popwreckoning

In the second half of my interview with Delphic‘s guitarist, the incredibly thoughtful Matt Cocksedge, we talk more about how album #2 is going to differ from their debut album Acolyte, and Matt tells me his personal philosophy on being a guitarist. We even chat about their Irish mates Two Door Cinema Club in my attempt to persuade them to come back and do a co-headlining tour in the States together next year. (Time will tell if I was successful…)

Part 1 of this interview can be accessed here.

Matt Cocksedge, Delphic: It’s very strange, being in a band and writing intensely personal stuff and then giving it to the public, and it’s not yours anymore, you know? It’s theirs. It’s there for them to interpret as they like, and it’s there for them to believe in or destroy. And you just kind of have to go with it. And it’s definitely difficult to get used to. Now we know a little more about what it’s about, we know how it goes and we’ve been there, and we know we’ve made a record and we can do it, we’ve got a bit more belief in ourselves and more of an idea of who we are and what we want to do. It’s an exciting time in Camp Delphic! We’re very much looking to the future. It’s very weird saying all this, having coming to tour America for the first time, it’s bizarre. It’s like, “Hi! We’re here supporting a band in America on our first tour, and we’re looking forward to writing our second album!” Considering our album only just came out…bizarre!
Mary Chang, PopWreckoning: It’s good! Maybe it’s my personal observation with how much music I get sent, but there’s seems an oversaturation of the new generation of bands coming out of Britain. And there’s no way NME, or Q, or anyone else can keep up with everyone. As a blogger I think you do get jaded because there are so many bands to assess. Do you feel that there’s pressure to come out with a second album quickly, because you worry you might get lost in the shuffle as new bands come up? Maybe you can tell me more about how the recording process is going for Delphic album #2.
MC: We’re doing bits and bobs in our studio [back in Manchester] and building up ideas, but we’re really approaching it differently than the first record. The first record was very much built up at our studio at home and was very layered and detailed. By the time we went to the [recording] studio, we knew basically how the songs were going to turn out and exactly what they would sound like and all that, whereas for this one, we kind of want to leave more to chance and be more open before we get to the studio. We want to play together more in the studio and then take it on a more natural band angle, rather than building it up in a studio environment. And yeah, there is definitely that feeling of pressure. You know, there isn’t that luxury that bands used to have of doing the first record, going on tour, maybe taking 18 months, 2 years to write, record, and release the second record. That time’s gone. The public’s attention span is so short, and that’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good because bands can’t get lazy. But it’s bad, it’s changed the way music is digested, it’s changed the way bands have to approach writing and touring. And their releases. And we’re kind of part of a generation of bands that needs to keep writing and recording and releasing and touring and writing and doing that to establish a fanbase, establish some sort of place within the whole thing. But for us personally, we just want to write the next album because we’ve got ideas and we’re inspired to do it, we want to get it out there. We don’t want to go on a holiday for 6 months, we don’t want to stop doing this and we don’t want to keep touring endlessly. We are very much like, “right, this is the first record, we achieved a certain amount [of success and fame] with that, but there’s so much more we want to do.” We don’t want to play the same songs for another year. And this is our first tour of the U.S., properly, and so where are we? We’re in September, 2010? Most of these songs were written like in 2008. Some of them were written at the end of 2007.
PW: So are we looking at a 2012 release then [for album #2]?
MC: Hopefully! I think, maybe sooner if we’re able to.
PW: I guess it depends on touring commitments and if you’re even home long enough to do anything.
MC: We’re excited, we have a lot of ideas and are really keen as soon we get back from America, we’ve got a few more gigs, got four or five gigs, but once that’s done, we’re straight into rehearsals for the second album. Straight into that. And we’re really…that’s the most exciting thing, we don’t want to stop. We’re doing something we really love doing. We’re not going to take it for granted. We want to just work on it and get better. We just can’t wait to, you know…as much fun as this has been in the United States, I don’t want to put that down, I’m just saying that we’re so excited to kind of see what happens next, and see where it takes us, and see where we go with it. We got into a band to write music and make albums, you know? And to be given the chance to do that is the most incredible thing. We feel incredibly lucky to be able to do it, and we want to do it to the best of our ability. And we’ll see how that goes. We’ll wait and see. [smiles]
PW: It should be interesting to see how this one turns out, with the different approach.
MC: Definitely, definitely!
PW: I know I’m definitely looking forward to it! And a lot of people are.

