Category: Interviews (Page 89 of 113)

SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN Interview

2 April 2015 /


Following the success of ‘An Evening With The Swedish Synth’ featuring PAGE last March, Nordic friendly blog Cold War Night Life have announced their next live event ‘A Secret Wish’ on SUNDAY 19TH APRIL at The Lexington in London.

It is headlined by SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN (SMPJ), the solo project of Svensk synth mästare Eddie Bengsston from PAGE, while VILE ELECTRODES and John Fryer will also be on the bill.

SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN (translated as “last man on earth”) were formed back in 1986 by Bengtsson and Matts Wiberg. Wiberg left the band in 2004 and was replaced on stage by Christer Hermodsson. The first EP ‘Först I Rymden’ (‘First In Space’) was released in 1998 as a limited edition of 500. It featured songs such as ‘En Blå Planet’ and ‘Jag Kommer Ner’, all of which were based on a space travel theme.

After that, SMPJ released several albums including ‘Ligg tyst ett tag med’, ‘Luft’ and ‘Tredje Våningen’, with most of the songs having Swedish lyrics. The band have attracted a very loyal fanbase in Sweden and people of all ages can be seen enjoying their live performances. More recently, SMPJ released the single ‘Stadens Alla Ljus’ (‘All The Lights Of The City’) backed with ‘Vem Gör Det Då?’ (‘Who Does It Now?’) via Electronic Sound Sweden.

With ‘A Secret Wish’ just a few weeks away, SMPJ mainman Eddie Bengsston chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK

SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN is a unique and special name for a band. Please tell us the story behind it?

The name we got from the single ‘Being Boiled’ by THE HUMAN LEAGUE; the B-side ‘Circus Of Death’ mentions “the last man on earth”. THE HUMAN LEAGUE offshoot HEAVEN 17 got their name from the movie ‘A Clockwork Orange’, those names appear on a ‘billboard’ in the record shop that Alex in the movie is visiting. And since we also were fans of that movie, we wanted to do the same but most of those names were already taken. As only ‘Ed Molotov’ was unpicked, we went for tributing THE HUMAN LEAGUE instead… to make a long story short.

The single from last year ‘Stadens Alla Ljus’ was very well received by the fans as was the B-side ‘Vem Gör Det Då?’ – Are you working on some new material now, maybe for a full length album?

Right now, I’m not working on any new SMPJ material, contrary to what I’m expected to answer. At the moment, I’m collecting ideas, some for PAGE and some for SMPJ. I’m also working with another band from Sweden called MY GOD DAMN TERRITORY. I’m producing an album for them and it’s planned to be released this coming autumn. I have also been asked by NAKED LUNCH to work on an EP for them, but the details concerning that aren’t all set yet.


Last year played as PAGE in London with Marina Schiptjenko. What was that like and how was your music received by the audience?

That gig in London was amazing. I met so many friendly music loving people there. And judging by their reaction to us when we played, I think they liked it very much. I do hope SMPJ will receive the same warm welcome as PAGE did. It’s going to be wonderful to play in London again.

What is the status of PAGE right now?

The status is, as I said I’m collecting ideas. Apart from that, PAGE is resting at the moment. If all goes well, I think there will be some new PAGE stuff before next winter.

What do you think of the other artists performing at the Cold War Night Life’s ‘A Secret Wish’ event, VILE ELECTRODES and John Fryer?

I have never seen VILE ELECTRODES live, only on YouTube. But what I’ve heard and seen, I like very much. They are doing great electronic pop and they are presenting it in a very tasteful way with all that gear on stage. John Fryer is a legend himself, and that says it all.

Christer Hermodsson has been on stage with you for rather a long while now. Will he become a permanent member of SMPJ and will he join you in London?

Hermodsson will perform live with SMPJ as always. The answer to if he is a permanent member in SMPJ is harder. He is a part of SMPJ and in a way he is a guest performer. I think that’s the way he himself wants it to be. It would be hard, if not meaningless to do SMPJ without him, to tell the truth.

He is SMPJ’s producer and main keyboardist. And yes, he is in the band, when he not focusing on his own band BIOMEKKANIK.

Last year you were part of making the Swedish punk covers album ‘Electronically Up Yours’ where both PAGE and SMPJ did covers with a bunch of other great electronic acts. How was the album received?

To do covers of my favourite punk songs has been a thing I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. It’s only that I never had the time to do it. So when I asked the Swedish electronic music collective ‘Electronically Yours’ if they wanted to help me make it a reality, they all agreed it was great idea! If I had done it by myself, it would have taken a lot of time and the result wouldn’t have been as diverse as it became. As far as I know, ‘Electronically Up Yours’ was very well received, even though I think it hasn’t reached as many as I would have wished for. Then on the other side, the album is far from dead so it still has a chance to reach more people. Punk never dies!

You did a great Svensk cover of OMD’s ‘Stanlow’. Why the choice of that song?

The answer to that is very simple, it’s a wonderful song. And it’s always fun to take a favourite English song and make a Swedish version of it. And this one turned out very well.


Do you have any other musical projects going on right now? Maybe something with Ulrika Mild, who you performed with at the Electronic Winter event in Gothenburg last December?

Sometimes it feels like I have too many projects going on. But I try to limit it. The ‘project’ with Ulrika Mild from COMPUTE is called THE VOLT and we are currently recording an EP. Right now we are focusing on doing covers from The Atom Age (50s). Some kinda post nuclear-tronica.

Ulrika Mild is a fantastic singer and a very good songwriter. I enjoy very much working with such a talented person like her.

‘A Secret Wish’ featuring SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN, VILE ELECTRODES + John Fryer takes place on SUNDAY 19TH APRIL 2015 at The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JB. Doors open at 6.00pm

Tickets are £10 in advance or £15 on the door, available from https://billetto.co.uk/asecretwish

A special, limited edition EP will be available to mark the UK debut performance by SMPJ.

http://www.moonbasealpha.space/

https://myspace.com/smpj

http://www.coldwarnightlife.com/

For regular updates on ‘A Secret Wish’, please visit the Facebook Event page

Text and Interview by Sophie Nilsson
2nd April 2015

COLD WAR NIGHT LIFE Interview

18 March 2015 /

Following the success of ‘An Evening With The Swedish Synth’ last March, Nordic friendly blog Cold War Night Life have announced their next live event ‘A Secret Wish’ on SUNDAY 19TH APRIL at The Lexington in London.

