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Interview with Gordon Moakes, Bloc Party, Silent Alarm
 
Interview with Gordon Moakes
by: David Medsker
06/06/05
Medsker Home / CD Reviews / Entertainment Channel


Bloc Party are kicking ass and taking names. The multiracial London quartet has a stunning debut, Silent Alarm, on the racks, and they’re taking both sides of the pond by storm. Bullz-Eye caught up with Bloc Party bassist Gordon Moakes (pictured far left), who took us to school on the ins and outs of indie rock.

Bullz-Eye: When I was first supposed to talk to you, you were in Denver. Where are you now?

Gordon Moakes: San Francisco.

BE: Is this your first trip to the States?

GM: No. As a band, it’s our fourth, actually. But it’s the second proper tour -- we’ve only come in for bits and bobs before.

BE: Are you getting to see more of the country this time around?

GM: The first time we saw a good part of the west coast and the east coast. This time, we’re sort of tracing a similar route again, hitting Vancouver and Portland, and then San Francisco and LA.

BE: And Mexico City, right?

GM: Yeah, which we’re kind of excited about. It’s a whole new terrain for us.

BE: For a while, it seemed like the only UK bands that were making it across the pond were these sensitive minstrels.

GM: (laughs) What, like Travis and -

BE: Coldplay, and now Aqualung. You guys are definitely not that.

GM: No. We’re a rejection of all that, and a finishing to that kind of thing.

BE: What was it like starting your band and watching those kinds of bands becoming successful?

GM: We always had a sense of what we didn’t want to do. But then again, there’s always going to be bands like that, you know? You’ve got Keane now, and Coldplay’s still really huge. They’re kinda good at what they do, but our starting point was, let’s be a little more visceral.

BE: Were you met with any resistance when you first started gigging?

GM: I think initially, people weren’t quite sure what to make of it, and there was talk of it being a racket and so on. But it seems like the time has come around for more energetic kinds of bands. I think that, even two and three years ago, when the Strokes record came out, people were a lot more open minded towards that sort of thing. So it’s just been a cycle, I guess.

BE: Tell me one of the band’s musical influences that people wouldn’t know from listening to the album.

GM: Oh, okay. Les Savy Fav. They’re an American band, a bit like the Liars and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but a bit before them. Um, who else? Matt’s a big Fleetwood Mac fan.

BE: I saw that in the bio!

GM: I’m not sure that’s rubbed off on the record. We all grew up on indie New York, bands like Sebadoh and Pavement.

BE: I just wasn’t sure if there was a band that you all listened to but weren’t trying to emulate.

GM: Mogwai. They’re pretty much my favorite band. But we didn’t want to make instrumental post-rock music.

BE: There hasn’t been a good feud in rock for a while. Let’s start one right now. Who do you want to start a feud with?

GM: Ha ha! Well, they’re trying to start a fight with us and Oasis.

BE: Why Oasis?

GM: I don’t know, but apparently someone asked Liam (Gallagher, Oasis’ lead singer) what he thought of us, and he said, “They’re like a bunch of University Challenge students.” And we just responded by saying that their insult was disappointing. (laughs)

BE: Well, Liam’s a ponce. Did you hear the story about Tony Hadley almost kicking his teeth in?

GM: No, I didn’t. Was this recent?

BE: No, this was years ago. But I remembered it because I loved the idea of the Spandau Ballet singer beating the snot out of Liam Gallagher.

GM: (chuckling) You know, in private, we badmouth bands constantly, but there’s something a bit desperate about badmouthing bands in the press and interviews. It just smacks of a lack of confidence, almost.

BE: And that would certainly explain Oasis’ last few records after they started the fight with Blur.

GM: Exactly. And even now, they’re trying to make up for the fact that their music is just not relevant. (laughs) And we don’t have a particular beef with them, you know, although we were never fans particularly of what they did.

BE: I was wondering if the press would start pitting you against someone like the Kaiser Chiefs.

GM: Yeah, that’s been attempted, but the truth is we’re really good friends with them.

BE: Which band would you most like to work with?

GM: I’d like to work with Bjork, actually. That has always been my ambition. And I’d love to work with DJ Shadow, though I don’t know if he does rock collaborations anymore, since he had so much trouble with the U.N.K.L.E. thing.

BE: Trouble?

GM: Well, I know he found it difficult working with rock musicians.

BE: What’s the one song that Bloc Party wishes they could call their own?

GM: Ooh, um, well, this is an odd one, because we’ve never done a cover of any band, because we could just never agree on how we did it. We have such massive difference in opinion over stuff and a different range of tastes, but I think it would be something like “Lover’s Spit” by Broken Social Scene. We all love the Broken Social Scene record.

BE: Tell me about Kele’s collaboration with the Chemical Brothers. How did that come together?

GM: Well, I think they were looking for an interesting, distinctive voice to work with on the record, but I think, to be honest with you, there is some disappointment that it wasn’t harnessed in a way that best suited his voice. It was a compromise, I felt.

BE: I agree, they built this house track that didn’t really fit him.

GM: Yes, you’re right, and it’s a shame, because Kele had a lot of lyrical ideas for that track, but they didn’t really use much of it.

BE: One line made it to the final mix.

GM: Exactly. It’s a bit of a shame, but that’s how collaborations go sometimes.

BE: Your music is modeled after a lot bands with frighteningly short careers. Are you planning on going out the same way, or are you in it for the long haul?

GM: Tell me who you mean. Give me some examples.

BE: I’m thinking of Gang of Four, I’m thinking of…

GM: Well, Gang of Four made records until 1984, so they had a five-year career, initially. But they’re back. But for us, the model of being a band is Radiohead. They’ve done it the right kind of way, the way that we would want to do it. I hope that we’re more along those lines.

BE: If Bloc Party could open for any band at any point in their career, who would it be and when?

GM: I think we were asked this, and I’m trying to remember what I said. I don’t know, that’s a tough one. You don’t want to play with a band that’s too good, do you? (laughs) Um, well, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs when they were just starting to break in New York, or Sonic Youth back in 1991, something like that, playing with Nirvana.

BE: Last question: your drummer (Matt) plays like he has four arms. How does he do that?

GM: I don’t know, actually. He’s just never satisfied, and always wants to play better. He keeps adding things that nobody else can do. It pushes us all to be better, you know?    


Send any questions or comments to dmedsker@bullz-eye.com.




 

 

 

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