REVISITING 2005: AN INTERVIEW WITH JAMES MURPHY OF LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM FROM THE FUSED MAGAZINE ARCHIVE
A flashback to 2005 with a vintage interview with LCD Soundsystem from the Fused magazine archives. Blimey we feel old!
James Murphy is the tragically hip super-producer behind one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of 2005. The “Pharrell Williams of punk-funk” took time out from wrecking dancefloors to talk to Fused about Daft Punk playing at his house, sounding like Mark E Smith and his underground dancefloor classic ‘Losing My Edge’.
It’s surprising how long ‘Losing My Edge’ lingers around…
It still kinda weighs on me a bit because we keep getting better and better at playing it live. It’s surprising how long Losing My Edge lingers around, for a dance song. But everyone’s silly and shallow and insipid and vain and the more they accept it the less boring records we’ll have. This year I made ‘Yeah’, which pretty much consists of me saying yeah over and over, to try and erase the expectation that it was gonna be another clever diatribe of lyrics. Etched into the vinyl of Yeah is, “Not as good as Losing My Edge”. I always try and help people write reviews.
Daft Punk would still end up playing in the basement next to the washing machine…
I used to play house parties in punk rock bands. You don’t get paid, but what you do is sell a ton of merchandise, and get a place to sleep. When I got into dancing, taking E and being optimistic, I thought; wouldn’t it be great if some kid wanted Daft Punk to play at his house? So he rings the agent who says they’ll cost £40,000 and he saves for seven years and finally gets enough money and flies Daft Punk over. And, of course, they’d have no idea where they would be landing, ‘cos the rider includes two first-class tickets on Air France. And the kids would be earnestly trying to meet all the rider requirements, but Daft Punk would still end up playing in the basement next to the washing machine, which we all did. A local hardcore band is supporting, and the PA consists of all the local kids’ amps and stereos taped together. I thought that would be the best show that anyone would ever see. My goal is to make that happen for a video – find a great punk rock house, get Daft Punk to play, and LCD Soundsystem would be the opening local band. It just makes me happy.
Rock’s Revival: A Movement Without Meaning?
That’s mostly about the ‘new rock’, which is a movement without the bother of having any meaning. You know a journalistic movement that announces, ‘Rock is back! The guitar is back!” Whoo-hoo. But for what? It’s like saying, “The high-waisted pants are back!” It’s fucking vacuous and the bands are tedious. They all sound like The MC5. I get excited about The White Stripes ‘cos they’re some people who are obviously trying to do something of their own. But most bands will never be good because they don’t even ask themselves why they’re bothering until it’s too late.
I’d rather think about what I like, and sound like Mark Smith of The Fall
I thought about trying to hide it. But then I thought, we all sing like The Beatles and The Stones, don’t we? And nobody tries to hide that because it’s so pandemic. For me, The Fall, along with The Velvet Underground, are the best rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time. The Fall are my Beatles. So, rather than sound like Mick Jagger, I’d rather think about what I like, and sound like Mark Smith. Although I’m sure he’s gonna fucking blast me one of these days.
Am I just not paying enough attention to Canadian gay folk bands?
The more I work the more I realise that very successful people have very different brains than I thought they did. Pharrell came to a party we were having and he looked nervous and out of place. And I suddenly realised that he was just a kid who’s terrified, I’m sure, that he will not be the Golden Boy at some point. So everything that’s happening must be nerve-wracking. If one of these things jumps up and he’s behind on it, you just kill yourself. I feel that way sometimes myself – am I just not paying enough attention to Canadian gay folk bands?
The Underrated Role of Bass Players
The bass is the best instrument. It’s the most important but the least egotistical. A lot of my favourite musicians are bass players, like Richard McGuire from Liquid Liquid, Holger Czukay from Can, and Jah Wobble from Public Image Ltd. When it’s right it’s the best thing in the world. If you think about The Stones’ Emotional Rescue you think about the vocals. But if you listen to it, the bass on that record is totally schizophrenic and insane. If a guitar player were doing that it would be much more of an egotistical exercise. You don’t play bass like that for glory, because there isn’t any for bassists. Even drummers get more attention. I love things like The Stranglers and The Birthday Party, where the bass is just this monster. One of the reasons I love The Fall is because the guitars are as ego-less as the bass. And that’s a rare fucking thing.
Oh, how ironic. I’m wearing a Bon Jovi shirt – and I hate Bon Jovi.
For me, irony is a dirty word that’s been overused in the past ten years to mean something cheap. “Oh, how ironic. I’m wearing a Bon Jovi shirt – and I hate Bon Jovi! Ha Ha Ha.” Being aware of the crassness of your taste is not so cheap. Being aware that we’re vain and manipulative and silly because we’re humans. We’re pack animals. We’re like dogs. We whine when we want food and make a little face when we want to be petted. Investigating that is exciting for me. It makes me not want to jump under a bus. Apparently, that’s ironic. To me, it’s just dealing with real life.
