Patrick Wolf © Ryan McGinley
Patrick Wolf‘s fifth album Lupercalia has just been released to critical acclaim, he’s played to an adoring crowd at Glastonbury, and he’s engaged to be married later this year – life is good right now for this one-time lone Wolf. Back in April I sat down with Patrick a few hours before his Zurich gig and chatted with him about life on the road, his favourite books and songs, his psychic sister, and where he gets his inspiration from.
Living the rock'n'roll lifestyle...or so he tells us.
First up in the Left of Centre series is digital whizz and online maven, Anthony Crook, of Riverman Management (Placebo, Evaline, Expatriate). Here he talks about developing a thick skin, his career highlights, and why retaining an element of mystery is a good thing. Oh and his glamorous lifestyle… Continue reading
Who writes the set list?
Standing around in a muddy field last year at the Zurich OpenAir Festival, I couldn’t help but notice the hordes of people with backstage passes slung around their necks, scurrying to and fro behind the security gates, shouting into their phones and gesticulating. And while we festival-goers were clomping around (more or less) happily in the mud, behind the scenes a massive logistical operation was going on to ensure performers got to where they needed to be, when they needed to be. Who were these people?
I’ve always been as fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes as by what happens centre stage – as I observed, musicians don’t just turn up and perform or produce an album without a whole lot of help from all sorts of people who you never hear about – for example, roadies, sound engineers, instrument technicians, hairdressers, photographers, managers, promoters, journalists, record companies, catering people, press officers and more.
Why don’t we hear or see more from them? I want to know all the gory details from their side of the stage/computer screen/lens. Are they all, as rumoured, aspiring or once-aspiring musicians, or even particularly successful fans who have elevated their obsession passion into a job?
So, I’ve come up with Left of Centre, a series of interviews that looks at some of the behind-the-scenes jobs in the music industry that help to create the images, performances and music that we as consumers so eagerly devour.
Stay tuned for the first interview.
CREEP @ Mascotte, ZH, 10.05.11
Buzz bands are a dime a dozen, and it’s rare that I stop and pay any attention to them. But Creep…well, Creep turned my head. Just the right mix of thoughtful intelligence and insouciant creativity behind the music to make me stop and listen, and *shock horror* even consider venturing out into unknown (to me) musical territory (R&B, hip hop). Ok, and I admit that I’ve always been partial to witches (thanks, Anne Rice) – not that I’m insinuating that Brooklyn-based DJ/producer duo Lauren Flax and Lauren Dillard are witches! – but their music has been shoe-horned into the ‘witch house’ genre, despite their reluctance to be categorised as either ‘witch house’, ‘haunted house’, ‘drag’ or any other catchily-named genre.
Creep were in my cosy little town for a few days recently, and I imposed on their free time to get Lauren and Lauren to answer a few questions via email about teenage obsessions, future plans and where they get all their best ideas: Continue reading
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Blood Red Shoes Abart, Zürich 29.11.10In the dying moments of 2010, Brighton-based band Blood Red Shoes blasted through Zürich on the tail end of their Fire Like This tour (read my review here).
I took a few moments to chat to singer/drummer Steven Ansell (singer/guitarist extraordinaire Laura-Mary Carter is enjoying some quiet time before the gig) in the tiny back office of the Abart, where Steven patiently endures my inane questions about food (sorry, Steven!) and talks about Dr Jacoby, personal space, and Box of Secrets iced cakes.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
It’s a cliché, that old adage about getting the measure of a man or woman by their handshake, but all the same I can’t help but notice how Steve Hewitt’s massive hands engulf my own in a firm warm handshake when we meet him shortly before Love Amongst Ruin’s Zurich gig in early October (read my review of that gig here).
Sitting in the green room (literally – the walls are a lurid forest green) of the Abart, the atmosphere is one of an exhaustion borne of the previous 3 weeks’ hard touring and travelling. Tins of biscuits and large bottles of Coke sit on the coffee table, as well as (oddly) an open loaf of sliced white bread. Bodies in various states of repose are draped around the room, sleeping, propped up on cushions, yawning, weary chins in hands, before Steve shoos them from the room for a little privacy (except the sofa sleeper – whoever it is stays blissfully asleep with a jacket thrown over their head). Steve himself looks tired but focused, cradling an Abart-brand beer and fielding text messages on his phone.
