|
From the first 10 seconds of their debut album on Crazy Love Records, I was hooked. From Switzerland, this band somehow delivers the sounds of the Deep South with a tinge of Eastern Europe without sounding overtly contrived. Subtlety parallels confidence, and this band has plenty to feel confident about. Rather than consciously trying to emulate the records in their collection, you get the feeling that their collection has instead become engrained in band's subconscious, manifesting itself in words and phrasings all their own. With shared vocals between Oliver and Emanuela, you are stricken by another sonic dichotomy that is able to hold your attention throughout the span of each disc, including their latest, "Bourgeois Baby," also on Crazy Love Records. I was able to interview Hillbilly Moon Explosion via e-mail in late 2004, and found them to be as personally engaging as much as they are musically. - BL
O: I'd give the term a more general usage: Anyone who lives out in the sticks. For an unrepetant city-boy like me that means everyone outside of my town. I think you get the same situation as everywhere, i.e. city-dwellers have less in common with their compatriot backwood folks than with city-dwellers abroad. E: No way. For me hillbilly is pure America. West Virginia. O: Ah, that's because you're a hillbilly yourself. Her home town is tiny. RRP: Is American culture big where you are? How do you feel that rockabilly and other roots forms have changed in the hands of European bands, in particular, yourselves? What other influences and nuances are added to make it your own? E: I enjoy being able to approach American music and culture from the outside. I think it gives me a better overall view. We take the cool bits and add our own. Like Italian and French girl group sounds with vintage rockabilly. O: American culture is big anywhere - you've tapped into one of my favourite dinner table topics here - like it or lump it. Elvis in India, Hamburgers in Hong Kong, Hotrodders in Sweden. It's so big that I'd think it's fair to say it has become part of our culture, too - part of a global culture. With the result that present-day America probably has less to do with what we deem to be typically American. As to rockabilly changing I guess most is British - the Beatles playing Carl Perkins - the move to a more electric sound. Teddy Boy rockabilly in the 70s. Psycho in the 80s. I'm a boogie woogie man at heart and I'd say 1940s/50s r'n'b ist my biggest single influence to the Hillbilly Moon Explosion. Surprised? Well, there's also a lot of vintage reggae going on in our sound, too, even if we don't actually cover - say - a Skatalites song. And then some. Sixties girl groups, blues, rockabilly, Charlie Feathers, Howling Wolf, Ramones - whatever. Any kind of roots music. I still call it rock'n'roll. RRP: Did you get the second half of your name from the U.S. Air Force's top-secret Cold War plan to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon in the 1950s? O: No, but do let me know when it's on the History Channel. RRP: What do you think of the transformation of Langstrasse, which was formerly the red-light district. How is it changing, and what do you think of the changes? O: Langstrasse? You been to Zurich? RRP: I've never been to Europe at all, unfortunately. I was just reading about Langstrasse on the web. It sounded like a lot of what goes on here in the U.S. They try to "revive" certain areas and neighborhoods, raising property values, and forcing the original inhabitants (the working poor) out. It is really weird in the mid-stages of the transformation. You end up with weird neighborhoods where you can buy art and crack on the same block. O: Yeah that's pretty much the kreis 5 and 4 (the town boroughs in zurich are called "kreis"=circle) where the langstrasse is. but you get that anywhere. you wouldn't believe the prices they ask in chelsea in london. when I was a kid we paid a tiny rent - I could still kick my mum for not buying the apartment there back in the 70s! We moved out of Langstrasse just before it got really trendy. Now it still is the red light district, still has plenty of junkies and dealers, but is also expensive living space. I don't think you should move to a certain part of town to be cool. I think a part of town becomes cool because you move there. Having said that, the Langstrasse has a nice little Tiki bar and also the best Kebab takeout in town. E: I'm just fed up with the gangs and the dealers and all that shit. RRP: Is that a big problem? What sorts of gangs? O: Teenage gang violence - mugging, knifing, teenagers trying to be hip-hop gangstas. The more serious problem are the drug mafia gangs. They have their own thing going on but it can spill into the mainstream community if you live down there. I wouldn't know who has the say at the moment - changes every few years - probably the Albanians. RRP: Are prostitution and/or drugs legal