BJM News: lost gear in Brooklyn

Okay folks, so apparently a relatively tragic thing has happened tonight.In Brooklyn, before the BJM's Bowery Ballroom show, the band's van alongwith the U-haul trailer containing ALL OF THE BANDS EQUIPMENT was stolen.People I guess have hustled to get stuff together for them to play the gigtonight but that leaves Anton, Rickey, Frankie, Collin, and Dan without avehicle and most importantly, without all of their precious musicalinstruments and amplifiers.
If everyone in the area (or even not so close) keeps an eye out at pawnshops, music stores, private sellers, and even e-bay for this missing gear-it could help eventually track some of it down.

We'll try to provide a more comprehensive list eventually- but off the topof my head is this-
Gretch 1960's round badge drum kit-turquoise.-kick drum has the BJM logo on it (who knows- the robbers might be stupidenough not to take it off)
Fender Bassman 1960's blackface head-notable that the 'B' is blackend out so that it reads "assman"-this is one of the most unique and amazing sounding bass rigs, has a reallywarm, big fucked up fuzz sound when turned up.
Frankie's 1970's siverface Fender Twin amp
2 Fender Twin re-issue black face amps- the one Anton plays is notable for it's amazing huge sounding reverb.Basically it is a huge part of Anton's sound.-notable for a sticker on the front that reads "Masonic" (again, the banditsmight be stupid enough...)
Collin's Rickenbacker bass- red
Rickey's 12-string 1960's Gibson ES-335 (possibly (hopefully) he had thiswith him and it was not stolen)-amazingly beautiful guitar
Vox Cheetah- maroon-quite fucked up from years of tour abuse, but Anton's main guitar (owned byFrankie)
Vox 12-string Phantom- black and white
Vox 12-string Starstreamer- sunburst teardrop shape
Rickenbacker 12-string 360- black and white
Epiphone 6-string- sunburst
Frankie also has a Telecaster- I'm not sure the details of it.

I'm sure there was more but if people spread the word out there for thisgear and people keep their eyes open- some of it might pop up- especiallybeing sold/bought together, then there might be a chance of retrieving someof this stuff.

As of now, I do not know what will happen with the few remaining shows ofthe tour. We gotta still figure out how to get the guys home!Anyway, it's a terrible situation- a band's worst nightmare- and maybethrough everyone's love and support we can get through it and hopefullygetting some of the stuff back will lessen this huge blow that was dealt tothe Brian Jonestown Massacre.

The Flaming Lips INTERVIEW 2000

INTERVIEW WITH WAYNE COYNE



I caught up with the lead singer of The Flaming Lips on the recent American tour with Looper. Their new album, The Soft Bulletin, has received so much acclaim that it would be difficult to live up to it. But The Flaming Lips live show, witnessed by a sold out crowd at Irving Plaza April 17, was theatrical and spectacular.

Video of the band, mixed with medical footage, scenes from the The Wizard of Oz, Brazil, and many other films created a bizarre backdrop for the band. Wayne Coyne was quite a showman with using puppets, blood, and a gong as props. Performances of new songs such as "Waiting For The Superman" and "What Is The Light?" were nothing less than moving. The band handed out FM Radios so you could listen to the music on headset.

As we met Wayne at the sound check, we went into a room that curiously reeked of pot. So the discussion started about drug use.

by Alexander Laurence and Robert Lanham




******
AL: I know that you don't use drugs anymore. What do you think about drug use?

WC: I read this story about Stanley Kubrick when he was talking about his film 2001. They ask him if it was supposed to be a psychedelic experience. In 1969, people were curious about that. They asked him if he had taken LSD, or if that movie was about an LSD trip. He said "No."

The reason he gave was that most of the people he knew who had taken a lot of LSD had lost their ability to be self-critical. People take it and think that they're one with the universe. I wouldn't want to be in that cosmic state because I would never want to lose my ability to be self-critical. It's good to lose your critical opinion of others but not yourself. Who wants to be 40 years old and doing the same things you did in high school anyway?

 
AL: What do you think of older musicians like Mick Jagger who seems to be in the papers all the time for his antics?

WC: He's got to be a smart guy. The things that we read about him and the things that he really does in his real life are drastically different. He loves the idea of being on VH1's Naughty News when he has gotten some model pregnant. He calculates it out so we think of him as some sexy old rock star. In real life he's a smart guy and people around him love him and respect him. I would never want to speak for someone who has manipulated so much of what we think of him. It's great. It's what a lot of artists do. They say "I'm going to invent a character and people will love him." I don't do anything like that. I'm just me. I don't have a persona.

 
AL: But with the band gaining popularity, and The Soft Bulletin getting so much positive response, does that allow you to hang out with Madonna, and have sex with models?

WC: No. We used to pursue that stuff more in like 1992, when we first started hanging around with celebrities. It's really exciting the first time you're in a room and someone like Perry Farrell walks in.

By the time we ran into Madonna, we were playing with The Red Hot Chili Peppers in London. Madonna came to see them. We were standing on the side of the stage watching the Chili Peppers waiting for the night to be over. By this time we had seem Flea naked about five times. We were bored. All of a sudden these bodyguards came up and there was a woman in there somewhere. I was thinking what the fuck is this? And then Madonna really sat down right next to me and all the bodyguards stood around her. I looked and thought "That's Madonna." By then I didn't really care. I realized that I was past being excited by anything. I mean we were on The David Letterman show and met Paul McCartney and David Gilmour. By the tenth person, you go home and say to your brother "Hey, I met Paul McCartney!" And he's like "Whatever!" It has no value. You see people at the ATM in New York, and they say "Hey, I saw you on Letterman last night, you guys must be famous?" Well, famous for you anyway.

 
RL: Is The Soft Bulletin your most successful album to date?

WC: No. "She Don't Use Jelly" off of Transmission has still sold more. But as this year goes on, I'm sure that The Soft Bulletin will do better. When we were doing it, we thought that it would be the end of us. It was so elaborate and "out there." It's more of a work of art than anything we have done is. We isolated ourselves and said "Let's make music the way we want to do it." With our past records we would occasionally look out and see what the market was doing commercially. With The Soft Bulletin, we figured whatever happens happens. It was liberating in some ways but at the end of the day you think "What are we going to do now?"

We did a show at SxSW around the time of the release and we didn't know what the reaction was going to be. But even during the show we knew that people were going to accept it. It usually takes us so long to do records. Three of four songs would go out and we would here feedback. First they would feel shock. But then a week later they would say "But now I love it." They were shocked but they didn't know what that shock was in the beginning.

