Om jullie warm te maken voor het BIM festival proberen wij een interview van elke band online te krijgen.
Hier vind u dus het interview met Douglas McCarthy.
Do you have special memories about Belgium?
Actually Belgium was one of the first countries that Nitzer Ebb played outside the UK, so I've been going there since the 80's and have had a variety of experiences there - all of them positive. Although there was once a nasty scene involving a 10th story Brussels hotel room, a water fight, some bad toilet manners and a pedestrian unlucky enough to be passing below...
Have you ever heard of the BIM-festival before?
No I haven't.
Are you going to see other bands on our festival?
Of course (if I'm awake from flying across the Atlantic!), I am of course friends with Jürgen and Ralph from Die Krupps - in fact the last time we met was after a Fixmer/McCarthy show in Cologne, it was the following morning from that show that we re-recorded the vocals for 'Wahre Arbeit, Wahrer Lohn'. Also, it will be interesting to see what Martin Degville is up to.
Do you always listen to electronic music? If no, what other kinds of music do you like?
I have always listened to a wide variety of music from electronic to rock, classical to pop. The past few weeks I have been listening to new albums from Grinderman, PJ Harvey, and Radiohead when I'm not going over the new Fixmer/McCarthy or Nitzer Ebb material. I also go and see a few bands play live here in Los Angeles, mostly it's guitar based acts just because that is what most bands rely on here, but some are very interesting like 'Agent Ribbons' a female duo from Sacramento.
Now something about the band: how was Fixmer/McCarthy formed?
Terence had done a remix of the NE song 'Let Your Body Learn' for NovaMute and had got in touch with me after that to see if I was interested in collaborating on a couple of tracks for his forthcoming album. He then visited me in London and we went through a selection of tracks he was working on, then after a few months of exchanging ideas over the internet I went to France and we began recording. It quickly became obvious to us that we could easily produce enough tracks for an entire album, so we did! I've regretted it ever since. No just kidding. In fact without Terence's Gallic insistence that I shout over his tracks then there would have probably been little chance that Nitzer Ebb would have reformed. Thanks Tel.
What is the future of Fixmer/McCarthy, or the other bands you’re performing with ?
Well, it's really what you choose to make it I think. FM has never felt confined to one genre or another, we feel just as at home at a Techno festival as at an EBM one, or a pop festival as a rock festival and have been comfortably doing that since we began. I respect that some people only want to immerse themselves in a particular style of dress and music, but I also believe there are others (much like myself and Terence) who are happy to experiment with genre and style and want an eclectic mix of both (Terence also likes to experiment with sexual gender, but now is not the time and place to talk of this). My personal view is that by embracing both the former and latter types of audience FM and other bands can continue to enjoy global success.
Do you still have some free time? If yes, then what do you do?
I do have free time right now, obviously my schedule changes drastically throughout the year. Right now Bon and myself are writing NE songs and we have been giving ourselves the weekends off. I see a lot of movies and have been reading a lot of history, philosophy and religious books of late. I also go for long hikes in the mountains surrounding LA, and i am dabbling in rock climbing, but that can get you into problems - I was recently air rescued. I always thought that sort of thing would be exciting, but it's just very embarrassing. In the summer months if I am home I go swimming in the ocean a few times a week too, i go to an amazing beach where there are always dolphins swimming. So far i can attest that they don't rape humans, but you never know your luck.
Why do people have to come and see you on our festival?
No 'have' to see us, but if they choose to they will find a raw, minimal and energetic show that will contain tracks from the first FM album 'Between the Devil...' and our forthcoming album 'Into The Night'.
http://www.fixmermccarthy.de/ |