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29. veljače 2024.

Vrijeme čitanja: 2 minute Povratak Poa, pande koja ne oprašta kung-fu te nova suradnja Godzille i Konga, vječitih rivala koji su u stvarnom životu dobri kolege, obilježit će ovaj filmski mjesec.

22. veljače 2024.

Vrijeme čitanja: 14 minute Stiže nam Dora, a naši Eva Juraški, Helena Kezerić i Patrik Horvat raspisali su dojmove oko natjecateljskih pjesama uoči prvog polufinala.

Intervju

Blood Red Shoes: “Gitarska glazba je inficirana retromanijom i mora nabaviti nove ideje”

Foto: facebook.com/bloodredshoes/photos
Vrijeme čitanja: 10 minute
Foto: facebook.com/Tvornica Kulture
Foto: facebook.com/Tvornica Kulture

Britanski duo Blood Red Shoes već je dva puta posjetio naše prostore, a u inozemstvu sviraju na pozornicama brojnih velikih festivala poput Pukkelpopa i Lowlandsa. Njihove pjesme graniče od krajnje melankoličnih preko plesnih, pa sve do krajnje pankerski agresivnih. Mi smo popričali s bubnjarem Stevenom Ansellom (uz njega je u bendu Laura-Mary Carter) o brojnim temama, uključujući i njihove dosadašnje posjete Zagrebu.

Usprkos činjenici da ste već dva puta bili u Hrvatskoj možete li nam reći neći nešto više o Blood Red Shoes? Kako ste počeli svirati, kad ste počeli svirati, samo općenite informacije o bendu.

Da, naravno. Upoznali smo se zato što smo oboje bili u SAD-u i trenirali smo za NASA-u. Htjeli smo raditi na svemirskim letjelicama, ali su nas izbacili za vrijeme treninga. Laura je pala krvni test jer je pušila previše trave, a ja sam izbačen zato što tehnički gledano imam IQ jednak devetogodišnjaku. Odlučili smo da je biti u rock’n’roll bendu lakše, ali to zapravo i nije tako.

Otkud ime benda, je li to zato što je Laura imala neke lijepe krvavo crvene cipele, ili možda pak Steven?

Istina je da smo oboje nosili crvene cipele kad smo se upoznali, ali to nije razlog zašto se tako zovemo, to je samo slučajnost. Naziv nam se sviđao zato što je zvučao kao Elvisova pjesma Blue Suede Shoes, ali malo više sjebano i gnusno.

Budući da ste duo moramo vas pitati jedno standardno pitanje, a to je kako pjesme nastaju?

Većinu naših pjesama je zapravo napisala Charli XCX i mi ih samo kupujemo od nje. Mi samo pišemo b-strane i pjesme koje popunjavaju album.

Foto: facebook.com/bloodredshoes/photos
Foto: facebook.com/bloodredshoes/photos

Apsolutno obožavamu vašu pjesmu Je me perds, čak smo se obojica derali na koncertu u nadi da ćete je odsvirati, što na kraju i jeste. Zašto je naziv na francuskom i kako je ta pjesma uopće nastala? Pitamo zato što je to vrlo vjerojatno najagresivnija pjesma koju ste napravili, a moglo bi se reći i da dosta odskače od ostalih pjesama na albumu.

Da, volimo svirati tu stvar uživo i sjećam se da su ljudi zaista uživali u pjesmi u Zagrebu. Na neki način je pjesma napisala sama sebe i znali smo da mora biti na albumu budući da je u jakom kontrastu naspram nešto melankoličnijih pjesama na “In Time To Voices”. Razlog zašto je na francuskom je zato što fraza ima dvostruko značenje na francuskom koja se ne može jednako prevesti na engleski. To znači “izgubljen sam”, ali također znači “ja sam izgubio sebe” što su dvije različite, ali povezane stvari kad se priča o ovoj pjesmi.

Prvi put smo čuli za vas kada smo koristili jednu malenu (sada nepostojeću) web-stranicu zvanu Tuneglue koja bi vam preporučila izvođače bazirane na onome što ste pretraživali. Mi smo pretraživali The White Stripes. Što mislite kada vas uspoređuju s njima, ne samo zato jer ste bend koji se sastoji od gitare i bubnja? Jesu li vam oni poslužili kao inspiracija u početku te ima li nekih drugih dvočlanih bendova koji vam se sviđaju? 

To je zanimljivo. Ako ljudi pronalaze našu glazbu kroz poveznicu s White Stripesima to je cool, znaš, nije me briga kako ljudi dolaze do naše glazbe dok god je negdje imaju priliku čuti i odlučiti sviđa li im se. Mislim da ta usporedba ne drži vodu budući da mi nismo minimalistički bend, nismo blues bend i najvažnije, imamo dvoje pjevača, a ne jednog. Mislim da je to jedan od fundamentalnih dijelova Blood Red Shoesa – imamo dva vokala, dva tekstropisca i to se uvijek previdi kad nas se uspoređuje s drugima. Mi pričamo dvije verzije iste priče cijelo vrijeme, to ne radi puno bendova, bilo da imaju dva člana ili petero.

