#mojo magazine may 2005

[anywayxstarchild]

— mojo magazine full interview, oasis, may 2005:

+highlights:

liam gallagher: it's biblical innit, cain and abel... it's me and our kid. or me and you. two people who are the opposite, who become one.

[interviewer: are you holding an olive branch out to noel?]

liam gallagher: it's nice to put a band aid on it for a bit, knowwhatimean? i love him, i adore him, more than anyone else in the fuckin' whole wide world. but we also don't speak that much. we don't have to speak. but that song is basically for him. it's like, shut the fuck up. give respect and you'll get respect back. life, brothers and sisters, that's what we all want isn't it, respect?

[interviewer: or love...]

liam gallagher: but love is the same kind of thing. if you love someone you respect someone, you respect someone, you love someone. it all comes in the same... sandwich.

+

[interviewer: he says ggtia is about you and him...]

noel gallagher: oh is it? is that what he said? for 6 months, i thought that song was ggti a-b-I-e. i'm very fucking confused as to what it means, but if he's writing songs about me then great. it's fucking better than writing songs about the missus.

+

liam gallagher: me and him are brothers and we'll never be over. that's the beauty of the band. if we were mates then we'd be out on our arse before now, but we're in this forever. i'm a sense it was never over. but [la, 1994] was a dark time. what with our 'new found fame' and all that nonsense, and i thought maybe this was it. but in the back of my mind, there was always a way back. me and 'im will go on forever, and beyond... beyond this time. it'll go on forever and ever and ever.

+

[interviewer: what would persuade you to pack in oasis?]

noel gallagher: what, altogether? i'd never pack it in. i can't leave oasis. i am oasis. it's be like pete townshend leaving the who and roger carrying on. i can never leave. i am the fucking band.

saw the famous excerpt about ggtia circulating again and decided to unearth the full interview. have never seen it on tumblr before, so ! had to provide🙂‍↕️

[oacest]

Noel Gallagher wants to tell us a story. (“You’ll like this one,” he says.) It dates from mid-2004 when, with recording for DBTT underway for months and the finish line still far beyond the horizon, he received a visitation from a twitchy representative of his American record label, Epic. “We go to a posh restaurant,” recounts Noel. “He’s kind of asking, ‘Why can we not get this record done?’ And I’m telling him how it doesn’t sound right, and how I’m going to write more songs, and he says, ‘You know who you sound like? Right now, just sitting there? Just talking about your grievances and worries about the record? Do you know who you sound like?’ Well, I’m scrolling through the Sony acts thinking, Is he going to say Dylan? I’ll go as low as Bruce Springsteen… Anyway, I go, Who? He says, ‘Anastasia!' “It didn’t compute for a minute. Again I went, Who?, and there it was again, ‘Anastasia.’ So I poured another glass of wine, necked it in one, looked at him and said, I’ve got to fucking go now, ‘cos I’ve just broken out in a rash. As I was looking at him, I thought, You will never see my face again, and I will never lay eyes on you. Whoever you fucking are, and whatever your fucking name is, this is where it finished for me and you. "I walk off, down Knightsbridge, collar up, pissing down with fucking rain. Just when it can’t get worse, a black cab pulls up and goes, ‘All right Liam!’”

-Mojo Magazine, May 2005

[sophaeros]

do you have any interviews/magazine scans you’d recommend for a new-ish fan? :)

10000% the face august 2002. (scans if you'd like to stare at nikolai's happy trail) it's the first one i read (my irl sent it to me) and it's still my favourite to this day i quote it all the time it's kind of embarrassing

hmmm and i guess i'll also say mojo magazine august 2003, rolling stone november 2003 with neil strauss (use 12ft.io if u hit a paywall), new york magazine january 2006, the guardian february 2011 (my personal agenda against the popular narrative that they all hated each other during angles. it's not as simple as that imo), les inrockuptibles 2020 and nme may 2020.

the number one thing to remember when reading interviews is that the strokes are a case study in the inherent unreliability of personal perspective. everyone from the journalist to the band is an unreliable narrator and no one remembers anything the same way. their narrative is so fraught with contradiction, sometimes from the same person at different times, and it's both fascinating and incredibly frustrating. have fun !!

and as a fun little bonus here's nme december 2005. very fun very silly. healing post

[ear-worthy]

Podnews: Your Reliable Source For News On Podcasting

Every industry has a trusted source that transmits and interprets news. The movie industry has Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. The music industry has Rolling Stone, Mojo, Billboard and Pitchfork. TV still has TV Guide magazine. 

Podcasting has several key industry news publications -- Podcast Business Journal, Sounds Profitable, and Podcast News Daily. 

However, the podcast news source that is pre-eminent in the industry is Podnews.

