Interview Thread

Interview with Isobel and Mark:

www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/aug/22/isobel-campbell-mark-lanegan-interview

interview with Isobel: www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-interviews/2010/09/03/i-lived-in-a-barn-to-keep-costs-down-for-hit-album-reveals-isobel-campbell-86908-22533467/

Twelve CDs Mark Lanegan Says You've Gotta Get

www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,695240,00.html

1 JOHNNY CASH Orange Blossom Special 1965 (Columbia) ''It was one of the first albums I heard. My folks had it. It has one of his greatest originals, 'You Wild Colorado,' which, just under two minutes long, is a beautiful little tune.''

2 THE SAINTS Eternally Yours 1978 (Triple X) ''The legendary Australian punk band. It's packed with great songs: 'Know Your Product,' 'A Minor Aversion,' 'This Perfect Day.' It's like a greatest-hits record.''

3 IGGY AND THE STOOGES Raw Power 1973 (Columbia) ''Even though the first two Stooges records are amazing, I gotta go with this -- the James Williamson record.''

4 TIM BUCKLEY Starsailor 1970 (Warner Bros.) ''One of the most bizarre records of all time. One of the most amazing records of all time.''

5 ANGST Mending Wall 1986 (SST) ''They were just a three piece and they had cool harmonies. They hardly sold any records.''

6 HüSKER Dü Zen Arcade 1984 (SST) ''Their first double album. Just a f---in' classic.''

7 AC/DC Powerage 1978 (Epic) ''It was kind of their most bluesy. On the front cover you see Angus Young with wires coming out of his arms where his hands should be.''

8 THE GUN CLUB Fire of Love 1981 (Slash) ''Actually, I'll have to go with three Gun Club records (also Miami [1982] and The Las Vegas Story [1984]) because all three are essential albums to have. It's a crime people have forgotten about them.''

9 LOU REED Transformer 1972 (RCA) ''You know, if I can use that three-in-one trick again, I'd choose these three: Transformer, Berlin [1973], and Street Hassle [1978]. All are way different from one another, but all three are badass.''

10 NEW YORK DOLLS Too Much Too Soon 1974 (Mercury) ''It's so f---in' good. It's got 'Puss 'N' Boots' and that really great Johnny Thunders tune, 'Chatterbox.'''

11 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS Easter Everywhere 1967 (International Artists) ''It's their second album, way weirder than the first. The first track, 'Slip Inside This House,' is eight minutes long. [Sings] 'Bedouins in tribes ascending from the egg into the flower...' It's just f---ed up.''

12 RAMONES Ramones 1976 (Sire) ''The bible.''

There's a nice interview with Mark in this online magazine, but...in Portuguese.

Ok, at least, the photos are very nice! Pages 56/61

issuu.com/maissoma/docs/soma_19

download: maissoma.com/2010/9/14/soma-019-free-download

Great pictures, he doesn't say anything really new, so I don't think it's worth translating the whole thing. But here's the best quote:

You have been living in LA for 13 years. Do you follow the city's musical scene?

Mark: I almost never go out. I'll only go to a club to see someone I really want to, or a friend that's doing a concert in the city. There's a friend of mine that says that taking me to a club is like taking a vampire to a church [laughs]

analuisa, eu ri com a parte "a Isobel é uma pessoa muita foda". Fiquei aqui tentando imaginar o que ele falou no original em inglês...ahahah

pictures are excellent.

Here's a rough translation of the Portuguese interview, done with Google Translate:

----

With an extensive and solid career, the singer became famous in the late 1980s as lead singer of Screaming Trees. The beginning, with friends Van Conner, Gary Lee Conner, Mark Pickerel in Ellensburg, a city near Seattle, was like any band, did a demo, called Other Worlds - later relaunched - met producer Steve Fisk, who became interested in fusing the psychedelic sound of the 1960s with the 1970s punk and garage rock of 1980, and recorded the disc Clairvoyance by Velvetones Studios, Steve.

The first album took them to the independent label SST Records, Greg Ginn (Black Flag), with which released three albums before leaving for the Sub Pop: Even If and Especially When (1987), Invisible Lantern (1988) and Buzz Factory (1989), disc farewell OSH, laden with dirt, in a portent of what would be the rock of the 1990s.

Do you think the sound of Screaming Trees when the band was changed to Sub Pop?
I think not ... I mean, I guess not much. In fact, the last album we recorded with the SST was produced by Jack Endino, who produced seminal albums for Sub Pop Sub When we moved to, there was not the Seattle phenomenon, and when everything blew up we had gone to Epic.

You recorded your first solo album, The Winding Sheet (1990), Sub Pop, when he was in the Screaming Trees. What made you pursue a more acoustic sound?
There was a guy named Greg Sage (guitarist and singer of The Wipers) which was a big influence purchases bands of that region, but that did little success outside. He recorded an album of completely acoustic album through a soul, and I really enjoyed it. It made me think I could do something like that too.

