[kj] Jaz interview

[Frenchy Frenzy]

Thanks for sharing

Stéphane
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "nicholas fitzpatrick" <gasw30 at hotmail.com>
To: <gathering at misera.net>
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 5:33 PM
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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