NME Talks To...
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Publication: NME
Date Printed: February 25, 1989
By: Sean O'Hagan & James Brown |
"So the NME thinks we're the last three heroes
of rock'n'roll, do they?" laughs Nick Cave.
"Smarmy fuckers," adds Shane McGowan,
"what they actually mean is that we're the three biggest braindamaged
cases in rock'n'roll."
"Apart from Nick", jabs Mark Smith, "Nick's
cleaned up."
"Yeah", drawls Cave, "my brains
restored itself."
A bottle's throw from Millwall FC, The Montague
Arms, a mock Gothic fun pub for morbid tourists, plays host to a bizarre
summit meeting. Amidst stuffed horses' heads, skeletons on bicycles and
mocked up corpses, three of contemporary music's most infamous individuals
are gathered at the NME's request.
Shane MacGowan of the Pogues, Mark Smith of the
Fall and Nick Cave all share an outsider's attitude that informs their respective
musical output. Both championed and castigated for their obsessiveness and
extremism, this unholy trio are dogged by reputations that precede them.
That they agreed to such a meeting is surprising.
What ensues is inspired and insane by turns. The fractured and, often fractious,
conversation sprawls between the amiable and the aggressive- Presley to
Nietzsche, songwriting to psychology, football to fanatics.
In an afternoon of sheer psychotic hellishness,
Cave plays the diplomat to Smith's bursts of contentious rhetoric whilst
MacGowan transmits his thoughts from his own singular, rarified wavelength.
WHAT REALLY WENT ON THERE ? WE ONLY HAVE
THIS EXCERPT
NME Do you
think it's accurate to describe the three of you as outsiders?
NC "I
think we have all tended to create some kind of area where we can work
without particularly having to worry about what's fashionable."
MES "Yes,
fair enough. But I think there's a lot of differences in this trio here.
Nick was very rock'n'roll to me but he's turned his back on it which was
cool. Shane's more, I dunno. To me the Pogues are the good bits from the
Irish showband scene, like the Indians. You had that feel, probably lst
that now. Your work's good though."
SM "Fuck
it man. Who wants to work in a place where there's all these people looking
at you ?"
MES "Are
you talking about your gigs ? You should stop doing them, then."
SM "Can't
afford to."
MES "Fuck
it, you could fight not to if you don't like it."
SM "...and
leave the rest of them in the lurch ?"
MES "Nah,
the rest of your band will always complain about not working. If you're
paying them a wage tell them to stay at home and behave themselves."
SM "It's
a democracy our band."
MES "Why
aren't they here with you then ?"
SM "Cos
the NME didn't want to interview them."
MES 'Cos nobody'd
recognise them."
SM "That's
it ! They want to interview us because we've got distinctive characteristics.
They just want to interview three high-brow loonies."
MES "In
that case you should have brought your mate Joe Strummer along."
SM "I
said high-brow loonies."
HITS AND MYTHS
NME You must
be aware that, consciously or otherwise, you've each created a particular
myth that has arisen, in part, from your songs.
SM "Nobody
created my mythology, I certainly didn't."
NC "No,
you (the press) created it."
SM "The
media has a lot to answer for, you're all a bunch of bastards however friendly
you are."
NC "Let's
not talk about the media. Why the hell are you talking about mythologies
? That tends to suggest it's somehow unreal."
SM "It
seems to me that in your songs, Nick, you're doing a Jung-style trip of
examining your shadow, all the dark things you don't want to be. A lot
of your songs are like trips into the subconscious and are therefore nightmarish."
NC "Possibly."
SM "You're
exploring the world through the subconscious. I've done that on occasions
for various reasons, whether it be illness or self abuse, or whatever.
Once things start to look grotesque I don't write them or sing them. I
couldn't write them the way you do, I couldn't-making nightmares into living
daylight..."
NC "I
think you do a pretty good job of it in some of your songs."
SM "The
minute it gets dark I shoot back, retreat. I haven;'t always but I do now
'cos..."
