelevance in terms of future activity - I wanted to share the results of one of Charles's last promo engagements for fans who would obviously be shocked, as I am, by the loss of a such a young talent who had so much potential.

Charles Haddon

If you like your electro-pop big and brassy with '80s-centric instant hooks, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool (translated as: Where Is The Swimming Pool?) won't have escaped your radar. Although emerging from the same area of London that produced Pet Shop Boys, this is a mere coincidence for the band, who despite sharing a musical kinship with the Pets', claim no formal knowledge of them. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool's massively popular debut single Dance The Way I Feel, along with a tour opening for La Roux, has earned them a spot on this years Parklife festival alongside dance heavy weights Dan Black, Bag Raiders, Groove Armada and Missy Elliott to name a few.

The band's mouthpiece, Charles Haddon along with his splendid bouffant of hair, is in a talkative mood on the eve of his band's first visit. What are we in for though, I wonder after a trawl through group's online video diary, which shows a group of lads fully in touch with their mischievous sides? "You've gotta do it haven't you" Charles laughs, "There's so many bands around who take it all very seriously, but we've already got up to a fair bit of trouble." Now that Oasis have split the position of 'showing off and being arrogant' is vacant, so perhaps they're the ones fill it? "There are a lot of record companies who won't touch a band who have any kind of reputation for bad behaviour, they just want somebody who's going to turn up and stand on stage and play and then go back to their hotel room and eat fruit." Charles jokes, "But we're actually very proud that we can at least enjoy ourselves as well as get the work done."

It's been just over a year since Ou Est Le Swimming Pool formed in Camden, (North London). Charles recalls the early days of the band and how it could've been a totally different sound that launched them. "Me and Joe (Hutchinson) were doing completely different music in the start. Joe was right into hip hop for example". Charles explains, "He and I were sharing a flat and had all these music projects happening – one of those became Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – so when that started to take off, we dropped all the other stuff we were doing and focused on this." Not a bad move either, the bands debut single, Dance The Way I Feel enjoyed a thorough remixing by Armand Van Helden and instantly put it's creators on the map. Charles says of the bands overnight success on the back of the debut single; "I get that it can be hard to follow up a first rush like that one, but I believe we have plenty of great music." He says, "I mean Dance The Way I Feel was chosen by the record label to be released in Australia ahead of our tour, but I think we have a pretty solid bunch of songs easily as good as that. I'm pretty confident we can that follow up for sure."

Charles claims he knew very early on he wanted to pursue music as a career. He continues, "At the age of about 13 I realised that I wanted to do music, and unfortunately my school work was crippled by that decision." He laughs, "I was actually a scholar when I was younger, but then I ended up getting expelled because I was bunking off all the time. It was good in a way though because I immediately moved to London and started making things happen, wasting no time really." Last year the band embarked on their first tour as opening act for La Roux. It allowed them, as Charles points out, a chance to sharpen up their sound for the inevitable headline shows. "Yeah, La Roux gave us that important live exposure, and allowed us to work out a strong set list of what to actually play in our shows - because we've got about 40 songs written for the first album - and it's hard to pick just seven or eight. I'd leave home thinking we had a perfect set list, but after the first night we ended up changing, like three, so it was a great learning curve for us."
 

Similar to La Roux, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool have been saddled with the typical '80s revival tag, but Charles reckons working with vintage equipment, "It's all we could afford", has much more to do with their sound than revivalism. "I'm not much of an '80s fan, the only reason we sound the way we do is because our synths are old 808s and our drum machine which we were using, initially came from the '80s. The hip hop stuff that Joe and I were into didn't work at with the equipment we were using so we altered our sound to fit with what we had to work with." On the subject of comparisons, he continues. "When we started we were compared to Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys but the only Pet Shop Boys song I knew was Go West because it had been on an advert in England for custard, so I had a pretty skewed idea about what people were hearing in our music." He laughs.

Like so many people of his generation, Charles' earliest musical love was the pop star's pop star; take a bow, the king. "Michael Jackson's History, was the first album I had as a kid," Charles says proudly."I remember my family were moving house and we didn't have anywhere to live for a couple of weeks so we just drove around England, going to sea side towns and stuff, and I can't remember how old I was but I think I cried if we didn't listen to Michael Jackson and my poor parents must have hated him by the end of that trip, because it was two solid weeks of the best of Michael Jackson." They've been wrongly tagged '80s revival, had a false start as a hip hop band and one of them has Jacko fixation, but what do Ou Est Le Swimming Pool all agree can go on the all important tour bus stereo?

