'Everything I've learned I know from records... (though I often misheard the words)'
25/11/2017, Jan Denolet![]() |
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“How would you, as a music journalist, explain my music to other people…?” “Classy… It has various things in it and refers to post punk, rock ’n roll, ballroom rhythms, avantgarde experiments… but it would always be covered using the word ‘Classy’…”
It was 3 years ago since we had our first encounter. In the meantime a lot has changed… Firstly: you relocated to Luxembourg… How do you look back on your time in Brussels…?
You are about to start your next mini-tour. Since your doing very different locations, I suspect that this will demand some flexibillity… What are your prospects? This next tour is a prime example of shifting line-ups: a brand new trio in France; the classic trio in the UK, Flanders and Florida; a quartet in Germany and Hungary; and a full five-piece in Athens. It’s all in keeping with the album itself, which was recorded with over a dozen partners in 4 or 5 different locations around the world.
You did your 7” Satyros Ironykos with personal hero David McClymont and a bunch of collected all-stars. How came this into work…? We had met Malcolm Ross on our first tour of Scotland in 2012 and he would eventually introduce us to his old Orange Juice bandmate David McClymont, who’s been living in Australia for decades now. David and I first collaborated ‘via satellite’ on an archive/concept situation called It’s a Funny Religion When You Pray ‘Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, Play a Song for Me.’ [ http://georgiothedovevalentino.com/funnyreligion.html ] After that we started throwing musical ideas around. He invited us to Melbourne to flesh them out. He recruited his mates Mick Harvey, Clare Moore and Dave Graney. And ‘Satyros Ironykos’ was born.
David McClymont, Dave Graney, Blaine L Reininger and other Tuxedo’s, the people at the Château H, …, are people who felt immediatly connected to your music… Meanwhile, the ‘public’ and the music industry (like greater organisers and other players on the market) were pretending ignorance, forcing you to handle a very DIY-approach on releasing material… How does it come that you receive recognition from your peers but meanwhile have to fight for recognition…?
Your new album, The Future Lasts A Long Time, reads (on some places) as a sharp comment on the music industry, the advantances and dissapointments in your career and some kind of roadmap of the last… Even some kind of testament… Can you reflect on this…? It’s a bit of a memoir really. The first time I’ve ever really written about myself—and I didn’t even write most of it! Self-expression has never interested me. I don’t do confessional mode. So I used bricolage as a back door. The Future Lasts a Long Time is a record about a life lived through records about other people’s lives. Aye, disappointment is part of the story. I maintain that sour grapes are part of a balanced diet. But there’s more than that. At least a little bit more than that. Possibly.
Looking for links connected with the album title, I did found out that The Future Is A Long Time (l’Avenir Dure Longtemps) is the posthumeous autobiography by the French philosopher Louis Althusser, as well as a movie… In the movie the 2 main protagonists dream of an adventurous life and Bonnie&Clyde-fame, but they end up in desillusionment and in a difficult situation; a stry of youthfull naïevety and scattered dreams… Was one of the two (are maybe both) an inspiration fort he title…?
If any inspiration into finding an albumtitle, that would’ve been rather Althusser. First time I heard about that movie…
You do a cover of the Grey Lotus song ‘Song for Syd Barrett’. In the middle section Joost and Judith are performing a slice of ‘Eight Miles High’ from The Byrds, smuggling a cover inside a cover… How did this came around…? Sometime last year I had to improvise a semi-acoustic solo set at a wine bar in rural New South Wales and ended up playing a lot of covers. Somehow those two tunes got mashed together. And somehow it made sense, months later, to record it in split stereo with Surf Me Up Scotty backing me in one channel whilst Grey Lotus sang the Byrds in the other channel. Neither band knew what I had in mind at the time. I didn’t want egg on my face if the concept didn’t work out.
The album contains a very different adaption of the single Satyros Ironykos… The 7” version was very much David’s baby. It was refreshing to be able to focus on lyrics and vocal performance while someone I trusted handled arrangements and organization. I didn’t even touch a guitar in that studio! The tune took on a life of its own once we started playing it live. Lots more guitars—the final version boasts 3 guitarists: Dave Graney in the left channel, me in the right channel and Eric Becker (Rome, Surf Me Up Scotty, The Barcodes) down the middle. It seemed fitting enough to revisit it in another Melbourne studio almost exactly a year after the original session. Will Hindmarsh of Go-Go Sapien guests on organ. He also sat in with us for a Melbourne show. Top bloke. There’s a Leonard Cohen citation somewhere in there, sung with the help of Clare Moore and Melbourne roots musician Matt Walker. I introduced it originally as an homage to Leonard Cohen during a live performance in Lautrec on the very day he died.
You are working with a new band and simaltanously working with different musicians on various locations… Who are they and where you did find them…?
You played both the Audioplant and the Kinky Star before. What are you looking forward to…?
We’re looking forward to seeing our friends around Europe, the UK and the US. That’s what this particular exercise is all about, breaking bread one last time with folks we’ve met on the road over the years. We’ll pass through a few new places in the bargain too. First time in Budapest, for example. And we’ve been invited to play a kinky winter market on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg. Should be interesting.
I don’t think that you will have a dull time… Good luck and break-a-leg…! ;-)
Georgio 'the Dove' Valentino will be playing The Audioplant (Antwerp) on 26/11 and the Kinky Star (Ghent) on 30/11... Last chance to see The Dove & La Société des Mélancholiques...!!
Jan Denolet |
Volgende interviews:
EUFORIC EXISTENCE - We worden graag onder de noemer EBM gezet, maar beseffen dat we een buitenbeetje zijn. Ik zou niet anders willen.
THE IMAGINARY SUITCASE - In liefdesliedjes wordt een gevoel geprijsd dat voor mij meer wijst op de wil om de individualiteit van de ander te beheersen en te bezitten
KIM LARSEN - Bier met 10% alcohol, op smaak gebracht met knoflook, karwij en gerookte mangoest, om het die nieuwe en boeiende smaak te geven... komaan zeg!
Totengeflüster - Black Metal is Passion, not Fashion …
THE REBEL RIOT BAND - We kunnen de wereld niet veranderen, maar we kunnen zoveel mogelijk onszelf en onze omgeving veranderen.
DIE FORM - Ik zou graag optimistisch willen zijn, maar de wereld lijkt onverbiddelijk en blindelings richting een sombere toekomst te gaan.
KISS THE ANUS OF A BLACK CAT - De rode draad zal steeds dezelfde zijn: ontstaan in de punkscene en ondertussen al ver doorgetrokken, van folk naar wave en hopelijk nog veel verder
RED ZEBRA - De wereld gaan we niet meer veroveren, maar nog plannen genoeg.
STRUGGLER - Van doorbreken was geen sprake, alles moest tot stand komen vanuit een D.I.Y.- cultuur.
DONDER, HEL & HAGEL - Het thema dat in al onze projecten terugkomt, is het creëren van een maatschappij zonder hiërarchie die in harmonie met zichzelf en de natuur leeft.