Submitted to mINtSOUTH.com in June 2010 but currently unpublished
Interview and words - Suzy Sims
(c) Suzy Sims
INTERVIEW - THE MOMERATHS @ THE GREAT ESCAPE 2010
Paolo and Claire
mINtSOUTH: The Great Escape – we’re here now. Do you get a pass to see any other bands?
Claire: “Not that I’ve heard. We’ll see what we can wangle out of it. We did when we went to the Camden Crawl. We managed to get passes so we spent the rest of the day queuing, but hey.”
mINtSOUTH: How did it go today, did you enjoy it?
Claire: “I did enjoy it yeah. Despite being blamed for a mistake on stage which wasn’t my fault.”
mINtSOUTH: It’s on record now. It wasn’t your fault.
Claire: “It was Paolo actually.”
Paolo: “Sounds like a politician...”
mINtSOUTH: It was David Cameron’s fault it all went wrong today. Isn’t it quite hard doing the earlier ones in the day?
Claire: “Really hard to get people out of bed from the night before. And it’s a nice day too.”
mINtSOUTH: What do you associate with lovely Brighton?
Claire: “Seaside. I like the seaside. We know a couple of really good little bands from here.”
Paolo: “The Bobby McGees and The Half Sisters. When I think of Brighton, I always think of them.”
Claire: “Sunshine and the beach and Brighton rock.”
Paolo: “Oh, and that programme that was about that girl from Brighton. Sugar Rush.”
mINtSOUTH: What can people expect to see from The Momeraths’ live experience?
Claire: “A lot of red and white. We’re very well co-ordinated.”
Paolo: “Bar stools, ironing boards, banners.”
Claire: “Anything else beginning with b? Not bums. No bums on stage.”
mINtSOUTH: Did it take you ages to put your banner together? [The band has a series of little flags spelling out their name across the stage]
Paolo: “It took Claire years.”
Claire: “Literally, per letter was about 3 hours, maybe a bit more. It is worth it. Slave labour.”
mINtSOUTH: What if you got to the end and found you missed out one of the letters?
Paolo: “Or did it on the wrong colour, like it’s red / white / red / white - done two reds.”
Claire: “They’re good old ASDA pillowcases.”
mINtSOUTH: Have you got any releases out?
Paolo: “Yes we had an EP out this month, last month? Called A Single Cup of Tea. It’s got five songs on. We’re doing another EP in the summer and hopefully be doing an album next year, with loads of new songs.
Claire: “We’re getting there.”
Paolo: “Gradually. Slow movers.”
Claire: “Slow and steady wins the race, Paolo.”
mINtSOUTH: Tell me a fact about each other.
Claire: “A fact about Paolo... I don’t want to say any facts about you that I know! We’ve known each other for a long time, we live together so we know the deepest darkest secrets.”
mINtSOUTH: It’s not a Jeremy Kyle scandal type of question...
Claire: “But we will, by accident!”
Paolo: “I‘m not going to say something which I’m going to later regret.”
Claire: “Paolo is three-quarters Italian and a quarter Welsh.”
Paolo: “Claire is going to receive an NVQ at John Lewis for working there for three years, two days a week.”
Claire: "Four years, thank you very much!”
mINtSOUTH: I did five years at Somerfield and all I got was a badge. NVQs are much better.
Paolo: “Everyone’s got NVQs.”
mINtSOUTH: Plans for 2010?
Paolo: “We’ve got festivals in the summer. We’ve got Secret Garden Party and Lounge On The Farm.”
Claire: “They’re all the smaller nicer ones. We did Glastonbury last year, it’s great but it’s so big. I always wanted to go to Secret Garden Party, can’t wait.”
Paolo: “Couple of EPs and write an album I think. Enjoy the sunshine, for the next three weeks that we have of it. It’s always sunny down here.”
Claire: “ We live in Kingston, Surrey. I wish we had a beach. We’ve only got a massive river – the Thames. ‘That massive river’. Idiot!”
mINtSOUTH: Gorilla vs bear – who would win in a fight?
Claire: “Is that about me and Paolo? (laughs) I think I would! He’s the gorilla. Look at the hair.”
Paolo: “I think bears win in fights to be honest.”
Claire: “Oh I dunno. A gorilla’s got the arms. I think the gorilla could take it out with one quick swing. The bear would just go meehhh and fall over. (giggles) That was a really terrible impression of a bear.”
Paolo: “Now can we read these out to you? Tell me about that bag.”
mINtSOUTH: My friend gave it to me as a present. It’s from Primark.
Claire: “Are you releasing an album this year?”
mINtSOUTH: No.
Paolo: “Why not? Everyone’s releasing an album this year.”
Claire: “What do you associate with Brighton?”
mINtSOUTH: Deckchairs and beach.
Paolo: “How long have you lived in Brighton?”
mINtSOUTH: I don’t!
Claire: “Portsmouth? We’ve been there before. Live?”
mINtSOUTH: Yes I am.
Claire: “What can we expect live from you?”
mINtSOUTH: Probably a bit of talking and muttering.
Claire: “Plans for 2010?”
mINtSOUTH: To get a new job...
Paolo: “How much do you make a year?”
Claire: “Let’s get out the personal questions! Great Escape. I see you’ve got a pass.”
Paolo: “Is that a delegates pass? Have you got any spare ones?”
mINtSOUTH: “Yes, and unfortunately not.”
Claire: “I’m going to have to take that one then! Gorilla or bear?”
mINtSOUTH: Bear. I have a friend who calls himself The Bear and he seems to think he would win any fight.
[Tour manager walks over looking confused.] Claire: “We span it round, we’re messing things up a bit. [Start firing questions at tour manager]. Go on, answer them all at once!”
Tour Manager: “...No!”
The Momeraths
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Interview - The Pigeon Detectives (Portsmouth Pyramids)
Oh dear, back again. The Pigeon Detectives were by now sufficiently famous enough for the managing director of Native.tv to say 'Get another interview with them.' Not a bribe of rum in sight.
Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv http://www.native.tv in November 2007
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
THE PIGEON DETECTIVES @ PORTSMOUTH PYRAMIDS CENTRE
The Pigeon Detectives have gone swimming. Tour tedium is being broken up at Portsmouth’s Pyramids Centre, which handily has a large number of fun pools and exciting flumes right next door to where hundreds of music lovers will gather later on for the band's gig.
With no real desire to see a bunch of chlorine-smelling, Yorkshire boys in their trunks, I wander off to sit on a bench overlooking the dusk falling across the Solent and have a think before heading to the interview in the band’s brightly lit dressing room. The squishy sofa is dangerously close to becoming one of those man-eating ones; you daren’t sit too far back in case you’re lost forever. Bassist Dave Best is quietly sat next to me. I think he's tired. I don’t deliberately have my back to him, but the layout of the room is a bit awkward. Singer Matt Bowman has his own comfy chair, giving him a lovely view of the bottled water on their rider. Oliver Main and Ryan Wilson are sitting opposite me on the sofa clearly reserved for guitarists. Drummer Jimmi Naylor is nowhere in sight.
