indie

8hands featured interview: George Pringle

alon — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:28:41 -0400

Not long ago, we said that Pringle will be bigger than Google. Until it happens, we grabbed her for a chat and discovered a talkative and recluse girl that dreams of being an organ philanthropist and hates Windows. Don’t worry Georgina – we are in the process of making a Mac version of 8hands, and it will be as amazing as you!

You know how we feel about George Pringle – if you don’t, feel free to click here and read all about it. Today, we won’t talk too much and we’ll let Pringle spread her charm around, because as you’ll soon find out, she is very good at that.

Everyone describes you as ‘the next big thing’. Are you becoming an indie star?

“I'm pretty low profile really. People never recognize me. But that may be because I am a bit of a recluse and I don't go and hang out like indie stars do or associate myself with a particular scene. I never have many friends and I just spend a lot of time by myself, I always have done. I guess that people have been covering me recently, which is great, but I don't know if people will ever catch me like a fever. People latch on to stuff and it becomes ‘the next big thing’ when there's a gang mentality, I think. When a band is coming out and sounds fresh, it becomes like a football team or something. You want to be in their gang, you want to be affiliated with them in some way. I've never had a gang to speak of and I suppose that even though my music is very personal and it is something a listener can relate to and feel a part of, it's also quite isolating to listen to. That's why I don't think I will ever be ‘the next big thing’ in the true sense of the expression. I'm always going to be somewhere in the sidelines, spying on everyone”.

It's hard to describe your music. Let’s see you try.

“I think my music is the result of a need to articulate things that aren't articulated in current music. Like, for example, the beginning of ‘SW10’ - that was me trying to acoustically communicate sounds of my childhood, so I was using nostalgic strings but I also used that precarious moog part bleeping over the top because I wanted to make the track feel like a beginning, like an internet connection dialing up and wavering. So, I wanted the track to sound like waking up or, like, the end of something. The beginning or the end. I wanted it to sound primitive and abstract. I want things to sound suggested and un-generic. I think that the worst thing is when you can pigeonhole an artist within a genre. I think that in many ways I am deliberately trying to avoid subscribing to a genre but loosely it's electro or electronica. I think that my key motive is to create atmospheres and make music that is cinematic but direct and with a message, not just background music”.

Others who tried to describe you called used the terms ‘the art school Streets’, or ‘the British Uffie’. Which one fits you better?

“I think they're both pretty fine. I grew up loving Mike Skinner and I think that Uffie is fabulous. I suppose what I'm doing with my lyrics is probably closer to what Mike Skinner does but in terms of the use of my style and opinions, I'm more similar to Uffie. I think the result is a blend which is unique unto itself but can certainly remind you of other artists and Skinner and Uffie are pretty good company to be in to be honest”.

You’ve just released you debut EP, DIY style. How did it go? Would you rather have a label doing all the leg work for you?

“I think labels are good because they are a bank and they give you money but it was really empowering to self-release. I liked making each one individually, I think it suited my music - specifically the nature of my first EP, the songs, the sentiments - and was a kind of statement about Mass production. I think it made the experience for the listener more personal but if I get any more popular, I think I'm going to need more assistance, alas, I may have to sell my soul.”

So when will we get a full album?

“The full album may be out in September but I'm not about to rush myself. It will have some EP tracks on it but I'm still pondering as to how to knit all the tracks I have together in a way that makes sense. I tend to write very varied stuff, so I've made a real challenge for myself there”.

A tiny head with a huge talent. Georgina Pringle.

LCD Soundsystem are mentioned in your RCRDLB bio, and you also did a song called "LCD I love you" - How much did James Murphy influence you?

“A hell of a lot. LCD Soundsystem really inspired me from the use of the vocals to the beats, just everything. James Murphy is "the godfather" and he's paving the way and inspiring people who are much less able at production and songwriting”.

Who else influenced you?

“Blondie, Daft Punk, Air, The Kills, The Human League, M83, Ricardo Villalobos, the Velvet Underground and a whole load of film directors. They're more important to what ‘George Pringle’ is than the musicians, to be frank. I don't like musicians, I like people that directly affect culture with their attitudes and atmospheres. Photographers, writers, film makers and artists. I hoover all of them up, much more than musicians”.

You had other music projects in the past - what were they like? I couldn’t find any of it.

