[kj] Drowned in Sound meets Youth from Killing Joke

[Neil Perry]

A good read, but "the four-piece... might be in their twilight years" seems
a bit harsh.

On 17 November 2015 at 02:03, Paul <dubecho at gmail.com> wrote:

> *DiS meets Youth from Killing Joke*
>
> *by Dom Gourlay November 16th, 2015*
>
> When Killing Joke put out their first album in the summer of 1980, no one
> could have predicted they'd be here, thirty-five years later, talking about
> their sixteenth long player. Least of all the band themselves.
> Nevertheless, that's where they find themselves having released said record
> Pylon some five days earlier. Today's midweek charts reveal the album
> currently stands at the heady heights of number eleven, their highest chart
> placing since 1985's Night Time. For a band who've operated outside of the
> mainstream throughout their lifespan, these are celebratory times.
>
> Currently halfway through a near sold out UK tour that will see them
> enrapture a jam packed Rock City in a few hours time, the four-piece - Jaz
> Coleman (vocals), Kevin "Geordie" Walker (guitars), Martin "Youth" Glover
> (bass) and "Big" Paul Ferguson (drums) - might be in their twilight years
> yet their music still pushes boundaries with every subsequent release.
>
> Having just returned from an in-store at the city's Fopp Records, DiS sat
> down with Youth - himself an esteemed producer in his own right - to
> discuss both his and the band's currently hectic schedules. But first, the
> conversation starts right here...
>
> ---
> *DiS: You've played Nottingham Rock City numerous times over the years.
> What's so special too you about the city and the venue?*
>
> Youth: I think we've played here fifteen times. Its got a special
> connection for me because one of my great aunts lived here. She was deaf
> and blind and worked on the local newspaper. Even in her late eighties she
> was still working for them. Whenever we played here I'd go round to her
> flat and fetch her. She'd be chain smoking Gauloises, have the TV and radio
> on full blast and she would this thick, gloopy coffee.Which she'd drink
> constantly while tapping away on her typewriter doing local stories. So
> we'd bring her down here and the staff were always really good. They'd
> bring her in with her wheelchair and look after her. And she loved the
> band. I think we were always loud enough for her to hear and get the
> experience. I've still got a cigarette box of hers I carry around. She was
> a favourite aunt of mine so I've always got fond memories of coming here
> and seeing her.
>
>
> *DiS: Do you feel there's quite a connection between the band and
> Nottingham audiences? I remember as a teenager whenever 'Pssyche' or 'Love
> Like Blood' came on during one of their club nights the Rock City
> dancefloor would fill up in seconds.*
>
> Youth: Nottingham's the heartland of England isn't it? It's not quite the
> Midlands - East Midlands right? - but it's got a great rock heritage. The
> shows have always gone down well here and we've enjoyed playing them.
>
> *DiS: Your latest album Pylon came out last week. Did you think you'd be
> sat here 37 years after the band started talking about the releae of your
> 16th long player?*
>
> Youth: No I didn't. I thought the band would last six months to a year
> really, so it's amazing. But we were ambitious, there's no doubt about it.
> We always had our hearts and eyes set on the same targets and we had every
> intention of taking them on in a big way. Yet at the same time we weren't
> bothered about it! We were just happy to get away with doing it. It's
> especially great now because we finally have the experience and expertise
> we've learned to make records the way we always wanted to. Which is
> possibly why the new album's going down so well. We worked out a good modus
> operandi how to make them well. We might have got lucky with this one? All
> of them have really great lyrics but this one seems quite complete. Even
> though people still talk about our early albums as being great records -
> which to a degree they are - we were never entirely satisfied with them at
> the time. We're never very satisfied anyway but with this one I think we
> managed to get everyone fairly satisfied. And that's a good feeling. Plus I
> think it's great we still have something to say as a band and we're still
> engaged, present and relevant.