At SxSW we felt the same thing. The shock happened and then we escaped out of town. But this time, all this other stuff happened, like it was named record of the year in NME and it was on the top ten list for a hundred magazines. We have become so thick-skinned over the years. You're so used to people hating what you do, that you become numb to it. The thick skin that protects you from the bad stuff deflects the good stuff as well. People come up to me and say "Well, you and Brian Wilson..." Whether the work is good and important, that's for other people to decide. When artists starts deciding what they're doing is important, they start sounding like idiots, like Billy Corgan or something.

 
AL: What is the connection with Mercury Rev? The Soft Bulletin and Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs were recorded at the same time with the same producer. Were they an influence?

WC: Totally. Me and Jonathan have a lot of similar things we're trying to do. I think that honestly when we were doing these records, Jonathan was thinking "I'm completely going into outer space and doing my own thing." We both probably thought that we were going into different and opposite directions. In the end it turned out we were doing very similar things.

It makes sense since we were in the studio at the same time with Dave Fridmann. There were times when we were pulling our gear out at ten o'clock one night, and Mercury Rev would be there in the morning the next day. Dave Fridmann would be at one session to the next. Whatever miraculous things we would stumble upon, whoever came in next would benefit from it. Most of it was technical stuff, because ideas for one band rarely work for another. How to get these sounds and these songs to combine with these ideas. We would come into the studio and Dave would say "Fellas, you know that thing we were trying to do and couldn't do? I found a way to do it." That was the process of making those records. But idea-wise, you can't translate that over from one band to another. Some bands try to do what was on their last record, and those are their own ideas, and they fail. You never know whether an influence is going to be a good or a bad thing. We have so many ideas of what we want to do, that we pursue them all and sort them out later.

 
RL: Are there any current influences? Are there any records that you are listening to now?

WC: I listen to everything now. I bring about fifty CDs along when I go on tour. After a week I'm sick of those. I listen to everything from classical to jazz, from old to new, from techno to folk rock . . . everything. I don't have any area where I won't go anymore.

Influences are weird. There are things that I hear that are definitely exciting. My biggest influences are my own experiences and things that have impact on me which I can put into something that becomes poetic or lyrical. Instead of talking to you right now, I would rather put some words and sounds together that move you.

 
AL: What do you think about bands who use a lot of techno gear and computers versus bands who play all the instruments live? I ask because you use backing tapes in your live show.

WC: There are people who say if there aren't real musicians playing, it sucks, and other people who think that real musicians are old-fashioned. I just sit in the middle and I think that I have no stance either way. If it's good, let's have it. People want to restrict you because they have this idea how music should be presented. I'm sure that the greasers in the late 1950s were bummed out when they stopped having the sock hops every Saturday night. Evolution moves on. It's fine to gravitate towards things that you like. Those things don't have any intrinsic meaning. People give meaning to a longhaired guy playing an E chord. To me it's no big deal. It's what they do. People have asked me "Is the guitar dead?" And I say an instrument is never dead or alive, the people playing them are. People who have too much time analyzing their record collections are the only people who think of these things. We have noticed with our live shows that they don't even notice that we're doing something weird. They just think that this is a great show.

 
AL: Do you like these new shows more than the shows you did ten years ago when there were more people in the band? Not having to play guitar allows you to be more of a showman.

WC: I'm a horrible singer. And I'm even worse when I have to play the guitar. To me, I like it much better now. I don't know how people can do both. They are talented and should be applauded. I'm not one of them. I'm more entertaining and focused when I don't have to play the guitar, because I'm not a very good guitar player either. There's something in my voice that people like. They let me sing. People can come to see us and I could play guitar all night and they would go "Man, I didn't come to see this." At the end of the day, they came to hear me sing, in the context of the band.

When I saw Brian Wilson play about two years ago in the Midwest. He had fifteen musicians up there and they played wonderfully but it didn't matter till he sang. Even though he couldn't sing very well, it was him and those songs that mattered. I'm saying that, not comparing myself to him. Some nights my voice is gone and I'll apologize. And they love it more because I'm trying to do things that I am not capable of doing. In some ways it doesn't matter how you get there, as long as you get there. I am a lousy singer but I have experienced moments where it can move people.

 
AL: We were just over at the Virgin Megastore and I was looking at the new Q Magazine. In this month's issue they had an article about "The 100 Crazy Acts by Rock Stars." Number 30 was the Zaireeka album [a 4-disk cd intended to be listened to simultaneously on 4 seperate boom-boxes or stereos]. It was beat out by the John Lennon and Yoko One nude picture, Jim Morrison's poetry, and I think Ginger Spice becoming a UN Ambassador among other things.

 
WC: That's regrettable, definitely. When we started Zaireeka, people were going "You got to be kidding?" I don't see it as being anything special. We had an idea for a record we wanted to pursue. We were able to do it, not because we wanted applause or attention, but because we knew it could be done and I wanted to push the possibilities of what listening could be like. So much of the responsibility goes on what you do making the record and everybody listens to them the same way. And I just wanted to force the hand both ways. That we make it differently but you have to listen to it differently as well. It is an area where new things can be done.

AL: Did the sales of boom-boxes go up after you released Zaireeka?
WC: Even as we were experimenting with the boom-boxes, we discovered ways of doing it more easily. People would go to their friends who worked at hi-fi stores and they would put them all in. I thought that the audience that got it, were the people who did get it. People who were much like ourselves, people who were in bands, or involved in music. Those are the people who are pushing the evolution one more step. It's rarely that the casual listener who really contributes in any way. It's usually people who were digging and digging and trying to find something. It's rare that an idiot wakes up without giving it any thought and says "I've invented the greatest thing ever!" Those who try harder usually find it. And we do try hard and I do go consciously into the unknown and unexpected.

 
AL: Was "Waiting for Superman" influenced by Nietzsche and his ideas about a "superman?"
WC: Unlike Nietzsche, who wanted the world to improve, I think it's already great. I don't have any complaints. I don't do art to make the world a better place. I do art cause I like it. The world is already as good as it could be. It doesn't need to be saved or improved.

AL: What about your hypothesis about love being a chemical related to the Big Bang? Have you done any further testing?

WC: I have no way to do any testing. I feel that it's a theory that may proved right or ludicrous. It's a great concept. It occurred to me that we are all made up of the same sort of things, and the most powerful thing drawing us to each other is love. People will die for or kill over love.
It's a vague observation. I'm not trying to predict the future. But as far as songs go, what a great thing to sing about. The universal revelation that love is what connects us all.