"We all have one major love which is a '70s reggae band called Culture – they are absolutely ridiculous, I mean it's just really chilled out songs about smoking pot." Charles exclaims "After seven hours in our van on the road, we need something to calm us down otherwise everyone tends to get a bit agitated." Would Michael Jackson's History revisited cause a few tempers to rise, I wonder? "I think that album was thrown out by my parents actually, or maybe even driven over a few times." Charles smiles, "Thanks for reminding me, now I'm gonna have to get a new one."

As a draw card at this year's Parklife festival, I ask who Charles and his band are most keen on whooping it up with. "I'm quite looking forward to Dan Black. We've played several gigs with him before, but we haven't seen him for a while and he's going really well now. He's such a nice guy too, he even let us get up on stage and dance with him a couple of times." Charles continues, "And, now I've said this before, but I'm definitely going to be best friends with Missy Elliott… She doesn't know it yet but by the time that festival finishes, no by day two, she's going to love us and I reckon we're going to be riding in her limo and her private jet." He reasons, "Plus she's going to pay for everything so we can just go nuts." Charles laughs adding, "If there's one thing we've got as a band its enough confidence and cockiness to pull this off!"

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I think this interview shows clearly that Charles had a fun loving, boisterous side to him. It's  so sad that his darker side was the stronger. A lovely guy who leaves a short-lived but exciting legacy in the dance music scene.

Click to watch:

OU EST LE SWIMMING POOL - Dance The Way I Feel (video)

Skye Edwards (Morcheeba) interview (2010)

FIZZY LOGIC

After fading interest in the UK's trip-hop explosion in the '90s, Morcheeba, one of the scene's biggest success stories split from their lead singer Skye Edwards in 2003. The band's core, brothers Ross and Paul Godfrey, carried on into the '00s with a revolving door of replacements only to flounder with two underachieving non-Skye albums. It seems they underestimated the popularity of Edwards among fans, but now seven years on, the original line-up are back together with a return-to-form new album to boot. Blood Like Lemonade, has the dark and dreamy quality of the bands' previous best works and Skye, over the phone in pre-launch mode, feels Morcheeba may have their most definitive set of songs to date.

"Well it does feel that way to me," She asserts, "I mean, I do love Big Calm and Who Can You Trust… While Fragments Of Freedom, I do like fragments of, but with this one I am really happy with every song on there so it could well be our ultimate record." After a fleeting mainstream cross-over, the decision was made to return to the sound fans early on identified with on the reunion album. "The first song we wrote together after deciding to make another album was Crimson, which I'm really proud of." Skye beams, "I think it's one of our darkest moments in Morcheeba so far." Listening to Blood Like Lemonade, it's clear that the nonsense bubblegum pop of Rome Wasn't Built In A Day, is long gone. Back in 2000, that song earned Morcheeba its greatest success in terms of sales, while simultaneously pissing off their core fanbase. "With Rome, basically we wanted to get on the radio," Skye admits, sounding a little relieved to put some context into the band's biggest commercial hit, and move away from trip-hop. "We wanted to have a song I guess that people could wave their arms around to at the shows, but at the time I really wasn't very happy about it." She adds, "It's like the way R.E.M. is about Shiny Happy People I think" Skye laughs, "They kind of buried that song, but for us when we go out and play Rome and people sing along to every word of it, I kind of get why you have to make your peace with these things."

Edwards' early dissatisfaction with the song was founded in what she saw as a step backwards personally. "It took me to a different place vocally - at least as far as what I'd done in Morcheeba goes." Pre-Morcheeba, Skye was as a backing vocalist in a funk/pop covers band – something she wasn't keen to re-visit as a performer. "I used to have to sing in this high girly pitch which I wasn't terribly comfortable doing, so when Morcheeba came along it was a relief to be able to use my natural lower register and make less happy-clappy sort of stuff."

