Smells Like Pop

Anton Newcombe talks about life and love

Interview by Alexander Laurence | Photos by Angel Ceballos

I did an interview with Anton Newcombe of Brian Jonestown Massacre in 2000. At that point the band was in transition. The initial lineup had broken up, and a new one had taken its place. Anton had introduced me to a lot of new music and bands over the years. By 2003, a new lineup, very much like the one we know today, had come together finally. In a period of a year, many things had happened to Brian Jonestown Massacre, to take them from this small obscure indie band, to the internationally known band they are today.

First: they had played several strong tours in Europe and the UK, and music fans had embraced them there. Patti Smith invited the BJM to play a high profile gig at Meltdown Festival, and they were soon taken seriously by important journalists. A greatest hits collection came out in 2004 and they became known to other musicians: namely Iggy Pop and Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols. Lastly there was the controversial film, DIG: The Movie, that highlights possibly the worst aspects of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols. This is a film that Anton Newcombe still rejects to this day.

In the last decade, BJM has played many tours and festivals, and they have become an awesome and vital touring band. Also added to the mix: their song is the theme song to TV show Boardwalk Empire. Even in the past two years, there are many people who have just discovered this band. So it’s good news for all concerned that there is a new record, AUFHEBEN, which comes out on May 1st. There is a new tour 2012, that takes the BJM to Austin’s Psych Fest, the United States, Europe, and even Australia. More than fifty shows worldwide this summer, which proves that AntonNewcombe and Brian Jonestown Massacre are bigger than ever. I got to speak to him over the phone this week, right before the tour begins.

INTERVIEW – PART ONE

AL: This new album, Aufheben, sounds more cohesive as an album. How did it come about?
Anton: I have my studio in Berlin. I have been working with Fabien Leseure. He is an engineer that works here in my studio. He works with other bands as well. I made him a partner without having him buy the shit. I like to record and experiment myself. But there is freedom in having someone push buttons because that is their main function. You can float around and record tracks very quickly. I am into conceptual art as a form of communication. I don’t want to define things or make things perfect. I want the listener to acknowledge that there is an idea. I want them to interact with it in some way. I don’t care if they “get it.” It doesn’t need to be finished. Music should capture your attention and break free of it. There are people who are fanatical about the Stone Roses and their achievements. People like Peter Hook attached themselves to that band, and have drug them out of the realm of having those songs recorded, to being produced records. That made them more part of a guild than a craftsmanship thing. They could never duplicate that, so it’s like an albatross around their neck. People always look at the Stones Roses on the strength of their first album. I am more interested in documenting something and never finishing it, because I don’t have that agenda and I love international music. There are bands in France who insist on singing songs in English. I tell them that we already have American artists, like Katy Perry and Beck, who have these nonsense lyrics that don’t mean anything. They could probably do something better in French, than half-assed in English. Nicki Minaj is not producing very profound lyrics, so why is your average Swedish band trying to sing in English?

AL: I have interviewed many Swedish bands and I asked them that question, and they always say that they listen to American and UK bands, and not Swedish bands.
Anton: The Hives are fun. Good times. I am not getting on their case. I was thinking more about people like Beck. Beck doesn’t really say anything about life or anything. You have no insight into the world of human beings.

AL: You don’t really know anything about Beck from listening to his records.
Anton: You don’t know anything about that guy and his perspective. All you know is he is very imaginative, and he does what he does, and he is likable. It’s crazy how great his ability is to have built that wall. In this world with TMZ and everything? Nobody knows one interesting thing about Beck. I met him so I know a little more. Beck is great. But that is a neat trick to do what he has done. Beck has done all these albums and he never talks about himself in an interview.

