The last part, it's nice to know that what you think may be a memorable night for you is also remembered by the band...
I'll put this together in another thread with all of the pieces one by one, so if people want to read it in the future they don't have to wade through something with all the comments and so on inbetween.
T
You have said that the last record was the first truly democratic record in the band’s history. Was it that way this time around? MM: It’s different every time. On the last record I wrote on a few songs, on this one – just one. Matt wrote a few. Ed brought three or four… it all depends which ones are good. All of us bring a book of ideas, we’re all composers. Some of it comes together while we’re working. Certain songs come to the fore, is it because they move Ed one of us others…? We always have too much material. It’s good to have such a problem.
There is a round number on the horizon for the band. The majority of grunge bands didn’t have the luck to celebrate twenty years. Is it luck or something else? MM: It’s a lot of things. Luck, the right time; it’s true that we separate ourselves from one another when we are not on tour or whatever and we can speak face to face when there are misunderstandings or problems… we have open channels of communication as much as is possible. It’s important that I love playing music with these guys and that fans still want to hear us.
I have to tell you that your band is particularly important for Polish fans. The popularity of grunge was concurrent with our country gaining its freedom. Were you aware of the ‘You forgot Poland’ t-shirt campaign when you didn’t play there for some tours? MM: Oh yeah, I knew about that. But we got there in the end…
MC: Yeah, in 2007. And we were in Katowice in 2000. It’s true, we don’t play there too often. The last time we were there, in 2007, the fans we just incredible.
There was also your first concert in 1996. Why did you then decide to go behind the former iron curtain? MM: Because there’s Poland and other Eastern Block countries! We wanted to see them, experience them, get to know what goes on there. We'd got our deformed view of what the situation looked like the from the Western press but the reality is completely different. The possibility to see it personally, talk to people, walk the streets and smell the smells, taste the food; it’s a lesson, that’s how you learn. It’s an important part of life. We can say ‘ Hey, we were in Poland, we saw this, this and this’… we’ve got our own opinion about it, not from a newspaper, not warped through the years. It was also important that we had fans in that part of the world that we wanted to play to.
About the concerts in 2000, you’ve said that the first was one of the worst in the band’s history and the second one of the best. We know the story of the second but what was wrong with the first? MM: I’m trying to remember it. Perhaps we had some strange technical troubles. Or there were only a few people…
MC: No, the second had less people.
MM: Oh, yeah. The second was really markedly better because it was so unusual.
MM: We played a lot of songs that night that we hadn’t played live for a long time. It turned out to be one of the best gigs on that tour.
MM: Exactly. And it happened because we didn’t try to do something grand, we just threw some different songs in there. Eddie is very conscious of the place we are playing in. He goes to them earlier, gets the feel of it, as I’ve seen, and writes the set list depending upon his feeling towards the town he’s in. Maybe that evening he was just (Mike clicks his fingers) 'Let’s go with the flow'. Basically, 'Let’s try something different'. It was fucking great. I remember it clearly now.
The performance in 2007 was also atypical, with Linkin Park as co-headliners. MM: Haha
MC: We did a few concerts with them on that tour. It was a pleasure, I’ve got it written in my memory, because we hadn’t played for you in a long time. Although, I do remember some problems with the power during the show.
MM: I remember the journey, I’ve got it on tape, I was filming the landscapes during the trip. And I remember the fans, when we were standing in the wings and they were shouting, ‘Lin – kin – park! Please – come – out!’. I was like: ‘What’s this about, we’re here too, aren’t we?’. The next generation must have come (laughs).
" Things were different then, all is different now "
Seattle 09-16-96, Vancouver 07-19-98, Seattle 11-05-00, Seattle 12-09-02, Vancouver 05-30-03, Vancouver 09-02-05, Gorge 07-23-06, Seattle 09-21-09, Seattle 09-22-09, Vancouver 09-25-09
Comments
I'll put this together in another thread with all of the pieces one by one, so if people want to read it in the future they don't have to wade through something with all the comments and so on inbetween.
