Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - London, UK, Summer 2002
By: Toby L
For all the hyperbole of the last twelve months, the key acts which became ensconced within such a manic excitement of relentless press-support have had some explaining to do. Yet, despite the hypers' usual delivery of accolade to those that fizzle out in a short amount of time, recently, the people succeeding are the ones that the media expected special things to happen to in the first place. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are one of these vital new acts that have justified their continually-rising and prominent existence in modern alternative-music. Though, to date, it hasn't been an easy ride.
Despite obtaining underground and commercial hit singles, as well as producing an extremely well-revered, self-titled debut LP, BRMC have been plagued by a few major difficulties internally - and externally. The most notable of these from within the band arose due to drummer Nick Jago's inability to join the band on tours and promotional-duties outside of the US, occurring due to unspecified past occurrences. To cope and spread the band's message, the group's two vocalists, guitarist Peter Hayes and bassist Robert Turner, covered all the live-work, taking with them former Verve sticks-man Pete Salisbury to help out. Although tours and performances were received rapturously, Hayes and Turner haven't been as ecstatic in their response to how the situation presented itself.
In addition to this, despite the ardent praise received from various media-platforms on the Black Rebel material so far, there has also been a negative perception of their personalities, some plaguing their being as 'aloof' and 'moody'. The reason for such criticisms stems from their responses in the interview-process; hardly the most rambunctious of speakers, their usual answers to various journos' onslaught of mind-numbing questions are cool, calm and collected. Naturally, this allows them to be seen by the less ably-researched as 'boring'. Because of these two specific instances, our mission today was to source out the honest truth and fight beyond the threshold of conventional perception - so, does BRMC stand for a 'Bright, Resplendent, Motivated Creation', or merely 'Blinkered, Reclusive, Mundane Catastrophe'?
Tonight is incidentally the three-piece's first ever UK show all together - for, yes, Jago has been brought back to British shores - as well as the opening night of a short tour, taking in their largest headlined-venues so far in the act's life-time. One of the luxuries to experience at evolving through hard work to such a level is most evident, aside from the idea of a sold-out London Forum stage to be graced later on - and that's the dressing-room. Decked out with riches of food layered over the table, only the allurement of a comfortable leather-settee and buzzing fridge full of alcohol is more tantalising. This is the room that rockfeedback has been trusted to wait in until the boys arrive, and - when they eventually do some minutes later - they're in good spirits.
Prior to the interview, photos are taken of the band-members in various seated positions. The myth that they overtly pose for all images to convey coolness is immediately exposed as fraudulent - they just appear honestly, remaining in natural positions. Yet, so, on with the conversation - let's see if any other aspects of the group's collective enigma can be uncovered...
And, first things first: Peter and Robert have stated during most of the last year that their main goal was to get playing with Nick again on their worldwide tours - this seems to be achieved. How does it feel?
'Mission accomplished,' smirks Robert, with a sense that there's more to tell.
Peter continues, dropping the bombshell. 'Yeah, but we've still got work to do - he can't go back in the US... So, we've had to make a decision to do the rest of the world and forget about the US for as long as possible...'
'It looks like it's gonna be all right and that it's gonna clear up, but I don't know,' Nick, the centre of it all, suddenly begins. 'Before, originally, it just seemed like a no-win situation, but there's more options. It's hard to say - it's an always changing situation; whatever we say now could be different next week: the laws change a lot...'
Such an ambiguity as this to the potential outcome of events - does it create a sense of tension or excitement over the dealings that your career has to cope with?
Peter sighs gently. 'We try to handle it better, but, yeah, it's something to keep your mood in check!'
'It helps keep yourself in the moment more,' contributes Nick, intriguingly. '... Where you don't worry about what's happening in the future or what's happened in the past.'
Incidentally, however, what changes does it make for the band playing together when you're all reunited again?
'You get to just step out of it,' responds Turner, 'Which is what everyone wants; you just fight for perspective in life and that's what happens when you're forced to play without someone, because you know what it's like without it... It just gets real (clicks fingers to help provide answer) tangible how much it could fall apart at any minute...'
Assumingly, such an experience has made you closer to each other in your personal relations?
'Not at the time,' Robert smiles, 'But now it has! I guess that's what happens when you put a couple of thousand miles between us...