First published in August 2018, Podnews has almost 32,000 readers worldwide. Subscribers receive a daily briefing in their inbox every weekday about podcasting and on-demand. Concise, to the point, and with a truly global view, their daily email includes podcast tech, podcast events, and jobs.

 The daily news boasts an impressive average open rate of around 43%, significantly above the industry average. Its website’s articles (daily newsletters and in-depth articles only) have been viewed 1,232,730 times over the past 30 days. Its privacy-aware website has achieved a carbon rating of A+ and was cleaner than 93% of webpages globally in May 2024.

 Podnews also has a daily podcast -- Podnews Daily -- that reports the newsletter in audio form. It's short -- less than five minutes -- and reports on key news items such as Lemonada Media exploring a sale, and Dax Shepard of the Armchair Expert podcast signing with Wondery.

Last month, the podcast achieved 53,534 downloads last month.

Podnews is the brainchild of James Cridland, who has worked in audio since 1989 as an award-winning copywriter, radio presenter, and internet strategist.

Cridland launched the world’s first streaming radio smartphone app in March 2005, for the original Virgin Radio in London, launching daily podcasts earlier that year.

In 2007 he joined the BBC working on the BBC iPlayer for radio, achieving a dramatic increase in the service’s audio quality.

Part of the team that laid the foundations for the UK Radioplayer, he has since worked for a variety of businesses across the world, including Canada’s Vista Radio, receiver and silicon manufacturers Pure and Frontier Silicon, talkSPORT, the ABC, and a variety of media companies in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia; helping them focus on the benefits and challenges that new platforms bring to their business. He was an advisor to podcast host Captivate, which was acquired by Global in December 2021.

One of the organizers of Next Radio, the UK radio ideas conference, James has worked with the world’s largest radio conference, Radiodays Europe, since its inception. He’s also part of the programming team for Radiodays Asia and Podcast Day 24.

A founder of the hybrid radio technology association RadioDNS, he is an Associate Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and was made an Honorary Life Member of the UK’s Student Radio Association.

Cridland, who readily admits he is passionate about audio, has published an international radio trends newsletter since 2017. Cridland is one of the most influential thought leaders in audio and podcasting. In April 2023, Podnews announced the acquisition of Podcast Business Journal, a well-respected newsletter from Streamline Publishing Inc.

“I’m delighted to welcome Podcast Business Journal into the Podnews family,” said Cridland at the time of the acquisition. “We’re pleased to continue to document the growth of the podcast industry, and maintain Podcast Business Journal’s role of independent coverage for serious podcasters.”

“As Podnews continues to grow, with our series of networking events called Podnews Live, the in-depth weekly podcast Podnews Weekly Review and other plans in the works, we see great benefit in an additional brand to focus on those in business,” Cridland added.

Born in the UK, Cridland lives in Brisbane, Australia with his wife and daughter.

For those who are not in the podcast industry but loyal listeners of multiple podcasts, Podnews and Podcast Business Journal can be valuable tools. They offer updates on your favorite podcasts, provide news of new podcasts debuting, guide you through your best listening options, and keep you tuned into your favorite podcasters.

[howaminotinthestrokesyet]

Behind The Album: Don’t Believe the Truth

The sixth studio album from Oasis was released in May 2005 from Big Brother Records. The release had been delayed because Noel Gallagher had hoped for the record to come out in 2004. One delay came at the beginning of 2004 when Alan White abruptly left the group. He would be replaced by Ringo Starr’s son, Zak Starkey. Another issue emerged when the band began initially working with the band Death From Vegas. This group was started by Richard Fearless and Steve Helier, but Noel would later say that the songs they worked on in the winter of 2004 were unusable. “Unfortunately, after the recording process we decided we didn't like anything we had played/recorded during those three weeks, and because of commitments with Death in Vegas, Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes couldn't find any more time to give to the project." The band needed to go back to the drawing board because new songs had to be written, while some of the other tracks were reworked and recorded again. Noel did elaborate on the work done with the other group that there was nothing wrong with it, but they merely needed some more time on it. He also worried that there did not seem to be enough songs for a full album. The guitarist and singer would later describe it as trying to “polish a turd.” The tracks

"Turn Up the Sun", "Mucky Fingers", "A Bell Will Ring" and "The Meaning of Soul" all appeared on the release. During a short break, the tracks "Let There Be Love," "Lyla" and "Part of The Queue" would be written for the LP. Recording began again with Starkey at their Wheeler End Studios near the beginning of summer 2004. In June, the group debuted two new songs from these sessions including “The Meaning of Soul” and “A Bell Will Ring” at a concert in Poole and Glastonbury. Producer Dave Sardy had heard about the production issues over the project from Oasis manager Marcus Russell expressing an interest in working with them on Don’t Believe the Truth. As an audition, he mixed the songs done up to that point, which impressed the band leading to the decision to hire him as producer. After some short sessions at Olympic Studios, the group agreed to finish the album at his home studio in Los Angeles. After the delays, the album officially began in November 2004 at Capitol Records. The sessions would last for nine weeks there.