AL: So how do you do your albums today? Do you write all the songs beforehand and book time in a studio? Or do you live in a studio, and create as you go along?
Anton: I have done albums every which way. We own a studio here in Berlin. It’s a two-story auto body shop. The top floor looks like an internet start up company. There is a massive kitchen and four bunk beds. If you want to lay out. There is a shower and a bath. There is a living room where I do my TV show. There is a downstairs where there is all the electric goodies. I come here every day. But I go home at night and go to sleep. But I can accommodate guests. If you wanted to come out here and visit me and David Strauss, I would say “Here’s the keys to my place. You are right here.” At this point I could record an album anywhere. I could go to Iceland and record in Bjork’s studio, or go to London and record with Nigel Godrich. You get into a mentality where you are surrounded by Vox guitars and you don’t feel like doing anything. Now you can hit the road because almost everyone has their little studio somewhere.

[...]

Van Etten wows, War on Drugs channel Springsteen live in Portland

It doesn’t hurt when Bon Iver covers you, The National produce you, SXSW adores you, and hip websites anoint you the latest musical “it” girl.

That being said, Sharon Van Etten – touring on the strength of her latest, Tramp, didn’t disappoint a packed house at The Aladdin. After a solid set from Philadelphia’s The War on Drugs (channeling early Springsteen, and a self-professed love of The Waterboys – who they covered in their encore), Van Etten and her talented supporting cast seemed right at home in the intimate confines of The Aladdin.

Though Van Etten was the clear attraction, a reasonable contingent of folks were also on hand to support the (arguably) equally talented Heather Woods Broderick, who provided flawless harmony vocals, keyboards and guitar. Broderick (affectionately nicknamed “Bro-Derek” by Van Etten during their tour) is a Portlander, and Smells Like Pop has witnessed her talent first hand as a member of Horse Feathers (along with her brother, Peter Broderick).

The band fleshed out the subtle and nuanced dynamics of Tramp – taking an already solid record, and bringing it lovingly to life. Guitarist Doug Keith captured the gothic-twang necessary to make “Give Out” shine, while drummer Zeke Hutchins allowed the power and menace of “Serpents” to be showcased.

With her talent on an upward trajectory, hopefully the young Van Etten won’t get pitchforked over for the next inevitable find.

(photos by William Olson)

The 1980s in San Francisco, and Heyday Records – An Interview with Pat Thomas by Alexander Laurence

This week is another Noise Pop in San Francisco. This is a yearly event where for five days many of the main venues in the city have nightly shows featuring some worthy bands. They are celebrating their twenty-year anniversary in 2012. Noise Pop was once a beacon of local Bay Area talent and new interesting indie bands. Over the years though it has become more mainstream, expensive, and dumb, and less specific, less focused on new exciting voices in music. Before Noise Pop, San Francisco had an interesting punk scene, and in the 1980s, there was an important post-punk folk revival. Many of the “Paisley Underground” bands from LA and relocated to SF in the mid-eighties.

The SF scene in the late 1980s/early 1990s was ripe for a new label to come in and give it a focus. I wanted to remember those times. The 1980s in San Francisco was the last time when rents were cheap, bohemianism ruled, and you could live in SF on nothing, and be an artist or a musician. This resulted in some real uncompromising music, some noise, and some real visionaries. To help me remember this time I spoke to Pat Thomas, of Heyday Records, who was definitely the man on the scene back then.

Pat Thomas is a writer, musician and record label boss. When I met him, he had just moved to San Francisco and started Heyday Records. From 1988 to 1992, Thomas released the debut albums from Barbara Manning, Chris Cacavas (Green on Red), Jack Waterson (Green on Red), Steven Roback/Viva Saturn (Rain Parade), Sonya Hunter, and the Bedlam Rovers. He filled a vacuum in San Francisco with his label and achieved worldwide success. Over the years he has been involved with Water Records, 4 Men With Beards, Light in The Attic records.

Over the years Pat Thomas has also performed with several bands. The most constant one is Mushroom, who continues to be active in 2012. His book “Listen Whitey – The Sights and Sounds of Black Power” is due out in March 2012 from Fantagraphics Books. 

Alexander Laurence: You have this website “Room One Two Four.” What does that mean?
Pat Thomas: It doesn’t have any significance. It’s always hard to come up with a name for a website. People have a lot of questions about music and academia. I can send them there and find out more.