T
You have said that the last record was the first truly democratic record in the band’s history. Was it that way this time around?
MM: It’s different every time. On the last record I wrote on a few songs, on this one – just one. Matt wrote a few. Ed brought three or four… it all depends which ones are good. All of us bring a book of ideas, we’re all composers. Some of it comes together while we’re working. Certain songs come to the fore, is it because they move Ed one of us others…? We always have too much material. It’s good to have such a problem.
There is a round number on the horizon for the band. The majority of grunge bands didn’t have the luck to celebrate twenty years. Is it luck or something else?
MM: It’s a lot of things. Luck, the right time; it’s true that we separate ourselves from one another when we are not on tour or whatever and we can speak face to face when there are misunderstandings or problems… we have open channels of communication as much as is possible. It’s important that I love playing music with these guys and that fans still want to hear us.
I have to tell you that your band is particularly important for Polish fans. The popularity of grunge was concurrent with our country gaining its freedom. Were you aware of the ‘You forgot Poland’ t-shirt campaign when you didn’t play there for some tours?
MM: Oh yeah, I knew about that. But we got there in the end…
MC: Yeah, in 2007. And we were in Katowice in 2000. It’s true, we don’t play there too often. The last time we were there, in 2007, the fans we just incredible.
There was also your first concert in 1996. Why did you then decide to go behind the former iron curtain?
MM: Because there’s Poland and other Eastern Block countries! We wanted to see them, experience them, get to know what goes on there. We'd got our deformed view of what the situation looked like the from the Western press but the reality is completely different. The possibility to see it personally, talk to people, walk the streets and smell the smells, taste the food; it’s a lesson, that’s how you learn. It’s an important part of life. We can say ‘ Hey, we were in Poland, we saw this, this and this’… we’ve got our own opinion about it, not from a newspaper, not warped through the years. It was also important that we had fans in that part of the world that we wanted to play to.
About the concerts in 2000, you’ve said that the first was one of the worst in the band’s history and the second one of the best. We know the story of the second but what was wrong with the first?
MM: I’m trying to remember it. Perhaps we had some strange technical troubles. Or there were only a few people…
MC: No, the second had less people.
MM: Oh, yeah. The second was really markedly better because it was so unusual.
MM: We played a lot of songs that night that we hadn’t played live for a long time. It turned out to be one of the best gigs on that tour.
MM: Exactly. And it happened because we didn’t try to do something grand, we just threw some different songs in there. Eddie is very conscious of the place we are playing in. He goes to them earlier, gets the feel of it, as I’ve seen, and writes the set list depending upon his feeling towards the town he’s in. Maybe that evening he was just (Mike clicks his fingers) 'Let’s go with the flow'. Basically, 'Let’s try something different'. It was fucking great. I remember it clearly now.
The performance in 2007 was also atypical, with Linkin Park as co-headliners.
MM: Haha
MC: We did a few concerts with them on that tour. It was a pleasure, I’ve got it written in my memory, because we hadn’t played for you in a long time. Although, I do remember some problems with the power during the show.
MM: I remember the journey, I’ve got it on tape, I was filming the landscapes during the trip. And I remember the fans, when we were standing in the wings and they were shouting, ‘Lin – kin – park! Please – come – out!’. I was like: ‘What’s this about, we’re here too, aren’t we?’. The next generation must have come (laughs).
BARTEK KOZICZYŃSKI
+1 - thanks for the love of labor!
(If you are not aware, this is the Labor weekend in the U.S.
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
If there was a reason, it was you
Love it.
Good spot, duly edited.
Wanna a job as a proofreader?
Maybe I should change it to: 'Mike he click together the fingers'
Dream the dreams of others then,... You will be no ones rival,...
Seattle 09-16-96, Vancouver 07-19-98, Seattle 11-05-00, Seattle 12-09-02, Vancouver 05-30-03, Vancouver 09-02-05, Gorge 07-23-06, Seattle 09-21-09, Seattle 09-22-09, Vancouver 09-25-09
I posted the whole thing on a different thread here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=109511