Last time we spoke to the Pigeon Detectives, they were about to play their biggest headlining show yet at Leeds Town Hall. Two nights, both sold out. The next day, their debut album was released. From being poised on the edge of successful indie, ‘that band with the funny name’ were propelled onto the Radio 1 A list, onto more festival appearances, television appearances, autograph signings and more riotous gigs. There aren’t many bands who have played three tours plus festivals and European dates this year. My boss decided they were big enough to warrant a second interview in the space of a few months, and didn’t even bribe me with a bottle of rum this time.
“Is it ready?” asks Ryan, eyeing the dictaphone. Yep. “I’m Ryan.”
“I’m Dave.”
“I’m Matt.”
“I’m… Jimmi,” says Oli. Thanks for that.
Frontman Matt is brave enough to take a question card first. Fame and recognition, something they’ve been seeing a bit more of recently. “Good job no-one else got this one,” he says with a deliberate grin. His bandmates jeer. Are you the only one that gets recognised a lot then?
“We all get recognised, but he’s the only one who’s famous,” says Oli.
“Oli’s answered the question for me then I suppose. We mostly get recognised when we’re walking out as a group. I think individually we just look like any other indie kids, but when we’re in a pack, especially in Leeds, we get recognised quite a lot," says Matt.
"But not many people have the balls to come up and be polite and say ‘Hey, how are you doing? Good luck with everything.’ Either they just grab you and then slur the word ‘PHOTOGRAPH’ at you or just kind of point and stare, which is quite rude, you know.” I saw them play before and a girl said to Oli ‘You’re hot and I want to have your children’, and he looked terrified. Dave sniggers.
”Was that that crazy girl by any chance? Who was going insane with everyone?” asks Ryan with interest.
“She were going proper mental.” Oli thinks for a moment. “Seemed like a really nice girl though, if she ever reads this.”
Ryan picks tour. At the time of this interview, there was roughly one week remaining. So far there have been about seven weeks of sold out gigs. How's it going? “It’s going really well. We’ve played various venues from 200 capacity ones to 2,000 ones all over the UK and I think every one’s been pretty good so far.”
The support acts are enjoying it, particularly the Wallbirds. Ryan trips over his tongue and calls them the Wallbergs.
”Icebergs,” says Oli.
“They’re just like three best mates on quite a big tour with us,” says Ryan. “They’re from Doncaster. They’re a bit like us when we got on tour with Dirty Pretty Things, we were just so happy to be on a good tour, and they’re just loving themselves.” The rest of the band have dirty minds, and they let out snorts of laughter.
The tour manager walks in and asks Dave to sign an acoustic guitar, which is covered in scrawls already. He does. “We’re trying to do an interview here,” jokes Ryan.
Who’s your best crowd so far? “I think Dundee, for sheer volume anyway,” says Oli.
“Dundee from the front to the back and all out to the sides was just mental,” adds Matt. “Nottingham was good but we were fucking tired. We’d had to go to London to do TV then come back again, go onstage 20 minutes later without a soundcheck so we were pretty tired, but the crowd kind of dragged us through the gig. Manchester was good, but I hurt myself halfway through.” He broke - or fractured, depending where you read it - his ankle after leaping off a speaker stack. “It’s still not right really, but it’s getting there.” Still jumping round? “Yeah. Just about.”
Dave’s plucking two strings on the guitar – high, low, high, low - in the sort of tune which evokes a funny walk. Tell me about Millennium Square. “It’s in Leeds,” says Matt. The Pigeon Detectives have sold out their first May date there and recently announced a second night there.
“Is it sold out?” asks Oli. Yesterday’s press release said Yes. “Well there you go. Someone on our forum was saying it would take months to sell out.” He pauses. “You were wrong.”
They’re looking forward to the show, which will be their biggest headlining one so far. The Square holds roughly 7,000, which they double to work out how many should attend the whole weekend. “14,000’s quite a lot,” says Matt. “It would be good to do 14,000 on one night rather than spreading it over two, that would be impressive.” Think how many of your mates you could fit in there. “Exactly.”
Dave quietly apologises. Soundcheck is going on, and one by one the band will have to leave and do some work. It’s his turn to go. The door creaks open and closes again.
“I mean we’ve watched bands there like Snow Patrol, Editors, Embrace, Kaiser Chiefs, so to finally play it in our own right…” says Matt. Have you played it before with another band?
“Yeah, we played it with Snow Patrol. That was good, but again everything with the Pigeon Detectives seems to be rushed, so we kind of walked off stage, jumped straight in a Transit van and went and played at Sheffield, so we didn’t really get to enjoy the whole Millennium Square experience.”
“You should have said limousine. We jumped into our limousine,” corrects Oli.
“I’d have been telling lies though,” says Matt. I wouldn’t have known. I’m not going to check. “All right. It was a limousine.”
The Pigeon Detectives have been playing a few different songs while on tour. A couple of b-sides, a couple of new ones. “We have, yeah,” says Ryan. The dressing room door shuts again with a noisy crash. “Played two new ones. Kind of the first half of the tour we played one called ‘Making Up Numbers’ and that seemed to go down all right. And then the second half of the tour we’ve been playing one called ‘This Is An Emergency’ and that’s been going down quite well. We’ve got a few new tracks for our new album next year, and we do kind of prefer these two more to the rest of them. I think these are the two we’ve got properly finished as well, so that’s why we decided to play them. Like I said, they’ve gone down all right.”
‘Is This An Emergency’ sounds a bit heavier. Is the new stuff a little bit darker?
“Yeah,” says Oli. “No it isn’t!” says Matt.
“Not ridiculously,” says Ryan. “'Emergency' is the darkest one definitely. The second album’s not going to be exactly the same as the first album.”
Have you started recording yet? “Not yet,” says Oli.
“Demoed a few of them, just in a studio. Spent a day doing about four songs,” says Matt. “We’re going to start recording in a studio in Wales in January.”
Why Wales and not Leeds? “We just fancied getting out of Leeds. Just somewhere to go and get away from it all and focus on the Pigeon Detectives for four weeks without interruptions and record labels and management and stuff like that. And it’s got white water rafting, quad biking…”
“Tractors,” says Oli. Tractors? “Apparently the local farmer said we could have a go on his tractor.” I hope he knows what he’s letting himself in for. The image of an indie rocker fiendishly racing farm machinery is a frightening one.
Because Dave’s busy, Matt picks his card. What bands are you listening to? “We’re listening to a lot of The Wallbirds and One Night Only, seeing as how we’re on tour with them. Love the Kings Of Leon third album. I went and watched Rufus Wainwright recently in Harrogate, I sold all my mates out and didn’t bother sorting them out guestlist. But I went, selfishly. It was really good. We’ve had the Beatles on the iPod in the dressing room a hell of a lot recently. Still love the View record.”
Any CDs that you bought recently that you can recommend? “I bought a DVD,” says Oli. That’s not a CD. “A music one. The Elvis 1968 comeback. Recommend that.”
“New Interpol album’s really good,” says Ryan. “Bought that about three weeks ago.”