AL: You are a journalist. You have been in the music business for thirty years. You play in the band Mushroom. You wrote this book Listen Whitey. You do it all. You are the renaissance guy.
Pat: Yeah. I joke about that. But I decided that I am a renaissance guy. There are people who are a lot more successful than I am, but they are people who are focused on doing just one thing. They may or may not do that well. One of the disappointing things about some of my favorite musicians from the Eighties is that they have never deviated off that path. I am not saying that they should become novelists. I just think that some of the bands keep making the same record. My band Mushroom doesn’t sound like anything I did with Heyday. Mushroom is this Miles Davis / Soft Machine jazzy prog rock thing. Heyday was Dylan /Lou Reed influenced stuff. I don’t want to get into a situation where I am doing the same thing. That is the reason I went back to school. I did this book about the Black Panthers. Life is too interesting yet too short to say to yourself that “I am going to do this one thing.”

AL: People do the narrow thing because it makes money. The Cure are in town this week playing their first three albums. Robert Smith has never strayed from path of The Cure, and done some weird record.
Pat: I was referring more to indie rock. I don’t expect Robert Smith to break the mold. But if you are a band who are not making any money at all, why not go off and do something else?

AL: And there is Greg Shaw and Bomp Records. I think that Greg Shaw focused on garage rock and you knew what you were getting when you bought a record on Bomp.
Pat: Yeah. I think that what I was doing was a wider scope.

AL: How did you end up in San Francisco?
Pat: It’s a long story. I was born in 1964. I grew in Rochester and Buffalo, NY. I went to college for a few years. Then in 1986, I moved to Copenhagen for a year, just to be a bum. I was reading Kerouac and Burroughs. At that time, most of their books were out of print in the USA, but in print in the UK. On my way to Denmark, I stopped in London and bought all the oddball books by Kerouac and Burroughs. I spent a year in Copenhagen and read them all.

AL: When did you get to SF?
Pat: I met some Americans in Copenhagen. They asked me if I had ever been to the west coast. I said “No, but I have always dreamed of going.” In the summer of 1987, I came out to San Francisco for a one week vacation. I fell in love with the place and just stayed. Most of us growing up on the east coast have a mythological view of California. We think of everything from the Johnny Carson Show to the Jefferson Airplane. We also think that LA and San Francisco are three hours away from each other. It’s a fantasy of one big wonderland.

AL: When I met you in 1987 or 1988, you had already started Heyday Records. How did that start?
Pat: When I am bored and lonely: that is when I start to feel creative. When I moved to San Francisco, I only knew a couple people. I was sitting around my apartment on a Saturday afternoon, and I couldn’t find a friend or a party. I said to myself: fuck it, I am going to start a record company. I am going to put out my own record. I was really obsessed with Barbara Manning. I was a fan of her first band 28th Day. I knew that she had a solo record halfway recorded. I didn’t even have a phone in my apartment. I called Barbara Manning on a pay phone. I told her “I am going to start a record label and I want your record to the first release.” And she said “Whatever dude.” That is how the label started. And I was obsessed with the Paisley Underground. That was one of the reasons I moved to California. I loved Green on Red and Dream Syndicate. I put out records by Chris Cacavas, Jack Waterson, and Steven Roback. The Paisley Underground was fizzling out, but I was determined to put out all the solo records.

AL: When did all these LA bands move to San Francisco?
Pat: Most of the bands were LA based. But the drummer of Green on Red had moved to San Francisco. Chuck Prophet was already a SF native. Steve Wynn was visiting San Francisco all the time in the 1980s. He loved going to parties on the weekend. The Dream Syndicate spent six months in SF when they were doing The Medicine Show. There has always been an LA-SF connection. True West was from Davis, California. I was a fan and friend to all these guys. Some of the bands had broken up. So I helped them get solo acoustic gigs at the Albion and the Paradise Lounge. [...]

