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David
: Your new album “Don’t Tell Columbus" unlike your
previous album is a slightly more laid back affair. Is
the overall tone and feel of a new album something
you conceive of in advance of writing, or does it seem
to take shape during the writing and recording
process?
Graham : Well I never know what I will get when I start writing. I may
have an intent in the beginning or idea that’s kind
of vague but it always doesn’t pan out that way.
With these songs I had a half dozen of them already
from the album before. So I had songs like
“Ambiguous” before hand but it would have been out
of place on that album so I shelved it and seeing I
had so many in advance I was able to tailor it going in that direction which to me is always
interesting. I’ve been doing that for a while
now... in the 90’s I recorded “12 Haunted
Episodes” which was a very acoustic album then I
followed that up with “Acid Bubblegum”. Having so
many songs in advance that didn’t fit on my last
album, I wanted to be true to those songs and continue
in that vein... so I got a very different record and
more acoustic oriented and I had a pretty good plan
and amazingly it worked out. So that’s always a good
thing at this stage in my career.
It’s always gratifying that the material
comes together and I knew it was strong and the intent
and content and make all the angles pull together.
David
: Even though “Don’t Tell Columbus” is a bit
more subdued of an album it does contains some biting
commentary, through songs like "England's Latest
Clown" and "Stick To The Plan". Can you
tell me about those 2 songs?
Graham : Well England’s Latest Clown was inspired from the guy from
that Libertines band. When I wrote that, I had read an
article a few years ago in the New York Times about
him and I was very entertained by the idea of this guy
being the typical “This years model” kind of guy
in England, and he was taking it very seriously to the
point of being put in jail a few times, once for
burglarizing a bandmate's flat... this is very funny
stuff. Obviously people think it’s just about some
guy which its not, it’s about our reaction to it and
how now a days we get entertained by these fuck up’s,
and these people who shouldn’t be getting this press
by being assholes. The last verse I had to kill him
off, its like that is what we are waiting for almost.
David
: It’s quite fitting that way isn’t it?
Graham : Yeah, we want them to die badly for our
entertainment... c’mon die now, overdose or
something... just keep us entertained. I mean that song
could have been on a rock album, it’s a tough
ballad. I was real pleased with that.
With “Stick To The Plan” obviously its very tongue in cheek, a lot of
fun involved. You don’t want to get too heavy handed
when throwing in references about political gaffs and
I really threw the kitchen sink into that song with
references to the President talking to God and right
after that guy sitting on the stool slurping up
ketchup. One is about Bush and then John Kerry as
he’s married to the ketchup heiress and how they are
working for the same team is basically my summation.
Then you have a bit of Darwin thrown in and this nonsense how it creeps
up in America as it does now and again and the
anti-Darwinism. Then there is the airplane workers
with turbans, strip searching couples from the
mid-west. The tune swings and you have the roots of
rock 'n roll in there. You have Bill Haley and the
Comets and the Stray Cats and Jerry Lee Lewis and then
throw the kazoo in there which is throwing the
raspberry at these characters. It’s a lot of
humour
in there, not just the words but the music too. Its
just intuition and I thought the kazoo was the best
funny instrument to throw in there. Can’t really
throw a serious instrument like a sax in there. So
very pleasing stuff for me to come up with, I must
admit.
David
: Your last 3 albums in-particular have garnered
universal praise with critics and fans alike. Do you
feel you are just now hitting your stride as a
songwriter and musician or have you just found other
ways of expressing yourself that seems to resonate
with the public?
Graham : It’s hard to tell. I think it’s quality that counts
especially with someone like me who doesn’t sell
millions of records and can’t get away with stuff
that’s not good. It’s got to be good to stay with
the pack of stuff that I’ve written and I can’t
promise that will go on forever. I have no control
over it. You can do your best but if you don’t have
that spark of inspiration, I don’t know what would
happen. I’ve been very lucky with the past 3
albums. I’m not sure if I’ve hit the stride and gone
through it or what.