Upon completion, there was disagreement between Oasis and the label over what the first single released should be from Don’t Believe the Truth. The band wanted “Mucky Fingers,” but the record company pushed for “Lyla.” Initially, Noel had not intended for the track to even appear on the release. He had done a demo of it one year previous, so along with Dave Sardy they recorded a new vocal track and drum track to finish the song. The song went number one on the UK Charts and number 19 on the US Modern Rock Charts. Reflecting upon the decision after the pushback at first, Noel said “Lyla” had “done the business.” In May 2005, four tracks leaked from a promo disc of the album on iTunes in Germany. Apple explained it at the time as confusion over the dates of the official release. The actual release was supposed to be on the thirtieth of the month, not the third. The critics saw the album as a return to form, writing that it was some of their best work in almost ten years. One thing that stood out from this release was the fact that every band member contributed to it. Noel even mentioned this in an interview as why he liked making it. Some tracks saw him play bass, while either Andy Bell or Gem Archer took lead guitar. Such a move had never happened before. Liam Gallagher’s developing songwriting stood out as a pleasant surprise when looking back at the legacy of this album. Noel would go on to say that it gave Don’t Believe the Truth a much different vibe than other releases. The album made quite a few year end lists from music publications including Q Magazine’s number 4, number 25 in Mojo, New Musical Express would review the album in a look back in 2011 saying that it “introduced a sharper, crisper and occasionally experimental band.” Critics enjoyed the record as reflected by this statement from Allmusic summing it up. “All of which makes the resulting album, Don't Believe the Truth, a real shock. It's confident, muscular, uncluttered, tight, and tuneful in a way Oasis haven't been since Morning Glory.” Popmatters drove home another point that it was by no means a masterpiece, but the release gave hope to future Oasis records, which in the end became slightly ironic. “Don't Believe the Truth is far from a perfect album, but despite the four or five throwaway tracks, the fact that some actual positive energy can be heard in Oasis's music for the first time in nearly a decade is enough to give fans hope that there may be some life in this band yet.” Pitchfork gave the record a 4.7 absolutely hating almost every aspect of it, but what’s new about that site offering such an opinion anyway?

[affairesasuivre]

Archie Bronson Outfit - Pompeii (Fur,  Domino Recording, 2004)

Archie Bronson Outfit are an English rock band. They met at Kingswood School, Bath. After leaving their native Somerset, the band moved to London where they were discovered by Laurence Bell, boss of Domino Records. The band were playing in Bell's local bar, "The Cat's Back" in Putney. The band released their debut album Fur in 2004. 

Fur was produced by Jamie "Hotel" Hince of The Kills. The band released their second album, Derdang Derdang on 3 April 2006. The album was recorded in Nashville in the summer of 2005 and produced by Jacquire King. The album received generally excellent reviews, with Uncut, music OMH and Mojo awarding it four stars out of five. The London listing magazine Time Out awarded it five stars out of five. Both albums Fur and Derdang Derdang feature occasional collaborator and a secret fourth member at the time Duke Garwood on clarinet and rhaita (a Moroccan reed instrument). Archie Bronson Outfit performed a showcase at the 2006 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. The band used to perform on stage accompanied by an illuminated plastic goose. In December 2006, Mojo voted Derdang Derdang fifth best album of 2006 in their end of year poll beating such notables as Cat Power and Sonic Youth. In January 2007, they won the South Bank/Times Breakthrough Award and played a live gig at the T-Mobile Transmission television event in April 2007. Archie Bronson Outfit released their third, Coconut, on 1 March 2010. It was their first LP in almost four years Domino Records. They toured the UK in March 2010 to support the album release.ABO's fourth long player, Wild Crush, hit the shops on 19 May 2014, again on Domino Records. By now, the band was down to Sam and Arp with additional musicians playing on the record.

[enderaz-blog]

Mastery Journal Design Integration

Connecting / Synthesizing / Transforming

One of the areas where I had made a connection was in respect to the two perspectives in design. In one resource by Norman et al., (2009), they discussed how designers must work with the constraints of many items such as medium and cost when creating a design.  On the other hand, research from The Interactive Design Foundation (2020) spoke of how users emotional impacted by other design decisions.    This came into play in my end design when creating a media plan and media matrix to understand what would best work for designer and user.

Problem Solving

One design problem that I ran into on the Box Park Sushi project was choosing an appropriate typography set that matched my voice and tone as well as the style of the project. For my heading I wanted something that was bold, eye-catching, and unique but still fit the Box Park theme.

