Category: Transcription from audio

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19 minutes of Mark Hollis talking about Laughing Stock

The Transcript:

 

Mark Hollis:

…Every album we’ve come out and we thought, “oh yeah, this is definitely better than the last.” Because if, if we didn’t think that you see it, we we would still be in there making it. That’s the truth of it.

So, yeah, I mean, you, you do feel that, but it, it’s like with so many things, although you have that, you know, you, you’d like spent so long of every day working on this thing, you’ve had your head done in so much with it that by the time you come out there, it is like, you know, …you can’t, you just feel completely done in, I mean, you know, physically and mentally, you, you’ve absolutely had it. You know?

That is the end. At that point, then you must just sort of try and clear your head and, and you know, I mean, that may, maybe that was part of the reason that there was such a long gap after Spirit of Eden. You know, it, I reckon it took me like pushing a year before I could even come, comes with, with the idea of making another album.

And in some ways, you know, although there are a lot of people that, that might think, you know, the difference from The Colour of Spring to Spirit of Eden was like a big jump. It wasn’t in, in mentally there, there was no big jump at all. It was just like a natural move. The biggest difference maybe was just the amount of time we could actually spend making that album, you know, in, in that we just started working towards this, this thing of, of sort of, you know, always one of the most important things about new music for me is, uh, you know, spontaneity and improvisation. And it, it was just the thing where we were in a position…

…It is just like, take, taking this, this idea that, you know, the, the first time something is played is a, it’s finest. And then the minute you try to recreate that, it becomes an imitation of something that was originally bad now. So it’s all, it is, it’s just working along, along that line, but also saying, “well the, the problem with a lot of improvisation is that it meanders away from the point too much.” So the thing that this time afforded us was to sort of go in with, with people that we wanted to play with purely from an an, you know, foremost from an aptitude point of view, give them absolute freedom in terms of what they play, but then just so that everything that they, they do play is, is free form, but then to construct an arrangement by taking little sections of that and, and building it up from there, you know, but that takes a, a large amount of time because, you know, maybe you’re sort of 10 hours playing back on something, you know, to get a few seconds, 90% of what you play will be rubbish.

There will only be, you know, if you are improvising, if, if you get 10%, which is only good, I think you’re doing really well, I think you’re doing amazingly well. If you get half percent, I think you’re doing really well.

So that’s, that’s why I, I think this thing with, with time limit of Spirit of Eden and, and Laughing Stock lengthens out noise is just because of that. With this one [Laughing Stock], there’s, there’s been a very conscious effort to get away from conventional songwriting things. So if, if you sort of look at, look at the first track up there, “Myrrhman,” there, there is no part of that track which will ever repeat itself. You know, if you move into the second track [“Ascension Day”], each, each verse that you move through cuts by a bar, it is increasingly getting shorter as the bit that’s going on, the back is getting longer and the vocals are shifting their position with reference to, to the bar. You know, it is just to get away from, you know, like this kind of frustration you get of, of, you know, fitting into molds.

*Plays the track, “Myrrhman.”

The reason that movement is up the front of this album is, is because one, one thing we wanted to get away from is, is this thing where there’s a tendency to look at albums in the same way like you would sort of a live concert, you know, and it’s kind of like, you know, you, you just go in there hard on the first track up, you know, I would think the majority of albums, you know, you sort of put on that first track side one, and it’s like, if you like that track, you like the album. If you don’t like that track, you won’t like the album. You know, I don’t like that as a way of thinking about albums. I think albums in order to work properly, you know, they, they should work throughout. You shouldn’t look at one track.

But the, the reason for putting that [Myrrhman] up the front is, is just if, if you are looking in classical terms at things, you know, when, when the thing starts, it doesn’t necessarily have to attack you. What it does is for the first few minutes, it’s there just to create a mood from which it, it then develops from, you know, so it was just thinking of it along those terms. I think that track is the most eclectic track for me. I think it’s sort of as sort of most of the areas that I, I would like or all existed within it. Yeah.

Also like the way, you know, the, with the sort of, uh, drum part on that, I mean it’s, it’s kind of like I, I, I dunno whether you know that that thing, uh, “In A Sentimental Mood,” the John Coltrane thing, but it’s like the kit in the back of that, you know, it sounds like the bloke’s setting his kit up while it’s going on, and that, that’s very much what I like with the drum track on that. Sounds like he’s actually putting his kit together, ready for the second track.

*Plays the track, “Ascension Day.”

…Yeah, we just cut the tape. Yeah, that’s right.

You know, it, it just felt the right way of doing it. It just, you know, it is like, with all these things, I, I, I guess you do a lot of things just to set up things that are about to follow, you know, and that was like the perfect way of setting it up. I mean, I, I’ve heard that done before on, on, uh, you know, not, not with an edit directly into another song, but the thing of cutting something when it, when it was peaking was, was done on, on the Forever Changes album by Love, there were two versions of “A House Is Not A Motel” one, which I, I think was, was hit with a fade and one, which they just let the tape run to its end and then cut it. So, I mean, it’s not, it’s nothing original. You know?