RL: Scientists are trying to re-create the Big Bang somewhere out West. They were talking about the possibly of creating a black hole if the experiment goes wrong.

WC: I don't know what people like Stephen Hawkings envision with all that mathematical jargon about how the universe folds in on itself. Some of that stuff is so abstract I can tell how it's going to have any impact on me. I sometimes wonder how much science and reality can explain each other. That's the great thing about art and ideas: some of them are based upon science, but a lot of them defy science. There's no formula for how you get to things in art. That's why it appeals to me I guess. You don't have to have any knowledge of the elements to come up with something amazing.





Alexander Laurence is a writer who lives in New York City. He has interviewed over 100 novelists, many of which are accessible through the Internet. His book reviews have appeared in The Review of Contemporary Fiction, American Book Review, East Bay Express, LA Reader, Bay Guardian, and American Book Jam. He has been the editor of Cups magazine since 1993.

Stellastarr* interview

Blast from the past: 2003: This is really the first EVER interview with Stellastarr*! Stellastarr* an interview by Alexander Laurence

Stellastarr* is a veteran band who has risen out of the new rejuvenated NYC rock scene. Their local following is dedicated and obsessive. At clubs like Mercury Lounge and Luna Lounge people have been faithfully attending their shows for several years now. They have unique sound that's part British guitar rock and part 1980s new wave.

Stellastarr* is also an intense live act. Their live shows are special because of their chaotic nature. They have just released an EP on Tiswas Records. I spoke with guitarist and lead singer Shawn Christensen recently from his home in New York City. We all look forward to the new album.

Upcoming shows:

February 7, Friday 8:30pm Bowery Ballroom (New York) w/ Apples in Stereo, The Orangers Amanda Tannen - bass/vocals Shawn Christensen- voice/guitars Arthur Kremer - drums/keys Michael Jurin - guitar/vocals

****

AL: How did you meet the other members of the band?

Shawn: Amanda, Arthur and I went to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. It was about five years ago. I studied Illustration and painting. They studied graphic design and advertising. I am from Upstate New York. Arthur is from Lithuania originally. He moved to Pennsylvania. That's where Michael is from too. Amanda is from Fairfax, Virginia. She grew up in New Jersey.

AL: What did you do musically while you were going to school?

Shawn: We has a band then. I wasn't the lead singer. Some other guy was. There was another guitarist. It was a five piece band. It was a rock band but more like grunge rock band. When we left finished in 2000, we got back together to practice. We met Michael and we asked him to join us. We played our first show that summer.

AL: Were all the songs written in the band in the past two years?

Shawn: There were some songs that I had written before we had formed Stellastar*. There was one song that I had written called "Moon Girl." I wrote "The Pulp Song." It's a live favorite. It will be coming out on the album. Most of the songs were written by all the members.

AL: How does the songwriting happen in the band?

Shawn: It happens many ways. Usually I have the format of the song and a vocal melody. We work off of that. Sometimes Michael has a riff. We will then build a song around that riff. That is the main way now how our songs get written.

AL: In some of your songs, everyone plays and sings different parts. It gets busy at the end.

Shawn: That stuff just evolved. We come up with a lot of parts and ideas and line them up in a song. Many song ideas get thrown out. For every three songs we create only one song will ever get played out live.

AL: How did the song "Like Coco" start out?

Shawn: It will be on the album. Michael came up with the opening riff and we decided to go with it. It just stuck.

AL: How did you get the name Stellastarr*?

Shawn: It's spelled as one word with two r's and an asterisk at the end. People have spelled it wrong in the past and I am just pointing this out. It needs to spelled right. We just had a big write up in the Washington Times and it was spelled completely wrong. I got the name from a girl who I went to high school with. I never met her actually. I never knew that I went to school with her. I saw her name in the papers because her boyfriend had committed suicide. I always liked the name. The asterisk is just another confusing way of spelling it.

AL: I just heard the EP and after seeing you guys live I noticed that as a live act you guys bring a lot of energy of the music. You have a lot of sound and feedback going on and you actually engage the audience and have conversations with them.

Shawn: It's a little bit more obnoxious live. It depends on the vibe of the crowd. Only shows at Don Hill's or the Luna Lounge get a little crazy. Outside of there we are more into introducing our music to people in different cities. If there is a great moment, we sit back and enjoy it. Things don't get too out of hand.

AL: What is the song "Somewhere Across Forever" about?

Shawn: It is a very literal song. It's about leaving town with somebody and not coming back. It's an underlying theme to many of songs that will be on the first album. It's an attitude of going away with someone you might not know or who you just met, and never coming back. Or even leaving on your own. It's based on feelings and thoughts that I have had over the years. I just wrote them down. I am not sure if people can relate to that, but those thoughts are important to me. Whereas a song like "No Weather" is a standard song about being dumped.

AL: Are many of your songs about relationships and love?

Shawn: Not really. I never really sat down and said to myself "I am going to write a love song." Maybe "Moon Girl" is the closest thing I have written to a love song. It's bad though because is it about an imaginary alien. It might be a good thing too.

AL: What is the song "School Ya" about?

Shawn: It's about how I felt in high school. It has a darker tone because it's about feelings about not fitting into high school. I don't think that you get that often in pop songs about high school. They are general songs about relationships and breaking up. Songs about how a boy didn't say "Hi" to them in the school hall. When I was in high school I felt extremely rejected. I didn't understand anybody in my class. I didn't get what they were saying or what they were into. I didn't get along with other people.

AL: You didn't understand high school politics?

Shawn: Basically, yeah. I always related to kids younger than me. When you go to high school, you are thrown into this environment where you are with hundreds of students and everyone is trying to be the most popular person. They are not trying to be who they really are. I never understood that. Maybe when I was trying to be popular it didn't work out for me. It's sort of a black hole. I didn't wake up till college. I didn't play guitar, or paint, or act, until I got to college.

AL: With teenagers they express themselves to the outside world through fashion: what clothes they wear or what music they listen to. That stuff is important because it defines the self. What music did you grow up listening to?

Shawn: When I was a kid I just listen to the Oldies. I didn't know anything about contemporary music until 1990. Up until then, I didn't know anything but "Splish, Splash" or Jerry Lee Lewis. When I listened to the radio, I just listened to what you were fed, which was a bunch of hair metal bands.

AL: People compare your band to some of the new wave bands of the early 1980s.