PW: Since I am a writer, I would like to know who in Delphic comes up with the song titles and who writes the lyrics?
MC: Emmm…the whole thing is a very collaborative process. Everything – music, lyrics, videos, art, all that stuff is very much the three of us. We won’t let anything through that not all three of us are behind, you know? It’s one of those things where everything we do is Delphic, it’s not “Matt from Delphic,” or James or Rick from Delphic. It’s the band. Well, magicians should never reveal their secrets, should they? [smiles]
PW: [laughs] I was just curious because every band has their own little story [on how they come up with lyrics]. The most unusual one I’ve heard is of White Lies, who came in second in the BBC Sound of 2009 poll. Bassist Charles Cave of White Lies writes the lyrics for guitarist Harry McVeigh to sing. Interesting, yet it must be weird singing about someone else’s experiences. Do you find when you’re writing lyrics it becomes an emotional thing? Because it’s been amazing to talk to other Delphic fans and hear what they’ve gotten out of your song lyrics. Different people get different things out of music. Coming from the writer’s perspective, I like to look at lyrics closely and interpret them. Are there any particular songs on the album that are especially personal to you?
MC: All of the songs are very personal to me. Definitely. And you know, it’s strange when you write something and then someone else is expressing it. And it’s also interesting, because you get the opportunity to see another interpretation of it almost immediately. I think a lot of what we wrote on the first album, lyrically, was open to interpretation, and purposely so. I mean, yeah, it’s personal, but I think one of the great things about music is that it’s your thing. We’ve written this album, but it’s your album. All of the experiences of listening to it, you’ll never share the same experiences that someone else has when they listen to the album. But that’s amazing, that it can be so personal. I like that people can read into things and take different things from it, and that’s fine. But there’s always going to be what it means to you, and it’s always going to be that personal thing. But certainly now I don’t think we want to impose that on the audience. We have a thing of what it means to us, but the audience…I wouldn’t want to say anyone’s interpretation of our music is wrong or inaccurate.
PW: Morrissey has been asked many times to explain, “what does this particular Smiths song mean?” and he has said, I don’t want to say what it means to me, because music means different things to different people.
MC: Definitely. I’d hate to destroy anyone’s idea of something. Someone could think one of our songs is a really romantic song, when actually it’s about trying to get away from someone. It’s like Sting…
PW: [laughs] Yes yes!
MC/PW: [at the same time] “Every Breath You Take”!
MC: Some people have that as a wedding song. And it’s a stalker song, you know? [both of us laugh] For that reason, it’s nice for people to have their own interpretation. And not be too clinical about it.

PW: So how long have you been playing guitar?
MC: Since I was about…hmmm…shit, I don’t remember. 14 or 15 maybe?
PW: Wow.
MC: When was OK Computer? Was that 1997 or 1999? [It was released in June 1997.]
PW: Not sure, it seems like so long ago now! When did you get into synths? Was that before Delphic?
MC: Me and Rick had always been messing around with synths. His dad built a synth once. His dad was always into cool music. [I don't know Rick Boardman's dad personally but from what I have heard about him, he is probably the coolest dad ever.]
PW: That is like the coolest thing, ever.
MC: He’s very cool, very cool. If you ever get to meet him, you’d like him.
PW: All I can say is, all of your families seem so cool. For example, James’s parents. How is it possible they let him move to Manchester and never made him move back home? [James Cook is from Chippenham, England, a town west of London, but moved to Manchester years ago for university.] My parents would have never let me do that.
MC: Oh, you should come over for a course. That’s what James did, he came up to Manchester for uni and just stayed here. And they were cool about it.
PW: But then he stayed. Forever! There’s never been a reason for him to go back?
MC: Manchester, it’s a better place than Chippenham. Not to slag off Chippenham, I have been to Chippenham, but Manchester is better than Chippenham.
PW: What’s Chippenham like?
MC: It’s a smallish town out in Wiltshire. Lots of countryside, there’s no scene there. Yeah, we were into synths, and he had a Juno 60 that we messed about with, and that was fun. But yeah, I was much more into guitars and effects pedals. I like synths but I’m one of those people who doesn’t really bother with algorithms. And chains and stuff like that. I like to sit down at a synth and fiddle about, and I let my ears guide me to the sound.
PW: So are Rick and James more of the technicians on that side of things?
MC: Very much, yeah yeah. They’ll talk about sound waves and I understand that stuff, but it doesn’t interest me. I don’t care about the calculations and the technical specifications of sound. I just care about the sound hitting me and expressing something. And that’s the way I operate. And I think it’s kind of good to have that in the band. Like those guys can get technical about it and then I can come in and say, “that just sounds like shit.” [laughs] “But it’s got this amazing sound wave function on it!” And it’s like, I’m not bothered.
PW: “It’s not doing a thing for me.”
MC: Yeah, “make it sound better.”
PW: Now is it because of their university backgrounds that they know all this stuff about synths?
MC: I dunno, maybe?
PW: Weren’t they studying music?
MC: Well, it wasn’t straight music. It was recording and popular music. I think they took something from that, but they just both researched the synth thing and really got into it. And that’s their area. I was quite happy to let them have that. It’s like, just let me buy effects pedals and I’m happy! That’s fine. And in the studio, it’s good to have an outside perspective on these kinds of things. I think it’s always important to have that objectivity. I’ve not spent 3 hours finely tuning a synth and I’m not involved in that side of things, so I can have that kind of objective view. And say, “look, I appreciate it, it’s a good sound, it’s got a lot of technical merit to it, but does it fit? Is it right? Does it work?” Sometimes it’s yes and sometimes it’s no. It goes both ways, like with the guitars. We’re each other’s critics and friends and compatriots, so it varies…I’ve left them to it, I’ve gotten more into it over time but…
PW: I know in the live setting you play synth, for example during most of “Doubt.”
MC: Yeah, on a couple of things. But it’s a functional thing. I just enjoy, like “Epherema,” that kind of tremolo-ey sound in that song, that was the result of me sitting in a room for 6 hours messing around with guitar effects and getting that right. And that’s what I love doing. And that works in that context. The last line of “Acolyte,” that’s more of a Rick and James kind of area, and that all happens together. Whatever makes the best song, and what sounds good.