'On the last tour, we just said that the only thing we were concerned about was getting this situation cleared up because when you get asked, 'What are your influences, what are your aims,' so many times, you can start to lose the plot and lose what really matters... Just knowing that playing music together is the most important thing: it keeps things pretty simple.'
And, Nick - how has the whole encounter been for you?
He glances at the floor for a moment, contemplating on what's being asked. 'It's been frustrating, because we weren't able to do all the things that we wanted to do...' He pauses and then laughs to himself for a second. 'I've just been following the band as much as I can... And spending the time with my other half!' The band giggles quietly at the response.
Already, many misconceptions have become dispelled in just the space of a few minutes; although BRMC are conservative in many of the comments that they make - and, indeed, occasionally cryptic to the point of curiosity - their demeanour is consistently gentle, relaxed and sincere - hardly the portrait painted by certain publications. Speaking of which...
What are the questions most commonly put to yourselves during press-engagements?
'Usually, 'So, whatever happened to rock and roll,' Pete states, obviously linking a reference to the band's song of (almost) the same name. 'Yeah, that and, 'Do you like Jesus & Mary Chain?!'
'But, we can go anywhere (in topic-matter) - we're pretty open to anything, in terms of the government or whatever: I mean, we don't read the paper every morning so we probably wouldn't talk about that for very much, but there's plenty of other things that tie into music: dreams, religion, so much more...'
Interesting that the 'religion' topic has been brought up... What with lyrics such as 'If I'd been Jesus/I wouldn't come back/I'm the kind of guy that leaves the scene of the crime' existing on the current album, is there a spiritual side to the Club..?
Robert emphasises a rather general overview. 'There's loads of different sides to it if you try and, like, hide in it, but I don't know if some subjects need to be hidden a little bit more in case some people aren't ready to sink their teeth into it all at once...'
What kind of subjects?
Sadly, the sound of the drummer throwing the remains of otherwise consumed strawberries against the window distracts his bandmate's response. Robert sneakily grins and gets his bandmate, who has momentarily lost attention, to take over.
'What do you think, Nick,' he asks.
Jago looks up, surprised, and discontinues his athletic-activity, detecting the hint to stop.
It could be a fair comment that due to the group's occasionally informal approach to such press-obligations, there seems to exist a reticence from their end to really exploit it as much as possible...
Commenting on this, Peter clarifies their predicament. 'All of the press is just basically formed around first impression, so you're forced to be on good behaviour, and to be on your game - especially on TV or whatever... You've gotta put your best foot, or whatever the f**k, in. But, the first impression is just the tip of anyone, you know?'
And, of a common first impression being that the band are 'aloof', how does this allow them to feel?
'You can see how some people would think it that way,' Hayes carries on. 'Aloof'? I mean, I dunno how they're using it, but 'aloof' - I don't know if they mean in it a, 'Higher than thou' way! That's usually what it means, so it's not really the best kind of comment to receive... It's not true at all! But, so be it, I can understand how some people can see it; we're not big talkers, and so people take it that way...'
'Sometimes, to me,' adds Nick, 'It's like I'm just taking my time so I can figure out what the hell I'm gonna say! I'm not against the press - it's a f**king medium: it's there, and you can share your ideas with other people...'
Clearly, your views and stance on such issues don't depict you to be as threatening as once thought...
'Yeah,' laughs Nick, 'Well - you better watch out for that one, though!' At this instance, he points over to a silent Robert, who sits with a growing beam forming on his face. 'Be scared of him,' Jago insists, 'Be very scared!'
One of the group's major advantage-points is their material's aptitude to converge into a live-setting as thrillingly epic and boldly as it comes across on recorded efforts. The show they go on to play later today, for example, is an undeniable triumph; from the chilling entrance of 'Red Eyes & Tears', through to upcoming single-release, 'Spread Your Love', and right through to masterful b-sides, two new tracks and the show-closing 'Punk Song', the most notable difference between BRMC's long-player and live-show is that - for the latter - they're even more powerful...
'The record's pretty old to us now,' explains Robert. 'So, basically we've just been playing and playing it all the time, and have grown a lot as a band, lived together for the last year... We've got a lot better - I mean, it's not like we were bad before! However, we've got the rare experience to travel as much as we do, not many bands do, and most bands can't keep up with our pace: it's cool, it's a good thing - it just keeps us stronger.'