Kako odlučujete tko pjeva? Često se dogodi da to oboje radite, kako odlučujete?

To je samo instinkt. Jednostavno znamo kada je to ispravno, a kada nije. To je vrlo laka odluka za nas.

Planirate li ostati dvočlani bend ili ga planirate proširiti? Ako da, koje instrumente biste voljeli dodati?

Zapravo smo dodali instrumente na sva četiri albuma – gudačke kvartete, klavijature, klavire, melotron, francuski rog, trube, orkestralne udaraljke, ritam mašine… Nikad nismo bili protiv ideje da imamo nekoga tko to radi uživo, ali to bi samo bilo dodavanje ljudi kao gostujućih glazbenika, oni ne bi nikad bili punokrvni članovi Blood Red Shoesa. Nećemo zvati Johnnyja Marra da nam se pridruži ili tako nešto. Bend ćemo uvijek biti nas dvoje, ali da, jednog dana bi mogli dodati ljude na turneji, pa da možemo napraviti dodatne dijelove.

Foto: facebook.com/bloodredshoes/photos
Foto: facebook.com/bloodredshoes/photos

Što mislite o indie glazbi, puno ljudi misli da je indie na silaznoj putanji i da se degradira u jednostavnu pop glazbu? Što mislite gdje leži budućnost alternativne glazbe te moguća alternative indieju. Gdje vidite sebe u toj budućnosti?

Ove definicije su mi zapravo dosta teške. Nikada mi se nije sviđao termin indie glazba budući da ima tendenciju povezivati se sa zaista laganom glazbom poput Libertinesa, s kojima naš bend nema nikakve veze… Umjesto indie, trebalo bi reći “nezavisna” glazba i mi smo itekako dio toga. Ne smatram da alternativna glazba polako nestaje, ali mislim da se linija između alternative i mainstreama zamaglila. Mene to baš ne zamara, zapravo mislim da su zbog toga stvari malo zanimljivije. Zapravo mi se jako sviđa Alt-J i mislim da u glazbenom smislu rade nešto jako neobično, riskantno i alternativno, ali imaju jako veliku, poprilično mainstream publiku ovdje u UK. To je dosta iznenađujuče i cool.

Meni je dosadno raditi “alternativnu” glazbu samo za “alternativne” ljude i ostajati u kutiji, to je neka vrsta konformizma. Naš bend dolazi iz jedne jako underground, DIY, punk rock scene, ali mi smo uvijek bili voljni umočiti prste i u mainstream mentalitet i raspizditi neke ljude, vidjeti možemo li pisati pjesme koje osvajaju različite ljude te da bismo im onda rastopili glave kada čuju Je me perds. Sviđa mi se što ljudi nisu točno sigurni kakvu muziku mi sviramo, iako je zbog toga život kompliciraniji. Mislim da je naša budućnost jebati se još malo s tim granicama, nadam se više nego što smo do sada, želim napraviti ploču koja je stvarno pop, ali i stvarno jebeno poremećena. Također mislim da ako tražite kvalitetnu “alternativnu” glazbu – dobar dio toga se ne događa u gitarskoj glazbi jer je gitarska glazba trenutno inficirana retromanijom i mora prijeći preko preko svog ega i nabaviti nove ideje.

Kakav je bio vaš prvi nastup? Gdje ste svirali taj put?

Naš prvi nastup je bio 2004. u Brightonu, svirali smo tri pjesme, bez ikakvih tekstova i bili smo u totalnom kaosu, ali ljudima se to nekako svidjelo.

Dragi Steven (žao nam je Laura, ali ovo je samo za njega), pročitali smo da, kada ste prvi put svirali u Zagrebu, netko te je odveo na Tulum održan na brodu na obali rijeke, možeš li nam ispričati tu cijelu priču. Pitamo budući da je to određeno mjesto legendarno zbog svih čudnih stvari koje se tamo događaju i tulumi traju do podneva, nekad i dulje. Je li se tako nešto slično ponovilo negdje drugdje i kako je bilo? Ispričaj nam priču!

Da, istina je da sam završio u tom nekom brod/bar mjestu i pio sam neko čudno, barem mislim, crveno piće za koje je svatko rekao da je lokalni specijalitet, iako što se mene tiče, to je vjerojatno bio otrov. Ne sjećam se puno toga, ali definitivno sam bio tamo dok sunce nije izašlo i sjećam se da su svi bili jako prijateljski nastrojeni.

Despite the fact that you’ve already been to Croatia twice, could you tell us a bit more about Blood Red Shoes? How did you start playing, why did you start playing, and just the general information about the formation of the band.

Yeah sure. We met because we were both in the USA training for NASA, we wanted to work on space shuttles but during the training we both got rejected. Laura failed a blood test because she was smoking too much weed and I got rejected because, basically, I have the same IQ as a 9-year-old. We decided that being in a rock n’ roll band would be easier, which it isn’t actually.

Where did the name come from, is it because Laura, or maybe even Steven, had some nice blood red shoes?