PW: What I really love about Delphic is that you have this perfect marriage of good guitar riffs with good synth melodies. Great guitar bands have great guitar riffs, and then some of them try to introduce the synth into the mix and have trouble integrating them into their sound. It ends up becoming a plinky plonky thing in the background that does not belong. Or guitars are added to synth pop bands and the guitars sound out of place. Whereas you guys, you have everything integrated well. For example, “Halcyon” and the guitar solo. I’ve given this a lot of thought this year, I put the question out to people, if you had to be reincarnated as a part of a song, what would you be and why?
MC: If I had to be reincarnated as part of a song?
PW: Yeah, and it couldn’t be a whole song, it had to be one disparate part of a song. And I said your “Halcyon” guitar solo.
MC: Wow! I am very honored!
PW: With the runner-up of the guitar lines in the verse of “What You Know,” played by Sam Halliday of Two Door Cinema Club.
MC: I like Sam.
PW: Both of you are amazing guitarists.
MC: I think he’s better than me.
PW: You think?
MC: He’s good! Really good. [smiles]
PW: Don’t tell him that, because I saw that video of you guys in Australia and the band war. [And as Matt says, watch this video clip with a grain of salt.]
MC: Yeah… [laughs] They made us do that! We were just having a laugh and one of them said, “Delphic and Two Door war!” And it’s like, “oh no…” We’re real mates!
PW: They know you’re messing, surely.
MC: Yeah, but it’s like what we were saying earlier, about band rivalry and stuff like that. You don’t want it to cross over to anything that is actually serious in that way. We admire Two Door very much. We’re such a very different band to Two Door that there can’t be a rivalry, really. Who we appeal to in our kind of market is so different to theirs. There’s no rivalry there. We just think they’re great guys who write good songs. The rest of it is just banter. But yeah…it’s an interesting question, really, I’m going to have to give this some more thought.

PW: Having played guitar for so many years, was there one song that made you think, “yes, I’m definitely going to be a guitarist“?
MC: I don’t think there as a song that generally made me want to be a guitarist, but my favorite guitar solo of all time is what I’d probably want to be reincarnated as, it’s the solo for “Sympathy for the Devil” [Rolling Stones]. The sound is incredible, it just screams, it’s such a real, organic sound. It speaks to you. In terms of the actual line, the guitar solo, I just love the restraint. Is it Keith [Richards] doing that solo, or not?
PW: I would think so. Who else could it be?
MC: Right right, I just wanted to make sure. [smiles]
PW: Don’t worry, I won’t tell my best buds, the Rolling Stones. [laughs] ‘cos me and Mick are like this.
MC: “Sympathy for the Devil” is one of the greatest songs of all time, a 6-minute epic. He’s got x bars to do a solo in, and what does he do? He’s really minimal, like [mimics the guitar solo]. But my absolute favorite part of it, if I can be even more specific, is within the solo. There’s a part of the solo…you know, he does these really great parts that really scream at you, the amp sounds incredible. And there’s a bit where he goes “dum da dum dum” [really simple, bare part of the solo], and that’s it. You’ve got a solo for “Sympathy for the Devil.” And all you do is play a note like a child. Anybody could do it. But it’s just perfect. I think that’s what’s important about playing guitar. For me personally, it’s not an ego thing, it’s not a “look at me” kind of thing, I never ask for the solos, I never want solos in a song. I get all nervous!
PW: Really? I never would have figured you would feel that way.
MC: Yeah, I get really worried about it!
PW: Should I tell people not to look at you when you’re playing the solo in “Halcyon”? [laughs]
MC: We had to do Jools Holland. [You can watch the video below. Matt's amazing guitar solo starts in at 3.05.] Honestly, I was so scared for weeks before. Every night before I went to bed I would be playing it in my head. Honestly, so nervous. So I never ask for the solos. For me personally, playing guitar is adding to the track and just being part of the track, and if the best thing for the song is to play one note, then that’s just as valid as being Slash and having huge guitar solos going up and down the neck doing all the technical shit you want to do. For me, it’s about feeling and emotion and doing something different that fits into the song.
PW: Your guitar is beautiful, I think it’s gorgeous.
MC: Thank you!

PW: When I saw you at Roskilde, the lighting was amazing. Is your lighting guy, Squib Swain, with you on this tour?
MC: Sadly, no. Yeah, he’s brilliant.
PW: I hope when you come back next time he’ll come with you.
MC: So do we. It’ s really weird doing shows without him. He’s become such an integral part of our shows and what we do. We always like to try and do something interesting with the lights and audiovisual experience, it’s always kind of weird when Squib is not along. But we want him back, we miss him. He’s actually out with Two Door [in the UK] at the moment…
PW: [laughs] Really? What are you guys going to do if you tour the same time? Bidding war?
MC: He gets paid double! But if we’re playing together…
PW: Yeah, come back and do a co-headlining tour with them!
MC: That would be great, wouldn’t it? Really nice.
PW: Yes, I have been talking with new friends in Hong Kong, they all want you back.
MC: Oh really? Awww.
PW: They were all saying that it was the best day of their lives when you and Two Door played together back in August. I was thinking, your two bands need to come back together and tour as co-headliners in America so there aren’t any arguments.
MC: Yeah, no, I would happily support Two Door.
PW: No, I need to hear “Submission” and the only way I’d get that is if you headlined. Right?
MC: How’s this, we will support Two Door and still play “Submission.” I am more than happy to do that.
PW: Are you playing “Submission” on this tour?
MC: [looks mysterious] Maybe… [I laugh]. Yes. We were going to play it in Philly but we didn’t have time with all the stress before the gig, we had to cut back.
PW: The reason why that song is so special to me, after your album came out, we had the second largest recorded snowfall ever in Washington in February. At one point the snow had reached my height.
MC: No way.
PW: Yeah. And in order to get my car out, I had to keep shoveling the driveway, and I would measure different distances of snow cleared by how many times I heard “Submission” to finish that line of snow. I must have heard “Submission” 500 times. So it’s very special to me. That’s my little “Submission” story.
MC: Well, I’m glad we could be there for you in your time of need. [laughs]

PW: Well, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.
MC: Thank you, cheers.