MES "Don't
give too much away Shane, don't tell them. Hold a bit back."
SM "I
haven't told them anything yet."
NME "How
do each of you approach the actual mechanics of songwriting ?"
MES "When
you ask that you induce fear in a songwriter. I just go blank."
NC "It's
not a cut and dried process."
SM "For
a start I've got to be out of my head to write. For a lot of the time it's
automatic writing. 'Rainy day in Soho' was automatic."
MES "Its
gotta be subconscious and off the wall. He says he's got to be out of his
head, and a lot of the time I have too. Sometimes, I just wake up and do
it. It's one of the hardest questions you ever get asked. For instance,
you sometimes hear things that would make a great idea for a song but you
never carry them out."
SM "I
do. Like the 'Turkish Song of the Damned' was a Kraut trying to tell me
something and I misheard him. He said, "Have you heard 'The Turkish
Song' by the Damned". Then I woke up.
MES "My
German song's better than your yours, I bet. This is like one of those
night-time discussions on Channel 4."
NC "I
write songs in batches then record them and then can't write again for
ages. I try and build one song upon another, they may not look obviously
inter-related but often one song acts as a springboard into another."
SM "You
haven't been back to the swamps for a while, have you ?"
NC "The
swamps ? Heh,heh. I've written a novel about that."
MES "Nick
thinks a novel's two pages long. Very novel, heh, heh."
NC "What's
it called ?"
MES "It's
called 'It'll Be Ready in Another Five Years'. You should write more aggressive
songs, Nick, you're getting too slow."
NC "I
haven't sat down and thought about the mood befoe I wrote them."
MES "I
find your work almost English Lit oriented, like Beckett, things crop up
again and again."
NC "And
your songs are very deceptive Mark, in the way they're sung. They might
appear at times like streams of consciousness but that's deceptive."
MES "One
thing that eally annoys me is that stream of consciousness thing. I wouldn't
let on to it normally, but it annoys the shit out of me. I put a lot of
hard sweat into them, I think about them. They have an inner logic to me
so I don't really care who understands them or not. I see writing and singing
as two very different things. My attitude is if you can't deliver it like
a garage band, fuck it. That's one thing that's never been explored, delivering
complex things in a very straight forward rock'n'roll way. My old excuse
is if I'd wanted to be a poet, I'd have been a poet."
SM "And
starved."
MES "I
can write, boy, I can write. That's what I do. People like you sit around
moaning about the state of pop music...The trouble is it's too bloody easy
for people, that's why music is in the sorry state it is. Any idiot, actors
mainly, can go in there, sing a chord, bang on a machine...I'm not objecting
to that but when people get at me for trying to say something in a rock'n'roll
mode it's as if I'm a freak."
SM "All
this talk about the state of music, rock'n'roll, Irish music, soul, funk."
MES "Salsa."
SM "Its
been proved by Acid House that anyone can make a record."
MES "We're
not thick, we all know that."
SM "Look,
I'm talking about the implications of Acid House"
MES "There's
nothing new in Acid House for me, pal. I've been using that process for
years. Bloody years. It might be new for you but don't assume it's new
for anyone else, because you're fucking wrong, pal."
SM "What
the fuck are you talking about ? Have you made an Acid House record ?"
MES "It's
the same process, right. Have you had some sort of bloody revelation about
Acid House ?"
SM "Hah
! It's obvious if you listen they put Eastern melodies over it, bits of
this nad that..."
MES "That's
what music should always have been like."
SM "It
always was."
MES "Why
haven't you been doing it for years then pal ?"
NC "I
think they have been doing it. I've heard zithers and so on. Eastern stuff
and Turkish stuff."
MES "We
had jazz arrangements in '82 when the rest of those tossers were playing
cocktail lounge music and fucking pseudo new wave, so don't talk to me
about it because I know what I'm talking about pal."
SM "Fucking
hell, what's he on about ?"