One possible solution to this would be to play off of the Asian theme and use an Asian based font such as Nagomi (https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/nagomi), but I felt that it was an idea that was over-used and not unique enough for the project.  The second path I had was to use something that meshed well with the idea of a Box Park storage container.  For this path I chose the use of the stencil font (https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/stencil).  In the end I went with the stencil font for several reasons.  The first reason was that I didn’t want to go with the stereotypical Asian style font just because it is a sushi restaurant.  Having worked near storage container in my career in the Air Force, one thing that had always stood out to me was they stencil writing that you would typically find on old storage containers.  This offered a solution that was both unique that also played on the idea of the box park itself rather than just the food theme.

Innovative Thinking

For the first time in my journey to an MBA in media design I feel like I have made a product that feels polished and comparable to professional work.  Knowing I had an upcoming trip planned, I scheduled a vacation day in order to dedicate time specifically to work on my creative brief and I feel like the extra time gave me the flexibility to go back and touch up, and re-do work as much as I wanted until I had a final product that I was happy with.  I believe my work was innovative and feel like it’s the first piece of work that I’ve created in the program that allowed me to really put everything I’ve learned along the journey in to one visible create place which is my creative brief.

Acquiring Competencies

Adobie InSight:  Occupational & technical

Voice: Academic/Occupational & Conceptual

Tone:   Academic/Occupational & Conceptual

Emotional Design: Academic/Occupational & Conceptual/Technical

Translating Strategy to Design:  Occupational & Conceptual

Static Vision Boards: Academic/Occupational & Technical

Dynamic Vision Boards: Academic/Occupational & Technical

Perspectives of Design: Academic/Occupational & Conceptual

Guerilla Marketing:  Occupational & Technical/Conceptual

Reflection

I would argue that I have gained the most knowledge and technical skills so far in this program from this course as well as the course that preceded it.  I found it very helpful that different instructors had worked together to create a learning plan that moved between classes creating a feeling of being able to learn core skills, implement those skills and then follow up increasing the complexity of those same skill sets in different manners.  

I felt that each assignment provided a great deal of value in the overall program.  Week one built upon the voice and tone skills learned in the preceding class helped reinforce those skills by giving the opportunity to continue using them while adding more to them.  In the second week we created static vision boards allowing us to visualize the theories that we had learned previously and see how easy it is to fall off the path of your voice and tone.  Week three once again built on to the skills of voice, tone and static vision boards and allowed us to add motion and sound an additional way to display all the elements we have learned along the way.  Lastly and my favorite project so far has been the creative brief.  This assignment is where I felt we put together and implemented many of the skills we have been taught even from day one of the media design program.  The use of industry standard design tools helped keep our engagement and enjoyment high and end the class with a nice nearly finished product.

References

Felton, G. (n.d.). Advertising: Concept and Copy (Third Edition). VitalSource Bookshelf. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780393733921/cfi/8!/4/4@0.00:13.2

Lee, K. (2012, September 12). Voice And Tone: What’s The Difference? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/katelee/2012/09/12/voice-and-tone-whats-the-difference/#4198b13065e3

Kenny, J. (2020b, July 2). Know the Difference between Tone and Voice to Set Your Brand Apart. Mojo Marketing - Cloud, IT, & Telecom Marketing. https://gimmemojo.com/tone-voice-set-your-brand-apart/

Acrolinx Team. (2020, February 21). What Is Tone of Voice and Why Does It Matter? Acrolinx. https://www.acrolinx.com/blog/what-is-tone-of-voice/

The Futur. (2014, October 21). How to Translate Strategy to Design [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpcaCW85eI0

Goikoetxea, N., Sierra, E., Larrakoetxea, I., & Gorozika, J. (2010). GOOD PRACTICES TO TRANSLATE CORPORATE STRATEGY INTO DESIGN STRATEGY. Design 2010, 1094. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7179/bc30ae87eca07bd7d60f7180c6da5f28250d.pdf

Felton, G. (n.d.). Advertising: Concept and Copy (Third Edition). VitalSource Bookshelf. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780393733921/cfi/8!/4/4@0.00:13.2

Huffington Post, & Hughes, B. (2017, December 6). The Importance of Ethically Sourced Products. Huffington Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-importance-of-ethical_1_b_10895816

Özçifçi, V. (2017). Determining the impact of brand equity on consumer purchase intention. International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research, 3(4), 1164–1177. https://doi.org/10.24289/ijsser.319844

Desmet, P., & Hekkert, P. (2009). Special Issue Editorial: Design & Emotion. International Journal of Design, 3(2), 1–6. http://index.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/626/255

