[kj] Jaz interview

[Alex Smith]

Cheers for this, Nick!

Alex in NYC




-----Original Message-----
>From: nicholas fitzpatrick <gasw30 at hotmail.com>
>Sent: Apr 10, 2006 11:33 AM
>To: gathering at misera.net
>Subject: [kj] Jaz interview
>
>I presume this is an Australian newspaper...
>
>
>>>>>Sunday Herald Sun
>April 2, 2006 Sunday
>HEADLINE: Joke's Crue blue
>
>BYLINE: PAUL STEWART
>
>Jaz Coleman is the lead singer of a heavy metal/punk band but he hasn't 
>forsaken his classical roots. PAUL STEWART reports
>
>IT seemed like a good idea at the time, but Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman now 
>regrets the British band's decision to support US wild boys Motley Crue on 
>tour.
>
>''Those guys are just idiots,'' said Coleman, whose latest single, Hosannas 
>from the Basements of Hell, has just been released.
>
>''Our manager was asked if we would like to meet Tommy Lee. So he goes in -- 
>Lee's got all these dumb, brain-dead women sitting around -- and he goes, 
>'Ah, you manage Killing Joke. They're great. I've got six of their albums. 
>What are those guys doing now?' '' Coleman said.
>
>''He didn't even know we were on the road with them. I'm never, ever doing 
>something like that again.''
>
>But fellow artists aren't generally so ignorant about Killing Joke. Since 
>releasing its first album in 1979, the group has inspired a legion of 
>musicians, including members of Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, 
>Metallica, Tool, Soundgarden, Fear Factory and others.
>
>Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl is a fan and 
>drummed on the last Killing Joke album.
>
>''We have a very eclectic and passionate underground audience,'' Coleman 
>said.
>
>''They are intelligent thinkers, ranging from people who were sperms when we 
>put out our first record to people of our own age.
>
>''We are not a band that has ever had major pop appeal. But after 27 years 
>you see them on the way up and you wave to them again on the way down. I 
>think we chose the right path.''
>
>Coleman remains one of popular music's more interesting characters. When he 
>is not performing with the uncompromisingly heavy Killing Joke, he works 
>with some of the world's leading symphony orchestras.
>
>He has also written the soundtrack for several Disney movies, become the 
>first western musician to study oriental music at an Arabic conservatory and 
>worked with acclaimed composer Philip Glass.
>
>He was endorsed by the surviving members of The Doors to write a violin 
>concerto based on their work and collaborated with Mick Jagger on a 
>classical version of Angie.
>
>Coleman studied piano and violin at the age six and by 10 had sung in many 
>of the great cathedrals of Europe.
>
>But his life changed when he fell in love with punk rock in the 1970s and 
>formed Killing Joke.
>
>''It was just so much fun to play after all the structure of classical 
>music,'' Coleman said.
>
>When he's not on tour with Killing Joke, Coleman spends his time living on 
>an island off the coast of New Zealand or working on a classical music 
>project.
>
>''I do not need a studio on my island because I can write classical music 
>from my head straight down on to paper,'' he said.
>
>''My island is the perfect place to retreat to. Lots of magnificent fishing 
>and just sitting around relaxing.''
>
>It's a far cry from the days when Killing Joke's first recordings were three 
>tracks paid for by Coleman's then wife. But the band's fortunes soon 
>changed.
>
>''We went straight from the studio to the BBC and waited outside for the 
>legendary DJ John Peel to emerge,'' Coleman recalled.
>
>''He came out and we gave him a copy of our first three songs and he then 
>played it for 10 weeks straight. By the time of our first ever gig, you 
>could not book a ticket to get in.
>
>''It was packed. John Lydon of the Sex Pistols really championed us earlier 
>on.''
>
>Coleman, who once famously dumped a hunk of maggot-infested meat on the desk 
>of a noted music critic, said Killing Joke's new album had been an 
>interesting affair to make.
>
>''I think there were three major fights, three pregnancies and lots of great 
>wine involved in its making. I cannot wait until we do the next one.''
>
>Killing Joke is expected to tour Australia this year.
>
>LOAD-DATE: April 1, 2006
>
>
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