 |
|
| Interviews: Ash |
A Common Person
Like You Pulp's Nick Banks: 4 June 1996 okay, yet another interview for the diamondback. i didn't have an offically scheduled interview with nick banks, but in the best "i'll see what i can do" manner, i got one anyway, despite nick's tired condition. nick: i'm sorry. i'm a bit hung over from last night - after the show ... fritz: was that new york? n: yeah, i'm afraid so ... f: how's the tour been going? n: it's been going pretty well, really. i think we've extended the hand of friendship, and it's been gladly accepted and shaken. f: i know you had to cancel that denver date ... n: that's right, yeah. f: how's jarvis doing, and how's the band dealing with it? n: he's recovered now. we've very, very rarely had to cancel concerts - i think it was the third concert in god-knows-how-many years we've had to cancel. that's not a bad record, i'd think. we took the opportunity to drive out and see the rocky mountains rather than play a concert, so it's quite nice. f: now, the last time you did a major tour of the u.s. was with blur in '94? n: yeah, something like that. f: is it a lot different now? n: it's a lot different now, yeah. the people who come out to concerts actually know a bit about us, and recognize the tunes and dance and sing along, where before we got some strange looks and "who are these people?" most people hadn't heard of us the first time, but now we're playing concerts where people are really into us, and it's really good. f: how much of it do you contribute to the michael jackson fiasco (at the 1996 brit awards?) n: i don't contribute much to (the michael jackson thing), to be quite honest. the people who are actually coming to see us are people who are into our music. i don't think you get people going to concerts just because someone did some kind of so-called sensational act or whatever. people go to concerts to hear good music, don't they? f: and different class really is very good. i love it, my friends think it's great, it's gotten great reviews in magazines ... n: different class is being universally championed - it's even getting good reviews in america, which is quite nice. f: but why do you think that is? stylisticly, it's not a huge change from his and hers. n: the same people have made it - we haven't all gone and changed. f: so why do you think that this album is the one? n: it's like going up stairs: you're never going to get to the top step unless you go up the first few steps. each release is another step. it's all very gradual. f: going back a few steps, you aren't playing much of the old stuff ... n: depends on how old you mean. f: i've heard the oldest things you're playing are "razzmatazz" and "babies," just two songs from the gift era. n: that's right, yeah. (note: that night, for the first time on the tour, they played 59 lyndhurst grove. apparently it can't hurt to ask.) f: is there any reason you're leaving off things like "my legendary girlfriend?" n: we haven't played "my legendary girlfriend" in quite some time. a lot of the stuff, to be perfectly honest, we can't play anymore. we've forgetten how to do it but we also just don't play much of that stuff because it's just too hard for us to remember it all. and you've got to concentrate on what you're doing now, i suppose. so we do current songs rather than old ones. i know perhaps it disapoints people who struggled to get records when they were really difficult to get a long time ago, and then never got to hear them played live, but there's a finite amount of time, and we play a very long set as it is, and that's just using different class songs and his and hers songs. f: so, tell me about about the bass drum. n: well, it has to be emptied every now and again to keep a good sound, because if it gets too full of panties and bras it loses its sound. so we've got a flight case somewhere that's packed full of undergarments. this is all true. f: do you mind all the young girls coming up to the band and screaming for jarvis? n: well, of course one would like to get more attention towards one's self from the female population, but ... (laughs) no, it's alright. obviously, you kind of expect it because he's the singer and he's the one who dances around, so you expect it, really. you can't expect to be the centre of attention when you're stuck at the back. f: why do you think so many young girls like pulp? i know jarvis says that when pulp makes records, pulp doesn't make them for 12-year-old girls, but there's still a bunch of them waiting in line outside. n: i think we get a good age range - it's not solely young people of the female gender. i think perhaps they see a bit of glamour, a bit of otherworldlyness. perhaps they're looking for us to give them some advice from old heads on old shoulders - show them the rigth way in life. f: do you think different class is too "british" of an album for americans to fully understand, with class struggles and rave culture? n: it is probably is, but we never thought "oh, we'll make a record solely to be understood by people in the british isles." i think interesting music and good songs can get translated anywhere in the world, really. okay, you might not pick up on the subtle nuances of the lyrics, but you can still get into the music. but i'm sure there are people studying the lyrics and wondering what [Jarvis] is going on about ... yeah, it could be