Saraswat, P. (2019, August 14). The design of emotions and emotional intelligence - UX Collective. UX Collective. https://uxdesign.cc/the-design-of-emotions-and-emotional-intelligence-ba00855107d3

Interaction Design Foundation. (n.d.). What is Emotional Design? The Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/emotional-design

Baker, J. (2019, January 28). The Art of Emotion — Norman’s 3 Levels of Emotional Design. Medium. https://medium.muz.li/the-art-of-emotion-normans-3-levels-of-emotional-design-88a1fb495b1d

Norman, D., Northwestern University, Nielson Norman Group, & Ortony, A. (2004). DESIGNERS AND USERS: TWO PERSPECTIVES ON EMOTION AND DESIGN. http://projectsfinal.interactionivrea.org/2004-2005/SYMPOSIUM%202005/communication%20material/DESIGNERS%20AND%20USERS_Norman.pdf

The Interactive Design Foundation. (2020, July 10). The Reflective Level of Emotional Design. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-reflective-level-of-emotional-desig

Morris, J. D. (1998, August 23). The Effects of Music on Emotional Response, Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intent in an Emotional Advertising Condition | ACR. The Association for Consumer Research. https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/8207/volumes/v25/NA-25

Lasquite, M. (n.d.). Color Psychology in Marketing and Brand Identity. Visme. https://visme.co/blog/color-psychology-in-marketing-and-brand-identity-part-2/

Laubheimer, P. (2020, January 12). The Role of Animation and Motion in UX. Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/animation-purpose-ux/

Marrs, M. (2020, July 21). Jaw-Dropping Guerrilla Marketing Examples. Wordstream. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/09/22/guerrilla-marketing-examples

Mertes, M. (2020, June 17). 13 of the Most Creative Promotional Products of All Time | QLP. Promotional Products Blog. https://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/13-most-creative-promotional-products

Long, J. (2017, April 2). 6 Must-Do’s for Effective Social Media Marketing. Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/292169

Reynolds, C. (2020, May 6). The Advantages Of Bus Stop Advertising. The Startup Magazine. http://thestartupmag.com/advantages-bus-stop-advertising/

Pavesic, D. (n.d.). Restaurant Resource Group: The Psychology of Menu Design: Reinvent Your “Silent Salesperson” to Increase Check Averages. Restaurant Resource Group. https://www.rrgconsulting.com/the-psychology-of-menu-design-reinvent-your-silent-salesperson-to-increase-check-averages-and-guest-loyalty.html

[rollingstonemag]

Un nouvel article a été publié sur http://www.rollingstone.fr/le-compositeur-et-inventeur-pierre-henry-est-mort/

Le compositeur et inventeur Pierre Henry est mort

La célèbre « Harmonie des sphères » perd son inventeur. Sa « Messe pour le temps présent » est encore dans toutes les mémoires. Rarement un musicien et compositeur classique n’aura autant marqué l’histoire du rock. Il est mort à 89 ans et laisse un héritage considérable

Par Yves Bigot

https://youtu.be/7K4RuQDxUaI

« Si en 1966, les Beatles avaient collaboré avec Pierre Henry, comme Paul McCartney en avait l’intention, l’histoire de la musique du XXème siècle en eût été révolutionnée », écrivait en 2001 le magazine anglais Mojo. Elle le fut malgré tout, et pas qu’une fois, par cet aventurier du son comme liturgie, prophète de la musique moderne, qui aura inventé, engendré, inspiré, pas moins de trois genres et mouvements artistiques majeurs, tout en atteignant à deux reprises – à trente ans d’intervalle – le statut de star du hit parade.

Au sortir de la Guerre, déjà, lorsque le tout jeune Pierre Henry (né le 9 décembre 1927), élève d’Olivier Messiaen et de Nadia Boulanger au Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, rejoint Pierre Schaeffer au sein du studio d’essai de la Radio Télédiffusion Française, Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950), leur manifeste d’ingénieurs-musiciens, fonde la musique concrète, destinée à « déconstruire la musique pour que résonne l’harmonie des sphères ». Maurice Béjart s’en emparera cinq ans plus tard, collaboration qui s’étendra sur quinze ballets. D’autres chorégraphes suivront : Georges Balanchine, Carolyn Carlson, Merce Cunningham, Maguy Marin, etc.

Première œuvre électroacoustique, Haut Voltage suivra, marquant l’émancipation de Pierre Henry, figure de proue à la tête du Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète, puis de son studio APSOME de la rue Cardinet, avant-garde sonique qui connaîtra son apogée en 1963 avec ses Variations pour une porte et un soupir. Encore entendue dans la série les Sopranos, cette œuvre constituera une influence majeure du rock progressif anglais des années 60, Pink Floyd en tête, Soft Machine, et plus tard Radiohead.

