Slowdive: The 13th Floor Interview

After a brief, 22-year break, English shoegaze band Slowdive are back with a new album. Their self-titled fourth long-player was released this past Friday.

The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda spoke to Slowdive guitarist Christian Savill just ahead of the release date to find out how the band is feeling about releasing new material after such a lengthy break.

Click here to listen to the interview with Slowdive’s Christian Savill:

Or, read a transcription of the interview here:

MD: How are you guys feeling about the upcoming release of your new album? I’m curious as to how it compares to the build-up to your last album, [Pygmalion], which came out in 1995?

CS: I don’t know; I don’t think we can even remember the build-up to the last album – I think that record just almost limped out – but I think we’re slightly nervous and excited, I guess. We’re looking forward to playing a load of new songs live, and hope that people don’t throw tomatoes at us.

MD: Was that a problem before?

CS: It hasn’t been yet. I guess the problem before was when people just didn’t show up; so, I guess at least if they show up, they can throw stuff at us; yeah, that stuff’s okay.

MD: … As you allude to: there is a difference in perception of the band now, than there was in 1995: there’s quite a bit of excitement, I would have to say, about this album. I’m wondering if you can put your finger on how the perception of the band has changed over the intervening years?

CS: It’s been crazy. I think if you’d said to us back in ’95, that in twenty years time, people were going to be looking back on your record, new, young people would be listening to it, I don’t think we’d have believed it. I think what’s happened is other bands have come along in the intervening years, and, perhaps, name-checked us, or cited us as an influence, and people who like those bigger bands – like M83; bands of that ilk – have then said, “Who is this Slowdive?” They’d, maybe, found us that way, which has benefitted us, because it means all these young kids have found us through other bands; so, we’ve been lucky, really.

MD: I just interviewed a young, up-and-coming singer, who’s Australian, who lives in the States – her name is Hazel English – and she definitely name-checked you guys as a major influence. Are you aware of these new acts coming around, that have been citing you guys as somebody they listen to on the way up?

CS: We don’t seek them out, but we do hear bands; especially now that we’re playing a lot of festivals, we see all these young bands, and they come up and say, “Oh, man! You’re album’s a real influence on us,” and we think, “Bloody hell! This is amazing!” It’s really flattering, because I think when you start out as a band, one of your ambitions is to, first of all, just do a record, and then for the record to have some longevity. I’m not saying we’ve achieved that, but anything like that is a positive.

MD: Well, the whole shoegaze scene has gained in stature over the years: there’s been films made about it, and bands reuniting left and right, and being cited; so, I guess it stands to follow, that you guys will become part of that. Do you feel part of a scene that’s re-emerging?

CS: I don’t know. We’re happy to be part of it. I guess, shoegaze was such a derogatory term, back in the day. It’s bizarre that it’s become an entire musical genre, but we like it, because it feels a lot like people who like those kinds of bands, have supported us and other bands, and got us to where we are now. It’s like a little community, which has reclaimed it, and turned it into something positive, which is a nice thing; it’s kind of nice.

MD: I’m wondering if the dynamic within the band has changed at all since you guys last did this record release thing twenty-some years ago?

CS: I think, strangely, we’re all exactly the same, just a whole lot older and uglier. We look all disgusting, but we’re just the same people; which I think is why it works for us, because there’s something about the five of us when we’re in a room together: we just make this music. I don’t know where it comes from, but we like it, and it’s kind of nice; to us anyway.

MD: I think I read somewhere where you worked – in the intervening years – for a software company – you worked for Nick Chaplin’s wife – is that right?

CS: Yes, that’s right. Basically, I’m unemployable; so, Nick Chaplin’s wife took pity on me, and employed me. I didn’t even know what IT stood for. Basically, I just answered the phone, and made the tea; just hung around, really; just kept turning up, and nobody sacked me.

MD: Were you still playing music, or doing anything musical at the time?

CS: We were all playing music, apart from Nick. Nick – from the band finishing to the band restarting – didn’t pick up a bass in the twenty years in between – which is quite amazing – but the rest of us: Neil’s been doing his solo stuff – The Mojave 3 – and Rachael did a solo record; Simon’s always been doing his music, and I had a small, bedroom, lo-fi hobby band… but we’ve all kept doing music.

MD: Was it an easy decision to record new material once the band got back together?

CS: Yeah. That’s something – from the very first conversation – that was important to us. We didn’t just want to cash in on a few gigs. It was important for us to try and do what we enjoyed doing. Why we joined a band in the first place, was because we liked making music together; It just took us longer than we’d planned. The plan was to just do about ten gigs, when we got back together, but somehow, it just turned into this thing where we ended up doing millions of gigs, and we didn’t get time to record.

