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 The
Cooper Temple Clause have brought their electropop noise army to the US
for a tour to support their new album Kick Up the Fire, and Let the
Flames Break Loose. We catch up with the rather animated bass player
Didz, as he takes 1-42 through recording
the new album, their lyrics, and hanging out at New York bars.
1-42 :: Didz?
Didz :: YEEEAAHHHH
1-42 :: You must be Didz...
Didz :: YEEEEAAAHHHHHHHHH.
1-42 :: Welcome! So how do you like New York
so far?
Didz :: Yeah, good, we went out to a few bars last night. Went to a little
bar called the Mars bar. Incredible. One of the best places I’ve
ever seen.
1-42 :: Yeah. It’s a dirty little hole,
but lots of fun.
Didz :: Yeah. One of the dirtiest little holes I’ve ever been in.1-42
:: So this is your second trip to New York?
Didz :: Yeah.
1-42 :: Last time was for CMJ?
Didz :: Yeah, October. [2002]
1-42 :: How was that?
Didz :: It was good, it was a bit of a short trip, bit of a whirlwind.
1-42 :: In and out.
Didz :: Yeah, we kind of got here one night, went to sleep, got up the
next day to do the soundcheck, play the gig, got on a plane. Show was
pretty good, kind of fast and furious. It was like getting back to playing
pubs in England. Not much of a soundcheck, small stage. It kind of reminded
us of playing the Camden pubs. It was cool.
1-42 :: Well we’re glad to have you
back.
Didz :: Thanks, we’re playing our first gig on Friday [March 5, 2004]
in DC.
1-42 :: At the 9:30 Club, right?
Didz :: Yeah that’s the one.
1-42 :: I just got the new record, it’s
a good one.
Didz :: Thanks very much!
1-42 :: I understand you built the studio
for the record?
Didz :: Yeah, well we always...cause....this is kind of what happens when
you first get signed, we kind of got shoved into a big studio that’s
quite expensive, you know, having never done it properly before, it was
a bit of an uncomfortable environment. We never got to really to sound
properly like we kind of heard ourselves sounding. So what we did was
build a studio out of our rehearsal room and took it from there. The rest
is history.
1-42 :: Well it sounds good...there was some
sort of a metal shop next to your rehearsal space, did that impact your
recording at all?
Didz :: Well....maybe it added a subtle layer of industry to the album.
They were very friendly mechanics.
1-42 :: What sort of gear do you use?
Didz :: Mackie desk, Focus Right compressors....Jon is yelling at me telling
me what we use, he’s kind of more knowledgeable on that sort of thing
than I am. Then we sort of throw it on Pro-Tools and sort of see what
happens. A big adventure.
1-42 :: I like a lot of the sounds that Tom
gets out of his synthesizers.
Didz :: Yeah, he’s very good, like an explorer.
1-42 :: Yeah, really. How much of your new
record is planned? I have to think that a lot of it is off-the-cuff jamming
and post-production, it’s pretty wild stuff.
Didz :: Um, yeah I think quite a bit of it came from jamming and putting
things together. Trying to capture the jams as kind of a point of reference
and then refining it a bit.
1-42 :: Is this record then sort of a refined
version of your live shows?
Didz :: Um, yeah, although what we did have to kind of try to work out
when we play it live after we recorded it. The first album we wrote while
we were playing live, so we wrote it to play live. The new album we wrote
to record in a studio, so we had to kind of transcribe it to play it live.
1-42 :: Which was more difficult, the way
you cut the new album or the first album?
Didz :: The first album was more difficult to translate what we played
live and then try to put it on a record. I think that the new album probably
worked out better.
1-42 :: What sort of influences do you have?
Didz :: We’ve all grown up listening to our Dad’s CD collections...a
bit of Zeppelin, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, all that. And
then grunge as that happened, and then Britpop as that happened, and then
when we started playing in this band seriously, we sort of decided that
we could take those bands and stir the music and then take it to places
unheard of. And I think that it does sort of come through like that because
at the end of the day, they’re just bands, but our young hearts were
committed to the idea of them being us.
1-42 :: It is kind of interesting how you
guys are doing that and sounding the way that you do, it’s kind of
the opposite of the sound of so many new bands, particularly many of the
new ones in New York.
Didz :: Yeah, there’s that kind of whole very kind of trashy guitar
influence. But we’ve never really been part of any real “scene”.
None of the scenes when we were all growing up seemed to encourage any
sort of creativity. We never had a big group around us to play with and
compete with and encourage us to make a scene. We’ve kind of always
been out on our own, so it’s sort of weird that we’ve gotten
tied into this whole garage rock thing even though we don’t do anything
like that.
1-42 :: Yeah, you’re quite the opposite really.
Didz :: But a lot of British press out there...I don’t know, bands
like Ikara Colt...these are bands that we like, but...well I don’t
know.
1-42 :: So who else have you been listening
to these days?
Didz :: Well lets have a look at this CD wallet lying next to me...Peaches,
Wire, Blondie, Aphex Twin, The Clash, Primal Scream, The Rapture, Felix
Hastings, LFO, The Liars, Soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop, Boxcar Willie,
Johnny Cash, a little tidbit that Michael J. Fox did back in the ‘80s
where it was right around the time of Back to the Future but it never
really got properly released, I got it off the internet, that’s really
good, I’ve been listening to a lot of that lately...Blister Experience,
Breeders, Electrolane, the late Elliot Smith, Billy Bragg...that takes
you through my CD wallet, which is a horrible journey for anyone.
1-42 :: On the new album, I found some of
the lyrics to be very straightforward, but some of them very hard to follow.
Who wrote the lyrics?
Didz :: Fisher wrote the lion’s share of the lyrics, and then Tom
penned a couple as well.
1-42 :: One of the songs that I like a lot,
“Music Box” I couldn’t quite figure out. What’s that
about?
Didz :: It’s kind of about having a precious thing and then bringing
it to share with someone, kind of a dark idea that you’re kind of
compromising by sharing it with someone, but not really.
1-42 :: I have to confess, sometimes I pick
up a copy of NME...it’s fun to read...
Didz :: It is a lot of fun.
1-42 :: They seem to like you quite a bit.
Didz :: Yep....yep they do. [laughing]
1-42 :: How is it dealing with the British
press?
Didz :: Um, it’s alright, they seem to be the only people really
making a concerted effort. No one else has really given us a fair portrayal.
It’s alright, you know...They can be a bit eager, a bit of pretension
for no real reason, but you know, it’s their game.
1-42 :: Whatever sells records, right?
Didz :: [laughing] well, it won’t do that.
1-42 :: How are the American girls treating
you?
Didz :: The American girls?
1-42 :: That’s right.
Didz :: Um, the American girls, have, uh, some took us to The Johnson’s
last night, off the street. We sat at the bar and this girl gave us free
drinks because we were British. And uh, and then, well, they’re treating
us pretty good.
1-42 :: Good to hear. How have you been feeling
lately? You had a brush with death a while ago, are you all better?
Didz :: Yes, I’m all better. Yes, a bit of a cold front, but that’s
ok. You live and you learn.
Photo courtesy of Ami Barwell
2004 1-42 Online
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