I will say I do have one song I was starting to write that I won't say
that much about, but I wrote it around the time of the
“Columbus” songs and shelved it as I thought it
was too controversial, too literal and I’m recording
that on Tuesday with some of the guys who backed me up
on the last tour who I dubbed “The Latest
Clowns”. So we will give that to ITunes or Emusic or
something like that.
So I get these songs that slip between albums and they shouldn’t be on
albums, they are kind of on the limb. I’m not sure
if that’s a direction. I don’t think so...
its
just one of those oddball things that will come our
separately. So I don’t know what's coming
next. I
just know the quality and vision has to be there and
I’ve been lucky that I just soldier on and do my
best.
David
: You’ve seemed to have had many so called
"comebacks" over the years as the media
would tag it, would you agree with this, or is it more
just a case of gaining a new audience every few years
and releasing consistently good albums ?
Graham : It’s hard to tell. It’s impossible to tell. The 90’s were
kind of flat here and there. The 80’s were very
difficult with me leaving “The Rumor” and
releasing albums that were a bit different and with
the 80’s you have that techno 80’s element going
for it. It's like one of those showbiz sayings "if
you stick around long enough, you never know what’s
going to happen".
I just think that now there’s an appreciation for
the things I do.
David
: It seems everything comes full circle doesn’t it
? Stick around long enough and it will come back full
circle to you.
Graham : Exactly yeah ! It’s
a credit to the songs I write, that other forms of
music doesn’t come along and blow it out of the
water. I mean if you listen to a lot of the new acts
that come along, how many sound that different to what
I was doing in ’76? They are writing songs to which
I’ve given influence. In ’76 I wanted to destroy
progressive music. I wanted to write songs what I
would call the 3 and a half minute multi-influenced
pop song. That’s all it is. It’s a standard and a
new band is doing that, but they are putting their own
angles and bits 'n pieces on it and since it's all
available to them that what they use to create their
own 3 and a half minute pop song whether it's John
Mayer or that Jack Johnson fellow... its not that much
different.
David
: Do you think then that you get your due, as
influential as you were?
Graham : Hmmm not really. I’ve never sold a huge amount of records.
To
do that you have to, I mean I should have had one huge
seller and I’ve never had that. You know you never
truly get validated.
What’s funny is that someone sends me a page from MOJO the other week
and there’s this article with this DJ called Steve
Lamac or something.
David
: Yeah, he’s on BBC Radio 2... very influential over
there.
Graham : Yeah, the king of the “Indies” or something like that and
they asked him what his favourite album was and he said
my album “Squeezing Out Sparks” and he’s this
young guy, like some spotty kid and I’m looking at
his picture thinking “What the fuck is this?
And
my album is his favourite album ?" So I emailed him
and thanked him and he wrote me back telling me how
much he liked that album and how much it meant to him
and how much he likes my new album.
So... there’s good signs out there.
David
: As anyone who has been to your website can tell,
it’s very fan friendly with you answering fan
questions and it seems to have a real personal touch.
How important is it to you to be somewhat accessible
to you your fans ?
Graham : Well you know, the thing about that is this guy who does that,
John Howells, who started that before the internet was
something people were all talking about. He was very
quick on the mark. So when I was communicating with
him about it I was actually writing letters and
sending them out and talking to him about it and then
he said fans have given him questions and I said
“Well let me have a look at them” and the next
thing is I am answering them and having fun ! I think
it’s the iconoclast in me to want to debunk these
myths about me when people go on about Pub Rock and
that kind of thing and the mythology and I just want
to tear it apart and tell the truth.
You know with the pub rock thing, I had to just set the story straight
that I didn’t even know what that was. I was living
in the suburbs of England and put an ad out looking
for musicians and I met one guy who introduced me to
another guy who ended up being my manager who then put
musicians around me and then a year into my career I
find out I’m being called a “Pub Rocker” which
surprised me. I mean I was influenced by hit records
by the Stones and the Supremes and Van Morrison and
Dylan and they are all thrown together and I’ve
never heard those people called “Pub Rock” so I
like to destroy the myth.
