B
Boards Of Candida
Guest
From http://www.playlouder.com/feature/+sleepwelltonight/
Gene crashed into my own personal consciousness sometime in 1995, with the release of their critically lauded album 'Olympian'. Being the last man in Britain to give up buying tapes, I made the transition with this very disc. I remember distinctly standing in Our Price on a terrace in the West Country town where I was born, listening to the record from beginning to end. This wasn't that unusual considering there was little else to do. But what came through the speakers overwhelmed me.
It was a spacious, intelligent bruiser of a record, not as close to the Smiths as the music papers had led me to believe, and not really much like the rest of Britpop, which was all about wearing Adidas trainers and barking in a faux-cockerney voice while dancing around like Joe Brown. Lyrically, though it seems strange now, it changed my life forever. 'Sleep Well Tonight' - a song which gently mocked small town mindlessness and petty violent crime, while dreamily seeking an alternative far away from the senselessness of it all - spoke volumes to me, and was perhaps the final push I needed to inspire me to pack my suitcase and bugger off to somewhere bigger.
I still haven't stopped playing 'Olympian', though not as often as I did. 'To See The Lights' and 'Drawn From the Deep End' also entered my record collection, and while I enjoyed them greatly they never had the same resonance for me. The band continued to release records, with 2002's 'Libertine' considered by the band as their 'masterpiece', though unfortunately for them it sold little. And so the curtain is now falling on Gene, a band who retained a loyal live fanbase throughout their decade long career. And here we are chatting with drummer Matt James about the best and the worst of times.
So Matt, are you sad this is the end, if indeed it is?
Yep it is pretty sad. For us, and for the people who have followed us religiously for years. They never gave up on us and would rather we carried on. I've known for months so I'm over it and looking forward to new things.
How come you’re breaking now?
Not all the band wanted to continue. The musical climate this year meant it was probably the best ever opportunity for Gene to come back to the light! However, when faced with the opportunity to record a new LP, not everyone felt they could give it 100%. When that feeling goes it's time to call it a day, isn't it? All of us are doing other jobs these days and some have families to support. Personally, I quite enjoy some of the machinations of the music industry, but some of the band find everything except 'playing' totally repellent. An old skool conflict! We've been doing it for love (only) for quite a while anyway.
Are you looking forward to this coming gig more than most?
I find it quite stressful actually doing a final show but will be fine when I hit the stage.
Anderson and Butler are playing the same night, starting out again as it were. How do you think that's going to go?
I have no idea. Hard to call without hearing it. I wish them luck as I respect them both as musicians. Dog Man Star was indeed an amazing recording. I believe Suede were better with Bernard, though they made some great singles after he left. The initial media response to the Tears is obviously key. If they pan it then it will survive with the fans only.
Are you going to continue playing? I hear you and Steve Mason are forming a new band together. Hopefully with a better name than The Tears.
We have been writing a new thing. We haven't released new Gene material since 2001 so you can imagine how crammed our heads are with music ideas. Waiting around in this industry is so f***ing dull! Now I don't have to and I feel like a pressure valve has been released. We'll see what happens next year.
Can we expect a new direction from you guys?
Yes, it is different. However it's still rock music. And I don't like metal (bar early Sabbath) so it's bound to be more on the melodic side! The fact that it's us writing will undoubtedly show the odd similarity. Harder than Gene I would say.
Where do you see yourselves in five years?
Starring in the OC.
Do you think you gained the recognition you deserved?
Give me 5 years. Actually I think it's fine to say Gene were under-achievers. I end it loving nearly all of our recordings but thinking they didn't sell as well as they should have. There's lots of reasons why.
When people think of Gene a lot only focus on 'Olympian'. Does this irk you at all, even though it's a cracking album? Which album are you proudest of?
I don't think that's entirely true. Songs like 'Fighting Fit', 'Speak To Me Someone' from the 'Drawn To the Deep End' era seem to be as much remembered as 'Olympian'. After that, purely due to profile, things become a bit rarer. Libertine was the LP which was our studio masterpiece but I still love the naive charm of Olympian.
What was or is the best thing about being in Gene?
Waving at the baying crowd at the end of the show knowing I could now get mullered guilt free because I was doing something with my life.
Tell us an amusing tale from touring. You must have a few.
After one very hot and humid show in Japan, Steve and I beat each other up in the dressing room before having to go out and do the encore. Just tempers boiling over. The audience must have been wondering why we'd suddenly acquired ripped shirts and bloody noses in the interval.
People often talk about the Smiths, probably because of the way Martin sings. Were there other influences you wished people would take more notice of?