Thanks very much to Matt for an amazing interview and taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with me, and special thanks to Delphic’s management for arranging the interview.

Tour Dates
Oct 05 – Phoenix / Toronto*
Oct 07 – Newport Music Hall / Columbus*
Oct 08 – DC9 / Washington, DC^
Oct 11 – St. Andrews / Detroit*
Oct 12 – Metro / Chicago*
Oct 13 – Turner Hall / Milwaukee*
Oct 14 – First Avenue / Minneapolis*
Oct 21 – Popscene / San Francisco&
Oct 22 – Fox / Pomona, CA*
Oct 23 – Club Nokia / Los Angeles*
^ Delphic only
* supporting the Temper Trap
& with the Hundred in the Hands

Live photos in this review were from Roskilde Festival, taken by Mary Chang, July 2, 2010

Delphic: website | myspace | American Release Details of Delphic EP | Delphic’s Debut Album Streaming on Their MySpace | @ Trocadero, Philadelphia | Interview with: Matt Cocksedge of Delphic, Part 1

UK trio Fiction Plane has found full-sound as a trio and they’ve embraced their diverse sounds with an even more diverse history of tour pairings. The group has played with dance-rockers The Bravery and rapper Snoop Dogg and even had the opportunity of opening for global superstars The Police on their reunion tour (although that pairing may not be that surprising when you consider that Sting‘s son Joe is the lead singer for Fiction Plane.) With a new Spring album and new tour plans on the horizon for this group, drummer Pete Wilhoit took some time to get PopWreckoning up to speed on all things happening on the Fiction Planet.

Bethany Smith, PopWreckoning: I hear you guys have a new album coming out in the Spring.
Pete Wilhoit, Fiction Plane: Yeah, late Spring, I think.
BS: Talk to me about this album. Is it pretty much done and going through final packaging phases or where does it stand?
PW: Yeah, it’s pretty much done, we’re just mixing it at the end of this month. Hopefully that will go smoothly. You never know. Sometimes, you get hare-brained ideas when you listen to a song over and over and start reconstructing it and reconstructing it: all this ridiculous stuff. Hopefully, it will just go smoothly and we’ll all be really excited about it. I think we’re all eager to get it out late Spring, so we do have a bit of a deadline. I think it is pretty much done: about 90 percent done. We’re all pretty excited about it and we’ll release it in late Spring and start touring it.

Photo by Lana Theo

BS: What’s the sound on it like? Pretty different from previous releases or a natural progression? What can fans expect?
PW: It is a progression. Doing like two and half to three years of touring with The Police all over the world and Snoop and 311, they bring in all the stuff, but that has gelled the band even more as brothers in the band. The trio sound has evolved even bigger and better. We enjoy being a trio and we’ve all kind of grown into that space musically and playing-wise, as far as how you play your instrument. The album has a real ebb and flow of a live show. There are real delicate moments to it, then there are real bombastic, huge, energetic moments to it when you listen to it. I think overall, it’s going to make you move. It’s got real groovy and big sounds to it. The soundscape that we originally used, well we did it in two parts. We did a session number one in studios where we constructed a song and threw everything in the kitchen sink and scaled it back a little bit, but we used a lot of sounds on it from your normal instruments to harmonium and even a music box: all these little tiny things, just to see what we could achieve musically and to push ourselves to try and make something we hadn’t done before. The second session was more going in as a trio and playing these songs live like we would at a show. I think that’s where our strong suit is as a band: our live performance and being able to play to big rooms and small rooms and big stages and small stages as a trio. I think we captured everything that the band is about from every dynamic aspect whether it’s playing in a small room and playing a more intimate feel for people to playing a giant stadium playing as big as you can be and trying to entertain the guy in the last row type of thing. We’re all really excited about the music and being able to perform the album as as live show.

BS: What are some of the potential songs to be on this album? I know you’ve been playing like five new songs recently over the past year and there’s been a lot of speculation?
PW: It will be all new songs, except maybe a couple that we’ve written in the last few years that will make the album. I think we probably have about 15 tunes that we want to pare it down to 11 and maybe release some bonus stuff in different territories, but we’ll see how it all works out. We’ll throw it all out there and see what makes a cohesive album and see what we want this album to be like, you know? There’s certain songs that have a certain genre type sound and have a more reggae, relaxed merit. Others are uptempo rock and others are  groovy, disco/electronica type of feel, so it is all about how you want the album to go really. I think in the end, we’ll have bits and pieces of all that kind of gelled together in song formation. It is hard for me to relay exactly what’s going to be on there, but I think we’ll have one song on there that we’ve definitely played many, many times and the rest will be all new.

BS: Can you tell me the name of the song?
PW: The name of that song is called “Cut Your Brakes,” but we’ve changed the song so much that it doesn’t actually say that in the song anymore, so we may change the title of that. “Cut Your Brakes” is a riff that Joe had done on The Bravery tour so that was early…20…I want to be sure I get this right…
BS: 2007, I think.
PW: Yeah, I think that’s right. So that song evolved from stage to stage playing it on every stage possible. We played it on the Police tour, we played it at Summer festivals in Holland and other festivals. We just played it with Bruce Springsteen and the Killers at des vielles charrues, which is a French festival, which was great. That one we’re really excited because it has taken on new, more exciting form. That’s kind of the only one that might stick on there. There was another one, “Sadr City Blues,” that may or may not be on there. We’re not sure. Some of these songs, you play them for so long that they start to feel old even though no one has heard them, so to speak, on a recorded format. You have to gauge if it is just your feeling or if it is just an old song that shouldn’t be on there.

