Brian Ritchie is musing over what exactly it is that’s made the Violent Femmes the ultimate stayers in indie rock. Formed in 1981 in Milwaukee, they’ve been together 25 years and in the all-too-fickle nature of the music industry, that’s as good as many lifetimes. This longevity will be especially poignant come January when they play Big Day Out 2007, as it marks their second appearance at the festival since they performed at its inauguration in 1992, alongside grunge giants Nirvana. It’s been a colorful history for the band and I ask Brian to compare the current rock scene to the many musical movements he’s experienced in his time.
“I think a lot of people tend to romanticize the 80’s,” he says. “A lot of people look back on the 80’s as though it was a golden era but for us it was just a lot of working. It was unrelenting touring, sleeping on people’s floors, small venues, low money. But that’s good. That’s called paying dues. I think everybody should have to go through that before they are entitled to some success.”
Brian goes on to explain that the most interesting period for him was the punk era in the late 70’s which he terms as a “huge explosion” for music. He recalls there were interesting bands around that time like Roxy Music, T Rex, David Bowie and Lou Reed but the punk movement was so inspiring because it was formed from the ground up. “Every kid wanted to have a band and thought they could because they were no longer trying to compete with The Eagles. It was more like ‘Wow, the Ramones are cool and I think I can do something like that too.’ ”
Nowadays, Brian is enjoying the resurgence of guitar-orientated rock music which almost seemed to disappear at the end of the 90’s. He describes bands like The White Stripes and Jet as pretty much “good old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll” but he indeed has very eclectic tastes himself, taking great interest in the improvised music scene as well as world music. He plays a Japanese flute called the shakuhachi for instance, which couldn’t be more different to his bass playing for the Femmes.
“The breathing techniques that we use to play the shakuhachi are actually the same as those used for meditation or yoga so psychologically it induces a different state in you,” he says. “It takes a lot of concentration to do it but once you focus, your mind really is focused. I experience it to some extent with the bass but I still think there’s something special about the shakuhachi because the compositions themselves are composed by Buddhist monks. There’s an underlying spiritual essence there that you’d don’t get from ‘Blister in the Sun’ or ‘Like A Rolling Stone’.”
Brian once played a solo concert with the shakuhachi at Machu Picchu, an experience he says that was “completely mind-blowing” and he’s constantly curious about experimenting with other instruments and sounds. “Recently I’ve got into playing gongs quite a bit,” he says. “I find that the tones that emanate from the gongs are really amazing and healing and calming. I look at a lot of the instruments as tools, like if you’re a carpenter. You don’t just say ‘I play screwdriver – keep that other stuff away from me.’ I’m really inspired by multi-instrumentalists. I just think that’s what musicians should be. In other cultures, that’s the way it is – if you’re a good musician, you play a lot of instruments.”
The Femmes are also no strangers to exotic cultures and locations as Brian recalls that they once played a concert at the magnetic north pole with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. “Molson Beer, a Canadian Beer company offered 300 or so contest winners the opportunity to go up to the North Pole and listen to the Chili Peppers and the Femmes,” he explains. “We also got to play for the Inuit people which was cool. Obviously, a completely out of the ordinary situation...”
Not that the Femmes have ever been particularly characterized by their normality. Their impact in music has been remarkable and their phenomenon is even being explored in an upcoming documentary film by Milwaukee director, Howie Goldklang. Brian explains that the Femmes seem to have a “special placement” in the musical universe and fans seem to appreciate them as the perpetual underdogs.
“We’ve never really been touted as the next-big-thing or classic,” he explains. “For example I think
Rolling Stone just put out the top 500 albums of all time and…we’re not in there, (laughs). We never really got any kind of mainstream recognition. Nevertheless there are so many people who really love our music and support us. But it’s not because it’s hip. It’s not because it’s deemed to be crucial or important like U2 for example. It’s just they like it that’s all.”
But for all the varied influences and opinions, is there a particular song for Brian Ritchie that never lets him down? “Maybe ‘Waterloo Sunset’ by The Kinks,” he says. “I have that on my jukebox at home. It’s just so beautiful. Certain songs create an involuntary response. Everybody gets into music because it’s a hit or hip or something but then there are some songs that as soon as you hear them they just bring you into their world. And I think that’s one of them. My favorite band is The Kinks from the 60’s and I love the Rolling Stones. The song that never lets me down when I hear it live is ‘Street Fighting Man’. That is the most powerful song. When they start slamming that song, that thing is so great.”
Then there's my 2007 interview with Sergio Pizzorno, of English rockers
Kasbian.
