Croatian interviews

EDIT: thanks a million to beulahgirl, who made the effort to translate the 3 interviews into proper, non-robotic English!


Tom Smith (Editors): "Normally we wouldn’t do that... but we wanted to be in Zagreb tonight "


After a recent phone interview with Ed Lay, the drummer in Editors, today we received a wonderful opportunity - to talk live with Tom and Russell, lead singer and bassist, at the hotel where they’re staying in Zagreb.

Although this is their fourth time in Zagreb, and the last time they were here was a year ago at INmusic festival, Editors sold out Culture Factory tonight.

Although Croatia wasn’t planned for this tour, and even though they don’t play club shows during summer, they still decided to come here. It means something. They find the Croatian audience very passionate and are very excited about tonight's concert...





This time the questions focused a little bit more on the songs and lyrics...

This is your fourth time in Croatia. How are you feeling before tonight's show? We have quite the London weather here...
Tom: Yes, it's cold and rainy. We feel good, we were here at the festival last summer. We didn’t get a chance to come to play in a club near you on this tour, but now we got the opportunity to do it, just this month when we have a lot of festivals. Normally we wouldn’t do that, but the fact that we are nevertheless here shows that we want to be here! We got a chance to play in front of the Croatian audience again, and we said "Let's do it!" There are some places in the world where when given the offer to play in a club in the middle of the summer, we say "No!" But we still decided to come here...

The lyrics on the third album were inspired by London. The inspiration for the last album is love...
Tom: Yes. Basically it's all about the love between two people, love songs, songs about relationships, breakups, slightly creepy love songs. So yes. Love.

What does love mean to you? Do you find love an eternal inspiration for the songs?
Well not always, sometimes it's not an inspiration, love casts a shadow on everyone's life, right? What does it mean to me? Hm, I don’t have an exact answer to that. Depends on the day, really.

Half the lyrics on your latest album are autobiographical, half are fictional. What songs are autobiographical?
"The Phone Book". It's the most personal song I've ever written and the easiest to understand its meaning. But, like you said, many of the lyrics are personal, and many are fictional.

In "The Phone Book" you say, "What's that over your shoulder? Fear of getting older." Do you have this fear of aging?
I think we all have that fear of aging. There are moments when everyone is scared of it. But this is a song about being with someone and about the fear that one day this person will be gone.

Why won’t you play "The Phone Book" tonight? It’s one of the most beautiful songs...
Tom: We won’t play it. We played it a lot at the beginning of the tour last year, we have to make room for other songs.

Russell: Sometimes we agree which songs we’ll no longer play for some time and which songs we’ll play instead. Sometimes we need a lot of time and imagination to do that, because we don’t know how it’ll go.

Tom: We have to consider all four albums and what we’ll play live. "The Phone Book" may not fit for the stage, but I think for all of us it’s our favorite song on the album. Something we are very proud of. And that's great, it’ll live forever. But on stage this year we will make room for other songs.

Last year at the INmusic festival, Tom, you played "Nothing" alone on stage, without the band, in the acoustic version. Lately you’ve been mostly playing it in a totally different version with full band...
You remember it well. It depends on the mood of the band which version we’re gonna play. We found a few ways how to present this song, and we like each of them. We probably like the album version of that song the most, but we can’t play it like that on the stage, so the acoustic version is the closest to the version on the album. So played it acoustically for a while and it was good, but it’s also fun when we play the full band version, so lately we’ve been playing it with the whole band. There is no right or wrong answer for the songs.

In "Nothing" you say "Every conversation within you starts a celebration in me." Were these verses written for someone special in your life?
No, they weren’t. I didn’t have anyone particular in mind while I was writing it.

Tom, can you describe what happens in those moments when you climb up on the piano and play the guitar on it?
Initially it was too much excitement, the thrill would be incredibly strong, but I think that today all of us in the band are more animated and are expressing ourselves a lot more on the stage than we used to. At the beginning when we’d been walking out on stage, we’d all been a little nervous and a little drunk. After 10 years of playing live, things are changing and I realized that such a performance is a very important part and that people are having a lot of fun. There are a few things that we can do to merge with the crowd. So the first few times when I jumped on the piano it was out of pure excitement, but then I realized that if the concert goes well and if I feel good, I can also do it for the audience. And it's fun too.

