Gang of Four |
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Mon. May 02.2005 12:00 AM EDT |
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Back On The Chain Gang (Of Four)In the wake of several new "imitators," the pioneering punk band reunites. Andy Gill tells us which young Gang is best, why his band were never meant to be Nirvana, and how hearing "When I'm Sixty-Four" is hell. by Gil Kaufman |
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(Wounded Bird Records) |
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Once the Pixies reunited last year, it seemed like all bets were off in the
"they'll never get back together!" rock band sweeps. Sure, it's unlikely the
Replacements will be mending fences any day soon, but - surprise! - Dinosaur Jr. recently
Gang of Four is beating them to the punch. One of the most influential post-punk bands of the 1980s, GOF's original members - singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, drummer Hugo Burnham and bassist Dave Allen - began their rapprochement last year with a number of rapturously received UK live shows. They are scheduled to launch their first U.S. tour together in 25 years with a May 1 date at the Coachella festival, and, so far, things seem to be going along just fine. Perhaps that's because the stage has been set for the Gang's arrival. Though their albums didn't sell particularly well during their original run, the group's arty, off-kilter sound has clearly effected a new generation of rockers. Critically ballyhooed bands such as Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, Radio 4, the Futureheads have earned acclaim for their obvious allegiance to GOF's pioneering meld of punk, funk, dub, social commentary and dissonance - lots and lots of dissonance. Read a list of bands that tip the hat to Gang of Four. Now, fans who've never gotten to see them perform such landmark songs as "I Love a Man in Uniform," "Anthrax" and "To Hell with Poverty" can groove to one of rock's most compelling sounds. On May 10, Rhino is also releasing the GOF's best disc, Entertainment!, in extended reissue form. On the verge of their American tour, Andy Gill spoke to VH1 and his band's personal tics, current imitators, and an extreme dislike for the Beatles song "When I'm Sixty Four." VH1: Are there any old annoyances between you guys that have resurfaced? Gill: Constantly, yeah. It's interesting the way people change. Different individuals have changed in some ways ... and in some respects they're more exaggerated or they've lost one or two of their hard edges. VH1: You're choosing your words carefully. Does losing an edge make it easier or harder to get along? Gill: (long pause) The latter point makes it easier. You can hear me struggling with diplomacy. VH1: Do you ever get to a place where everyone is rolling their eyes at something someone else is doing? Gill: There's plenty of that ... but if I went into detail I would wind up ... upsetting someone. VH1: What's it feel like to hear people talk about how hugely influential you are and still be able to walk down the street fairly anonymously? Gill: It's nice. It would be a nightmare the other way. Now and then people will recognize me in a restaurant, but not every day and not all the time and that's good. If you recall what Gang of Four was doing in that early period, it could never have been anything but a cult band. VH1: But some cult acts turn into bands like Nirvana. Gill: It was never going to be Nirvana, selling out stadium shows or having platinum records. I know that from the awkwardness of the music and sheer bloody-mindedness of the lyrical approach. We never tried to produce difficult music or be avant garde, though. We always strived to embrace mainstream culture [even as] we were critical of it. I think that's the relationship many people have with mainstream culture, because anyone who accepts things uncritically would have to be naïve or stupid, and most people are not. But it also means we won't be accepted by the people who enjoy Mariah Carey. VH1: Who is the most surprising peer who you've heard is a big fan? Gill: Kylie Minogue is a fan. And, less surprising, I guess, is Gavin from Bush. VH1: But not Gwen [Stefani]? Gill: Funny you mention her, because No Doubt is doing a remix of one of our songs, "Ether," from the first album for this project I'm working on. At the moment it is 14 songs from the first three albums, one disc is my mixes of those recordings and the other is of other people's mixes. In some cases, they've re-recorded the vocals and a whole new track. Beck wants to record a whole new version of a track with his band. VH1: Which of your fellow post-punk bands did you respect back in the day? Gill: Lots of them. When the new Joy Division record came out you wanted to hear it and Magazine had a few great tracks. The Buzzcocks were absolutely amazing. And the American bands like Television and Talking Heads ... it was a time when real interesting stuff was happening. VH1: What's harder about touring as a grown up? What have you had to give up? Gill: When you're 20, it's such an amazing adventure that you put up with any amount of stuff. The bus or van breaks down in the Lincoln Tunnel and you say, "Wow, this is cool! We're holding up all of New York behind us because we broke down! Hah!" Now it would be, "Oh my God, what a drag. Get me out of here now." The tolerance for very inconvenient situations is less, which is predictable. VH1: Any vices you've had to give up? Gill: Personally, I'm vicing away. You're never too old to vice. VH1: What audience's response has surprised you the most? Gill: One of things that's great is that we didn't really know who was going to be turning up to these shows. We knew there was a big excitement out there and people were vibed about it, but what was amazing when we did our first shows in the UK was that 70 percent of the audience was under 25 and they were going nuts. VH1: How do you think they discovered you? Gill: A lot of it is word of mouth. The old fashioned way of people sticking on a record and saying, "have you heard this?" Your older brother, parents, daughter, whatever. VH1: Which of the many new groups that bite your style bite it best? Gill: Franz Ferdinand are great. I love listening to them and a lot of these bands people say sound just like Gang of Four ... there are things that are similar, but they definitely have their own thing going on. The Futureheads are a good example. They have clearly heard Gang of Four records, XTC and maybe Wire but they take it in a quite unique direction. I'm really impressed with what they do. VH1: Any chance you'd record a new album? Gill: I wouldn't completely rule it out, but we're kind of going little steps at a time. It's partly seeing how this goes and how we feel about it. VH1: What contemporary music are you listening to now? Gill: I really liked a few tracks on the last album by the Walkmen. VH1: You're stuck in an elevator for two days, what album would you least mind having on repeat? Gill: Any album would drive you crazy after two days, but I'd go for some kind of elevator music. Or failing that, something by Brian Eno. VH1: Which one would be hell for you? Gill: What's that Beatles album that's got "When I'm Sixty-Four" on it? VH1: Um, Sgt. Peppers? Gill: Yeah, that one. That would be my hell. Has that got "Octopus's Garden" on it? A Beatles best-of compilation with "Octopus's Garden," "Rita Meter Maid" [aka "Lovely Rita"] and "When I'm Sixty-Four." That would drive me nuts. VH1: What album do you always give people as a gift? Gill: I'm a big fan of Erik Satie, the classical musician from the beginning of the 20th century. One of my other favorites is a reggae guy named I-Roy. He's got a great stuff, including the best cover version of "The First Cut is the Deepest" I've ever heard. He gives it this amazing feel, like a very warm summer afternoon with all the melancholy that can be associated with that. It's bittersweet, happy/sad and tropical. VH1: Just what does a Gang of Four groupie look like these days? Gill: Incredibly attractive and, of course, scarily bright. |
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