PAUL SMITH: MAXIMO PARK AND STICKING TO YOUR ROOTS
Discussing art and the importance of sticking to your roots isn’t something people normally engage in moments after digesting breakfast, but Maxïmo Park’s Paul Smith isn’t your average frontman. Record label owner, photographer and scissor-jumping extraordinaire, the former pensioner-teaching art tutor has temporarily gone solo and has taken time out to chat about his cultural highlights of 2010 and why, although it can often feel it, London isn’t the centre of the universe.
“It’s the kind of place where you feel comfortable,” Smith says of his home in Newcastle. Raised in Billingham, near Middlesborough, the singer moved to Newcastle when he started university, and hasn’t felt the need to leave since. “It’s quite culturally active, there’s a volunteer-run cinema where nobody makes any money called The Star and Shadow, where people just go in and put on films that they like”. Smith’s label, Billingham Records, is (as those of you paying attention will know) named after his hometown. If remaining up north wasn’t proof that success hadn’t gone to his head, acknowledging his roots through his label certainly has.
“It’s kind of a nice untouched piece of Britain, and in another way it’s as cosmopolitan as any other place”, he continues, “It’s near the coast where I can get away from things. I enjoy my life up here so although I’m sure there are many other great places to go, I’ve never felt the need to move”.
This isn’t to say that Smith is a homebody. As enthusiastic as he is eloquent, he says that one of the best parts of his job is his chance to explore the world. Many artists complain that the infamous tour bus/venue/hotel itinerary prevents them from some much-needed sightseeing, but this isn’t always the case.
“Although I’ve got a lot of interviews and sound checks to do, I always try and squeeze in a morning out in a new place. Some of my favourite days have been just going to a Viennese art exhibition. It’s one of the things I indulge if I can”.
This is good news. As it’s now December, the tradition of most publications is to provide round-up of the year’s offerings and to pick out some highlights. So what did Smith make of this year’s artistic contributions?
“I’m trying to think, I generally forget everything as soon as I’ve seen it,” he laughs nervously, having been put on the spot. As if by magic, inspiration hits. Amidst a “spare few hours in London” he had ventured over to the Tate Britain to see the Henry Moore exhibition.
“It’s the kind of place where you feel comfortable,” Smith says of his home in Newcastle. Raised in Billingham, near Middlesborough, the singer moved to Newcastle when he started university, and hasn’t felt the need to leave since. “It’s quite culturally active, there’s a volunteer-run cinema where nobody makes any money called The Star and Shadow, where people just go in and put on films that they like”. Smith’s label, Billingham Records, is (as those of you paying attention will know) named after his hometown. If remaining up north wasn’t proof that success hadn’t gone to his head, acknowledging his roots through his label certainly has.
“It’s kind of a nice untouched piece of Britain, and in another way it’s as cosmopolitan as any other place”, he continues, “It’s near the coast where I can get away from things. I enjoy my life up here so although I’m sure there are many other great places to go, I’ve never felt the need to move”.
This isn’t to say that Smith is a homebody. As enthusiastic as he is eloquent, he says that one of the best parts of his job is his chance to explore the world. Many artists complain that the infamous tour bus/venue/hotel itinerary prevents them from some much-needed sightseeing, but this isn’t always the case.
“Although I’ve got a lot of interviews and sound checks to do, I always try and squeeze in a morning out in a new place. Some of my favourite days have been just going to a Viennese art exhibition. It’s one of the things I indulge if I can”.
This is good news. As it’s now December, the tradition of most publications is to provide round-up of the year’s offerings and to pick out some highlights. So what did Smith make of this year’s artistic contributions?
“I’m trying to think, I generally forget everything as soon as I’ve seen it,” he laughs nervously, having been put on the spot. As if by magic, inspiration hits. Amidst a “spare few hours in London” he had ventured over to the Tate Britain to see the Henry Moore exhibition.
“If you had to name one sculptor, most people would say either Barbara Hepworth or Henry Moore. You realise what an amazing artist he was, rather than the popular conception of him,” he enthuses, “Actually being in the room with these amorphous sculptures in amazing. One of the things I loved about the exhibition is that you could take a different look at his sculptures and walk all the way around them, and from each angle they look amazing. Some sculptures work from the front only, but he had an absolute mastery of form”.
“He did loads of drawings as well of people sheltering during air-raids in the Second World War. He’s got an absolutely beautiful collection of drawings of people huddled together. He really captures the fear and the mood. There are some really beautiful drawings and etchings”.
As an appreciator of art, he may feel the pressure for his photography book, Thinking in Pictures, to be well-received by the art world. “Whether it’s any good or not is not for me to say,” He admits, “I’d taken thousands over the past five years and I tried to whittle it down to ones that I thought other people might be interested in on their own level. I’ve kind of filtered out anything that might have a connection with being in a band”. Coming complete with a copy of his album Margins, this venture is something entirely separate from Maxïmo Park.
“It’s more about shapes, and some bits are funny. There’s a picture of a sign that I saw in America, coming down a desert highway. We could just see this sign that said ‘CHEESE’”. He breaks to chuckle, before continuing, “It was hilarious, but because of this big blue sky it’s kind of a nice little picture, but because of the sign it makes it humorous”.
Words: Natasha Parker
Illustration: Newtasty