The door flies open and in walks a member of their stage crew, who booms for the ginger one to come and soundcheck. “That hurt,” says Ryan in mock sadness, and he takes his leave.
“DOOR!” hisses Oli as the other guitarist exits. “And then there were two…”
The next card is ‘Wait For Me’. Last time I interviewed the band, their debut album (“12 beautiful tracks, all catchy,” Jimmi told us) was due to come out a couple of days later. Now it’s gone gold, having leapt into the album chart at number 3. They confirm this.
“It’s on its way to platinum,” says Matt. “It should be there by Christmas.” Have you got one of those big gold discs in a frame? “We have. Got them last week. They’re quite impressive but then you get them and you think, I’ve got nowhere to put this, so I might as well give it to my mum and she’ll put it on the wall.” The door creaks and slams again. It’s a bit what some people would refer to as Waterloo Station in here.
“I’m not really bothered with mine. I think my mum would really appreciate it,” says Oli. Has it surprised you how popular 'Wait For Me' is? “No,” says Oli decisively. They laugh.
“It surprised me that we got to where we got with certain things that conspired against us at one time or another. It’s not surprised me in terms of the hard work we’ve put in. There’s not many bands that have played as many gigs as we have in the last 12 months, so if it’s testament to that then we’re not surprised ‘cause we put the hard work in. I suppose it,” Matt pauses to think, “it is a little surprising. When you’re writing these songs in a rehearsal room in Leeds, you never expect them to be on a platinum-selling record.”
He's interrupted when the door swings open and in rustles an unfeasibly tall man with some carrier bags. “Fuck’s sake, next person that comes in’s dead.”
“Shut the fuck up, it’s my dressing room,” says drummer Jimmi, putting the bags down with a smile. “And I’ve got washing as well.” Oli and Matt both remind him to shut the fucking door.
“Cheers, Jim. How much do I owe you? Six quid?” asks Matt. “That’s a pound a sock.”
I was going to ask what each member of the band would put into Room 101, but sadly there’s only Matt and Oli left. They can still do it though, and it sounds like a few regular tour features are getting them down. Matt goes for ham and cheese sandwiches. “For some reason promoters are only capable of buying ham and cheese…” he complains, walking over to the table and picking up the offending foodstuffs.
Are you not capable of bringing your own sandwich fillings? “They’d go off after eight weeks,” points out Oli.
“When you wake up and you’ve got to go and do loads of press and radio and then you get to your dressing room and think ‘oh, I’ll have a sandwich,’ there’s only ever ham and cheese, and I’ve just about had enough.” In the background, through the open door comes the strains of the band on stage playing the riff to ‘Stop Or Go.’
”FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” yells Matt. One of their crew members has strolled in, barefoot, and balanced a pair of his socks in the middle of the rider as he prepares a ham and cheese sandwich. “Have they been on your feet?” asks Oli with a grin. Thankfully, they're clean and they haven’t.
Oli, meanwhile, is currently unimpressed with acoustic sessions. “Fucking hell,” he mutters. Have you just been made to do some? “Two a day or summat,” says Matt, and has a brief rant against ‘crappy’ local radio stations. Their tour manager points out there is a different local radio crew waiting outside the dressing room right now.
“Do we have to do an acoustic session?” asks Oli suspiciously. No, they don’t. They look relieved.
The Pigeon Detectives are running late. They were before I got in here, and they certainly are now. Doors open in about an hour and a half and there’s soundchecking to be done as well as a couple more interviews. The Pyramids that night is full of raucous lads and crowdsurfers. I actually get the breath knocked out of me a few times after being crushed on the barrier, which I don’t think has happened before at one of their gigs. Afterwards the band members are rounded up and sent to DJ in Southsea. Rumour has it they don’t actually get to sleep again until some time after their Bournemouth show the next night: no rest for the wicked.
2007 has shown the Pigeon Detectives' hard work is paying off. 2008 is even more likely to keep their diaries fully booked. Providing they don't overdo the ham and cheese, they'll surely be enjoying themselves a while longer yet.
Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv http://www.native.tv in November 2007
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
THE PIGEON DETECTIVES @ PORTSMOUTH PYRAMIDS CENTRE
The Pigeon Detectives have gone swimming. Tour tedium is being broken up at Portsmouth’s Pyramids Centre, which handily has a large number of fun pools and exciting flumes right next door to where hundreds of music lovers will gather later on for the band's gig.
With no real desire to see a bunch of chlorine-smelling, Yorkshire boys in their trunks, I wander off to sit on a bench overlooking the dusk falling across the Solent and have a think before heading to the interview in the band’s brightly lit dressing room. The squishy sofa is dangerously close to becoming one of those man-eating ones; you daren’t sit too far back in case you’re lost forever. Bassist Dave Best is quietly sat next to me. I think he's tired. I don’t deliberately have my back to him, but the layout of the room is a bit awkward. Singer Matt Bowman has his own comfy chair, giving him a lovely view of the bottled water on their rider. Oliver Main and Ryan Wilson are sitting opposite me on the sofa clearly reserved for guitarists. Drummer Jimmi Naylor is nowhere in sight.
Last time we spoke to the Pigeon Detectives, they were about to play their biggest headlining show yet at Leeds Town Hall. Two nights, both sold out. The next day, their debut album was released. From being poised on the edge of successful indie, ‘that band with the funny name’ were propelled onto the Radio 1 A list, onto more festival appearances, television appearances, autograph signings and more riotous gigs. There aren’t many bands who have played three tours plus festivals and European dates this year. My boss decided they were big enough to warrant a second interview in the space of a few months, and didn’t even bribe me with a bottle of rum this time.
“Is it ready?” asks Ryan, eyeing the dictaphone. Yep. “I’m Ryan.”
“I’m Dave.”
“I’m Matt.”
“I’m… Jimmi,” says Oli. Thanks for that.
Frontman Matt is brave enough to take a question card first. Fame and recognition, something they’ve been seeing a bit more of recently. “Good job no-one else got this one,” he says with a deliberate grin. His bandmates jeer. Are you the only one that gets recognised a lot then?
“We all get recognised, but he’s the only one who’s famous,” says Oli.
“Oli’s answered the question for me then I suppose. We mostly get recognised when we’re walking out as a group. I think individually we just look like any other indie kids, but when we’re in a pack, especially in Leeds, we get recognised quite a lot," says Matt.
"But not many people have the balls to come up and be polite and say ‘Hey, how are you doing? Good luck with everything.’ Either they just grab you and then slur the word ‘PHOTOGRAPH’ at you or just kind of point and stare, which is quite rude, you know.” I saw them play before and a girl said to Oli ‘You’re hot and I want to have your children’, and he looked terrified. Dave sniggers.
”Was that that crazy girl by any chance? Who was going insane with everyone?” asks Ryan with interest.
“She were going proper mental.” Oli thinks for a moment. “Seemed like a really nice girl though, if she ever reads this.”
Ryan picks tour. At the time of this interview, there was roughly one week remaining. So far there have been about seven weeks of sold out gigs. How's it going? “It’s going really well. We’ve played various venues from 200 capacity ones to 2,000 ones all over the UK and I think every one’s been pretty good so far.”
