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Das unabhängige Musikmagazin auf der Frequenz von Radio Emscher-Lippe | |
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Interview: Joolz / Red Sky Coven 15.01.1999 |
Deutsch |
| usch | The last time we met you told me that you have been working on a red sky coven CD. |
| Joolz | Yes, we have. Yes, we're finished. |
| usch | I've already got it, I can't wait to hear it, but maybe you can tell us what's on the CD. What do we find there? |
| Joolz | Well, there's all sorts of material. In fact we had eighty hours of material, and it was poor old Rev Hammer who had the job of sorting out the basis for the CD. And he said he never wanted to hear himself again after he listened to eighty hours of shows. And then Justin produced it, and basically put it together. Its material ... what's the material, what's it from, the material? |
| Justin | It's a mix of... because we only bought the eight track machine, I bought it in 93, so it's a mixture of 93 and 95 tours. Right, 93 and 95. And it's mostly... most of the talking sections are from England, not Germany, because the show is a little bit slower in Germany; an English audience would find it a little bit slow. But a lot of the songs are from German tours. Oh, it's a mixture, it's from about four or five different shows in the end, but it's two hours long. It's like the show, it's two CDs. It starts slowly, it's incredibly long, it starts slowly, just goes on and on, it's very much like the show. To listen to it you have to ... it's not like a CD you can dip into in the background. You have to decide »Tonight I want to go and see Red Sky Coven«, you turn everything off, turn the phone off, turn the television off, get some wine, and sit and listen to it, pretend you're at a show, and then it works. That what it's for. |
| usch | ... it's like the show ... |
| Joolz | Yes, it's exactly like that. It's not like listening to an album by a band or something, and you have to listen to the whole thing, really. |
| usch | And it's all live material. |
| Joolz | Yes, it is, it's all live material. And just as it was, as those shows were. And it's... well, we like it, we enjoyed it. And we'd listen to it again, and we enjoyed making it. Except for poor old Rev, who had to listen to the eighty hours of material. |
| Rev | ... oooh ... |
| usch | Where did all the people come from? I've never seen so many people here! |
| Joolz | I don't know, I mean last night as well was absolutely full. |
| Rev | We brought them with us! |
| Joolz | Yeah, we brought them with us. He reckons we put them in the bus with us. It was absolutely full last night, so full last night that the women who were fetching beer to people couldn't get through the crowd and people were just handing beer across because it was just so difficult. I don't know where they come from because we're not big famous artists, we're not, you know, featured in music papers, we're not sort of having front covers, or anything, but we actually managed to get an audience which is bigger than most bands get. I mean, I've seen big named bands play to a lot less people than were here tonight, which - you know, every time we go on stage it's a shock, cause we say »My god, where have all these people come from?«, but it's great, I mean it's great. I don't know, I mean this is a very good area for us, this area. Down south it may be different, but we'll see. |
| usch | Do you think you have a regular audience that travels along with you, or a different audience in every city? |
| Joolz | I think there's a small percentage, but it's only like one percent of the audience that are people who have travelled to every show. I saw some English people out there that I know, and they have obviously come over from England to follow the tour around. But they're a small percentage. I don't know, I mean there seem to be more people than ever before. I think it's by word of mouth, somebody goes to the show and then they say to all their friends »oh, you must come next time, we really enjoyed it, it was fun« or »mad« or whatever. And that's how they come I think, because as I said there's no sort of major interviews or television or radio or anything. And it's the same in England, we have really big audiences but no media coverage - apart from your good self, of course. |
| usch | I think who saw you once will come back and see you the next time. |
| Joolz | I hope so. It's different every time, because we are lucky as artists, because we have a good turnover, we write a lot of material. I mean, I think if every single time we did it it was exactly the same I don't think people would come again. But tonight we did the trip-hop thing with drum machines and keyboards, which was interesting, and that's a thing, a project that we work on. Brett Selby, the bass player -- that's not thunder, people, that's people moving equipment -- has written that material, because he's a very creative person, apart from -- that was Rev, flushing the toilet ... |
| Rev | ... sorry ... |
| Joolz | You know, he's great and he's written lots of stuff, and we're involving him more and more and more because he's so creative. You know, that's great, it's a lot of different people putting material into the show. |
| usch | I was wondering during the show - I saw you three times now, once in Bochum and two times here in Gelsenkirchen - and I can't remember that you ever did one single thing twice. |