Interview by Alexander Laurence / Photo by Angel Ceballos

Anika aka Annika Henderson used to be a political journalist and travel back and forth between Bristol and Berlin. She also went to college in Wales at some point and organized shows there and was a DJ too. As she was booking and promoting bands for clubs in Wales , Anika decided to try out for a band Beak> that was looking for a singer. The fellows in Beak> decided to stay instrument and to create a whole new record with Anika. They recorded the Anika in twelve days with no overdubs. They picked a bunch of cover songs including “Terry” by Lynn Ripley, “End of The World” by Skeeter Davis, “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan, “I Go To Sleep” by The Kinks, and “Yang Yang” by Yoko Ono. There were a few original songs like “No One’s There” and more. The stark confrontational style was very apparent. Anika was in the US early this year as a DJ. But now she is touring with a full band and even playing some festivals like ATP and Moog Fest. I got to speak with Anika right before she started her tour in America.

AL: How are the shows going?
Anika: We had one so far at Le Poisson Rouge in New York. It has been going reasonably well. We are on are way to Princeton. We are playing with Factory Floor and Dirty Beaches. We added a show at Glasslands since we are coming back to NYC anyway. We have toured extensively in Europe. We played a lot of festivals in Spain, France, and Switzerland. It’s harder to come over here because you have to deal with visa issues.

AL: How has the response been to music? Is there much difference in playing France and America?
Anika: It depends on what people like. You get cultural differences across France the same way you do across America. It will be interesting to see what happens when we play different parts of America. It was a surprise to see how exciteable New Yorkers were the other night. We will see how the LA shows goes.

AL: I heard that people were yelling out between songs in New York?
Anika: Yes. It was mental. It was crazy.

AL: When many English bands come over here, it’s often singers like Coldplay and Keane. It’s like emotional English ballads…. When someone doesn’t do something like that….
Anika: Actually some of our songs are based on stuff that Keane and Coldplay do. We want that kind of atmosphere. It’s great. [...]

Interview by Alexander Laurence of Portable Infinite

The Human League are an important electronic band from Sheffield, England. They started in 1977, during the height of the Punk movement. They achieved worldwide success with their album Dare (1981). In their 35 year history they have released nine albums and 29 singles. This makes them one of the most successful and influential British bands ever. Since 1987, the band has been a trio of members Philip Oakey (photo left), Susan Ann Sulley (right), and Joanne Catherall (middle). They recently played at the Hollywood Bowl with The B-52s, The Fixx, and Berlin. I got to speak to Susan from the band, and talk about so many questions that I had over the years.

AL: You are playing the Hollywood Bowl this week on September 2nd, 2011. You played there a few years ago. Are you looking forward to that big show?
Susan: Yeah, we did. I can’t remember how long it’s been. We have been lucky to have this international career. We had a few number one hits in America. We are all looking forward to coming back.

AL: Where else have you travel to this year?
Susan: You want me to tell you? We have been to Hong Kong, Manila, Toyko, and Australia. We have been to South America this year. This has been a tough year for us. I am going to The Maldives on holiday in February.

AL: You like this jet set life?
Susan: People want to see us. They pay money to come to see us. We like to go around and play. We get to travel the world. We love going places.

AL: Did it work against the band that you were from Sheffield? Were things more London-centric back then?
Susan: No. I think at the time you didn’t have to be from London. There is always a big music scene from London. One of the biggest bands from that time were Duran Duran and they were from Birmingham. It was a different time. Young people in the UK were rebelling against the government and trying to find an outlet for their creative juices. People were making music everywhere. OMD was from Liverpool. People wanted to be creative and form bands, because there was nothing else to do.

AL: What about people in the street in Sheffield? When you were walking around town, and Philip Oakey had that asymmetrical haircut, did people bother you?
Susan: We were ordinary. People around us were way more outrageous. People didn’t take notice of us. You are way more creative when you haven’t a job and are looking for an outlet for your creativity. My best friend is called Trevor and he was the most outrageous person in Sheffield. He would walk around with a corset and stocking. Nobody took any notice of myself or Joanne, because we were ordinary.

AL: Do other Sheffield musicians like Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley, or Arctic Monkeys come up to you and say “Human League was a big influence on me. You guys made all this possible.”
Susan: The only person who would do something like that is Richard Hawley. He is the only one who stayed in Sheffield. Everyone else moved away. The only person you would bump into at the pub or the supermarket is Richard. Not anyone else. Arctic Monkeys don’t live here anymore. Jarvis has lived in Paris for about five years.

