the no-fi "interview" with
PART THREE
GK: Keeping them touring quite a bit, like extensively. We want them back here in like October.
MB: Oh yeah, that'd be great. And to do the full thing... ya gonna do east coast and west coast?
GK: Uh, we'd like to do everything. But we'll see where we're at. Definitely. Anyway, continue, please...
(Alrighty then. Graham reminds me of my Dad... oh, that's not a bad thing. He is just the very serious voice of reason and fact. As well he should be I guess as a manager. I'd say any band would be lucky to have him on their team. It did abruptly shift the tone of the interview though, so let's move on.)
MB: Is there much of a difference between the crowds that you've experienced here in the west coast vs. the east coast.
MS: It's pretty much the same I think. The same sort of music fans. People seem um, less reserved over here than New York. But we've found it (really great) wherever we've gone really.
MB: (I giggle) Oh, that's good.
MS: Which is a bonus.
MB: Okay, here's a weird question for you guys. I like to ask people this. If you were an animal, what do you think you'd be?
MS: I think I'd be Phil Payney.
MB: But seriously. (to Phil Morris) What do you think Mark would be? If he was an animal?
PM: What? Oh, Mark? An elephant! (Mark was making elephant gestures toward Phil) Oh...he's more... He's cunning. Yeah, a fox... He's snidey.
MS: I like it.
PM: Don't trust him ya know. Don't trust him amongst the chickens. A fox. Yeah, that'd be cool.
MS: You want us to say what we think of each other?
MB: Yeah. What do you think Rob would be?
(here are more birds tossed around to describe Rob... a parrot, a cockatoo, a partridge, a parakeet.)
RA: A sloth.
PM: A sloth. And Payney is... you are a jungle... he's a bear or a gorrilla, I'd always go more for gorrilla meself.
MB: Do you agree with that Phil?
PP: Definitely.
PM: He has the biggest chest I think I've ever seen of any man on earth.
(Phil Morris is compared to a hyena or a hamster.)
PM: I never come off as cute and cuddley really, am I? I'd go with hyena fine:...mean, pissed, a mysery to everybody else.
RA: He's a hamster.
MB: A hamster, alright. A cross breed maybe.
PM: Hmm, that is a tricky one.
MS: I think Dave would be a domestic dog.
DH: What kind of dog?
MS: Like a labrador.
MB: A golden retriever maybe?
MS: A golden retriever, yeah. Reliable. And has a wet nose. He did a minute ago anyway!
(Mark and I laugh)
PM: Oh, please!
DH: I'd be a seal.
MS: What about Graham, what would he be?
MB: Graham would be a koala I think.
MS: I was thinking koala too! Cuz he always looks a bit stoned on eucylyptus leaves!
(We laugh. Somebody says that would be spooky.)
MB: That is! Yeah. So, Mark... I love that song "Sweet Nothing" so much, what made you write that? What were you thinking about?
MS: That's a song about about myself, isn't it?
MB: Yeah, and I think it's something everybody can relate to as far as regreting things that you've done and...
MS: I think it's really you know sort of... I think that being in a band is not the most healthy occupation sometimes.
MB: Uh, yeah.
MS: And I'm sitting there suffering maybe from something the night before ya know... it's a bit of self loathing, isn't it?
MB: Yeah.
MS: They're quite powerful, they're quite simple words I think.
MB: Yeah, that's what I had said. It's simple but it's something that... It's simple but it's really intense.
MS: Yeah.
MB: ...and it really makes you stop and think and kind of go, "whoa, I know just how he feels ya know."
MS: Yeah, and that's powerful. And for me the best lyrics you can come up with sum it up in just a few sentences and I think that that's why songs are more powerful that rap music and stuff ya know... with the just churning on of words... but sometimes just a little poem... like four lines in better than all that.
MB: Yeah, and especially when the message is so powerful and it just cuts right in.
MS: Yeah.
MB: (to phil Morris) And uh, Phil, you have a very, very...
PM: Huh?
MB: (I laugh at his spacing out) Oh, hi! Good morning!
PM: That, that, uh, I'm sorry... I've been hypnotized. Rob put me under... He's a hypnotist. (laughter) Now, where are we?