a bit offputting, really. f: have you had jarvis bring in lyrics that just made you go "what's this one about?" n: well, no, because the way it actually comes about is that we might be rehearsing a song for months and months, and all you get to hear of the lyrics is (hand over mouth)"mmmmmmuuuubbbmhbmmfffdmmmuuuuuhhhhhh." you never actually hear the words, because he hasn't written them, basicly. you get into the studio and you lay the music down onto tape and there'll still be no sign of any words or anything like that. then, the night before he records them, jarvis'll stay up all night and probably drink a bottle of brandy, and then he'll record them the next day. that'll be the first time you'll get to hear them. it's funny, because you've had to live for months with this sort of incoherrent mumbling, and then these words appear - and it's alright, because 9 times out of 10 he writes good lyrics. so we're like "ahhhh! that's what all the mumbling was about!" f: are you ever going to try your hand at lyric writing? n: oh, good god no! no, no, no. hell no. i'd never do anything like that. leave it to jarvis. f: you've been in the band since 1986. what's the ride been like? n: hmmmmmm. what's the ride been like? obviously, getting into the first band i really, really liked was exciting - i was a fan before i joined the band. i thought we had fantastic potential to really go somewhere. so i joined and nothing happened. we played a few concerts and that sort of thing, recorded music that never got released because we had a really bad record label. but after a few years, we noticed that things started to pick up slightly, and then things got bigger and bigger and bigger. we didn't really notice, but these things can creep up on you. f: did you ever get really frustrated during the whole dispute with fire over separations? n: it really was a dark, dark time. when we recorded the record, it was pulp's best record to date. it employed good technology to sound good, and i think it was really interesting. when we recorded it, we thought "right, here we go. this will get us somewhere." then the company sat on it for three years or four years or so and didn't do anything. f: what's that like? n: it's like suspended animation. there's nothing you can do, but you have to tough it out. wait. then somehow the thought comes along that you can live again and do something else. f: on the upside, there was glastonbury ... n: glastonbury was amazing. i'm not a religious person, but i think it's the closest i'll get to a proper religious experience. it took the breathe away. we were nervous before we went on - i don't think we'll ever be that nervous again. we were expecting to be bottled off because evryone came to see the stone roses, and they weren't there, and then we turn up and make some godawful noise ... it was one of those things. it all kind of came together in one moment, and it's all gone from there. f: how does a typical british audience compare with a typical american audience? n: well, there's more of them! they're quite similar, really. with american audience, it's interesting, but we've not seen too many baseball caps or flannel shirts. they bring more of an individuality to the concerts, which is something we sometimes get in britain as well, we don't get too many meatheads, which is always a good thing. f: what have you been doing in your off-time on this tour? n: we went to the rocky mountains, but we couldn't see a thing because it was so cloudy. we went to the statue of liberty, we wandered about the streets of new york. we were going to take a helicopter ride around manhattan, but it was a very bad, cloudy day. it's difficult because sometimes, when you're have time off, your body seems to rebel against you and says "no, i'm not going to do a single thing." so you just have to lie in a darkened room and try to do something, but your body says "NO!" f: so, who do you think trashed the england plane on the way back from asia? n: well, let me think. gascoigne, because it was his birthday party ... i only heard about this yesterday, you know, from a friend who flew over for the show in new york. the drinks were flowing freely i'm sure. him and anderton and sheringham ... f: and fowler, i'm sure ... n: well, we once played in liverpool, and we checked into the hotel, and i went upstairs. as i was coming back down, i got into the lift and robbie fowler was in the lift as well. he was looking for some sheeps 'cos he was with a young lady, and he was looking a bit sheepish. i looked at him and i thought "i bet he still lives with his mum and dad. ahhhhhhh, robbie, me old mate!" f: how do you rate john harkes, seeing as you're a wednesday fan? n: i thought he was very good when he played for wednesday. i was disappointed when they sold him to derby county. i always thought he was a good player, and it was a mistake to get rid of him. f: i was just asking because we have the new major league soccer league, and he's the captain of washington d.c. united. n: oh, good. how's he doing? is it taking off? f: he's doing great, and the league getting 15,000 people a game. it's a start. n: yeah, definately. f: what's the one experience you've had that sums up this american tour? n: i'd say again, going back to my mountain experience, it'd be being at 12,000 feet and having difficulty breathing. that's summed up this tour for me. |