BS: As you guys do your writing process, Fiction Plane is a UK band, but you personally are based in New York. How does that effect you guys with your writing process?
PW: It just makes you really have to plan on a writing session if we are going to write as a band. We’ve done it all sorts of ways. Joe, sometimes in the past, has brought in full songs and we take our approach to our instrument and add it to the song. Or we’ve done a lot of jamming as a band and come up with a song all together and Joe adds the lyrics. For this album, it was 93 percent getting together for three different writing sessions and just jamming and coming up with the basics in the song format as a band and Joe adds the lyrics. In that way, it was kind of a new page for the band. I think we all feel really excited about fully contributing-except for the lyrics. It is kind of a new face, or at least, an emergence of an old face. It was a small part of the band that is now a big part of the band.

BS: When you guys release the album, you mentioned touring plans and right now you have a French festival announced as your only tour date in 2010. What are you looking at tour-wise?
PW: We’re going to try and do as many festivals as we can during the summer, so we’re nailing those down as we speak. Then there will also be a nice tour in Europe probably for three to four weeks, then it depends on where else the album is released. If it is released in North America, then we’ll do a North American tour. Then if it is released in Japan, Australia, etc, etc. All that stuff is getting nailed down while we’re finishing up the album, so there is a lot going on, but there is also a lot of hurry up and wait. The idea is that we want to tour as much as we can. That’s how you can get your fanbase secured and grow your base is for us to personally go out and play and to cover your internet bases as much as you can. We really enjoy going out and playing the music live and the songs really come to life when you play them over and over. They take on a different form than just a recorded side, so we’re going to do as much as we can within our own schedules, so we’re all excited.

BS: You do have a pretty strong fanbase. I know recently there was this online push to get you guys on the New Moon Soundtrack. Did you see the movie? What do you think of your fans doing that?
PW: We really honored that everyone was so proactive with the band. We have a lot of fans that don’t just sit back. They really think that like, “We love Fiction Plane and everyone else should like Fiction Plane,” so they want to shout it to the world. It is really cool that they are so proactive and it’s rare. Honestly, the three of us are not really like that. We don’t go out and toot our own horn, which is kind of detriment because nowadays as a band, you can’t be overexposed. You have to go out and bang people over the head in order to get anything done, but we’re excited that people are excited about the band. The life of a musician, you have a lot of ups and downs. You come to the realization that things can change for the good and the bad, instantaneously. Your expectations get lowered a little bit in the reality of what it takes to succeed in this industry and it sometimes becomes overwhelming as musicians. It is nice that people have that kind of young enthusiasm about the band. As much as we all do, it’s deeper because we’re in it. It’s our lives and you do as much as you possibly can. I’m excited about this new album. We’re all excited as we’ve ever been about the music and where the band’s at. Thank you to the fans to try and get us on that soundtrack. It was quite an honor to even be considered.

Photo by Lana Theo

BS: You talked about how you planned about a big European tour, but weren’t sure you’d even have an American release. Do you find it harder to break out in the North American market? Do you ever consciously think, alright, we need to tackle America?
PW: America is one of those nuts where it is the crown jewel. If you can make it in the States, it is a huge accomplishment as a band. It’s sort of like it’s its own Europe. It’s not just one market. It’s about 12 different markets and they all take time and they all take money and they all take effort. We’ve always tried to apply ourselves in the States just as much as other places, but now that we have a fanbase in Europe, we’ve tried to focus on that to keep it going. For the States, for us where we’re at in our career, we need to get on the right tour in the States. If you try and go out and tour the States on your own as a headlining act, it can really be detrimental if you’re not accomplishing positive results. It can do more harm than good if you go out and tour for three months and half your shows are empty or not promoted correctly. You just have bad gigs. It is all about the right tour and the right focus and focusing our energy and touring schedule so we feel like we’re getting the most bang for our buck, I guess. You can wear yourself thin and it is a big world. If you’re going to tour the entire world, you better have a plan on how you’re going to accomplish positive results or you’ll just be burned out in a year. If the band gets a proper release in the United States, we’ll definitely tour it. We love playing in the States and we are well-received in certain parts of America and it is just a matter of keeping it rolling. I feel like this industry more than ever is here today, gone today. You really have to be in people’s faces to keep their interests almost. As a band, the amount of stuff we’ve done in the United States is pretty staggering when you put it altogether. The net result of what you feel like you’ve accomplished is a little bit less. We’ve done Jimmy Kimmel, we’ve done the Tonight Show, Craig Kilbourn, MTV, MTV2. We’ve done all these thongs: all the major magazines, touring with the Police, 311, Snoop Dogg and all this stuff, but at the end of the day, we can still go play a show in the States and have a mediocre turnout, which is, I don’t know what it means. You have to keep on if you want to break America. It has to be a focused effort with a smart marketing strategy, etc, etc. Unless you’re 18 year olds that don’t care and just want to get in a van and just play for four people every night. You can do that, too, which I have done for about 10 years. That was  long-winded answer. Haha.
BS: It was a good answer. You have done a lot in the States. I caught you with Snoop and 311.
PW: That was really fun. It was a combination of a big party and just trying to win over a different kind of crowd, playing early in the day and just enjoying it. I would do that tour again.
BS: I was surprised. It seemed like a really random tour, but the I went to the show and I was like, wow, this fits together pretty well.
PW: Yeah. It’s true. I think it was because Snoop had a live band that was really good. They were all really good players and were all really energetic and big. I think if he had gone out there with two turntables or something, it would have been kind of boring and predictable. I think he was the best the part of the tour, to be honest with you. Anyways…

