Colin Newman of WIRE interview 2002

WIRE photo by Angel Ceballos



Blast from the Past: part two

An Interview with Colin Newman of WIRE
by Alexander Laurence

WIRE are one of the most distinctive bands of our time. Colin Newman (guitar/vocals), Bruce Gilbert (guitar), Graham Lewis (bass/vocals), and Robert Gotobed (drums) make up this enduring band that emerged at the time of the punk explosion in London in the late seventies. They released three amazing albums during this period which are still considered to be classics: Pink Flag (1977), Chairs Missing (1978), and 154 (1979).

In the early eighties, the band members pursued several solo projects, but soon after reformed as a group (now subtitled "The Beat Combo") and produced five more albums. The most distinct were The Ideal Copy (1996) and The Drill (1991). Many of the albums were heavily produced and were not well received. They soon moved on to other projects and didn't perform together for a decade.

WIRE surprisingly came back to the USA in May 2000 and played to audiences who were often too young to have ever seen them play live in the seventies or eighties. With this third version of the band (WIRE mark III), they started to play material from all their albums. Later they started releasing some singles and EPs, marking a new period for the band. This new material is faster and heavier than anything they have done in the past. People are getting into them for the first time or, like me, getting excited about a band they have loved since the late 1970s. I spoke to Colin Newman three years ago. 

They have toured and released Send (2003) since then.

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AL: I am guessing that WIRE reformed because either Graham Lewis moved back
to England or because you were being asked to do many festivals like All Tomorrow's
Parties. How did it happen exactly?Colin: No, Graham still lives in Sweden. You cannot divorce WIRE, especially
WIRE mark III, working again from a notion of appropriate timing. WIRE is a
creature of whatever time it is being conducted in. If you go back to say
1995 it would be hard to imagine how WIRE as a specific unit could have
operated at that time, the individuals are multi-modal, they are always happy
to operate with culturally appropriate artistic currency. But it would have
been hard (although not impossible) to construct a model of WIRE that could
have operated at that time (for a start it would have had to be totally
instrumental).AL: You reunited at the Meltdown around 1998, right?

Colin: Yeah. By the late 1990's things had moved on. Both Bruce and I (who are London residents) independently developed the sense that there could be a WIRE construction for that period. A specific invite came to play a show at Daniel Miller's "mini meltdown" in 1998. In the end it came to nothing, but the seeds were sown. The next year an invite came that it would have been unwise to ignore in the shape of an offer to curate an evening and headline at the Royal Festival Hall (with a reasonably sized check attached!!) This was actually a bigger show than WIRE had ever played in their own right! A 3,500 capacity, which we sold out! In order to do the show we had to tool up the band from a more or less cold start.

AL: WIRE hadn't played for about ten years.Colin: In preparation for it we made the decision that it would have been giving ourselves too much of a mountain to climb to try to make entirely new material for this one show, as the band had been effectively dormant for 10 years. So we worked through a huge list of back catalogue material to try to find -

A- the items that we could easily remember how to play and
B- items that were not so totally dependent on the "atmosphere" of the studio versions that they could sustain a new life. At this time we were really not sure if what we were doing was going to last any more than one very well paid gig.

The approach was quite simple and could be described as a stripping away, not only of extraneous musical information but also of approaches and formalities belonging to another age.AL: How did the gigs go?

Colin: The Royal Festival Hall gig went well and we were offered to play the first, Mogwai curated, All Tomorrow's Parties. There, seeds for much more were unearthed. Whereas the RFH gig, for all it's trappings, was a "museum piece" a chance for the belated and curious to see it and add it to the checklist - ATP was something else, a young audience of music fans there to watch whoever might take their fancy from the assortment on show. Their response, especially to WIRE in full flight with the accelerator on was enlightening.

ATP that year could be described as a "festival of slowness," a lot of Tortoise derived bands exploring the spaces in between the notes. So it was surprising that the effect of WIRE's fastness was visceral. Not something measured in applause and outbreaks of mad frenzy, just a sense that, to put it simply and presciently "fast is on it's way." At that point (April 2000) I personally knew that WIRE had to make new, fast material. It was just something you could feel in the room.

By that time we were also committed to a US tour. No time to develop new material but a space to hammer the museum piece into contemporary currency. WIRE were discovering a directness and urgency it had never had before.

AL: You lived in Israel off and on for the past 16 years. Was it a real
influence on you, Wire, and your solo records?