Shawn: Maybe those were things that I heard on the radio when I was a kid driving in a car and didn't quite remember. So maybe it's a subconscious influence. Everyone in Stellastarr* was a kid in the 1980s. Maybe everything you hear as a child sticks with you forever.

AL: Since you have a girl bass player, people might think of you as being like The Pixies or Luna.

Shawn: I know both of those bands. Those bands are great so it makes no difference being compared to them. Maybe it's more common for a girl to be on bass guitar than other instruments? Maybe not? Maybe those bands are the only bands that people can think of off the top of their heads besides The Smashing Pumpkins. I don't know why that is. I don't think it's a problem. Amanda is an interesting case. She had musical training. When she played in the first band she didn't know how to play bass guitar. Nobody knew how to play anything. She played upright bass or cello before that.

AL: What else do you guys do besides music?

Shawn: I am a painter. I make paintings of musicians and barely make a living off it right now. Michael went to film school and he is still interested in doing films. Both Arthur and I were actors before we were in Stellastarr*. This band took over and we don't do it anymore. Arthur will audition for something once in a while. Amanda is an art director where she works. She does graphic design.

AL: What is your favorite part about doing music?

Shawn: Writing a song is an awesome thing to do. I really like to do it. I write about two or three a week. To see a song make it to the band, and make it on the stage, and on to an album: that's awesome. I have been an actor for years, and there's something about music that is more appealing to me. With acting, you have to read a script, and work with a director, and you are at the mercy of the editor, and you have to look beautiful: all that bullshit.... I am not down with that. In music, there's all these rules that can be broken. Especially now, where there's a bunch of walls behind put up. It's going to be fun trying to take some of these down.

AL: Are there any bands that you like?

Shawn: The bands we are listening to are Interpol and The Faint. Lately I have been listening to a lot of musical scores to movies.

AL: What did you think of CMJ?

Shawn: This year was great. We didn't even know it was going on. Last year they didn't accept us. This year we played two shows during CMJ. It was a blast. There was a lot of excitement this year because it was during Halloween. It felt like a lot of people were interested in the festival this year.

AL: What was it like recording with Tim O'Heir?

Shawn: He is pretty amazing at recording. One thing about him is that he has patience. He'll listen to things over and over again. He never got angry. He stays in the studio for twelve hours at a time. He loves being in the studio. He came and saw a song of ours back in April. He said he wanted to record us. He has done a few albums in my record collection. One of my favorite records of all time is Bake Sale by Sebadoh. When I found out that he produced that, I said "Let's get this guy to produce or album."

AL: Did he record a full album of songs?

Shawn: Yes. We did it this past summer. We have been ready to release it for a while, but our record company, Tiswas Records, couldn't afford to put it out. So we have put out this EP now. Hopefully early in Spring 2003, Tiswas can collaborate with a bigger record and put it out with full distribution. It's been a while. We are already halfway into a second record. We have released the EP now because we wanted something out there. If they want to buy the EP they came come to our shows or go to our website.

Website: http://www.stellastarr.com

--Alexander Laurence

The Divine Comedy Interview 2005

The Divine Comedy,
interview by Alexander Laurence

The witty and smart songwriter, Neil Hannon was born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland in November of 1970. Though best know as frontman for the Divine Comedy, he also released several critically acclaimed albums during the 1990s as a solo artist. He is the one consistent member of The Divine Comedy whose contributors are constantly changing, though some members like Joby Talbot have been a mainstay since 1994.

During the late 1990s, Neil Hannon found himself collaborating with other artists and finding success in the form of a few hits songs. The Divine Comedy's album Casanova had a few top 20 singles in 1996 including "Something For The Weekend" and "Becoming More Like Alfie." A few years later, their well-received fifth album Fin De Siecle provided the band with the single "National Express" that went all the way to number 8 on the charts. Additionally, Hannon has worked with many great artists in the music business including Tom Jones, Ute Lemper, Michael Nyman, and Yann Tiersen to name a few.

Celebrating ten years as a band, Divine Comedy released A Secret History: The Best of The Divine Comedy and Regeneration in 2001. Nigel Godrich (Kid A) produced the distinctly different-sounding record which was given mixed reviews and was darker in tone than what many had come to expect from the band. in 1999. With this album, the band ended their longtime relationship with the Sentanta label and signed with Parlophone.

I met Neil Hannon in LA on his recent solo tour of the United States. He was scheduled to play many small clubs including Joe's Pub and Cafe Largo. This tour would be followed immediately by a month-long tour with Ben Folds in March of 2002. We walked around the neighborhood talking. The smell of pollen was in the air.

The Divine Comedy, photographed by David Robinson, London 2000. Regeneration album shoot

************

AL: What is your impression of the United States?

Neil: I have been here before. I am doing this tour with Ben Folds. It's going to go on forever. I'll be speaking like an American by the time I leave. Usually I am here for five shows in New York City, San Francisco, and LA, and then I don't come back for three years. It's good to do a solid chunk of touring. Maybe I will get over my fear of this country.

AL: Some bands won't even bother to come over. You have the balls to come over to play and look the American public in the eye and say "Quit talking. Shut the fuck up!"

Neil: (laughs) Yeah. I can do that because I can only play tiny shows here where you can get annoyed by people talking. We've always had problems getting records released over here. It was great to get this one out on Nettwerk Records. We created a little buzz about three years ago, but we were never able to follow it up over here. (we walk by a store) Maybe we should go shopping?

AL: Is that what you do when you are here? Go shopping?

Neil: No. That's what my wife would do. We came over here about a year and a half ago for a little holiday.

AL: So what happened to your trademark suits? I remembered that I was shocked two years ago when I saw you in London with trainers and gym clothes on. You were rehearsing and waiting for Radiohead to finish Kid A, so you could start on Regeneration with Nigel Godrich. What has happened since that time?

Neil: We waited a long time for them to finish Kid A. When they finally did, we started the record with Nigel. He did have a forceful hand, but he would never make us sound like Radiohead. Or make us do what they do. He does other bands. He's working on the new Beck album.

AL: You wrote most of the songs on acoustic guitar for this album. What was the recording process like and how was it different than before?

Neil: What was mainly different was that I wasn't acting as the leader. I didn't lay down the law like I used to do. The idea was that people should try different things. All of the band did contribute. It was nice because it was the first time that I felt that I was just the singer.

AL: You have abandoned some of the wacky elements found on the past recordings such as "National Express" and "Generation Sex?" Are you worried you left some fans behind in doing this?