[...]

An Interview with up-and-comers, Foxygen by Alexander Laurence of Portlable Infinite. Foxygen photos by Angel Ceballos also of Portable Infinite.

Foxygen are a new young band who are thrilling musicians and talented songwriters. They are from Los Angeles and have existed in some form for many years. They have produced more than eight albums in the past few years. They are presently releasing an EP, called Take The Kids Off Broadway. They hope to finish their first actual physical release later this year, produced by Richard Swift. The main members of the band are Jonathan Rado and Sam France. I got to speak to the band at the practice space in Olympia, WA this past week.

AL: When did you actually start this band?
Rado: We started in 2004 in Westlake Village. We were in another band called The Fionas. We were also called The Boscos. Sam was the singer of that band. The Fionas was like a Doors influenced rock band. We had another singer, who was replaced by Sam, who I didn’t know that well. We had done some instrumentals that Sam took home. He did the vocals and all these crazy sounds. I listened to it and thought it was genius. Everyone else in the band hated them. We had to break up the band and start again. And that is when we started Foxygen.

AL: Did you spend a lot of time thinking of a name?
Rado: We actually left a rehearsal with The Fionas and went to the first Foxygen practice. Foxygen started right there. When we recorded our first album, we didn’t know each other. It was called “Electric Sun Machine.” We decided that Foxygen would be just me and Sam. We recorded the first album in my bedroom in a week. We played all the instruments. It was 2004 or 2005, we are not really sure.

AL: You were very young back then?
Rado: We were babies. Neither one of us had hit puberty yet. Our voices were extremely high.

AL: When you played shows back when you were in High School, did you have a driver’s license, or did your parents have to drive you to shows?
Sam: Yeah. We played at the Whisky a-go-go a few times. Most of our shows were at school. It would be some class show where we would fuck around on melodica and guitar. Our early influences were Brian Jonestown Massacre. We watched Dig The Movie every day. We were into the fact that Anton “played everything.” We wanted to play everything. So I went on Ebay and bought every strange instrument. I would buy an accordian or a xylophone. We would bring them to shows and we couldn’t really play any of them. But it worked for some reason. We tried to get a sitar for a long time.

[...]

One of Willamette Week’s top four “new” bands of Portland last year, Hosannas is a project of brothers Richard and Brandon Laws, with occasional assists by other talented musicians. Distinctive for its striking interplay of vocal harmonies and stark electronics, the band inspired a successful Kickstarter campaign for the film/music project Into the Woods. Having toted the band, equipment, and generators to Ape Cave near Mt. St. Helens, Into the Woods tells SLP that they have a ton of “stunning” footage to share once they are done with the edits. It might be worth the wait, but in the meanwhile you can download a couple of EPs (for free, unless you have a fleeting sense of guilt at the checkout) available on the Hosannas website. We caught up with them before their launch on a California tour.

SLP: You recently played with Menomena at Doug Fir, and before that I think you were at SXSW. What’s life on the road been like for you guys?
Hosannas: We have toured more than most, and it has mostly been rad. Brandon and I did a three month tour last fall and played 70+ shows in the U.S. and Canada. we have had the opportunity to see more of this country than all but the most extreme seasoned travelers, and though it hasn’t really been easy, in retrospect it seems that it was fun or something close to it. now we want to go abroad.

SLP: As a band with a big sound, I can only imagine that it must be hard to recreate live, particularly with two people on stage. Some bands rely heavily on pre-recorded tracks, to the extent that it’s sometimes hard to figure out what’s live and what’s recorded. Though this doesn’t seem to be the case with your live show, what are your thoughts about using pre-recorded bits?
Hosannas: The computer is the most significant new tool available to the musician since the development of the keyboard. Anyone who doesn’t see that is just super high. No one is comfortable with seeing computers on stage yet though, myself included. This is because we are still learning the right way to play these instruments. In the future the current trend of laptop-karaoke will look like awkward middle-schoolers wearing backwards jeans. We have experimented with playing along a little in the past, and have moved away from the idea because it is too easy to destroy the real humanness of good musical performance. This is why we focus so much on singing. As a band that produces electronic music, maintaining the the involvement of un-questionably human elements is so important, and there is no possible substitute for the experience of hearing another human voice. These days we are looking to add a few extra human participants to our live set, just so brandon and i don’t have to play so many things at once.