Over this time, what have you learnt from your experiences about the music-industry?
'That's a tough one to think about: there's a lot of different things - a lot of good things, too,' reassures Pete. 'Every day, you even learn how to get a better sound on-stage, learn how to play best in a room, know what to expect from playing different kinds of rooms... There's a ton of things - and the business is just a piece of it.'
Have any specific aspects of it led you to hold a cynical viewpoint in any area?
'You can be cynical towards any of it,' rationalises Robert diplomatically, 'But you can embrace any part of it, too: it just all depends on the attitude you put out.'
One of the notable 'attitudes' that the band have attempted to maintain is the resistance to sell out. They may be on a major-label, though they'd most likely view this as an attempt to further the music to as many people as possible, and not adhere to the alternative fate: i.e. confine the potential to just a steamy club somewhere back in San Francisco from where they originate. As for progressively large concert-venues...
'The size of the rooms is irrelevant,' Peter elucidates. 'You just play to where you're wanted... If you mean us playing a town in America and, just because your booking-agent has got a name for himself, he can get the band more money and a bigger place to play in - but it's half full, then, no, we don't want that: we want to play where it's right.'
This said, are there any sacrifices you have made in order for the band to continue as rapidly as possible?
Peter doesn't hold back on this one. 'We sacrificed him,' he declares widely, gesturing over to Nick. 'That's the most sold out thing we've ever done, as far as I'm concerned - and I'm f**king ashamed of it.'
Nick's immediate reaction is to defend the original decision to tour elsewhere without him, claiming that it was the right move in the long-run of their duration.
'Yeah,' returns Pete, 'I mean, sure, it helped the band and whatever, but it was a sold out move in my head - because it compromised everything we didn't want to do.'
Peter is harsh on himself, although you can't help but respect his beliefs - holding on to this ethics, and realising that it was in some ways damaging to the band's unity to tour without an original member, but an unavoidable circumstance nonetheless.
Robert sticks up for this sentiment. 'Yeah, if we hadn't gone out, it would have f**ked the situation ten times more: nothing would have happened for the band - you wouldn't be sitting here, I wouldn't be sitting here, and no one would know our name...'
Nick, speaking as the youthful wise-man in the scenario, sums it up best. 'Sometimes, you've got to step outside yourself and see what's best for everyone else... It's all meant to be...'
On a less gloomy note, let's try one more time to rid of wrongful representations of the group, this time, choosing to reflect on their image and what its connotations really align up to. The chances are that you'll have seen their classic-look emblazoned across magazines by now - the leather-jackets, cigarettes-in-mouths, the dreamy glances - but how essential is it to the overall picture of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club?
'It's more just about simplifying everything,' exemplifies Jago, 'Because, if you simplify everything, it becomes more of a statement - more of a statement against everything that's out there right now.'
'We're not happy with the different fashions,' Robert confides, 'So why have a label on your back?'
If we're going to continue setting the record straight, why not just come out with the underlying question at stake of it all - what is the essence of BRMC?
Time is taken to register the request as well as muse over the best way to express a response. Nick goes first.
'We want to create something that will last for a long time. And, so, it's important to keep something held back about that person, something that you don't know, to maintain interest... It's like building a relationship.'
Robert takes this point further, revealing, 'Today, people aren't gonna give a shit if we just spill it all out on to the table - we've got to try and keep exciting.'
'Yeah - like the new material,' slips in Peter. 'It will sound closer to what the band is now, because, as we said, the sound of us live has changed over the months - which is a good thing...'
'Hopefully,' Nick inserts more simply, 'It will stay the same in some ways, but will be a bit more rocky in parts.'
'Yeah,' begins Turner, 'But we may just take a slower approach in what we do now our time's come...'
Now the band's time has come, nothing seems more rewarding and fair than for the guys to continue to focus on where to head next and what to achieve following everything already under their belts. Until this time arrives, however, let's hope their impact on the worldwide circuit persists to be of such an exemplarily high standard.
After all, you see, sometimes people really are more than what you make of them to begin with; the mission that BRMC are currently heading on is still very much of a mystery, but at least today's attempts came closer to unravelling the obscurity of their endeavours - whilst also providing a possibly more intimate and faithful portrayal of their being... May they proceed onwards from now with the same magic in their hearts and musical-gift at their disposal.
Artists in this article: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club