No2 in an occasional live series, the event again has a Swedish flavour and is headlined by SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN (SMPJ).

Also on the bill are VILE ELECTRODES while making a special DJ appearance will be acclaimed producer John Fryer.

‘An Evening With The Swedish Synth’ was one of the best of the best live events of 2014 and a fine example of what could be achieved when an electronic event was actually curated by an electronic music enthusiast. With the dedication and care that Cold War Night Life take with their projects, ‘A Secret Wish’ promises to be one of the must attend events on the synthesizer calendar.

Simon Helm of Cold War Night Life kindly chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about his website, his love of all things Nordic and ‘A Secret Wish’…

What would you say is the ethos of the Cold War Night Life blog?

The site’s tagline is “electronic music and culture”, but we’ve covered everything from Moog50 to 23 SKIDOO via William Orbit’s spoken word show.

If it’s good, it is worth talking about, so we are open to a guitar artist like JENNIE VEE but don’t cover most EDM.

That said, when a DJ like Sandra Mosh does something special, we’re there. From the beginning, it has been inspired by little touches: the care that Vinyl-on-Demand put into their box sets.

How did you get into electronic pop music?

KRAFTWERK’s ‘Autobahn’ and ABBA’s ‘Voulez-Vous’ were milestones, but Gary Numan performing ‘Cars’ on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1979 turned everything upside down. When JOHN FOXX’s ‘Metamatic’ and OMD’s ‘Organisation’ arrived, there was no turning back. As a teenager, I started working in record shops, managing a local synth band, producing a cable TV show and writing about the music that was coming from Europe. To this day, I can’t recognise Top 40 hits from the commercial radio of that time, because I was so wrapped up in the sounds on the first two HUMAN LEAGUE albums.

Cold War Night Life is named after the debut album of Canadian band RATIONAL YOUTH. Why has this particular band inspired you and how do you equate their standing in the history of synthpop?

RATIONAL YOUTH are from Montréal, which is the most European of Canadian cities and was the first to absorb the synth music of the 70s, like KLAUS SCHULZE and CLUSTER. It was the right place for a couple of electro-pioneers to find each other. When RATIONAL YOUTH released ‘Cold War Night Life’ in 1982, they were easily on the same plane as OMD, John Foxx or DEPECHE MODE.

Bill Vorn had a System 100 and Tracy Howe programmed sequencers using equations, but their songwriting was also world-class.They were on a tiny local label, so they didn’t have the commercial reach they deserved, but wherever the record landed, it launched more bands. When RATIONAL YOUTH toured Sweden last year, hundreds of people were singing along in three different cities, which all grew from one person getting a vinyl copy in 1982 and copying it for friends – a rare example of home taping nurturing music. The choice of name was in tribute to the legacy of that record and the spirit that created it.

Canada is doing very well with new electronic acts such as AUSTRA, GRIMES, TRUST, PURITY RING, ELECTRIC YOUTH, CHROMEO and LOLA DUTRONIC. What do you think of these artists?

It’s great that there are so many new artists coming through – and not just followers of RUSH and NICKELBACK! I actually learn about a lot of these bands through TEC, but the one that both confounds and interests me most is TR/ST.

How did you get into the Swedish side of things?

I did a university degree in Stockholm and discovered a vein of music that is still to be mined properly. Bands like RATATA and NASA made amazing music but are not well known outside of the country. They lived in ABBA’s shadow. We have some great Swedish contributors, who are enthusiastic about music and sharing their discoveries. It means that we get can get a story about a new band that has just debuted at a local café, which can be more interesting than a report on the most recent tour by a big name act.

I’ve been asked this question… so what’s so special about Sweden then, and which acts do you rate?

The Swedish synth scene is incredibly loyal. It hasn’t changed with fashion, so it has been possible for artists to grow together with the scene. That has given a long life to acts like LUSTANS LAKEJER, TWICE A MAN and PAGE, while fostering terrific artists like ALISON, EMMON, JULIAN & MARINA and THERMOSTATIC. The bands that Eddie Bengtsson has written for are all very special, because his songs are so good: PAGE, S.P.O.C.K. and SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN. KORD and ACUTE ONSET are two current acts I’d love to see live.

Cold War Night Life’s first live event was ‘An Evening With The Swedish Synth’ with PAGE, MACHINISTA and TRAIN TO SPAIN. How do you look back on that event and how it was received?

The idea was to give Londoners a view of the current Swedish scene and a chance to connect with it. PAGE are still very current, but originally go back to the early 1980s. MACHINISTA and TRAIN TO SPAIN represent the new generation. The event was successful: TRAIN TO SPAIN got picked up by a label on the night, while a lot of musicians checked it out. The local crowd was very welcoming, which gave it a good vibe.

Your next event ‘A Secret Wish’ has a Swedish flavour in SMPJ but also, looks closer to home with VILE ELECTRODES and John Fryer? Were there any particular reasons for the change in concept?

John Fryer lives in Oslo, so we couldn’t pair him with SMPJ and call it a Swedish Synth event. VILE ELECTRODES are perfect to match with SMPJ, because they are fearless and have immaculate analogue credentials.

How did you come to your chosen line-up?

John Fryer made ‘Speak & Spell’ and ‘A Broken Frame’ – he sat in the studio with Eric Radcliffe and Daniel Miller, working out how to get the sounds on tape in that magical way. He also produced FAD GADGET and COCTEAU TWINS. John’s DJ set is going to focus on his work for 4AD and Mute. When a member of THIS MORTAL COIL is playing the music he has worked on at two of the most distinctive labels, in his own mix, you know it’s going to be special.

SMPJ are legendary in Sweden, because their music is so catchy. Their sound is somewhere between GIORGIO MORODER and SPACE, rebooted for the 21st century. VILE ELECTRODES are a great fit, and they showed at TEC003 that there is really no-one in the UK who can touch them. The secret wish is to see them all on the same stage.

