Here's the interview with Craig (vocals/guitar) from Aereogramme...
Let's start the interview by saying "what's up". You're touring Europe right now... Is this your first tour across Europe?
This is the first proper tour of Europe for us but we have played in Norway and Sweden before. This tour has been going well though so we are pretty happy
at the moment.
Could you tell us some facts of Aereogramme's historical background?
I basically met Campbell in the record store we used to work in. It was a terrible music store, more like a supermarket, so we decided to try and start a band with an acoustic guitar and weird electronic noises. We knew we needed a drummer so we enlisted Martin and Iain came along shortly after that.
You're from Scotland. What about the music scene there... Are there any other explosive bands like you?
You should check out LAPSUS LINGUAE as they are utterly amazing. Kind of like
Tori Amos getting beaten up by Shellac. Also THE JAMES ORR COMPLEX are well worth hearing. Some of the best songs I have ever heard. BIFFY CLYRO is another.
How would you describe the sound of your band?
I find this very hard to do. Maybe the best way to describe it is that we try and make music like the tapes we used to do for our friends. You always try and put on heavy bands and also quiet bands and the first and last tracks have to be special in some way. That is what our album is like. Hope that made sense!
Somewhere I read an Aereogramme interview where you described your music as "stink core". Could you give us a short explanation of that?
I was joking. Someone else asked me to describe Aereogramme's music so I made up a genre since I didn’t think we fitted into any specific scene. It's also because our tour bus smells after a week or so and I'm sure that affects us in some weird way!
What makes you different from any other bands?
I think maybe it has a lot to do with the fact that we have some brutally heavy songs ("Shouting For Joey") and also some very minimal songs ("Descending") and we have many electronic sounds scattered throughout the album. It has been done before though. We are only interested in writing the best songs we can and maybe trying to fuck them up while keeping the melody.
If you compare "A Story in White" to some of your older songs, which are quite heavy,... seems a bit of a departure from your first singles and your new album, is that a new development?
We were consticted by the small amount of money we had so we recorded the acoustic songs ourselves. We just couldn’t afford a studio to record the heavy songs but they have always been there.
I think you got a lot of positive response on your new album, haven't you?
Yeah, we have been very pleased with the reaction to the album, especially in Germany.
What about your older records... Are they still available (where can I buy them)?
They are disappearing fast. You could try www.chemikal.co.uk for semi older stuff but our first singles are sold out I'm afraid. We might try and reprint them though.
Who does the songwriting? Do you have got any specific themes you deal with?
It's me (craig) that brings in the basics of the songs and then we all get stuck in and add our own ideas. The themes are harder to explain. I get very angry with humanity as a whole sometimes but I'm part of that and so a lot of the sadness or anger that might come across from the album is sometimes directed at human stupidity and directed at myself as well.
Have you ever played in any other bands apart from Aereogramme and Ganger?
I played in a band called FUKUYAMA with Natasha from Ganger and also LES TINGLIES with Iain from Aereogramme. There should be some 7 inches kicking about somewhere in the world.
For me, Aereogramme sounds totally different to Ganger or do you see any parallels?
It's totally different but Ganger helped me play around with timings of songs which has transferred over to Aereogramme as well. I love hearing bands that don’t stay in 4/4 all the time.
Are there any bands your really admire?
I admire Neurosis very much for the intensity of their music and the fact that they concentrate so much on the visual aspect of their live shows. They also make music like no-one else I know and their new album is incredible.
What are currently listening to?
Rival Schools, New End Original, Stars of the Lid, Lapsus Linguae, Fantomas.
What happened to "Babi Yaga" (Aereogramme's label)? Does it still exist?
Only in our heads. We ran out of money pretty fast so we couldn’t release anything else but if we ever get some money together I know we will release some more.
Was the intention of your label to put out your own records or to give other bands a chance?
Both. We had our eyes on three other bands in Glasgow but we missed the chance but the main concern was to get our own records out since we were never going to try and get some major label to release or music. We have never been cool and I doubt we ever will be.
Have you ever released anything on it?
We released a CD single of Biffy Clyro but I cant remember the last time I saw a copy.
What you're going to do next?
Soundcheck! I'm writing this in the dressing room while the others are on stage. The band should also be recording the new album this year and we will be doing as many festivals as we can.
Interview courtesy of FRK Magazine (http://www.frkmagazine.de)