SLP: Hosannas is to me one of those rare bands where vocals are successfully used as the lead instrument. The effect is etherial and haunting, for example on your EP The People I Know. Your most recent release, Thug Life Nicole, seems to take those elements to a harder edge (effectively, as in “Cccloud”). How would you describe your current work?
Hosannas: Currently we are branching out. we want to expand on our favorite parts about what we do, it is too soon to know exactly what that means, but we are already super excited about it.

SLP: For music fans, it’s great that there are so many bands here, but I imagine for people who are already established, it must be tough to hear that more and more bands are arriving by the boatload (most recently, the Fleet Foxes guy turned refugee-from-Seattle). Are there benefits to playing in a town that is so well-stocked with musicians?
Hosannas: Portland is a wonderful place to exist and play music, that is why brandon and I live here and why more bands move here all the time. Portland is definitely aware of this though, and she has no reservations about stoking the hype surrounding her insanely fantastic music scene. This is probably a good thing for the city as a whole and definitely good for those select few who are catapulted to new realms of indie stardom and paying their rent and whatnot. As a band however, hosannas doesn’t really feel the need to get in on this hype-stoking, probably because we just kind of suck at it. We just feel really blessed at whatever accolades are mysteriously thrown our way. But i will admit that we would love to see more people come out to our shows, and i urge real music fans to search out some of the bodaciously radical music that does not fit into the spotlight of widespread approval.

SLP: Speaking of Fleet Foxes–perhaps you’ve heard the comparison before, so skip that if it’s annoying–perhaps a better comparison for your work is Brian Wilson, whom you covered in a show I saw recently. Either way, there’s a lot of experimentation with the interplay of vocals and instrumental work. Knowing very little about harmonics, how would you describe your vocal approach to a schlub like me?
Hosannas: Funny you mention Fleet Foxes, our dad just told me that he picked up their album at starbucks and that it reminded him of us. The whole world is trippy. As far as our vocal approach, it really just comes down to singing whatever sounds good as best as you can. We definitely take inspiration from the beach boys as i’m sure Fleet Foxes do as well, and as the Beach Boys did from their predecessors, i.e. the Four Freshmen, the Hi-Los, and George Gershwin.

SLP: I noticed that Hosannas has offered a lot of free shows (in Portland at least), and you give away some of your stuff online. Since selling merch doesn’t seem like much of an attractive option, what do you think is the formula for bands to make money these days?
Hosannas: Well I am pretty sure we haven’t figured that shit out at all, because i gotta go to work tomorrow the same as anybody else. We lose money doing this, all of the money. We do sell merch though … cd’s, lp’s, we have even produced a few rather handsome t-shirts. As for the free shows, we just want people to come hang out. Folks are poor in this town, and so are we, so free shows are a good thing for these broke-ass types of people.

SLP: OK, I have to ask. In your video for Be Careful, I go back and forth between being more creeped out by the guy in the mask and the shiny-face mermaid (not to mention the tri-headed puppet). Is there a story behind the video?
Hosannas: I think there is, but you would have to ask Mr. Emile Rosewater, the talented individual responsible for that particular video. Dude has got his own crazy thoughts…

SLP: What’s next for the band?
Hosannas: Absorbing summer rays, laying down huge janky beats, barbeque, and a fun road trip to california. We hope for the best.

7.10 Portland, OR @ Rontoms
7.11 Santa Rosa, CA @ The Arlene Francis
7.12 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
7.13 Santa Barbara, CA @ SOHO
7.14 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar
7.15 Los Angeles, CA @ Lot 1
7.16 Davis, CA @ Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

An interview with Brendan Perry by Alexander Laurence courtesy of The Portable-Infitinte.