For those who are undecided, what can they expect from ‘A Secret Wish’?

Half-decent music. OK people. Alright beer. Some understatement.

Any chance of Cold War Night Life’s playing host RATIONAL YOUTH for No 3 in your occasional live series?

I would love to see RATIONAL YOUTH in London, and would be happy to be a part of making that happen.

What next for Cold War Night Life or yourself in terms of music related projects?

There is a RATIONAL YOUTH tribute album in the pipeline. The main focus, of course, is on sharing the stories that go with the music.

‘A Secret Wish’ featuring SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN, VILE ELECTRODES + John Fryer takes place on SUNDAY 19TH APRIL 2015 at The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JB. Doors open at 6.00pm

http://www.coldwarnightlife.com/

http://www.moonbasealpha.space/

https://www.facebook.com/vileelectrodes

https://www.facebook.com/John.Fryer.Official

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
18th March 2015

BLANCMANGE Semi Detached Interview

11 March 2015 /

Following ‘Blanc Burn’ in 2011 and a 21st Century rework of their debut ‘Happy Families Too’ in 2013, BLANCMANGE are back with their fifth album ‘Semi Detached’.

A brilliant title, Neil Arthur’s tremendous wordplay does it again with a phrase that acts as both a commentary on English suburban aspirations and the fact that this new long player is Arthur’s first of new material recorded without his long time partner-in-crime Stephen Luscombe. Sadly Luscombe has been unable to work due to illness since BLANCMANGE went back on the road in 2011, but with Arthur’s notable dry Northern humour, he manages to put joy into despair with just those two words.

Filling in the void though is producer Adam Fuest along with guitarist and long-time collaborator David Rhodes whose other credits have included Peter Gabriel, JAPAN and NEW ORDER. His whirring E-Bow is a particular highlight on the ‘Heroes’-esque ‘Useless’, but Neil Arthur’s own six-string textures make their presence felt on the sombre closer ‘Bloody Hell Fire’, concluding the bitter sweet journey that is ‘Semi Detached’.

In some ways, this is BLANCMANGE’s technostalgic album and beginning with eight minute opener ‘The Fall’ which actually references Mark E Smith’s cult combo, ‘Semi Detached’ is Neil Arthur’s personal recollections as an art student set to a midlife narrative. The first single ‘Paddington’ features some of the Middle Eastern aesthetics that BLANCMANGE became known in the mainstream for with hits like ‘Living On The Ceiling’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me, but the raw backing and Neil Arthur’s endearing drawl keep things very English and minimally contemporary.

As the first act in the history of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK to be interviewed for a fourth occasion, Neil Arthur kindly chatted about BLANCMANGE’s latest opus…

‘Semi Detached’ is your first album of new BLANCMANGE material without Stephen Luscombe and the title appears to be a reference to this?

It could be… but there’s an ambiguity in there like in much of the lyrics so they can be taken in more than one way and that goes for the title. It can mean many things and of course, that definitely crossed my mind. Since we finished ‘Blanc Burn’ in 2010, Stephen hasn’t worked with BLANCMANGE and you haven’t seen him live, but the project goes on with his blessing. Sadly, he’s not well enough to work. So musically, I’ve driven it forward the last 4+ years and ‘Semi Detached’ is me writing and recording it.

Looking back, was reworking ‘Happy Families Too’ a busman’s holiday to prepare you for ‘Semi Detached’?

It took a bit of rearranging but I didn’t have to do any writing *laughs*

‘Happy Families Too’ and ‘Semi Detached’ were very different animals. Interpretation is a very different thing so what I did do was go into the minutiae. That was a strange journey going back to ‘Happy Families’ in such depth and understand what it came from beyond the embryonic memories of what happened 30 years ago. It was actually analyzing data. When I was programming the very early stages of the new versions, it unlocked a few memories that I completely forgot about.

When you come to writing a new album, you don’t have that. But you take on board the experience and one of the things was the technicalities… I always try and learn something from doing any project whether it’s film or doing a new album so that I can learn and say “I won’t make that mistake again”. I’m not a trained musician so you’re kind of cobbling it together… and you think you’re gonna get found out! *laughs*

On the subject of looking back, I remember you saying to me in 2012 that you weren’t interested in doing nostalgia events like Rewind, but you relented and played it in 2013. Why was that?

There’s two answers here; one is, and I’ll basically be honest, I was offered a fee… like everybody else, I have to earn a living and there’s certain things you will do and things you won’t. An offer came in and I knew I was in the process of putting together ‘Happy Families Too’. And in that process, I also did a load of other stuff as well, like things with ‘Blind Vision’ that may not actually ever come out. It made sense to take it a little bit further to understand some of the things we’d done in the past. One of the great things about that is I was creating a lot of sounds for us to be able to manipulate live. When we were offered Rewind, it fitted in perfectly. We’ve been offered things like that since, and I’ve decided not to do them because I want to concentrate on ‘Semi Detached’ and the future of that.

How was the various collaborative processes this time compared with ‘Happy Families Too’ and previous albums?

With ‘The Fall’, that started off as an instrumental groove that Graham Henderson, who’s played live keyboards with BLANCMANGE, had. Then I had another song from a project called AWP1 which Pandit Dinesh played in sometimes. I was listening to this other track called ‘Sequence’ and I had these lyrics and it took me on a journey… I don’t sit around with notebooks waiting for something to come, it tends to mull around in my head and then it just ends up being there. 70-80% will just come out! I wrote these things down and then with these two songs, which are very different songs, I decided to play one on top of the other to see what happened and it just sounded nice. So that’s a kind of collaborative thing!

‘Useless’ is brilliant, it’s quite ENO circa ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’ meets LCD SOUNDSYSTEM. Is it about anyone in particular?