CONTAINER DRIVERS
MES
"The trouble with the music biz is that its become so bourgeoise.
A middle class executive business like the police force."
SM "A
middle class executive police force ? You must be mad ! They're stormtroopers
nowadays, thicker than they ever were."
MES "Can
we drop twe cop talk ? It's the same with everything else, like lurries..."
SM "Lurries
? What are lurries ?"
MES "Lurries.
Containers that deliver your fucking food to your fucking house, alright
?"
SM "Lorries
! Yeah right."
MES "The
drivers are paid the lowest wages because everyone wants to sit in the
office and be a ponce. You can't just go into a hotel and write your name,
you've got to fuck around on a bloody computer. Nobody wants to work anymore."
SM "Oh
God ! You make me wanna puke sometimes, you do. Of course nobody wants
to work. Who in their right mind wants to work ?"
MES "Alright,
alright, that's obvious, the sky's fucking blue. Soccer's the same. None
of the fuckers want to hit the ball in the back of the net. They're all
too fucking muscley. And thick. Running up and down the field like bloody
morons. The England team are all bloody minor executives who can't kick
the ball in the back of the net, can't do the bloody job they're hired
to do. I do loads of gigs, that's my job to play loads of gigs, I'm not
an executive, I don't mind playing in front of a load of sweaty people."
NME "Do
you two still enjoy playing live ?"
NC "I
don't know if I do. The first Kilburn show was a nightmare."
MES "What's
new with The Bad Seeds ?"
NC "I
used to hate playing live totally, just the whole physical exhaustion wass
too much for me."
MES "Bleeding
workshy Australian. Australians never do any work."
NC "The
last tour, going on stage was a release."
MES "Sexually
?"
NC "As
my life gets more constipated and cramped going on stage I'm able to purge
myself in some way."
MES "A
bowel release."
NC "I
feel more relaxed."
MES "With
Mick Harvey behnd you with the vaseline."
NC "Put
a muzzle on this guy."
SM "The
gigs I enjoy are the ones where I am so angry and paranoid, and I hate
the audience so much, that I put everything into it to feed off the aggressive
side of it. I don't actually hate the fans but when I'm feeling angry,
pissed off and full of hate, it's a good gig for me."
NC "An
audience is the perfect thing to unleash that hate and venom on. It doesn't
necessarily mean that you hate everyone in the audience but when you've
got a so-called adoring mass in front of you, it's a perfect target for
that kind of disgust. Sometimes you find yourself in a position where you're
venting your disgust on an audience and a lot of them keep coming back
because they actually like that aspect. In a way that diffuses the feeling
and you don't get the same release."
MES "You
gotta reassess your audience, make sure they aren't just coming to throw
ashtrays at your head for fun. Shane says he goes on full of twist, you've
got to. If you don't you're fucking fucked, that's whats wrong with a lot
of acts these days, they do fucking yoga before and go on all fucking relaxed.
I've been with Fad Gadget and he was doing incense and headstands. The
English soccer players could do with a lot of twist, they should be put
in a room and made to go round in circles, and told "if you don't
do a good gig tonight then you're not getting paid."
NME "Shane,
you obviously don't enjoy playing live anymore, is that through being on
the road too much ?"
SM "I
feel like I've spent the last five years of my life on the road. It hasn't
affected my songs but it has probably affected everything else about me.
Obviously, the more you travel, the wilder the things that keep happening
to you, the more likely it is that complete strangers will knock on your
hotel room door."
"It's rare when
a group comes along that has any real soul to them."
Cave |
MES "Nick
and I don't related to that 'cos the people who come up to us either hate
our guts or wouldn't really want to be alone in a room with us. You're
a very amiable guy, Shane."
NC "I'm
not sure what you're talking about here but the way people related to me
in the dressing rooms and so on was incredibly aggressive. They know every
record and they seem to think they should nudge me or bump into me as they
go past.It was this incredible performance that used to amuse me. I think
we share something in common on that level 'cos, like, in the early days,
people were drawn towards us like they'd be drawn towards a car smash..."