The support acts are enjoying it, particularly the Wallbirds. Ryan trips over his tongue and calls them the Wallbergs.
”Icebergs,” says Oli.
“They’re just like three best mates on quite a big tour with us,” says Ryan. “They’re from Doncaster. They’re a bit like us when we got on tour with Dirty Pretty Things, we were just so happy to be on a good tour, and they’re just loving themselves.” The rest of the band have dirty minds, and they let out snorts of laughter.
The tour manager walks in and asks Dave to sign an acoustic guitar, which is covered in scrawls already. He does. “We’re trying to do an interview here,” jokes Ryan.
Who’s your best crowd so far? “I think Dundee, for sheer volume anyway,” says Oli.
“Dundee from the front to the back and all out to the sides was just mental,” adds Matt. “Nottingham was good but we were fucking tired. We’d had to go to London to do TV then come back again, go onstage 20 minutes later without a soundcheck so we were pretty tired, but the crowd kind of dragged us through the gig. Manchester was good, but I hurt myself halfway through.” He broke - or fractured, depending where you read it - his ankle after leaping off a speaker stack. “It’s still not right really, but it’s getting there.” Still jumping round? “Yeah. Just about.”
Dave’s plucking two strings on the guitar – high, low, high, low - in the sort of tune which evokes a funny walk. Tell me about Millennium Square. “It’s in Leeds,” says Matt. The Pigeon Detectives have sold out their first May date there and recently announced a second night there.
“Is it sold out?” asks Oli. Yesterday’s press release said Yes. “Well there you go. Someone on our forum was saying it would take months to sell out.” He pauses. “You were wrong.”
They’re looking forward to the show, which will be their biggest headlining one so far. The Square holds roughly 7,000, which they double to work out how many should attend the whole weekend. “14,000’s quite a lot,” says Matt. “It would be good to do 14,000 on one night rather than spreading it over two, that would be impressive.” Think how many of your mates you could fit in there. “Exactly.”
Dave quietly apologises. Soundcheck is going on, and one by one the band will have to leave and do some work. It’s his turn to go. The door creaks open and closes again.
“I mean we’ve watched bands there like Snow Patrol, Editors, Embrace, Kaiser Chiefs, so to finally play it in our own right…” says Matt. Have you played it before with another band?
“Yeah, we played it with Snow Patrol. That was good, but again everything with the Pigeon Detectives seems to be rushed, so we kind of walked off stage, jumped straight in a Transit van and went and played at Sheffield, so we didn’t really get to enjoy the whole Millennium Square experience.”
“You should have said limousine. We jumped into our limousine,” corrects Oli.
“I’d have been telling lies though,” says Matt. I wouldn’t have known. I’m not going to check. “All right. It was a limousine.”
The Pigeon Detectives have been playing a few different songs while on tour. A couple of b-sides, a couple of new ones. “We have, yeah,” says Ryan. The dressing room door shuts again with a noisy crash. “Played two new ones. Kind of the first half of the tour we played one called ‘Making Up Numbers’ and that seemed to go down all right. And then the second half of the tour we’ve been playing one called ‘This Is An Emergency’ and that’s been going down quite well. We’ve got a few new tracks for our new album next year, and we do kind of prefer these two more to the rest of them. I think these are the two we’ve got properly finished as well, so that’s why we decided to play them. Like I said, they’ve gone down all right.”
‘Is This An Emergency’ sounds a bit heavier. Is the new stuff a little bit darker?
“Yeah,” says Oli. “No it isn’t!” says Matt.
“Not ridiculously,” says Ryan. “'Emergency' is the darkest one definitely. The second album’s not going to be exactly the same as the first album.”
Have you started recording yet? “Not yet,” says Oli.
“Demoed a few of them, just in a studio. Spent a day doing about four songs,” says Matt. “We’re going to start recording in a studio in Wales in January.”
Why Wales and not Leeds? “We just fancied getting out of Leeds. Just somewhere to go and get away from it all and focus on the Pigeon Detectives for four weeks without interruptions and record labels and management and stuff like that. And it’s got white water rafting, quad biking…”
“Tractors,” says Oli. Tractors? “Apparently the local farmer said we could have a go on his tractor.” I hope he knows what he’s letting himself in for. The image of an indie rocker fiendishly racing farm machinery is a frightening one.
Because Dave’s busy, Matt picks his card. What bands are you listening to? “We’re listening to a lot of The Wallbirds and One Night Only, seeing as how we’re on tour with them. Love the Kings Of Leon third album. I went and watched Rufus Wainwright recently in Harrogate, I sold all my mates out and didn’t bother sorting them out guestlist. But I went, selfishly. It was really good. We’ve had the Beatles on the iPod in the dressing room a hell of a lot recently. Still love the View record.”
Any CDs that you bought recently that you can recommend? “I bought a DVD,” says Oli. That’s not a CD. “A music one. The Elvis 1968 comeback. Recommend that.”
“New Interpol album’s really good,” says Ryan. “Bought that about three weeks ago.”
The door flies open and in walks a member of their stage crew, who booms for the ginger one to come and soundcheck. “That hurt,” says Ryan in mock sadness, and he takes his leave.
“DOOR!” hisses Oli as the other guitarist exits. “And then there were two…”
The next card is ‘Wait For Me’. Last time I interviewed the band, their debut album (“12 beautiful tracks, all catchy,” Jimmi told us) was due to come out a couple of days later. Now it’s gone gold, having leapt into the album chart at number 3. They confirm this.
“It’s on its way to platinum,” says Matt. “It should be there by Christmas.” Have you got one of those big gold discs in a frame? “We have. Got them last week. They’re quite impressive but then you get them and you think, I’ve got nowhere to put this, so I might as well give it to my mum and she’ll put it on the wall.” The door creaks and slams again. It’s a bit what some people would refer to as Waterloo Station in here.
“I’m not really bothered with mine. I think my mum would really appreciate it,” says Oli. Has it surprised you how popular 'Wait For Me' is? “No,” says Oli decisively. They laugh.
“It surprised me that we got to where we got with certain things that conspired against us at one time or another. It’s not surprised me in terms of the hard work we’ve put in. There’s not many bands that have played as many gigs as we have in the last 12 months, so if it’s testament to that then we’re not surprised ‘cause we put the hard work in. I suppose it,” Matt pauses to think, “it is a little surprising. When you’re writing these songs in a rehearsal room in Leeds, you never expect them to be on a platinum-selling record.”
He's interrupted when the door swings open and in rustles an unfeasibly tall man with some carrier bags. “Fuck’s sake, next person that comes in’s dead.”
“Shut the fuck up, it’s my dressing room,” says drummer Jimmi, putting the bags down with a smile. “And I’ve got washing as well.” Oli and Matt both remind him to shut the fucking door.
“Cheers, Jim. How much do I owe you? Six quid?” asks Matt. “That’s a pound a sock.”
