Dan Black @ The Great Escape, Brighton 2009

Oh Lord, I was so not up for this. Got up in the morning, carried out two interviews, watched countless bands, and now I was going to be interviewing poor Dan Black after midnight. Brighton was bitterly cold, there was a strong wind... I felt marginally better after a cosy nap but managing to get up on time again was a close run thing. Dan Black was probably equally confused by the working late thing, but then again he was due onstage at 2am so would be getting even less sleep than me. Pleasant chap though.

First appeared on mINtSOUTH in May 2009
Words - Suzy Sims
Editor - Rob Ball
(c) mINtSOUTH.com

DAN BLACK @ THE GREAT ESCAPE, BRIGHTON 2009

Dan Black is a tired man. “I’ve kind of gone through a barrier about an hour ago. If we’d met up an hour ago, I was a husk of a man,” he admits.

I was meant to be interviewing the electro-popper in the Coalition a few hours before his set as part of the Lovebox late nighter. We hadn’t counted on the fact there was insanely loud dance music and no backstage area in which to hide. Instead the tour manager grants me permission for a quick outing so we brave the bitter wind and speckly rain, cross four lanes of traffic and dash into the lobby of the Thistle Hotel. This is where the delegates tend to hangout in daylight hours, and the security man who inspects Black’s artist wristband smiles at him and says “Welcome home.”

Previously the front-man in The Servant, Black has recently been gaining attention on his own as a full fledged, quirkily dancing pop star.

Can you describe yourself in five words for people who haven’t heard your music before?
“’Cause you’re a journalist, and I’m a musician, that’s like me saying to you, ask me a question in five musical notes. But I’m going to play the game anyway. My music is… really good? I insist you put the dotdotdots in it. Convey the hesitation and the searchingness. Or, ‘my music is, er, good.’ That’s five words. I’m proud of that.”

He hasn’t been able to take see much of the Great Escape Festival as he only arrived in Brighton at 11pm. It’s now heading for half past midnight.

“I’ve seen 80Kidz, from behind the stage. I weirdly knew them, had MySpace chats with them. They got in contact with me and it’s just total coincidence that we’re on the same stage. It’s their first ever UK show so they seemed at first a bit nervous, but by the time I had to come out they were still playing and they were jumping about and did really good.”

Are you sticking around tomorrow to catch any more bands?“No. We’re on at 2am and then I’m supposed to go straight back to London and get on the Eurostar. Not sure where my sleep’s supposed to happen in that scheme. I’m trying not to think about it but I’ve got a feeling that about 7am I’m going to be in a dark, unpleasant place in my head!”

What are Black’s plans for the rest of the year?
“Try and stay alive. Try not to work myself into a cinder.” How are you getting on with that so far? “It’s touch and go, if I’m honest.”

You’ve been in Europe recently haven’t you?
“I was in Milan recently, and I live in Paris, I live in Europe. Having said that, Great Britain is technically in Europe. We’re still in Europe now.”

In between all the travelling, Black is looking forward to the release of his debut album Un. “It’s out on July 6th. So not long to go yet. Six of your Earth weeks.” Have you got any messages for people to make them buy your album? He laughs. “If you don’t, I know that horrible secret that you don’t want anyone to know I know. And if you don’t want anyone else to know, buy my album. And that’s true for everyone who reads this interview.”

Un is quite obviously a French word, and all the press releases talk about Dan Black from Paris. “I’m 100% Anglais. I grew up in a little village in Bucks, then I lived in London for quite a long time, and then I moved to Paris.”

Are you looking forward to the album coming out? “God, yeah. It’s been very fast but very, very intense. I made it all on my own, which may be a stupid idea healthwise, but I’ve made albums before and other things and I decided I wanted to fail on my own terms or succeed on my own terms. I just can’t wait to see what people think really, to know it’s out there.”

There are a lot of newer bands around the Great Escape trying to make it big and get everyone to their shows. We ask Black if he has any tips. “I guess my advice would be if nobody comes, but you really think you’ve got something good, and if it’s your passion in life, then persist. I’m living proof that persistence can maybe slightly pay off.”

How long have you been persisting for? “12 years? Maybe 14 years? Life is long, stick it out for the long haul, and try to find out what gives you the most pleasure. If you like making music and you enjoy the process of all of it and the slog of it is actually fun, then do it. But if it’s a route to something else, the odds are pretty small that it’ll get to that place, and if you got to that place you probably wouldn’t like it anyway. Look yourself in the mirror and go ‘I love making music, I like sitting in Transit vans going up and down the M1’ - if that’s a pleasure in itself then you’re in the right job.”

To finish, we have a quick chat about Brighton. “I like Brighton a lot. I have a lot of memories here. I came here when I was young, when I had friends here who were studying. One of my favourite books is Brighton Rock by Graham Greene and I like the sense of Everyday is like Sunday - ‘trudging slowly over wet sand’. Coming to English seaside towns when it’s cold and wet, there’s something really beguiling and moving. No-one goes on holiday to UK coastal towns any more so there’s something kind of sad and beautiful about it."

“Brighton’s one of the bigger ones but something innocent has gone now. I mean there’s a pier, who genuinely now goes ‘Wow, a pier!’ whereas I remember when I was a kid I did genuinely go ‘Wow, a pier!’ But now we want lasers and flipping Pepsi pouring out and Buzz Lightyear on everything. I like the fact that there’s something a bit dilapidated and quaint. I’d like to live by the coast one day. “

Ah, one day perhaps. But before that we cross over four lanes of traffic and return Black to the capable hands of his tour manager. It’s almost 1am and there’s a gig to prepare for.