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Post by Chrille on Dec 12, 2008 16:48:05 GMT 1
graeme from remember remember has agreed to answer any questions about remember remember etc. feel free to add your own questions and graeme will reply whenever he's here. here's a couple of questions we admins posted to him via email:
Highlights of 2008:
Getting to make an album was obviously pretty sweet, and supporting Mogwai at the Queen Elizabeth Hall was incredible too. Putting together the 11 piece Remember Remember and The Gunpowder Plot band was pretty special too, I was amazed at how well it all came together.
Lowlights of 2008:
A couple of really good friends of mine left Glasgow for London and New York this year, which was a bit of a bummer for me.
Records of 2008:
Loads of stuff really: Vivian Girls by Vivian Girls, Stainless Style by Neon Neon, Santogold by Santogold, In the Future by Black Mountain, Love Is Overtaking Me by Arthur Russell, Va Va Va by Findo Gask, Love Lockdown by Kanye West (not heard the album yet but that singles great), Occasion by The Goslings....oh and, of course!, The Hawk Is Howling and the Errors record too.
Films of 2008:
The Dark Knight (well, obviously), Be Kind Rewind, Burn After Reading.....I didn't really see too many films this year to be honest.
Glasvegas:
I don't know what to think of them to be honest, I've not listened to the record other than the singles so I guess I can't totally comment on the music...what I've heard which just seem like a blatant Mary Chain rip off....although that's less a criticism than just a statement of fact. The singer seems like a total bam, and he apparently punched one of my freinds one night which doesn't endear me too much. And why does he have sunglasses on all the time? Has he got lizard eyes that blink sideways like Bono does? It strikes me that the polite English intellectual media are salivating over them so much as they are so "real" and "gritty" and "Glaswegian"...but I personally prefer not to be reminded of the fact that the place where I live is most famous for alcohol abuse and stabbing. They have, however, managed to succeed in spite of being in possesion of one of the shitest band names of all time which I guess is something.
All that said, that song "Geraldine" made me cry the first couple of times that I heard it, and I think some part of me secretly loves them.
The Future Of Remember Remember:
I know what my second album is going to sound like, and I know what it's going to be called, but I've only written three songs....I guess there's no real hurry. The most exciting thing on the horizon is the upcoming shows I have in Japan with Mogwai. I'm having to go on my own, sadly, due to money reasons but hopefully I'll be able to take a fuller band on some tours next year. The 11 piece band was supposed to be a one off but it was so much fun that I really want to explore working with that many musicians....first things first though, I need to write some more tunes.
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Post by rob strong on Dec 12, 2008 21:20:33 GMT 1
Hey, it's got to be done - where do your song titles come from?
Even with the limited resources currently at your disposal, you seem to take great care with the visual side of your presentation of Remember Remember. I'm thinking of the live show, and the (fantastic) album artwork for starters. Do you have an arts background?
Can you tell us any funny stories from your time in mogwai? Who phones their Mum the most?
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Post by benrowe on Dec 13, 2008 14:30:41 GMT 1
slightly obvious question! How did you get signed to Rock Action? Were you a fan of Mogwai and thought "I'll send a demo to them and see what happens..." or did they discover/ find out about you and approach you to sign with them? (and was there an intense bidding war to snap you up? )
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Post by thom on Dec 13, 2008 15:17:25 GMT 1
When and where did you first see Mogwai live?
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Post by gronald on Dec 13, 2008 15:35:42 GMT 1
Hey, it's got to be done - where do your song titles come from? A lot of the titles on the album came from recollections from childhood....going to the swimming, doing genies with matchboxes...pretty mundane things which seem funny to me when you look back at them I suppose. I usually have about 5 potential titles for the same song and they end up getting called different things until something sticks....most of them have a daft story behind them but some are just words that sound nice. I'm afraid I don't really have an arts background...I did higher art at school but I don't think that really counts. I studied English Literature at University but quickly found myself hanging around mostly with people who were at art school 'cos that's where I really wanted to be. It's important to me that the audience has something cool to look at on stage (apart from me!!), I like a proper "show" but I also think there is something really charming about trying to do an epic Pink Floyd-esque stage show with a budget of zero...so everything ends up made out of cardboard boxes. The artwork for the album, though, was a collaboration between myself, Konx-Om-Pax, my friend Iain and a photographer called Martin Clark. I think most of the embarrassing stories are about me...and you'd need to ask them about that....most of them involve puking in some way or another.
