STEPHIN MERRITT’S MAGNETIC FIELDS, 6THS, AND FUTURE BIBLE HEROES

Interviews,

FOREWORD: Reserved singer-songwriter, Stephin Merritt, may indeed be as reclusive and shy as the press indicates. Suffering from an ear disease that prohibits loud music and now living in Los Angeles (after a long spell in the Big Apple), Merritt puts his despair-riddled life experiences into depressive canticles and facetious missives. First time I met him in person, the Magnetic Fields were playing Maxwells and Merritt had his tiny chihuahua named Irving in his pocket prior to their retro-fit neo-Classically vaudevillian art pop confections. This was two years before ‘99s highly respected triple-album, 69 Love Songs, put Magnetic Fields at the top of Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop poll.

Merritt, an oft-times sad gay man, expresses his inner most feelings with satirical aplomb and snickering asides. When I caught up with the nostalgically inclined post-modern bass-baritone icon, October 2000, he was promoting his ancillary band, the 6ths, whose Hyacinths And Thistles arguably bettered fine ’96 debut, Wasp’s Nest. He has since released three fair solo albums, two more fine Magnetic Fields projects (‘04s i and ‘08s Distortion), and a few tertiary albums as goth-bubblegum rogues, the Gothic Archies. This article originally appeared in Aquarian Weekly.

 

Soft-spoken musical mastermind, Stephin Merritt, is undoubtedly one of the most prolific and engaging songwriters on the current pop scene. Along with co-conspirators Claudia Gonson (drums-piano-management), John Woo (guitar-banjo), and Sam Davol (cello-flute), he heads Magnetic Fields, a fascinating Lower East Side combo that recorded much fine material over the past decade, culminating with 1999’s sprawling, critically acclaimed 69 Love Songs.

Recorded before that monumental masterpiece, but only recently released, the 6ths lispy-titled Hyacinths And Thistles involves a revolving cast of stylistically diverse singers assembled by Gonson to perform Merritt compositions. On the 6ths versatile ’95 debut, Wasp’s Nest, underground luminaries such as Sebadoh’s lou Barlow, Heavenly’s Amelia Fletcher, Helium’s Mary Timony, Unrest’s Mark Robinson, and Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley were brought onboard.

On many of Hyacinths And Thistles confessional love trinkets and innocent romantic paeans, a varied cluster of female vocalists take hold. Sally Timms of the Mekons wraps her velvety contralto around the percussive techno-pop of “Give Me Back My Dreams.” Dippy aged-in-the-wool hippie Melanie resurfaces on the chiming, desolate “I’ve Got New York,” dripping honeyed lyrics atop Margaret Leng-Tan’s classically inspired toy piano.

Sarah Cracknell of St. Etienne, croons softly through the echo-fied “Kissing Things.” Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori coos sweetly on the “Guantanemera” knockoff, “Lindy Lou.” Ex-Altered Images vocalist Clare Grogan provides delicate restraint to “Night Falls Like A Grand Piano.” Folk renegade Odetta sings operatically on the accordion-laced “Waltzing Me All The Way Home.” And Squirrel Nut Zippers’ Katharine Whalen purrs her way through the elegant acoustic lullaby, “You You You You You.”

Though Merritt denied the charges (“you think they sound like I do?”), two well-respected indie rock legends sing in deep baritones not dissimilar to his own. First, ex-Husker Du post-punk maven, Bob Mould, does a severe turnabout, fervently crooning above the longing piano ballad, “He Didn’t.” Then Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon takes on the snippy cabaret ditty, “The Dead Only Quickly Decay.” New wave holdover Gary Numan goes intergalactic on bouncy synth-charged “The Sailor In Love With The Sea” while another link to that androgynous post-punk era, Mark Almond (ex-Soft Cell), caterwauls across the tropical Tahitian warmth of the exotic “Volcana!” Experimental instrumentalist Brian Dewan lends delicate zither to the Momus-sung “As You Turn To Go.”

But wait, there’s more! In partnership with synth-pop composer, Christopher Ewen, (founder of ‘80s new wavers Figures On The Beach), Merritt and Gonson also have a dun-loving side project, Future Bible Heroes. Following the full length Memories Of Love, they reconvened for the recent five-song dance floor percolator, I’m Lonely (And I Love It), a title that hopefully reflects Merritt’s current state as a not-so-misanthropic loner.

The following is my conversation with Merritt.

You’ve been casually lumped in with lo-fi or indie rock artists, but I wouldn’t classify your music as either.