Well, yes and no! It’s about anyone who thinks they might be Useless… I take it as a compliment about ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’, it’s one of my favourite albums and I really do like LCD SOUNDSYSTEM. This song is about that whole idea that we’re all flawed and you’re “useless as you are”… there are just times when you think “f*cking hell, I couldn’t organise a p*ss up in a brewery” or that whole thing about confidence. Whatever they think is their failing, irrespective of that and with it, “useless as you are, everybody loves you”… I thought that line just deserved to be in a song. Once I got those lyrics together, I had this trip down memory lane in terms of melodies and cheap synth sounds, and put them all together, cliché upon cliché really. And then I thought, how can I make it slightly odd without anyone noticing, so I took a bar out of the song… if you listening to it, instead of being four or eight, quite often it’s three and seven, just to be awkward! *laughs*

How did ‘Paddington’ come about?

I don’t live in London anymore, much as I love it. I spent 34 years of my life in the city, it’s a part of me. No disrespect to Paddington, but it’s not the prettiest place to disembark into… I love the station but do you know what I mean? But what I absolutely loved when I came in that way was how people bumped into you, everybody is going about their business and you’re anonymous. I’m not joking about this, but I have kissed the ground at Paddington because I love London so much. So many memories and there’s so much future there and I enjoy aspects of it.

It conjured up this idea of this journey of tiny snippets, like looking at a cutting room floor for bits of memories… I just patched all those bits together, turned it round and played with words. For example, “tank top, bus stop”, it was just good fun and fitting them into an electronic groove. Quite a bit of it is ad-libbed but then weirdly, I’ve just had to write it all down which is interesting. That made me look at things like ‘Feel Me’, ‘Blind Vision’ and ‘I Can’t Explain’, they’re all ad-libbed… then you’ve got to try and remember the words! Quite often, the fans know the words better than me! But it’s my prerogative, I wrote them so I’m entitled to ad-lib it again! *laughs*

I decided to use a different sequencer, I’d been using Logic for years and I wanted to use a different digital audio workstation. I used Ableton for ‘Paddington’, then transferred it across to Logic and it ended up in Nuendo! A lot of the songs, I took to Adam who has a studio up in Wales to mix it. We’ve worked together since my solo album ‘Suitcase’ and he comes out on tour with us controlling the sequencers on stage.

You have David Rhodes again working with you on ‘Semi Detached’?

Yes, but on ‘Bloody Hell Fire’, Adam and David voted for my guitar to stay from the demo… they rib me about my guitar playing and say “we wouldn’t have it sounding like that”; but that’s why it works because I’ve gone for the tinnier sound. It wasn’t intentional, it only fitted there. It’s a crappy sounding guitar but they feel it works. Why bother with six if two will do!? I think what influenced my playing initially was punk, YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS and T-REX, they used to have fantastic sounds but quite minimal at times. But I talk a lot more than I play! *laughs*

What’s are the main differences between ‘Semi Detached’ and ‘Blanc Burn’?

I’m collaborating with myself mainly, battling my way through programming synths up and taking it to Adam’s and doing the lead vocals. One big contrast with ‘Blanc Burn’ is I decided I would have a number of backing vocals on.

On ‘Happy Families Too’, I had post-it notes around and one of the things was “minimal – stripped back” to remind me it didn’t have to be over produced. I kept that in mind when I was doing ‘Semi Detached’. One of the things about having more space was to have fun with some backing vocals. There are lots of backing vocals, my family did backing vocals, my daughter sang on it, one of my son’s mates came and sang on it. And then I got the neighbours in and some other friends on ‘I Want More’! I think everyone and the dog’s on that one!

What inspired you to cover CAN’s ‘I Want More’?

The work was done for me but I’ve always enjoyed CAN. I first did a demo of that with David McClymont and Malcolm Ross from ORANGE JUICE back in 1987-88 when we were working on a project post-BLANCMANGE with Dennis Bovell. We went to a studio down the Old Kent Road and that was one of the tracks we did. Funnily enough, we approached CAN to produce our second album, so it could have been even more of a story but we ended up working with John Luongo and Peter Collins.

You’re back doing instrumentals again with ‘MKS Lover’, what is that referring to and why did that not end up with a lyric?

It would never have had a lyric, it’s like ‘Sad Day’… but it isn’t like ‘Sad Day’ in sound. ‘MKS Lover’ was the working title and it was as simple as this; it was all done apart from the 808 rhythm unit on a Roland MKS80 which is a Super Jupiter, and not to be confused with a Jupiter 8.

Overall, you’ve kept the sound of ‘Semi Detached’ quite stripped back and raw with vintage drum machines. Was that deliberate?

Well, it’s all I’ve got! *roars of laughter*

I’ve still got my original 808 and that gets used… with a struggle on some of it, I ended up using the MKS80 with the MPG80 programmer to replicate some of the percussive noises, plus there are some VSTs in there. I’m quite awkward, I put VSTs through amplifiers and god knows what to get I want. The thing for me is I tend to work with a limited palette, because if you’re confident enough to let the line breathe on its own, it doesn’t really matter what it is. I will use anything, I really would… there’s no kazoo on this one, but there was definitely kazoo on the album before! *laughs*

CHIC’s ‘I Want Your Love’ has also been covered and is on the deluxe 2CD edition. What’s that like?

I first did a version with AWP1, the band is basically two acoustic guitars with noises and percussion. We tried to play as little as possible to support the song. Our manifesto was “less is best”… I once fell asleep during one of our songs in rehearsal, I’m not joking! I thought ‘I Want Your Love’ would lend itself to an electronic version and it is absolutely not a dance track, it is a ballad, stripped down… it’s a bit dirty and seedy actually, very sad and menacingly desperate. So it’s a tad darker than the CHIC version which I do love! *laughs*

What else makes up the bonus CD on the deluxe version of ‘Semi Detached’?

I had a pool of about 20 songs and it ended up with 16 being recorded. I didn’t want 2 covers on the final album so we split them. ‘I Want More’ ended up on the album and ‘I Want Your Love’ didn’t… very similar titles actually! There’s a couple of other songs ‘Silk Sea’ and ‘That Worm’ which we thought would be good to go on the deluxe 2CD, but a track called ‘Cactus’ that might come out in the future, I didn’t put on at all. And then we added alternative mixes including a very long version of ‘I Want More’ plus extended versions of ‘Paddington’, ‘Like I Do’ and ‘Useless’.

With the upcoming shows at Red Gallery, are you likely to extend it as a tour and have you decided what to play? Are you going to do all of ‘Semi Detached’?