When we first met, it’s true we were both wearing red shoes, but that’s not where the name came from, it was just a coincidence. We just liked that it sounded like Elvis’ song “Blue Suede Shoes” but more fucked up and nasty.

Because you are a two-piece band, we would like to ask you sort of a standard question for an interview: how are the songs are made?

Most of our songs are actually written by Charli XCX and we just buy them from her. We only really write the b-sides and the album filler.

Foto: facebook.com/bloodredshoes/photos
Foto: facebook.com/bloodredshoes/photos

We absolutely adore the song “Je me perds”, in fact, both of us were yelling the title of the song   hoping that you would play it, which of course you did. Why is the title in French and how was the song made? We ask because it’s probably the most aggressive one you have and also it sort of stands out from the rest of the songs on the album.

Yeah, we love playing that one live and I remember people really enjoying it in Zagreb. The song kind of wrote itself one day and we knew it had to be on the album because it was a big contrast to a lot of the more melancholy and considered songs on “In Time To Voices”. The reason the title is in French is because the phrase has a double meaning in French which doesn’t translate the same in English. it means “I am lost” but it also means “I have lost myself” which are different but related things when it comes to this song.

We first found out about you guys while using a small (now non-existing) website called Tuneglue which would suggest artists based on what you searched for and we searched for The White Stripes. How do you feel about being compared to them, and not just because you are a guitar and drums band. Did they influence you at the beginning of your career and are there any other two-piece bands that you like? 

That’s interesting. If people find our music in connection to the White Stripes that’s cool you know, I don’t care how people get to our music so long as they get a chance to hear it and decide whether they’re into it. I don’t think the comparison holds up very well because we’re not a minimalist band, we’re not a blues band, and most importantly we have two singers, not one. I think that’s the fundamental part of Blood Red Shoes – we have two singers, two lyricists and that’s always overlooked when we’re compared with other duos. We are telling two versions of the story all the time and not many bands are doing that, whether they are two people or five.

How do you decide who sings? It often happens that both of you sing, so how do you decide?

It’s just instinct. We just know when it’s right and when it’s not. It’s a very easy decision for us.

Do you plan on staying a two-piece or maybe expanding the band? If so, which instruments would you like to add?

We’ve added extra instruments on all 4 albums actually….. string quartets, keyboards, pianos, mellotron, French horn, trumpets, orchestral percussion, drum machines…..we’ve never been against the idea of having someone do this live, but in that case we would only be inviting people as guest musicians, and they would never be full members of Blood Red Shoes. We’re not gonna be asking Johnny Marr to join or anything ridiculous like that. The band will always be just the two of us, but yes, one day we might add people to the touring lineup so that we can create extra parts.

Foto: facebook.com/bloodredshoes/photos
Foto: facebook.com/bloodredshoes/photos

How do you feel about indie music, a lot of people think that indie is on a downward spiral and is slowly declining into straightforward pop music? What do you think is the future of alternative music and a possible alternative to indie? Where do you see yourselves in that future?

I find these definitions very difficult actually. I’ve never really liked the term indie music as it tends to refer to really lightweight music like the Libertines which our band bears no relation to…but really it should mean “independent” music, and we are very much part of that. I don’t think alternative music is declining at all, but i do think the lines are blurred between alternative and mainstream.  That doesn’t really bother me actually, I think it makes things kind of interesting. I quite like alt-j and i think musically they’re making something pretty strange and risky and alternative, but they have a very big, quite mainstream audience here in the UK. That’s surprising and very cool. To me it’s quite boring to make “alternative” music only for “alternative” people and stay in your box, it’s actually just a kind of conformity. Our band came from a very underground, DIY, punk rock scene, but we were always keen to dip our toes into a more mainstream consciousness and piss some people off, see if we could write songs that win over different people but then melt their heads when they hear “je me perds”. I like that people aren’t quite sure what we are, even though it can make life difficult. I think our future is to fuck with those boundaries some more, hopefully more than we ever had. I wanna make a record that’s really pop but really fucking twisted.

I also think if you’re looking for some thriving “alternative” music – a lot of it isn’t happening in guitar music, because guitar music right now is infected with retro-mania and needs to get over itself and have some new ideas.

What was you first show like? Where did you play that time?

Our first show was in Brighton in 2004, we played three songs, with no lyrics whatsoever, and we were a total mess but somehow people liked it.

Dear Steven (sorry Laura, but this is only for him), we read that first time you played in Zagreb, someone took you to a party held on a boat on the riverside, could you tell us that entire story. We ask because that particular club is legendary because very strange things happen there and the party usually goes on till noon, sometimes even longer. Did something similar happen somewhere else and what was it like? Tell us a story!

Yeah that’s true I ended up on this boat/bar place and I was drinking some weird kinda red colour drink (I think) which everyone said was the local specialty although for all I know it was probably poison. I don’t really remember much but I was definitely there until the sun came up and I remember everybody being very friendly.

Prijevod/Translation: Jan Vukasović & Marija Vukšić

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