“I used to be in a punk band playing guitar, writing songs and singing. We were around before the whole MySpace phenomenon so that's probably why you can't find any evidence of us, thankfully… I also used to make music on an acoustic guitar and that was just dire. No platform for guitars and broken hearts. We need synthetic melancholia right now. I'm so sick of folky singers… I just find myself sitting there going: We had Dylan, why are they even bothering”?

What's the last really stupid thing that you did?

“I do a lot of really stupid things a lot of the time. I have a big mouth and get in trouble quite a lot with people. I suppose, though, the last really stupid thing I did was fall over and pour beer in my hair at a gig because I was so drunk because I thought it went badly and then this stupid guy was laughing at me, so I shouted at him”.

The relationship you have with GarageBand is known. Are you a true Mac geek as well? Are you a geek at all?

“I'm kind of a fickle geek. I adore Macs and I'm a real snob about Windows. I actually judge people that use Windows. Like, ‘urgh... You use windows?’ - I am anti-PC through and through. I think that I am a geek but I'm bad at problem solving, when my laptop messes up, I get confused. I like the creative side of computing and always have, since I was a child, on Claris Works, drawing pictures on the computer. I think that was the beginning of it all. On the other hand, I like not checking my email or using a computer for weeks if I can help it. I hate my mobile phone and I hate email even more”.

And how do you feel about social networks? Because the way I see it, they helped your carrier quite a lot.

“I hate social networks, but I think they're a necessary evil. Especially with my music, the internet has been the only way for me to get noticed. I suppose I use Facebook more than MySpace now, because all my friends have buggered off and made their ‘cyber home’ there - MySpace is so yesterday, apparently. But, I hate Facebook more than MySpace, it's so ugly and it's not really that nice to use and people put ugly pictures up of you the whole time. I hate that”.

A typical MySpace pic, but not a typical artist. Georgina Pringle.

Do you find music online?

“I've always been a fan of the 8bit which there is a worth of online. I really adore The Rubber Souls who are in my top friends. They are an 8bit act who do computer game, Moog based covers of Beatles songs. It's a very simple, anonymous and original way to make music. They're hilarious. I also like Watching Arthouse Films With My Daughter who is in my top friends, we've done some collaborations but we haven't even met. It's all very synthetic and I like that. We want to start a fanzine thing but I don't know if it'll happen”.

What's the best album you've heard lately?

“I don't know...I quite liked The Kills new record. I liked the new Gui Borrato record but I don't know... I am always disappointed by things”.

So let’s make it easy for you - what is the worst album you've heard lately?

“The Chromatics album was dreadful. It was really so boring”.

Last question, and probably our favorite: What would you do if you had eight hands?

“Do my hair and makeup in about three minutes flat? That would be great. I would save so much time. I would also maybe join a circus and get a lot of money from doing card tricks or something and then I would become a millionaire if we toured enough and then I'd pay for my surplus hands to be surgically removed and then I'd donate the surgically removed hands to people that need prosthetic hands. Now that's Celebrity charity work”!

8hands featured finding: The Brokerdealer

alon — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:37:31 -0400

Craig Finn is a god. Seriously. When I’m in my adoring mood (as I am at this moment) I can honestly say that he is the best writer of the decade. The lyrics that he delivers in the Hold Steady albums & b-sides are phenomenal, and his previous work with Lifter Puller is also nothing to sneeze at.

Add the wisdom and song writing to Finn’s excellent half-speaking-half-singing voice **ignore his extra-boring looks** and think of the energy and charisma that can be found in songs like “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” or “Massive Nights”. Now try to claim that he ain’t all that. Can’t do it, right?

Finn showed us that he can turn dirty bar rock into a pretty fun thing and that he can rap like the best of them (in a P.O.S. single that’s embedded at the bottom). Now, I found an old project of his, the Brokedealer, and realized that he can also be an amazing front man for some pure electronic beats. It makes sense.

Way cooler than his looks. Craig Finn. (photo taken from Enrico Fuente's Flickr stream)

The Brokedealer is a collaboration between Craig Finn and Matt “Mr. Projectile” Arnold. Around 2002 they have released two unnamed EPs, that are hard as hell to find – you can’t buy them anywhere and even the illegal ways of getting music aren’t that helpful.

I have managed to find the first EP via a members-only bittorrent site, and a link to a weird site with two other songs was sent to me by Lead_Ninja – a last.fm member that I nagged into telling me where he got them from (thank you Lead_Ninja and thank you last.fm!).

