Richard Ashcroft |
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Thu. March 06.2003 3:45 PM EST |
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Richard Ashcroft: Human BehaviorFormer Verve boss gets spiritualized on his second solo album by Gil Kaufman |
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Richard Ashcroft (Publicity) |
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Richard Ashcroft likes a balance in his life. One minute he's talking about getting high and listening to the Beach Boys, the next he's
saying that, while he's fond of "herbal root," drugs are a "false, chemical reality." The former Verve singer
Such are the contradictions of a man who makes music that feels like a trip, but doesn't need to indulge anymore. Yes, love is his drug and Ashcroft definitely taps into a warm rush of tranquility on his second solo album, Human Conditions. Eschewing the modern psychedelia of the Verve - there's nary a guitar freak-out in sight - Ashcroft has crafted 11 slabs of mature folk-rock that explore the meaning of life and the sanctity of love. He teams with his boyhood hero Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys on the mind-expanding "Nature is the Law," and suggests that god is a woman in "Check the Meaning." With a vision of peace central to his latest tunes, Ashcroft has grown from an angry young man to a centered adult. Check your head as the man once known as "Mad Richard" disses Kelly Osbourne, describes how 50 Cent makes him smile, and explains why there will never be a Verve reunion. VH1: What was it like working with Brian Wilson? Were you a Beach Boys fan growing up? Richard Ashcroft: At the age of 16, I was involved with a group of people who investigated music. We were lucky that we had a varied soundtrack, and some of our big discs were Pet Sounds and Dennis Wilson's solo album [Pacific Ocean Blue]. The Beach Boys' music has always been part of me, but it's never been to the point where I felt the need to parody or pastiche it. When I wrote "Nature is the Law," I was listening back and I was daydreaming, thinking about Brian and Dennis Wilson. I thought it would be great if I could get Brian to sing on it. I just got that feeling that it should happen. Call it daydreaming or visualization. All you do is oil the cogs. You make it easier to happen, but you don't make it happen. Six days later, I was doing a photo shoot and someone knew Brian Wilson's manager and before long he hears the song, reads about me and said he'd love to do it. VH1: What was it about the Beach Boys that drew you in? Ashcroft: It's not just the Beach Boys or Brian. It's not just the music, it goes beyond music. It was that desire to elevate the pop song, something people often patronize as an art form. "Good Vibrations," what a wonderful radio song, what a complete head-trip, what a tune, what a piece of psychedelia, what a piece of white soul! Incredible music like that frightens me with its competitive [nature], with how it lays down the gauntlet. VH1: The record has a fair amount of ballads. Do you ever get the itch to crank it up and play some loud rock once in a while? Ashcroft: I do miss that. But I think a lot of psychedelia is waste. Mind alternating music can be focused. I think "Check the Meaning" is psychedelic music. There will be an album [of mine] down the line where there will be tracks that make your ears bleed. VH1: Your music has certainly mellowed over the years, but have you? Ashcroft: No, I don't think so. I don't feel that the fire has been quelled. I don't get quick hits from my songs. I think people will be talking about this album in positive terms in ten years ... if we continue to have a music industry and a planet. If we do, that will be when this record makes more sense. VH1: Why do you think that is? Ashcroft: Not because I'm some soothsayer ... something like "Check the Meaning" just runs against the tastemakers. This industry picks a certain amount of bands in a certain genre that will happen over that year and if you release something that runs against that, [you're out]. My album does. Everything is very bombastic at the moment, everything is competing for your attention by being the loudest. So it's time to chill, give people the chance to swim in the music a little bit. Kelly Osbourne can be a grunge punk rocker. So what? Anyone can turn the f*cking thing up to 10. VH1: Do you miss the free-form improvisation you had with the Verve? Can you hear the Verve's influence in contemporary music? Ashcroft: Without a doubt. Coldplay seem very influenced by [Verve guitarist] Nick [McCabe]. The Music, also. There's a band from Detroit named after one of our songs, which is great. When we came to those American cities years ago, we had a priority of wanting to change people's heads and influence them - blow their minds. Not in a manifesto way, but we were living a different way, seeing things differently. We were saying, "Come on. Join us." VH1: What's your favorite recent album? Ashcroft: I think the 50 Cent single "In Da Club" is pure, beautiful - I vibe with it. When I heard Coldplay's single and the guitar coming on, I thought, "Yeah, you've done it, you've gone beyond what people expected." There's a couple of guys from Liverpool who supported me on my English tour, the Hokum Clones, who've got a mainline to Leadbelly. This stuff needs to be put on record, because the river needs to carry on. VH1: What do you think of all the manufactured pop stars on television today? Stuff like American Idol... Ashcroft: People aren't understanding that this is a big corporate venture and they're going to secure all the venues where a hit artist will make money. They'll make damn sure that someone will write the first song that comes out after this six months of prime time advertising is over. The kid's not going to be able to write the song. So, millions of people get this impression that to be creative, to be a pop star means learning dance steps, signing away your independence and letting someone else write your songs. That's the saddest thing. That's the death of the songwriter. But, we need sh*tty [music] to show how good the diamonds really are. The kid in class who's making his own music in his bedroom and is being laughed at because he hates these shows? He's the next Kurt Cobain. VH1: What's the first gig you saw that really impressed you? Ashcroft: The Stone Roses blew me away. Lyrically, they were striving for something so much bigger. It was strange; there were a few girls at the front of the stage and the rest were lads, very hard, aggressive lads. This whole contradiction gave me tremendous inspiration. I tapped into that as well. When I go and watch a football game and a guy with one tooth and tattoos all over his arms stops me and says my songs changed his life, you realize the potency of this music. VH1: Is there a song like that that so changed you that you wish you'd written it? Ashcroft: "What's Going On" [Marvin Gaye]. "My Ship is Coming In," [Walker Brothers]. "Imagine," [John Lennon], "Pretty Vacant" [Sex Pistols]. VH1: Finish this sentence, "The Verve were the (blank) of their time." Ashcroft: Most misunderstood band. VH1: What is the likelihood of a Verve reunion at some point down the line? Ashcroft: No likelihood. Life's too short. When I was recording my first solo album, a mixture of fear in becoming a solo artist and a sense of unfinished business led me to think, "Let's give Nick a ring and get this going and call it the Verve." I can't do that again. That was Spinal Tap enough. VH1: With so many songs mentioning God, is it safe to assume you're a religious man? What does God mean to you? Ashcroft: No, not really. It's safe to assume that I believe a man named Jesus lived on this planet. It's safe to assume that in kids' eyes, my wife's eyes, and a cup of tea I feel something that resembles a higher power. I still consider myself a seeker and fan of Charles Darwin and William Blake. But, I'm also obsessed with the concept of a glass confessional box so the priest won't abuse you. How insane is that? |
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