STEPHIN: it’s common to get locked in with things that don’t fit you very well. I think it’s because most musicians could be labeled easily. People who can’t are subjected to the habits of critics who find it easy to label people. The record industry is split intopeople who buy records the week they come out and people who don’t. The people who don’t in the end, actually buy more. The best selling record in the US is the Eagles Greatest Hits and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Both are catalogue albums that are not necessarily teen driven. Th Eagles, in particular, are self-conscious adult rock.

Do you think today’s teenybopper trends compare favorably to the Teen Beat generation of the ‘60s and ‘70s?

STEPHIN: The Kasenetz-Katz groups were as phony as they could be. (Editors note: Kasenetz-Katz were responsible for ‘68/’69 top sellers such as “Quick Joey Small,” the Ohio Express’ “Chewy Chewy” and “Yummy Yummy Yummy,” and 1910 Fruitgum Co.’s “1 2 3 Red Light” and “Simon Says”) But the Backstreet Boys sing, which wasn’t true of the Kasenetz-Katz groups. So actually they’re less synthetic than the Monkees or the Ohio Express – who had no members.

But the new teenyboppers seem to sacrifice innocence and naïve sexuality for wimpy pre-chewed neo-orchestrations.

STEPHIN: I wouldn’t want to generalize, but the albums by the Kasenetz-Katz groups were putrid. The singles we remember kindly. There were about fifteen great ones. You may find fifteen great ones in the last five years. Video changed a lot. Milli Vanilli didn’t sing their own songs. That probably changed the industry too. Now you can’t be Kasenetz-Katz anymore.

Do you think modern teen pop will stand the test of time?

STEPHIN: I think song-wise, this is a pretty wretched period, but recording-wise, it’s quite wonderful. There’s a huge variety of productions. I really like the new Madonna record, Music. As a song, it’s terrible. As a record, it’s really fantastic. That’s the first thing in ten years that she has done that I like – since “Vogue.”

You’ve been compared to the greatest songwriters of the 20th century such as Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, and Irving Berlin.

STEPHIN: I take comparisons with a grain of salt. I don’t have a lot in common with Guided By Voices or Cole Porter.

How does New York City inspire you?

STEPHIN: There’s three airports, so it’s easy to get out of the country quick. There’s easy access to all kinds of culture. There’s a wide variety of gay bars, which is helpful to my work. It’s open all night, which is indispensable to me and my work. It’s easy to get around.

On Hyacinths And Thistles, you show a great affinity for choosing interesting female singers from wide ranging musical backgrounds.

STEPHIN: I write songs I think are for a particular singer and have Claudia track them down to try to sing them.

How does the new Future Bible Heroes EP compare to the first LP? The EP seems inspired by ‘80s new wave.

STEPHIN: It’s more of the same. We wanted to put out everything we’d done in that style before going onto a new album with a different theme.

GREG DULLI’S TWILIGHT SINGERS GET WHIGGED OUT

Interviews, ,

FOREWORD: Capable Cincinnati singer-guitarist, Greg Dulli, slowly gained prominence, first as the leader of the Afghan Whigs, then under the pseudonymous Twilight Singers banner, and finally, as wily collaborator in the Gutter Twins. Getting back to the Whigs – I’m still curious to find their formative ’88 debut, Big Top Halloween (pictured below). ’00s Up In It and ’02s Congregation easily sufficed. And ‘93s Gentlemen, released in the heat of grunge’s populist surge, found a wider international audience due to its snippy title track. ‘96s Black Love found Dulli displaying a seedier soul side with no loss in musical quality. ‘98s well-received 1965 hearkened back to the British Invasion with genuine nostalgic enthusiasm.

 

Image result for HILLTOP HALLOWEEN AFGHAN WHIGS

Before the Whigs disbanded, Dulli moonlighted as the Twilight Singers.

Under this moniker, he kept quite active, recording ‘03s superb Blackberry Belle, ‘04s covers LP, She Loves You, and ‘06s consistently pleasurable Powder Burns. On top of that, he has been involved in one fantastic collaboration with former Screaming Trees front man, Mark Lanegan, releasing ‘08s remarkably cohesive Saturnalia.

I caught up with the good-natured Dulli at Bowery Ballroom in 2000, when he was touring as the Twilight Singers for magical debut, Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers. He was only too glad to cook up some herb at the club’s basement level as High Times’ cameraman took pix. I had fun joining him. He had a cool, calm demeanor and was seemingly game for anything. This article originally appeared in High Times.

 

“I’ve always liked High Times,” claims Afghan Whigs/ Twilight Singers frontman, Greg Dulli. “They’re a big fuck-you to the establishment.”

A native of Cincinnati and now a resident of Los Angeles, Dulli grew up listening to his parents’ Motown, Stax, and Philadelphia soul records.