The Brokedealer are making simple old electronics – the music is far from blowing the mind, and the spirit is so not up to date that it’s ridicules. But still, Finn is nailing it, once again. He just speaks over the beat - you know… they call it “Spoken Word” and it’s got a very preachy feel to it – but it’s just so right on the money that I can’t understand why he isn’t calling up Hot Chip and demanding a collaboration that will fit his potential.

For now, all we have are these rare songs – feel free to send us the ones that we don’t have, if you are lucky enough to own them.

Download: The Brokerdealer - Sophomore Slump

Download: The Brokerdealer - The Dead Ones Look Like Dolls

8hands featured recommendation: Headlamp

Alice — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:23:03 -0400

Rock music has always been associated with electric guitars. that's why I found Headlamp to be a very courageous and extremely interesting band. You see, Chuck Criss, the main man behind Headlamp, decided to make a rock album without the use of an electric guitar.

Instead he simply recorded banjo, acoustic guitar, piano, bass, and drums which sounds great altogether. Without the presence of an electric guitar, the tunes are much more piano driven, which is always a good thing for piano suckers like me.

Criss and the rest aren't signed yet, but that doesn't stop them from working hard and preforming all over Manhattan. Their upcoming show will take place this friday at Piano's. Here's a sample of what you should expect to:

8hands featured disappointment: The new Death Cab for Cutie single

alon — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:19:20 -0400

I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for Ben Gibbard and Death Cab for Cutie. Up until 2005's "Plans", they couldn't do no wrong, and even after that not-so-great album they remained one of my favorites bands. They tried to make it big – they wanted to take advantage of the huge respect that The O.C. gave them, and I forgave them for selling out. You know what, I'm not gonna say it out loud, but "Plans" had a few great songs in its over-mainstreamed track list.

But now I'm starting to get upset. Now they have gone too far into the what-the-hell-are-you-doing land. "I Will Possess Your Heart", The first single of their upcoming "Narrow Stairs" album is out, and Gibbard, Walla and the band have never been so pretentious.

Let's just hope the full album will be better.

"I Will Possess Your Heart" is an 8:36 minute long epic journey that will bore you to death (cab for cutie). It takes almost 5 minutes until Gibbard's voice appears out of the way too dramatic and not at all impressive intro, and once the man's perfect voice is finally in business, he delivers one of his weakest lyrics ever:

"You gotta spend some time / love / you gotta spend some time with me / and I know that you'll find / love / I will possess your heart".

The "Tiny Vessels" or "Styrofoam Plates" lyrics had much more heart to them, as all of the pre-2005 Death Cab lyrics had. This new one just tries to creep us out and I'm not feeling it.

And the music? C'mon! Death Cab never was and never should be a progressive rock band. Their pop aesthetics are amazing, and just because their last album tried too hard to get some MTV screen time doesn’t mean they need to veer away so off. Just give me some catchy and not too sweet tunes so I could love you again – god knows I want to.

8hands featured interview: Antony Harding

Alice — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:22:00 -0400

Hefner's Antony Harding talks about his legendary former band, John Peel, Barbapappa and his current solo project.

It's no wonder that a few years ago Hefner got the honorable title "Britain’s Largest Small Band". Even today, 6 years after their break up, Hefner is still a big name in the music industry as its ex-members have tons of fans and every second artist mentions them as a major influence.

A while ago, Alon wrote here about Darren Hayman's last album and it inspired me to check what's going on these days with the other Hefners. While I was wandering onto different sites, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a wonderful singer/songwriter under the name of ANT, who turned out to be none other than Antony Harding, Hefner's drummer. I was even luckier when Antony accepted my interview request and found the time to answer a few questions.

Hugh's biggest fan? Antony Harding.

Why did you choose an alias and didn't stay with your real name? I mean, I get the connection between ANT and Antony, but still, it's not entirely your full name. I suspect you lose some potential listeners.

"It's always hard to get your stuff heard. It's nice when someone stumbles across it. I plan to start making records as Antony Harding one day, maybe when I hit 40. ANT was just what my friends called me and what I went under when I started doing gigs. It's a bit twee for a middle aged father innit! Mind you I'll have to sell all the ANT merchandise first though! Or I'll get into trouble."

Oh, I would hardly call you middle aged. So you're a father as well. How many kids? Have they seen you in old Hefner videos?

"Well I'm 38 next month so I'm knocking on the middle aged door surely! We have a 2 year old son. He comes over sometimes when I'm looking at stuff on youtube and asks to watch Barbapappa instead. I'm sure he'll enjoy winding me up over certain Hefner videos in the future!"