MB: I'm really impressed by your um, vocal range.
PM: Thank you (he says very sincerely and quietly).
MB: And like I was saying before, uh, different songs sound like they could be by a totally different band, ya know. It's amazing.
PM: Yeah, well, I mean, because so many of us write in the band; I get that thing, they play me demo ideas of their songs (and how they'd have sung them) and so what I tend to end up doing is impersonating maybe Saxby's idea of the song that he came up with... so, that's why the vocals quite change. Also the fact that I sing in phalsettos quite a lot...and then actually full voice and ya know, and they wouldn't dream of thinking about writing a song in a key that was easy for me to sing. They just write what they fancy and then they go, "okay, you've gotta sing that." (he starts doing a bit of operatic keys and "la la la's")
MS: Can you put a bit of harmony on that?
PM: Yeah (Phil Morris sings louder and higher "la da da da oop boop boop boop") And so that's what happens, and then like Payney will write a song and I gotta go "Oooo grraaa ooo ooo ooo" (he sings in a low Irish drinkin song style in a baratone key). And that's what happens. And then there does come a time when I'll sing when Saxby sings and when Payney sings where he sings some of the quite lower harmonies on the Bahama album... which I can't possibly hit those notes, where as Payney can sing literally so deep only cats and dogs can hear it, it's so low... and that's kind of how it works... It's just the fact that everyone brings songs to me and I kind of adapt, I adapt... I try to adapt accordingly.
MB: Isn't that weird though, singing other peoples lyrics? That's um, an interesting thing.
PM: Yeah, a lot of people say that, but I mean I've known Saxby such a long time that... such a long time that...
MB: It really seems like... I was surprised when I found out that you didn't write a lot of the songs that you sing because you really seem to get them like you wrote them yourself.
PM: Yeah, I mean it's sort of...
MB: You sing it very heart felt... all of the lyrics.
PM: Yeah, I mean a lot... Saxby always tells me roughly what the subject matter is and what inspired the lyrics and stuff... I mean 99% of the time they move me to sing them the way I do, I suppose. Yeah, I mean we've grown up the last ten years sharing some pretty... some fantastic highs and some awful lows... these lyrics are obviously born out of experience and I've often been there when he's experienced those things, so it's never a problem. It's always a joy really.
(And just as Mark Saxby was about to compliment Phil Morris on something... that side of the tape ran out and we laughed.)
MS: It's been tough on him as a singer... we give him songs to sing and at first, everybody has sung it themselves, and we do actually make him sort of sing it almost exactly how it... what it comes out as and it's quite difficult.
PM: They direct me literally... Saxby will go "no, no, no, I didn't sing it like that, no. no. no." Sometimes when I can't get it, Saxby will then take, ya know, like "Sweet Sweet Nothing," he will then take the lead and then Payney sung a couple songs... sometimes I can't- I won't always get there. I won't get it and the song won't work and the original writter of the song will end up doing it themselves. So it's a complete- it's pretty much a democracy when it comes to writing, everyone will have there. I mean Dave hasn't been allowed yet to really let loose... cuz he often sounds like Axl Rose when he's singing- ya know, so I mean, it's not really- it wouldn't translate to the west coast Dave, ya know. (Phil Morris now starts singing a rather Pirate-ish tune.)
MB: (to Mark Saxby) Um, at the show the other night, what was it that you said about, um, that song- "You're A Star?" Was it dedicated to someone?
MS: Yah, Rick, the bass player from The Band. They made a famous film called "The Last Waltz" It was their last ever concert... it was made by, um, Scorsese... so it's a fantastic film. And uh, Rick died about a year and a half, two years ago and I just sorta wrote about him dying and just sort of wrote the chorus for "You're a Star"- cuz there really wasn't much fuss about it and...
MB: Had you met him or anything?
MS: No, just sorta felt like I had- ya know, one of those people- he was brilliant, he reminded me of... He's a better singer than I am, but he was by no means the best singer in the band, but he really went for it. He just really, really meant it, he just sort of gets it. It's uh, well worth getting out there,... you intimate readers out there... "The Last Waltz", rent it from my Dad's video store. No, but he was a star, so... And he died in his sleep... one of the lines refers to that. And the second verse, um... he played violin... the lines are all about him basically, So there you go. I've given you more than you ever wanted.