Then you get people who ask
really strong questions, and then people who ask the
same old questions like “When are you getting back
together with The Rumor” ? Well if a very rich
Japanese person offered me a million dollars well then
maybe, otherwise I am paying for it you know. Someone
said “Why don’t you do a one off show in New York
with The Rumor” ? Well I have to say, look we have 5
people in 3 different countries, let’s put them in a
rehearsal room with at least one roadie and a tour
manager, then you have hotels for them and all of a
sudden it’s costing me $30,000 and what’s the gig
going to pay me, $2000 ? Well maybe $5000 since it’s
with The Rumor. I’m not with a major record company
so I don’t get tour support anymore which it takes
years to realize anyways that you’re paying for in
the end. When you’re young and enthusiastic, you say
“ok give me $30 to $50,000 for tour support thank
you” and I didn’t care that it was me paying for
it in the end. So I love to point this kind of stuff
out to people and it’s not like “Hey lets all hook
up in New York”. That’s why The Police re-form
and Graham Parker and The Rumor don’t ! It’s nice
to give people a slice of reality sometimes.
David
: You have been on Bloodshot for the past 3
albums. Are you at a point in your career where you have total
freedom and always deliver the album you want without
interference ? Was there ever a case where you felt
pressure from a label to put something out that
wasn’t representational of you at the time?
Graham : No. Never, that’s another part of mythology, that I’ve had a
lot of trouble with record companies. The only trouble
I had was in the first couple of albums was with
Mercury, that was in the day when the record people
were in their 50’s at Mercury and all they cared
about was back catalogue in America. They never put any
promotion behind new music, and then I wrote the song
“Mercury Poisoning” which doesn’t help my cause
at the time. I mean the only thing I’ve gotten from
major companies was lots of money, which is a good
thing. Arista signed me before my contract was up at
Mercury giving me huge amounts of money and they had
no input into the albums. My manager at the time at
least knew that much. I was someone who should not be
messed with as a songwriter. When you can write 2
albums in a year like I did in 1976, you don’t need
record company people looking over your shoulder.
So I
always got the money, made the record, handed it in
almost always done and sometimes record company people
would come down to listen to rough mixes and you would
give them loads of drink and drugs
but basically there was no interference. So
with Bloodshot what I do is finish the album, pay for
it myself, take care of the mastering give them a call
to let them know how much it cost me, and ask them if they
want it. So basically it’s the same, only the money
is not as good.
People say to me “Oh it must be wonderful to be on an indie label”.
And I say to them “Well if Universal wanted to sign
me and pay me $300,000 I'd do it in a minute. Even
if they weren’t going to do anything with it. I mean
there’s only so much you can do with this kind of
music. So you’re kind of limited so you might as
well take the money. That’s not going to happen, so
I am happy with Bloodshot. The thing with Bloodshot
is, they are so nice and honest and if they are late
with payment, they will call you and apologize and
explain the situation and it’s fixed right away and
I’m like “Christ, you actually admitted that we
made some money ! Great thank you !"
They are really good and they’ve said yes to every album.
David
: You have lived in the U.S. for a little while now,
was there an event or something that happened that
made you feel like you wanted to discuss that now on
the new album? The title song on the album somewhat
discusses that does it not, living in the U.S. ?
Graham : Well I’ve had a place in the States since the 80’s, I had a
loft in New York and now I am based out of the
Catskills. The thing about the States is, I can have a
place in the mountains... I mean I come from the
country in England and that’s where I want to live
and in the States. In the Catskills you can have a
place with acres of land and its affordable which is
impossible in England. I still have a place in England
but I’ve become used
to being here most the time.
David
: You've been wrongly lumped in the Punk scene in the
late 70's, then you had the 80's to contend with
competing with those bands of the day... Is there a
comparison that you still get to this day that you
wish would just go away whether it be a scene or
person?
Graham : Yeah, its very boring and I wish all would just accept the music
for what it is and some do. Others got to find that
reference point as there are people going to pick up
their newspaper who don’t know who I am and need
that reference point. It doesn’t worry me that
much. It’s the way it is, and I can’t control it.