BS: Not going to toot your own horn there? He was good. You have toured with a lot of really diverse people and bands. What was your favorite tour to play with and if you could pick your dream tour, who would you tour with in the future?
PW: Man, I don’t know. Every tour had its ups and downs and every tour had moments where it was like, “I can’t believe we’re doing this.” The Police tour had more “I can’t believe we’re doing this” moments than down moments, just because of the nature of the tour. So much excitement around that tour and that was one tour that I never thought I would see let alone be a part of. That was a really special tour. That one takes the cake for me. It was such a grand tour. It was like a traveling military circus. It was run with real efficiency, but it was still a circus. We got to play stadiums of the world and play in front of a hundred thousand people and be well-received. That was an amazing experience that I would definitely do again. I guess dream tours for me, there are so many bands that I love and would love to tour with. I think we all really appreciate Radiohead. As a band that would be a dream tour, but maybe genre-specific we’re not necessarily the same. I love Foo Fighters, which we’ve actually played with them in L.A. even though it was us and then them and then the Police, but that was a real treat. They were an opening act for the Police and they were the best opening act that I’ve ever seen. That would be a dream tour to play more with them. U2 would certainly be a dream tour. They’re an amazing band that has managed to stay on top year after year. I think we all really love Muse. Muse would be a lot of fun.
BS: Two UK trios.
PW: From one trio to the next, they’ve found a way to certainly fill up the stage. I don’t know. There are tons of bands like that and I could go on and on. We’re open for many things as our track record has show. We’ll play just about any gig within reason. I think we passed on the Ashlee Simpson tour.

BS: That would be an odd tour. OK. For a final question, recently you got to go home and do a hometown show in your high school. What was that like to have a homecoming and be recognized as this hometown celebrity?
PW: It was a bit strange, I have to say, walking around my old high school as a featured artist was really strange. Seeing old teachers and classrooms and all that stuff was definitely a walk down memory lane. Bloomington is a special place because there are actually so many amazing musicians that are already there because of the university and then you have Mellencamp and Mike Wanchek who call it home. There are a lot of very successful musicians that are already from there, so I certainly didn’t feel like I was going to see any super ticker-tape parade for myself. It was nice to go back and having at least been around the world having experienced music and go home and see people I hadn’t seen for awhile and share those experiences. And then to play for the kids in high school at the place that I used to go and see bands play at, I enjoyed the experience. I hope get to do it again and hopefully Fiction Plane will get to play there again and we’ll be as well-received as we were last time.

BS: Alright. Well, that’s all the time I have. I appreciate all your great answers.
PW: Great. Thanks.

Welcome back, readers!  The summer is winding down and I’m still listening to danceable hip hop and R&B jams that make me want to shake my tailfeather on the dance floor.  Well, kitchen floor really.  Last week I unleashed a Sampling Edition, Part 1 to whet your musical appetites and had so much fun that I decided I’d double down on your asses with a two-parter.  Not for the A.D.D. musical aficionado, these tracks featuring a plethora of samples in unique and unlikely capacities.  Sometimes it’s fun just trying to see if you can figure out what part of the song belongs to which artist.  Either way, it’s a luscious mix of sounds and beats that make some of your favorite songs a tad more danceable.  And that’s always good.
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.Destiny’s Child - “Bootylicious”
Sample: Stevie Nicks – “Edge of Seventeen“
Who doesn’t love that chugging guitar riff that sets the tone of the Stevie Nicks classic “Edge of Seventeen?”  Apparently, Destiny’s Child wanted to pay homage to one of the foremothers of rock n’ roll by pilfering the sound for the intro of “Bootylicious,” a cheeky video that actually features a cameo of Miss Nicks herself.  As is the case with all great art, ironically Nicks and her writing team were subconsciously channelling their inner-Sting as it’s been said that the guitar and drum parts sound eerily similar to The Police‘s “Bring On The Night” and they only realized it afterwards.  Wow, I wasn’t ready for that jelly.

.Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Lil’ Kim – “Notorious B.I.G.”
Sample: Duran Duran - “Notorious“
One of my favorite hip hop artists of all time (may he rest!), Notorious B.I.G. enlisted the help of some of his Bad Boy family members to create one of the more memorable hip hop and rock mash-ups from the 1990′s that is the quintessential personal anthem of his own self-proclaimed notoriety.  Big up to Biggie for being able to make narcissistic songs so damn catchy by sampling a Duran Duran chorus and jangly guitar licks.  Or was it Puff Daddy‘s idea?  After all, he does claim to have invented the remix.

.Jay-Z feat. Memphis Bleek – “It’s Alright”
Sample: Talking Heads – “Once In A Lifetime“
Oh Jay-Z, can you ever do wrong?  It’s a  song like this that makes me wonder what the hell does Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne have to say about this?  It takes balls to sample Talking Heads for a hip hop song about maxin’, relaxin’ and chillaxin’.  Apparently Jay and Memphis Bleek borrow from a Kraftwerk song (“The Hall Of Mirrors”) here too so the musical sample is essentially an ambitious composite of the two.  Does Jay-Z really listen to new wave and synthpop?  If so, holler back, young’n.