there? O: Prostitution in general is legal. Street prostitution is legal in certain defined areas. Marijuana still is technically illegal, but the ban is not enforced. So practically it's legal. I'm not a dope smoker myself, but everyone else is. Including the cat. Lots of people grow their own stuff. openly - in their front garden in a bourgeois neighbourhood. no problem. Hard drugs are illegal, but due to the huge open drug problem we had about ten years ago, there are quite modern drug rehab programs which even include government controlled heroin distribution. and it seems to work - one of my best friends used to be addicted and was lucky to get on the heroin program. The deal there is you're allowed to go to the distribution centre twice a day. you can have as much h as you want, but you have to consume it there and then. can't take anything with you. the stuff is clean, you don't have to hustle, you can hold down a regular job - lead a perfectly normal life, in fact. which is how my friend became clean: reduced his doses by and by, eventually started going every second day etc. etc. until he didn't need any. RRP: Have you ever been to the States? O: I've been to the states a bunch of times. Never to Cleveland unfortunately. Emanuela lived in NY for a couple of years. I also did a bit of travelling - bought a car and drove down to New Orleans via the Appalachians. Real hillbilly stuff. RRP: I think I read that one of you like Django Reinhardt, the legendary Gypsy jazz guitarist who created a whole new fingering system built around the two fingers on his left hand that still had full mobility after he was burned in a fire. Have you learned much of his style and technique? Would you consider him one of the best? What musicians do you admire the most? O: My bass technique is also built around two fingers on my left hand. Luke (who just happened to call in on the phone): And I only use two of my arms to play the drums. O: Yes, but you use all four stomachs for digestion. L: But only the one liver. O: I like Django Reinhardt - at least the stuff I know - I know bugger all about his technique, but I dig his style: Sitting cross-legged with a cigarette on the tip of your lips, hat tipped back. Great style. And no, I'm not going to tell you which musicians I like. Because I'd bore the shit out of you with an endless list. My answer to question no. 2 is bad enough. E: I like all the blues guys. As a vocalist I really listen to the singer. Some of my favourites: Patsy Cline, Irma Thomas, Alex Harvey, Bon Scott, Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Elvis. RRP: Oliver, I saw on your site that you like Hitchcock movies... what is your favorite and why? Mine would be Spellbound starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck, with dream sequences by Salvador Dali. It is just a great psychological thriller-type movie that doesn't have the typical logical flaws of most similar films in that genre. Are you a big fan of classic cinema in general? I've been watching ton of old Film Noir and stuff form the 30's and 40's. It seems so much like stage acting because the medium was so new, and with the advent of sound, there seemed to have been a huge enthusiasm for quick-witted dialogue that you rarely see these days.
O: Here are some of my favourite Hitchcocks: RRP: Emanuela, I saw that you now have a pin-up calendar now. How long have you been doing pin-up work, and where have your photos been published? What inspired you to start this, and what classic models and/or photographers do you admire? E: I've learnt to admire any pin-up model - it's just such hard work all this kind of freeze-posing. You have to be very fit. I started doing pin-ups because a number of people said it's a shame that I'm not on the band posters. So out of that grew the idea that I do a calendar. And since it's not California with sunshine all year long and due to the fact that I'm rather busy otherwise the whole thing took 2 years to complete. Too long. RRP: I understand that guitarist Patrick Geser is leaving the band. Why? Is that why you aren't playing another gig until August 2005? O: Well Patrick's not here right now, so ... he's developed a nasty bowel syndrome that makes it impossible to share the stage with him. Actually, no. Leprosy. His fingers are falling off. And he's old, you know. 67 last August. OK, here's why: His guitar shop has expanded and is taking up more of his time. So will his 2nd kid which is due in February. I'll be spending the first half of 2005 writing new material - hopefully. And then we've got to work, train and torture the new guitarist into shape for the summer gigs. Only a short gig period next year - I want to record in the fall. This is what we've envisaged - is that a word? - who knows, maybe things will turn out differently. RRP: Are you concerned that the band's sound will inevitably change as a result of the line-up change, or are you more