There are days when, you know, certain people are coming into play, but around them it, it would be, you know, just absolutely whatever you, you fancy playing that day, you know, and, and a above everything you are asking him to play in a way that is completely natural to themselves, you know? And I think that’s something which for a lot of people is unusual because I’m, I’m sure with a lot of people, you know, they, they, they sort of say, “well, look, I like his playing.” And, and then they get old of him and say, “well, look, you know, could you play like you played that?” That’s not really what it’s about. You know, you, you play as, as you feel and, and this is the thing you see that the people that, that we work with on these albums, although I think technically they’re very capable people, that is not the most important criteria.

I mean, why we use them is for, for the way they are, you know, and it’s just the attitude of the person that’s, that’s all it’s done, you know, basically whether or not we think they’re decent bloke. I mean, that’s really it.

When you are working on this, on this improvisation thing, sure, there’s a trust in that, you know, you trust the person for himself and, and you know, you, you know, you, you, you like what he plays. But I mean, you know, it’s with anyone. I mean, there is trust within us because certainly, like say with Tim Friese-Greene, I trust him as a producer. There is no question of that, you know? And my relationship with him is that, is is one that’s built on trust, you know, and were I to work with another producer that would take a long time to, to get that, there’s no way I could have made this album with another producer is, is impossible because, you know, Friese-Greene is so important to what this album is. He is as much a part of it as anyone.

And yeah, sure, there, there is trust within all the people we work with. Yeah, definitely there is, but it cannot be trust, you know, that everything you play is gonna be right. I mean, it cannot be that.

The optimum thing anyone can hope for is, is that music exists outside of the time in which it’s written. For me, the only way you can do that is to make it as, as honest as it can. And hat is true of the sound. If you start stylizing sounds, then it will become, you know, to an actual period. You know, if, if, if you just have the sound as honest as it is, then, then it, it cannot, cannot, you know, suffer that that problem.

That’s one of the reasons you see where we would look to use in a studio like Wessex, which is an extremely large one. So that what what you do is, is you give perspective to the instruments by a physical distance from which you might, you know, not from a board with, with echoes in that, because this, this thing of, of instruments sounding the way they are and having, having their true character I think is really important. I think that’s also true, you see from a vocal point of view. And, and definitely for me, you see the, the most important album that I I was listening to before we went in from a view of Vocal sound would’ve been “New Morning,” the Bob Dylan album of 72. Because there, if you’re talking about Sounds being honest, I mean, you, I don’t think you can get much more honest than than that. It just sounds, you know, like, like the band’s in the front room with you.

*Plays the track, “After The Flood.”

Everything is set up, every instrument will be set up so that any point when, and it would be permanently set up. So at any point when you actually felt like trying something, you can just go out and try it. I mean, it, it is a very fluid thing. It’s everything would be very loose in, in, in the studio. We were just going with a basic framework of, of what the song would be on the ones where drums exist. I mean, Lee Harris would know what he’s about and then, you know, there would, there would just be the, the basic chord shape and the vocal line that that would be it.

And, and then you see, you know, with within that, across these tracks, there would be two different ethics to what Lee would go in drums. One would be looking back to Tago Mago, the Can album that what, what a drummer does is he just locks in. He, he just plays regardless of anything that happens around him. And he never, never, you know, never stops. He has to be faded out. He’s just like his own, you know, his own entity.

But then you see also that’s, that’s what’s so, so true of this album for me as, as opposed to any other that, that, you know, the, the, the people within within that are playing within these tracks all all have a different understanding of what the on beat is, what the offbeat is, what, what signature they’re playing. They all, they all just work within their own little field and at points, you know, they, they meet, meet up again, you know, they meet up with each other. But, but that, that is maybe, you know, the, the most important thing about this album for me is, is that everyone is in their own little time zone, you know? Yeah. “time walk.”

You, you, you know, there, there’s no way at the point when we go in that we know what this album will sound like or, or we ever know. And, and this again would, you know, would, would be true of, of the, the previous album is, is you just go in knowing what, what the aptitude is you want and that, and that’s it. Nothing, nothing else than that. You know, there’s no way I, I think you can ever go wrong on that because there is no right and wrong. The right and wrong is only, only is is an internal thing. If if, if you get on with it, then it’s right. It’s as simple as that.

You know, that’s why there can never be any disappointment at the end of making an album. You see, you know, you can’t go wrong. You’re in a faultless position, I mean, people can hate it, but you personally cannot go wrong with it.