Colin: I haven't lived there, just visited. Probably not a big influence.

AL: What was the biggest WIRE single or album that charted?

Colin: No idea. I don't have any comparative sales figures plus the 70's stuff didn't sell much at the time but kept selling (and still continues to do so)

AL: What do you think of Graham Lewis' solo stuff?

Colin: You can't ask people in group's what they think of their co-members solo work!

AL: There are many references to Berlin and Germany in many WIRE songs. What is the fascination with Berlin?

Colin: WIRE made two albums in Berlin in the 1980's: The Ideal Copy, and A Bell Is A Cup. Berlin is a fascinating place.

AL: During that American tour you played a new song "The Art of Persistence." What
happened to that song?

Colin: Not a lot really. We don't play it any more. At one point I made a much darker version of it which we may revisit at some time in the future.

AL: Do you still wish to collaborate with others, new groups, musically and
producing them, or is it limited to WIRE and Malka Spigel/Immersion?

Colin: Of course. I just did a mix for a Belgian band Dead Man Ray. In fact, since "Read & Burn 01" has started to be heard, I'm starting to get more people approaching me about mixing or production.

AL: I was always wondering about the WIRE/WIR gigs around 1989/1991. What was it like performing songs off of albums like Manscape or The First Letter which were more studio based albums? And what was it like without Robert Gotobed?

Colin: In a way this was a different band dealing with a different set of circumstances. In general WIRE had very little appropriate support during the 1980's and fared rather badly under it's own advice. WIRE is never short of good ideas, however care always needs to be taken to be selective about which paths will yield well for the long term. 1980's WIRE is bitty. It is the band's least favorite version. I feel we have a much more intelligently curated strategy now.

AL: Some people think "Read & Burn 01" is much better than the last few WIRE
albums.

Colin: Absolutely. The aim of mk III WIRE is to produce items which have the power of our best work but centered in now rather than then.

AL: "Read & Burn 01" is one of the first releases on Pinkflag. Is there a plan to do any further albums or EPs?

Colin: That little 01 in the corner there should tell you what you need to know about pinkflag's future. The label started by releasing two albums in 2000 "The Third Day" (PF 1) & "It's all in the Brochure" (PF2). The former is a record of the first rehearsal for the RFH thing and the latter is a document of the show. These items were only available either at shows or through mail-order at www.posteverything.com/pinkflag. They are now out of print. We followed up with a seven inch single "twelve times you" (VPF3) based on audio recorded at the Garage in 2000. Although "Read & Burn 01" has been put into conventional distribution, it's follow up "Read & Burn 02" will not be. It will be available at the US shows. Pinkflag started as a "fan" imprint but now it becomes a record company.

AL: Could you comment on some more obscure WIRE tracks like "Harry Houdini," "Stepping Off Too Quick," "Oh No Not So (save the bullet)," or "It's the Motive?"

Colin: They are obscure. If they were any good they'd be less so...

AL: You are touring America this September. After that in Europe. What should people expect?Colin: The live show features stuff from "Read & Burn 01" & "Read & Burn 02" as well as some as yet unscheduled pieces. We did the "museum piece" show in 2000, now it's time for new stuff. We have played this set a few times in the UK and have received the strongest positive feedback we have ever received for Wire live.

AL: Many British bands refuse to tour the USA because even if they have a
high profile in the UK they are like an indie band here. Any comments?

Colin: It's quite hard to make money on the road in USA so you'd better have an audience or someone to subsidize you. You can easily get sunk by the costs. WIRE have an audience (no one subsidizes us) but we have to be pretty careful otherwise we'd end up losing money and that comes out of our pockets directly! I can see therefore why someone might not want to do it.

AL: What advice do you have for younger people who want to play music?

Colin: How young are we talking here? Not young but younger, if young is teen then younger is pre-teen? I have a 13-year old son who makes his own tracks under the name of Bumpy. We have released a few of these on swim. He also recently started picking up bass guitar. We never really encouraged him but if he's interested we can help. I'm going to buy him a bass soon. Wanting isn't enough, it's about doing it. If you are interested you'll find a way to do it.

AL: What qualities do you like about music?

Colin: I can't believe anyone would ask such a question! I've spent most of my adult life being involved with what might loosely be described as "music." It's qualities are many and various and life is way to short to list them all here.

More WIRE info: www.pinkflag.com
www.posteverything.com/pinkflag

 

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