From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org (seven-seas-digest) To: seven-seas-digest@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas-digest V5 #211 Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk seven-seas-digest Monday, August 14 2006 Volume 05 : Number 211 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 13:45:21 -0500 From: Theodore Turner Subject: Re: seven-seas Xmas Show I'll get you in Philly, will have to do some my motorboat tho. TT On 8/13/06 8:32 PM, "Red" wrote: > At 07:56 PM 8/13/06, you wrote: > >> Cool...i'm driving over as well > > > LOL Can I hitch a ride? I'll chip in for gas!! ;-) > > Red > > > > ===================================================================== > Bunnymen Online Presence: > http://www.bunnymenlist.com * http://www.bunnymen.info > http://www.bunnymen.com * http://www.fotolog.net/sgtfuzz/ > http://bunnymen.nexuswebs.net/ * http://www.angelfire.com/wy2/discog/ > * > > ====================================================================== ===================================================================== Bunnymen Online Presence: http://www.bunnymenlist.com * http://www.bunnymen.info http://www.bunnymen.com * http://www.fotolog.net/sgtfuzz/ http://bunnymen.nexuswebs.net/ * http://www.angelfire.com/wy2/discog/ * ====================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:06:01 +1200 From: "Kristin Smith" Subject: seven-seas belfasttelegraph.co.uk -- 1 of 2 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/special_interest/story.jsp?story =702077 Still hopping away in the land of good music Echo & The Bunnymen 11 August 2006 Guitarist Will Sergeant, one of Echo & The Bunnymen's founding members, says the band are still enjoying playing gigs and he is looking forward to entertaining their fans when they play West Belfast Festival tomorrow night, their first visit to the province in 17 years. By Edwin McFee When Echo & The Bunnymen first formed in Liverpool nearly 30 years ago, it was an odd time for British music. Margaret Thatcher was about to enter Downing Street, Marc Bolan had died and Ziggy stopped playing guitar. Eveybody was saying the party was over. The punks had been and gone, a year later Sid Vicious went to that great mosh-pit in the sky, and doom-merchants were predicting the end of pop culture as we knew it. In a way they were right. The music that bands like the Bunnymen, the Smiths, the Banshees and the Cure were about to unleash was as far removed from the punk and glam scenes as you could imagine. Some people called it goth, some called it alternative, some called it indie - but most just loved it for what it was: good music. In time, the grief for punk gave way to enjoying this new phase of counter-culture. Nowadays, the Bunnymen are one of the great survivors of the 1980s. Founding members Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant are still touring the globe and while they may not use as much hair-spray as they used to, it's reassuring to know that they're still as p*ssed off as ever. "I never had a 10-year plan or any of that rubbish," spits Will Sergeant. "There's no way I thought we'd still be putting out records 30 years later. "We were just happy putting out one! I remember leaving my old job in Liverpool and everyone I worked with thought I was mad. The factory closed down a few weeks later so I would've been on the street anyway, so that was a bit of luck on my part I guess." So what is it that drives the Bunnymen to continue putting out records in an ever-changing music scene? "I think the reason that we're still around nowadays is just a stubbornness on our part and a belief that we're still the greatest band in the world. I know a lot of bands say that, but if you don't actually believe you're the best there is, then you should just call it a day now. Nobody wants to be second best." The Bunnymen are perhaps one of the last great underground bands. While contemporaries like Morrissey and Siouxsie enjoyed all the chart success, the Bunnymen were always a little bit wary of the mainstream. The band's most famous single, The Killing Moon, might have only reached No 9 in the charts, but that didn't seem to bother their army of fans. "I really was the definition of an angry young man back in those days," recalls Will. "I was suspicious of the media and the so-called music business. When I think back on it all, I realise I really gave some people a hard time for no reason at all. When we first started going over to America I hated it. It didn't agree with me at all but now I wished I had given it more time. I was really horrible to people around me - journalists, roadies, whoever. It's only now I can see the bigger picture and that they were only doing their job." With people like Liam Gallagher singing the Bunnymen's praises in the Press and the band now being treated as some sort of national treasure, how does Will think he fits into today's music world? "We don't," he says matter of factly. "We never fitted in anywhere. I'm not going to kid myself and think that we're the biggest band in the world because we're not. Me and Mac just write good songs and play them to whoever wants to listen. It's what we've always done." ===================================================================== Bunnymen Online Presence: http://www.bunnymenlist.com * http://www.bunnymen.info http://www.bunnymen.com * http://www.fotolog.net/sgtfuzz/ http://bunnymen.nexuswebs.net/ * http://www.angelfire.com/wy2/discog/ * ====================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:11:30 +1200 From: "Kristin Smith" Subject: seven-seas belfasttelegraph.co.uk -- 2 of 2 2 of 2 So if the Bunnymen don't fit into today's current climate, how does he feel about bands right now? "A lot of older bands always say they're into Hard-Fi or whoever because their manager told them to. We're not like that - I'm not 18 anymore. I'm not going to stand in a muddy field and watch the Strokes just to boost sales. I've had my time and now it's yours. In the Bunnymen we know who we are. We're still an underground band and we're not going to pretend to be something we're not just to sell more records. "I'll tell you what I do love right now though," he continues. "I saw the Sex Pistols' movie the Filth and the Fury for the first time last week. It's amazing. It brought me right back to my youth in Liverpool. All the strikes and the riots, getting beaten up because you were a punk - great days! Nowadays people try and revisit punk or new-wave or whatever but it's never the same. People need to find their own scene." With the Bunnymen visiting Belfast for the first time in 17 years this week, it begs the question - what took you so long coming back? Was it something we said? "I was surprised as anyone to find out we hadn't played in Belfast for so long," he laughs. "It's that typical cliche in bands: we go where we're told to. Sometimes I think our agent throws darts at a map and that's where we end up!" So after all these years, does Will still enjoy living out of a suitcase and spending all his time in hotel rooms and on a bus? "Touring is a bit of a pain to be honest," he confesses. "I hate going through the airports and always getting stopped by security and having to take my shoes off and stuff. I prefer being on a bus. It's less hassle. The older I get, the more fed up I get with it all, but it's worth it if it's a good gig. We played a gig in Toulouse recently and it was brilliant. It was in this village hall and beside it were thousands of frogs all croaking along to our songs. It was the maddest thing I've ever seen!" While Will might not enjoy the travelling too much, he certainly enjoys the recording process. Last year they released their ninth album, Siberia, and they've another record in the works too. It's not bad going for a band who were only planning on releasing one album and then calling it quits. "I can see a time where me and Mac pack it all in, but life is good right now and the old creative juices are flowing so why stop now?" ===================================================================== Bunnymen Online Presence: http://www.bunnymenlist.com * http://www.bunnymen.info http://www.bunnymen.com * http://www.fotolog.net/sgtfuzz/ http://bunnymen.nexuswebs.net/ * http://www.angelfire.com/wy2/discog/ * ====================================================================== ------------------------------ End of seven-seas-digest V5 #211 ********************************