Friday, April 20th.
Paris, La Boule Noire, 4.30 pm.
What do you think about the reactions to “The Closer You Get” so far?
Paul Douglas: It's all been positive really. Most of the reviewers have been seeing pretty much the attitude we wanted them to see, the aggressiveness of it, the anger, the frustration. So yeah, we're all very happy about the way it's been received. Pretty much worldwide as well, we've had great audience response from Europe and America, so we're really happy with the way it's going. Going on tour as well makes us more aware of what people think, and it's all been really good with what we've done so far: a success in England and we're going all around Europe and then going to America, it's been really good.
Will there be a new single out soon?
We're gonna release a song called “New Year” out of the record, that'll be probably out at the end of the summer (that was out on June 19th actually). There'll be two other new songs that aren't on the album on that as well, and maybe we'll make a film for “Eat Junk Become Junk” with a friend of ours, and I think we'll probably put that on the CD as well. We did that before and hopefully we can do it again.
About b-sides, no more covers as you've previously done?
No, we've got two new songs. We haven't been doing any cover recently. We've got our new songs and want to get as much of our stuff as is possible.
It was 'funny' about that Candlelight EP, Mercury Rev cover and by the end of the year they were going big, and Flaming Lips remix, and a year later, they get successful too.
James Flower: Yeah, that was pretty weird, because the Flaming Lips, they had a cult status in England, and then they became pretty famous.
Why was no single released right before the album?
PD: This is a deliberate thing from us. We wanted the album to be seen as a whole. When we released the first album, each song had been released and then people think you're that type of band, or you're that type of band, and we've got pretty different songs, so if you release it all in one time, then people can make their own minds.
JF: We have to be realistic about what we're doing because the music scene in England is so conservative, it's being very difficult for us to breakthrough and to make mainstream success, so we have to play it slightly different.
I was asking that as it's just been the same with the Delgados who are also on Mantra.
PD: No, all the artistic decisions are from us, that was our own idea. I think we are an album band, we're not like a singles band.
JF: But our singles have been great!
The new album has a more 'rock' / 'punk'/ 'garage' feel to it, and also some more electronic/ambient elements, like in “Another Love Song”. Do you intend to go further in that direction?
PD: Maybe. It comes like we can never really tell what we're gonna do next. It just seems like it just happens, like when we recorded the album. We only had a few ideas as we went into studio and wrote it as we were recording it. It's an attitude thing, we were listening to lots of records at the time, and more and more so listening to electronic music as well, so that's been an influence on it.
Punk, did you say, we wanted the sound to come flying out of the speakers, sound exuberant, as that's how we felt when making it, getting really drunk. (laughs)
On the first album there were several very long songs, 7-8 minutes songs, was it deliberate to put only shorter songs on “The Closer You Get” ?
Well, there's a couple of songs that are quite long, like “Overnight Success”.
JF: The thing is that on the first album we never really thought we were making long music, we never did it in purpose, it's the just way that it evolved, and we just liked doing that. We never did it for a gimmick or anything like that.
PD: There's never a pre-planned thing to do. Songs take how long they take.
Typical and very boring question: what about the songwriting process?
We are a band, that is 5 people join and do the songs. Chris writes all the words.
JF: Chris wrote the songs on the album, basically he came in with the skeleton
PD: He brought the structure, but then songs come from running ideas. We were in the studio writing it out. Basically it's 5 people writing, and then Chris putting his words, that's all.
Another typical and boring question, Slab Square, Foxhall Road, they're places in Nottingham aren't they?
Yeah, they're places in Nottingham
JF: We all had girlfriends who lived on Foxhall Rd. Slab Sq. is Nottingham's central square, where in the weekend everyone goes out and there's many people getting pissed. Brilliant, vibrant sort of place.
It seems like a major source of inspiration for you.
Yes, it's where we live.
PD: It's our environment, so yes.
Do you prefer touring or studio work?
I enjoy both, sitting on the bus for 12 hours or so can get really dull but as long as the gigs are good
JF: I like playing gigs… Chris prefers studio.
PD: Each member of the band would probably give a different answer.
You're currently on a European tour, then to America, what about festivals this summer?
We play mostly in Europe, we're doing 2 in Germany, one in Spain, one in Belgium, so yes we're gonna be busy. Festivals are good because it's not the same. After the first album we started touring, and things started growing to the Manics, Placebo and we went to America, so then people keep asking you for it, they want you to play, so you can never tell what's going to happen.
JF: We did a short tour with the Delgados and suddenly we went to Scandinavia with the Manics, and then we went to America, New York and L.A., and we toured for 3 months.
Any festival in France this summer?
PD: I don't think we'll do this year, but hopeully yes, we'd like to play in France.
JF: We played in St Malo 2 years ago, which was a brilliant place.
Still about festivals, any chance you play at Reading after what happened last year?
PD: I don't know, we may play this year again. What happened last year wasn't anyone's fault, it was just frustrating because there were lots of people there and we would have liked to play more.
You're quite big in Greece, and so are the Tindersticks, who are from Nottingham too, so what about the Nottingham scene in Greece?
*laughs*
Well, I think they like some dark music. We went and played gigs there and we were expecting a few hundred people, and there was a thousand people, that was great.
JF: We got to n°27 in the Greek Charts
PD: The UK media are more conservative than it seems, so it's good to go to countries like Greece.
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We then gave them (quite boring) questionnaires to fill, during which we talked about Primal Scream, All Tomorrows Parties, what happened at the Brussels Botanique (the day everything went wrong!) etc…
Interview by Florence Chabrier and Sophie Alvarez, please don't copy for public use without permission.