| Joolz | I'll try and think if I did... I try not to, actually. I know that some people would like you to do the same material over and over again. You know, it's like Bill Haley, who always has to play »Rock Around The Clock«, you know, and people used to say to him »Mr Haley, aren't you tired of playing Rock Around The Clock« and he'd say »Everytime I play it I hear the silver dollars jingling in my back pocket«. It's the same for Justin, there are people out there - or for Rev, people who got Rev's albums - they want to hear you play or sing the same things that they got on tape or on record, but as an artist you can't do that, you have to move forward. Sometimes things from the past you bring back, because you think »oh, I haven't done that for ages, now I really like that again«, and you get the desire to do something from a long time ago. We've rehearsed one of my older musical pieces called »Ambition« which is on one of my albums, and we might do that, because it's a lovely tune and it's a very nice love song. So I might do that, but generally we like to move forward. I think the thing that keeps Red Sky alive and full of movement is that constant looking at the future rather than dwelling on past success. It's risky, you take a risk that you might fail, but better to do that than just be always the same. I'd kill me, I'd hate that. So what do you think? |
| Justin | I think the only -- »Downpressor Man«, Rev did the song »Downpressor Man«, and »Aimless Desire« that me and Brett did tonight, is the only things tonight that's on the album. Everything is new. |
| Joolz | No, nothing else is on the album, it's terrible. We shouldn't say that really, people, but no, it's all new stuff from the album. |
| Justin | Why we just called the album »Volumes 1 & 2« - it's a double album - is maybe the end of this year we'd just bring out »Volume 3« from this tour. |
| Joolz | It's not really like a CD, it's like a diary of our time together, which is nice, I think. |
| usch | Maybe you won't like the next question... |
| Joolz | It's okay, ask me anyway, |
| usch | The last time we you were talking about Charles and Diana, and you said »Well, I wish they would die«... |
| Joolz | Well, yes, and I don't... I mean... England went into a complete spasm of panic. It was terrible, and for months and months afterwards you couldn't say anything but that Diana was a saint. To me it's very sad that a young woman in the prime of her life was killed in a car crash. But saying that she was a wealthy young woman, her children will not want for anything, she was with her playboy boyfriend, all of them were drunk, without a doubt the driver was drunk, and they behaved as if the laws of the road didn't apply to them. And they payed the price for that. But on the day that Diana died, how many fathers of poor families died, how many mothers of poor families died in car accidents, how many children were taken from their parents? Nobody mourned them, nobody went mad with grief about them, and yet that's much more terrible in a way, although it's always terrible when anyone dies. No, I don't like the Royal Family, they're parasites on our country, they cost us a fortune in money which we cannot afford. England is a Third World country now. Our services are running down, the basic services are destroyed. Health, education is dreadful. In my town, in our central library, which is our big library in town which should be the centre of literature and literacy in town, they're only allowed to spend fifty Pence per person on books a year. I can't even imagine that in German money, it's nothing, it's like nothing, not even a Mark! And then we're supposed to look up to the Royal Family and say »Oh gosh, they're marvellous« and look at their lovely clothes and their diamonds and things. If the queen tuned round and said »I'm selling my diamonds and putting all the money into education« I'd say »good for you«, and I'd like her again. But at the moment she's just ties , I mean they're all ties, and I don't care about Charles, and he's going to marry that dreadful woman Camilla anyway, so who cares, who cares. Sorry she died, but it's not a big tragedy to me. I didn't care. |
| usch | And the Queen didn't become a Buddhist nun either... |
| Joolz | No, unfortunately. Which would have been great. Yes that would have been good. I wish she would resign, I wish they'd just say »No, I'm sorry, we're sick of it«. But they won't ever do that because of the way they used to promote tourism. Cause you do see hordes and hordes of tourists outside Windsor Castle and inside Buckingham Palace, especially from places that don't have a King and Queen like Germany and France. I mean the French love our King and Queen, our Queen and Prince Charles, they love the Monarchy cause they cut theirs the head off. They killed theirs, so they want ours now. Fine, they can have them, we'll export them, they can be a great export! |
| usch | Okay, let's switch back to the CD. If you were to recommend a track to play after the interview - which one? |
| Joolz | Oh god, I don't know. No, I can't. I can't recommend a track. I mean genuinely I would if I could, but it's so subjective. Everybody has a different view, it's such a different, peculiar, strange, mad CD, that you can't say »Oh, track 3 on side B« or whatever is a great track. You got any favourite tracks of the CD, Brett? -- This is Brett Selby who is now standing round having a good think... |
| Brett | ... hello ... ... hmmmm ... |
| Joolz | It's quite difficult, isn't it? I'm saying I can't think of any one particular track. |
| Brett | For me it's fairly even, my liking for that album... |
| Joolz | I think for radio you might pick one of the musical numbers, but for people if they were just listening at home in their bedroom or whatever the speaking numbers are easier because they can sit and think about them calmly. But if you're listening to something on the radio you might care to hear something musical. I say now, you pick the one you like! |
| usch | I think it's really difficult to say »this is Red Sky Coven« in a single track because it's really different. |
| Joolz | It is. And I think when people are talking about it they have to say it's not even like a group, where you get a front man and the musicians. We're all front persons, we all have equal status, so you can't even say »Oh well, I can have this track beacuse the singer is really good on it« because it's all so equal, it really is. It's pure communism. Pick a song for the radio, that'll be... yes. |
| Justin | ... |
| Joolz | Pick a Rev number of the CD that you really like. |
| Justin | »Ghost Of Walachin«. |
| Brett | Yes! |
| Joolz | Yes, that's good. Alright, we'll vote for that, »Ghost Of Walachin«. |
| usch | Okay, then we'll play that next! |