Maximo Park – Interview – Brazil, Winter '09
By: Hayley Sleigh, Thomas Hannan
Despite apparently having ‘no idea’ how well Maximo Park’s set was going to be received (‘it’s either going to be a rude awakening or a nice surprise’), the band’s front man Paul Smith was reasonably relaxed when Rockfeedback met up with him backstage at Sao Paulo’s Planeta Terra festival on a gloriously sunny day in November (it was spring down there – we love the Southern Hemisphere). Not surprisingly, given that Smith and his band had flown into the city two days earlier “just to soak up the sun, and see what Sao Paulo is like instead of just flying in and out”, Smith provoked intense envy among the Rockfeedback crew by revealing he had taken a trip to Brazil’s legendary Football Museum during his stay. “I saw Pele’s shirt from the 1970 World Cup. I saw the film of that World Cup, and so to actually see the shirt the man was playing in – it was amazing.”
Smith told also of how much he was looking forward to playing on the same stage as Sonic Youth and Iggy Pop (“we have no right to be there on the same stage as them, in some ways”), and performing in a city as culturally vibrant and music-mad as Sao Paulo. “It seems to me that people just enjoy music so much here, because in most bars there’s really good live music – people with nylon-stringed guitars plucking away, people with amazing rhythm on bongos, cabassas, all sorts of percussive instruments. We were doing our sound-check yesterday, and there were loads of people samba dancing. When the local crew are dancing to your music you know you’re onto a winner. It was a warm welcome.”
Rockfeedback: For a rock ‘n roll musician such as yourself, how suited to the music you make and perform is this kind of atmosphere - these huge, outdoor sunny settings? Is this your ideal place to play, or does an intimate, scuzzy venue suit you better?
Paul Smith: “When we first made our debut album, we weren’t really thinking about who it was going to reach – we were just trying to express ourselves. We were used to playing it in pubs in Newcastle, and that’s just about it really, doing the odd pub gig elsewhere. To actually go out onto bigger stages was a real challenge for us. With each record we’ve made different kinds of music, and each type of music appeals to people in different ways. The first album [A Certain Trigger, 2005] was quite punky but still pop; the second [Our Earthly Pleasures, 2007] was more rock but still full of hooks and choruses – weren’t trying to be ‘proggy’ or anything. With the new album [Quicken the Heart, 2009] we tried to make it a bit more groove-based and take things easier in terms of how frenetic the music was, but still keep the pop-ness. So when we play our songs, people find a sing-along aspect to it. Our music is really upbeat, ultimately. We see people responding and dancing, people moshing... whatever! It seems to skirt around each different genre. “
RFB: It’s obviously emotional for you - regardless of where I’ve seen you play before, be it a small venue or a huge stage, you put a hell of a lot into what it is you’re doing up there. How has it changed for you, now you’re playing for these enormous audiences – does that inform the process of writing the music and the topics that you sing about, or do you ignore that when you’re writing?”
PS: “I think you realise people are waiting for your music when you’re making a record, and you can either allow that to infringe on the process or you can think about it at the end and decide ‘Oh, that’d be a good single, that’ll get people going, that’s a good live track’. Making the records is about expressing ourselves, and the music that binds us together as a five-piece band. We all have different tastes and we have to find that common thread. I mean, I like lots of quiet music, but then what would Tom [English, Maximo Park’s drummer] do? [Laughs] What would Archis [Tiku, the band’s bassist] do? You can do it all yourself or you can allow yourself to be part of a collaborative process. It’s there at the back of your mind, but if it infringes on the process then you’ll end up making quite empty stadium rock really. We’ve all seen it happen to bands who really want to make it big instead of really wanting to make great music. It’s a fine line for some bands, and some achieve it and some don’t. But ultimately we’re just going to keep making music that we like, and if it means playing to small audiences or playing to big ones, then the music will dictate that. I think what you said about people seeing that we’re into it and it’s something that we put a lot into - I think that will always appeal to people. I know when I go to a show, if the songs are good, and the person or the group care about what’s happening and are really connected to the music, it becomes a transcendent experience.”
RFB: Do you have to make it exciting for yourself first before you can translate that to an audience?
PS: “That’s true, you do. On our recent tour we opened up with a song called ‘A19’, which is about a road that connects Middlesbrough and Newcastle. We thought, this is a song which hardcore Maximo Park fans will know and like, but at the same time opening with a B-side is not the done thing if you want really play it safe and make sure that everybody has a great night.”
RFB: But despite having seen so much of the world now through your music and where it’s taken you, it’s still things quite close to home that excite you as a songwriter, would you say?
PS: “Well, I think travelling influences the way that you write, if you’re taking notice of what’s going on. A lot of bands probably just stay asleep on the tour bus ‘cause they’ve had a rough night. I just try and absorb as much as possible, and in certain songs you’ll hear that. I don’t want to keep writing about the same things, but I will write about something if I feel it’s important, and relationships and things like that just keep coming back into view. If I feel like I’m repeating myself, I cut it out, but I think that human relationships and the behaviour between two people...”
RFB: I don’t think song-writing will ever have that covered.
PS: “Yeah, no-one will ever be able to explain it to me. I don’t have a clue! I enjoy listening to people like Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, who have been ploughing the same furrow essentially. They explore different sides of their own little world, and they take things in. One of my favourite records is The Hissing of Summer Lawns by Joni Mitchell. It’s about this Hollywood, Beverly Hills lifestyle that she sees from afar from her house in Laurel Canyon. She sees this whole different world and she talks about it, but it still comes back to emotional things – the way that people treat each other, relationships. I’m really fond of that kind of music, so it makes perfect sense for me as a writer to get involved in it and put my own slant on it. If we feel like we’re repeating ourselves musically, then we’ll just stop and do something else, or stop making music entirely. That sounds like a ludicrous thing to say, in some ways.”
RFB: It sounds like you mean it though...
PS: “I just can’t see the point in making stuff just to survive. I want people to engage with what we do. I want to believe in something while I’m making it, and I want to believe in something when I’m performing it. Again, we don’t really tour forever to make money, because we want to get back to making music and being creative, and I think we’ve always done that at the right time. It’s kind of a funny thing, because the music – we feel like it deserves to be heard, so we go out and play it for as long as we can.”
- Piece by Hayley Sleigh. Paul Smith was talking to Thomas Hannan.
Artists in this article: Maximo Park