SM "I
read about the fan mail that Freddie Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm
Street movies gets-real sicko stuff, loads of letters from genuine corpse
freaks and child killer types. It frightens him shitless. That sorta thing
freaks me out."
NC "There
is a definite relationship between that fanaticism and the fact that, as
a performer, you expose more of yourself, of the undercurrents of your
personality. Most rock personalities subdue that or chose not to explore
it."
HEROES AND VILLAINS
NME "Mark,
of the three of you, would you admit to being the professional cynic ?"
MES "No,
cynicism and defensiveness are two things constantly levelled at me. Look,
I've got time for people, I'm good mannered. I usually find that when you
are down, nobody has a bloody minute for you. If I was a nobody, you wouldn't
even talk to me."
SM "You
are nobody."
MES "Fuck
off. It's bloody true. Neither would you, Nick."
NC "Bullshit!
That's bullshit I take offence at that."
MES "I'm
not levelling anything at you. People, in general, don't like being upfront
and civil. They hate you for it. They label you a cynic 'cos you're reasonable."
SM "You're
no reasonable though. You're a rude bastard. That's fair enough."
MES "Ok
I'm cynical. But I'm not defensive. I'm slightly paranoid which is healthy."
SM "Slightly?"
MES "Listen,
Sean [sic], do you walk around London embracing everybody? If I was in
the bleeding gutter you wouldn't piss on me."
SM "I
would."
NC "Your
reaction is becoming very defensive, Mark."
MES "You're
a failed psychiatrist."
NC "I've
analysed you, alright-defensive paranoid with delusions of grandeur."
MES "I've
had discussions like this all the time in pubs. I end up beaten half to
death on the floor. I try to be civil and people assume I'm attacking them."
SM "You
attack people all the time. In the press."
MES "I
used to. It became too routine so I gave it up. Nietzsche said 'Embrace
your enemies'. You two aren't my enemies so I won't embrace you."
SM "Read
a lot of Nietzsche, have you?"
MES "All
his stuff. I can't quote him. I'm not into him anymore, gave up three years
ago. He taught me a lot, though. We're not all born public school boys
like you."
SM "I'm
not a born public school boy."
MES "Do
you like Brendan Behan, he's good."
SM "Yeah,
he's not a fascist maniac posing as a philosopher."
MES "If
we're gonna talk philosophy, that's a load of crap! The Nazis adopted his
creed and distorted it, they misquoted him all the time."
SM "'The
Will to Power'? Try re-interpreting that statement. You can't. It says
what it says."
MES "He
wasn't a Nazi-you're only saying that because some polytechnic fucking
lecturer told you he was."
SM "I'm
saying it 'cos I read two of his books where he dismissed the weak, the
ugly, the radically impure, Christianity, Socrates, Plato. He was anti
anyone who hadn't a strong body, perfect features..."
MES "That's
the coffee table analysis. He was the most anti-German pro-Semitic person..."
SM "His
books were full of hate."
MES "You've
just said you're full of hate when you go onstage."
SM "I
don't go around saying Socrates was a cunt, Jesus Christ was an idiot,
do I ?"
MES "Jesus
Christ was the biggest blight on the human race, he was. And all of them
Socialists and Communists- second rate Christianity. It's alright for you
Catholics. I was brought up with Irish Catholics. Some of my best friends
are Irish Catholics."
SM "Listen
to him."
MES "Hitler
was a Catholic vegetarian, non-smoker, non-drinker. The way you're talking
about Nietzsche is that anyone who's a non-smoker, non-drinker is a Nazi.
That's the level of your debate, pal. You don't know fuck all about Nietzsche,
pal."
SM "You're
anti-socialist, too, aren't you ?"
MES "Yeah.
I'm an extreme anti-socialist. You don't live on a housing estate where
there's been socialism for thirty years and they keep saying it's gonna
get better all the time and it never does. Thirty fucking years of it getting
worse and worse. You obviously haven't experienced that, living in London."