Neil: I hope that we didn't leave anybody behind. I don't think it should be an exclusive thing. You just have to make the record you want to make, and hope that people will give you the time of day. In Britain, the new album didn't seem to match up to people's expectations. They wanted the same old orchestral kitsch. You just have to try new stuff and keep evolving. I thought that this would be a good next step. I didn't sit down and think "Okay, I am not going to make any jokes." It's just what came out. I was in a more contemplative mood generally.

AL: Yeah, there is a darker tone to some tracks like "Regeneration" and "Eye of The Needle."

Neil: Maybe in the past, some of the songs that were dark, were melodramatically dark. There were still a lot of dark things. Maybe I just hid them better. The song "Here Comes The Flood" is apocalyptic and dark. But yet, you wouldn't think about it because it set to a Broadway big band scenario. It's almost like a James Bond theme. I suppose that there is less hiding it on this album. That's what Nigel wanted to achieve. He wanted to strip away the more cheesy and kitsch elements and get to the bottom of the meaning. I love how it sounds.

AL: This time out you didn't quote any lines from film, like you did before with "Funny Face."

Neil: This time I didn't watch as many movies. (Laughter) It's amazing that we have brilliantly walked around a few blocks and we have yet to find a cafe. A cup of coffee would be great.

AL: I think that we are coming up to a Starbucks. Do you feel that you are walking around in circles in life?

Neil: It's others who are leading me astray.

AL: I've never been in this part of town before. What do you think of this neighborhood?
Neil: It's cool. I can smell the cut grass. You don't see this sort of stuff. One street is totally commercial and the next one is residential. You don't get that in London.

AL: Do you read a lot of books?

Neil: No. I actually have bad concentration. What happens to me is that I read a line from a book. Then I go "Great idea for a song." Then I go off and I forget to read the book. I have difficulty with that. But occasionally I do find a book that I cannot put down. I have recently read the books of Philip Pullman. His Dark Materials Trilogy. They are great. Everybody should read them.

AL: What is the song "Eye of The Needle" about?

Neil: In the Bible it says that it is easier for a camel to get through an eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. But everyone rolls up to the church in their fancy cars. I was just reminiscing about going to church as a teenager. I wanted desperately to believe in all of it. I never managed to. I am certainly very spiritual but I am certainly not religious.

AL: Are you hedonistic?

Neil: I am not very hedonistic either. I don't make good use of my lack of religion. I have a perfect stability. Lack of religion does not preclude morality. I am weighed down by stacks of morals.

AL: Well, there is secular humanism. Man is the measure of all things.

Neil: I am not much of a humanist. We are a lot to blame for the state of the planet. I am a "Me-ist."

AL: Really? Good for you. What drives you creatively?

Neil: The thing that drives my music is the complete love of making music and writing music. Everything else in my life pales when set against the raw excitement of writing a new songs and going "Yes, that's cool." Basically the drive behind my career is a necessity in order that I can make another record and so people will give me money if they sell.

AL: Will The Divine Comedy every be a proper band?

Neil: I don't see the point of changing it now. What is in a name? I think that The Divine Comedy sums it up best what I do. It's as good a name as any. I never thought Neil Hannon was a good rock star name.

AL: How do you feel about this tour in March with Ben Folds?

Neil: It's the biggest tour that I have ever done. It goes on forever. My wife just had a baby so I need to get back as soon as I can. It's the guilt trip tour. I don't feel good about it at all. But I can't say no.

AL: What should they expect?

Neil: They should expect me standing on the stage with a guitar trying to figure out what to play next. The problem when I play by myself is that there is far too much freedom to mess around and do the wrong thing. There's nobody to tell you to shut up. I'll do songs from all the albums.

-- Alexander Laurence

http://www.thedivinecomedy.com/

Matthew Shipp

BLAST from the past:2002

With his unique and recognizable style, pianist Matthew Shipp worked and recorded vigorously during the 1990s, creating music where free jazz and modern classical intertwine. He first became known in the early 1990s as the pianist in the David S. Ware Quartet, and soon began leading his own group -- most often including Ware band-mate, leading bassist William Parker -- and recording a number of duets with a variety of musicians, from the legendary Roscoe Mitchell to violinist Mat Maneri who began appearing on recordings in the 1990s. Through his range of live and recorded performances and unswerving individual development, Shipp came to be regarded as a prolific and respected voice in creative music by the decade's close. Born in the 1960s and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, Matthew Shipp grew up listening to 1950s jazz recordings. He began playing piano at the young age of five and decided to focus on jazz by the time he was 12. Shipp played on a Fender Rhodes in rock bands while privately devouring recordings by a variety of jazz players. His first mentor was a man in his hometown named Sunyata, who had an enthusiasm for a variety of studies in addition to music. Shipp later studied music theory and improvisation under Clifford Brown's teacher Robert "Boisey" Lawrey, as well as classical piano and bass clarinet for the school band. After one year at the University of Delaware, Shipp left and took lessons with Dennis Sandole for a short time, after which he attended the New England Conservatory of Music for two years. Shipp moved to NYC in 1984 and soon met bassist William Parker, among others. Both were playing with tenor saxophonist Ware by 1989, and debuted as a recording artist in a duo with alto player Rob Brown. He married singer Delia Scaife around 1990. Shipp then went on to lead his own trio with Parker and drummers Whit Dickey and Susie Ibarra. Shipp has worked for a number of labels, including FMP, No More, Eremite, and Thirsty Ear. He was in California recently when I talked to him. Matthew is a tall thin intense looking guy who I used to see walking around St Marks and the East Village. He played three sold out nights recently at Bruno’s in San Francisco. His new album is called NEW ORBIT.

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AL: Today is Henry Rollins’ birthday. It’s 2-13-2001! How did you hook up with Rollins? 

Matthew Shipp: I’ll have to give him a call. I knew him from Black Flag. I read an article about him and he was talking about jazz. I knew the guy who wrote the article and ran into him on the street. I told him that I was shocked that Rollins was into jazz. I couldn't imagine Black Flag doing jazz. This guy told me to send me stuff to Rollins. I got the 2-13-61 address, sent him a package, and he got in touch with me. He’s a unique individual. We hang out sometimes and get along still. We have mutual respect. 

AL: How did you meet David S. Ware? 

