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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
 Posted - 09/01/2010 : 10:09:20
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BostonHerald.
Black Francis brings ‘Erotik’
art to intimate space
By Jim Sullivan
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Black Francis will be doing what he’s done a lot over the past few years. He’ll be
singing and playing guitar with the Pixies, the famous Boston-bred alt-rock
quartet he leads.
But Thursday, Black Francis - born Charles Thompson IV and also known as
Frank Black - will play the Beachcomber in Wellfleet, with Eric Drew Feldman on
bass and pump organ and Todd Demma on a small drum kit.
It’s as close-up as you’ll likely ever see Black Francis. He’s near the end of a
small club tour, supporting his solo album “NonStopErotik,” but Francis and his
band will also dig into the Pixies catalog and Francis’ previous solo output.
The Pixies had a brief
recording life (1987 to
1992) and an
acrimonious split. They
reunited in 2004 and
will soon commence
another leg of their
“Doolittle” tour,
featuring the 1989
album of the same name.
Will the Pixies ever
record again?
Francis, 45, considered the question when he talked with the Herald by cell
phone while traveling from Vancouver to Oregon, where he currently makes his
home.
YouTube - Black Francis- I Sent Away (Official Video).
I’m never quite sure how to address you.
There was a time when I was occasionally crossing paths with David Bowie and
I liked it that he was never quite sure what to call me either and referred to me as
Francis. I loved it.
You’ve never hidden your real name. But solo you were Frank Black and now
you’ve gone back to your Pixies name. Any reason?
A symbolic gesture to the universe. Trying to get back some of my fire, man! A
few people bought into it, some didn’t.
Your music, with Pixies or without, has your stamp, but you play to much
smaller audiences as a solo artist.
That’s the reality. I suppose other people are more sensitive. They don’t want to
do a show unless it’s really big. I don’t have time to fuss with it either way. I like
doing both. I almost tell myself the clubs is really where I’m from. That’s where
we started, the blueprint of the Pixies’ personality. But that theory’s kind of falling
apart. I realize now that when we do a warm-up show in a small club, the band
practically feels awkward. I don’t think they’re a club band anymore and are more
comfortable in little arenas.
No disrespect, but Pixies is kind of a cash cow for you.
It’s kind of turned into my day job, yeah.
And Pixies’ audience has grown over time, the kids of original fans joining
their parents.
Yeah, I’m thrilled that our sea is big. Or big-ish. But I accept whatever comes.
There’s not really a lot of analysis. There have been occasions where a tour has
been offered and I have to confess the timing was very good, and I’m sure there
was a collective sigh of relief from all of the spouses involved - “Thank God you
guys are going on tour.”
What does the audience get at a Black Francis show that they don’t at a
Pixies show?
When I play with Pixies there is a yin-and-yang energy, because (bassist) Kim
(Deal) is up there. The male thing gets reeled in, or balanced out, and I think that
is pleasant, or palatable, to more people. I think when you get me on your own
the yang is a little out of control.
But you’re not exactly macho.
I’m not a macho man,
but I’m a guy. I have a
guy outlook, whatever I
inherited from my father
- a New England kind of
no-nonsense, cut-the-
crap personality.
Your music can be
very noisy. Is this tour
quieter?
It all depends on what side of the bed we get up on. When we turn things way
down, the pump organ kind of dictates. Then when Eric picks up his bass it’s
more normal rock volume.
Will Pixies ever do a new album?
God, I sure hope so. I would want to do it, but I don’t know if they’d be on that
same page. I did some music with a couple of the guys (guitarist Joey Santiago
and drummer David Lovering), and it was OK, but it was like making a demo for
my solo record. It wasn’t the same because Kim wasn’t in the room. Whether it
be her contributing her talent or just being a thorn in my side, her personality is
not there, so it isn’t the same. I think part of her wants to do it and part of her
doesn’t. She’s torn. I understand and empathize with that.
So?
We’ll see what happens. I’m not tooting my own horn here, but the way other
people reference us, basically the whole catalog is two thumbs up. It was just a
little five-year thing and so it’s become the gospel for our little band and it’s hard
to mess with it. If we do record, we’re going to step into this potential quagmire.
So we’re reticent. If we get gigs offered to us, we go, “Oh good, we can avoid
doing that now.”
Black Francis, at the Beachcomber, Wellfleet, Thursday. Tickets: $20; 508-349-
6055.
- jim@jimsullivanink.com
PIXIES SHTICK: Black Francis and band will play some
Pixies songs at the Beachcomber. |
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matto
= Cult of Ray =
USA
954 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2010 : 10:26:08
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al.... most.... there.... new.... rec.....
sminki pinki |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
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lumpy
- FB Fan -
127 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2010 : 06:28:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Carl
Another short interview with FB here... probably too short to merit it's own thread!
Pixies: Reunited, and it feels so right.
I like how Dancing the Manta Ray is described as "Monster Grunge" |
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Grotesque
= Cult of Ray =
France
777 Posts |
Posted - 09/10/2010 : 10:59:47
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Mmm thats's strange how they question themselves about how the new material should be faithfull to the past. Pixies is not exatly a trad' band trying to respect the past.
Bossanova was a new step, Trompe le monde another one, and Frank Black's first album was a possible followup to that. If you do the same thing twice you just get bored, and FB perfectly understood that. And if i listen to Kim Deal's "post" pixies discography, it seems she also likes to take some risks. So what's the problem? To me they could perfectly make a metal machine music album or a calypso album, that would be just fine.
Actually, a band of today that 'd sound exatly like Trompe le monde would be just another stupid alternative band.
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Edited by - Grotesque on 09/10/2010 11:01:43 |
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ruzom
= Cult of Ray =
France
267 Posts |
Posted - 09/10/2010 : 13:20:15
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Is it even possible? Anyway to sound is a thing, to have such good songs though...
But:
quote:
Originally posted by Grotesque
a metal machine music album
Yes!! PLEASE. |
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Grotesque
= Cult of Ray =
France
777 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2010 : 12:13:43
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quote:
Originally posted by ruzom
Is it even possible? Anyway to sound is a thing, to have such good songs though...
I dont know well Placebo and that kind of vain loud pop stuff but to me they sound like they wanted their own Trompe-le-monde wall of sound.
Anyway the thing with that record is half the songs where created or assembled during the studio sessions, and for that reason it seems the mood was quite tense (Gil Norton said he was going crazy). But that was a good risk to take, a perfect way to reinvent the band. This record is like a Kubrick movie: you can allways find a little something that still surprises you.
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Edited by - Grotesque on 09/12/2010 12:14:02 |
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Boston Herald interview, 1 Sep 2010.