>
> *DiS: Your last three records - 2011's Absolute Dissent, MMXII the
> following year and now Pylon rank among your finest for me. So I'd
> wholeheartedly agree that Killing Joke are as if not more relevant now than
> they've ever been. Particularly when put alongside many other bands who've
> reunited purely in the name of nostalgia, which is something you've never
> done.*
>
> Youth: It's interesting because a lot of bands of a similar age to us -
> they're not up for making new records. Most of them haven't made a record
> for at least twenty years, and the further up that mountain you get, the
> colder the wind blows. So they end up deliberately avoiding it because they
> don't know how they got there in the beginning. Or things have changed so
> much they don't have the urgency or passion to do it again. Whereas luckily
> for us we've never really stopped. The band have made three albums in the
> last five years and I'm making records all the time with other artists.
> It's brought the whole band up to steam a bit. Absolute Dissent was more of
> a regrouping and a little self referential. MMXII was a bit more focused
> but we also experimented a lot on that. With this one we just decided let's
> go really heavy and that's how it came out. We also spent a lot of time
> writing this one. Two or three two-week heavily focused sessions in Prague,
> which ended up garnering thirty or forty really strong ideas. So eventually
> we worked them down to sixteen songs and then we finished up with the ten
> that made it onto the album.
>
> *DiS: Of the six that didn't make Pylon, do you see yourselves revisiting
> them in the future?*
>
> Youth: Well, originally when we were making MMXII we had this track called
> 'In Cythera' which our guitarist Geordie really hated. But eventually it
> became the lead single off the record and I actually think it's the
> greatest single we've ever done. With this album we had a similar track
> called 'Love Is The Law' which again Geordie doesn't like because there's
> very little guitars on it, and I think it's possibly the second greatest
> single we've ever made. So we decided as a group - reluctantly on my part -
> to leave it off the album although Geordie has said he would consider
> revisiting it with extra guitars on. So maybe we'll put it out next summer?
> We're certainly not short of material. We're all writing a lot. There
> wasn't a dull moment during the writing sessions. We had lots of ideas. It
> was just a matter of getting them all down.
>
> *DiS: That sounds quite frustrating. Are there a lot of disagreements when
> it comes to deciding which tracks to release?*
>
> Youth: We are a workers collective and we're all very strong alpha males
> with strong opinions. Sometimes we have a tendency to murder songs early
> on, just to give them a chance. It's about putting them in the ring and
> facing the seven-headed hydra, and if they work we're generally in
> unanimous decision. If it doesn't - if two of us want to work on it a
> little further it usually gets to the point where all of us are on board or
> none of us want to fight for it. It's difficult, it's challenging and it's
> frustrating. It's also really democratic so if three of us don't like
> something but one does and they've pushed at it we'll usually give it a
> chance. It all depends how hard someone is prepared to fight for that song.
> And even then, by the time the lyrics are added and a few other things are
> changed it's completely different to the song you first brought to the
> table anyway!
>
> *DiS: Were there any other songs on the record which you had to fight for?*
>
> Youth: Yeah, and a lot of them didn't make it. Two of my favourite songs
> didn't make it, 'Apotheosis' and 'Panopticon'. They're both on the bonus
> disc. There was another song which was based around a Barry White bassline.
> We got quite far down the road with it but then it got dropped late on. But
> they're the classic sabotage techniques we know and love Killing Joke for
> really. And I do like that. If the songs are good enough they'll end up on
> a b-side or EP anyway. I guess it's our infantile arrogance which allows us
> to self-sabotage to that degree. And get away with it!
>
>
> *DiS: You've described the last three albums as being a triptych of ideas.
> Will the next record be in a similar vein or are you hoping to do something
> completely different?*
>
> Youth: Every record we make feels like the last record we'll ever make and
> then we're here again so I don't know. I would imagine we'll make another
> album and I'd expect it to have a different vibe. Our records tend to
> reflect where we are emotionally as individuals and that's generally
> changing.
>
> *DiS: Pylon is currently number eleven in the midweek charts which is your
> highest position in thirty years. Do you consider the charts relevant?*
>
> Youth: As relevant as they ever were I guess. It's a great result for us
> and good affirmation that we're still relevant. Even though they're not
> that important every band would like to be number one when they put a
> record out. So to go top twenty is an amazing thing for us and a bit of a
> surprise really. We've always found ourselves tucked away in a cult minor
> league somewhere so this shows there's still a lot of support for the band
> out there.