The most influential band on the music initially was the Faces. If you listen to Debris / For The Dead you'll understand. We all came from different musical backgrounds. Me: punk-indie, Steve: Stones and Hendrix, Kev: Northern Soul and the Faces, Martin: the Smiths and gay disco hymns.
Did Martin and Moz do that duet at the Royal Festival Hall Meltdown Festival that you told me about a while ago in the end?
No. Pity. Think they were gonna do 'Asleep' by the Smiths.
Did you feel part of Britpop or was it just a name foist upon you that you that you could do nothing about?
It was fun at the time and there was some good music that came out of it. I obviously much preferred it when guitar bands were the mainstream! It was good to have Gene in the Top 10. It was bound to peter out though, but is now back to a certain extent? I hate the fact that a lot of kids think X-Factor's 'Tabby' is what rock music is about.
What plans do the members of Gene have now? Apparently Martin is now a teacher. Presumably Steve will continue with Xfm and Matt will continue managing?
Martin and Kev teach music courses and Steve has an XFM show, and I manage bands. As I said, Steve and I are writing and I can't see Martin and Kev not doing music projects again. I hope they do.
Do you think you’ve influenced bands around now?
One or two maybe. The Killers are fans, I know that. Chris Martin once told me how he loved our song 'London can you wait?'. I can hear Gene in Franz Ferdinand and Embrace but don't know whether it was a direct influence.
Who do you admire now, and which of your peers do you think deserve plenty of plaudits?
Happy for Embrace comeback. Like them guys. I like Graham Coxon's solo LPs. I think I would have been into Franz Ferdinand if I was a bit younger. New bands; I like The Cherokees, Volunteer, Brinkman, The Pipettes...
Got any plans for Xmas? Visiting Watford perhaps?
Why would I go there? I'm from High Wycombe.
Oh right. My mistake. Weirdly, more people seem to like your band than they did five years ago. Do you think it's better to be perpetually kinda unfashionable rather than really fashionable for a short period?
The zeitgeist comes around eventually. Trouble is, you have to have made a real difference to people for them to still care throughout the lean periods. We made our best work when we were up against it.
How would you like Gene to be remembered in the long scheme of things?
Soundly.
Did you have a good time?
I always did my best.
Jeremy Allen
Gene play the London Astoria and their last ever gig on the 16th December.
http://www.playlouder.com/feature/+sleepwelltonight/
Gene crashed into my own personal consciousness sometime in 1995, with the release of their critically lauded album 'Olympian'. Being the last man in Britain to give up buying tapes, I made the transition with this very disc. I remember distinctly standing in Our Price on a terrace in the West Country town where I was born, listening to the record from beginning to end. This wasn't that unusual considering there was little else to do. But what came through the speakers overwhelmed me.
It was a spacious, intelligent bruiser of a record, not as close to the Smiths as the music papers had led me to believe, and not really much like the rest of Britpop, which was all about wearing Adidas trainers and barking in a faux-cockerney voice while dancing around like Joe Brown. Lyrically, though it seems strange now, it changed my life forever. 'Sleep Well Tonight' - a song which gently mocked small town mindlessness and petty violent crime, while dreamily seeking an alternative far away from the senselessness of it all - spoke volumes to me, and was perhaps the final push I needed to inspire me to pack my suitcase and bugger off to somewhere bigger.
I still haven't stopped playing 'Olympian', though not as often as I did. 'To See The Lights' and 'Drawn From the Deep End' also entered my record collection, and while I enjoyed them greatly they never had the same resonance for me. The band continued to release records, with 2002's 'Libertine' considered by the band as their 'masterpiece', though unfortunately for them it sold little. And so the curtain is now falling on Gene, a band who retained a loyal live fanbase throughout their decade long career. And here we are chatting with drummer Matt James about the best and the worst of times.
So Matt, are you sad this is the end, if indeed it is?
Yep it is pretty sad. For us, and for the people who have followed us religiously for years. They never gave up on us and would rather we carried on. I've known for months so I'm over it and looking forward to new things.
How come you’re breaking now?
Not all the band wanted to continue. The musical climate this year meant it was probably the best ever opportunity for Gene to come back to the light! However, when faced with the opportunity to record a new LP, not everyone felt they could give it 100%. When that feeling goes it's time to call it a day, isn't it? All of us are doing other jobs these days and some have families to support. Personally, I quite enjoy some of the machinations of the music industry, but some of the band find everything except 'playing' totally repellent. An old skool conflict! We've been doing it for love (only) for quite a while anyway.
Are you looking forward to this coming gig more than most?
I find it quite stressful actually doing a final show but will be fine when I hit the stage.