If you take, say, you know, on that first track on Spirit of Eden, [“The Rainbow”] I mean, for me, tho those first two notes on the harmonica summed up what that album was for me. It, it was just not concerned about, you know, that the number of notes, it was just concerned about the way those two notes were played, you know, and, and certainly it’s true that I, I would say, you know, the, the most, the most in important thing for me about any record is, is, you know, the silence is, is above everything. And I would rather hear one note than I would too, and I’d rather In nothing than I would one note, you know, it, it, it definitely works that way.

So yeah, I mean that, that sort of was Spirit of Eden and then on, on this new one, if, if you look at sort of like the instrumental in “After The Flood,” which just plays a minute on one note [the shozygs solo]. I mean, that, that again is is the ethic. You’re just talking about one note, but you, you feel the note. It’s, that’s, that’s what’s important.

For me, and Tim Friese-Greene, I would say that is without question, the best solo that we’ve ever, you know, got together now, just because like I say, one note, that’s it, but you just hit it hard.

Two saxophones played a tone apart. Yeah. For just blowing on the one note. And then, you know, obviously I couldn’t blow for a like a minute, but it’s just, you know, cut across. Because I mean, the, the idea with that you see was just, you know, I’ve just got this, this picture in my head, I don’t even know how true it is, but of Roland Kirk, you see, I used to love those things where you saw him with two instruments in his mouth at the same time, and I just sort of imagine that that would be about where he is at, you know? So always to me that was just like, you know, Roland Kirk, that section as to whether he would ever play that or I, I dunno, but that’s like the image that I would’ve had in my mind about it.

You know, technique has never been an important thing to me feeling is, is above always has been and always will be above technique. So it’s like, you know, a lot of the, the melodies that exist within, within this album are only like one note or two notes. It’s no great hardship to actually play it, but it’s just a question of, of whether, you know, it, it sounded right at the time, it is like quite often, you know, when, when people are, people are in plan that the stuff that we will get on with best is, is the, you know, the, the most simplistic stuff.

*Plays the track, “Taphead.”

We just sort of go, go in and, and write all, and then I’d just sort of work for the next few months, you know, doing, doing the lyrics to it. Yeah. And, and just, you know, I, I mean, because always, I mean, I’ve, I’ve always written lyrics from a phone point of view. I mean, it’s, it’s always bothered, bothered us, you know, things, things where vocals are set too loud in a mix anyway, so that it, it’s as though, you know, this vocal, I still assume a dominant role and, and, and no matter what works been put into the back and it just becomes subservient. I mean, I’ve never been keen on that anyway, because I think the energy’s within the track. There’s no reason for one thing to outbalance here, but hopefully the way in which these actual vocal lines work now is, is working even more so towards that kind of, uh, you know, in instrumental endpoint, I hope so.

*Plays the track, “New Grass.”

“After The Flood” and “New Grass” were both nightmare mixes, you know, trying to get everything to actually have its own position. I mean, you know, I would hope it would take a real lot, lot of plays before you start noticing everything that exists within this album.

Yeah, I would hope that, you know, I I, I don’t wanna write off other areas of music because, you know, they, they, they all have their place and everything and I mean, there are so many records that I grew up with, which were like instant records with me. So I don’t in any way want to, you know, write off that side of things. But yeah, certainly from the point of view of, of sort of where we are working, I, I, I, I think there’s like an amount of work you have to do to, to actually realize what’s, what’s within those albums.

Maybe “work” is wrong. I maybe that’s, that’s not the right word. I, I mean no, all, all, all I mean is I, I just think you need to actually listen to it. That’s all it is. That, that you don’t do it while you’re doing other things because I, I just think you, you’re not gonna pick up on it. That’s, that’s all it is, that you just sit there and do listen to it. Yeah, yeah. It doesn’t require any kind of intellect, anything like that. No, just gotta listen.

*Plays the track, “Runeii.”

To me, this album is more jazz orientated than any other album we’ve made, but I mean, wear it to be thought of as a jazz album, I’d be well disappointed because, you know, for two things, firstly, it depends on how you actually define jazz. I mean, you know, you’ve, you’ve got sort of like all Nick Coleman on, on one end with his free jazz, and then you’ve got the other end, you know, like Kenny Ball. I mean, it’s, it’s pretty wide old term. I don’t, I don’t think it’s, it’s a very good time jazz.

And then you’ve also got other, you know, other sort of impressions of jazz where it’s sort of like the, the minute you say “jazz” and you say, okay, well there’s like “rock” and you look at jazz rock and then it’s like this frightening idea of like this sort of rock band with a saxophone. I mean, I, I really don’t like the thought of any of those things.

It is sort of like, you know, if you go back to let’s say can with Tago Mago, you, I mean, you could say, well, yeah, there’s definitely jazz within that album, but you’d never call it a jazz album. Or, or I wouldn’t, I’d never call it a rock album. You see, I, I would hope that that, you know, the albums we make are far more diverse than be put in any one area because, you know, at, at the end of the day, you know, if, if what you do want to be is, is original, then, then your best chance of any form of originality is, is diversity and to take as little as you can from, from each area, but, but just trying to combine ’em in a sympathetic way.