>
> *DiS: Tom Dalgety produced the album having also worked on the last
> record. Are you big fans of his work, particularly what he did with the
> Royal Blood album?*
>
> Youth: We liked what he did on MMXII so we were happy to let him do a big
> chunk of the engineering and production on this record. Most of the
> recordings were done by the three of us - me, Geordie and Paul - with a
> little in-house engineer in Prague. In fact, he wasn't there a lot of the
> time so I engineered most of it. Then Tom came in and did some individual
> tracks with us. Paul didn't want anyone there when he was doing the drums
> so it was just him and Tom with me ringing up every couple of hours saying
> "Make sure he does this!" or "Forget that!" or "Cover yourself with this!"
> And it worked out fine. His drums came out fantastically well and we were
> all happy with how it sounded. Then Geordie did some guitar overdubs with
> Tom and mixed it. That was great because when I take the full weight and
> responsibility for that side of things it incurs a lot of resentment from
> the rest of the band. Because I'm in the band. You know, why should he have
> more power than the rest of us? Especially when I signed the band to my
> label. That was a nightmare! It's better to just be the bass player and a
> co-producer, so another co-producer can take some of the flak.
>
> *DiS: Does your work with other artists impact on what you bring to
> Killing Joke? For example, has there ever been a time when you've heard
> something in the studio and immediately thought that would work on a
> Killing Joke record too?*
>
> Youth: Whatever I do informs everything else I do to some extent. I tend
> not to compare or compromise projects with other projects I may be involved
> with. I have clear boundaries. They are two totally different disciplines
> so in lots of ways, no. The only time it becomes a problem is if the
> managers fuck it up and they double book me. It's been fairly smooth in
> that department mainly because the others are always busy as well. If it
> was just me the band were waiting around for that might cause a problem but
> it's not, so everything usually works out OK.
>
> *DiS: What other projects are you working on at present?*
>
> Youth: I've been working on the Spiritualized record and more recently,
> the new Jesus & Mary Chain one which is a big deal as it's their first
> record in seventeen years.
>
> *DiS: How are they getting on?*
>
> Youth: Well, the Reid brothers are still talking to each other! That's
> good, and the songs are phenomenal. It's sounding great. We're at the
> halfway stage now so it should be ready by the end of the year.
>
>
> *DiS: What about the Spiritualized album?*
>
> Youth: I recorded around twenty-two tracks with Jason (Pierce) then we
> took a break so he could do some summer festivals. And then he came back
> and decided he wanted to throw the whole thing away and start again. He
> does have the capacity to do that every now and then. He's a very
> challenging artist who has a very high criteria of what he's looking for.
> So I don't know what's going on there at the minute or whether I'll be
> working on it again.
>
> *DiS: With such a vast back catalogue to choose from, are there any
> records you're not particularly fond of or try to avoid when putting
> together a live setlist?*
>
> Youth: I don't really go towards Revelations or Night Time that much, but
> the rest of the band really want to do them, so we've agreed to do 'The
> Hum' and 'Eighties' at some point. I don't really like those records so I'd
> prefer not to but then there are other songs I never really liked the
> recorded versions of yet we made them sound killer live. We're in a good
> position having such a big canon to play around with.
>
> *DiS: Your fanbase also covers a wide demographic, especially since the
> last three albums.*
>
> Youth: That's right. We travelled that journey throughout the demise of
> the tribes. People are more open to diverse sounds now. We've opened
> everything up from just dub and trance mixes which is a reflection of how
> people are today. Acid house changed a lot of that. I remember hearing Phil
> Collins play George Clinton followed by U2 followed by Phil Collins and the
> place would be going crazy!
>
> *DiS: You're already scheduled to tour America in the early part of 2016.
> What does the rest of the year hold for the band?*
>
> Youth: We're also planning to go to Europe, Australia and Asia so a large
> chunk of next year will be spent touring with possibly a few festivals in
> there as well.
>
> *DiS: What advice would you give to new bands just starting out?*
>
> Youth: Get your vision and manifesto together and if you're really
> connected with it, see what happens.
>
> *DiS: Are there any new artists you've been impressed with recently?*
>
> Youth: I really like the new Tame Impala album. The new Fuzz record is
> great too.
>
>
> ---
> The album Pylon is out now on Spinefarm Records.
>
>
> http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4149534-dis-meets-youth-from-killing-joke
>
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