MB: Fantastic. Um, I'm curious... what do you guys think of Oasis?
MS: What, the clothing store?
MB: The band!
MS: Well, I mean, we like em.
PM: We like em... we went to see them just before we came away. They sold three nights out in the middle of London in this big park. There were like 50-60 thousand people there everynight. It sold out in 24 hours, they sold these tickets for three shows. They were fantastic. The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club backed them up, and uh, The Charlatans (UK). It was a really, really good show. And Cornershop. It was a really good... We got some backstage passes, cuz obviously we used to be on the same label. So we've met them, Noel Gallagher a few times and stuff... he's nice.
MB: He seems nice, but is Liam? He is rather infamous for being a bit of...
PM: Ya know, I've never spoke to Liam. I've been in the same room, the same bar. They're all cool, we do like them. Their music... I mean they just do what they do and they've got the right attitude. I think there's very few people left, especially in British rock and roll bands, that mean it as much as they do. Ya know, no one fucks with them, they do what they want. That's totally to be admired.
MS: Liam Gallaghers got a huge ass. And that's why he wears that long coat. There was a picture, wasn't there.
MB: Oooo! Oh!
PM: Well I didn't say that! Just in case Liam ever gets to read this!
(I'm busting up laughing now)
MS: But he always wears long coats, doesn't he?
PM: You're gonna get wacked!
MB: Yeah he is.
MS: He's a much better singer than his brother Noel, isn't he? How come Noel gets to sing so many songs?
PM: He writes em. But they were fantastic.
MB: I always just thought Liam was being lazy.
PM: No.
MS: No, I don't think he's as bad as they paint him to be.
PM: But we don't sit at home and listen to their records and dance, ya know. We do that to Abba! We save that for Abba.
MS: We do like Abba though, don't we? And The Carpenters.
(Then we start talking about some of the bands that Arnold has been compared to.)
PM: We get some of the weirdest ones... we got reviews for albums... we had like Joy Division comparisons. I was like "Wwwhhhaaaa?" Bizarre ones, like we used to get Nick Drake and we honestly, it was only like up until... it was only when like a few years ago that we got Nick Drake comparisons that we bothered... that the band thought we'd better go and buy a Nick Drake album and see... cuz we'd never heard his stuff. And we could see then, and obviously we got it and we figured yah. But then they said, like The Barn Tapes... we basicaly ripped that title off "The Basement Tapes"... Bob Dylan, which again is like total...
MB: Bob Dylan???
PM: Know what I mean? It was ya know, we get the weirdest of... the writers, what people see in the music... everyone sees different things ya know cuz the songs are quite eclectic.
MB: Diverse. Yeah, very diverse.
PM: We get compared to everyone.
MB: I think the T. Rex and the Pink Floyd stuff is kind of accurate.
PM: Yeah, I mean Floyd. I mean definitely T-Rex, Saxby is sort of a massive, massive T-Rex fan. And so, when he's written songs like when he wrote, when Rob wrote... and when he sung with Rob "Tiny Car", when they had that in mind, and it seemed right to sort of sing like that, and that glam thing was so obvious, it just comes naturally. The same with the Floyd thing, they kind of use, I love experimenting with my voice, ya know, and I always do, I do quite a lot of impersonations... not necessarily characters. It's just good fun and it makes for a good listen, interesting. The voices on different songs can get a bit boring if a rock singer sings in one key to an album. I like, sometimes sounding like uh, ya know, when I'm doing falsetto, they sorta sound like a lady singing. I love the Cocteau Twins.
MB: That's one of my favorite bands. I definitely hear a lot of, like especially with the guitars, a lot of Cocteau Twins sounds.
PM: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean a lot of girl singers... I love K.D. Lang's voice. I listen to things like that. I love Susanne Vega as well. And sometimes for the more mellow ones ya know, I sort of adopt a female approach for my voice in falsetto. I also love, like, people like Jeff Buckley. There's so many fantastic singers out there. There's definitely a lot of female singers... and like when I was a kid as well, like Kate Bush.