MD: What has the reception been like at these gigs? Were you doing more and more simply because people demanded that they needed to hear more?

CS: Yeah! I don’t want to sound funny, but yeah, it was amazing! When our manager said, “I’m going to book you for a gig in London, and the venue signed this week,” we were like, “You’re crazy! Last time we played in London, seven people showed up,” but it sold out instantly. We’ve just been staggered that we keep getting gigs in these faraway places, and we’re like, “Surely nobody’s heard of us here,” and people show up; so, it’s just mind blowing, really.

MD: For the new album – a couple of tracks have been released, but the album itself, in full, isn’t coming out for another week or so – how would you explain to people how it sounds, compared to what you guys were doing twenty five years ago?

CS: I think, when we started doing a new record, it did take us a while to get back into it, because… we’d not made any new music for a while, and we were like, “What do we want to sound like?” It took us a little bit of a while to… do what came naturally. I think the record… it still sounds like Slowdive, but I think it has moved forward. I think people seem to think it follows on from Souvlaki, and it’s got a bit of Pygmalion on there as well.

MD: I’ve heard a bit of the album, and I noticed that it’s book-ended by two of the longest tracks: Slowmo at the beginning and Falling Ashes at the end. Is that the way you look at putting the record together?

CS: It’s interesting you say that, because we did think of it as a record – with a definite side A and a side B – we did think of it as a record, vinyl; I guess, maybe that’s it. We didn’t plan it that way, but, hopefully, it does feel like a whole… album…. It doesn’t feel like a full stop for us. We thought, “Wow, this has opened the door a little bit for us,” and we want to explore more things that we started on this record.

MD: It sounds like there’s going to be more to come. For folks who haven’t heard the full record… how would you describe those first and last tracks: Slowmo and Falling Ashes? Where do they come from, in relation to the other music?

CS: I think Slowmo is recognisably Slowdive: it’s quite atmospheric, and it builds… but there is a melody in there; and I think the last track has more of a Pygmalion vibe to it: it’s quite sombre, and is, hopefully, a nice way to end the album. It’s not particularly bombastic, or anything… we’ll let the people decide, I guess.

MD: And, of course, you’re not the only band, that’s from that era, that’s gotten back together and recorded: I know The Jesus & Mary Chain just put out a new record after quite a while, and they’re contemporaries and influences of yours. Have you heard their record?

CS: Definitely.

MD: What do you think?

CS: I’ve heard a couple of songs; I haven’t heard the whole album yet. But without them, I definitely wouldn’t have played guitar, because when I started playing guitar, I almost quite, because I was so crap, but then I heard The Jesus & Mary Chain, and thought, “Man, those guys aren’t very good either, but they’re making some great sounds.” Psychocandy is one of my favourite albums of all time. I don’t know what they’re up to now, but good luck to them.

MD: Have you guys ever been to New Zealand?

CS: No. My brother lives in Melbourne, and he goes to New Zealand all the time.

MD: Because… this part of the world seems to be influenced: Tame Impalas has cited you guys, and Hazel English, and there are some local New Zealand bands that listen to you; so, there seems to be a musical connection between what you guys are doing, and what’s happening down in this part of the world. I don’t if you’re aware of that or not?

CS: Yeah! We’ve had a couple of bands from Australia contact us: one called Low Tide, who we got friendly with – they’re coming over to the UK soon, and we’re playing a festival with them – which is really nice. Basically, we’d love to come to Australia and New Zealand; hopefully, someone will have us. I might have to play in my brother’s living room, or something; but, hopefully, we’ll go over.

MD: Do you guys have plans to celebrate, when the album is officially released on the fifth?

CS: We’ll be on tour in America then. I think the day it comes out, we’re in Toronto. Yeah! We’ll probably have a beer; I don’t know.

MD: … I’m American, as you can probably tell from my accent, and I was living in The States in the ‘90s, and the things that you guys were doing – that whole scene – was, pretty much, very underground in The States. Is it much more acknowledged these days? Is there a big fan base for it?

CS: I wouldn’t say “a big fan base”, but we definitely play to much bigger audiences there now, than we did in the ‘90s, which is pretty astonishing; so, yeah, it’s great! We love playing in America. I think we go over there next week, and we’re doing a few gigs there, and then we head down to… South America and Brazil, and all those sorts of places. It’s amazing that we can go to these weird places, and people want to see us play…

MD: It seems like you’re music, in particular, would translate well, internationally, because – although there are, obviously, lyrics – it’s more of a vibe, and a wash of sound that you can get caught up in.

CS: Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, I’ll go with that.

MD: Well, I’m glad we can agree on that! Very Good!