Early singles, Trigger Hippie and Tape Loop, made Morcheeba strong contenders in the mid-'90s UK trip-hop scene. Skye even had a 'hangin' with Martina Topley-Bird in the smoking section' vibe. She was a little greener than her peers, but when the second album Big Calm arrived in 1998, Edwards and Morcheeba managed to out-perform most other artists in their genre. It was then the brothers decided to change tact and maximize on the band's commercial clout. 2000's Fragments of Freedom enjoyed a rapid rise in the charts both in the UK and Australia, only to be followed by an equally rapid fall. Skye looks back at their break-out album and its follow-up, Charango. "The songs on Fragments are obviously quite different to anything else we did." She reasons, "The best thing I can say now is that it's a very well produced and well put together record, but I think you can tell Charango sounds like a much more natural follow up to Big Calm." The 2002 album Charango was Skye's last with the Godfrey brothers before now. It hinted at a slinkier, more direct sound and won back a lot of the group's fans who'd baulked at Fragments, yet the group was on thin ice within their ranks and parted ways the following year. When asked if the singer missed working with the Godfrey brothers, she's quick to respond.

"No not really." Skye pauses before she allows a giggle to escape, "It was like the end of a relationship, and you move on and get the new boyfriend – which was, in my case, a new producer. I really enjoyed doing my solo stuff and writing my own lyrics, so I didn't miss them, no." Skye released two original albums between '06 and '09 while Morcheeba carried on with various part-time lead singers. Both parties achieved only limited success. During the separation, Edwards claims she wasn't at all keen on hearing her replacements. "No, it was kind of like seeing your ex-husband with his new girlfriend." She laughs, "I didn't really want to know, however I did hear some of (2008 album) Dive Deep because they actually e-mailed me and asked if I'd like to sing on a couple of the songs, but it just felt a little bit weird." Skye adds, "I won't say I was trying to avoid them altogether but I wasn't exactly seeking them out either."

It seems as if fans may have played a role in getting Skye back with the band, she recalls. "I was getting messages on mySpace from people saying they'd gone to see Morcheeba live and that it wasn't the same without me, which was kind of nice." A chance meeting with Ross after seven years apart developed naturally into a 'why not give it one more go' conversation. Within two months of that agreement Morcheeba had written their first album with Skye since 2002. "Now here we are back again, doing the more down tempo stuff we were known for and with a better range of songs I think." Skye interjects, "It feels like now when we go to do our live shows, we've got a nice cross section of upbeat tracks and songs to get stoned to as well." Edwards speaks emphatically about singing the new, meatier subject matter on Blood Like Lemonade live.

"We haven't done that many shows for this album yet – we're still waiting until the tour kicks off properly - but at the moment I absolutely love singing Crimson. The woman in the song is really psychotic, she tries to kill her married lover by running him off the road, but it's quite fun to be her voice." Skye continues, "There are actually a few songs on this album which would probably qualify it as a sort of 'serial killer record'." She laughs, "You've got Recipe For Disaster, where the woman kills her boyfriend because he's always drunk, and Blood Like Lemonade which is about a vigilante priest who drinks the blood of his victims." I ask Skye if she realises that she's made a Nick Cave album, "Well if Nick Cave was singing Blood Like Lemonade, I think the dark themes would be really obvious, but because it's my gentle vocals on there you're not really going to notice it so much." Skye concludes, laughing. "I can get away with all this carnage because I sound so polite, you see."

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click to watch:

MORCHEEBA - Even Though: video

Miami Horror interview (2010)

DANCING IN THE DARK

Miami Horror mastermind Benjamin Plant's sideline in production (Gameboy/Gamegirl) and continual on-point remixes (Faker, Midnight Juggernauts, Stardust) pushed the Melbourne based artists profile up to guaranteed go-to guy for hit potential. Yet in the fickle dance music world he has been careful to stay one step ahead of the fads, and characteristically took his sweet time building up his own cannon of songs before choosing that all important right moment to unleash Miami Horror – the band and a debut album, Illumination. A widespread club compilation fixture and overseas interest were already in place even before he dropped the monster singles; Don't Be On With Her and Sometimes.

Serious introductions over, and seeing as Robert Plant falls within the realm of surprising influences for the Miami Horror, it seems fitting to start with Ben's curious name-sake. "I do appreciate the 'Plant and Led Zeppelin its true." Ben begins, "Most of my tastes are prog rock, or prog anything really." "Actually I should tell you, the Plant side of my family have this gene that makes everybody turn out exactly the same." He laughs. "I was recently looking at these old photos of my grandfather and he looked exactly like my father does now, and so I kind of know what I'll look like already when I'm older." What, I press on, does the future hold for Ben in the looks department? "Well much like Robert Plant, the men in my family don't age well at all." He sighs. His Miami Horror project so far has produced naught but blistering techno anthems. So just what is Ben hearing in these big-haired dinosaurs that most of us aren't? "I like that those bands never had conventional song structure. They always had these big elaborate parts that would only occur one time and then you'd have a second, and a third completely different build-up. Those bands never repeated themselves in their songs."