You have a special relationship with the Belgian audience and fans, like say, The National has with Croatia. What's so special about the Belgians?
Russell: They love us there, we are constantly played on the radio.

Tom: We are big there. People that will come to the concert tonight will be a lot more passionate than the Belgians, that's for sure, but in Belgium we have simply crossed into a mainstream band. Maybe we should ask the Belgians why a band like ours has become mainstream.

The video for "Sugar" was recorded in Belgium. It’s a bit claustrophobic. What's the story behind this video?
Russell: I have no idea! (Laughs) I really have no idea what this video is about! (laughs)

Tom: (laughs) Yeah, it is a little claustrophobic. Well, I don’t think the video is about nothing. We got the chance to work with the Belgian director who we like, he’s a little crazy, in the typical Belgian way, and visually does things differently than others, and it’s something that you can’t see often. He had the idea for "Sugar" and we all liked it. But I think the story has no beginning, middle and end, but just looks weird.

You have started working on a new album. When can we expect it?
Tom: Very soon. We haven’t worked on it a lot as a band because we were very busy, but in October we will work together. I hope it will be next year, if there are no obstacles on the way, which is possible.

This summer you were in South Africa for the first time. What has it been like there?
Russell: Very interesting, we have never been to Africa, wonderful.

Tom: It was a wonderful trip. Totally different from what we’ve seen so far. There are some similarities between Cape Town and some European cities, but for example we traveled for 4-5 hours from Johannesburg to the place where the festival was, so we saw the real Africa. It left a really strong impression on us.

Where do you see Editors for 20-30 years?
Russell: Falling apart and looking awful (laughs).

Tom: (laughs) Only time will tell.

And in the end. Did you know that tonight's concert is sold out? Did you expect it?
(Tom smiling from ear to ear and visibly surprised)

Tom: I never expect it. I'm so glad! I’m really surprised! That’s wonderful!

link: www.muzika.hr/clanak/47850/interview/editorsi-veceras-nece-svirati-the-phone-book.aspx

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Editors: 'Now we are most attracted to dance music'

British post-punk five-member band that has a solid fan base in Zagreb will play again in our city tonight in the big hall of Culture Factory, and we talked about it with guitarist Justin Lockey and drummer Edward Lay.



Justin Lockey remembered that last year we talked at INmusic festival. Back then he was still a fresh new member of Editors who at the worst possible moment rushed to fill in the place of Chris Urbanowicz. Chris left the band in an awkward situation in the studio while they were recording the album "The Weight Of Your Love". "The most awkward period is over", he said laughing before we started our conversation in the hotel Dubrovnik.

You played at last year's INmusic festival before you released the album "The Weight Of Your Love" and the audience didn’t know the new songs. Do you expect better 'chemistry' with the audience tonight regarding the latest album?

Justin Lockey: We noticed this change in the audience when it comes to the songs from the album "The Weight of Love" ever since we started playing festivals last year. You could feel from show to show how people are growing more attached to the new songs. After the festival tour in Europe the atmosphere was definitely better, especially when we’d play "Honesty" and "A Ton Of Love."

How did playing Glastonbury go?

Edward Lay: I personally was surprised. It was a week before the release of "The Weight Of Your Love" and we played on the main stage. The cheering of so many people in front of the stage was really fascinating. At this point you know you're playing on a very important place and an important concert. No one has to explain it to you. During the concert more and more people were constantly arriving and it was getting increasingly louder the closer the end of the show was. Only then did I become aware of how important this thing we do is on a completely different level. We are proud of it, but we also don’t let it go to our heads and are working on ourselves and making progress as a five-member band. Especially now with the tour drawing to a close.

Yes, you only have three more concerts. Are you tired, do you feel fed up?

Edward Lay: It’s a strange feeling. Somehow the batteries are drained, but there’s a feeling of satisfaction... fulfillment. It's hard to describe, but it's definitely a positive feeling.

Are you pleased with the reaction from music critics to "The Weight of Love"?

