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TarTar
* Dog in the Sand *
1965 Posts |
 Posted - 12/06/2003 : 23:56:25
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This is from the August 2002 issue of Music Revue, which is printed in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Frank Black & the Catholics
Back in Black
By Chad Houts
The first time I listened to a Pixies album, it changed the way I thought about music - at that moment and likely forever. This was the most outrageous punk rock music I had ever heard. The lyrics were out of this world - teetering on the brink of absurdity, while the music was intensely adventurous and spontaneous - what more could anyone ask for?
Of course behind the Pixies was a young man who called himself Black Francis. Black Francis, now known as Frank Black, was the Pixies' brain trust, writing and singing nearly all of the band's songs. After the Pixies, Black kept writing and recording great music, from his solo debut (1993' Frank Black) to the most recent album with the Catholics, Dog in the Sand.
On August 20, Frank Black and the Catholics will simultaneously release two new albums - Black Letter Days and Devil's Workshop. I had the chance to converse with Mr. Black recently and here's what was said:
Music Revue: So you have two new albums coming out with twenty-nine songs in all (twenty-seven originals - including two different versions of Tom Waits' "Black Rider"). That's quite prolific if you ask me.
Frank Black: It's not that many - it's not like it's a hundred songs. You just keep doing it and it becomes easier. I mean, sometimes it's easier, which is how you get more songs. It occasionally becomes easier and in those instances you have a song instantly. Also its just time - sometimes some of the songs on my records are from ten years ago - they're just something that
never got finished off or just wasn't good enough (at the time). It wasn't necessarily that I didn't work on it for ten years, but I let it stew for ten years somewhere way back in the recesses of my mind.
Music Revue: Like "Velvety", for instance - you used to play that with the Pixies and it's noted that you had written the song when you were fifteen. How did playing that song with the Catholics come about?
Frank Black: I'm not sure, but we did start to play it in our live gigs a year ago or so, just for fun. It's kind of a loud Stonesy/Velvet Underground kind of (hums the opening riff) and we just had fun playing it. It was a way to break the ice sometimes because we'd just walk on and play it. Once we started playing it I said, "Well I should probably put some lyrics on it." I was trying to remember some lines because I did have some lyrics for it when
I was fifteen, but I don't really remember all of those lines and I'm sure they weren't very good (laughs). I remembered a certain couple of lines and the vibe of it, so there it is.
Music Revue: Since starting the Catholics, you have implemented a live to two-track recording method. What do you feel are the benefits of this method of recording?
Frank Black: Well, do you remember the first time you played around with a tape recorder when you were a kid? You had access to a tape recorder, whether it was a stereo, a boom box or even a micro cassette recorder - or maybe it was an answering machine. Anyway, I think all of us have these kinds of experiences. When you first play around with a tape recorder it's a very simple thing. The machine goes on, the speaker speaks, the machine plays it back; it's very simple. Of course when you get into modern recording it gets much more complicated than that. It's not necessarily more
sophisticated, but there are more elements - lots of tracks, lots of tape, lots of digital, lots of whatever. It goes on and on. But going back to two track, at least in terms of the performances, there's a tape recorder, some equipment and a band. The tape goes on, the band plays and the machine plays it back. There's no other manipulation beyond that other than the mastering.
Music Revue: So there are no overdubs, including the vocals?
Frank Black: There's no overdubbing or changing balance. Like if a snare drum is a little too loud - there's none of that. You have to make all of those decisions while you're recording. Sometimes you have to say, "Ok everybody that sounded good, but the snare drum wasn't loud enough". You have to turn it up and play it again. The machine goes on, the band plays and the machine plays it back - that's what our records sound like. There isn't all that fretting and manipulation after the fact - that all happens
while the band is playing live. It's either live or it isn't - including the vocals.
Music Revue: So why have you and the Catholics sort of steered yourselves away from all the layered multi-tracking that you seemingly embraced on some of your earlier work?
Frank Black: Certainly at the heart of all the classic multi-track recording when people were really getting into it in the 60's, like the Beatles on Sgt. Peppers, are very good live performances by a group of musicians. Somewhere in that song, at the heart of it is a very good performance. That's not the way most people make records any more. We embrace the spirit of those older recordings and the ones before them.