So that’s, that’s sort of, you know, hopefully what, what I, I would think we do.

You know, I, I think with without question, it, it would be nice, you know, to, to think, “well look, you know, maybe someone might hear this album in 10 years time and think it is a good album.” Well, sure, I think that’s great. But, you know, that’s, that’s sort of nothing that I would spend time worrying about. I mean, I, I would only think about that while I was making the album thinking, you know, does, does this have, you know what, well, yeah, but even then, I dunno that I would think about it like that, because you just work within the present and then at the point the album’s mixed it, it becomes the past, you know, and then now you see for me, I would rather just have a break and then look to the next album at some point.

…

END.

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Tim Pope Video Show 1984 part two

MH Look, look, all I wanna know is one thing.

TP: yup?

MH: How come you get the camera and I don’t, right?

Tp: It’s because I’m the director, ain’t I.

MH: How come I have to do all the talking?

TP: I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough.

MH: I’ve had enough! I am going back to that spaceship, right? You stay here if you want, I don’t care, right.

TP. I’m going back to that spaceship, I’ve had enough of this. I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough. (Hands camera back to cameraman) …. Blimey it’s weird here. This is weird.

MH: You’re rubbish on that camera! You’re absolute rubbish on that camera.

TP: Oi! You can’t say that!

MH: Shall I tell you why?

TP: Why?

MH: Because the next videoclip is called –

TP: Dodgy link!

MH: what a terrible cue. (Looks in monitor and smooths his hair) blimey, who’s

that, Clark Gable?

(Video plays)

TP: Blimey it’s a bid odd in here innit? I mean I thought all that camera stuff was very funny, but after a while it got, you know, it got –

MH: A bit tedious

TP: It got a bit weird, a bit structuralist.

MH: What I think is, it got a bit tedious, but even more than that, you know, I think people out there wanna hear me speak, so if I could just get another couple of words in…as I was saying earlier, there are two types of actors, there are good actors and there are great actors, but there are also two types of men,  there are men that like girls and there are men that like other men, and this is my way of introducing the next clip which is by a band called – (TP waves his hand in front of the camera, MH laughs)

TP: okay, cut! Cut! Cut it!

MH: -Queen, and it’s called it’s a hard life. Bit dubious.

(Video plays)

MH: oh blimey.

TP: More space cola? More Space cola?

MH: (makes noise of phone ringing)

TP: Who’s that then?

MH: we’re at the dodgy part of the show. This is where we have to start relying on props.

TP: Who’s that?

MH (answering phone) ‘Allo?  (Hands phone to TP) Freddie.

TP: (whispers) oh fuck. What shall I say?

MH: Tell ‘im he looked fabulous.

TP: (talking into phone) no, honestly you were great, no, honestly. … Well, it was nothing to do with me. No? Yeah of course you can, yeah, yeah. Yeah, he is beautiful. Here he is. (Hands phone back to MH)

MH: (talking into phone) Hello, Freddie? Yeah, you looked great, man. You looked  fabulous, the outfit was stunning. Yeah, yeah. Okay then. Bout half past seven, allright?

TP: (to camera) he’ll see that I never work in this town again.

MH: (still talking into phone) see ya Fred. Bye.

TP: see ya Freddie. See ya everyone, see ya Paul, see ya Mark, see ya everyone. It was a beautiful show, tho. It was beautiful, it was worth it all.

MH: I tell you what, this show’s going so downhill now , right, it’s unbelievable the depths were sinking to here.

TP: yeah, I think so.

MH: About 5 minutes ago, I think it was just before that last video we had a –

TP: The funny thing is, the best bits are when the cameras aren’t going, aren’t they? Coz they’re a bit more passionate, shall we say?

MH: You say what you like! Just leave me out of it, right?

TP: You know what, I mean, they are a bit more romantic. He is (points at MH) let’s face it, very attractive.

MH: (picks up phone) Make it 8 o’clock, Freddie.  (Replaces receiver, TP laughs) dodgy jokes going all round here. Dodgy jokes all over the shop.

TP: okay I think let’s get into the next link I think, before there’s any more. What’s the next one? It’s the cure!

MH: No no, I’ve got a link for it!

TP: yeah?

MH: Don’t just blow it! Now it’s the the cure, I’ve got a link for it.

TP: I’m the straight man, I’m the straight man. He’s the bent man.

MH: I caught a disease last week.

TP: Oh yeah? Who from?

MH: Wrong answer. I said, I caught a disease last week. (Behind his hand, prompting) How’d you get rid of it?

TP: How’d you get rid of it?

MH: With The Cure

TP: (screeches with fake laughter )

(Video plays)

TP: I have always actually seen myself as a bit of a songsmith, not actually a Robert smith, but more of a song smith

MH: oh god!