I did a working setlist the other day and it starts with ‘Irene & Mavis’! So that’s because I did it in chronological order. The shows are obviously to launch ‘Semi Detached’ so there will be a number of songs from it… so you might get to hear ‘Useless’ and join in on the chorus! My dream is for that to become a football terrace anthem: “EVERYBODY LOVES YOU! USELESS AS YOU ARE!” *laughs*

I think people will be disappointed if we they didn’t get something from what we did in the 80s, and maybe we’ll have some things that haven’t had an airing for a while. I think I’ve put ‘Murder’ and ‘See The Train’ on the list… maybe we’ll do ‘Blind Vision’ and ‘Feel Me’ if someone twists my arm! My manager Steve says “if you don’t do ‘Living On The Ceiling’, you might have a problem!” so we’ll probably have to do that!

‘Living On The Ceiling’ has almost turned into a terrace chant live now…

…it’s a singalong, I can almost just leave it up to the audience. And ‘Starf*cker’ might get an outing. I wasn’t originally thinking about taking ‘Semi Detached’ out on tour, but it may well happen because it’s being discussed. I wanted to do something very different which is why the Red Gallery shows happened. I wanted to do something special and not just do the conventional tour. But we may be able to find the right venues for people to be able to come and see it further afield, we’ll wait and see. For now it’s just those two shows I’m concentrating on.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Neil Arthur

Additional thanks to Steve Malins at Random PR

‘Semi Detached’ is released by Cherry Red Records on 23rd March 2015 in CD, limited edition deluxe 2CD, vinyl LP and digital download formats. Pre-order at http://blancmange.tmstor.es/

BLANCMANGE will be appearing at The Red Gallery, 1-3 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3DT on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th May 2015. Support on both nights will be provided by BERNHOLZ

https://www.blancmange.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/BlancmangeMusic

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Hana Knizova
11th March 2015

CAMOUFLAGE Interview

9 March 2015 /

Photo by Klaus Mellenthin

With Fifty Shades of Greyscale, CAMOUFLAGE, the German veterans of electronica, are back with a superb album ‘Greyscale’ this year, a true synth extravaganza of everything that’s great about continental electronic music.

‘Greyscale’ is the eighth studio album by the trio of Marcus Meyn, Heiko Maile and Oliver Kreyssig from Bietigheim-Bissingen. With the first single ‘Shine’ brightly opening the album and its radiant video depicting Marcus Meyn illuminated by the sparkliest of lights, the listeners are in for a rare treat, as they are invited to join the journey that is this album.

Named after a song by YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, no two CAMOUFLAGE records are the same or monotonous, from the brilliant 1988 debut ‘Voices & Images’ and their comeback ‘Sensor’ in 2003, through to the current gem, which is “shining” as brightly as the first single recommends. Beginning with the beat of a TR808, Marcus Meyn begins with the lines: “This is the story, we should shout out loud, tell everybody, that no-one lives without – Shine Shine Shine within your mind”.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s very own Chi Ming Lai was responsible for liner notes of ‘The Singles’ compilation which was released in 2014 by Universal Music. So to complete the circle, CAMOUFLAGE’s lead singer Marcus Meyn spoke about the old and the new.

Photo by Klaus Mellenthin

Your new album ‘Grayscale’ is out soon. After a successful career of many years starting with ‘Voices & Images’ in 1988, what keeps you motivated and creative?

We love music and we love to make music – it’s a drug. We are still good friends and the way we work together functions like gearwheels. We can’t imagine to live without writing songs or playing shows.

You celebrated your 30th Anniversary as a band with live show in Dresden with a number of special guests. What are your memories of that event?

The event was a fantastic happening we’ll never forget. It was sometimes like a déja vue and when you closed your eyes you were right back in the time, of the original recordings or shows – you know, we had the people on stage with whom we performed years ago and you turn around and see them performing – can you imagine how strange this was for us? And the duets were so much fun – especially for me, the performance with Peter Heppner from WOLFSHEIM was a dream come true.

On the new ‘Greyscale’ album, you feature the amazing Peter Heppner on ‘Count On Me’, how did that collaboration come about?

It was a long-time dream of mine to perform the song ‘That Smiling Face’ together with Peter, because I always thought that his voice with this sadness inside would fit perfectly together. So when we celebrated our 30th anniversary in Dresden, we asked him, if he would like to join the show and sing this song with us – and he did. This was so fantastic – for both of us that we were thinking about producing a new song together for the upcoming album and when I sent him ‘Count On Me’, he immediately said YES, so we recorded the song for the new album.

Photo by Mathias Bothor

Being seasoned musicians, do you find live performances easier now, especially with the technology available?

For me as a singer, I always felt uncomfortable with the sound on stage, that’s why I didn’t like to play concerts in the early years. Since the end of the 90s, we play with in-ear monitoring and this changed everything for me. Nowadays I love to perform and it’s getting more and more crazy – I feel free and act free.

During the 90s, the German alternative music scene flourished with acts like WOLFSHEIM, DE/VISION, AND ONE, ALPHAVILLE and FURY & THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE. Was there any rivalry between the bands, or did you consider them as brothers-in-arms?

To be honest, we never thought about other bands – we had enough to do with ourselves. I don’t know what these bands thought or did – I just know, that we acted like a snail and we ran ourselves until we stopped the band for 2 years in 1996.

You sing in English and only very rarely in German? Have you ever thought about combining both like WOLFSHEIM or AND ONE?

No, we never wanted to expand the rare excursions. If we would have more ideas for lyrics and songs, then maybe, but at the moment we have no plans for that.

You had an American Billboard Hot 100 hit with ‘The Great Commandment’, which also featured at No1 on the US Dance Chart; as mentioned, you sing in English but why do you think the UK was never took an interest in CAMOUFLAGE?

I really don’t know – to be honest! It would be an honour for us, to get the chance to play there, but until today we never had a chance to do so.

The UK electronic music scene has given birth to the likes of MESH and more recently VILE ELECTRODES, yet we struggle with acceptance of the genre despite the pioneering ‘Synth Britannia’ era which gave rise to Gary Numan, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, OMD, ULTRAVOX and DEPECHE MODE. Why do you think Germany is different and more open to electronic music?

