source
bravecaptain.co.uk
dated
may 2003
part 1 of 1
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you've just
finished playing your first totally electronic live
show - how do you feel it went?
i'm really pleased. i was shitting it beforehand - i
walked into the venue and felt totally out of my depth.
gold chains were soundchecking and they've been doing
this sort of thing for a while - i couldn't even find
anywhere to plug my laptop in! luckily they then went
off to get some dinner and i had a bit of time to get
everything set up. that was the first time i'd heard
what i was doing through the pa and i became more confident
after that
were you worried beforehand then?
the only thing that worried me was that i might get
too drunk to do it. i've never really gone on stage
without a drink before, but this isn't like playing
a guitar - you just can't do this sort of thing if you're
drunk. i had my support around me though - my manager
and mark from wichita were down and we were in the pub
in the afternoon and they were making sure i didn't
drink. i had three beforehand and the rest afterwards.
at the point where i went on stage i felt sober, focussed
and excited. i was quite determined really that it would
go well.
what are you actually doing on stage?
if i'm honest i'm just replying to my emails! no, i
generate everything live through the laptop, so i'm
controlling tempo, and doing bits of time-stretching
and so on. i have an effects unit there too, and i can
channel virtually any sound i'm making through that,
including vocals, so there quite a bit of scope for
varying the show with each performance. i may even record
some vocals beforehand in future and play them through
the computer then i can loop them and stuff.
how would you describe the sound of the new live
set?
well the first difference is it's totally electronic.
i haven't even had a record out yet that's totally electronic
so that's obviously a new development. so what you hear
in the live show is the way the records are going to
go. it just sounds very different in that environment
and at that volume - perhaps it's sounds fuller or harder,
i don't know.
there was only one track from the current album in
the set - why is that?
well i have to completely rework the tracks that i want
to include in the set. i did 'song for the morning to
sing', an old boo radleys tune, which i've been wanting
to do for a while actually so that was good. then there
was 'stronger' and 'down between', which to be honest
i chose because they were easier - they're just one
tune all the way through really. everything else was
stuff i'm working on at the moment.
so it's a sort of 'work in progress' then?
yeah. i can do everything on that laptop you see. on
the morning of the gig i just sat down and made up song
titles for everything! there was also a version of the
next single in there near the end.
why did you choose to do just the dub part of lazarus?
well i'd planned to do a couple of verses as well but,
well i couldn't be arsed to be honest. i concentrated
on the dub bit that makes up the intro to the original
and it seemed to work electronically so i stuck with
it. maybe i'll develop it for future shows.
now that this has passed off successfully do you plan
to tour?
yes i'm going to have a meeting with my manager next
week about it. he was at the show and was really pleased
with how it went. i think we'll probably arrange some
uk dates to start with, and see how that goes. if it
goes well we'll maybe do some dates abroad as well.
i just need to make a little bit of money from them
really so i can do some more stuff.
and what other plans are there for bravecaptain this
year?
well the live thing is the main thing i'm working on.
there's a four track single coming out in a couple of
months as well - that's done and we'll release it to
coincide with the tour. i think we're going to sell
it at the gigs and direct through the website to start
with. i've also done 'death of a band' for the boobytrap
compilation that's out soon, and i've remixed 'bleed
forever' for the new super furries dvd, so there's going
to be quite a lot happening.
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