Zou het kunnen zijn dat postrock alleen gemaakt kan worden in een bepaalde, woeste en enigszins desolate omgeving? Sigur Ros komt bijvoorbeeld uit IJsland, Mogwai uit Schotland en Godspeed You Black Emperor uit Canada. In dat opzicht is het niet verbazend dat Blueneck uit Zuidwest Engeland, the West Country, komt. De mannen van Blueneck vertellen over de invloed van het landschap op hun muziek. Verder wordt vierstemmig ingegaan op de totstandkoming van het album en de bands en muziek die van invloed was bij het opnemen van “The Fallen Host”.
First of all, congratulations with your new album. You must be relieved that it has been released, at least in mainland Europe? What caused the delays? Dunk: Thanks. Well, when it was first suggested to us that the album should be delayed until February it was a big disappointment. It had been a long process writing and recording ‘The Fallen Host’ and so ideally we wanted to put it to rest so to speak and finally release it. We thought hard about the implications of delaying the release and also the benefits. Eventually we decided to compromise and press ahead with the European release as Denovali had already done a lot of ground work with regards to press. I think this has worked well and I’m pleased we pressed ahead with the European release. As soon as the UK release is done then we can effectively close that chapter of Blueneck and press ahead with whatever lies ahead next.
Rich: Yeah, There was a danger of releasing the album in the UK with very little promotion behind it. So we took the decision to delay things for a couple of months… It was frustrating, but necessary.
Comparisons are inevitable – what do you think about Blueneck being named alongside bands such as Godspeed You Black Emperor, Sigur Ros and Mogwai? Johnny: We love these bands so it’s nice that we are mentioned in the same breath as them and also other bands like ‘The American Dollar’.
Rich: Definitely. It’s a flattering comparison to say the least…
Dunk: I think it helps to introduce people to bands they are unaware of by comparing to other similar bands. We never really set out to be compared to those bands but like Johnny and Rich say, its lovely to be mentioned alongside these bands. We’ve even come across a lot of bands we’d not heard of and have become fans of, plainly through being compared with them.
Do you agree that there are lots of similarities in your music and theirs? Ben G: Most definitely. They've influenced us a lot, and it's pretty hard to take an influence and not show some of it in your own music,
Johnny: I would say that we have similarities to quite a few bands which forms, I think, the sound of Blueneck - and gives us our own identity and perhaps uniqueness?
Dunk: I guess the main similarities are going to be in relation to structure and composition of the songs. Also, in the case of bands such as Godspeed, A Silver Mt Zion, Mogwai the overall mood and feel I think are in the same sort of area, but these are amazing bands. We’re only too happy to be seen as being influenced by them to an extent. We just hope that that the other more indirect influences also shine through which I think adds that something a little different.
Rich: Obviously we share similar tastes and methods of expression to those bands. They’ve made such an impact on the musical landscape that most modern rock bands - not just post-rock bands – will be influenced by them. Even someone like Metallica - watch ‘Some Kind of Monster’ if you don’t believe me. Actually, watch it anyway – it’s a hilarious film.
Who do you consider to be your main influences or sources of inspiration? Johnny: Personally and purely from a drummer’s perspective I love the way Magnus Lindberg from Cult Of Luna plays and it has been a great pleasure to see them live and to support them on a few occasions. I’m also a big fan of Radiohead’s Phil Selway and Jona Sturgess from the Pirate Ship Quintet. Band wise I’m inspired by Mono (Japan), This Will Destroy You, amongst many other bands, songs and extracts of music.
Rich: For me it’s any band or artist (or it could just be a song) who can communicate certain melancholic emotions in a way that isn’t cloying or sentimental.
Dunk: Yeah, I think we all tend to be influenced by many differing things. Other bands, films, books, current affairs, and probably most importantly your own personal situations.
Your music evokes images of wide, empty landscapes. Pastural and forebidding at the same time. Does the fact that you are from the West Country have any significance or could your music have been made anywhere on the planet? Rich: I think the band would have sounded pretty different if we made it in the Caribbean hahaha. Seriously though, the music is written, recorded and rehearsed in relative isolation, often at night. Oh, and it’s usually raining. To me, Blueneck sound exactly like where and how the music is made. I find it hard to separate the location from the music.