The German music scene also has a long electronic tradition – starting with CAN or KRAFTWERK and it invented Techno, so the fans continue to support this scene – maybe it is inside us, that we like this kind of music, because the fans are growing again, as you can see in the concerts. You could call it dated, but we are quite happy the way it is here!

Your fan base is worldwide, with audiences in South America, most of Europe and the US, do you have a preferred crowd?

Every country has its own crowd and own way to celebrate a good show. But after we played several times in South America, the fans in other countries started to copy the enthusiastic party they saw on YouTube about these shows – it’s really unbelievable – the crowd is singing in between songs, they are celebrating special parts of songs etc. It’s quite funny!

What prompted the choice of ‘Shine’ for the first single?

Right from the beginning we know, that this song MUST be the first single – it was so obvious – if not ‘Shine’, which song would be more obvious to become the first single! The hook line is so catchy and the beat is driving you on – every time when we played the song and the people joined in singing along to the chorus, then we knew, it would be the right decision.

The new album has a beautiful, mellow sound throughout; what’s been the inspiration?

Melancholy is a significant colour of our sound since the beginning, so we knew right from the beginning the sound of the new album will be mellow again, too. We can’t say why this happens all the time, but we feel quite comfortable and at home in it. It is part of our characters.

Photo by Klaus Mellenthin

Titles like ‘In The Cloud’, ‘Misery’ and ‘Light Grey’ indicate that this maturity may have been brought on by middle age? How does age sit with being a touring musician?

To be honest, we’re not thinking about age. We know that things are not as easy on stage as they were a few 10 years ago, but we still feel strong, healthy and in a very good shape and mood, to go on stage and play shows.

But are electronic musicians now the new Blues musicians, where that life experience can only enhance the credibility of the work?

You should always be yourself, when you write songs. Life’s about telling the best stories and to have a certain credibility, you need to be real in what you’re doing and what you’re writing about. People are not stupid – they’ll find out, if emotions are giving a real feeling or not.

‘Greyscale’ promises to be a great success; what are your favourite tracks?

My favourite songs as the singer are ‘End Of Words’ and ‘I’ll Find’… at the moment!

Photo by Klaus Mellenthin

Do you prefer the vintage hardware or soft synths? Are there any particular favourite synths that are key to CAMOUFLAGE’s sound?

We’re using both worlds, but we’re still using the old analogue systems from Roland and Korg, as well as other wonderful real synthezisers.

How have your composition and recording processes changed over the years?

Today, it is quite easier to record stuff in a good quality. In the beginning everything was based in a studio, because the technique was huge and not removable. Today, you only need a laptop, a MIDI keyboard and a microphone and you can produce a whole album, wherever you want.

What’s particularly different now, from say, recording ‘Meanwhile’ in 1991 with noted producer Colin Thurston?

By that time, the record company was spending a fortune of money for an album – these times are over… we don’t have the money to work with names like this at the moment 😉

30 years as a group is a long time, how are you keeping each other sane?

Our basis is friendship. As long as we can act within this, the band will continue.

You are touring Europe to promote ‘Greyscale’, do you think you will ever play the UK?

This would be a dream come true – I hope it will happen one day!

What has been your career highlight with regards CAMOUFLAGE, either musical or personal?

Oh – this is something I really can’t name – there were so many unbelievable and beautiful things happening in the last 30 years – positive and negative, that we won’t miss, that it’s not possible to name them!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to CAMOUFLAGE

Additional thanks to Sean Newsham at Mutante PR

‘Greyscale’ is released by Bureau B on 27th March 2015 in CD, vinyland download formats

CAMOUFLAGE’s 2015 European Tour includes:

Munich Backstage Werk (19th March), Stuttgart LKA Longhorn (20th March), Cologne Live Music Hall (21st March), Musikzentrum Hannover (22nd March), Aschaffenburg Colos-Saal (24th March), Erfurt Stadtgarden (26th March), Dresden Reithalle Strasse E (27th March), Berlin Kesselhaus & Maschinenhaus (28th March), Hamburg Docks (29th March), Magdeburg Factory (31st March), Warsaw Progesja Music Zone (17th April), Bratislava Ateliér Babylon (18th April), Prague Roxy (19th April)

http://www.camouflage-music.com/

https://www.facebook.com/camouflagemusic

https://twitter.com/CamouflageNews

Text and Interview by Monika Izabela Goss
9th March 2015

IF IT WAS MY BAND…

28 February 2015 /

‘If It Was My Band…’ is a great new independently published book offering sound advice to musicians on how to succeed in making a living out of music.

Written by broadcaster, live promoter and radio plugger Emma Scott, the content touches on her 20+ years’ experience of working with bands and is the follow-up to her first book ‘Break Your Band – A Guide to Getting Radio Airplay’.

‘If It Was My Band…’ is an entertaining and informative read that anyone who is even remotely interested in the music business can’t do without. Authored in an informal, good natured and good humoured style, by following Emma Scott’s very straightforward and often common sense guidance, bands could turn their hobby into something more sustainable and even lucrative.

Emma Scott kindly chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about her book and to give her view point on some of our real experiences within the music scene…

What motivated you to write ‘If It Was My Band…’?

The same things that motivated me to write my first book ‘Break Your Band – A Guide to Getting Radio Airplay’ and those things are a multitude of mistakes and misunderstandings coming from misguided musicians – who are often brilliant at making music, but have no idea about the music industry. Actually, come to think of it, some musicians I’ve had dealings with aren’t even good at the music stuff… so there’s a few paragraphs in there for them too.

But why should musicians listen to you, or any other music industry commentator for that matter? 😉

As mentioned before, being a great musician doesn’t mean your music is going to fall into someone’s lap and they’re going to sign you up and make you a big star – there’s a lot that happens from point A in getting to point B. Most of the musicians that approach me in my role as a promoter, radio presenter or plugger want to be a success with their music, and whilst there are people like me giving out years and years of experience in books and blogs – they’d be silly to ignore it.