Matthew Shipp: In 1989, Ware put out the word that he was looking for a pianist. William Parker put in a good word for me. He got in touch with me and we started playing together. We did a record called Flight of I. I was a big fan of Ware's work. Playing with Ware is like being at home. My style of piano really fits his compositions. He gives me freedom to be me. He doesn't put any restrictions on me. AL: Older Jazz guys all played with each other and knew each other. How do you compare the 1950s in jazz compared to how it is now? Matthew Shipp: The world is way too fragmented for anything like that to exist now. Things started breaking down in the 1970s. Now we are pass the point of no return. That is not to say that an individual can�t find a path with a heart, or a path that is really rooted in something. As far as looking at things from this to this in a nice sequential way, it doesn't work because the world is too complex and fragmented. I am a product of a certain tradition. Obviously so. I come out of a 1960s avant garde jazz tradition. That whole spectrum of McCoy Tyner, Cecil Taylor, Andrew Hill, Paul Blake... I don't think you can look at it from bam to bam to bam. 

AL: Then there’s Classical influences in your work? 

Matthew Shipp: Yeah. All that is at my fingertips whenever I want to call on it. But right now I am going through a phase where I want to make a nice record. Something that is just... nice. (laughter). Whatever that means. Some of it is melancholy. But there’s also a cut called “U Feature” where I just lay out. It’s like raw free jazz shooting out of a funnel. The album has a structure where that stuff is submerged, and then it jumps out for one cut, then it goes beneath the surface. This album is more like an ambient free jazz album. It’s meant to have wide open spaces. It’s not crazy. 

AL: How much improvisation do you do when playing live? 

Matthew Shipp: A good part of what we do is improvisation. The Orbit series is written out. It’s a very classical theme. On the other songs there’s fragments. I approached this album in the same way, as I conceive of it, as Miles David approached Kind of Blue. He went in the studio with a few sketches, and no rehearsals. He knew what he wanted. He knew that he had the musicians to get at what he wanted. But to develop in the studio with a few minimal sketches which served as a backbone so the album would hold together well. That’s how I approached this album New Orbit. 

AL: What are some of your influences outside music? I read that you were into Abstract Expressionism? 

Matthew Shipp: I’m influenced by millions of things. 

AL: New Orbit reminded me of films and film soundtracks. 

Matthew Shipp: It has a film nor type of vibe. I could fit in the film world really easily. As far as other influences, I am influenced by everything. Music is a set of abstract sounds, but what goes into it is a whole vocabulary of your own culture and what it means to be alive. Bruce Lee is an influence. 

AL: Oh really. His spiritual trip or his kung fu technique? 

Matthew Shipp: Well, no. His gracefulness and his whole philosophy surrounding Jeet Kune Do. His whole idea is not being constricted by a form. He developed Jeet Kune Do which is a fight that makes you adjust to reality, as opposed to the dead bones of a form. Even if you learn a form it’s not these movements or those movements, it has to come alive, with skin and blood, and not just be a skeleton. The whole idea of really being rooted in emotion and improvisation, but also working so hard on your material that you transcend your material, you can really adjust to the situation. There’s a degree of highly developed improvisation in Jeet Kune Do and Bruce Lee’s philosophy. It’s not adhering to any form or being in a straight-jacket. To me musical language is all relative, so I feel free to take from the tradition that I come fro, whether it’s the avant grade jazz tradition, classical tradition, or certain aspects of ragtime or even rock and roll. 

AL: Who is Mr. Chromosome? 

Matthew Shipp: He is an invention of mine as a teenager. You must realize that personality is a construct. We all have “ourselves” but one can play with one’s “self.” You can create a persona. As a teenager I was fascinated by Sun Ra and his embodiment of certain mythological themes of his personality. I was also intrigued by David Bowie and his character Ziggy Stardust. Mainly because Bowie hid behind this character and was such a shy kid. He had to develop a whole persona for himself. I like the whole man from outer space theme. I created Mr. Chromosome who was a mathematician from another planet who got stuck here on earth. Sort of like David Bowie in The Man Who Fell To Earth. Mr. Chromosome was a figure who filled my subconscious and allowed me to develop a musical persona. In a sense I am this walking thing with a mathematical system in my head, and I just sit down at the piano and map out this whole realm of language. Like a weird kid, I was pretending that I was him. I don’t know what to say. 

AL: Do you like Hip Hop and DJ culture? 

Matthew Shipp: I’m a big fan of that. Some rappers really seem to know what I’m doing. I was stopped on the street by Killah Priest. He told me that I made the piano talk. I considered that a compliment. I did a session with A Guy Called Gerald. That was great. He was laying down some intense beats and I just did my thing. I think that sampling is a very valid form of musical thought. For someone to do it well requires musical imagination. You can’ be against it. Any aspect of Hip Hop is closer to the Jazz spirit than some of the conservative notions of people like Winston Marsalis. Max Roach said he understood where Hiphop was coming from. Hip Hop is here to stay. DJ culture is very valid.

 AL: What do you think of some of the younger guys and girls getting into Jazz and trying to make a living?

 Matthew Shipp: Jazz is a tough cookie. It’s a very hard lifestyle. It’s not for the faint of heart. My advice for them is to drink a lot of water, because that’s healthy for you. It’s easy to get involved, but it’s difficult to have an impact or make a living. I've got to a point where I'm doing okay but it's taken years. It’s been hard. A lot of people just die of bad health and being poor. That’s the easy way out I guess, to leave the planet. Sun Ra died because there wasn't any heat in the house. It’s hard. ******

Matthew Shipp Discography (March 2004): http://www.velocity.net/~bb10k/SHIPP.disc.html

Momus INTERVIEW 2002

MOMUS interview by Alexander Laurence

For years Nick Currie has been working under name Momus. While he has managed to build a cult following, much media attention came when Momus announced in 1998 that his next album would be composed of commissioned portraits. Thirty people paid Momus $1000 each to write a song about them. Even though the proceeds from the Stars Forever album were used to bail his label Le Grand Magistery out of legal trouble, it was a major work. Before that album he released Twenty Vodka Jellies, Ping Pong, and The Little Red Notebook, which were big successes in America. Last year Momus came out with Folktronic and toured with Stereo Total and Toog. Currently, author Jeremy Reed is writing a book about Momus. Momus lived in New York City for two years. He staged his farewell gig there in early 2002. Momus and Emi Necozawa have just finished two tracks for a soundtrack for a new Japanese film called Bambi Bone, directed by Noriko Shibutani

These days it seems Momus is paying more attention to reconciling his relationship with the music industry, in part by starting a record label of his own, American Patchwork. He has been touring with The Super Madrigal Brothers, Phiiliip, The Gongs, and Rroland, all of whom appear on the label. In June and July of 2002, they all traveled in two cars across America, starting in Williamsburg, and ending in North Carolina. I was able to speak to him right before he took the stage before a maddening crowd.