TP: and I would  now like to sing you a new irritating song right, I’d like to sing you a couple of irritating songs, and the first one goes like this:

(Sings)

‘Wheel within a wheel, ever spinning round and round’

That’s like one of my favourite ones, right? But there are many others, right? Now, there’s this one:

(Sings)

‘I’m king of the road, dom dom dom…’

Now, there are many films that I would have liked to have made promos of – I won’t be working with Queen anymore , I won’t be working with The Style Council either, obviously I won’t be working with any of those people anymore, you know, I’ve gotta, like, look for people like

(Sings)

‘You say this guy, this guys in love with you do do do do you say this guy who looks at me the way you do when you smile I…’

… well, you know, that’s  allright, anyway. But what I’d like to do is look at some more really old stuff now, and this is like, a really old one, one that I’m very fond of and it’s actually a song called Tree and it goes something like this: (I want to be a tree plays, TP sings along and dances) Hey, it’s weird I feel even more like a tree here in space. (To MH) Excuse me, you do have your image to think of, unlike me (end credits roll as TP continues to dance and sing with MH laughing off camera) back to the film, back to the film, it’s a beautiful film, oh god this is really…space, the final frontier, to boldly go where every man has been before . It’s beautiful.  I’m just filling here, I’m filling, excuse me…Space cola? More space cola?

MH: How are you, allright?

(The End)

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Mark Hollis: Interview with Viviane Morrison 1998

What did you have in mind when you embarked on the adventure of this first solo album?

“When I decide to record a record, I have one priority: not to repeat myself. With Laughing Stock, Talk Talk’s arranging and recording methods had reached their limits. For this new album, I wanted a minimalist and acoustic approach. I used the minimum of material, trying to make the titles sound as real as possible.”

Seven years passed between Laughing Stock and this first solo album. Did you spend all this time working on this record?

“Not really. The work was spread over several periods. Some were devoted to woodwind writing, others to notation or the piano. I spent a lot of time playing music for fun. Without thinking about recording an album.”

Which artists do you feel close to today?

“I’ve been listening to Morton Feldman a lot lately. He is a composer with whom I feel an affinity. Especially through his approach to instruments. His composition of string quartet and clarinet is the best I have heard in a long time.”

Could you tell us about the contrast between the moments of silence and the very acoustic instrumentation of this solo album?

“I think music is all about contrasts. Looking for them is a way to find your way. I wanted to create music in which silence is as important as what breaks it. One day I would like to be able to record original acoustic instruments and be able to reveal their fragility. I would also like to be able to write in a new style. For example, with elements of classical music echoing jazz, which itself echoes something else. Music should not be limited to a single element. It must leave an impression before heading elsewhere. You have to set a goal, otherwise composing is pointless.”

Why have you reduced the arrangements to the bare minimum?

“To have a simplistic approach so that each element finds its place when you record. This requires a talented sound engineer. He must understand how you want to create balance and adjust when necessary. Although all of these things exist as a whole, and despite the fact that it may seem insignificant, some instruments are naturally more dominant than others. For everything to fit into a sound framework, you need someone with a high level of technicality.”

Who did you turn to for the sound you had in mind?

“Phill Brown. He worked on The Color of Spring and The Laughing Stock. I know him since a long time. He played an important role in this new album. Contrary to what one might think, it was not recorded live, but the idea was to create that feeling.”

The disc is sometimes reminiscent of Robert Wyatt. Is it an artist you feel close to?

“I get on well with Robert Wyatt. I’ve been a fan of his work since his debut with Soft Machine. He’s an amazing drummer. His singing is also fascinating. The way he executes the vocals on Shipbuilding is breathtaking.”

Ex-Japan David Sylvian is also taking interesting directions. Some of them sometimes remind you of your work.

“It’s hard to say. I know who David Sylvian is but I don’t know his music well.”

Could you tell us about your approach to singing?

“I wanted to sing as naturally as possible. The lyrical aspect is essential. You have to be able to make the lyrics exist mentally so that they are sung correctly. To obtain a good result, it is necessary to record the voices and the music with the same criteria. Without making exceptions.”

Was achieving such freedom of writing complicated?

“I got lucky with Talk Talk. It’s My Life, our second album, was a huge success. This allowed us to have enough money to record The Color Of Spring and Spirit of Eden on our terms.”

I read that your two favorite films were The Bicycle Thief by Vittorio De Sica and Children of Paradise by Marcel Carné.

“Oh yes definitely. Absolutely.”

And can you tell us why?

“Because I find that the narration is secondary in Le Voleur de Bicyclette. It’s more about how the protagonists feel. What I love about this film is the relationship between father and son. She is so powerful. The fact that you take an object like a bicycle that is so incidental, anecdotal, and yet the implications of what that object meant to this family is so vast.”

Do you keep up to date with what is happening in the contemporary cultural field?

