Στις 25 του μηνός, οι iLikeTrains στο Gagarin. Το έχουμε πει αρκετές φορές, ίσως όμως να πρέπει να επιμένουμε, όταν βλέπουμε ότι ο κόσμος πάει μόνο στα απομεινάρια των Ramones και τους Puressence. Δυστυχώς, εν τη απουσία ραδιοφώνου, η πρόσληψη της ροκ μουσικής έχει γίνει ελαττωματική για τη νέα γενιά. Ακολουθεί συνέντευξη της μπάντας.
“Elegies To Lessons Learnt” is a beautiful title for an album. What are the lessons you learned while making the album?
room with not much heating in the middle of winter.
Your lyrics point the audience to history. Also, in your website, you have obituaries for 4 of your songs “heroes”. What is your goal ?
of which have been largely forgotten these days, and maybe to learn from the mistakes other people have made in the past, whether through accident or arrogance. We are not expecting to change the world through our songs, but if we can make some people think, and do some little thing to help, then we have done what we can. There are obituaries written for all of the historical characters from the album which will probably be made available at some point soon in some way or other, which will help to understand the stories in greater depth, and maybe inspire people to investigate further.
Your heroes are people with not-ordinary stories, not to mention sad stories. Why?
and dramatic, so we wanted stories that fitted in with this style, so we are more interested in these people with amazing histories. And we have always been more interested in those that end in failure or disaster – I think it might be a bit of an English obsession, to find something good in the worst of situations, and we have become quite attached to a lot of the characters from the songs.
Greece has a vast history, as you may know. Do you have any unreleased songs about any Greek guy, then?
Not yet, sorry. Our starting point has been history that we have some knowledge of, which means that a lot of the songs are based in English history, as that is what we learnt at school. But we are spreading our net further. There are a couple of songs about Americans, a Frenchman, and one about a German, so we are open to suggestions. Has anyone made a concept album based on The Odyssey yet?
Some of your songs seem to consist of 2 songs, e.x.Spencer Percival, Curtains Close. What purpose does this fullfil?
When we write a song, because of the research we put into writing the lyrics, we will often uncover a few connected stories that are also fascinating in some way. So when we record singles, we like to use the B-sides to expand the tale of the A-side. So with Spencer Perceval, we had one side written from the killer's point of view, and one from Perceval's. Then with our last single, The Deception, about Donald Crowhurst, a yachtsman who cheated in the Golden Globe round-the-world race in 1969, we wrote two B-sides which are inspired by two of the other competitors in the same race. It is a way of making the singles complete works in themselves, rather than just throwing on some second-rate offcuts from the album.
You are going out of your way to get the feeling that you want for your songs: like, I read that you recorded in churches and cellars. Tell me sth about that.
We have tried recording in traditional studios in the past, but we just found that we couldn't get the right feel from that. The natural sound you get from somewhere like the old church that we have used a lot automatically gives the music a special atmosphere, without having to put on lots of effects. The B-sides for our last singles have been recorded in an old cotton mill near Manchester , which is another nice space. Because it is not set up as a proper studio, if you listen very carefully you can hear running water from the stream and a bird singing which was nesting somewhere in the roof. I quite like this, it makes it sound very natural.
Your sound is vast, filling the room and this seems to be important for you. Are you thinking of doing sth really big, like sth with a classical orchestra?
That is definitely something we would be very interested in doing in the future. Not quite yet, maybe, but after another album or two. We are always looking for something different to do.
believe Arab Strap are the closest. Do you agree?
We get compared to a lot of different bands with a lot of different styles, like Sigur Ros, Joy Division, Tindersticks, The Smiths, The Divine Comedy, Bauhaus....... I like that this doesn't pin us down to any one thing in particular, as it suggests that we are doing something a bit different. I have heard the Arab Strap comparison a couple of times. To be honest, I have not listened to much of them, but I like what I have heard. I can see similarities between them and us, but at the same time we are very far apart. Maybe we are like a sober Arab Strap?
thinking of going in another musical way for your next album?
Yes. Maybe. Possibly. We don't really know quite yet which way to go. We are playing about with a few options at the moment, but haven't made any decisions, although we definitely want to progress it somehow from Elegies, we don't want to just repeat what we have done already. When we get back from Greece we are going to be getting down to work on the next recordings, so it will all unfold from there.
You have released your work through Fierce Panda and Beggars. How different is the approach between a small label and the great indie Beggars?
Fierce Panda is great for breaking through new bands,as you can see by its history, but they simply don't have the resources to help you in all the ways that a bigger label can. Beggars has a great team which covers a lot more, and they also have offices around the world, so they can coordinate their work in Europe and America and elsewhere. And they are also able to give us some money, so we can have time to record an album without having to worry about a day job at the same time.
Your sound fits perfectly with the great Beggars legacy of great bands. How do you feel being a part of Beggars?
letting us make the music that we want to make, and they are always very enthusiastic about our output. And as you say, there have been so many amazing bands that have released records on Beggars, that it is great to be able to be a part of that tradition.
You have given lectures in universities and also, they talked about you in the House of Commons! Now that it sth different from making music! How do you feel to see your music becoming more than songs, but a subject for talk outside “music”?
It's like I answered in one of the earlier questions, we don't expect to change the world, but we want to make people think, and this seems to be what has happened here. It's strange, because we never set out to be in any way political, but it turns out that when you write about historical figures, it is pretty much impossible to avoid it.
Your shows are more than just the music: you dress in a particular way, you have visuals, etc. What should we expect for the greek show?
We will be dressed to mourn the deaths of the characters who have appeared on the album, and will be showing films to illustrate their stories behind us as we play, so it will be both entertaining and educational. There will be a short test afterwards to make sure you have all been paying attention. Actually there won't, but that's not such a bad idea. We have just had a month or so off for Christmas since the end of our last tour, so we should be fresh and ready to put on a show.
Name your favourite albums of 2007.
The National – Boxer
Blonde Redhead – 23
Grinderman – Grinderman
Interpol – Our Love To Admire
You're from Leeds . Leeds United is kind of a favourite club for us and since they are having a great year and are going straight to the Premier League, maybe you can give me some inside info for the following months, so we can make some money out of music too!!
I afraid we are not Leeds United supporters, so I can't help you (but yes, they are doing very well this season). Our soundman is a fan, so you can ask him for tips when we are over there, but not while we are playing please, he will be working.
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