Let's talk about the past for a while. Allow me to go back in time to 1997, the day when you got a record deal. Do you remember your thoughts back then?

"I just looked through my diary from 1997. It's just full of setlists, gig and rehearsal dates. I remember Too Pure showing up at a show we did at Upstairs At The Garage and them being very pleasantly surprised with how Hefner had suddenly become much tighter- the last time Too Pure saw Hefner it featured another bass player and drummer and it seemed like it was about to self destruct at any moment. Darren took me and John to our local pub in Walthamstow that weekend and asked us both if we fancied being part of the record deal. I remember feelings of excitement. We were actually going to make records and albums and go touring!!! But we all stressed the fact that it had to be a fun experience and that we had to do things the way the 3 of us wanted. I imagined we'd be one of those little scratchy bands that John Peel liked and we'd break up after the first album or something! These days it's easy to forget how many fans we had and how much we achieved. But I'm always meeting people who say... Hefner? I love Hefner!"

Do questions like this upset you? Do you find it irritating when you are asked about your past?

"No not at all. It's all about the past innit? Nostalgia. Music especially, how it's played its part in the soundtrack of your life. Hefner was the soundtrack to many lives."

Still is. Which artists take part in your life soundtrack?

"My schooldays: Adam and the Ants, The Jam, Madness. Sixth form: The Smiths, The Cure, The Woodentops, The Damned, The Pogues, Prefab Sprout. Art College: Galaxie 500, Kitchens Of Distinction, The Wedding Present, Fieldmice. Isle Of Wight: David Bowie, Bob Marley, Kate Bush, The Clash. London: Iris DeMent, Tom Waits, Nick Drake, Guided By Voices, Lambchop, Vic Chesnutt, Belle And Sebastian, Tim Buckley, John Martyn, Stina Nordenstam. Sweden: Townes Van Zandt, Sandy Denny, Richard Hawley, Clifford T Ward. That's about the size of it!"

Oh, right… You moved to Sweden. May I ask why? And what do think of the Swedish music scene?

"For love and to escape London for a while. I've now been here happily for 6 years. The alternative Swedish music scene is very healthy at the moment. A big export. Very impressive for such a small population."

What did you feel you had to escape from?

"Well the band had just finished, so had the money, and I was back working a day job, in the kitchen of a very nice cake shop- free cakes every Friday evening! And my Swedish girlfriend was working in a chocolate shop- free broken chocolate bunnies and broken chocolate eggs at Easter! We had a very small and damp flat, all the money went on rent and bills, it seemed like a good time to move. So we went to Sweden. Life became much easier and calmer. London can really wear you out after a few years."

But you are still in touch with Darren, John and Jake, right?

"Yes. Darren played piano with me at my last London show. And while I was staying with him he recorded, mixed and performed on a track called 'Time I Was Gone' which is on my next CD. We usually hook up a couple of times a year. Jack was also playing at that show and Darren and Jack are planning some shows together where they'll play Hefner songs to promote the 'Fidelity Wars' reissue. John's a little harder to meet up with but I plan to do another song together with John soon."

Back in the day. Hefner.

Is there any chance you guys will reunite?

"I don't think any of us are interested in reforming. We reunited once for the John Peel tribute a while back. There's talk of reuniting again the day that Thatcher dies but that's a bit tricky to plan towards! I think we're much more into the idea of playing on each other's records. Jack also performed and mixed a track on my next CD. I like the idea that all 4 of us might appear on the same record again but not a Hefner record!"

I know, all of you readers are on the verge of breaking into tears, but you should cheer up and find comfort in 'footprints through the snow', ANT's last album. The album is beautifully made out of Antony's voice and guitar with simple tunes that prove sometimes complexity isn't necessary in music. It's pretty amazing when a singer/songwriter really knows how to get the job done. I can count the ones I like on one hand, since most of the time I equate intimate music as boring. There's a secret ingredient that lies within the artist, which makes the difference between a good singer/songwriter and a bad one, an ingredient that can't be captured in words. Ant has certainly got it.

Do you feel there's a big difference between Hefner and your solo project? Do you feel more exposed being in the spot light?

"My work in Hefner was mainly drumming & singing backing vocals (I did do the odd bit of guitar and harmonica in the early days until Jack joined and took over that side of things properly!) so my solo work was always going to be a bit different from Hefner, But I think you can hear my personality in all the stuff I've done. Even the drumming. My solo work definitely exposes me the most, unless you count the 'I Took Her Love For Granted' video."