Brendan Perry has been involved in the music world almost 35 years. He was born and raised in East London, but his family moved to Auckland when he was still young. During that time the punk scene in New Zealand took off and Perry joined his first band The Scavengers. After two years they changed their name to The Maching Girls. By 1981, he had met Lisa Gerrard and formed Dead Can Dance and relocated back to London. They ended up on the 4AD label and becoming one of its most successful acts, releasing eight albums from 1984 to 1996. There was an international tour in 2005, which included a sold out night at the Hollywood Bowl. Brendan Perry also has two solo records to his credit: Ete Of The Hunter (1999), and Ark (2010). Brendan Perry has been touring with Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. Perry still lives in Ireland with his family. I got to talk to him recently about touring, the music scene, and new Dead Can Dance music in 2012.

AL: How is the weather up there in Vancouver?
BP: It’s overcast, but I have been sitting in the venue all day.

AL: How many people are in the band?
BP: Five including myself. I have two keyboard players, bass, drums, and myself on vocals and guitar. Most of the band have been playing with me a while. We must have done sixty gigs since April of last year.

AL: When did you have the idea of touring with Robin Guthrie?
BP: It was an idea by the tour agent in the United States. Robin Guthrie has his own three piece band. They play with films. When I first started thinking about touring the Ark album in the States, we agreed upon a double headlining tour with Robin Guthrie. I have known him for years and it seemed like a no-brainer.

AL: The last time I saw you play was when Dead Can Dance played the Hollywood Bowl in 2005. What have you been doing since that time?
BP: You were at that gig? After we did the Dead Can Dance tour, we had some money to refurbish my home studio at Quivvy Church. I was tweaking and playing around with new gear. There was technical stuff and writing. That process took maybe two or three years. [...]

Alessi’s Ark Releases New Album, Plots Live Shows

Smells Like Pop’s Gene Brunak was able to track down the talented and busy, Alessi Laurente-Marke (Alessi’s Ark), on the heels of the April 25th release of her new album, and just weeks away from her 21st birthday (June 30th, for the record).

After crafting the stunning, and well received, debut album Notes from the Treehouse (produced by Mike Mogis, of Bright Eyes/Monsters of Folk fame) – and tours with Mumford and Sons and Laura Marling – we wanted to know how things were coming with her follow-up, Time Travel. We shared some info about Alessi’s Ark fan, and Fleet Fox, Robin Pecknold’s move to Portland (“Robin seems like a special fellow”), and the lack of patience for warmer weather in the Pacific Northwest (“I’m sending love and best wishes to you and the gang from sunny but windy London”).

Laurent-Marke graced us with this interview, before embarking on a tour of Europe to promote her new work.

Smells Like Pop: Are you coming to the States? When is your record, Time Travel, getting its proper stateside release?

Alessi Laurent-Marke: Hello Gene! I’ll be coming over to the east coast next month – looking forward to it! The dates are: June 7th – Passim, Boston // June 8th – Joe’s Pub (with John Grant), New York // June 9th – Joe’s Pub (with John Grant), New York // June 11th – Bella Cafe, Washington DC // June 14th – Casbah, Durham, NC … and Time Travel will be out and about in the U.S on September 27th.

SLP: Speaking of the new record, what inspired the title (for those of us who don’t have it yet)?

Alessi: The album was made in two parts; one half was recorded in North Wales, tucked away in a cottage/studio amongst hills with little phone signal or access to the outside world and the other half was recorded by the sea in Brighton, where we were working 12 hours day for a week. In neither session, did we have much concept of time. I also like music that doesn’t feel as though it belongs to any time/period in particular. The idea of time travel is quite exciting and calming, all at once.

SLP: What things between your last full length (the brilliant Notes from the Treehouse) and the new record have inspired you (musically, spiritually, culinarily – is that even a word? I just made it up if not…)?

