Arrived back at EMI's office in York Street Melbourne slightly... well... it was a liquid lunch for the lads. Their female vocalist at the time didn't do interviews. Rumour has it that it conflicted with the times she liked to breathe or something... regardless, she wasn't there. However, the other two guys were... I asked about the album titled 'Becoming X' and had this long winded but interesting philosophical breakdown of what it meant, followed by, "We usually don't tell people what it means cause it's so complicated... but we're drunk now so we'll tell you anything!" I explained that I had studied philosophy at uni and actually understood everything they just said and they got tremendously excited. One of them then continued to spend the rest of the interview rolling around the boardroom table while the other one giggled at him. Truly bizarre.
Steps
First time was with Lee, who was possibly one of the moodest people i've ever had to interview before. Second time was with all five of them. The interview began on an odd note, with a request that we were not to mention any questions regarding homosexuality or the like... odd, since I was a writer for a gay publication... and even more odd since the band would bring up the topic later in the interview. When the band arrived in, H asked if he could read their press release. As he read it, he began howling in laughter, stating that it made them sound like some theme park... He then realised that I already had my tape deck running and asked if I could rewind it. "No...", I politely replied with a smile. The interview went incredibly well, and made me even more keen on the band... Lisa wanted to know all about day clubs and immediately asked her manager what time they had off... Claire and H were joking about 'the man in the clinque mask'... I immediately fell for Claire... her bio had her described as rather bossy, and when I asked for her thoughts on this, she wanted to know where I had read that (slightly offended)... when I had shown her the bio, she laughed and realised that she had written it. Later that night at the showcase, she would wave and smile at me from the stage, making me feel rather special indeed. Years later, I would interview her again, only to have the interview delayed cause she was having a problem with her new fax phone... the problem being that it wasn't a phone...
Love & Devotion
Ok... I think that was the name of this band. I think they may have been Swedish. I think their single was also called 'Love & Devotion'. All the same, it was a Transistor label act (small and, dare I say, sometimes rather dodgy label)... and they could barely speak a word of English... great for a phoner! Memorable for two reasons... my attempts to try to ask questions to them when they can barely understand a word... and the (ahem) sing-a-long at the end (in a resort to kill some time) with us doing a blastering international version of Wham's 'Careless Whispers'.
Gina G
I had been out for all of the previous day and night, and had raced home from a dance party to do this phoner with Gina G... which ended up with me asking a question and then just letting her ramble on for minutes with an occasional grunt from me to prove that I was still actually conscious. I'm sure she must've thought I was half dead of something as she would stop talking and I would realise at this point that I needed to ask a new question... about 30 seconds later. It was a strange interview to listen back to on tape, that's for sure...
Dimitri From Paris
Any close friend will tell you that I worship this man... and his compilation, 'A Night At The Playboy Mansion' rates as one of my all time favourite albums. Whilst interviewing him, I mentioned that I thought 'A Night At The Playboy Mansion' was "the best compilation ever to be put onto CD ever..." He replied, modestly, "It's ok..." I snapped back aggressively, "IT IS!"