excited to see how the band adapts and evolves? O: Yes, of course I am excited to see how the band adapts and evolves. Don't want to get in a rut. Don't want to get bored. We want to be good. Want to get better. RRP: So what is wrong with Oliver's driving? E: He enters corners too fast. It's just not fun being in the passenger seat if he's behind the wheel. RRP: I read on Patrick's bio on the web site that his favorite U.S. president is the one after Bush. Do people where you are from distinguish our leadership from our every day people, or do they see him as reflecting the general ignorance and/or arrogance of the majority of our population? What do you think people in your area dislike most about Bush, or do most people accept and approve of him? O: I have yet to meet the person who accepts and approves of him - that's including all my American friends. And no, I don't think many people distinguish your leadership from your every day people. But that's because many people are dumb. I do distinguish your leadership from your every day people. No, I'm not really keen on Bush. Mainly because I have a great love of American culture and people and I don't think you're getting what you deserve. But: I'm being interviewed here as a musician, so I don't think it's my job to pass political judgment. I just hope the killing stops. E: There certain things about present-day America that foreigners - me – find difficult to understand, scary even. Like a naked breast on TV is worse than violence? RRP: Oliver, you were born in the same hospital that Jimi Hendrix died in? Was it the same year? Do you think there was some sort of Buddhist transference of souls, and now Hendrix lives inside of you? O: Yah about a month later. Me and one billion other London kids. I have yet to set fire to my bass fiddle. And I can't play it behind my head. But then Hendrix couldn't stand on his Strat while playing, eh? RP: If you were to diagnose another band member with a mental illness, what would it be and why? O: Psychotherapy. psychotropics, I've had the lot. True fact. Won't speak for the rest. E: Claustrophobia is my thing. I need to know I have direct access to the emergency exit before I can go on any stage. O: And OCD. 'Is the practice room door locked? Did we switch off all the amps?' She'll check 3 times or more. RRP: Where have some of your best gigs been? What was your best and worst show, and what made them bad or good? O: Calella was pretty dodgy - don't get me wrong: we went down well with the crowd, the promoters were very kind and it's great to learn that Demented are big fans of ours (my heroes!), but it's difficult to play a really good gig when the amps (not ours) keep cutting out and the bass (gut strings, not mine) sounds like, well, a bad joke. E: Every once in a while you get nuisance gigs where you're scheduled at about 1 in the morning and the band(s) before you decide to put on the show of their lifetime starting 90 minutes late and overstretching their time slot and when you're finally on, some 2 hours late people have either left or are so drunk that you might as well be reading from the telephone book on stage. O: Having said that, most of our gigs are really great. We love our audience. The London gig this summer with the Stray Cats was great - beautiful venue, great gig etc. But probably the biggest kick was actually seeing people sing along to our songs. E: I want to do more London gigs. I also want to play US gigs too, OK? O: Open air in Zurich summer 2004 on the day of the great big bloody techno street parade was a killer gig - we played well, brilliant audience – very pretty girls. It's very rewarding to know that despite the city being overrun with techno fans, you can still pack an open-air venue for a rock'n'roll gig. E: And I liked Speyer, because somebody threw me their underpants. RRP: Last question is simply: what you want you want from life? E: I want to be on stage. I want to sing. I want to perform. I want a quiet family life, too. Does that fit? I dunno. I want a larger apartment. O: I want fresh food prepared with olive oil instead of butter. Wine, beer and Tennessee whiskey in sensibles doses - very important for blood circulation. I want to be able to give and receive love. Loooove, Baby. Plenty of sleeping, shagging and eating in good restaurants (uh, not necessarily the first two specifically in the restaurant). I would at one stage in my life like to own a really cool car. Nothing wrong with the Chevy or the MG, but, you know: real cool. I don't want to get injured, mutiliated or killed and I don't want to contract a terminal illness within the next, say, 50 years. I want to enjoy the company of friends and I want to be able to sit at a bar where they play country music and drink cocktails or beer with Luke the Puke. And yes I want to have interviews with cool rock'n'roll publications such as this fine mag you happen to be holding right now.
|