Thursday, 31 October 2019

Mick Harvey - Interview

© L.J. Spruyt
Mick Harvey is currently on tour presenting playing Serge Gainsbourg as well as some shows with J.P. Shilo. He will be playing in Portugal on Saturday, 2, Casa da Música, Porto and Sunday 3, Lisboa Ao Vivo, Lisboa. We catch up with him about Serge Gainsbourg, WWI, his legacy with The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party, The Bad Seeds, architecture, his favourite instruments and more.

by Amândio Barbosa, Guilherme Lucas & Raquel Pinheiro

When did you come across Serge Gainsbourg? What made you take an interest in his songs?

I came across most of his recordings in the mid-80s. Until that time I had only really heard “Je t’aime’, ‘Lemon Incest’ and ‘Bonnie & Clyde’. Obviously he is a great songwriter so that is what made an impression on me - so many great songs that people didn’t really know very well outside France. That offered up some interesting possibilities. 

Was it difficult to translate the lyrics into English? What did you value the most, preserving rhythm and meter, the rich images conveyed by the lyrics or making sure they were singable?

It was important to preserve all these elements. Probably the hardest of those is the richness and style of language as that is almost impossible to convert. Each language has its own feel, its own musicality. This is something that is usually lost in translation. It’s nearly impossible for it not to be. From my side I tried to retain all the meter and rhyming schemes as it was essential - these are part of the music. And of course the meaning was very important. I tried hard to insert the word plays and puns where I could but this was also not possible sometimes. So yes, it was a major work to create these English versions and I worked very hard on them.

Is there a difference between recording and playing Serge's songs live and your own? 

Yes, it’s very different. My own songs and most of the work I do with other musicians on their original work is usually very moody and quite dark. The Serge material feels, in comparison, like entertainment and more like fun when it is played live. And it IS very entertaining. With all my other pursuits I am not interested in making it easy for the audience - on the contrary, I think most of my work is quite hard listening. So it was funny to start playing the Gainsbourg material and realise it was in a very different area.

In what do this new Serge Gainsbourg songs' concerts differ from previous ones?

Well, there are some new songs in the live set from ‘Delirium Tremens’ and ‘Intoxicated Women’ - volumes 3 & 4 - so yes, there are some differences.

Which is your favourite Serge Gainsbourg song?

I don’t have favourites. My mind doesn’t work that way.

© L.J. Spruyt

Edgar Bourchier, the poet of The Fall and Rise of Edgar Bourchier and the Horrors of War, is a ficitional ones. His poems are similar, and his birth year the same, to Wilfred Owen. Was he based in Wilfred?

Not exactly, no. I think he was an amalgam of a few different war poets. I’m sure Christopher had Siegfried Sassoon In mind and I know he is also interested in a couple of other British war poets so I’m sure he was taking ideas and direction from all of these.

What is your interest in WWI?

I’m not sure why it holds such a fascination for me but it’s something I keep coming back to. I had already read quite a bit about WW1 before I even learnt about my Grandfathers’ generation’s involvement in it. That just made it that little but more personal. Obviously I have worked on several projects which have WW1 connections including ‘Let England Shake’ and this recent ‘Edgar Bourchier - Horrors of War’ album. A few years ago I was also enlisted to compose the score for a documentary by Sam Neill presenting the history of the Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) troops which took part in WW1 and what happened with that alliance through to WW2. In fact, my next release will be ‘Waves of Anzac/The Journey’, an instrumental album featuring music from the documentary.


How do you choose the musicians you want to play and work with when it comes to another artist, and how do you do it when it is for one of your own projects or records.

To me this is a strange question. I would have thought this was obvious - like hiring anyone for a job based on how well they will do the job. If I am choosing musicians for my own project I have to take into account many factors but mostly their suitability to the music I am trying to make - what they could contribute, which would be their natural style? I don’t ever work with session musicians apart from string players playing my arrangements so it’s all about having a good stylistic connection. The same applies if I am helping other people decide about who to work with.

Which is your favourite instrument to play and which is your favourite instrument to compose.

I think my favourite instrument to play is the drums. For composing I don’t have a preference but obviously most things I compose would be on guitar or keyboards. 

© L.J. Spruyt
 In a recent interview with Louder, that challenged you to choose twelve favorite songs from your long musical career, you said of The Birthday Party, and I quote “Our mission in The Birthday Party was to destroy rock’n’roll from within. We knew we wouldn’t, but it was worth trying: by using its own history as ammunition against it, killing it with its own germs. And having fun trying to do it. Unfortunately, we failed.”