And you liked the result?
Greg found the disc much better than mine (laughs).

The fact that the Screaming Trees did not have the commercial success of bands like Soundgarden, Nirvana and Alice in Chains helped in developing his solo career?
It's hard to say. I always knew I wanted to live music. When thinking of the future, saw me doing this. Actually, I think the fact of not having done so much commercial success helped me get a good night's sleep (laughs).

In Sub Pop, the transition was quick. Screaming Trees EP Change recorded only Has Come, and was soon on Epic Records. In the middle of fights and twists, the band produced such hits as "Dollar Bill" and "Nearly Lost You," the critically acclaimed album Sweet Oblivion, and managed to drag his troubled relationship until 2000.
With the end of the group, the grunge phase Lanegan gave rise to a sound full of blues, soul and smoke. The deep voice and intense contours won more worked. In the style of gloomy figures like Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, the singer made a career of it. Solo work, which already whistled since 1994 with the release of their second album, Whiskey For The Holy Ghost, was a harbinger of a promising future.

His solo career has brought few surprises, as the album of remakes I'll Take Care of You (1999). It gives the impression that you dipped in the history of American music. The intention was to do some kind of ransom?
Not intentionally. Just wanted to sing songs that I like, not even thought of them in history. Songs that I listened to the mid-1990s, which made me into who I am today. Most are old stuff, some of the 1980s. Some I'd already recorded, but had not put in any disc. I chose songs that I know I can sing in the versions I'm most pleased.

From Bubblegum (2004) you did not release any more solo album. Is something coming?
I hope that soon I have something to share with the public. That is my idea.

Bubblegum is an album more rock and less noise compared to previous. Are you planning something along these lines?
I'll try to do something that has a bit of both styles. It's hard to say at this moment, it is difficult to speak of the future, because for me things just happen. Sometimes I start with an idea and suddenly I'm following another path.

Musicians like you and Mike Patton have a musical routine curious. They are always playing with different people, creating new projects. That was what you sought in your career?
The collaborations were just happening, and I'm happy with that. Working with different people and do things that normally I would not do makes the music interesting for me to continue. It keeps me alive. When I'm doing something alone, that is mine, I know how it is. But when I'm working with someone else, I also see the view from the other, and usually learn something new, try something different. This is very important to my happiness.

And how to manage all this production? You give yourself deadlines?
Depends on what I'm doing. If I'm home, I like to write a little in the morning and afternoon. When I'm on the road, the pace is different, I create when I have time. In general I am more on the road than at home, but I'm always writing new songs.

How was the time you spent with Queens Of The Stone Age?
It was more a bid to reconcile with Josh [Homme] and sing some songs with them. It was too much fun. I did not feel as bad. My life was routine, all I did was talk to them about music and lead the process in good. For me, playing will never be a job, because I really like what I do.

And as it rolled to partner with Isobel Campbell?
She sent a letter to my record company asking if I would sing a few songs from it. Along with the letter, sent a song. I was already a fan of the work of Isobel, was a fan of Belle and Sebastian, and also the records that she had a soul online. When I heard the song, I liked doing the project and met.

For discs with Isobel, she writes all the songs and you just interpret it. It's an interesting dynamic, because usually it is you who writes his songs.
I understand what you mean. It's different because, besides being the composition of another person's point of view of a woman who obviously is more emotional. She does this sort of music I can not do. I would also like to have a certain amount of innocence, but to me it is very difficult. At the same time, I like to sing what she writes. The Isobel is a very cool person, a great friend, I like her company. Its not like making records with her?

Greg Dulli and you were already friends of long standing. As he rolled the idea of the project The Gutter Twins?
It was something that came spontaneously, just because of our friendship. We had already made investments in each other's work. He played keyboard on my solo project, I sang with The Twilight Singers. We went along to the studio sometimes, when we had time, usually around Christmas time, to record some songs for fun, with no pretense. After some years doing this, we realized we had almost a full disc, with songs that were not just mine or his, were ours. Then we decided to form a band.

You live in Los Angeles for 13 years. Has accompanied the city's music scene?
I almost never go. Just go to a club to see someone I really want, or some friend who is doing a show in town. My friend has one that says take me to a club is like being a vampire to a church (laughs).

And what you have heard while at home or on the road?
Generally, when people ask me this, give me a blank (laughs). When I travel I like listening music, instrumental music to relax.

From The Guardian:

www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/oct/28/isobel-campbell-mark-lanegan-interview?CMP=twt_gu

interview with isobel:

www.thealternateside.org/101012/tas_interview_isobel_campbell

"we're sorry, this content is not available for your country"

And now?

This works in the USA!