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Post by gronald on Dec 13, 2008 15:52:25 GMT 1
slightly obvious question! How did you get signed to Rock Action? Were you a fan of Mogwai and thought "I'll send a demo to them and see what happens..." or did they discover/ find out about you and approach you to sign with them? (and was there an intense bidding war to snap you up? ) Well once Rock Action weighed in with the megabucks, the major labels just had to run for cover! But seriously....Barry came down to see a Remember Remember show in Glasgow and then a couple of days later he sent me a myspace message asking if I wanted to put out a record. It's pretty informal and friendly really, which is great.
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Post by gronald on Dec 13, 2008 15:54:58 GMT 1
When and where did you first see Mogwai live? It was in the old 13th Note Cafe in Glasgow in, I think, 1996. I was underage then but now I am very old.
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Post by plasmatron on Dec 13, 2008 21:59:10 GMT 1
Hey, it's got to be done - where do your song titles come from? Even with the limited resources currently at your disposal, you seem to take great care with the visual side of your presentation of Remember Remember. I'm thinking of the live show, and the (fantastic) album artwork for starters. Do you have an arts background? Can you tell us any funny stories from your time in mogwai? Who phones their Mum the most? I'm not Graeme but i can answer that that the song title "How did you end up like this?" comes form this infamous footage of a homeless guy from Greenock known locally as Catman. uk.youtube.com/watch?v=L-x5O6QEejgSB
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Post by gregor on Dec 14, 2008 3:24:49 GMT 1
WTF Stuart!!
Im from more from the east coast of Scotland and havent heard anything about this...explain please as wiki is sadly lacking.
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Post by Chrille on Dec 14, 2008 9:31:26 GMT 1
graeme, the video for "the dancing" is very amusing. (it can be viewed here.) how much input do you have in the videos and also what's your favorite music video directors?
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Post by noise is a friend on Dec 14, 2008 11:23:08 GMT 1
Graeme - how about telling us about the music that influences your own. "Mountain" reminds me of the work of Dialect, who made a stunning EP on the Resonant label a while back. Don't know if you've heard that EP - everyone should!!!
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Post by gronald on Dec 14, 2008 15:35:29 GMT 1
graeme, the video for "the dancing" is very amusing. (it can be viewed here.) how much input do you have in the videos and also what's your favorite music video directors? There is also now a really great video for And The Demon Said..., although it's more terrifying than amusing: With these videos I just gave the album to friends and asked them to pick a song and just to do whatever they wanted with it...I really wanted to see how they interpreted the song without me telling them how I felt it should look. My favourite video director is probably Michel Gondry, but I think the greatest music videos ever made were the one's Devo made for themself...every one from "Jocko Homo" to "Peek-A-Boo" is pure genius. uk.youtube.com/watch?v=k3MxuDk7wqo&feature=related
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Post by gronald on Dec 14, 2008 15:51:46 GMT 1
Graeme - how about telling us about the music that influences your own. "Mountain" reminds me of the work of Dialect, who made a stunning EP on the Resonant label a while back. Don't know if you've heard that EP - everyone should!!! Hey, I've never heard Dialect, but I shall check out that EP presently. It's always cool when someone compares your music to something you've never heard before, thankyou.
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Post by thom on Dec 29, 2008 23:42:42 GMT 1
Hey Graeme, give us a brief overview of your live setup? From what I can see, you use a Jaguar into two DD-20s and an RC-50(?).