SM "What's
the alternative ?"
MES "I
don't have to worry about that. I'm an adult. I'm working class, me. I
come from a generation that fucking created this nation pal. You lot, you
just sit around and talk about socialism, you're the bloody problem. Eighty
percent of this country are white trash, working class. How come they don't
vote Labour? 'Cos the Labour Party are a fucking disgrace, that's why.
Engels- he was a factory owner in Manchester exploiting 13 year old girls.
Learn your history, pal, learn your history. I suppose you blame all Ireland's
problems on the British. All the problems of the world are down to Britain.
That's what you think, why don't you say it? You can't tell me anything
about oppression 'cos, I'll tell you something pal, if you'd been part
of Germany, you'd have been liquidated. If you were part of Russia, you
wouldn't even exist. Don't tell me about oppression, my parents and grand-parents
were exploited to the hilt. Sent to wars, they had gangrene in their teeth.
My grandfather was at Dunkirk and all you can see is Margaret Thatcher
on my face when, actually, She's on Nick's face. Isn't she Nick ? Come
on Nick, help me out. Basically, I like to discuss things right down the
line and I don't agree with anybody..."
KING INC
NME "This
is getting a bit out of order, can we talk about something less acrimonious.
Heroes?
SM "You're
into Presley, Nick."
MES "A
lot of Presley's good stuff was overlooked. Like, the NME viewpoint that
he died when he came out of the army. I think the opposite, his best stuff
came after the army."
SM "That
figures. He was a pile of shit when he came out of the army compared to
before he went in. His mother died when he was in the army. That was one
of the causes. Anyway, he did some good stuff in the late '60's after the
army- 'Kentucky Rain', 'Suspicious Minds', 'In the Ghetto' as opposed to
'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Blue Moon of Kentucky', 'That's alright Mama'. I suppose
that's all shit to you , is it ?"
MES "I'm
not saying that but everybody writes the later stuff off..."
SM "Who
ever writes off Elvis ?"
MES "Look,
pal, Elvis was the king, right? To me, Elvis were king. He was only the
king 'cos he sustained it. You probably think he's somekind of criminal
'cos he went in the army for a few years. You're insinuating that I'm pro-army
and if you have anything to say on that score, say it now, pal and I'll
fucking argue right through you !"
SM "What
! He's off again."
MES "I'm
into Merseybeat at the minute- The Searchers. I respect Dylan. The only
good thing I've heard of his is that LP he did with George Harrison and
Roy Orbison."
NME "You
seem to prefer older music, is there nothing contemporary that appeals
?"
NC "It's
rare when a group comes along that has any real soul to them. Rock'n'Roll
history isn't long enough. There's three or four blues people that I like
after filtering through loads of blues. There's about three gospel bands,
a handful of country ones. I have to draw on the....what are you laughing
at, Mark ?"
MES "Oh
nothing, heh heh, I'm really into John Lee Hooker myself. He's great solo
without a band. His bands are crap. I was always into more experimental
bands- Can, Faust. I won't say German 'cos Shane'll have an epileptic fit.
I think Nick's more traditional and I espect that but, I'm into things
like Stockhausen, The United States of America and Gene Vincent and rockabilly.
That's my influences. And I always prefered Lou Reed to the Velvet Underground."
NME "What
do you think of the blanket critical approval of Morrissey ?"
MES "Morrissey's
another Paddy! A South Manchester Paddy. Shane's got more to say than Morrissey."
SM "I
think you guys are encouraging Mark to be like this. You journalists love
it."
MES "Of
course they do. That's the NME policy, they love a good argument. Don't
you lads ?"
Things fall apart. The unholy trinity climb on
the pubstage. MacGowan on drums, Smith on guitar and Cave on the organ.
A jam of sorts ensues- The Velvets meets Hammer Horror with a hint of Acid
House. Totally wired. Summit mental.
Copyright 1989 NME All rights reserved
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