“When I was a kid, I sold marijuana,” he reveals, “but didn’t smoke it. Don’t get high on your own supply. I bought a car with the money.”

While majoring in history and film at the University of Cincinnati, Dulli decided to play drums in a few local bands. So at the height of the grunge explosion, he assembled the Afghan Whigs, a highly respected underground band that skirted typical indie rock fare for a more soulful, lyrically expressive style.

Seattle-based Sup Pop Records released three Whigs albums before the band moved to a major label.

“When we were signed to Sup Pop around 1990, we knew we were never going to be Mudhoney or Nirvana,” Dulli recalls. “We weren’t from Seattle. We were from Cincinnati, where a lot of funk bands started. Bootsy Collins came from there. And the Ohio Players, Zapp, and Lakeside are from just up the road.”

During the recording of the Afghan Whigs celebratory 1965 album in ’98, Dulli also wrote what he describes as “a down-tempo mood piece to rock yourself to sleep to.” At the same time, he was temporarily living in New Orleans’ French Quarter with only a bicycle for transportation. The result, Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers, is a lovelorn, despair-ridden record enhanced by the electronica/ acid Jazz-remix duo Fila Brazilia. Two of Dulli’s long time friends, Shawn Smith of Pigeonhead and Harold Chichester of Howlin’ Maggie, provide background harmonies throughout.

A warm, hypnotic aphrodisiac, Twilight compares favorably to Van Morrison’s symphonic epic, Astral Weeks, and Roxy Music’s lush Avalon. Though most of Twilight’s moody reflections depict the loneliness and sorrow Dulli felt after a courtship painfully concluded, the softly flowing acoustic ballad, “Clyde,” finds him seeking bohemian solace as he coos ‘baby doll, why you leavin’?/ come upstairs and get high with me/ the time is nigh for us to fly.’

“Twilight is my version of New Orleans,” Dulli observes. “I’d already used a big brass section, boogie woogie piano and steel drums on 1965. Twilight’s more inspired by the ancient atmosphere of literary New Orleans rather than its musical one.”

Though the Crescent City may be the birthplace of marijuana-smoking in America, it’s still a long way from Amsterdam.

Dulli declares, “To me, it’s a fucking joke that you can’t smoke pot freely in America. Look no further than Holland. They have one of the lowest crime rates in the world and prostitution is legal. They’re legally allowed to grow marijuana. And it’s a harmonious society.”

As he continues to puff on a joint, he continues. “The tobacco and alcohol industries lobby against it. They don’t want anyone impeding their turf. I’ve never seen any one get into a fight who was stoned. But you see a lot of drunk people start fights. I’ve gotten to the point where I’d rather smoke a joint than drink a beer.”

Dulli usually refrains from getting stoned during the day.

“I want to make sure I have a productive day,” he says. “If I have to meet people for business, I don’t want to get too stoned. I don’t want to get distracted and concentrate on something else. The sun has to be down.”

However, he does make a few concessions.

“If I have a day off, I’ll wake and bake, especially if I’m on the beach,” Dulli admits. “I play in a six-foot-and-under basketball league. We all smoke a joint before we play. I’m an outside shooter. We went eight and two last year.”

BEAUTIFUL SOUTH RISE AGAIN… THAT IS, OVERSEAS

Interviews

FOREWORD: It’s a shame the Beautiful South never made it in the US. Perhaps their singers’ British accent was too strong for mainstream American tastes. But singer Paul Heaton (ex-Housemartins) and guitarist David Rotheray formed a truly melodic partnership that rewarded true pop fans of all stripes. When they came to Manhattan to promote ’97s Blue is The Colour, I got to share many drinks with them at their hotel bar and then joined them at WABC’s East Side studio and watched them perform a short in-studio acoustic set and answer intermittient questions. Heaton’s satirical comments were precious. When asked about his sense of humor, he jokingly quipped, “I have no humor.” What was really exciting was getting to see the old soundboards and turntables used at the old 77 WABC – once the biggest pop station in New York City (lasting at the top from ’69 to ’78). Christ, I used to listen to those top 15 countdowns on Tuesday’s from ’71 to ’75, so those turntables really meant something to an avid music listener such as myself. Anyway, Beautiful South never had a US hit, but continued to roll along as superstars across the pond. ‘98s Quench and ‘06s Superbi I’m not the least bit familiar with. However, ‘00s Painting It Red was up to snuff and ‘03s Gaze wasn’t bad. This article originally appeared in HITS magazine.

 

Formerly a pub band from Hull, England, the Beautiful South write cynical folk-rooted songs that balance refined soulfulness with stoic neo-Classical arrangements. Singer Paul Heaton, formerly of the Housemartins (best known for the quirky liquor-ish anthem “Happy Hour”), and guitarist David Rotheray melt delicate imagery on top of soft, introspective compositions for their latest compelling work, Blues Is The Colour.

