Idlewild – Interview

Does it get annoying constantly getting the REM comparisons?

Not annoying, it does get tiring, however. But I can understand it too. I mean, if I ask a friend what a certain group is like and he’ll say, ‘They’re a bit like Blur, REM, or Nirvana,’ then I get a good understanding of what they are like. So I understand. But at the same time, it’s not like we sit down and copy riffs from them.

Is it flattering at the same time?

Of course it is. They are one of my favorite bands. But then again there are other bands we are compared to. It’s flattering to be compared to bands that we like.

Do you feel like now after 100 Broken Windows you’ve mended your own sound?

Yeah, that is what I’d like to think anyway. It took us two records to realize what we wanted to sound like. 100 Broken Windows was a different kind of thought process and you can hear it in the music. I think this is the first record we’ve made that can stand up on its own.

Right from the get go you guys were getting a lot of praise. How did that effect you?

It was nice at times, but you are probably familiar with the British music press and it’s the kind of case where it’s a small country where there are a lot of music fans. They always need some new thing and we were that for six months in ’98 when we released Captain. It was good because it made people come to our concerts. But we’ve always been taken in by magazines like NME.

I hear a lot of from British artists that the press is quite tabloid-like in nature.

It is. A lot of the bands that they promote is really bad. You get classic examples like Gay Dad who are hyped beyond belief. They have a few decent songs, but that doesn’t mean you should be on the cover of every magazine.

It seems a lot of the stories are about the lives away from music, the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. I mean, that is interesting, but the music is the reason we care.

I know. I think we’ve always been honest and open with the press. I remember we used to jump around onstage or we’d just sit around. So every single article that came out would say, ‘They’re idle, not wild’ or ‘They’re wild, not idle.’ So we weren’t predictable. But we’ve always presented ourselves as we are. I think because of that we’ve never come off badly in the press.

I always find it weird to talk about an album that is already a year old with artists that come to America. Is it weird talking about this album still considering I heard you have new songs done?

Well, we do have seven songs at the moment. We aren’t in a rush to do it because we want to release it both in Europe and America at the same time next time around. So I wouldn’t mind if it came out in January of next year. Our plan this year is basically to tour America and work on the new album.

Do you work on the songs together?

Everything is split four ways in our group and it’s sort of a democracy. We used to work on songs in a room and try to bang songs out. We still do that to an extent, but now it’s Rod, Bob, Colin work on music and I come in and put lyrics to it, or me and Rod will sit down with an acoustic guitar and he comes up with a tune and I come up with the words. I do the words, but other than that it’s a democracy.

Where do your lyrics come from?

A lot of the stuff is within my thoughts, but I think this album is more of a theme than our stuff previously. I just think this album has a theme that runs through all the songs. It’s nothing too blatant.

Are you the type of songwriter that likes to have the listener make their own interpretations about what you are signing about?

Sometimes. We don’t put lyrics in the album, but we do on the website. When I buy an album I don’t like when the lyrics are printed out because I like to discover them myself. And sometimes the lyrics aren’t all that important to me. We’ve got a few songs where the lyrics are like another instrument. I mean, they are more underplayed. But then again you have songs like “Little Discourage” where the lyrics are kind of important because they hold the song together.

I think it’s kind of funny when you don’t know the lyrics and you sing a song for like five years only to discover you had the lyrics all wrong.

I know, that is kind of funny. But that is the fun, isn’t it?

It is, unless you embarrass yourself. The one group I always think of is Blur. Sometimes I have no idea what he is singing about. But then again I’ve thought he’s said certain things and thought they were brilliant only to find out it wasn’t what was going on at all.

That is funny. We had a girl come up to us once a few years ago and said, ‘I really like this line,’ and she said it and it was so profound, but that wasn’t what I was singing so I just changed after that. (laughs) I can’t remember what line it was, but it sounded great. I was singing something really quite simple.

Since I know so little about your hometown, what was the music scene like when you guys first started?

It was ’95, ’96 in Edinburgh and it has no musical scene whatsoever. There was really only one place to play and during the week it was a biker atmosphere there. But during the weekend it had more of an indie crowd. There were some crap clubs we’d play at, but there was only really four bands in Edinburgh. One of the places we played had their own record label so we put our first single out on there. Because of that, we got attention nationwide and that is when we started going to Glasgow and even went to London a few times. The single after that started the snowball. To answer your question, there really wasn’t a scene. We had about fifty regular people that would come and see us play.

What was it like going from that to opening for larger bands and playing arenas?

It was weird. We did some bad club tours at first and then we started some support tours. We’ve never supported a band where I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe we are opening for this band.’ I mean, I like Blur, the Foo Fighters, and Placebo, but I’ve never toured with a band we’ve been in awe of. I don’t think I’m in awe of anyone actually.

Do you think part of the reason there is no one today that you are in awe of is because there are no superstars anymore? No Beatles, no Led Zeppelin, nothing like that. I mean, these groups held God like status at one time or another.

There are so many more bands now and people are so much more jaded, but I think that is the wrong word. I just think it’s so hard to impress people now. They are always like ‘they just sound like…’ There is no more putting people on pedestals anymore. It also depends on how old you are. When I was fourteen, I would have been very impressed if someone in a band walked past me. When you get in your twenties, it’s still exciting but it’s more…

…like they are human. I totally understand that. Are there groups today that you enjoy? Or do you listen to different eras of music?

All eras, but I listen to mostly American music. I like Bryan Adams, Modest Mouse, Kristen Hersch, but I like some British bands as well, like Teenage Fan Club.

Do you see a lot of bands getting overrated, especially today since the market is so saturated?

There is always a band that comes along and says they are the greatest band in the world. But pretty soon they just end up getting completely slagged off because they’ve written a few songs and only one is good. The bands that say they are that great usually aren’t. Those who are good at what they do they don’t need to tell everyone how good they are.

What about Oasis who’s always championed their own greatness?

I’ve never been a fan of Oasis. They wrote a few good songs. I think they are completely overrated.

No one in recent memory has opened their mouths on their own behalf as much as Oasis.

I think it was kind of important to them in the beginning to be perceived as ‘hard as nails, the best band in the world so fuck you.’ It worked for them, and yeah, “Supersonic” was a great song, but they are so overrated. They are so static and boring live.

Are you trying to shape an image for Idlewild? I mean, do you go into the studio now and think, ‘Let’s go with this sound,’ or do you just let it go and whatever happens happens?

No more so than in the past, but we are trying different things out.

How has the States been treating you?

Quite well really.

I heard the first few shows were a bit tough.

Yeah. We were really suffering from jet lag and I had a really bad cold and so the first few concerts we had a bit of restraint, nothing very exciting, but we have gotten it going since and the shows have been really good.

What are the plans for the future?

We are touring with Placebo in May and then we are going to continue to work on the album. That’s all I’ve got really. (laughs)

+ charlie craine