If you want to succeed in the music industry, why wouldn’t you want to learn about how the business works – including how radio playlisting works, how gig promoters work and how you make money from the music you write – If information is there to help you save money as well as make money from your music – grab it with both hands.

A couple of years ago, I wanted to run a shabby furniture store, and I knew I had to get advice on everything – from setting up, to going to auctions, to up-cycling / painting etc – so I bought books and I read everything I could have read about setting up and running a shop. It was by reading these books and getting advice from as many other shop owners as I could that I realised the shop I was going to rent was completely unsuitable and it wouldn’t have succeeded – so I got the hell out. If I’d signed a 5 year lease, I’d still be paying for a damp empty shop now. If the information is out there which will help you – take it. You might just learn something from it.

You mention CDs, private streaming and free downloads as tools for promoting the actual music. But I noticed you didn’t mention Spotify. I personally think it’s not an ideal publicity platform and I’ve yet to be sent a pre-release Spotify promo. Have you any thoughts on this?

In my role as radio presenter, plugger and gig promoter I’ve not been involved in Spotify too much at all, but I know that Spotify is a great promotional tool for bands and musicians who are active on it and understand how it can work for them. It’s a great tool as well as other social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Reverbnation and Soundcloud.

I got the impression from the book that you weren’t particularly into vinyl?

Everything in the book was written from either a business point of view, or my own point of view and I know that during my time with an independent record label, we tried a few times to make vinyl releases work and they didn’t. It’s expensive for labels to manufacture and expensive to post out to customers and we found that whilst fans asked bands to “get their next release on vinyl”, only a very small percentage actually put their hands in their pockets to buy it. That said, if a band were gigging regularly and displayed their vinyl on the merchandise table, they could shift more copies and wouldn’t have to worry about the postage costs.

Costwise – if you can get 500 jewel case 8 page CDs made up for £650.00, you’d be talking £1700 + VAT for the 12 inch vinyl equivalent. That’s a lot of sales needed to claw back that cost and for a small independent label, that’s a lot of money. Personally, I love vinyl and I still have my record collection carefully boxed up awaiting the time I own a record player again.

I’ve been sent a 20 minute track by a band as an introduction to their music, while another linked me to a video of a gig badly filmed on one camera at a kid’s birthday party. Then, there’s also those emails with streaming links but no real information. What has been the most misinformed way a band has tried to get your attention?

I’ve had similar instances of the 20 minute track and the badly recorded “live gig footage” which is useless to me as I can’t hear anything over the distortion… and I’ve had 4 word gig applications come through my websites. I’m sorry but “give us a gig” doesn’t cut it!

I’ve also been told I should plug a band’s music to radio for free as I should want to be able to say I was there at the beginning! Yeah, right. I usually write back to them and tell them to buy my book to get educated in the art of applying for gigs or dealing with industry people – but I don’t get a reply! Most bands think they know it all. I know that’s not true. I deal with them 7 days a week and have been doing so for over 25 years.

With the internet, there have been some inventive spellings for new band names like CHVRCHES, EKKOES and TIKKLE ME to increase Google search reach. How important is it to come up with a good and unique name? And what would you suggest to a musician whose real name is the same as an already famous pop star (if spelt slightly differently!); should they stick to their guns as it is their name, or go under a different moniker to avoid misleading potential audiences.

It’s very important to come up with a unique name because there’s nothing worse than building up some momentum on the music scene and then out of the woodwork comes along another band with the same name as yours – threatening you with court action to change it.

I’ve also known of bands to release material on iTunes and then discover there’s another band of a similar sound and with the same name on the same distribution site. There’s a big chance that the other band may pick up accidental downloads from people that specifically went on to buy their music. Silly really… and if the band got signed to a label, that label would make you change your name anyway.

I’m confused about TIKKLE ME as if you didn’t know it was spelt with 2 Ks, you’d search for “Tickle me” and what does a Google search reveal as the top suggestions? A type of Durex condom, a restaurant, an Elvis film and maybe a few Tickle Me Elmo toys! For EKKOES – again, if I didn’t know it was spelt with 2 Ks (ie I’d heard them played on the radio) I’d search for “Echoes band”… and that search would give me another band called ECHOES who are active and have just released new material. As for sharing the same name as an already famous person. I’d steer clear, personally.

There have been a few artists promoting their own music who have used social media ID that bears no resemblance to the name of their act! Should things like email addresses, Twitter handles, Facebook page profiles etc always identify closely to the ‘brand’?

Getting the right handles and URLs on social media is very important. Industry people and fans alike need to be able to find you quickly. Don’t make it too hard for them. Don’t make it too hard for you! Always try and have the artist or band name in the social media ID – using the word “band” or “official” or a dash or an underscore should help you obtain the right name.

When I set up my Twitter, EmmaScott had already been taken, so I had to choose emma_scott – if I had chosen “EmmaTheDJ” or something similar, I’d have come unstuck as I’m not a DJ right now – but also, people wouldn’t search for me under that name / alias. If someone wants to find me, they’ll search all variations of Emma Scott… I just Googled “Emma Scott Twitter” and I’m the second suggestion on the first page. Basically, I’m easy to find… and follow!

There’s that issue of whoever in the band is looking after the Twitter account, talking about something personal or political that does not necessarily speak for rest of the group. Why is it so important to separate music and personal matters with a band’s public profile?

Band stuff is band stuff…. personal stuff is personal. I don’t wanna scroll through timelines of bands I’m looking at for gigs or plugging and be bombarded by football scores and moaning about penalty shoot-outs etc! I want to know when the band are playing live next and when I can buy their next album and their opinion on all things musical…. I don’t want to see them getting involved in “who killed Lucy bloody Beale?”!

I had a musician say to me the other day that they didn’t bother using their artist Facebook page for a particular news item, that was the biggest bit of press coverage they had ever received, as they didn’t have as many likes there as on their Twitter account. Incidentally, they didn’t update their website for this news item either. Why is it important for bands to use all their social media avenues?

It’s a no-brainer and I hear that all the time too. Be on everything. Some industry people and music consumers like Twitter best and will research bands on Twitter. Others hate Twitter and only like looking at bands on Facebook, Spotify or Soundcloud. Musicians need to be on all of them. Musicians must update all of them. It’s not about your preferred social media site – it’s about pleasing everyone else and making yourself accessible to as many people as possible.