Although the Beautiful South gained superstar status in England with excellent singles compilation, Carry On Up The Charts, stateside attention has thus far been difficult to attain. Recorded in Holland, Blue Is The Colour features their 17th British pop hit, the pristine “Don’t Marry Her.” A seductive come-on sung by newest member, Jacqueline Abbott, it tests the boundaries of radio as she gently caresses the concubine sentiment, ‘Don’t marry her, fuck me.’

If Heaton and Rotheray’s wry humor was sometimes too British too comprehend, I was at least able to make it through the twisted colloquialisms. So it’s time to go to Hull and back with the Beautiful South.

Give me some background about your hometown of Hull.

DAVID: The best thing about Hull is it’s a backwater town that doesn’t pretend to be anything more. It’s a one-horse town and the horse has only three legs.

How do you explain the massive success of Carry On Up The Charts in Britain?

DAVID: There’s an electoral system in the Republic of Ireland that allows you to convert your party affiliation through a single transferable vote. That’s the same thing that happened to the Beautiful South. We always finished second to all these vogue-ish bands. Then, from the momentum of all our previous records, we finished first with the compilation. Instead of getting this silver medal again.

Do you think it’s difficult for the Beautiful South to get American airplay because the music cannot be easily pigeonholed?

DAVID: Possibly. It’s political. And non-exposure may be due to the white rascists who praise the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s pop bands without altering the culture. But it’s not the fault of the listeners.

The elegant, delicately imbued first single, “Don’t Marry Him (Fuck Me)’” seems a bit extreme lyrically. Are you hoping that conservative American radio gods won’t be able to understand Jacqueline Abbott’s thick Brit-accented lyrics?

DAVID: It’s not a very acceptable word for a song, is it? Oh wait, I was thinking about our next single, “Big Daft Cunt.” (laughs) The danger in arranged marriages is you could fancy someone else and be stuck with this bitch forever. What Jacqueline is saying in the song is, ‘before you get into a life that sucks, fella, have a good time and party a little.

How does Blues Is The Colour differ from previous albums?

DAVID: It’s a bit bluesier. You can hear the vocals and guitar more. Instrumentally, we went into the studio and tried to make sounds we never did before.

Paul, how does your previous band, the Housemartins, compare to Beautiful South?

PAUL: To me, the Housemartins were always under pressure to complete an album. But with the Beautiful South, we had time to spend in the studio. Both bands are completely different entities with completely different sounds. I can’t remember what inspired me to write the Housemartins tunes the way I did. But I’d always say music was something that came naturally to me. I was comfortable with what I was recording and didn’t let someone else pull the strings to our production. You just stick to what you know and not try to be so conservative. Soundwise, my music may be conservative, but not lyrically.

You look more like the typical English bloke who’d hang out at the pub guzzling whiskey rather than a sensitive lyricist.

PAUL: Don’t you think that’s a typical American attitude of what a guy should look like? I mean, all a poet like Bob Dylan needed was a pen. Dylan means a lot to me. Fortunately, he had a great talent to write and that’s what he got judged on. It didn’t matter what he looked like. The people who rebel against the rural agricultural lifestyle take on the establishment and set the pace for those who come afterwards.

Why did you decide to record the new album in Holland?

PAUL: We did most of the writing in Holland, too. We went to different smaller towns to write songs. We woke up fresh in the morning with no hassles from the night before. It was very comforting. But the lyrics are so down and moody. It wasn’t like there were 600 girls waiting for us to finish up.

What artists do you think are taking risks making innovative music nowadays?

PAUL: I think some of the new English dance music is brave. Much braver than us. They take risks in the studio. They’re middle class kids who realize this is their chance. That’s why white working class music in Britain is much more conservative compared to these black American artists. The working class black people take risks and show their soul. When you look at the Country/ Western market, it’s so conservative. But the black market is so hip to taking further steps. That’s why rap’s short history is so amazing. Outside of ‘60s artists like Joe Tex and Taj Mahal, few people ever rapped to their music before rap came along. It has taken so many more steps. America is brought up on the music of the ghetto communities. We don’t have that in Britain.

Should Britain get rid of the royal family?

PAUL: Absolutely. To have a king and a queen in Britain is like having a fuhrer run Germany. What have they ever done except hang people, cut their heads off and invade half the world? But they act real quaint now. We should get rid of them. Why would somebody decent like Princess Diana marry into that family? You’re not given a chance to speak out.

LAUGHING DOG DOGZILLA BLACK I.P.A.

Beers A-Z

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