Simon caught up with Aereogramme's Iain Cook on 27th November 2004 for a damn good chat and his debut KJFP interview.
You're just back from a mammoth 23 date UK tour supporting Hell Is For Heroes. How do you feel that went for the band, and do you think you won any more fans over?
That is something which is quite difficult to assess. The reaction differed from town to town. It seemed like we didn't go down so well with younger crowds. Norwich for example was quite a tough show. A 15 year old boy in the front row shouted at us relentlessly throughout the set. I think he was enjoying the band but it was incredibly off-putting. He was silenced pretty quickly before the last song when Campbell threatened to rape him. No really. On the whole though I think the tour was worthwhile for the band. People generally were a lot more receptive to our music than we were expecting. Support bands touring with a band like Hell is for Heroes who have such an avid fanbase have a tough job to do.
Although you seemingly go from strength to strength musically, does it dishearten you that the sales of your records never really seem to become particularly successful?
Thanks man, that is a nice thing to say. Of course it is disheartening when the records don't sell a lot of copies. Although it is all relative to one's expectations. We don't expect to make the charts with each release, but it has been slowly getting better since our first releases on Chemikal so we take heart from that. There are a lot of people out there who do buy the records and come to the shows and tell us what our music means to them and that is something. I don't want to get all evangelical and suggest that it was worth it for that one person who loves the band, it is a much, much better situation than that.
As well as being in Aereogramme, you all have to financial support yourselves to some extent with other jobs. Do you believe that if the band were a financially viable occupation you would make even better records as a result of the extra time at your disposal?
We all have jobs we can slip in and out of around the activities of the band. But as things stand now, the band has first priority so the answer to your question would be no, we take as much time as is needed to make the best record we can at that point in time. Having to juggle other priorities probably gives us more creative focus anyway. That is my opinion anyway, don't know about the other fellas.
What would you say is Aereogramme's greatest achievement to date in your opinion?
That would be too hard to answer. In terms of what we have recorded, I feel closest to Seclusion because we did it all ourselves for 50 great British pounds. Also because it feels like we have opened more channels to explore on the next record. But I guess all of our records have felt like that. It excites me greatly being on the cusp of writing and recording a new album, more so than any other part of being in a band. And then the fear on the eve of its release that you have just made the biggest pile of shite and everyone will hate it. Like sending your (hideous hairy) child into the world for the first time.
You have included a cover of "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, and a cover of "Lightning Strikes The Postman" by The Flaming Lips on two of your more recent releases. Why did you pick these songs and is there any song that you would particularly like to cover in the future?
The story behind the cover of Thriller stems from a drunken night. We were asked to do a Peel session, and one of us, I think Martin, came up with the idea of Thriller with John Peel doing Vincent Price's voice at the start. I was obsessed with Hammer Horror at the time (a long running obsession) and thought that a gothic/orchestral take on Thriller would be pretty funny, especially with Peel doing the 'rap' at the end. He agreed to do it, but the session was growing ever nearer and still he hadn't sent it up. A couple of nights before we went down, we got a call saying he was worried about having his voice on a song in his show (self promotion?!) he was sorry but couldn't do it. A man of integrity indeed but it was a pain in the tits. So we ended up getting one of those speech synthesizers off the internet and did it with computer voice which was just plain weird and didn't work. So when we re-recorded it for Livers and Lungs we had Craig do a kind of Gollum voice in the van outside a show we were playing in Chicago with the Delgados. That works a lot better I think, but I would love to have heard Peely doing it, really po-faced and matter-of-fact! God rest his soul.
The Lightning Strikes the Postman cover came about simply because Flaming Lips are one of those bands that we all love dearly. When we started playing it in rehearsal it just begged to be down-tuned to C and rocked-up. Obviously ours doesn't sound as sweet and psychedelic as theirs but it is a lot of fun to play and people seem to like it.
Covers in the future...hmmm that would be telling.
It seems that your lyrics are becoming increasingly darker with each release you issue, would you say this is this intentional or not?
I really have no involvement in the lyrics. Although I have heard Craig say before that this statement is confusing as his lyrics are getting more hopeful but people think they are darker. Maybe because the music is getting darker it amplifies the darkness in the lyrics. Some of the songs from the first two albums are pretty dark lyrically. I love the lyrics to A Winters Discord. That covers the whole spectrum for me, going from some of his darkest lyrics to real genuine hope. I like that the music is getting darker though, I hope it gets more so on the next release. Actually there is a song called Nightmares which will be on the next album which I think is the best thing we have ever done. It is chillingly dark and features the chorus "Only love can save me now", which is pretty heavy!