MB: Yeah, I love Kate Bush.
PM: Like "Wuthering Heights" and stuff, and I was like ten years old or something. (He now immitates Kate Bush singing "Wuthering Heights".) It's just something that I sort of got into. I've always sang. My dad was a really good singer and he used to run a, he was head of a big choir. And he used to conduct and sing. I think he was a soprano. My family was a musical family and all my sisters played instruments like piano and guitar.
MB: Were they in bands?
PM: Oh no, not in bands. They're all sort of married and have kids and stuff. I'm the-kind of- black sheep of the family. Me and my dad would, like, sit there doing Simon And Garfunkel harmonies. My dad would play Buddy Holly and we did impersonations and all that stuff. That's kind of what it was. It just comes naturally. That's the great thing about the band is that nothings forced. It's not contrived. We love making music, like most musicians, and the end result is just having that CD, like the EP or a single or an album that you've got and you've made, and that you're really proud of. I think we're a better recording band than we are, like, a touring band. We love touring as well, but...
MB: Yeah, your show was fabulous. You can, like, feel the energy. You can listen to it at home and stuff, but when you are there it's a different experience, it's a good experience.
PM: Yeah, but it's, ya know, we've had some pretty turbulent times... losing, ya know, a singer and our best friend, ya know. And all that stuff. And Saxby in particular had a lot of personal problems when he was growing up. You know, he lost his mom when he was quite young and had a sister he lost as well. A lot of that.
MB: Yeah, I was wondering because his writing is so coming from someone who's very experienced and a very interesting person. You listen and you're like, "Wow! I'd love to know that guy. He has a lot to say."
PM: Yah, Saxby's had a pretty, ya know, yeah and it's why I sing his songs like that. They're all so heart felt. We've done... and I mean, without sounding corny- we've done songs, recorded songs where, when we finally sat down and finished them at like four o'clock in the morning, they've been mixed and we're all in tears because of some of the subjects Saxby's written about, about his... a song off the "Hillside" album was all about his sister who died. And it really really moved us all that he could write about his sister in such a way and convey that feeling of missing, loving...
MB: Is he gonna mind me putting this in the interview?
PM: I don't know really, he doesn't often talk about it, cuz it's hard to talk about... But that's what makes the band special ya know, the experiences that we've all had. Real life experiences.
MB: I actually notice some soul and funk and like "Tiny Car." It sounds a little bit like it could be a Prince song to me.
PM: Yeah, definitely. Oh, we love Prince. You should speak to Rob, cuz Rob's written a lot of the stuff.
RA: Yeah, I love "Sign O The Times."
MB: Yah, I really thought I heard a Prince influence, but I was like...
PM: Saxby likes Prince as well.
MB: Really? And that's pretty much like the only song I felt it on, but I was like "wow."
RA: We've done so many ballad type- straight forward ones, and we thought we'd started to get a bit bored of that, so we thought we'd do something a little bit more- we fancied using like loops and stuff, so there's a drum loop on there- so it's just a slightly different thing, but still quite homemade at the same time.
MB: Why do you think people should buy your CDs?
RA: So we can afford to come back again.
PM: Cuz it's like you said, you get a compliation. You always listen to an album and you only like two tracks off the album and then you get another 6 tracks that are just variations of the two and I always found it boring.
MB: And you only want to listen to that CD when you're in one particular mood, ya know-... A lot of bands are like perfect from this mood or that mood, but when a band can run the full gamut of different genres it's incredible.
PM: Keeps it interesting.
MB: And I think you guys really do that. Is there anything that you guys want to say lastly?
PP: We're still here, ya bastards!
PM: Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel. Saxby, would you like to end the... Have you got something you'd like to say to the readers?
MS: Something deep and profound? Der Da Na Ner Ner Da Da!
MB: Lovely!
MS: Thank you folks! That's all folks!
(Mark continunes on with his ending vocal music and then tells me I can bootleg that and sell it. Uh, okay Mark!)
You can check out the latest ARNOLD news by going to their website HERE.
The End!
Written by Mary Lenoir Bond, July 2002 / no reprinting of article or pictures without permission first.