Alessi: I like culinarily! Let’s say it’s a word! The new album has been inspired by travelling and the distance that touring and experiences can bring between you and the ones you care about the most in the world. Seeing, hearing, feeling and trying new things in your homeland is inspiring too and experiencing those things in foreign territory can be even more so. Part and pass of playing music and being able to share songs nightly in different corners of the country or aboard, can at once be very overwhelming and amazing but also solitary and lonely. Between the first album’s release and the making of the second, I’ve done quite a lot of touring on my own and there has been a lot of solo bus and train rides. You have to climb down from the brain, if we’re calling it the treehouse, and spend time with others. Too much time up there can get tricky. At least I’ve found that. Meeting people as special as yourself and your family has been a blessing that maybe only touring and friends can make happen. I’m always thankful that the music can bring things together like it does sometimes.

SLP: Any artists that you would recommend to us (music, art, theater, cinema)?

Alessi: Music at the moment: Emanuel and the Fear, Whispertown, Jake Bellows, Georgia Seddon, Green Like July, Coal Beautiere, John Grant, Magic Magic, Karen Dalton, Wig Smith, Rachael Dadd, Sons of Noel and Adrian and Denis Jones.

I forgot to recommend any films! I’m afraid I’m not much of a theatre go-er but I recommend the following films: Wings of Desire (thanks to you!), Last Great Picture Show, Rinko’s Kitchen, Rumba, L’argent de Poche and a recent find was ‘The Tree’ set in Australia starring Charlotte Gainsbourg. My boyfriend and I really enjoyed it and stumbled upon it having not read or heard anything about it through the grapevine.

SLP: What’s next?

Alessi: Getting bits and pieces ready for a tour around the U.K later this month with the ark. I’m looking forward to playing with the fellows and seeing the country together in spring. Georgia Seddon will be joining us too which will be a treat. She’s a lovely one and her songs are beautiful. The immediate next though, is a cup of coffee. Looking forward to sharing a pot in Portland with you next time!

The founder and leader of the Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell has been a pivotal figure of the English music scene for more than 40 years. He was recently interviewed by Alexander Laurence of the Portable-Infitinte. Photo of Mr. Cornwell is by Angel Ceballos, also of Portable-Infinite.

Hugh Cornwell has been a force in music since the early 1960s. Back then he played in a folk band with Richard Thompson. His music journey starts then and leads to The Stranglers, Captain Beefheart, Blondie, and many solo records. He recorded ten albums with the Stranglers over sixteen years. He recorded an album, Nosferatu (1979) with Robert Williams from Captain Beefheart. There are seven more solo records since the Stranglers days, plus several live albums and collaborations. He has also written three books. The Stranglers started in 1974, but became more widely known in the UK punk era of 1977. The name Hugh Cornwell is slightly obscure to the American scene, but many of us have heard these songs over the years. It’s just in the past five years that Hugh and the band have been touring over here. I figured out that I had to meet him and ask him about music and what he is up to.

AL: You used to play with Caroline Cunningham on bass and Chris Bell on drums. Now on this tour you have Clem Burke and Steve Fisher.
HC: I came over with Caroline and Chris before. The thing is that English musicians need to have a work permit. IF I bring them over here it would cost me fifteen thousand dollars before I even got off the plane. I have made three solo records with Steve Fisher. He’s been in and out of the lineup. Steve was living in London for fifteen years. He moved back to America. Caroline replaced him. When we had the situation of work permits, Caroline had just joined Cradle of Filth as the new keyboard player. When I get back to England I am going to tour with Steve and Chris. And then we are going to Australia.

AL: How long have you known Clem Burke?
HC: I have known Clem Burke for a long time. I supported Blondie in Europe a few years ago. I met him originally in 1978 when we all saw Captain Beefheart together in Los Angeles.

AL: Is that when you met Robert Williams?
HC: Exactly. I went to all three nighhts. I met Robert at that show. I went with Clem and the rest of Blondie.

AL: How many American tours did you do with The Stranglers? I remember there was one show at the Whisky in 1980.
HC: We didn’t do enough. We were on an American label. We were on IRS and worked with Miles Copeland. He wanted to put out a combination of our first two records. We didn’t want to do it. Rattus Norvegicus, the first Stranglers album, that we are playing tonight: how do you cut that up? I was very arrogant and obstreperous. I sent them a Telex saying “Don’t fuck with our album.” They wanted to mix it up. They did a compilation, because that was what you did over here. And then we were dropped from the label.

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