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AL: How has the American Patchwork Tour going? You are sort of on the last leg here.

Momus: It started off with many disasters. At first it looked like we wouldn't be able to release any records that we were promoting here. It didn't look like I was going to get my Visa from Japan to come to the United States in time. I literally got it on the way to the airport. Then we had problems renting the cars because of the credit cards. Someone was mugged in Philadelphia. Phiiliip went missing in Boston and had to take the Greyhound bus to catch up with us. We thought we were going to go on without him. Everything in the end has turned out fine. It worked out. I am enjoying it.

AL: You spent two years in New York City. Were you there during the September 11th bombings?

Momus: Yeah. In the last nine months I have been going back and forth between Tokyo and New York. I had just gotten back to New York four days before the 11th. I was just fitting back in that very hedonistic and luxurious lifestyle of going to art openings every night and thinking "this city is so wonderful." Then, kaboom. Everything changed. I watched it from my roof. It was horrible. It did seem like an end of an era. The whole thing with Bush being given a standing ovation was pretty silly. Things were canceled. CMJ was canceled and we did that a month later. I canceled some engagements that involved flying. I was pretty paranoid for a few months.

AL: What is American Patchwork about?

Momus: We have five artists and we have to start early some nights. This is a tour of my label American Patchwork. The idea is that it is mostly American artists. I come in as a European curator rather arrogantly and say this is what is good about America. What I am choosing are artists who live in America but are doing madrigals or playing on a Nintendo Game Boy. It is all cosmopolitan and global. It's not necessarily a down-home America thing. It's not emo-core or whatever Americans are consuming. They are not consuming these bands. We are the left of the left, the alternative to the alternative label.

AL: There is much music that is honest and sincere.

Momus: We are against anything honest and sincere. If there is any tradition we are part of it's the American tradition of the outsider and people like Harry Partch. The Gongs are very much a part of that tradition. They are students at Oberlin College in Ohio. They make their own instruments out of bits of old driftwood. They have strange tunings and scales. They have mysterious lyrics about red steam and gigantic omelets and things like that. It's in the American Primitive outsider tradition like Grandma Moses.

AL: What happened to Le Grand Magistery after the Walter Carlos/Wendy Carlos lawsuit?

Momus: Le Grand Magistery survived that thanks to the "Stars Forever" album. We made the money back that we spent on attorneys. I am still very happy with that album and I am glad that we have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Finding a solution that attenuated the perfect crime itself, in a way, making an unauthorized portrait of Walter Carlos led to me making thirty authorized portraits of all these people who gave me 30,000 dollars combined to write a song about them. That gave me a huge amount of material as a writer to celebrate their diversity, their otherness, and their difference from me. Sometimes you get bored with your own personality as a writing subject. It was great to have other people give you the details. It was a double album.

AL: What songs are you playing on this tour?

Momus: Folktronic came out in 2001, about a year ago. I am working on a new record in Japan. I am playing some tracks from Folktronic, some that still appeal to me from the older albums, and some unreleased stuff. Everybody always wants "I Want You But I Don't Need You" or "Hairstyle of The Devil." I am not doing any hits or semi-hits. Whatever those are? I have made fifteen albums. There's a lot to choose from.

AL: What was Folktronic about? It's started out like a Folkways thing.

Momus: Yeah. Having being a fan of David Bowie who was the chameleon rock star of the 1970s. He stole people's styles and made them his own. Bowie mixed Jacques Brel with Philly Soul or whatever. I came to America and though "That's the essence of America really." It's that capacity of Americans to reinvent themselves and make that fakeness or plasticity a virtue. So I basically reinvented myself, as Americans do, whether it's Irish American or Afro-Americans. They get a hazy romantic reinvented idea of their own roots. Then they celebrate that in their exaggerated way. I did that with my Scottish roots and made a really plastic version of Scottish music. Appalachian fiddle music comes from Scotland. But I mixed that with electronic music to emphasize the plastic-ness of it. The concept peters out and it becomes like prog rock. It's just a collection of songs.

AL: What are you doing in Japan? Are you doing any collaborations with Kahime Karie?

Momus: I haven't done anything with Kahime this year. She's looking for a new contract. It's a hard time for Japanese artists because they are having a recession. I just did a soundtrack with Emi Necozawa for a new Japanese film called Bambi Bone, directed by Noriko Shibutani. I just did a piece for MOCA's digital gallery.

AL: Are you still involved with the art world? All the galleries on Hoxton Street with Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst?

Momus: When I lived there. I was a fellow traveler. I think that I met Tracey Emin once. I had a one man show in New York in 2000. But that was really an extension of Folktronic. I used to go to galleries in Chelsea all the time. I don't see myself as a visual artist. I find that world very interesting.

AL: So you collaborated with Cynthia Plaster Caster?

Momus: That documentary about her has been doing the rounds. She does numerous interviews where she invariably mentions something about the size of my foreskin. I keep reading these comments. It was a dismal failure really. I wasn't excited about the situation. She became exasperated. We had to do three or four different attempts. She got something in the end. She came to our show in Chicago. She started the Plaster Caster foundation. The idea is to sell some of the casts of all these penises. Some people actually use these as dildos. You can now have sex with Jimi Hendrix long after he's dead. Then she is going to donate the money to important artist's causes.

AL: You have been writing about Classicism a lot lately?

Momus: Right. I have always tried to steer clear of the standard rock or pop romanticism. Whether it's the romanticism of "Baby, I Love You" or the romanticism of Radiohead sense: I am an artist and I am special, and I am suffering. Or "I want to fuck you like an animal" or whatever the Nine Inch Nails version of that is. Classicism I would define as something which is a little bit detached or restrained. It's about the proportion of balance to harmony. It's architectural and even aristocratic. Historically it has its roots in Pre-French Revolution. It's about the old order of the court life, where you have a court composer and a court poet. It was very temperate. What I like about that is then you can juxtapose that with outrageous provocations. So you can write a song called "Coming In A Girl's Mouth" and set it to courtly and beautiful harpsichords, and make it seem like it is a witty little squib that may have been written by Alexander Pope in the 18th Century. I sang that song in front of Mormons in Salt Lake City and nobody's hair fell out.

AL: What books are you reading?

Momus: I tend to buy old books. Educational books. I have been reading about Kabuki Theater and early ideas about post-modern architecture.

AL: Since you have lived in America for a few years now what do you think about ideas and the practice of Democracy as opposed to classes, and then European models of Socialism?

