From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org (seven-seas-digest) To: seven-seas-digest@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas-digest V2 #326 Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk seven-seas-digest Wednesday, May 28 2003 Volume 02 : Number 326 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 08:59:36 -0600 From: "K. F. Smith" Subject: seven-seas Chicago Reader http://www.chireader.com/music/spotcheck.html Back in the 80s Ian McCulloch made a big deal out of his dark, bookish influences--the Doors, the Velvets, stuff like that--but the chiming grandeur of Echo & the Bunnymen's cathedral pop obviously owed a lot to the Beatles as well. He plays up that poppier side on his new solo album, Slideling (Cooking Vinyl/SpinArt)--a wise move, considering the travesty his contemporary Ian Astbury has committed with that 21st Century Doors crap. Less arch and ambitious than the music McCulloch has made with the Bunnymen (who are on hiatus), the album is personable and almost excessively accessible. Longtime fans Chris Martin and Johnny Buckland of Coldplay contribute to two tracks. ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 09:49:28 -0600 From: "K. F. Smith" Subject: seven-seas crashinin.com interview http://www.crashinin.com/indie.html With the huge resurgence of post-punk music it is only fitting to mention Echo and The Bunnymen. They have been one of the forefathers of this sound. Now Ian McCulloch, the essence of cool, is back with a new solo album. We are pleased to get the chance to engage in a few words about what makes up the inner thoughts on his new work. *"Slideling" How did you come up with this title and what is the meaning behind it? My friend and manager Peasy spelt "Sliding" wrong early on in the album recording and everybody thought it would make agreat albun title. Cenzo, who co-produced the album with me, said that i am a "slideling". I know what he means. *You have stated that Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, and David Bowie are some of your influences. On this new album do you see your music being influenced by some of their previous or even more recent work? Yes, i think "Slideling" has been heavily influenced by Hunky Dory, Transformer, Velvets 3rd album, and various Leonard Cohen albums. I hope it shows. *If not, did you have any influences on this record? As above and also myself more than anything, my rhythm guitar has really only ever been influenced by Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground. *What have been some of your favorite records in the past couple of years? Parachutes & Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay Cobblestone Runway - Ron Sexsmith LowEdges - Richard Hawley *Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland of Coldplay worked with you on this new record. How did that conglomeration come about? Purely through friendship. Chris has often said how much of an inspiration me and the Bunnymen have been on them, which is great. *Can you tell us some about your experience working with two of England's new popular stars? It was brilliant - they spent their oneday off in November recording their parts on my album. We had a great vibe in the studio. *Where did the inspiration to write this new solo album come from? Some from childhood, some from adulthood. The swings and roundabouts of life. *You have become famous in The Bunnymen for using a lot of imagery. In this new album you mention looking to the stars often. For example, on the song "Kansas" you said, "it's written in the stars". Do you still believe in that same sense of mysticism within life? If not can you explain your fascination with the stars above? I know i do use stars, moons, oceans, rain etc. alot but to me these are the constants in our lives and to me the likeliest evidence of a "higher Power" or reason to our existence. Mere accidents seldon produce such beauty. *Your previous lyrics are often on the darker side of life, but on the song "Baby Hold On" you portray a sense of hope to your lover. What has brought this change? Realising that i need to smile my smiles for me and not cry tears for other people. Also, in the past i think i was the person needing to be caught or "Rescued" which was becoming very selfish. *From "Crocodiles" to more recently "Evergreen" your album covers has always reflected some inner message/inspiration. If any, what was the inspiration for the cover of "Slideling"? It's a shot of a playground in Liverpool - the cradle of my life. *I remember seeing Echo and The Bunnymen for the first time in 1988. During "Do It Clean" you kicked you leg up into the air and every girl in the audience screamed. That single event sparked something in me that made me want to be involved with music in some way. Was there any one particular event like this that got you inspired to start making music? Seeing David Bowie perform "Starman " on Top Of The Pops around the May of 1972. *Echo and The Bunnymen is a huge influence to a ton of young NYC/Brooklyn bands. I continually hear it in their music and see it in their swagger. The impact has been so large that it is as if these bands wear Bunnymen patches on their sleeves. How does it feel to be such a major influence for new inspiring artists? It means more than owning houses or yachts around the world that would probably lie empty & unused. It's passing the baton in the Rock and Roll relay. *Can you give some advice to some of our new NYC/Brooklyn bands that are just getting started? Tell it like it is and walk it like you talk it. Make sure you believe what you're singing (But don't overdo it) and make sure it's got a great tune. Lio ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 11:48:44 -0500 (CDT) From: Amy Moseley Rupp Subject: Re: seven-seas mac article (for chris) > Interesting article. Every time I want him to elaborate on something, he > goes off on some other tangent though. What I want to know is, what is the > story with the breakfast food backstage? How odd. What I find interesting is that _Never Stop_ seems to implicate that Mac had a rather *middle* class upbringing -- and I need to explain that one a little bit -- what we in the US would call middle class. Some one needs to correct me if I'm wrong, but normally in the UK you wouldn't get that kind of upbringing and general level of education *unless* you were not strictly of working-class parents. So I find it a bit odd that a) he says his family enjoyed the standard of living they did despite his dad's compulsive gambling and because his dad was good at avoiding the bill collectors and that b) Pete was a bit "posh." In terms of snobbery about food/drink/clothes/ hair, Mac could be a bit of a snob as well. Did he mean Pete was more a conformist to the "posh" standards? In the 80s in the US, this would mean wearing Izod shirts ;-) and Sperry topsiders and button-down pastel Oxfords. I think that Mac just thought frying up egg buttys after a show wasn't *cool*. I don't know that eating *any* kind of a solid meal would have struck him as *cool*. Remember, we're talking Mac at what, 28 at most? Coked out and at the top of his game and fame and fortune? He's never particularly struck me as an Everyman save for footie. In fact, I think that that's the only thing that draws him *out* of listening to the voices in his head -- and the fact that there are several of them is what takes him off on all those tangents. He seems to live in a world unto himself. He's a very, very intelligent individual and yet lacks a particular focus or drive, which he explains as being a bit of a dreamer. I think if he *did* have a yen to go in ONE direction a la Bill Gates, he'd be a lot more boring a person. I'm bound to catch a considerable amount of stick for psychoanalysing Our Hero, who some prefer to be enigmatic, and I am also willing to eat a lot of humble pie served by those who obviously know him better than I. - --Amy ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ End of seven-seas-digest V2 #326 ********************************