Anderson and Butler are playing the same night, starting out again as it were. How do you think that's going to go?
I have no idea. Hard to call without hearing it. I wish them luck as I respect them both as musicians. Dog Man Star was indeed an amazing recording. I believe Suede were better with Bernard, though they made some great singles after he left. The initial media response to the Tears is obviously key. If they pan it then it will survive with the fans only.
Are you going to continue playing? I hear you and Steve Mason are forming a new band together. Hopefully with a better name than The Tears.
We have been writing a new thing. We haven't released new Gene material since 2001 so you can imagine how crammed our heads are with music ideas. Waiting around in this industry is so f***ing dull! Now I don't have to and I feel like a pressure valve has been released. We'll see what happens next year.
Can we expect a new direction from you guys?
Yes, it is different. However it's still rock music. And I don't like metal (bar early Sabbath) so it's bound to be more on the melodic side! The fact that it's us writing will undoubtedly show the odd similarity. Harder than Gene I would say.
Where do you see yourselves in five years?
Starring in the OC.
Do you think you gained the recognition you deserved?
Give me 5 years. Actually I think it's fine to say Gene were under-achievers. I end it loving nearly all of our recordings but thinking they didn't sell as well as they should have. There's lots of reasons why.
When people think of Gene a lot only focus on 'Olympian'. Does this irk you at all, even though it's a cracking album? Which album are you proudest of?
I don't think that's entirely true. Songs like 'Fighting Fit', 'Speak To Me Someone' from the 'Drawn To the Deep End' era seem to be as much remembered as 'Olympian'. After that, purely due to profile, things become a bit rarer. Libertine was the LP which was our studio masterpiece but I still love the naive charm of Olympian.
What was or is the best thing about being in Gene?
Waving at the baying crowd at the end of the show knowing I could now get mullered guilt free because I was doing something with my life.
Tell us an amusing tale from touring. You must have a few.
After one very hot and humid show in Japan, Steve and I beat each other up in the dressing room before having to go out and do the encore. Just tempers boiling over. The audience must have been wondering why we'd suddenly acquired ripped shirts and bloody noses in the interval.
People often talk about the Smiths, probably because of the way Martin sings. Were there other influences you wished people would take more notice of?
The most influential band on the music initially was the Faces. If you listen to Debris / For The Dead you'll understand. We all came from different musical backgrounds. Me: punk-indie, Steve: Stones and Hendrix, Kev: Northern Soul and the Faces, Martin: the Smiths and gay disco hymns.
Did Martin and Moz do that duet at the Royal Festival Hall Meltdown Festival that you told me about a while ago in the end?
No. Pity. Think they were gonna do 'Asleep' by the Smiths.
Did you feel part of Britpop or was it just a name foist upon you that you that you could do nothing about?
It was fun at the time and there was some good music that came out of it. I obviously much preferred it when guitar bands were the mainstream! It was good to have Gene in the Top 10. It was bound to peter out though, but is now back to a certain extent? I hate the fact that a lot of kids think X-Factor's 'Tabby' is what rock music is about.
What plans do the members of Gene have now? Apparently Martin is now a teacher. Presumably Steve will continue with Xfm and Matt will continue managing?
Martin and Kev teach music courses and Steve has an XFM show, and I manage bands. As I said, Steve and I are writing and I can't see Martin and Kev not doing music projects again. I hope they do.
Do you think you’ve influenced bands around now?
One or two maybe. The Killers are fans, I know that. Chris Martin once told me how he loved our song 'London can you wait?'. I can hear Gene in Franz Ferdinand and Embrace but don't know whether it was a direct influence.
Who do you admire now, and which of your peers do you think deserve plenty of plaudits?
Happy for Embrace comeback. Like them guys. I like Graham Coxon's solo LPs. I think I would have been into Franz Ferdinand if I was a bit younger. New bands; I like The Cherokees, Volunteer, Brinkman, The Pipettes...
Got any plans for Xmas? Visiting Watford perhaps?
Why would I go there? I'm from High Wycombe.
Oh right. My mistake. Weirdly, more people seem to like your band than they did five years ago. Do you think it's better to be perpetually kinda unfashionable rather than really fashionable for a short period?
The zeitgeist comes around eventually. Trouble is, you have to have made a real difference to people for them to still care throughout the lean periods. We made our best work when we were up against it.
How would you like Gene to be remembered in the long scheme of things?
Soundly.
Did you have a good time?
I always did my best.
Jeremy Allen
Gene play the London Astoria and their last ever gig on the 16th December.
http://www.playlouder.com/feature/+sleepwelltonight/
