source
bravecaptain.co.uk

dated
may 2003

part 1 of 1
 

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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