“I love the fact that in London you can access a crazy art installation. So much so that it is impossible to imagine a city other than a capital funding this kind of thing. I went to see a Nicholas Pope exhibition at the Tate. He exhibited huge clay models there. There was a strong smell of burnt oil. There was also an industrial soundtrack. The statues were grouped together in a kind of Mexican chapel. It took him more than seven years to complete this work (The Apostles Speaking in Tongues Lit By Their Own Lamps, editor’s note). He developed a disease that prevented his brain from functioning normally, but he continued to work. Mutual Interest, a work by Michal Rovner also marked me. It had three screens broadcasting off-camera images for twenty minutes, with strange zooms. Again, against a background of industrial music.”

You are a Londoner by birth. What is your relationship to this city?

“I like living in London. I feel at home there. This is where my children live. I want them to grow up in a multicultural society. I also want to be able to offer them a wide variety of activities. I just left this town a few years. I was in an album-tour cycle that never ended. I wanted to find a restful, quiet place with lots of space. I wanted to be part of a small community rather than being an anonymous person in London. When one of my sons turned eight, an important age in the development of children, I wanted him to be a little more aware of what the world represented. We moved back to London.”

Do you sometimes find your inspiration in books?

“The power of books is mighty. They force you to work your imagination. In literature as in music, you have to try to find a different force and rhythm. I think I got something special with the lyrics of Westward Bound. I won’t go so far as to say that they are more important than the others, but I am particularly proud of them. They are perhaps among the best I have done. I would find it easier to write music to accompany a book than for a film. A book contains more subtleties. It is rather rare for a film based on a book to be of higher quality than the original story. This is confirmed again with a book by Bruce Chatwin that I read last week. It’s called On The Black Hill. After the book was finished, I rented the movie. I couldn’t last more than ten minutes.”

You seem to be inspired by Ravel’s music. Is this really the case?

“I was made to listen to a piece by Ravel earlier that was supposed to sound like a song from the new album. I did’nt see it. My favorite compositions by Ravel are Mallarmé’s Trois Poèmes, his string quartets and his Miroirs for piano. Particularly the Oiseaux Tristes section, which I find really superb.”

Your writing style has evolved over time. It reaches a new dimension with this solo album.

“It is a natural change. When I started composing, I liked the classic verse / chorus / verse formula. I quickly tried not to repeat myself. This is a development that I find normal. I wasn’t the only one going this way. After the success with It’s My Life, Tim Friese-Greene constantly pushed us to renew ourselves. For Myrrhman, the first title of The Laughing Stock, we wanted to compose a song in which no part was repeated. For the following title, Ascension Day, the first verse was seven bars long, the second nine bars, the third ten bars. It was necessary to add words in coherence with this complex framework. All this in order to move forward. With the new album, I opted for more minimalism in the arrangements. There are never more than four or five bars. There are many acoustic instruments recorded calmly, in the most realistic way possible.”

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Have You Heard The News by The Reaction

I’m picking up again

Well it got too much

After the accident

Couldnt feel no worse

Oh no no no no no

I turned around and saw him hit the ground

A little earlier, it was a game

I guess the barrier

Must have dropped away

I don’t have to read the news

D’you know anything I’m going through?

Yeah yeah yeah

Have you seen the news?

Hey

Did you see my photograph?

It was on page ten

I swore to everyone

No I’m not to blame

Oh no no no no no

I turned around and saw him hit the ground

A little earlier it was a game

I’m so disposable

You can throw me away yeah yeah

I don’t like to read the news

D’you know anything I’m going through?

Yeah yeah yeah

Have you seen the news?

Hey

What a fool I’ve been

Didn’t get to him in time

What’s been happening?

Its so hard to sleep at night yeah

Well yeah

Its so hard to sleep at night

To sleep at night

Have you seen the news?

Have you seen the news?

Have you seen the news?

Have you seen the news?

Have you heard, have you heard the news?

Have you heard, have you heard the news?

Have you heard, have you heard the news?

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I Keep On Telling You – Mark Hollis Demo 1980

Something’s happening here

And you have to really know what’s exactly wrong with you

Wasting my time

Well yeah it’s so very clear it’s the same as mistreating…

I’m sure

If I tell you once

I’m sure

It will be enough

I’m sure

All the pills you do

I’m sure

Never seem to be any use

And if I’m telling you

All the reasons why

It means I’m telling you

What I can do without

Coz you waste my time

You’re pretending it’s so right

Never ending, all the time

do you have to be there?

I keep on telling you

Well yeah I’m talking bout you

I keep on telling you

It never seems to be any use

Playing some kind of game

We’re bending all ofthe rules

Trying to make you of some use

Always the same

Well yeah whatever I say

You will please stop pretending

I’m sure

What you say to me

I’m sure

And the things you see

I’m sure

All the things you do

I’m sure

Never seem to be any use

And if I’m telling you

All the reasons why

It means I’m telling you

What I can do without

Coz you waste my time

You’re pretending it’s so right

Never ending all the time

Do you have to be there?