Talk of prog bands and unlikely links to techno turns to German rave act Scooter and his abhorrent cover of Supertramp's Logical Song. Ben reveals, "We actually covered that as well for Triple J's Like A Version, but I was against the idea at first because of Scooter's version. I felt it was kind spoiled for good, but in the end we just tried to keep it nice and simple… and nothing like Scooter." Don't expect to Miami Horror's Supertramp homage in their live set though – instead they've opted for the Manfred Mann classic Blinded By The Light to wrap up on. "I think my voice is better suited to that one and besides there's just something magical about it." Ben laughs.

After a discussing Miami Horror's blinding live set last year at the Five Burroughs Festival, Ben describes how his studio creations needed a full re-jig for a full band if the songs were going to work in concert. "The music was so programmed on my EP (Bravado) and it just seemed really retarded to try and play like that as live as a band so when it came to recording this album, we decided to write in a way that would suit a band more. It just wouldn't have made sense to do it any other way." The development of Miami Horror as a group began after Ben's part-time musical partnerships grew into crucial collaborations. He explains. "Josh (Moriarty - guitar) wrote Don't Be On With Her and Dan (Whitechurch - keys) wrote the lyrics for Sometimes, and so basically I went from doing DJ sets in bad clubs to writing with those guys and finally getting a full time drummer, in the process becoming an actual band. It's very much a collaborative effort all the way now." Many of the words on Illumination were written by the band because of Ben's detachment as the tireless studio boffin, he clams. "Literally for like 12 hours a day over the last year I've been in the studio, and when I'm not doing that we're touring, so I didn't exactly have a lot to say I guess. I wasn't so much as reading a book during the time."

Miami Horror's name has been bandied around for the best part of three years. But early top rated remixes, including Faker's This Heart Attack and Tegan and Sarah's Walking With A Ghost, and an original debut EP, have only now given way to a long-time-coming album. Ben discusses. "Some stuff has been hanging around for about six years waiting for me to finish the album, but they've gone through many changes along the way. I think a lot has been made of how long this has taken to finish, but over half of it was written in the last 12 months or so."

Although his debut album was still a long way off, it hadn't marred Ben's strong support over the past year. Tours with Lily Allen and festival billings (in the 'big words' section) at Splendour, Groovin' The Moo and Good Vibrations landed at his feet. All that's left to do now for Miami Horror is keep riding the wave, surely? :"Well, I feel like I can relax a bit now it's (Illumination) finished, but we're heading off to the US on the 24th (August) so I'm sure that prove to be a bit of a distraction." He continues, "It's kind of a catch up at this stage, because although the album's still new I'm already into a bunch of different stuff." Ben adds, "I'm interested in touring the band internationally quite a bit because I think we have a lot of overseas influences. I purposely didn't want us to sound too Australian, but rather something else that I won't name…" He cackles mysteriously, "It was a case of if it doesn't work here, then maybe we would be big in Europe or at least be able to tour there if it completely stiffs in Australia."

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Click to watch:

MIAMI HORROR - Sometimes: video

Jason Kingshott (Glide) interview (2010)

FLYING TOO HIGH

When Sydney band Glide called it a day in 2000, it was in the most sombre of situations. Their last concert together was at a wake for the friends and family of their singer, William Arthur, who died suddenly and mysteriously towards the end of '99. His death at 34 spelled Glide's end after a ten year run as one of Australia's most endearing shoe-gaze acts but now another decade has passed, the band are on a timely mission to remind us what we lost in Arthur - a songwriter of great stead. Glide's complete and much sort after catalogue is to be reissued through iTunes, coinciding with a two date live performance, which will see Youth Group's Toby Martin – a long time fan – step into Arthur's shoes. He will be joined by the surviving Glide line-up, bassist Marc Lynch, guitarists Andy Kelly and Tim Scott and drummer Jason Kingshott in celebration of William's work at the East Brunswick Club. I catch up with Jason Kingshott today as preparations mount and the buzz builds for what promises to be a very memorable night.
 