I was going to ask what each member of the band would put into Room 101, but sadly there’s only Matt and Oli left. They can still do it though, and it sounds like a few regular tour features are getting them down. Matt goes for ham and cheese sandwiches. “For some reason promoters are only capable of buying ham and cheese…” he complains, walking over to the table and picking up the offending foodstuffs.
Are you not capable of bringing your own sandwich fillings? “They’d go off after eight weeks,” points out Oli.
“When you wake up and you’ve got to go and do loads of press and radio and then you get to your dressing room and think ‘oh, I’ll have a sandwich,’ there’s only ever ham and cheese, and I’ve just about had enough.” In the background, through the open door comes the strains of the band on stage playing the riff to ‘Stop Or Go.’
”FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” yells Matt. One of their crew members has strolled in, barefoot, and balanced a pair of his socks in the middle of the rider as he prepares a ham and cheese sandwich. “Have they been on your feet?” asks Oli with a grin. Thankfully, they're clean and they haven’t.
Oli, meanwhile, is currently unimpressed with acoustic sessions. “Fucking hell,” he mutters. Have you just been made to do some? “Two a day or summat,” says Matt, and has a brief rant against ‘crappy’ local radio stations. Their tour manager points out there is a different local radio crew waiting outside the dressing room right now.
“Do we have to do an acoustic session?” asks Oli suspiciously. No, they don’t. They look relieved.
The Pigeon Detectives are running late. They were before I got in here, and they certainly are now. Doors open in about an hour and a half and there’s soundchecking to be done as well as a couple more interviews. The Pyramids that night is full of raucous lads and crowdsurfers. I actually get the breath knocked out of me a few times after being crushed on the barrier, which I don’t think has happened before at one of their gigs. Afterwards the band members are rounded up and sent to DJ in Southsea. Rumour has it they don’t actually get to sleep again until some time after their Bournemouth show the next night: no rest for the wicked.
2007 has shown the Pigeon Detectives' hard work is paying off. 2008 is even more likely to keep their diaries fully booked. Providing they don't overdo the ham and cheese, they'll surely be enjoying themselves a while longer yet.
Friday, 1 February 2008
Interview - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The hotel I was meant to be meeting Robert and Peter at was changed at short notice. I had no idea where I was going and went into panic mode (where you jump off at a Tube stop, surface, run in four directions at once, get back on the Tube, and repeat until your mobile signal allows you to call the PR for help). One of the comments I got from a BRMC fan was that it was a 'cute' interview - perhaps not the adjective I'd been looking for, but ah well. The PR commented that bands always seemed to be awake and cheerful when I left them, whereas as many journos left them bored stiff. Cute.
Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv http://www.native.tv in April 2007
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
PETER AND ROBERT - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB - Peter Hayes - guitar/vocals, Robert Levon Been - bass/vocals/keys, Nick Jago - drums
Uh oh, I’m ten minutes late. There was a gas leak at the original hotel so BRMC have been shifted halfway across London to a different one, information which came as I was about to board the train with no access to a new map. It looks very classy here. There are chandeliers, foreign businessmen chatting away in various corners of the lobby and smiling staff holding doors open. I’m in skinny jeans, scuffed trainers and an unattractive yellow vest. I think I’m in danger of being given a mop and told to clean the floor.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are Peter Hayes (guitar, vocals), Robert Levon Been (bass, vocals, keyboards) and Nick Jago (drums). If you’ve somehow never heard of them before, the band name is taken from Marlon Brando’s gang in ‘The Wild One’. Hayes and Been hail from California while Jago is from Devon. They've been playing their heavy, bluesy rock since 1998 and you're likely to have caught them at one of the major summer festivals. Jago left the band briefly to fight various addictions and rejoined towards the end of recording for 'Howl' (2005). They're now doing the rounds to promote new album 'Baby 81'.
“So which one of you started a gas leak so you could be moved to a better hotel?” I ask. Peter grins and says it’s the first time they’ve been forcibly removed from a hotel when it’s not their fault. We’re Jago-less on this interview day. Peter and Robert are dressed entirely in black – well they could have neon underwear for all I know, but that probably wouldn’t quite fit their image.
Wild-haired Peter is leaning back casually on one of the sofas, while Robert is wearing a hoodie under his leather jacket and is curled up on a chair, occasionally resting his head on his knees. They look sleepy and I get the feeling they aren’t entirely keen on interviews, but they also giggle frequently, showing they aren’t completely bored. Peter is entertaining himself by doodling on a question card.
“Here we go… Things That Annoy The Shit Out Of You,” reads Peter. Thanks to the BRMC forum for inspiring this one. “Little coloured cards,” he teases. No, no! “It’s a word, and the word is ‘virtually.’ It annoys the shit out of me.”
“Oh yeah, ‘virtually’, I remember you talking about that…” says Robert. I’ll try to avoid using it, I promise. Peter starts giggling, and I decide to throw it in every now and then to wind him up. Robert asks what he has against it.
“I can’t remember. ‘Virtual reality is virtually OK.’ No it’s not. It’s not anywhere near reality. It’s not anywhere near anything virtually. The context of when people usually use virtually, it doesn’t make sense to me.”
“It really annoys him apparently,” says Robert through a smile. He goes quiet while he thinks what gets his goat. “Well, there’s so many, how do I choose?” I heard you had to get up at eight this morning. That must be quite high up on the list. “Gas leaks, yeah.” He goes very quiet.
“I don’t like the little popcorns that don’t pop,” says Peter, looking at me intently. “Those are kind of annoying, aren’t they? You know, the ones that are halfway popped but they still leave a bit of the kernel.”
“Sometimes clothes actually drive me crazy,” says Robert. “Everyone’s going to think I’m some kind of nudist or something. Sometimes it’s like my skin starts crawling from the clothes I’m wearing and I have an anxiety attack.” The perils of tight jeans. “I don’t need to strip down or nothing it’s just like… has that ever happened to you or is that just me?”
“Only when I’ve been high,” offers Peter and lets out a chuckle.
“Maybe I just need to virtually cut down on all the drugs I’ve been taking,” says Robert. Oh, he used a bad word. “That might help.”
BRMC have been on the road for ages already this year, firstly supporting The Killers and now with their own headlining shows looming up ahead.
“Ages ago? What, like year 2000 you mean?” says Robert. Not quite that long ago. “It wasn’t too long ago, about a month and a half ago. It started with The Killers thing ‘cause we’d just finished the record and but then our release date got pushed back a little bit, so we had some time and they asked us last minute. That was a strange beginning, but it was also one of the best ways to start because we didn’t get to play for any of our fans. All their shows were sold out before we even showed up and that was partially the idea, just to play to new people. You don’t get that chance too often.
“It was also hard. It reminded me of when the band first started in San Francisco and we were playing for like 12 barflies sitting around and you’re trying to win them over with everything you can, but it’s just not happening and then you go nuts. But then all those things came back and it’s about just ignoring them actually and focusing on people on stage and the music, and if they come around then all the better.
“I really needed that. You start getting a little lazy ‘cause you think ‘oh this show sucked because the people were just like…’ You know, you only judge it on them and that’s not the way it should be, and it taught me that and I was just really grateful.