Is making a music video essential these days? It would seem the format is making a resurgence now that it appears YouTube has become one of the main music platforms?

Yes, I think so. It doesn’t have to be a costly affair these days – and I agree if you’re releasing a single, you should at least try and get a video made to coincide with the release. Even if you can’t get a video made, get the song on your YouTube channel as a lyric video or one of those simple photo collage videos. You want your music “out there” right?

I’ve been aggressively confronted by a musician in a pub for not featuring their music on ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK. Has that sort of thing ever happened to you? How should musicians conduct themselves, especially to people who perhaps haven’t got into their music yet, but could do in the future?

Yep! I’ve had drunken band members approach me on a night out (in the middle of a private conversation with a friend of mine) and tell me I must be a sh*t radio presenter as I’ve never played their music on my radio show… how the hell is that sort of behaviour acceptable?! It’s not. In any walk of life!

It would have been much better if the band in question had emailed me afterwards and said something like “Hi Emma, I saw you in the Dog ‘n’ Duck the other day – hope you had a good night. I was just wondering if you had managed to hear the band’s new single as we’d love a play on your show one day… here’s a link to it. I hope to hear from you soon.”

Basically musicians need to remember, they’re humans. They need to remember that promoters, band managers, record label owners and DJs are humans too. Humans should always be nice to other humans. End of. Manners go a long way in this business. In any business, in fact. Being a musician doesn’t mean you get to be an a*sehole to whoever you want.

Should bands go as far as assigning roles where the less socially adept members keep their mouths shut, while the more competent speakers do the smoozing and networking?

Absolutely. If Dave the drummer hates talking in radio interviews, why make him take part in radio interviews? If Bob on bass is hilarious in social situations, get him out of the dressing room at gigs and get him working the room. Ideally the lead singer is good at interviews, but if not – there’s always a course he can go on… major record companies send their artists on such things anyway 😉

Play to your strengths, give everyone their own role in the band. Don’t put band members in situations that will make them unhappy. That’s not why they’re in the band and won’t make them want to stay.

These days, band interviews are more commonly done online. What do you think are the pros and cons of this? And if there are more than one member involved in the answers, should the answers be re-edited to form ‘a single voice’ for the band?

If bands are being plugged to radio, they will still be asked to do phone and face-to-face interviews, but with online press, yes – a lot is done via email or IMs. Just take it in turns answering questions and give the band member’s name next to the reply… so it’s obvious who’s answering.

Online interviews give you chance to think about what you want to say and can be done at a time to suit the person. A lot of musicians work full-time in other jobs, so it’s not easy to take time out for a phone interview or a radio interview in a studio… and answering on line interviews means you can show off your new band photos that you’ve had done. You have nice photos, right??

Occasionally, a band gets a shot at a live local radio interview. What guidance would you give here?

Be armed with as much info as possible – from the basics like the station address, the DJs name and details of the show that you’ll be on. Once you’ve arrived at the station and met the DJ, feel free to ask what kind of questions they’ll be asking to try and put your mind at rest. Most DJs have notes about what they’re going to ask you. Just be yourself, say it with a smile, enthuse about your music, get the plugs in and get the hell out! Make sure you say thanks, too!

There is a lot of talk in the book about doing things for free, be it as a band, or getting help from photographers or family / friends as management and PR. Is that just how it is now or in your opinion, has it always been like that in the music industry?

I’m sure freebies occur in other businesses too. Just remember a freebie isn’t a bad thing if you can get something out of it ie – playing a gig for free – if you know it will be busy and you can sell merchandise there… or if you’re a photographer and a band wants you to do their photos for free – if you feel that your photos of them will open other doors for you, then it’s in your best interest to do them.

We’re talking grass roots level here…. and freebies are everywhere as you climb your way up. I used to do radio shows for free. I wanted to do as many live shows as possible to make my demo to apply for a full time radio show. It worked out for me. When you’ve climbed a few more rungs of the ladder, you won’t be expected to play for free. But if the organisers of the Superbowl ask you to play for free, make sure you bite their hands off, yeah?

So how important is it for a band to have some good quality photographs taken, and taken regularly? What would you say to those who think the visual image doesn’t matter and that it should be all about the music?

Ha, I already mentioned that. Great minds think alike. Regular photos are important. Even better, put some thought into your session because the better quality stand-out photos will more than likely grab the attention of bloggers, editors, gig promoters, managers etc… than just a run of the mill “I’m gonna sit on this sofa and have my photos taken” photos.

It’s never JUST about the music – ever! It’s about the full package… plus a whole load of contacts, blood, sweat and tears – and maybe just a splattering of good, old fashioned LUCK.

The book does have a bias towards the more rock / indie / acoustic end of the music spectrum. But is there any particular advice you would offer to synth based and electronic acts?

Do you think? I’ve never really thought that, but that’s fine. The book was written from the heart and my own dealings with musicians and with my time at Kerrang! Radio, I’ve tended to attract those genres, so that’s maybe where that comes from.

I think the book would help any genre of “band” though and for synth-based and electronic acts I’d say that the book is still completely relevant as I’m basically giving everyone advice on the music industry and help navigating your way through the maze! There are radio shows out there for synth and electronic acts, there are gig promoters out there that are gagging to book you – it’s just a matter of finding them.

What next for you? How are things progressing with your new company Pluggin’ Baby? What should a band do if they are interested in your services?

Sell as many ‘If It Was My Band’ books as possible – my living room, kitchen and under stairs cupboard is full of them right now. Help as many musicians as possible with aforementioned books 😉

If you want to read more about the book, then it’s http://ifitwasmyband.com

Pluggin Baby is doing really well right now and if anyone is interested in getting radio play, please have a look at the website – http://plugginbaby.com and get in touch for more info.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Emma Scott

‘If It Was My Band…’ by Emma Scott is published by Pluggin’ Baby and available from http://ifitwasmyband.bigcartel.com/

http://www.emmascottpresents.com/

https://twitter.com/ifitwasmyband

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
28th February 2015

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