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Post by gronald on Jan 4, 2009 22:14:53 GMT 1
Hey Graeme, give us a brief overview of your live setup? From what I can see, you use a Jaguar into two DD-20s and an RC-50(?). Hiya, Happy New Year! I got pretty caught up in the festivities so didn't get a chance to reply sooner, my apologies. I was actually on my way out to a rehearsal when I read this so I thought I would take some photies: (Please excuse the poor camera-phone quality) These should all be clickable for bigger photos. This is my current live set-up for solo shows, the band shows involve (at least) James on Saxophone and Joan on violin. G x
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Post by thom on Jan 5, 2009 23:26:57 GMT 1
Hey Graeme, give us a brief overview of your live setup? From what I can see, you use a Jaguar into two DD-20s and an RC-50(?). Hiya, Happy New Year! I got pretty caught up in the festivities so didn't get a chance to reply sooner, my apologies. I was actually on my way out to a rehearsal when I read this so I thought I would take some photies: (Please excuse the poor camera-phone quality) These should all be clickable for bigger photos. This is my current live set-up for solo shows, the band shows involve (at least) James on Saxophone and Joan on violin. G x Happy New Year! Are those the hallowed walls of Berkley 2 featured in the pictures? Roger said you were a client. What tracks d'you use the Stylophone in?
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Post by gronald on Jan 6, 2009 2:29:47 GMT 1
Yes indeed it is Berkley 2. The Stylophone was a present from my Dad this christmas, i'm currently using it to play the Saxophone and Clarinet parts from Fountain Mountain, but I get the feeling it will be used a lot in my new songs....
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Post by thom on Jan 6, 2009 19:25:38 GMT 1
In the spirit of Desert Island Discs: if you were being sent into solitary confinement for an undetermined amount of time, and were only allowed seven albums (studio, live, compilation, whatever), what would they be? And what would your "luxury" item be?
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Post by Chrille on Jan 26, 2009 18:19:26 GMT 1
three questions:
graeme, how was the asian shows opening up for the gwai? what songs did you play? do you use a ebow for the guitar effect on "genie (for amaya)". great song btw.
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Post by gronald on Jan 29, 2009 0:42:57 GMT 1
three questions: graeme, how was the asian shows opening up for the gwai? what songs did you play? do you use a ebow for the guitar effect on "genie (for amaya)". great song btw. Hey, the Japanese shows were an absolute blast, thankyou, here are some links to some nice photos wherein I look cool and fat in varying degrees: smashingmag.com/tour/09tr/090110remember_saya.htmlsmashingmag.com/tour/09tr/090111remember_sam.htmlsmashingmag.com/tour/09tr/090113remember_yoshi.htmlsmashingmag.com/tour/09tr/090114remember_hiro.htmlSince I was playing a few shows I tried to vary the set from night to night....I was out there on my own so I had to modify a lot of the songs to suit a solo performance, so I pretty much played every song from the album apart from The Dancing, 'cos it just doesn't work without drums. And, yes, the lead guitar on Genie is an e-bow, played through two delays with James doubling up the melody on Sax. also, FAO Thom, I'm still working on my desert island disks, I find it really hard to choose! G x
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Post by thom on Mar 5, 2009 0:59:37 GMT 1
also, FAO Thom, I'm still working on my desert island disks, I find it really hard to choose! 'Til then, do you have any local dates lined up to tide us over?
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Post by gronald on Apr 6, 2009 14:24:25 GMT 1
Hiya,
Sorry for the lateness of this and the short notice, but I'm playing a solo RR show tonight in the Bier Halle on Sauchiehall Street, with Matt Elliot from Third Eye Foundation, should be fun...im trying out a bunch of new songs, should be fun(ny)!
After that i'm going to do two (hopefully) full band shows at the Hinterland Festival at the end of the month, one show is at the Arches and the other is in Sleazy's with DeSalvo (hooray!)
G
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Post by wadeab on Jul 29, 2009 20:59:15 GMT 1
I'm wondering about the availability of the album in Canada. I've noticed that online its only available in the UK on some sites. 'm wondering if you know of any stores that are carrying it either online or uh... in actual stores?
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Post by gronald on Jul 30, 2009 22:34:33 GMT 1
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Post by wadeab on Aug 8, 2009 0:12:43 GMT 1
Awesome stuff just got it through the Resonance store. I absolutely love Fountain/Mountain and the Dancing. The stuff really does remind me of some of Phillip Glass' works.
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Post by rob strong on Aug 15, 2009 22:52:50 GMT 1
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