“Then we did two or three headlining shows near the end of that and it was overwhelming, we got to play to our fans again and it was like ‘this is the best thing in the world’. It made us appreciate it a lot more. So a weird experience turned into a good story.”
There are plenty of UK and US shows coming up. “We got two more weeks here doing a couple of things,” says Peter. “Then six to nine weeks in the US, then a couple of days off, and then back over here, a couple of days off then back over there… Couple of days off then off somewhere else…” You want more days off, I say.
“If you add all those days off though, it makes like a whole week nearly,” says Robert.
“We’re getting more days off than regular folk,” says Peter. Damn you pop stars, I say. Peter laughs and agrees. “When you look at the reality of it you know, the majority of people get what a week of vacation? And they have to fight for it all year round for that one week. So."
Have you got any exciting onstage antics planned for your live shows?
“No,” says Peter. Okay. He starts chuckling away again. I tell them to get some fireworks or something. “That’s for after the show.”
“Oh yeah,” remembers Robert. “There are fireworks. Our crew guy has been on this for a while. He brings the fireworks and we always light one off, at least one after each show before we leave. The cops are gonna be chasing us out of town. It’s a tradition.”
He picks up the next question card. “How do you relax, Peter?”
“How do you relax?” Peter shoots back, from his comfy position on the sofa.
“By avoiding questions!” Robert goes quiet for a while as he thinks. So, apart from taking all your clothes off when they irritate you, Robert...
“Yeah, it’s pretty good, it’s hard to top that,” he says. “I like to see movies or just watch a DVD. I don’t know if I zone out as much as most people do. But I can get lost in another story and kind of forget about my own. I like that.”
Seen any good films recently? “I actually saw one I really liked until the end. I just saw Sunshine the Danny Boyle film the other night and it was like a cross between Alien and 2001 until the end and then it just became dreadful. It’s so beautifully shot, then it just becomes like a slasher movie towards the end. Those are the ones that steals relaxing. It’s just like a cheap way to end any movie. That’s my movie review for the day as well. That can be another card next time.”
I ask Peter how he relaxes. “I like to drive I guess. I just get in the car and drive to the middle of nowhere.” You can’t do that here, you’ll get stuck in traffic for three hours. “Yeah, once you get out of town. I don’t mind the traffic as long as I know I’m leaving it.” He laughs. His shoes are resting on top of the spotless table and occasionally he rubs his feet up and down the surface.
BRMC have a few festivals lined up for the summer - firstly the Camden Crawl, then Oxegen, T In The Park, and a few abroad – Germany, Sweden, France. Do you go for the whole weekend or do you just play then go on somewhere else?
“We usually play and go,” admits Peter. You should stick around, get a tent. “Er, yeah, I don’t know, maybe. That’s not usually the way it goes.”
Do you go to many festivals as music goers rather than ones to play? “When I was in high school, it wasn’t really about the music. It was just about taking as much LSD as possible,” says Peter.
He looks at me and starts guffawing. I’m not sure festivals are so much about the drugs any more. “Yeah? That’s what’s wrong with people these days. Not enough LSD!” That’ll be it.
“I went to Reading the first time I ever came to England,” says Robert. “That was right after we recorded our first record before it came out. I was just kind of screwing around, went to Brighton, and then travelled around a bit and found myself at Reading. It was the year that I think Pulp headlined, Oasis and Primal Scream headlined, and the Primal Scream show was the most incredible thing.
“The coolest thing was that we went in the big tent. That was a bit fun because the energy’s kind of contained, unlike the main stage, and I was just imagining playing ‘Spread Your Love’ right there at the end of the night and it was like the biggest daydream I could possibly have. I usually don’t let myself like have those little dream kind of things, ‘cause usually I feel like it’s gonna jinx it, but that one actually came true. And then the next year we were playing ‘Spread Your Love’ on that same stage. That was one of the most surreal things ever to happen to me. Little rock star dream came true.”
Ahhh, I feel strangely moved. “Yeah. Then the beer hit me in the face,” he remembers with a smile. Someone threw it at you? “Oh every festival you get drenched in beer. That’s kind of the fun of it too. Free drinks.”
Following on from 2005’s ‘Howl’ is new album ‘Baby 81’, out in a matter of days. Apparently it's named after a child admitted to hospital after the 2004 tsunami which was wrongly claimed by nine mothers before thankfully being reunited with its true family. BRMC are looking foward to seeing how the album goes down with listeners. “It’s the calm before the storm. It’s like a really exciting record to make and exciting to see what’s going to happen when people hear it,” says Robert.
Songs on 'Baby 81' include 'American X', '666 Conducer', 'Took Out A Loan' and 'Am I Only'. Got any favourite tracks? “Uh… almost all of them. The ones I’m kind of critical of are the ones where I’m critical of the recordings of them – they’re the ones that just explode live. I lived with the record for a while and I forgot how they sounded when we were just playing them together," explains Robert. "And you know when you go and record something you lose elements sometimes. Sometimes you gain it. Sometimes a song that doesn’t work live, on tape it can just be like – ah, the greatest thing ever. But then on other ones it’s the opposite, it steals something from them and I kind of forgot that they did work in any way. So yeah, even the ones that aren’t that strong just work amazingly well live. It’s a pretty bulletproof record."
We’re just done with Easter, left with vague memories of a lot of chocolate and some new-found toothache. BRMC didn’t give anything up for Lent. “That’s all it’s about, right? Easter eggs,” says Peter.
“Give something up for the bunnies,” adds Robert. “The magical bunny.”
What would be hardest for you to give up for forty days?“Oh, you only have you do it for 40 days?” says Robert. “It’s not like a New Years resolution.” Well it is, in that you give up then start again soon after. No-one keeps New Year resolutions.
“I’d like to give up talking for 40 days. That’d be nice,” says Peter from his recumbent position on the sofa. “Live in silence for 40 days.” You should have started that before I got in here, that would have made it fun. “I tried it for a couple of days once. Just wrote on paper.” How did you get on with that? “All right. Would like to do it longer.”
Powerful single ‘Weapon Of Choice’ came out on April 16th. “It started just as a guitar riff Peter had and the chorus line ‘I won’t waste my love on a nation’ and it was just really fun to play, just one of the fastest songs we had. And so whenever things felt kind of draggy we’d play that and it would wake you up,” explains Robert.
“We thought that was going to be an easy one to put down ‘cause live it was just like great, and then it just flatlined. It was so full on, it didn’t have enough of an emotional rollercoaster to give you a ride as much. We ended up doing a last minute thing where it just started with acoustic guitar - which wasn’t planned at all - and then drums entering in and everything being introduced more dramatically, and all of a sudden it had this emotional connection. At least it can have that for some people.
“We didn’t try to force our way into what a single was going to be, it was kind of between that and ‘Berlin’ we were thinking, and [the label] went with that.”