Justin Lockey: Ah, I personally couldn’t be bothered... whether it’s excellent or bad. Of course there are several angles to look at things. I personally look at it completely differently. If the band has its own path and personal agenda by which it operates and it somehow develops naturally, then everything is fine. There can be good and bad periods in terms of criticizing. Sometimes you have a good record at the wrong time... for someone you’re not popular anymore and then you’re seen and valued in that light. In case of Editors, we grow and we know our path very well. We are recognized by audiences and don’t get particularly shaken by critics’ opinion.

I ask because for example the American Rolling Stone gave that album one and a half star, and we’re talking about an album on which you were influenced by REM and Arcade Fire. So obviously they did not like your “Americanized” sound.

Justin Lockey: We know that, but I repeat that it is more important to mature musically and not allow yourself and the band to get into some formula from which you can’t break free anymore. The worst is when you become boring to yourself, and this is not the case with us. I think the audience feels it the best.

Edward Lay: I think the criticism is important for those who want to be pop. They depend on it. We are a rock band, we just react differently, or don’t react. It's kind of strange to us that in the UK we are perceived as a band that is at odds with the media. And in fact we are not. We are totally ok with the media and do not find it insulting that someone has an opinion.

Perhaps it would benefit you more if you weren’t on good terms?

Justin Lockey: Definitely (laughs)! Many bands use this approach or members bring their own private shit into public. This gives them the advantage of 'a couple of inches', in the sense that these things last in the media for a few weeks before everyone forgets about them, but this strategy does not guarantee you're going to record a good album. And at the end of the day it's the only thing that counts with the fans. We prefer to go on tour and show on the stage what we have to show.

In the beginning, you were perceived as a dark band, and now you are running from this image. Do you notice it? Is this perception changing?

Edward Lay: I think initially people weren’t too concerned with us in this regard. It’s closer to the truth to say that they came to a concert and were thrilled with our performance, or disappointed. Our emotions were sincere. Maybe we were a little darker, but we are not attracted to 'darkness' to the extent that our songs have an emotional sharpness. We are also not interested in collecting points by singing about the problems of today's world. We prefer to tell a coherent story through a song.

Is it a problem to play in a rock band, to be prepared for a change of focus and experiment with styles on almost every new album?

Justin Lockey: I think that every album is different because it has to be in terms of the development of the band. With us there is no other reason. Of course there are bands that are constantly following different trends on the market and the scene. But I think, if you look back, that on our album there was no new trend that we possibly wanted to join. Those who do only manage to become increasingly hysterical in their work. The only normal way is to let yourself be led by music, whatever the outcome is.

Maybe it's too early for this question, but are you thinking about the new album? What inspires you, what would you like to do differently compared to the previous records?

Edward Lay: Absolutely. Not only do we think about it, but we're working on it. We’re not forcing things, but they somehow come to us. Tom (Smith, the singer) writes new lyrics, there are some ideas and future outlines, but for specific things we need to close ourselves in a room and go through it alone together. What is certain is that it will be a completely different record from "The Weight Of Your Love", in its very approach. "The Weight Of Your Love" was five people in the studio at the same time playing songs and recording them on a tape recorder to get the 'live' feel. This one will be made much more precisely and we’ll step into dance music more, but we’ll have a sort of a lo-fi approach to dance music. Something in the sense of... let's say I love dance music created by Daniel Avery and Jon Hopkins. That sound and emotion they achieve is something we strive for at this moment.

Justin Lockey: That sound, but in a way that can be achieved by a band.

Edward Lay: I think that Avery and Hopkins give more emotion with their approach than it can be achieved at the present time with for example a guitar.

Justin Lockey: That sounds like a paradox, but they sound more like a band than many bands do.

Edward Lay: Of course that we still love big choruses and hook lines. We will not give it up. We are simply 'married' to them.

Justin Lockey: In October we will close ourselves in a studio in Scotland and see what will come out of it.


link: www.ravnododna.com/editors-sad-nas-najvise-privlaci-dance-glazba/ www.ravnododna.com/editors-sad-nas-najvise-privlaci-dance-glazba/2/