Speaking strictly from a musical point of view, we are in absolute disagreement. The Birthday Party were one of the rare, really fundamental and exciting bands of the late 70's and early 80's. They saved rock'n'roll by then and still do. 

That was my point. You misunderstood what I was saying. Clearly we were trying to make something valuable and relevant by fighting against the accepted version of rock’n’roll. It was something which began with punk and new wave but really, not many people had tried to turn the music upside down. Most of the punk/early new wave stuff was just loud, faster, nastier rock’n’roll. We were trying to say what you can present and play can be so much more than that - find your own voices, stop copying so much of what already exists. But that is the tendency of human nature. And anyway, most music listeners are pretty unadventurous and conservative in what they want to listen to. That is why our mission was always impossible on some level. However, in taking that path we managed to create something unique and exciting. That was our aim, that was the point, ultimately. Our conceptual mission to destroy rock’n’roll from within failed, of course, but the resulting music was what we are left with and that was a great success.

What kind of legacy do you think The Birthday Party left in rock'n'roll history? 

I have no idea. I cannot analyse that. For me, I can’t be objective.

On what This measure identifies its aesthetically revolutionary and overwhelmingly creative sound in new generations of bands within your musical niche?

Like many otter bands and artists across the last 30 - 40 years we probably had a large influence on people who are interested to make something original and challenging for the listener. That’s has to be a good thing.

In 2010, in a radio interview with French blog Meltingpod, you spoke about your departure from The Bad Seeds. You were not kind with Nick Cave, enumerating in detail your hurts and disappointments towards him and the band. How do you see the huge success of the Bad Seeds today? What does it feel like to have been primarily responsible for what the group was, and became, and no longer being there to enjoy the laurels?

It’s strange not being in the band anymore but I am very glad not to be there. I think all I’ve ever really said about Nick publiclly is that he was very unkind to ME in the last year of being in The Bad Seeds. If that is unkind to him then it is an endless circle. He was very unkind to me at that time and gave me no option but to leave the band. We are good friends and talk with each other whenever necessary. We have a good relationship. I love the guy. Are you trying to stir up trouble here? It’s ancient history.

A lot has been said and written about your genius, but what was it like to work and be friends with Rowland S. Howard? In your opinion, what is the main aspect that differentiated him from other great artists you've collaborated with, such as Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Anita Lane or J.P. Shilo?

Each of these people have their own style and way of conducting themselves and their ability, or lack of it, with being in the public eye. Rowland was never geared to being on top of the management aspects of having a career or leading a band. He was quite disorganised about this stuff and wasted years sitting around between projects. Drugs played a role in this but it was also a situation created by the fact he was only ever writing 2 or 3 songs a year. In the last 10 years it was even less that that. However, I would always argue for quality over quantity. He was a difficult and impractical man but also fantastically entertaining and a true gentle soul. It’s hard to explain the complexity of these situations but I loved making those last 2 solo albums with him. I’m very honoured to have been involved in those albums.

How important are art and poetry in your life?

Art in general is very important. Poetry?  I don’t read much poetry. I have start trying to include it in what I read but it’s not something I connect with as much as I would like. In general I probably spend a lot of time each day listening to music, watching films etc. and reading. I always try to go to exhibitions or galleries if I am travelling and have time off in a city. This is just normal for most artists.

You've created an Instagram account to denouce architecural crimes and misdeads in Melbourne - Melbourne Architectural Disasters. How important is architecture and urban planning to you? Are there many Architectural Disasters in Melbourne?

In general this is a worldwide problem driven by capitalists and developers. Controls have been diminished and they are designing and building far too much rubbish, especially in new world cities. That account is just trying to have a bit of fun with it. In general it is a horrible thing and they are ruining the character and soul of some of these places. 

In a scale of 1 to 10, how instagramable is Misha, your cat?

How would I know? I can’t review myself.

Whatever Happened to Anita Lane?


Anita is living in Melbourne and has 3 grown boys. I suppose much of the last 25 years was spent raising them and trying to be responsible. It was a bit difficult for me to prioritise working with her any more after ‘Sex O’clock’ (which by the way will be finally released on vinyl soon) because she refused to do any interviews and does not want to perform live which made promoting the album almost impossible. It seems a bit unfair on one level but I have so many things I can be working on that it just seemed better to focus on future projects where months of work was not simply lost. I love my recordings with Anita but I like my time to be well exploited if possible. She is still around and I was hoping to have her sing a couple of songs on ‘Intoxicated Women’ but we couldn’t seem to get it organised so I used other singers.