What’s Peter listening to at the moment? “I’ve got the new Nick Cave album. I have a bunch of old time radio shows. They put me to sleep at night - turn off the TV and listen to old time radio shows. Old stories, what would you call it, mystery theatre-type stuff, Orson Welles, this kind of voice narrating a story, half-hour stuff they did in the ‘20s, ‘30s, ‘40s maybe. I’m looking for books, but I haven’t gotten into that yet. I haven’t got the guts to buy any books and put them on my iPod as far as listening to them.”
I tell Peter to get a Harry Potter one. They last hours and hours, that’ll put him to sleep. “No, I’m not interested in that kind of thing really,” he says, and bursts out guffawing. “I think I’d just turn it off, it would be a waste of money. No offence to Mr Harry Potter. Or Mrs Harry Potter.” He laughs again.
“Nine Inch Nails ‘Survivalism’ album,” says Robert, “and ‘Battlestar Galactica’ which are really good, surprisingly enough.”
The friendly PR, or Speaking Clock, is hovering with updates on how long we've been talking, and it's time to finish. I tell BRMC they can go back to sleep. Peter protests he's not tired and sits with his eyes as wide open as possible to prove it, but it just makes him look like he's sat on something very sharp and pointy. Let's hope 'Baby 81', like its namesake, finds its way into the arms of people who'll appreciate it.
--------
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's 'Weapon Of Choice' single is out April 16th, with album 'Baby 81' released April 30th on Island Records.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
MySpace
Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv http://www.native.tv in April 2007
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
PETER AND ROBERT - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB - Peter Hayes - guitar/vocals, Robert Levon Been - bass/vocals/keys, Nick Jago - drums
Uh oh, I’m ten minutes late. There was a gas leak at the original hotel so BRMC have been shifted halfway across London to a different one, information which came as I was about to board the train with no access to a new map. It looks very classy here. There are chandeliers, foreign businessmen chatting away in various corners of the lobby and smiling staff holding doors open. I’m in skinny jeans, scuffed trainers and an unattractive yellow vest. I think I’m in danger of being given a mop and told to clean the floor.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are Peter Hayes (guitar, vocals), Robert Levon Been (bass, vocals, keyboards) and Nick Jago (drums). If you’ve somehow never heard of them before, the band name is taken from Marlon Brando’s gang in ‘The Wild One’. Hayes and Been hail from California while Jago is from Devon. They've been playing their heavy, bluesy rock since 1998 and you're likely to have caught them at one of the major summer festivals. Jago left the band briefly to fight various addictions and rejoined towards the end of recording for 'Howl' (2005). They're now doing the rounds to promote new album 'Baby 81'.
“So which one of you started a gas leak so you could be moved to a better hotel?” I ask. Peter grins and says it’s the first time they’ve been forcibly removed from a hotel when it’s not their fault. We’re Jago-less on this interview day. Peter and Robert are dressed entirely in black – well they could have neon underwear for all I know, but that probably wouldn’t quite fit their image.
Wild-haired Peter is leaning back casually on one of the sofas, while Robert is wearing a hoodie under his leather jacket and is curled up on a chair, occasionally resting his head on his knees. They look sleepy and I get the feeling they aren’t entirely keen on interviews, but they also giggle frequently, showing they aren’t completely bored. Peter is entertaining himself by doodling on a question card.
“Here we go… Things That Annoy The Shit Out Of You,” reads Peter. Thanks to the BRMC forum for inspiring this one. “Little coloured cards,” he teases. No, no! “It’s a word, and the word is ‘virtually.’ It annoys the shit out of me.”
“Oh yeah, ‘virtually’, I remember you talking about that…” says Robert. I’ll try to avoid using it, I promise. Peter starts giggling, and I decide to throw it in every now and then to wind him up. Robert asks what he has against it.
“I can’t remember. ‘Virtual reality is virtually OK.’ No it’s not. It’s not anywhere near reality. It’s not anywhere near anything virtually. The context of when people usually use virtually, it doesn’t make sense to me.”
“It really annoys him apparently,” says Robert through a smile. He goes quiet while he thinks what gets his goat. “Well, there’s so many, how do I choose?” I heard you had to get up at eight this morning. That must be quite high up on the list. “Gas leaks, yeah.” He goes very quiet.
“I don’t like the little popcorns that don’t pop,” says Peter, looking at me intently. “Those are kind of annoying, aren’t they? You know, the ones that are halfway popped but they still leave a bit of the kernel.”
“Sometimes clothes actually drive me crazy,” says Robert. “Everyone’s going to think I’m some kind of nudist or something. Sometimes it’s like my skin starts crawling from the clothes I’m wearing and I have an anxiety attack.” The perils of tight jeans. “I don’t need to strip down or nothing it’s just like… has that ever happened to you or is that just me?”
“Only when I’ve been high,” offers Peter and lets out a chuckle.
“Maybe I just need to virtually cut down on all the drugs I’ve been taking,” says Robert. Oh, he used a bad word. “That might help.”
BRMC have been on the road for ages already this year, firstly supporting The Killers and now with their own headlining shows looming up ahead.
“Ages ago? What, like year 2000 you mean?” says Robert. Not quite that long ago. “It wasn’t too long ago, about a month and a half ago. It started with The Killers thing ‘cause we’d just finished the record and but then our release date got pushed back a little bit, so we had some time and they asked us last minute. That was a strange beginning, but it was also one of the best ways to start because we didn’t get to play for any of our fans. All their shows were sold out before we even showed up and that was partially the idea, just to play to new people. You don’t get that chance too often.
“It was also hard. It reminded me of when the band first started in San Francisco and we were playing for like 12 barflies sitting around and you’re trying to win them over with everything you can, but it’s just not happening and then you go nuts. But then all those things came back and it’s about just ignoring them actually and focusing on people on stage and the music, and if they come around then all the better.
“I really needed that. You start getting a little lazy ‘cause you think ‘oh this show sucked because the people were just like…’ You know, you only judge it on them and that’s not the way it should be, and it taught me that and I was just really grateful.
“Then we did two or three headlining shows near the end of that and it was overwhelming, we got to play to our fans again and it was like ‘this is the best thing in the world’. It made us appreciate it a lot more. So a weird experience turned into a good story.”
There are plenty of UK and US shows coming up. “We got two more weeks here doing a couple of things,” says Peter. “Then six to nine weeks in the US, then a couple of days off, and then back over here, a couple of days off then back over there… Couple of days off then off somewhere else…” You want more days off, I say.
“If you add all those days off though, it makes like a whole week nearly,” says Robert.
“We’re getting more days off than regular folk,” says Peter. Damn you pop stars, I say. Peter laughs and agrees. “When you look at the reality of it you know, the majority of people get what a week of vacation? And they have to fight for it all year round for that one week. So."
Have you got any exciting onstage antics planned for your live shows?
“No,” says Peter. Okay. He starts chuckling away again. I tell them to get some fireworks or something. “That’s for after the show.”
“Oh yeah,” remembers Robert. “There are fireworks. Our crew guy has been on this for a while. He brings the fireworks and we always light one off, at least one after each show before we leave. The cops are gonna be chasing us out of town. It’s a tradition.”
He picks up the next question card. “How do you relax, Peter?”