Mais c’est avec Le Voyage (1962), première composition psychédélique (qui exprime l’âme), que Pierre Henry va fasciner la génération rock des années 60 et les hippies, friands du Livre des morts tibétain qu’il illustre : les Beatles (« Tomorrow Never Knows ») et Jimi Hendrix (Are You Experienced ?) à Londres, Frank Zappa et les Mothers of Invention (Freak Out) à Los Angeles, Jefferson Airplane (« Would You Like a Snack ? »), Grateful Dead qu’il admirait (Anthem of the Sun), Quicksilver Messenger Service (les longs passages improvisés de leur version de « Who Do You Love ? ») et David Crosby (« I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here ») à San Francisco, Gong dans le sud de la France et plus tard, Rodolphe Burger à Strasbourg (Cheval/Mouvement) et les Rita Mitsouko à l’usine Pali-Kao : « Je l’écoutais au lycée, en même temps que Jimi Hendrix, expliquait Fred Chichin, lorsque les Rita l’invitent à la Cité de la Musique. Il a ouvert un univers de sons et donné l’envie de musique électro-acoustique. Il a une conception du son très physique, contrairement à beaucoup de compositeurs contemporains, qui nient le plaisir du mouvement, de la matière et des corps. Il est extrêmement moderne avec son côté sound-system – c’est pour ça que l’intelligentsia l’a marginalisé. » (« Pense à ta carrière » sur Cool frenésie, reprend exactement l’intro de son « Psyché Rock »).

Ce flirt avec le rock se concrétisera inconsciemment par sa Messe de Liverpool (1967) et sur les ondes de Salut les Copains, les barricades de mai 68, chez Castel et dans les discothèques de Saint-Tropez avec les Jerks électroniques Ypersound de sa Messe pour le temps présent. Les premiers se vendront à des centaines de milliers d’exemplaires sous leur célèbre pochette argentée, alors que la seconde entrera dans l’histoire au festival d’Avignon grâce au ballet de Béjart, son ami de toujours. L’album Ceremony, enregistré avec l’excellent groupe de blues-rock Spooky Tooth (1969), ne sera qu’un épilogue, couronné par un concert de minuit à l’Olympia.

Mais là où l’effet Pierre Henry sur l’histoire de rock reste un secret bien gardé des connaisseurs, en revanche, la techno, elle, va le revendiquer comme son maître fondateur. Son tube « Psyché Rock » sera utilisé à toutes les sauces, du film Z de Costa Gavras à celui de Jean Becker avec Vanessa Paradis (Elisa), de Mean Girls à la série Futurama, de la publicité pour la Mobi carte à celle pour la bourse de New York ou pour Nescafé en passant par des centaines d’échantillonnages plus ou moins autorisés. À tel point qu’en 1997, les plus prestigieux DJ’s (William Orbit, Coldcut, St Germain, etc.) lui rendaient hommage avec Metamorphoses, album de remix des Jerks électroniques qui verra « Psyché Rock », relooké par Fat Boy Slim, devenir l’hymne de la culture dance, de Brighton à Ibiza. Sollicité par le groupe américain Violent Femmes, trafiquant avec les Propellerheads, collaborant avec le trompettiste suisse Erik Truffaz, participant au projet L’Amour foot de Libération (1998), se produisant telle une rock star à l’Olympia, à la Cigale, au Festival de Montreux comme à la Roque d’Anthéron, sur la piazza Beaubourg, l’Esplanade de la Défense, à Radio France, au Centre Pompidou, à la Cité de la Musique, à l’église Saint-Eustache, au Carreau du Temple, à Bethnal Green, expédiant sa musique au Japon comme en Australie, Pierre Henry continuait, à près de quatre-vingt-dix ans, à faire l’événement, que ce soit avec ses très populaires Concerts chez lui (1996, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009) qui font courir le tout-Paris, son intégrale en quatre coffrets (Mix 01, 02, 03 et 04), son intronisation au Panthéon des Victoires de la Musique (1998), le Qwartz électronique d’honneur (2005) et le Prix du Président de la République de l’Académie Charles Cros (2005), ses incessantes nouvelles créations parmi lesquelles on citera notamment Intérieur/Extérieur, Une tour de Babel, Tam-tam du merveilleux, Dracula, Analogy et Dieu, récité d’après Victor Hugo par Jean-Paul Farré.

Plasticien, sculpteur, cuisinier, provocateur, reclus, bougon, maniaque, épicurien et mystique à la fois, Pierre Henry avait réussi à intéresser le grand public à l’avant-garde par la grâce de la modernité que la jeunesse trouvait dans sa musique. N’est-ce pas là le rêve de tout artiste ?