I have
felt like through the website and the Q & A’s on
there that more people are writing about me in the
sense they don’t say anymore that I came up at the
same time as Punk and Elvis Costello. A lot of these
people know better than that. Punk really wasn’t
around in 1976, there was one Ramones album that came
out but all the rest came out in 1977 and Costello
didn’t put his out until ’77 and I made 2 albums
in ’76 alone. And like or not when
you're 24 or
25 the first year of your career feels like the
longest year in your career, and there just was no Punk
but there was GP and the Rumor and we were all over
the press then. Rolling Stone magazine sending people
on tour with me and stuff. People think the Punk bands
and I were jolly good mates and we came up together
which isn’t true. When I started playing live, I was
playing to crowds who would sit cross legged on the
floor with long hair... progressive music was what
was happening at that time in 1976. It wasn’t
Punk. It wasn’t anything of the sort. There were a handful
of people who heard the first Ramones album and wanted
to be like that and it didn’t happen until ’77.
And
finally there are some press now who admit that but
then there are still some who would rather go with the
myth and I’ve had to put them right over the years
and they are like “Oh really ?” and then I’ll say
“Then why don’t you print that then ? Why not print
the truth ?" In 1976 GP and the Rumor were in a field of
one. We were headlining in theaters, not pubs.
And
along came the Pistols and then we're playing in
pubs. So they need to get that straight.
David
: The song “Love Of Delusion” is a very
interesting story of love gone wrong as it appears to
me. Tell me about this song ?
Graham : Well it's taking the notion of romantic love which is
delusional. That’s what it is. There is plenty of evidence to
show what it does to the human mind and body. It’s
like a drug. I just picked up that idea and ran with
it. Look at television and sitcoms and all
that. It’s almost all about this, is the ideal state of
mind to be in. State of romantic love, and it’s a
hideous state to be in and it’s like living in a
nightmare. So I thought it was an interesting idea.
David
: For a new fan of yours who may be picking up their
first album with “Don’t tell Columbus”, what
previous albums of yours would you recommend they pick
up next ?
Graham : Well I’d say “Struck By Lightening” for sure. I think
it’s a fascinating album, not that far off from my
new album in feel. I’d say if they want a taste of a
classic from the 70’s... I’d say “Squeezing Out
Sparks”. After that it’s anyone’s
guess. Maybe they might be interested enough to hear the
first album “Howlin’ Wind”. I think one of my
most interesting albums was “Burning Questions”.
I
don’t know if you can get a hold that album.
Well
you can, but it might not be for the price you want, but
if you really want something very interesting and
something that got my career rolling again was an
album called “Mona Lisa’s Sister”. It’s hard
to pick but “Struck By Lightning”, “Squeezing
Out Sparks” and “Mona Lisa’s Sister” are 3
albums for sure they should go for, and if they know
people who own them tell them to burn them so they
don’t have to pay ! (laughs)
David
: Well with the advent of ITunes, music is so much
more accessible... or is it ? What is your take on
ITunes and the state of major labels today?
Graham : You know, we have to exploit everything we can now a days but
for an artist of my age, you can’t exploit iTunes to
any real effect. It’s a young act that will catch a
trend that will do well on there. I personally would
rather sell albums through retail, I really would.
My
fan base, I know would rather have a CD in their hands
and that’s why it’s gratifying to hear that your
store is still selling them and doing well. Rob from
Bloodshot Records told me that the greatest percentage
of Bloodshot albums sold were through Tower Records in
the States. Now boom, Tower Records is gone…oh oh...
kinda fucked up isn’t it ?
David
: Well I’m proud to say that there are still strong
independent record stores out there doing well by
selling CD’s and records.
Graham : Well that’s great man, really is !
David
: Thanks for your time Graham, it’s been a real
pleasure and congratulations on the new album and I
wish you much luck with it !
Graham : Thanks David, means a lot and cheers !
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