Which is your favourite Aereogramme song to listen to on CD, and which is your favourite to play live?
I tend not to listen to our stuff a lot on CD. When I do though, I probably enjoy the aforementioned A Winter's Discord, or In Gratitude most. Maybe The Unravelling too. Live I really enjoy Motion which is an old song from the White Paw EP (or the import US and Japanese import versions of Story in White) at the moment but my favourite probably changes every show.
Aereogramme famously helped launch the career of another Scottish band, Biffy Clyro. How do you feel personally about the direction their music has taken as they become increasingly successful?
I am glad to say that I don't think their music has really been compromised by their increasing popularity. They certainly don't seem to be writing blatant dumb-ass hit singles...and long may they continue not too. I like that they write music which is a lot more challenging than any of their contemporaries. Still, they probably need that hit record to make the next jump but I can't see them being too happy about having to compromise.
Your most recent release was the 6 track mini-album "Seclusion". Why did you decide to create a mini-album instead of an EP, or a more traditional long player?
Why not? We wanted to test the waters with some new ideas I guess, and an EP wouldn't have given us enough space to do that. It is also our first release on Undergroove records and it has provided an opportunity for both parties to get acquainted and see if things are working. Also I like the format, full albums require a special kind of commitment on behalf of the listener. A mini album is still short enough for people to dip in and get a feel for the music without being intimidatingly long winded. I used to love the mini albums that sub-pop bands put out back in the day. Superfuzz Bigmuff by Mudhoney was the first record I had ever heard of its type. I bought and it totally changed my outlook on music. Those guys were great, so funny and punk and scuzzy but also psychedelic. Whereas punk can often be annoyingly didactic, stoner punks are too lazy to preach about anything - which suits me fine.
On the inside cover of "Seclusion" one of the comments reads "this album would have contained every musician we know from bands more successful than we are if any of them were still talking to us" - was this a tongue in cheek remark or actually an honest one?
Hehe, that is a cheeky follow-on from a comment we made on Sleep and Release, which could be read as a jab at the Reindeer Section which read "This album contains no performances by people in bands more successful than we are", needless to say in the relatively small community which is Glasgow, it ruffled a few feathers. Subsequently Snow Patrol got massive and this is our tongue in cheek riposte. Oh well... [opens a can of baked beans]
Staying on the theme of "Seclusion", it features two versions of a rather haunting video edited so as the images synchronise with the music in places. Having been generally well received by those who bought the mini-album is this something you'd consider doing again in future?
Glad you think it has been well received. Yeah, we would love to make more films in the future. It is something Craig and I especially talk a lot about, but Seclusion was all his idea. There are a few really nice ideas being bandied around at the moment, but no concrete plans to actually make the films yet.
Where do you see Aereogramme in five years time?
I tend to try not to think about that too much. If people keep buying our records and coming to see us play, we will probably still be around in 5 years, but we would need to be more than just scraping by I think.
If you could be any film character who would it be and why?
David Naughton who played the werewolf character in American Werewolf In London because he has a soapy tryst with a young and beautiful Jenny Agutter in her shower.
What was the last CD you listened to from start to finish?
Isis 'Panopticon'. They are probably my favourite band at the moment. I like to think of them as a contemporary metal Pink Floyd. I could listen to them all day, and frequently do. And they are very sweet guys, I hope we get to tour with them again. There is nothing quite so good as getting to hear your favourite band play every night and then getting to hang out with them afterwards.
Are their any emerging bands you particularly like at the moment?
I am a big fan of Glasgow's Julia Thirteen. They are close friends of ours and Campbell and I have done some recording work with them. Their music excites me greatly though. Amongst many other things it is dark electro rock, kind of like Depeche Mode and Joy Division meets Radiohead, The Cure and Muse. Sorry for the clumsy comparisons...I hate having to describe bands.
What's your favourite TV comedy of all time?
Monty Python's Flying Circus has probably broken the most ground. Father Ted is probably the best comedy writing though...oh shit, or League of Gentlemen...too many choices.
Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
Status Quo.
Interview courtesy of Kissing Just For Practice (http://www.porrn.co.uk)