[occultationrecordings]

Translation of Ruta 66 John Howard interview

John Howard: So near yet so far

Howard Michael Jones was born in Lancashire in the early 1950s and came very close to achieving success at the very start of his career, when the powerful CBS label had high hopes of his debut, the wonderful “Kid In A Big World”.

However, the stars failed to align on that occasion, even though the aforementioned first LP was an exquisite pop confection, where, among the sparkling of a precocious talent there were fleeting glimpses Bowie at his most melancholic, early Scott Walker and a few couplets that wouldn’t’ve out of place on a Kinks LP; this misfortune and a failed second album kept him away from the music scene for a full 29 years; or at least, to be more specific away from the scene for artists, as during this lengthy period he swapped the spotlight for the office, joining the payroll of the EMI multinational label working in various departments, from A&R to music publishing and also including the marketing departments.

There was no further musical news from him until the fourth year of the new century, maintaining his quality control on wonderful records such as “As I Was Saying” (Cherry Red, 2005) although they slipped under the popular radar. Sadly and obviously having been sidelined as a minority interest artist, he managed a sporadic, jumbled music career until last year he gave us a surprise, leaving us breathless with what I feel is his masterpiece to date, the brilliant “John Howard & The Night Mail” on which he worked with musicians usually to be found playing with the likes of Paul Weller and Edwyn Collins and on which he excelled with timeless, albeit slightly melancholy pop songs, full of brilliant style and dealing with the everyday splendours and miseries of life lived to the full in remnants of happiness. Listen to songs like “London's After-Work Drinking Culture”, “Deborah Fletcher” and the single “Intact Smile” and you’ll find the explanation for my clumsy arguments for yourselves.

Once again his talent was on fairly near being recognised, as the album was reviewed enthusiastically in media as wide-ranging as AllMusic, MOJO and the magazine you are now reading (see Ruta 66 no. 332). However incredible it might seem, once again he came up against a wall of indifference, he went almost unnoticed and barely thirty people made the trip to the Sala Apolo in Barcelona to enjoy a genuinely magical night with the British bard - times really are tough for talents as subtle as his. Oblivious to the setbacks and heartaches of show-business, Howard now offers us the exquisite “Across The Door Sill”, five poems set to music with voice and piano hand-in¬-hand, a subtle piece of craftsmanship which will be appreciated by amateurs of ethereal, inspired pop. Having moved to rural Murcia a few years ago, we took advantage of his physical proximity to ask him about his expectations for this new record.

R66: In terms of your discography, it may look as though you’re shooting yourself in the foot by releasing a record as intimate as “Across The Door Sill” after the warm welcome given to your last recording with The Night Mail; I'm aware that an artist’s mind doesn’t work like that, but did you never think about continuing with that project, either with the same musicians or a band?

JH: Well, I started writing the songs for this new record while we were playing “John Howard & The Night Mail” live, but it was always clear to me that “Across The Door Sill” was a solo project; in fact when I was at Robert Rotifer’s (The Night Mail guitarist - author’s note) house in Canterbury getting ready for the tour, he played me a few of his new songs and I played him some of mine on my own at the piano, I think un artist must never stagnate, you have to avoid repeating yourself. I wanted to try something completely different to what I’d done in the past, and I decided to try mixing music and poetry. This doesn’t mean that The Night Mail can never record again, but we’d have to see when all the members were available to get together again; in fact at the moment I’m negotiating with Occultation Recordings to record a new album in 2017, and I’d like to do it with a backing band - I’ve got lots of ideas, but at the moment that’s all they are, ideas…

R66: Did you get any offers from labels to continue working with The Night Mail?

JH: Unfortunately not, but you’ve got to remember that The Night Mail wasn’t a band in the usual sense, all of the members are involved in their own projects and touring as backing musicians, which means that the idea of continuing with that project was really difficult; I’ve got to admit that I loved making that record and I hope we’ll be able to get together again one day.

The work involved in preparing the songs for the record is rather unconventional, as it sees that you started by writing five poems with no melodies at all – how did you then manage to fit the music to the words?

JH: I wrote five poems rather anarchically, without thinking about conventional metre, more or less with the structure of a pop song, literally letting the words spill out onto the paper, like when dreams give you images and you don’t know where they come from. Later on I covered these poems with notes on the piano, looking for choruses and rhythms which would fit with the shape of the poetry, then letting the melodies develop naturally. Once I had the basic part of the song ready, I recorded a few layers of piano, one on top of another and finally the vocal, taking fragments from various pre-recorded vocal tests, ending up with the backing vocals and stressing the harmonies, again using various pre-recorded tracks. This is the most I’ve ever got out of the studio, I wanted what you hear on the record to be different from the live versions.

R66: Whose attention are you asking for on the album’s opening track, “Who Cares?” It might seem like a lament for someone who’s been abandoned or neglected – is that the way you feel?