Answer: Ben G: I think there's an indirect effect for sure. If we lived in an urban area we'd most likely sound a lot different. 'The Fallen Host' really came together when we started at the new, fairly isolated, studio in the countryside. The vibe there was great and the views are pretty spectacular (it overlooks a large lake) – it was a nice place to record. That helped immensely with our attitude to the songs. We actually enjoyed it again, whereas up until that point we'd all lost interest with the whole thing to some extent.
Speaking of images – many of your songs sound like they are made as a soundtrack to a (sad) film. Do you have certain atmospheres or themes in mind when you compose a song? Dunk: In the case of ‘Scars’ of the Midwest’ and ‘The Fallen Host’, I think there’s been an overall theme and mood for that entire album. We tended to look at each track in a certain way. It needed to depict a certain situation, feeling or scenario. So in some respects id certainly say that we know the mood or vibe of the song when we’re composing.
The cello plays an important part on “The Fallen Host”. Was it planned from the start to make a postrock with cello album? Ben G: Not planned as such, but we were keen for Sandy to come and play on the tracks. It worked really well, so we just experimented on more songs and it helped the general feel of the whole album.
Dunk: We played live with Sandy a few times before recording. It worked really well and so I think right from the start we knew that we’d want to at least try some ideas with the cello to see if it would work nicely with the songs we’d already got. We experimented with a few ideas and it was a really enjoyable experience working with him. I’m sure at some point we’ll work together again in some capacity.
Can you imagine yourself recording a next record with other “classical” instruments – and if so, what would have your preference? Ben G: There's always the possibility of it, but we might go somewhere completely different. A brass section would be cool....
Johnny: I love the song ‘Ara Batur’ by Sigur Ros which of course can be heard with orchestra / choir. But yeah, we may strip the sound back even more next time around, we’ll see.
Rich: Tuba! Yeah, it could be interesting to try and strip things down somewhat on the next album.
Dunk: I think this is definitely an area we’ve discussed already and would maybe explore. We’ll know fairly early on when we start writing the next record where we’ll want to take it. Direction wise. And instrument wise.
Can you tell us what the songs on ‘The Fallen Host’ are about? Is there a concept that connects them? Dunk: As with ‘Scars of the Midwest’ there is an overall theme and concept so to speak with ‘The Fallen Host’. I’ve kept the main inspiration pretty close to myself, but I think the overall theme can be easily related to other peoples own personal situations. Loss, resentment, paranoia, pretty bleak I guess. There’s no ‘moment of clarity’ on this record as there was with ‘Scars’.
What is the story behind your so called reclusiveness, as can be read in your biography? Do you live in isolated cottages in the moors or something like that? Ben G: Haha... no – nothing like that. It's more that we naturally stopped gigging to work in the studio for quite a long period while working on 'Scars of the Midwest'. We really wanted to finish that project before we took it out live, so it had more impact. There was also the challenge of how we were actually going to physically play it live, so we couldn't really consider gigging until we knew what we were up against.
Rich: Most of us live in the English countryside, but it’s really not that isolated. We’re not abseiling down mountains to fetch the milk, or anything like that. I’m the odd one out – I live in the centre of a city called Bristol.
Dunk: I think the ‘reclusive’ tag came about solely because we are based way out in the countryside and tend to just lock ourselves away for long periods at a time.
What is the West Country’s live scene like? People may know some bands from Bristol, but how about the other counties? Are there many bands playing your style of music, or is it a very diverse scene? Dunk: I don’t know of many that sound like us, but I suppose the West Country has a reasonably healthy scene. But for the city at the centre of the West Country (Bristol), it’s recently underachieved against other cities in Britain. Manchester, Leeds, London have done it all so much better – at least for the last fifteen years or so.
Ben G: Yeah, Bristol is pretty diverse, but no different to any other areas really. If you look hard enough in any region you're sure to find like-minded bands. We've met a few bands we've really clicked with while gigging – The Pirate Ship Quintet for one – and that's cool.
Is there any chance of seeing Blueneck play live shows in Europe in 2010? Dunk: Yes. We’ll be in Europe for a week at the start of February and I’m pretty sure again later on in the year. We really like playing in Europe and so are looking forward to this short tour very much.
Thank you for your time. If there is anything you’d like to say to your fans, please do so. Ben G: Thanks so much for all the support you're giving us – I'm sure we'd have given up long ago had it not been for the fact people have been so kind about our music.
Rich: Thanks for supporting us so far. And for your patience in waiting for the new album. We promise not to take so long next time around.
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