The Empire pays a visit…“I went to see Oasis at Earls Court and The Verve supported. I think it was always in me but that was the real spark that ignited this. After that day, that was it. After Earls Court, it was like ‘right, one day I wanna play.’ That was the moment.”
Sergio Pizzorno has come full circle. In 1995 he had his mind blown by two of the greatest English bands of recent times. Ten years later, he shared a stage with his heroes Oasis on their 2005 world tour. His group, Kasabian, first burst onto the music scene with a rampaging self-titled debut in 2004 and their recent follow-up album
Empire, released in 2006, provides more of their euphoric indie-electronic anthems. As the band’s guitarist and lead songwriter, Sergio believes the new record is a classic British album and he and the band have been more than chuffed at its reception as part of the 2007 Big Day Out tour.
“On a personal level, finishing the album, there are a few songs on there that I’m really proud of – that I sit back and go ‘fuck me, that’s a good song,’ ” says Sergio. He knows his songwriting abilities have improved on
Empire but he can’t put it down to any particular influence so far: drugs, drink or otherwise. “Maybe just two years of being in a rock ’n’ roll band…I dunno,” he says. “I think you just get better at it, if you’re good. We’re just pretty used to churning out songs.”
Under pressure from audiences and the music industry alike, Sergio says that the band approached the new record with their own particular rock ’n’ roll take on business-as-usual. “We’ve always just done what we’ve wanted to do,” he says. “In the end we’re like ‘that’s great and we’ve got a couple of singles there.’ It’s not like ‘shit, we’ve got to get on this’. The records have always been on our terms. There’s always some kind of madness going on in one of them.”
Not surprisingly, there have been constant favorable comparisons to Oasis, in terms of music as well as attitude, and I ask Sergio whether it matters to Kasabian if they become the biggest band in the world. “I think it does when you start,” he says, taking a moment to ponder. “It’s naivety and that beautiful idea that it’s that easy.” Nowadays though, he’s mainly concerned with creating music that connects with listeners and inspires them, as he himself once was on that memorable evening at Earls Court.
“I suppose if anything we want to continue to make important albums, regardless of how well they do or how they’re received,” he says. “Just to know in your own fucking mind that you’re making music that makes people want to start a band. Not rehash stuff, not be retro, but try and be forward-thinking and try different things. We’re going to fall over on the way but the best bands always do I think.”
Despite his focus on making music for the modern age, Sergio cites the 60’s as the main period of influence for his songwriting, along with a few more contemporary bands. “I always kind of go back to the Stones, the Beatles and The Who,” he says. “Modern music I love but the stuff I listen to is almost songwriter music. You could almost say it’s modern art in the way that there’s no tunes, there’s just these ideas. Like Boards of Canada: they kind of paint pictures – it just bends your head a bit. And I never forget when I hear a Lennon song. It’s like a beautiful song but it’s not cheap or run-of-the-mill.”
Sergio mentions that he’s been chatting to The Vines’ Craig and Ryan on the tour and was mightily impressed when he caught one of their live sets. “They’ve got this fucking mad story and I only knew what I’d read and it intrigued me. For me that’s what it’s all about. You don’t know what’s going to fucking happen and I like that. When I watched them – that’s what I felt. They were great. God bless them and I hope they just keep going.”
The Vines’ story has of course been a tumultuous one and the chaotic nature of the music industry has split more than a few bands over the years. But Kasabian have a firmer foundation that most, having known each as friends before they became musicians. Sergio’s been hanging out with the majority of his fellow band members for 15 years and he feels grateful that they’ve been able to undertake such a communal journey. “We’re lucky we get to spend this time together, get to be in a fuckin’ band,” he says. “We’ve been through so much, it just wouldn’t be right any other way. I think all of us just wanted to be in a band, be in a gang – it’s better when you see a picture and there’s all five members in it together. I don’t think any of us really fancy doing anything alone.”
With such an energetic start to the group’s career, Sergio certainly isn’t fazed by the long term possibilities for their music. They recently played shows with the Rolling Stones and Sergio says he wouldn’t mind if indeed Kasabian was still making music in 30 or 40 years. “If we continue to be writing albums, yeah, why not?” he says. “If you’re a footballer, it’s the same sort of thing – that’s all they’ve got, that’s all they know. And they get told at a certain age ‘that’s it. You can’t do it anymore.’ You can’t tell people like Bob Dylan or Mick Jagger that the one thing that they truly love, they can’t do anymore. That’s not what life’s like. I think it’s great that they’re still going and I expect to be still going. If I’m not dead...”
There are only a few singers that you could listen to forever, only a few lyricists who truly draw you in, only a few performers who really captivate an audience...
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