Wednesday, 30 October 2019


Good morning with Fall-inn, Our Middle Of The Week Song, taken from Born-Folk's new album. Have a nice day.

Monday, 28 October 2019


Hi with Arm Over Arm by Screaming Females. Have a nice weekend.

Sunday, 27 October 2019

Saturday, 26 October 2019

Good morning with Jarvis Prevails taken from Hugh Hitchcock's upcoming album. Have a nice weekend.

Wednesday, 23 October 2019


Good morning Our Middle Of The Week Song, Spike Driver Blues by Sam Amidon.

Monday, 21 October 2019


Hi with Nuclear Suzy by Buried Feather. Have a nice afternoon.

Sunday, 20 October 2019

Hi and Happy Sunday with Flores by Fime.

Saturday, 19 October 2019


Good morning with Heavenly taken from Cry •Cigarretes After Sex•'s upcoming album. Have a nice weekend.

Wednesday, 16 October 2019




Good morning with Our Middle Of The Week Song, 20 teens by WIVES. Have a nice day.

Monday, 14 October 2019

Hi with Black Sea by Xylouris White (Γιώργης Ξυλούρης - George Xylouris + Jim White) Have a nice afternoon.

Sunday, 13 October 2019

Fiesta comienzo de temporada: Twin Guns (ex-The Cramps), La Iguana, Vigo, 10.10.2019

© Guilherme Lucas



words: Guilherme Lucas (freely translated by Raquel Pinheiro); photos Guilherme Lucas


Last Thursday, TWIN GUNS, an American band from Brooklyn, New York, were the group chosen to open the new concert season at La Iguana Club, a rock club in Vigo, Spain. Their beginning dates back to 2010. At first they were a duo (maybe that is the reason for the group's name), formed by guitarist and vocalist Andrea Sicco and drummer "Jungle" Jim Chandler, the latter famous for having also had been a drummer of the legendary The Cramps in 2003-2204, since becoming an asset for promoting Twin Guns to audiences with a taste for the same kind of sound. In 2014, with the arrival of bassist Kristin Fayne-Mulroy they become a trio, an equation that continues to this day.

Carefully listening to their discography currently up to four albums, one quickly realizes that they’re a quality band of subtleties that often surprises, perhaps because of their remarkable ability and creativity to fuse diverse music genres, and turn them into something of their own. There is a story of combustible American garage rock in them, that is constantly crisscrossed in its compositions by various genres: from rock'n'roll to surf music, country, blues, punk, psychobilly, trash, psychedelic, etc., performed in a noir and cinematic way. They have a gothic and dark aesthetic ambience, which is quite obvious in nearly all their themes, within a sunglasses after dark tone, which the three elements embody blamelessly during the whole performance. Among other details of dark inclination within the themes of rock'n'roll suicide their performance and sound send us completely into B-series films, western-spaghettis, crime in the city and dark alleys,. The good "ghosts" of The Gun Club, The Cramps, Iggy And The Stooges, Link Wray, Johnny Cash, and even Suicide (band) haunt a large part of their repertoire, but it is wrong to think they are just another band of great wannabes: on their own way they are building their own path and there is merit in that, as it is in their variety of styles, and in the way they play them that their worthiness resides. I really enjoyed Twin Guns’ concert that oscillated between a good and very good performance, also a result of the different intensities of each of the performed themes.

Andrea Sicco (also a member of the noise-rock band, Art Gray Noizz Quintet), is a very competent and focused guitarist-vocalist, managing to cover several styles, both when it comes to singing and guitar work, being exquisite in both aspects. Quite particularly, too, because a guitarist who happens upon the fortune of choosing to use a white Fender Jaguar as his favorite guitar, coupled with a Fender Twin Reverb, and have Reuss RSH-03 as one of his effects pedals, is,without a doubt, a tasteful, cultured musician, and artists of such class are very much needed, at least as far as I am concerned. Those who don't understand what I'm talking about, do your research, he only clue I provide is: Melbourne. Between mourning and pure chaotic savagery Twin Guns, played two encores requested by the audience, which of course was euphoric with a great performance. The three of them volunteered until one of the guitar strings broke during a devastating solo in Jack The Ripper, a Link Wray cover. It was the right cue to end the show.

Interestingly, I realized that little by little, and having seen The Cramps live in 2006 at Vodafone Paredes de Coura Festival, I will have been able to see other former The Cramps in different contexts; a year ago it was Fur Dixon at Barracuda - Roque Club, this time Jim Chandler… so, bring on the next living “crampesque” legend because i tis always guaranteed to be a good thing.