Momus: In Europe, we have a techno-cratic uber-class. It's the commissioners of the European Union. They are not very democratically accountable. As I am getting older I am thinking that Democracy is over-rated because people don't really know enough about things to vote. Even if they are given genuine choices between the parties they don't really tend to know enough about genetic engineering or whatever the crucial issues are at the time. I like the fact that you have these legislators who are liberals and know all about atomic power, but maybe they don't always do the right thing. In Europe they tend to be more left wing than the people would be. Unfortunately when people are given free reign, as France has shown, they tend to vote right of center politicians or fascists. When you let commissioners decide things you get social democratic ideas basically. I am happy with the European model. I don't things should be made more democratic. I would love for everyone to get involved in politics and it would be all liberal and cooperative. But it doesn't work like that because most people are deeply conservative and that's the disappointing thing.

AL: Have you seen any films?

Momus: I don't see too many Hollywood films. The one that I was working on, Bambi Bone, will be coming to festivals in 2003. That's good. I saw Harry Potter. In Tokyo I have been watching a lot of Kabuki Theater. I love the theatricality of that with the actors and the masks and the costumes, and especially the music. The musicians play on stage.

AL: Did you have a hit record in Japan?

Momus: No. With Kahime I had some hits. I am not big in Japan as Momus. I am relatively bigger in Japan than I am in other countries.

AL: What do you think of Britpop stuff? Pulp, Oasis, Suede, and Blur?

Momus: It's all passé now. Isn't it? I am not very interested in them. I met a couple of them in the early days. Suede came knocking on my door ten years ago trying to get on Creation Records. I met them when Justine Frischmann was still in Suede. I was trying to date her. She was so attractive, but that never happened. Pulp actually ask me to produce one of their albums. I never wrote back to them.

AL: Why were all they guys trying to go out with Justine?

Momus: She was with Brett. She's cute. She's from a very rich family. I was at a party for Jesus and the Mary Chain and she was waiting to talk to me. I was wondering who is this girl waiting to talk to me for hours. It was Justine. Suede always had a nice place to live because Justine's daddy paid for it. He is the architect for some of London's greatest landmarks like the Centrepoint Tower. It's at the end of Oxford Street.

AL: How is your eye?

Momus: It's stable. I got some amoebas on my contact lens and they started living in my eye. They blinded me in one eye. I had a few years where I had a lot of nasty operations. They tried to save the eye. It's there but it's not seeing anything. It's not going to see anything. We lost that battle.

AL: Today I was watching this movie Alive. They crashed the plane in the mountains and survived for ten weeks by eating flesh. If all the people on the American Patchwork Tour were on a plane and you were stranded in the mountains would you eat flesh?

Momus: Everyone is so skinny. There's nothing to eat. We would all starve. I don't know. We would have to eat the merchandise. We would have to eat Phiiliip's T-shirts that haven't been selling very well. We could live on cotton. I would do what Scott of the Antarctic did, which is that he knew that there wasn't enough supplies for everyone so he left a note saying "I am going out for a while." But he just went out in the snow and was frozen to death out of pure altruism. I would find that in myself and save these young artists.

AL: American Patchwork has been around for a year Is it part of Le Grand Magistery?

Momus: Well, Matt from Le Grand Magistery was instrumental in setting it up. He did the deal with Darla for his own label. Then he told me that James at Darla would be interested in me releasing records too through Darla. At this stage I don't know if my next record is going to be on Magistery or American Patchwork. In fact it might have both logos on there. My deal with Matt and Le Grand Magistery was a five record deal and that's over so we would have to re-negotiate anyway. Things are changing. Matt is getting married and he was going to move back to New York and work on the label more seriously. But now he is living in rural Canada. He went through a tough year and a horrible legal situation because Stars wanted to sign to Palm Pictures. He has been travelling a lot and concentrating on his magic show. I think that he wants to continue to do the label.

AL: What is the next record going to be like?

Momus: It's going to recorded in Japan from September. It's going to be in a style I call "Spooky Kabuki" which is a mixture of Kabuki and Cantonese opera. But then that's going to be a decoration on my usual vaudevillian stories. I am getting more interested in sound for sound's sake. I might even get The Super Madrigal Brothers involved. They don't even know this yet. This is a world exclusive. I would like to get them to work on the files because they are amazing what they do with sound. It will have vocals and stories. I am also interested in experimental radio from Germany in the 1950s and 1960s. You can have narrative but you have experimental soundscapes. It's not going to be songlike, but knowing me there will be songs and it will be pop in the end.

AL: You have left New York early this year in March. The first show was at Warsaw in Williamsburg and Brooklyn. What do you think of Williamsburg?

Momus: It's a nice ghetto. It's like the Castro District in San Francisco. People can be with people like themselves. Personally I like to be in a more diverse place. I was happy to be in Chinatown because you have all these neighborhoods to choose which are nearby. Now I live in Tokyo which is not a diverse city at all. But Tokyo is a city, although they are Japanese, where they eat, think, have sex very much the way that I do, so I feel very much at home in Japan. I like to visit Williamsburg but I don't think that I would like to live in Williamsburg. There's a bunch of young people who live on their parent's money and want to be artists and that's fine. I just saw Yoko Ono's exhibit yesterday in San Francisco. That's how she was. She lived with a trust fund, and she went to Sarah Lawrence, and she would have fit in the Williamsburg scene. I don't condemn that at all. A stimulating and culture scene is necessary.

AL: Do you have any advice for young people who want to do music?

Momus: Don't try to get a big record deal. It's a waste of time. Do totally fresh and original music. Hope that the world notices. When I was younger I was on 4AD when it was new. I am a very niche person. I don't think that you should try to interest everybody. It's a dilemma whether you are in a ghetto or you are in a diverse place where everyone thinks different that you. A lot of my music tries to capture the center ground. I am like a politician. My natural tendency is to be quite elitist and focus on a little group of people whom I consider hipsters. I am both for the visionary and the common touch.

AL: What do you love about music?

Momus: I suppose it's music capacity to conjure up pictures in your mind of other worlds. To build very cheaply the most elaborate and amazing stage sets and scenery in your head. It is different every time you listen to it because it mixes with the scenery that you are looking at whether through a window or when you are walking around with a Walkmen. It's a very personal and intimate artform that speaks directly into your ears. You have to complete the picture. It's unfinished in that sense. It doesn't bombard you with images like film does. Music says here are some suggestions, fill in the rest on the dotted line. Fill it in with your own dreams, aspirations and fantasies. Website: www.demon.co.uk/momus