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Interview
by SashaS
5-5-2005
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| Tom McRae: 'All Maps Welcome' tuition |
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Fear and pop music loathing
Tom McRae - aural flowers and bewitching hummingbirds
As the recorder is switched off it suddenly hits me how extraordinary, interesting, adult and intelligent the conversation with Tom McRae has been. It is so seldom that an artist wishes to part with any other wisdom but the self; in the olden days stars were ‘in’ and informed, part of an art world closely entwined with everyday life… Such like persons hardly make it in the music biz nowadays…
Tom McRae, an Englishman in New York now, has his third album ‘All Maps Welcome’ released this week and it is an incredible collection of songs that digs deep into the emotional well with a sound that is “Organic but fully realized”; that’s Tom’s choice to describe what this record feels like to him. McRae‘s recorded it at the Paramour Estate in Los Angeles over a three week period with various members of Beck’s band and co-produced it.
It is a different record from the previous two with fewer songs about killing and many more about love, although the sunshine of California clearly hasn’t made the songs any happier. It could be, as he claims, his most melodic and personal record to date but that is to be expected from an artist of his calibre. He even spent some time in Brazil but…
The album was recorded in a new location but no apparent influence on songwriting?
“Yeah, well; I thought I was more open to change but I discovered that, after travelling the world and being inspired and writing in different locations, I’m still the same person and I can be miserable anywhere. It was interesting to me but I also believe that the change is possible, otherwise life would be too boring. I hope that one day I’ll be able to make a sun drenched, harmony-laden Beach Boys-type of an album.”
There is a school of thought believing that tragedy, pessimism and pain produce higher artistic values?
“I prefer the expression that happiness writes white because you can’t see it, you can’t trace it… Still, I don’t believe that’s true because the minute you decide to commemorate an event by painting or writing a song about it, it is the death of the moment. Songwriting is instantly nostalgic and it is sad because it’s like pinning a butterfly on a display-board.”
Holiday in hell
McRae’s eponymous debut album, released in 2000, was critically acclaimed by the press and nominated for the Mercury Music Prize 2001, a BRIT Award (Best Newcomer), and a Q Award in the UK. It merely confirmed the insight and vision of Scott Walker, who had invited McRae to take part in his Meltdown Festival - before he’d even released a record. However, the disc gained even greater success internationally, France in particular: the man became a star with album selling three times as many units as in the UK.
Alike all artists he is haunted by doubt and whenever an album is finished there is that feeling that is the end of creativity.
“When you finish an album you walk around like you are dead, empty, it is like a holiday but a holiday in hell for a number of months. It all adds up to self-doubt which, I feel, is a job requirement because if you don’t doubt you can’t progress; if you think you are great then you can’t expect to do anything better…”
Tell it to the celebrity crowd!
“If I had any choice in the mass market, I’d feel frustrated but I don’t because I accept the world being the way it is. The mainstream music had a golden moment and we took it for granted that it would last but the 1960s, when everything seemed to be so new, fresh and original, was only a period. Not long after that it turned into a multi-million dollar business and its main purpose became selling as many copies as possible… During my childhood I listened to some terrible music because that’s what was available; and the mainstream became so narrow and bad that you had to step out and look left and right…”
And far, in your case; Neil Finn [ex-Crowded House honcho] of New Zealand; the interesting thing is that you sound more like his older brother, Tim?
“True, I’m but I’m inspired so much by Neil because I love melody; for me the intrigue and interest is to combine a certain sentiment, a melancholy feeling with a beautiful melody… For me, that ambiguity is so compelling because it contrasts the beauty of a melody and then you realise what the lyrics are about and it presents a completely different picture…”
“He is for me the best writer of melodies since Paul McCartney… Neil epitomises for me what a complete package is - great songwriter, great musicians, singer and entertainer, the kind of a man who can do a great show, be spontaneous, make you laugh and help you celebrate the moment you are in. That’s what it is all about.”
Cranial odyssey
Tom's second album 'Just Like Blood' entered the UK LP charts at #25 (coincidentally the number on the cinema seat on the album cover!), caught up with the album sales in France, and went on to expand Tom's profile in yet more territories as far afield as NZ and the USA. McRae’s music was also used on TV and in films: 'Just Like Blood' tracks were heard on sports programmes ('Soccer A.M.'), drama series ('Rescue Me' starring Dennis Leary), and films ('Uno' - #2 box office hit in Norway is due for general release later this year - features 4 songs by Tom including ‘Ghost Of A Shark’).
The world’s going through a technological and cultural change; one could say that it actually has brought democratisation to consumption, putting artists further out of control?
“True and I’ve got nothing against; it is true I write songs, agonize over running order, artwork and everything but you can’t be precious about it and, I believe, if it is any good it actually ceases to be your property and becomes property of people who love music. I used to make my own mix-tapes and I see nothing threatening with the new developments.”
“I’ll always, hopefully, make albums that work like pieces of work… For me it is not destructive, it is creative and involves the consumer more. I believe that we are the last generation to view music like that and in the future there will not be such a ritualistic experience. I love my vinyl, cleaning it, placing it on, turning over… That’s gone completely and with a proper album you’ve lost it being an artefact. That’s the downside but there is an upside that music has become so much more present and you can get it everywhere.”
“An iPod to me is a reflection of the chaos and it seems quite in touch with how we live and I don’t get nostalgic but experience it as an interesting time of music.”
Is it because it is turning to some previous values, the folksy way of presenting it?
“Yeah, I’ve been doing it for a long time, touring with just the one, or two members; it is great to combine that with playing with the band… It is exciting time for music because you can keep it interesting, for yourself as well as the public who want to see every show… I also get to tour places that nobody gets to visit and it is back to the basics: no lightshow, no big razzmatazz, nothing but the songs… And, it gives you a powerful buzz!”
Just like watching hummingbirds in motion, McRae is so fond of… amazing creatures but sans song. He’s got aplenty of tunes!
European tour dates (supporting Tori Amos):
30 + 31 May - Vicar Street, Dublin
02 June - Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
03 + 04 June - Hammersmith Apollo, London
05 June - Apollo, Manchester
07 June - Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
08 June - City Hall, Newcastle
09 June - Royal Centre, Nottingham
11 June - Ahoy, Rotterdam
12 June - Forrest National, Brussels
13 June - Zenith, Paris
15 June - Vega, Copenhagen
16 June - Norwegian Wood Festival, Oslo
20 June - Stadt Park, Hamburg
21 June - Tempodrom, Berlin
23 June - Museum Platz, Bonn
24 June - Philharmonie, Munich
28 June - Alte Opera, Frankfurt
29 June - Kongresshaus, Zurich
01 July - Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreaux
03 July - Werchter Festival, Belgium (Tom only)
05 July - Como Villa Erba, Milan
06 July - Villa Solaria, Sesto Fiorentino
07 July - Fiesta, Rome
08 July - Neopolis Fest Amphitheatre, Naples
SashaS
5-5-2005
Tom McRae’s album ‘All Maps Welcome’ is released 02 May 2005 by SonyBMG
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