In short, I spend a very pleasant Thursday night with these New Yorkers in the land of nuestros hermanos. Next time you come to Europe next time I hope you’ll play in Portugal.



© Guilherme Lucas 




texto e fotos: Guilherme Lucas

Fiesta comienzo de temporada: Twin Guns (ex-The Cramps) - Os TWIN GUNS, banda norte-americana de Brooklyn, New York, foram o grupo escolhido para abrir a nova temporada de concertos, na última quinta-feira, no clube de rock de Vigo, Espanha, o La Iguana Club. O seu início de atividade remonta a 2010 e eram inicialmente um duo (eventualmente sendo esta particularidade a razão para o nome do grupo), formado pelo guitarrista e vocalista Andrea Sicco e o baterista “Jungle” Jim Chandler, este último famoso por ter sido também baterista dos lendários The Cramps entre 2003-2004, e que tem servido desde aí como uma mais-valia na divulgação dos Twin Guns para públicos com gostos pelos mesmos tipos de sonoridades. Em 2014, passam a ser um trio, com a entrada da baixista Kristin Fayne-Mulroy, equação que se mantêm até ao presente.

Escutando atentamente a sua discografia, que conta já com quatro álbuns, rapidamente percebemos que é banda de qualidade e de subtilezas que em muitos momentos surpreendem, talvez pela notável capacidade e criatividade de fundir géneros musicais distintos, e de os transformar em algo próprio. Há neles uma história de garage rock americano em combustão, que é constantemente entre cruzada estilisticamente nas suas composições por diversos géneros musicais: desde o rock’n’roll, passando pela surf music, country, blues, punk, psychobilly, trash, psicadélico, etc, executados de uma forma noir e cinematográfica. Possuem uma ambiência estética gótica e dark, que é muito evidente em quase todos os seus temas, dentro de um registo sunglasses after dark, que os três elementos personificam irrepreensivelmente em toda a sua atuação. A sua performance e sonoridade remete-nos completamente para filmes de série-B, western-spaghettis, crime na cidade e becos escuros, entre outras minudências de pendor obscuro dentro das temáticas do rock’n’roll suicide. Os bons “fantasmas” de uns 
The Gun Club, The Cramps, Iggy And The StoogesLink WrayJohnny Cash, e até mesmo Suicide (band), assombram muito do seu repertório, mas desengane-se quem pensar que são mais uma banda de wannabes dos grandes: à sua maneira estão a construir o seu próprio percurso e tem mérito nisso, pois, é na sua variedade de estilos, e na forma como os interpretam, que reside o seu gabarito.
Gostei bastante do concerto destes Twin Guns, resvalando entre o bom e o muito bom na sua atuação, fruto também das diferentes intensidades de cada um dos temas executados.
Andrea Sicco (que também é membro da banda noise-rock, Art Gray Noizz Quintet), é um guitarrista-vocalista muito competente e focado, conseguindo abranger vários registos, tanto ao nível de canto como do seu trabalho de guitarra, sendo primoroso nos dois aspetos. Muito particularmente, também, porque um guitarrista que pode ter a fortuna de escolher usar uma Fender Jaguar branca como a sua guitarra de eleição, ligada a um Fender Twin Reverb, e ter como um dos seus pedais de efeitos o Reuss RSH-03, naturalmente é um músico culto e com muito bom gosto, e artistas com esta classe são muito necessários, pelo menos para mim. Quem não perceber o que estou a comentar, que investigue, e a única pista que dou é: Melbourne. Entre o dolente e a mais pura selvajaria caótica, os Twin Guns, fizeram dois encores a pedido do público, que naturalmente estava eufórico com uma grande prestação. E assim se prontificaram os três, até que uma das cordas da guitarra se partiu durante um solo devastador à la Link Wray, na versão do mesmo, Jack The Ripper. Foi o mote certo para dar por finalizado o espetáculo.

Em jeito de curiosidade, constatei, de que a pouco e pouco, e depois de ter visto os The Cramps ao vivo em 2006, no 
Festival Vodafone Paredes de Coura, vou conseguindo ver outros ex-The Cramps noutros contextos; há um ano foi a Fur Dixon no Barracuda - Clube de Roque, desta vez o Jim Chandler… por isso, que venha a próxima lenda viva “crampesca”, é sempre garantidamente coisa boa.
Finalizando: foi uma muito agradável noite de quinta-feira, aquela que passei com estes nova-iorquinos, em terras de nuestros hermanos. Quando regressarem à Europa da próxima vez, espero que atuem em Portugal.

© Guilherme Lucas