JH: (Laughter) I really don’t feel abandoned or defenceless, in I’m now getting more attention for my music than at any other time in my career, I feel that my fans love me!!! The lyrics on this album shouldn’t be interpreted literally, as they were written in a random, dreamy kind of way. On that song the backing vocals repeat the mantra “Who Cares?” but they’re talking about a question a lot of people are asking at the moment, as they’re worried about the direction in which the world is going, and often they don’t find the right answers. You don’t need to worry about me though, I feel loved and I know there’s definitely someone who cares about me (laughter)

R66: What’s the process involved in writing a song as amazing as “Preservation”? For me this is the most brilliant song on the album and perhaps also the one which most closely follows the melodic parameters set out on the previous record.

JH: Interesting question… I think “Preservation” is the most orthodox song on the album, as it’s got a verse-chorus structure, and it reminds me of some of the sixties folk songs I grew up with. It’s got a very pastoral feel, even the vocal harmonies sound like a folk-pop group, in the tradition of Fairport Convention. In fact a few DJs to whom I’ve given advance copies of the record are playing it on their shows, maybe it’s the closest to what we might define as “a John Howard song”.

R66: In Barcelona you told me that you’ve chosen a life away from the madding crowd, sharing a farm in Murcia with your partner, where you breed chickens, you’ve got a kitchen garden, etc. Does this mean you keep your distance from show business, the latest music etc.?

JH: I’ve spent quite a few years away from the vicissitudes of the music business, even more so since I moved to your country; even so, I’m still in touch with new music through my fellow Night Mail members Robert Rotifer and Ian Button, writers such as Ralegh Long and Darren Hayman and labels like Gare Du Nord, Tapete and Occultation, who have some wonderful artists.

I tried to have a career in the seventies, but I ended up tremendously isolated and now I feel part of a whole network of artists, writers and musicians, I feel as though I belong to the current scene  much more strongly than when I started out almost 50 years ago; on the other hand I’ve absolutely no interest in the kind of pop that’s in the charts, with its utterly detestable, uniform sound, it hurts my ears - a lot of modern singers seem happy to sound like computers, which I don’t like and I try to avoid them

R66: You’re getting ready for a tour to promote this record – I imagine it’ll be you on your own with the piano, like the concert you did at the Sala Apolo in Barcelona. This format depends in some ways on the venues in which you can perform and also requires a certain predisposition on the part of the audience – do you feel you’ve got the strength to cope with all these possible “drawbacks”?

JH: For now I don’t have any gigs planned, but I would love to be invited back to Barcelona or to any other city and have the chance to play my new material. I’m a bit anti-touring, especially if they’re very long. I don’t like being away from home for long, being on the road doesn’t suit my temperament, I’m much happier recording in the studio and creating new material, but on the other hand I love playing small venues where I can feel that the audience are close to me and I can communicate with them, the only condition I lay down is that I need to have a good acoustic piano, I prefer them to electronic pianos. In the acoustic format my songs work much better and I can give the music richer nuances.

Text: Manuel Borrero

Photo: Eva Fraile (Apolo, Barcelona)

[oacest]

"Me and him are brothers and we will never be over. In the back of my mind, there was always a way back. Me and him will go on forever, and beyond…beyond this time. It'll go on forever and ever and ever."

lovely scholars! do you have a source for this quote? google sends me back to tumblr. was it a video or something?

It was from an article/interview in Mojo Magazine, May 2005 called Once and Future Kings; Danny Eccleston was the interviewer. I think there were scanned images of the article floating around, which is why it's so hard to google the words. (It's also in the Mojo collector's edition they released last year after the reunion announcement, which I double-checked in a fit of paranoia bc the images of the actual cover of Mojo May 2005 on google doesn't suggest even a hint of the Gallaghers.)

The full, readable text can be found here.

[oacest]

”There comes a point, I think, for him, where he’s going to have to make a decision. All anyone remembers about the last tour was him getting his fucking teeth smashed in. A year and half on the road all boiled down to one brawl in a hotel foyer. That’s what it’s remembered for. He’s going to have to make a decision in the future. Do you want your fucking lairy-man to overshadow you, the songwriter? None of our arguments or fights have been about art. It’s always been about Liam being a fucking idiot really. It annoys him that I get annoyed that he’s not a very good drunk. He can go from melancholy to real aggressive violence very, very fucking quickly. There is no grey area of having a laugh… it gets dark. Arguments about the music are fucking great, because it makes the goal you’re trying to achieve better. But when it gets to stuff like, ‘You’re a cunt… you’re a cunt… you’re a miserable cunt…’, Well you’re an idiot. That kind of thing is cataclysmic.”

-Noel in Mojo Magazine, May 2005