.Puff Daddy feat. Mase – “Been Around The World”
Sample: David Bowie – “Let’s Dance”
This track may be too slow to do the Harlem shuffle, but it still does make me long for the golden days of 90′s hip hop.  With the help of then bromantic musical partner Mase, Puff Daddy had innovation on his mind when he laced this track with the inventive music of David Bowie‘s classic “Let’s Dance,” while stealing the chorus from Lisa Stansfield’s soft-rock hit “Been Around The World.”  Whatever happened to her?  Is she still looking for her baby?  Does Puff Daddy have a soft spot for the light music station?  This is another example of odd musical pairings that totally work and leave it to Puffy to pioneer the art of musical interpolation and mixing the unlikeliest songs.

.Girl Talk – “Shut The Club Down”
Sample: Aphex Twin – “Girl/Boy Song” (among 16 other song snippets)

It was hard selecting a sample of DJ Girl Talk‘s dizzying, creative as hell, genius mash-up tracks off Feed The Animals, but “Shut The Club Down” is one of my favorite tracks.  In this one song he samples everyone from Avril Lavigne, Aphex Twin, Jay-Z, Rod Stewart, Butthole Surfers and Ray J, among others.  I chose to feature the Aphex Twin track because he selects the breakdown of the incredible “Girl/Boy Song” during this track’s breakdown, while lacing in Rich Boy’s “Throw Some D’s.”  Girl Talk finds a way to satisfy any type of musical enthusiast: 80s, rock, hip hop, synthpop, and pop.  I can’t wait to finally catch a set of his at Street Scene San Diego next month.  I’m going to wear my “Engineers Do It Better” t-shirt and hope he picks me out of the audience to jump in his inflatable raft and crowd surf.  Sigh, I love me some Girl Talk.

Musically speaking, it is love (and the lack thereof) that is responsible for some of the greatest rock songs ever created. Do you think Phil Collins would have ever written “Against All Odds” if his wife hadn’t left him? Would Ricky Martin have felt compelled to pen “She Bangs” [Ed. note: "She Bangs" was written by Desmond Child and co-writer Walter Afanasieff; it was only performed by Martin. Collins, on the other hand, did write his own songs] if his love interest who “looks like a flower, but stings like a bee” was totally lame? Apparently, songs like these just don’t write themselves! Although psychologists would agree that love means the same thing to everyone, there are still different forms of it in existence that often present themselves in different stages.

This week I focus on my three favorite stages: Euphoria, Desperation, and Stalking. Pseudo disclaimer: This post is intended for humorous purposes only and these views do not necessarily reflect those of Popwreckoning staffers. Some of the events may or may not have happened in real life and reader discretion is advised. And now… Welcome to Under Cover: The Love Edition.

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Stage 1: Euphoria
This is the phase when your friends are just about sick of you and there’s been considerable talk of defriending you on Facebook. You can’t stop smiling, giggling, or talking about how perfect your significant other is, something funny they said/did, or even how shiny their bike is. Instead of annoying just about everyone (apart from your love interest, as he/she is probably the only other person enamored by all this), stay in your room and dance around to this song since it was written for people like you.

Fleetwood Mac – “Everywhere” (original, 1988)
If you know me at all, you know I love writing about Fleetwood Mac (see: here). Every time I hear “Everywhere”, I feel like I’m dancing around in this enchanted forest in a pastel gossamer petticoat when the love of my life rides in on a unicorn with animated blue birds on his shoulder and asks me to get into the sidecar for a little joyride… but then I wake up, of course. The message of the song is pretty simple: I dig you, can we hang out more often?
When it comes to love, I say keep it sweetly simple and straightforward. No muss, no fuss, “Oh I…, I wanna be with you everywhere” basically sums up that internal need to waste all your time doing absolutely nothing with him/her because it never really feels like a waste of time. This is when playful conversation during a mundane trip to the grocery store can honestly feel like the best day of your life. With her dreamy delivery, wistful and fun background vocals, and that magical constellation of synth sounds, this song embodies all those wondrous feelings of love. It’s just a shame this wasn’t released until a year after the ever-charming movie The Princess Bride; perhaps, one of the most delightfully quirky love stories ever made, “Everywhere” would have been a great selection for the closing credits.

Vampire Weekend cover (2008)
Taking a break from singing about Ivy League pretense and Mansard roofs, Vampire Weekend took it old school and added a male perspective to “Everywhere” with this, dare-I-say, super cuuuuuuute cover. Singing about the same euphoric world of puppy dogs, ice cream and rainbows, it just goes to show that even though “men are from Mars and women are from Venus,” we still engage in the same giddy and sappy expressions of love. This rendition shares all the innocence and purity of the original with cascading keyboards, soft background vocals, and that punchy little bass line that makes you want to hop about in a forest with furry little rabbit friends. Lead singer Ezra Koenig’s voice couldn’t be anymore adorable here and I think it’s this boyish vocal delivery that makes this song as good as it is. As far as indie band covers go, this one definitely topped my “Best of 2008” list.
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Stage 2: Desperation
This is the phase when things stop being perfect, your hormone levels have calmed down, the enthusiasm starts to wane, the calls aren’t as frequent and you’re not quite sure why. Perhaps there’s this overwhelmingly unsettling feeling that strange things are afoot. The ubiquitous goofy look and incessant giggling have now turned into marathon phone calls to friends analyzing the future of your relationship, if there even is one left to salvage. You’re getting closer to being defriended on Facebook, but your friends resist doing so and instead urge you to tell your significant other that you’re not ready to throw in the towel just yet. Here’s a song to play if you have issues getting those words out.

