Posts Tagged ‘Sam Simon-Norris’

 

 Joe Innes And The Cavalcade talk to TAPEtoTAPE

Having recently listened to, and subsequently rather fallen for, the debut album from Joe Innes And The Cavalcade it seemed only fitting to find out a little bit more.  We sent them some questions and they duly gave us some answers… just in case any one is unsure how a Q&A works…

1. Congratulations on the debut album, how do you feel now it is released? Has the reaction been positive so far?

Chris – We’re happy as long as Steve Lamacq is…

Joe – It’s been totally cool, being played on Steve Lamacq’s show was amazing. It sometimes feels like an uphill struggle getting people to listen to it, but the feedback has been great.

Sam – Really happy with how it’s been received – we’ve had lots of touching comments from fans and critics alike.

Amy – People seem to be enjoying it, which is nice!

2. What inspired the album title? Is it to do with the much under-rated Peter Jackson film from 1996?

Chris – Joe?

Joe – Not really, I don’t think I’ve seen it… I probably heard the name somewhere and it stuck, that usually happens.  I think an album title should be a something you might have named any of the songs on the album, and I think that’s true for this one, a lot of the songs are about fear for some reason.  I blame the Daily Mail, in fact, if you google “daily mail fear” you would not believe how many daily mail articles there are to choose from.

3. There seems to be a monster theme to a lot of your work, are you horror fans? If so, what are your top five horror films?

Joe – Evil Dead by a long way.

Chris – One each? Mine would be Stephen King’s ‘IT’

Sam – The Shining.  Closely followed by The Simpson’s ‘The Shinning.’

Amy – Not the biggest fan of horror movies…I do like a good psychological thriller though, like The Skin I Live In.

4. There is a zombie apocalypse and only the band survive, who would be the first to be eaten, who would sacrifice a band mate first and who would be the last to die?

Chris – Joe would go first after failing to serenade them as a means to find a cure, we’d sacrifice the bassist, and I’d be last as I have more things to throw at them.

Sam – No way.. Chris you’ve clearly got the most meat.  Get out there and do the honorable thing.

Joe – I watched Zombieland the other day, and that film is basically a zombie apocalypse survival guide, also, after reading a lot of issues of The Walking Dead, I think I’d do pretty well.  I find, the secret is not to make too much noise.

Amy – I’d like to think we’re all resourceful enough to not have to resort to eating each other… Joe – I do not have the same faith, I’m all too eager to chew on my band-mates, Chris would be TENDER.

5. Do you have any pre-gig rituals?

Chris – Beer and a wee chat about the week.

Joe – Sound-check.  We seem to always effing sound-check.

Amy – Gin…..lots of it…..

6. What is the best heckle anyone has ever thrown at you?

Chris – The audience seem to snarl and howl at us alot….

Joe – I think that’s only because we ask them too though, it doesn’t really count as a heckle.

Sam – Joe called me gay.  Does it count as a heckle when it’s your bandmate? And anyways our crowd seems to be so warm I doubt they could muster one.

Joe – There’s nothing wrong with being gay Sam, that’s not a heckle. We don’t get heckled.

7. Do you find it easier to write songs about personal experiences or about characters?

Joe – I don’t really know, I just write whatever song I write, but I think even songs about characters have personal experience injected into them, if there isn’t then it’s not a very good song.  That’s what fiction is you know, as fantastical as some stories get, if you don’t relate to the characters then it’s a waste of time from the outset.

8. What do you think is the greatest album ever released?

Sam – Wow… such a question. How long have you got? Joe?

Joe – I have no idea.  I don’t think it exists.  If we’re judging it on cultural impact, then Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  I don’t really have a favourite, I’m currently listening to a band called The Front Bottoms a lot, their album is brill, but in a few weeks I’ll have overplayed it and started listening to something else, it’s what I do.

9. Has the perfect pop song been written? If so, what is it?

Joe – A Day In The Life is pretty close to perfect, if you can call that a pop song. If there is a finite amount of melody in this world, The Beatles mined the shit out of it.  Also, God Only Knows… I think if we’re as low on melody as we are on fossil fuels, The Beach Boys and The Beatles are to blame.

Sam – I guess if there was such a thing The Beatles would have it.

10. Who is the most over-rated artist around at the moment?

Joe – I’ve always thought using over-rated as a criticism is a bit lazy, it sort of means that everyone else is enjoying music more than you right?  There’s certainly music I don’t think is much good, but I can only put that down to my own personal preference, some people like listening to vapid, vacuous noise.

Sam – Us…?  Anyone?  There are so many amazing bands out there doing well, and equally as many that deserve better.

11. Is the artwork and running order of an album still important to you or has the digital takeover destroyed the need for these things?

Joe – It’s still totally important, especially at our level.  If we sent the album out to DJ’s and it began with 5 minutes of noise or something, nobody has time to sit through that unless it’s a Radiohead album or something.  Perhaps in the big pop business thing, there’s more of people buying individual tracks and singles, but that’s always been the case, people used to buy top of the pops records with all the #1′s on it right?  If something is recorded and constructed as an album, then it’s still valuable in that form, and that form is still alive and kicking, otherwise what would be the point?  Why would Coldplay bother?

Chris – Artwork will always be important, it ensures you get the certain caliber of person that walks into Rough Trade East London and picks up our album for £9.99 and says ‘hey that looks cool, I’m gonna buy that’

Sam – Totally what these guys said, it’s all important.  And luckily we got to work with John-Paul de Quay, who drew all the artwork.. AMAZINGLY.

Amy – I agree, it has to all hang together and look good as people still listen to/download whole albums and you get the cover art so it looks pretty on your iPhone etc.

12. If you could write the theme song for any movie (past, present or future) what film would it be?

Chris – Our own zombie/vampire flick.

Joe – That’d be great!  Joe Innes & The Cavalcade VS The Bloodthirsty Douche-bags From Hell – It’d be directed by Quentin Tarantino, Produced by Sam Raimi and scored by John Williams and Jeffrey Lewis. It’d start with us playing a gig in a graveyard, and then all the crap’ll hit the fan and we’d have to fight off the hordes of hell with guitars and stuff, and I’ll have all the best lines and say things like “at least it’s not as bad as that gig we played at Dingwalls” and then everyone would laugh for a little.  I’d probably be the force that drives most of the comedy in the film. We’ve never played at Dingwalls.

As told to Jules

You can find out more about Joe Innes And The Cavalcade by visiting their website HERE and you can watch the video for the title track from ‘The Frighteners’ album below…