I keep on telling you

It never seems to be any use

I keep on telling you

It never seems to be any use

I keep on telling you

I keep on telling you

I keep on telling you

I keep on telling you

I keep on telling you

I keep on telling you

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I Keep On Telling You – The Reaction 1979

Somethings happening here

And you have to really know what’s exactly wrong with you

Wasting my time

Well yeah it’s so very clear it’s the same as mistreating…

I’m sure

If I tell you once

I’m sure

It will be enough

I’m sure

All the pills you do

I’m sure

Never seem to be any use

And if I’m telling you

All the reasons why

It means I’m telling you

WhatI can do without

Coz you waste my time

I can’t stand it, it’s so loud

you’re pretending one more time

do you have to be there?

I keep on telling you

Well yeah I’m talking bout you

I keep on telling you

Well yeah I’m talking bout you

Playing some kind of game

We’re bending all of the rules

Trying to make you of some use

Always the same

Well yeah whatever I say

You will please stop pretending

I’m sure

What you say to me

I’m sure

And the things you see

I’m sure

All the things you do

I’m sure

Never seem to be any use

And if I’m telling you

All the reasons why

It means I’m telling you

What I can do without

Coz you waste my time

Well I mean that I could cry

I can’t stand it one more time

Do you have to be there?

I keep on telling you

Well yeah I’m talking bout you

I keep on telling you

well yeah I’m talking bout you

I keep on telling you

I keep on telling you

I keep on telling you

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Mirror Man – Mark Hollis Demo Version

Out on the street today

We’re parading around

We’re the height of the fashion

And she laughs ‘cos we look the same

And follow all of the rules

Every little bit of my time

Keeps me positive my clothes are in line

I’ll identify my true preening style

Mirror man

Oh mirror man

Mirror man

So we look the same

Mirror man

How else do you expect to live with the town?

Inside of her room today

She’s been working all hours

It’s a final presentation

Each day, dressed a different way

She’s the star of the road

Every little bit of her time

Keeps a visual check that she’s out of line

She’ll wear anything you can’t recognize

Mirror man

Oh mirror man

Mirror man

So we look the same

How else do you expect to live with the town?

Hey! It’s a different day.

Take a look you can throw your clothes away

Every little bit of her time

Keeps her checking that she stands out of line

She’ll wear anything you can’t recognise

Mirror Man

Oh mirror man

Mirror man

So we look the same

Mirror man

How else do you expect to live with the town?

Take a look we’re on your street today

Take a look we’re on your street today

Take a look we’re on your street today

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Candy – Mark Hollis Demo Version

This sure is some kind of party

It’s so useful

Surrounds my life with excuses

For what I choose to lose

And my name

Doesn’t look the same to me  now now

No no not me now

And inside

Don’t you know that I feel so bad, yeah yeah

I try to buy more approval

Well I try to now now now now now

But these eyes that I look through

Tell me people don’t seem to matter all that much to me now

When it gets too late

To see me any other way

Anyway

And inside

Don’t you know I feel so bad?

Yeah yeah

Candy,

When I tried to turn away

To feel new again

(Candy)

My emotion cost me pain

Did I look the same

(Candy)

When I think about the times

That I laughed away

(Candy)

the idea you’d cheat me

But look again

What do you say ‘That’s my name’

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah…

And I hope that I’ve kept you amused

To wipe that spit right off my boots

And when I’m home and thinking in the dark

I hope I hope I hope I hope that none of this has had to go too far

When it gets too late

To see me any other way

And it gets so hard to hold on

To everything that I want so bad

Candy

When I tried to turn away

To feel new again

(Candy)

My emotion cost me pain

Did I look the same

(Candy)

When I think about the times

That I laughed away

(Candy)

the idea you’d cheat me

But look again

What do you say ‘That’s my name’

Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah yeah….

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Tim Pope Video Show 1984 (with Mark Hollis) Part 1

[Tim singing intro music] Anything could happen in the next 45 minutes although it probably won’t. I’ve wanted to be many things in my life, I’ve wanted to be many things, but today-

MH: You wanted to be George Best once.

TP: I did wanna be George Best, yeah, And that’s why I drink SKY COLA (holds up can) hey, hey, this is weird. This is weird.

MH: I tell ya, this is the first time in my entire life that I have been in a spaceship. It is fantastic.

TP: Watch it, we’re turning left, we’re turning left. Turning right. And speaking of turning left and turning right, this next film is “I Want to be a Tree”.

(video plays)

TP: Blimey, he’s a beautiful chick, innee? Beautiful chick.

MH: He’s in a state, that boy.

TP: Definitely. Beautiful.

MH: I tell ya. Still. I found an elephant in my bath last week.

TP: Oh, that’s a shame.

MH: Yeah.

TP: Yeah. I had my hair cut last week.