Pete Townsend – “Let My Love Open The Door” (original, 1980)
If you don’t know who the great Pete Townsend is, I urge you to seek professional help immediately at the nearest Guitar Center or classic rock radio station. In the movie of my life, this song would most definitely be on the soundtrack, perhaps even in the trailer. “Let My Love Open The Door” is one of my favorite love songs that basically spells out the reasons why you should be with Townsend or anyone else in his position: quit being idiotic and miserable already, I love you, so let’s be together and let me show you how wonderful your life could be with me in it! He holds the key to your heart and is planning on coming over, so consider this ample notice to clean up and get that heart ready along with those hors d’oeuvres. His plea may be a desperate attempt to open the eyes of the heart, but he sings so sweetly that it becomes genuine, endearing, and very hard to ignore. When tragedy befalls you / Don’t let them bring you down / Love can cure your problem / You’re so lucky I’m around / Let my love open the door / To Your heart. He’s cocky. Sure of himself and his honorable intentions. And persistent. And I like it!

M. Ward cover (2005)
To be honest, the first thing I thought upon hearing this cover was “Hmm, it’s good, but I could totally picture it being played at a Starbucks or something” (not that there’s anything wrong with that). And lo and behold, my research ironically proved I was correct in my assumption! Rants of all things hokey aside, this song actually gave me a few tingles. M. Ward put out a fantastic cover version of Townsend’s classic number that is folky, bluesy and definitely kinda-sorta gave me some goose bumps as a very pleasant surprise. There’s just something about his husky and soulful vocals that I’m having trouble putting into words, so maybe you just need to hear him to understand why he’s so good. Wildly creative in its production, M. Ward features this twangy guitar riff that is definitely not from the original but totally breathes new life into the song. This version makes me want to lay in a hammock on a beach, clumsily strum my guitar and hope the imaginary animated music notes I’m producing float in the air near a potential love interest and summon in their heart a desire to be with me too.
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Stage 3: Stalking
This is the phase when obsession starts running the show and a madness sets in that completely takes over your otherwise rational brain. You were once a National Merit Scholar, for Pete’s sake! You have yet to notice that you were defriended on Facebook by all your family and friends since the time you now spend stalking your once love interest makes it hard for you to log on as much. But you don’t care because isn’t stalking just another way of saying “I love you,” anyway? Honestly, stalkers get such a bad rap; albeit a tad misguided, they are regular people like you and me. This one-track mindedness needs no judgment since we’ve all been there at one point in our lives or another. Well, actually I was talking about you, not me. I’m not a stalker. Eww. All kidding aside, stalkers also deserve love or at least their own anthem.

The Police – “Every Breath You Take” (original, 1983)
I think the funniest part about this song is that most people assume The Police penned a romantic number vowing to be monogamous with the potential love of your life. Lead singer Sting himself has said that when married couples would tell him they played “Every Breath You Take” as their first dance number, he would chuckle and say “Good luck.” This is certainly no Bollywood love song; instead, it’s a dark, thinly-veiled reference to lovelorn stalkers everywhere.  No offense to anyone who didn’t pick up on this, but I find it rather surprising. When I first heard this as a child I found the ambiguity of this song fairly obvious after the “Every move you make, every vow you break, every smile you fake, every claim you stake, I’ll be watching you.” And even when he sings “Oh, can’t you see / You belong to me,” something told me he wasn’t about to ask his girlfriend to wear his ring and go steady. There’s something sinister here in his need to control and he’s clearly flirting with the dangerous levels of obsession that can accompany love. Maybe the best indication of this insanity is Sting, with a ferocious and smoldering look in his eye, who plays his double bass so intently in the music video that he may as well be carrying a hacksaw and waiting for his estranged lover to come home so they can “talk.” All hope isn’t lost since all of these issues can be worked out in couples counseling because at the heart of this display are genuine feelings of love. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed the: Since you’ve gone I feel lost without a trace / I dream every night, I can only see your face / I look around, it’s you I can’t replace / I feel so cold and long for your embrace. And let’s not forget the “I keep crying, ‘Baby, baby, please!’” that follows. It’s such a simple way of putting such powerful emotions into words and I find this verse to be the best-written (and my favorite) expression of yearning I’ve ever heard.

Millencolin cover (1992)

One of my favorite Swedish punk bands to listen to as a kid, Millencolin prove that even punk rockers fall in love sometimes. The differences from the original are incredibly obvious as clearly this would be considered the quintessential “punk cover” as it features a sped up version that cuts the original song time by half, rocks harder and is rougher around the edges. Gone is the smooth huskiness of Sting as lead singer Nikola Sarcevic is known for more stoic, vibrato-less vocals, but this works well with his own band’s original material. There’s nothing romantic about this version but then I thought that may not have been the original point of covering this song; essentially, this version is likely intended as their unique interpretation in paying homage to The Police.  And for those who love fun facts, I was once told Millencolin coyly changes the lyrics at the end in one of the innumerable “I’ll be watching you” choruses to say “I’ll be f-cking you.” If you listen really really closely, I actually do think I can hear that. Hmm. Not the most romantic or original sentiment I’ve ever heard, but it certainly still gets the point across.