Artist: THE IMMEDIATE (Dublin, Ireland)
Label:
Fantastic Plastic
Label Mates: Guillemots, Ikara
Colt, The Victorian Gentlemen's Club, The Futureheads. Ash, The Wannadies, The
Beat Up, Help She Can't SwimHere'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. It was also about squeezing as many vocalists,
bassists, guitarists into a simple rock four-piece as you could without losing
the ability to breathe. And it was about being fortunate enough not to have it
collapse under the sheer volume of ideas those same members were likely to throw
at it. These Dublin school lads were also fortunate enough to find a musical mentor
in the guise of their school caretaker. Responsible for introducing Conor
and Dave to the likes of The Velvet Underground, Love, Can
and Serge Gainsbourg, he opened up a whole new world for two boys who'd
thought Green Day were where it's at. Teenage fixations with Pink Floyd, Dylan
and The Kinks fuelled the fire but the arrival of Peter, whose encyclopedic
knowledge of the coolest in 60's pop - Jacques Brel, Scott Walker and
The Shangri Las - added a further dimension to their embryonic sound. Early
gigs took place in hotel function rooms and the unlikely un-rock n' roll environs
of a church. Then a demo made it's way to the ears of Fierce Panda Records and
early in 2005 they released The Immediate's debut single 'Never Seen/Say This'
as a limited edition 7". XFM and Radio One played the track, the infamous dj duo
Queenz Of Noize included the band on a compilation and a flurry of London shows
followed. It wasn't long before The Immediate signed to another illustrious independent
label, Fantastic Plastic Records to record their debut album which arrives in
the shops on September 18th and boasts a staggeringly fresh and far-ranging collection
of cerebral indie-pop as jangly as a pocketful of pound coins, as tuneful as a
mouthful of whistles, as versatile as a Swiss-Army Knife and featuring the trouser-tickling
chunkery of 'Aspects', the fidgety ska blossom of 'Stop & Remember' and the cheery,
wonky gorgeousness of 'A Ghost In The House'. XTC without the stagefright? The
Magic Band without Mr Beefheart? The perfect antidote to the misery of the Monkeys?
Here's what's being said: 'Live wise, as on record, these four talented
musicians share vocals, guitar, bass and drums, and turn the usual gig-going experience
into a much more enthralling spectacle. To date the band have played alongside
the likes of The Young Knives, The Magic Numbers, The Flaming Lips, Doves, Guillemots,
The Fratellis and The Organ amongst others. UK dates are planned to coincide with
the albums release and will be announced shortly. ' Ladies and gentlemen,
I give you THE IMMEDIATE. Signed. Sealed. Delivered.
How
did you get signed?
The label had heard about the band. They came along
to one of our shows while we were on tour in London and they must have just liked
what they heard. It was pretty fast for us -- we were lucky. The deal was right
so we all jumped. We all screamed 'ice cream!' and headed to the studio. How
did you celebrate?
Well, there's this place here in Dublin... Whenever
there is something important to discuss, this is where the band goes. Now, my
God, have you ever seen a duller place! A total shit-hole, if you will... It's
more like a schoolyard in summertime then a bar. We go there 'cause it's quiet
-- never a body in sight. And there's never an atmosphere, no atmosphere lives
in places like this. This is where the papers were signed. We celebrated with
drinks and powdered soup. Did you have any other labels biting at your heels?
Oh there were a couple, alright, but thankfully not too many. I heard
somewhere that a lot of these guys have big, fierce, razor-sharp teeth and, what's
more, when you're not looking they creep up behind you and bite you in the ass!
How famous would you say you are right now?
I know for a fact that
we're not as famous yet as the film 'Sommersby' was - maybe someday! Live
circuit or showcase? Did you do it the hard or easy way?
I guess, live
circuit. Does that mean that my path has been hard? If there's one thing I have
seen and learnt is that the word "easy" is never to be placed in the same sentence
as "industry". No matter how you do it, it's all just an illusion anyways? Things
may seem to fall into place quite easily for some bands but from what I see, there
are a lot of trap doors. It's a maze. How did you blow your advance?
There was nothing to blow. On signing was there anything you were asked
to do that you didn’t want to do?