MH: Shame. Shame. Yeah. I met Hayley Mills last week.

TP: That’s a shame, blimey.

MH: I had Tony Blackburn over for dinner last night.

TP: That’s a shame. Here, blimey! I’m planting my-I made some-

MH: “Blimey” Are you English or something?

TP: I made mango jam on Sunday.

MH: Yeah I tasted some, it was really nice.

TP: Aw, that’s a shame innit? That’s a shame.

MH: Yeah…

TP:And I’m planting my herb garden this week.

MH: We’re doing a dodgy link here for the next song.

TP: Very dodgy – which is called:

MH: Such a shame.

(video plays)

TP: How are you, allright? How are you?

MH: Shall I tell you what I like about this show, above everything?

TP: Yeah?

MH: You and me are the only people who get on it.

TP: It’s beautiful.

MH: I don’t have to listen to all these –

TP: It’s weird here in space. But I’m wondering what it gonna be next, what dodgy link.

MH: We’re going into dodgy links here.

TP: it’s outer spacey.

MH: I think what we should do is come clean, right. I should just come clean with the reason why I’m working with this boy. I’m working with him because the camera is looking at me.

TP: No it aint.

MH: Blimey that’s outrageous innit?

TP: Are we into the film?

MH: oh no.

(video plays)

MH: What’s it like, working with Neil?

TP: aw, Neil. Neil was one of the boys, y’know. I was out there in LA, driving around in the old thing, you know, it was great. Actually Neil, y’know something about Neil, Neil couldn’t afford his own shirts. That’s my shirt he’s got there.

MH: That is a beautiful shirt.

TP: It is a beautiful shirt. And what’s more, this is a beautiful, listen to this: (makes weird noise while pulling up his jersey to reveal a “I want to be a tree” tshirt) this is a beautiful shirt.

MH: It’s called the Tim Pope show. This is the name of the record. (Prompting) This is the name of my video.

TP: Yeah, and this is the name of my ears.

That is a beautiful shirt I think you’ll have to agree. “I want to be a tree.” Unfortunately that’s not the next film that we’re showing. Unfortunately I forgot that one. Unfortunately this next one, I think this next one’s the creatures. You know the creatures?  strange creatures you find in outer space, weird, weird…

(video plays)

[it’s my life video plays]

MH: do you know what? I think that was the first video I ever made with you.

TP: was it?

MH: do you realise that? I’d just like to say, that was the first video that we ever made together. The thing that appealed to me when I first met Popey, was that intellectually he had about the same level as a donut. The other thing that was really good about it, ysee, was his idea for this film was around Darwin’s theory of evolution, and if anybody ever…what’s the word? If anybody ever…what the word?

TP: the word? Ahh? The word. It’s, ah…magic.

MH: oh, no. (Laughing)

TP: oi you! The one in the vest! Get off this spaceship! (Takes camera from cameraman) you get off.

(Starts filming) Now. Beautiful.

MH: as I was saying, if anybody ever disproved Darwin’s Theory of Evolution it was Popey. Because, when everybody else was queuing up for brains this boy was at the bakery queuing up for a donut. But he is a beautiful boy. And his films prove it. And this next film is called “since yesterday” and it’s by a great group- sone people would say it’s a good group but I would say it’s a great group – (checks list) strawberry…switchblade.

(video plays)

MH Fabulous. Fabulous.

TP: Actually I am feeling rather avant garde today, I am feeling rather…what I think we should talk about, is the fact that we need more god in videos. Don’t you think?We have often discussed this. We have often discussed it.

MH: Who has?

TP: well, ah, you and me.

MH: I ain’t never had a talk with you about this at all.

TP: oh, wasn’t it? Oh it must’ve been someone else then. I would definitely say…what’s the next video?

MH: Forget all that. Forget all that. All you gotta think about, right, if you wanna talk about god, let’s talk about god. It’s about time god got a bit more space on tv because there are values that should be all-important to everyone’s life, in these times, that sometimes get neglected, and I do think one of those people is god. Because god is all powerful and god should be with us. Regardless of what religion any of you people are out there, you must have an understanding of what good is and what bad is and what god is. Or, I hope so.

TP: That was beautiful, Mark, that was beautiful.

MH: this is….Kissing the pink, radio on.

TP: oh blimey I remember that one yeah.

(video plays)

[Dum Dum Girl plays in background]

MH: can I uh, can I say a few words to the camera please?

TP: yeah, do you think I should be a bit weird with this bit?

MH: No, no, I think you should let me get a few words in.

TP: right right. Go.

MH: In this world, there are good actors and there are great actors, it is very rare that people involved in music should have this ability to act as well, there are very few people who have actually achieved this, one is, obviously, David Bowie, the other is Michael Talbot who to my way of thinking should be called Sir Michael Talbot, because he is one of the greats. I would now like to present Sir Michael Talbot who I think is a feature of this next video, by the style council, and it is called Speak like a child.