“How do you relax?” Peter shoots back, from his comfy position on the sofa.
“By avoiding questions!” Robert goes quiet for a while as he thinks. So, apart from taking all your clothes off when they irritate you, Robert...
“Yeah, it’s pretty good, it’s hard to top that,” he says. “I like to see movies or just watch a DVD. I don’t know if I zone out as much as most people do. But I can get lost in another story and kind of forget about my own. I like that.”
Seen any good films recently? “I actually saw one I really liked until the end. I just saw Sunshine the Danny Boyle film the other night and it was like a cross between Alien and 2001 until the end and then it just became dreadful. It’s so beautifully shot, then it just becomes like a slasher movie towards the end. Those are the ones that steals relaxing. It’s just like a cheap way to end any movie. That’s my movie review for the day as well. That can be another card next time.”
I ask Peter how he relaxes. “I like to drive I guess. I just get in the car and drive to the middle of nowhere.” You can’t do that here, you’ll get stuck in traffic for three hours. “Yeah, once you get out of town. I don’t mind the traffic as long as I know I’m leaving it.” He laughs. His shoes are resting on top of the spotless table and occasionally he rubs his feet up and down the surface.
BRMC have a few festivals lined up for the summer - firstly the Camden Crawl, then Oxegen, T In The Park, and a few abroad – Germany, Sweden, France. Do you go for the whole weekend or do you just play then go on somewhere else?
“We usually play and go,” admits Peter. You should stick around, get a tent. “Er, yeah, I don’t know, maybe. That’s not usually the way it goes.”
Do you go to many festivals as music goers rather than ones to play? “When I was in high school, it wasn’t really about the music. It was just about taking as much LSD as possible,” says Peter.
He looks at me and starts guffawing. I’m not sure festivals are so much about the drugs any more. “Yeah? That’s what’s wrong with people these days. Not enough LSD!” That’ll be it.
“I went to Reading the first time I ever came to England,” says Robert. “That was right after we recorded our first record before it came out. I was just kind of screwing around, went to Brighton, and then travelled around a bit and found myself at Reading. It was the year that I think Pulp headlined, Oasis and Primal Scream headlined, and the Primal Scream show was the most incredible thing.
“The coolest thing was that we went in the big tent. That was a bit fun because the energy’s kind of contained, unlike the main stage, and I was just imagining playing ‘Spread Your Love’ right there at the end of the night and it was like the biggest daydream I could possibly have. I usually don’t let myself like have those little dream kind of things, ‘cause usually I feel like it’s gonna jinx it, but that one actually came true. And then the next year we were playing ‘Spread Your Love’ on that same stage. That was one of the most surreal things ever to happen to me. Little rock star dream came true.”
Ahhh, I feel strangely moved. “Yeah. Then the beer hit me in the face,” he remembers with a smile. Someone threw it at you? “Oh every festival you get drenched in beer. That’s kind of the fun of it too. Free drinks.”
Following on from 2005’s ‘Howl’ is new album ‘Baby 81’, out in a matter of days. Apparently it's named after a child admitted to hospital after the 2004 tsunami which was wrongly claimed by nine mothers before thankfully being reunited with its true family. BRMC are looking foward to seeing how the album goes down with listeners. “It’s the calm before the storm. It’s like a really exciting record to make and exciting to see what’s going to happen when people hear it,” says Robert.
Songs on 'Baby 81' include 'American X', '666 Conducer', 'Took Out A Loan' and 'Am I Only'. Got any favourite tracks? “Uh… almost all of them. The ones I’m kind of critical of are the ones where I’m critical of the recordings of them – they’re the ones that just explode live. I lived with the record for a while and I forgot how they sounded when we were just playing them together," explains Robert. "And you know when you go and record something you lose elements sometimes. Sometimes you gain it. Sometimes a song that doesn’t work live, on tape it can just be like – ah, the greatest thing ever. But then on other ones it’s the opposite, it steals something from them and I kind of forgot that they did work in any way. So yeah, even the ones that aren’t that strong just work amazingly well live. It’s a pretty bulletproof record."
We’re just done with Easter, left with vague memories of a lot of chocolate and some new-found toothache. BRMC didn’t give anything up for Lent. “That’s all it’s about, right? Easter eggs,” says Peter.
“Give something up for the bunnies,” adds Robert. “The magical bunny.”
What would be hardest for you to give up for forty days?“Oh, you only have you do it for 40 days?” says Robert. “It’s not like a New Years resolution.” Well it is, in that you give up then start again soon after. No-one keeps New Year resolutions.
“I’d like to give up talking for 40 days. That’d be nice,” says Peter from his recumbent position on the sofa. “Live in silence for 40 days.” You should have started that before I got in here, that would have made it fun. “I tried it for a couple of days once. Just wrote on paper.” How did you get on with that? “All right. Would like to do it longer.”
Powerful single ‘Weapon Of Choice’ came out on April 16th. “It started just as a guitar riff Peter had and the chorus line ‘I won’t waste my love on a nation’ and it was just really fun to play, just one of the fastest songs we had. And so whenever things felt kind of draggy we’d play that and it would wake you up,” explains Robert.
“We thought that was going to be an easy one to put down ‘cause live it was just like great, and then it just flatlined. It was so full on, it didn’t have enough of an emotional rollercoaster to give you a ride as much. We ended up doing a last minute thing where it just started with acoustic guitar - which wasn’t planned at all - and then drums entering in and everything being introduced more dramatically, and all of a sudden it had this emotional connection. At least it can have that for some people.
“We didn’t try to force our way into what a single was going to be, it was kind of between that and ‘Berlin’ we were thinking, and [the label] went with that.”
What’s Peter listening to at the moment? “I’ve got the new Nick Cave album. I have a bunch of old time radio shows. They put me to sleep at night - turn off the TV and listen to old time radio shows. Old stories, what would you call it, mystery theatre-type stuff, Orson Welles, this kind of voice narrating a story, half-hour stuff they did in the ‘20s, ‘30s, ‘40s maybe. I’m looking for books, but I haven’t gotten into that yet. I haven’t got the guts to buy any books and put them on my iPod as far as listening to them.”
I tell Peter to get a Harry Potter one. They last hours and hours, that’ll put him to sleep. “No, I’m not interested in that kind of thing really,” he says, and bursts out guffawing. “I think I’d just turn it off, it would be a waste of money. No offence to Mr Harry Potter. Or Mrs Harry Potter.” He laughs again.
“Nine Inch Nails ‘Survivalism’ album,” says Robert, “and ‘Battlestar Galactica’ which are really good, surprisingly enough.”
The friendly PR, or Speaking Clock, is hovering with updates on how long we've been talking, and it's time to finish. I tell BRMC they can go back to sleep. Peter protests he's not tired and sits with his eyes as wide open as possible to prove it, but it just makes him look like he's sat on something very sharp and pointy. Let's hope 'Baby 81', like its namesake, finds its way into the arms of people who'll appreciate it.
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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's 'Weapon Of Choice' single is out April 16th, with album 'Baby 81' released April 30th on Island Records.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
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