Music Revue: Have you heard David Bowie's cover of "Cactus" (from the Pixies' Surfer Rosa) on his new album Heathen? What do you think of it?
Frank Black: Obviously I am very grateful. I tried to buy the record at the store and it was sold out. I just assume that it just keeps on selling out and that I never actually get to hear it (laughs). I guess that would be good for me and good for him - hey everybody's happy (laughs). But I haven't heard it yet.
Music Revue: So do you know Bowie or have you met Bowie?
Frank Black: Well we're probably overdue for a cup a coffee (laughs).
Music Revue: Bowie also covered Neil Young's "I've Been Waiting For You" - a song the Pixies were known to cover back in the day.
Frank Black: Well, a lot people are big fans of Neil Young. Sooner or later people break down and cover Neil Young. Neil's songs are very satisfying. Just look at the way they're constructed. Anybody can just pick up a guitar and do one and they have a very good feeling. He writes great songs.
Music Revue: So how do you personally approach writing songs?
Frank Black: Well, I guess the same way as everybody else. It all starts out the same way, or the same couple of ways. For a lot of people, I guess you just pick up a guitar or play at the piano and start to play for your own amusement and a little song appears. Some people like to write the opposite way - they start with the text. They sit down with their little notebook in their favorite coffee shop or scribble a little something on a napkin because
they are basically amusing themselves. "I like this little thing here and I'm gonna use it in a song one day" - that's what people do. Some people have a more military approach. There is nothing wrong with any of it. But at the heart of it all, the reason they are there is that they like it. They are basically there to amuse themselves.
Music Revue: Tell me about your obsession with Iggy Pop.
Frank Black: Well, he's just good. It's kind of like being obsessed with a particular cup of espresso at a particular coffee shop. They put a lot of effort and care into it and they have a very nice machine and nice cups - there's no other espresso like it and it becomes a favorite. "I could get a cup of espresso anywhere, but you know what? I know this one little place." It's the same thing with someone like Iggy Pop. He's like a very, very good strain of espresso. He's just so good that you find yourself choosing it
over others - if that makes sense? (Laughs)
Music Revue: So what did you grow up listening to?
Frank Black: Donovan, the Beatles, Bob Dylan. I have to give a lot of credit to Bob Dylan because he's probably the second rock 'n' roll act that I had begun to become aware of - the first being the Beatles. I had heard lots of other music at that age, but the first ones that I started to focus in on were Dylan and the Beatles. Those were the first two big impacts on me musically at the young age of seven or eight where I was like, "Ah...now THIS is music!"
Music Revue: Your label, SpinArt, is releasing the Pixies' Purple Tape (leftover tracks from the Come On Pilgrim sessions - out July 9) as well. Care to mention something about that?
Frank Black: We decided to keep it a simple affair, because after all it's not a lost album. It's outtakes from our first album and most of the songs were re-recorded on other (Pixies) albums. You could listen to Come On Pilgrim and then listen to this with it and I guess you would have a fuller picture of what our big album was that we recorded in 1986.
Music Revue: Let's talk about the new albums. Devil's Workshop comes off as more focused on being a rock album, whereas Black Letter Days tends to mix it up more.
Frank Black: Black Letter Days is a lot longer and has more songs, so it has more of a chance to become "eclectic". It has some songs that are stripped down, some songs that are a little quirky maybe - whatever - it just has more variety. There is, in a sense, less focus because there's more detail, more things to look at. Maybe Devil's Workshop is a little rougher - it has a bit of a different vibe. But the ball is in the audiences' court now. They're going to go out and see it in the record store and decide if they want to buy
it, and, if they do buy it, they're going to decide whether or not they like it. They are going to receive the communication from me and say either, "I understand you," or they'll say, "you stink," and then I will call myself a misunderstood artist (laughs). You never know what's going to happen.
Black Letter Days and Devil's Workshop hit stores on August 20. Check out www.spinartrecords.com for more info. - Chad Houts
Turned everything black by spitting on the sun
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Edited by - El Barto on 12/07/2003 09:22:22 |
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