Artist: C/O/R/D
Label:
Island Records
Label Mates: Jackson Analogue, PJ Harvey, The Killers, Sum 41, The Bravery, Elvis Costello, Under The Influence
of Giants, DJ Shadow, MOS Def, The Features, Mars Volta, Pulp, The Roots, Keane.Here's the deal. Here's the BiG DeaL. That
shitty four-piece you've been in with your mates since Year 8 eventually managed
to get some daft industry type to hand over a blank cheque and to tell you were
going to be famous. Very famous. You wouldn't have to talk to your former classmates
at school. You wouldn't have to get up early. They only thing they didn't tell
you was that music was more than just writing songs and shaking your balls on
stage. It was about being there on time. Releasing something on time. It was about
being famous on time. And even though you try and assure people you really were on the bill at Live 8, you still have to remember it’s about saying things on time. Traditionally that time is when something has actually happened. That’s usually the best time. Any time before that you could literally peak too soon. And remember, the stories you tell and the porkies you proffer are likely to come back and bite you squarely on the arse long after your Top 40 achievement has become a distant memory in the minds of a fashionably capricious public. Not that we want that to happen to C/O/R/D, the Norfolk 4-piece recently signed to Island Records who released their loud, proud and (occasionally) beautiful debut, ‘Other People’s Lives (Are Not As Perfect As They Seem)’ earlier in the month and who look to capitalise on the success of Top 40 hit ‘Winter’ with the solid, juggernaut rock of tracks like ‘Go Either Way’, the sexy, stone-age riffing and psychedelic thrill of ‘Eyes’ and the courageous swoon of ‘Sea Of Trouble’ and expected new single, ‘Best Day’. Three different bands from three different planets in three different decades, wearing three different pairs of underpants? That’s what they say. A little bit of Coldplay, a little bit of Muse, a little bit of Sparks and a few fab mop-tops t’boot.
“This album is just about life, the condition of living today. We’re trying to understand it ourselves. And that makes for a really eclectic album because that’s what life is like. Life is not all superfast exciting Camden punk pop and it’s not all depressing Radiohead, it’s a real mixed bag. C/O/R/D: making real life a revelation.” Ladies and gentlemen,
I give you C/O/R/D. Signed. Sealed. Delivered.
How did you come together?
We all knew each other from different bands, social gatherings or family ties. Two of the band are now related but which two?
What were the first songs you started playing together?
A load of old stuff that we try desperately to keep hidden from the world….god forbid it should ever come out! Although ‘Stay With Me Now’ was born in the first few months of CORD’s existence.
What do you remember about your first gig?
It was brilliant. A council funded event on a local common, on the back of a trailer with a proper PA in front of hundreds of people. Walshy shit himself though, not the easiest way to play publicly for the first time.
How did you get signed?
After four years of hard work, Gary Bales (6 Music Producer) also a fellow Norwich boy spotted us and introduced us to Steve Lamacq. We eventually signed on top of Freddie Mercury’s piano at Rockfield Studios.
How did you blow your advance?
Honestly, me lying here would be soo much more interesting than the truth……..honestly……
The first famous person you met and the circumstances that led to it?
We met Chris Martin when he popped in to see Danton (our first producer). He was a total gent, modest, polite and interested. There was no way could feel uneasy unless you were female, desperate and a total psycho fan.
Daftest story they’ve ever invented about you for the press?
The press have been known to say that the oldest member is the band is 28, none of us are a day over 24, you know. They won’t report on the fact we played at Live 8, no matter how many times we tell them.
Does your label or your management support or discourage unruly rock n’ roll behaviour?
They’d love it, truly. They’ve been trying to get us all onto heroin for some time now…
Where’s the strangest place you’ve been asked to do publicity?
Only yesterday we played at Aston University in front of a subway queue who couldn’t care less, it was so shit.
What would you NOT be prepared to do to promote yourselves?
Play in front of a subway Queue. Again.
What’s the closest you’ve been to rewriting a famous song?
We were asked to do an 80s cover for a Q magazine CD, so we chose ‘Spirits In The Material World’ by The Police and re-wrote the verses to fit in with the current backlash against capitalism… but our manager flipped! “You can’t re-write Sting’s lyrics! It’s sacrilege!” etc.
What was the last major decision your label or your management made that you were reluctant to accept?
We’re resistant to releasing ‘Best Days’ as our next single, it’s time we put out a rock track.
Who chose the producer and what did they bring to the recording of ‘Other Peoples Lives Are Not As Perfect As They Seem’?
Youth was a great A&R decision, he really vibed the tracks and inspired us to perform our hearts out. Normally you get told to play as tight to the click as possible and to play exactly what you did in pre-production.
Here’s the deal: you’ve made an excellent record and some unscrupulous hack handling the press release is about to screw it all up with some grotesque misuse of our mother-tongue. What words would YOU use to describe the release?
Eclectic debut whose range of styles and emotions reflect the range of feelings and emotions of living today.
If it were all to collapse tomorrow would you go back to your old job?
No. Fucking. Way.
C/O/R/D ‘Other People’s Lives (Are Not As Perfect As They Seem)’ Released: 2nd October 2006 [ album preview ]
relevant
sites:
http://www.cordonline.co.uk/
Nosey Bastard for Crud Magazine 2006© |
