It has been an all together star studded week. I mean seriously. I got word from Jack (To My Boy) that they're down to do an interview with moi (which was great seeing as they leaked "Model *Sinden Remix*" here), got a very nice email from my buddy Larry Tee (who I will always regard as a superstar no matter how much he talks to me like a normal person), and got word of a special mysterious bootleg from one of our Arcadian friends (more about that later)...
...And I had my own brush with fame (hey listen buddy it feels like fame more so than sitting behind this fucking desk right now being a telemarketer) when Palms Out Sounds posted a State Crime mash-up that my boy Curt (from Flosstradamus) and I did eons ago. Here that is again if you didn't catch my first link to it lol!
...And other good things happened too. I got a raise (I think) after two years of being ignored or treated like a trash can. AND I got some Chemical Brothers tickets which is just amazing. May I remind you all how much I fucking love (and have loved for many years now) Astralwerks Records who release most of the music worth buying still in America :)
Speaking of Chemical Brothers.... Ladytron is touring with them. And you know what? Mira from Ladytron is working on some songs with our interview of the day GRAEME FROM THE PROJECTS *weee hurrahhhh zingggg sparkler trumpet blaring*
Instead of some boring back info how about we go straight into the interview and then we'll put a nice little track at the bottom for you! Sounds good yeah?
Patch: Although this is just an email interview and I'm not actually speaking to you, hey Graeme how are you today?
Graeme: I'm good despite just having just watched the film 'Cat People' this morning. I mean, Natassja Kinski, Malcolm MacDowell, Bowie singing the songs, you'd imagine you couldn't go wrong. When, in actual fact, it's worthless rubbish. Come to think of it, I don't know if anything good came out of the 1980s. All that hair spray and the primary colours. John Lennon was murdered, everyone wore stone washed jeans and Jason Donovan was a superstar. At the time I realised something was deeply wrong, it's just that, being right in the thick of it, I couldn't work out exactly what. It turned out, with hindsight, that it was everything! Anyway. I'm just fine thanks.
Patch: I see, based on a post from your Myspace earlier, that Mira from Ladytron (one of your listed Myspace influences) is doing some vocals on your album. That's really exciting! Did this come about because of the line up changes in the band, or is it the fruit of some collaboration (and can you explain the line up change a little for the folks)?
Graeme: It's great news, yes!
We have had lots of line up changes, but the biggest is Lisa leaving the band to move to sunny Berlin. This all happened a while back, so it's nice to hear her on our 'Voice Is Glue' record that just came out - Track and Field took an astonishingly long time to release it. Anyway, Mira is to sing on the new record, on a half dozen songs or so, and the rough mixes all sound marvelous. We've been friends for ages and she's always liked the band. Her singing really fits the music. It all fitted! We were playing an Alla Pugacheva song 'Million Crimson Roses' in rehearsal but it sounded pretty awful with me singing. I knew that Mira spoke Russian so I asked one time we met up if she would sing on it. I had imagined that she might be too busy with Ladytron, I mean, their schedule is just crazily busy, but she was up for it, and this and the other songs really make the LP that's being mixed (provisionally titled 'Words Of Love In Code Sent By Number Station' - I'm quite fascinated by the creepy Number Station broadcasts...)
Patch: The first thing that put your name on my radar again recently was the recent Broadcast remix of your track "Accidents Will Happen". That's pretty major as I don't remember seeing loads and loads of Broadcast remixes throughout the years. They are obviously an influence but are they close friends or did you just send them an email and say "hey can you do my track"? Or did the remix come through some other channel?
Graeme: We all really love Broadcast, they make such great records, and so we were thrilled to be invited to support them at the ICA in London. Trish and James liked the show and asked if we'd like to tour with them. It was great fun, especially the infamous M8 motorway brawl in the van, the details of which I shan't divulge to save the face of a certain former member. Yes, it actually involved a real punch thrown (not by or at me, I should add. I only suggested that we drive a tiny bit faster on account of the fact that we were so late for a show in Aberdeen), but that's a different story. James came up with the remix after this tour. Again, this all happened quite a while ago but the time machine that is the Track and Field release schedule makes it all seem like it were only yesterday.
Patch: Speaking of influences, if you could, name a few that aren't on your Myspace... This doesn't have to just be music, it can also be books, art, or movies...
Graeme: I've been watching all of Eric Rohmer's films recently. I hope to God they aren't influencing me though. 'A Summer's Tale' features a singer songwriter writing a song as the film progresses and it's really awful (it is the 1980s after all). For those of you who don't know, Eric Rohmer's a French director who makes realist films that usually involve petty romances. I love or hate his films. I loved 'The Green Ray', but hated 'A summer's Tale', for example. Nope, better to be influenced elsewhere. I suddenly thought of Godard's 'Chinois' now that I'm thinking about French New Wave Cinema. The chairman Mao song in that may be worth plagiarising/being influenced by...
Patch: You guys seem set to have your biggest year to date... if you became massive indie superstars what band would you try to emulate? Would you stick with the modesty of lets say TV On The Radio (who as far as I know seem to be politically active and fairly modest) or would you totally lose it and turn into Razorlight and get celeb girlfriends and motorcycles?
Graeme: A private amusement park would be nice, no? Will the budget stretch to that? If not I think I might just start talking about myself very loudly, as if anyone really cared, in restaurants and bars.
As for motorcycles, I have an MZ ES250/2 and it's fantastic. Everyone should do an image search and change their desktop wallpaper! In fact, everyone should get one.
Patch: Cool cool. Regardless of your last answer I'm glad you're getting motorcycles! Every artist has a song they are really really emotionally connected to more so than their others. What song would you say this is for you guys... and is there a story behind it you'd like to share?
Graeme: Our first single 'Entertainment' makes me feel nostalgic for live shows with the old line up. It was really exciting to play that song live and Lisa's lyrics are just fantastic. The song was written when I tried to play Jacques Dutronc's 'Les Gens Sont Fous, Les Temps Sont Flous' but couldn't quite manage it (shameful, when you think that there's barely three chords in the song).
Patch: Well I don't want to take up much more of your time seeing as you're busy writing some of the best tracks we're bound to hear in 2007-2008. Here's the part where you tell everyone the promotional info like website, release dates, and other important information (like crack is wack and stuff like that)... go on then!
Voice is Glue is out on Track and Field and it's being stocked by Amazon amongst others. MPLS are releasing it on vinyl in the States in October. Our previous LP 'Let's Get Static' is still to be found here and there.
The Projects Myspace
Patch: Thank you very much to Graeme we look forward to hearing your new material soon!
And there you have it... I put up one of the couple songs for download over at The Projects Myspace, the aforementioned "Entertainment" song I promised (from their first single and also a track from the 'Let's Get Static' LP) , and another one called "New Fun" (taken from their current 'Voice Is Glue' mini LP... which you should go buy right now...)
The Projects- "Entertainment"
The Projects- "New Fun"
The Projects- "Heard You Whisper"
For those of you who read to the bottom I have some news that will make you neon kids freak with delight... Two big dancefloor names and the greatest bootleg of the summer are on the other side of this link. The party is certainly not over yet my friends... What does SC vs LOTP mean to you?
Word on the street is strictly 500 12's which will be going out to UK, Japan and possibly Canadian outlets on Sept 17th. Shhhhhh... don't tell too many people... you won't get one for yourself :)
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