No. There were no constraints put on
us. We weren't put into boxes, we were let free in the playground. Who was
the last band they said they wanted you to sound like?
I think that if
they wanted us to sound like anything but ourselves, perhaps I wouldn't be writing
this! I wouldn't be sitting here in the early hours typing these words for you,
with the TV on low in the backround, with the girls on the TV ads telling me that
there can give me "genuine connections". I'm not interested in sounding like something
I'm not. Thank God, we've never been told how to do what we do. How much
did getting signed rely on being tied to a scene?
Never liked to play
football, team sports, ya know? Always like it one-on-one. In Dublin there's nothing
here worth tying yourself to. In fact, I believe that there is nothing nowhere
worth tying yourself to. We were signed on the basis of our music. In those scenes
you become sad, you fall into a hole and next thing you know, they've gone and
put you in a box. Then you know you're trapped. You feel like everyone else, you
feel just like a ghost. The buzz created by scenes can be a good kickstart, but
more then likely once you get some attention, they'll all begin to hate you. I
don't want to be hated. I want to meet and share with people! Daftest story
they’ve ever invented about you for the press?
Nothing is invented, so
far it's all been true. But maybe the truth is daft? Does your label or
your management support or discourage unruly rock n’ roll behaviour?
Phil, our manager, spanks us when we misbehave. Where’s the strangest place
you’ve been asked to do publicity?
This one time, the band was playing
a couple of shows in Amsterdam. We met some really great people who wanted to
get an interview and a few songs from us for an internet site or something they
were putting together. So we were only asked after we had suggested we would all
climb into a big trailer attached to a bike. Now, 'Wild Pete' elected himself
to be the driver, he hopped onto the bike, we jumped into the trailer and off
we went. We had a couple of guitars, a bottle of gin, camera girls and cameras.
Now the day this event took place coincided with a national holiday in Amstersam
known as Queensday. It's like our Saint Patrick's Day festival but ten times bigger.
If Patrick was a drink, drug and love obsessed saint, the level of excitement
would be the same. So Pete drove us into some big park. It was just like a big
bloody playground, all kinds of people were in the park, all doing what they do
to celebrate this day. Some of the people were good, others ugly. Some of the
things we saw were orthodox, others totally unorthodox. And us, circling this
madness and energy. Now the crew only wanted a small interview and one or two
songs but they got a whole lot more -- they got four whole laps of this massive
park! Holy Jesus, there was love that day! We had a great time, I think we sang
over an album's worth, with mothers holding their children cheering, with the
fathers and everyone else running behind us cheering even louder. Have they
made you tour with anyone you didn’t like?
No, not at all. So far, so
good. We've been on tours with a few bands round the UK. There's been no fighting.
Ever burned a copy of an album put out by your label for a friend?
No, I haven't. But when we were meeting different labels and doing the rounds,
I would walk around and fill my bag with all their promotional albums. They would
say things like, "oh you should hear this, you'll learn a lot". I never refused
anything they gave me. Sucked it all up and listened to everything they said.
But when I got back home, these promo albums remained in their plastic wrapping,
they acted as my savings. When I ran out of funds, I'd pack my bag and head to
town. What was the last major decision your label or your management made
that you didn’t like?
I've liked them all! 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?
Here we go, Davey-boy blows
his own trumpet!!! No, I won't say too much, whoever gets to hear it will make
their own minds up anyways. But I do believe that me and the rest of the boys
have made something to be proud of. It comes from a very open and interesting
place. In our minds we have made something that is an honour to stand behind.
How many years do you give yourself in the industry?
How long is
that piece of string you're holding? I don't really mind how long I have here.
What is important for me and the other boys is that our music leaves as many hand
and foot prints as possible. How dirty a word is the ‘industry’ to you?
It all depends on the context, I guess. If it were all to collapse
tomorrow would you go back to your old job?
Sure, I would! I'd have to!
Who'd feed the kids?
'The Immediate' -
'In Towers & Clouds' Out 18.09.06 on Fantastic Plastic Records.
relevant
sites:
www.theimmediate.tv
Nosey Bastard for Crud Magazine 2006© |