"I think the early to mid '90s was a pretty exciting time for music, especially in Australia." Jason begins, "That said, I always though Glide had a very international sound. We had a lot of fans in New Zealand and England and the overseas influences were strong in our music, and in a way I think our potential wasn't really picked up on at the time because we weren't really 'typically Australian'. I think we were up there with our contemporaries though." Many agreed, and Glide, although never reaching mainstream success, bashed out a solid underground niche for themselves alongside the likes of Clouds and Smudge. Their breakthrough came when two overseas contemporaries at their peak, Blur and Ride, requested Glide as a support on their respective Aussie tours. A chance to meet their musical idols and even match them in concert was too good to pass up, Jason recalls. "You don't get cocky about it, but we thought it makes sense that those bands would want our band to open for them. It wasn't intimidating because we felt we had a kinship with them and when it came to performing, we also had that wall of noise thing going on and were just as able to fill those big venues with our own sound too."

After stumbling upon internet forums discussing Glide, many fans up til now have seemingly been swapping the bands rarities in mp3 format. Actual CD reissues were never really discussed, Jason explains, as Glide's complete recordings are finally available in digital glory. "I just think iTunes is a more immediate way for people to get hold of the music, and a lot of our older fans will already have the CDs so there wouldn't be any need for physical releases. Also doing it this way means people can fill the gaps in their collection and get songs that were previously only out on B-sides or EPs."  With just two reunion shows and Glide's reissues on iTunes only, it all seems a little understated. Perhaps as Jason pointed out their appeal was quite marginal  in Australia and a full fledge re-emergence would create confusion. A small backlash has inevitably occurred, but it's difficult to fault Glide's reasoning. Jason responds, "When the press release first came out there were some people saying, it's wrong and this sends the wrong message or whatever but I honestly don't care about that." He ensures, "It (Glide) was a big part of our lives and also why not celebrate William's skill as an artist. Further more we have the full support of his family for these shows so I am completely at peace with our decision to go through with this because we're doing it for the right reasons."

I recall The Triffids reunion/tribute shows back in early '09 as Jason speaks, and the addition of Toby Martin as one of the late David McComb's stand-ins. As a long time fan of Glide, Martin once again is set to re-visit his from-fan-to-conduit role. Kingshott says on how Toby came to be involved. "We were already acquainted through friends in the music community, but the turning point came after I had a conversation with Andy a few months ago along the lines of wouldn't it be great to play together again and get Toby to front it." He exclaims, "Being that its 20 years since we started the band, and ten since we performed William's tribute, something just clicked and Andy actually told me he'd been thinking about the exact same thing." He adds, "The fact that we both had been thinking it suddenly meant it could be tangible and before we knew it the whole thing started to come together. Plus it turned out Toby was a big fan of William's music."

Kingshott on his Glide band mates, believes making music was the glue in their friendships. He further describes. "Andy and I still would get together for drinks and so forth but there was always that other side to our friendship not really being indulged - making music – and it was pretty hard to ignore, so when things started coming together with Toby we already knew we could see it through properly." Jason continues, "Toby has been so committed too, and he can even get those bizarre chords that William came up with. Everyone's been playing so well in rehearsals but even though it's harder for Toby because he's following an existing blueprint in a way, he really gets it."

The man whose untimely death all this is in response to, William Arthur must have had quite an impact on his band mates. To revisit all of his work and relive music they made together would surely carry with it a painful twinge for a lost mate. Jason contemplates. "It is very bizarre looking back at some songs I had shivers down my spine to be honest, particularly because they evoke so many memories for me. It definitely affects the senses." He adds, "You have to step back from yourself sometimes, which is kind of how I remember William in a way. In the early days we all loved a drink and many an after party would go on into the wee hours in these indie clubs in Sydney and Melbourne and William would always be there just taking it all in." Rumoured to be somewhat anti-social, Arthur was instead all about moderation. Jason continues, "Contrary to the belief that he would retire to his hotel room after shows, don his smoking jacket and take in a little Norman Mailer," Laughs, "William was human and needed to blow off steam as much as any of us, but he was a very creative and intellectual guy, you know, he just didn't like to dance." 

Seeing as Glide are now a full band again, the question of future projects with Toby staying on as the singer seems relevant. Jason concludes, "I gotta be honest with you that did cross my mind. I haven't spoken to the guys about it yet, but I doubt we could release anything new as Glide because that was William's band. But talking about it now makes me think that maybe the idea I had in the back of my mind wasn't so crazy after all."

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