SPIRITUALIZED: FESTIVALS ARE THE DEATH OF ART
Rugby born Jason Pierce (aka J. Spaceman) is touring the world again playing at various festivals this year. Identified as the spearhead of Spiritualized and former member of psychedelic-rock band Spacemen 3, Pierce spoke to us about his thoughts on festivals, his eighth album in the making and his creative process for making music.
His previous legacy, “taking drugs to make music to take drugs to” never melted away after the split of Spacemen 3. His drug infused sounds streamed into Spiritualized and even the iconic landmark album ‘Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space’ was packaged as a blister pack with prescription style notes and a recommended dosage inside. Over time, it’s as if his music has become a drug in and of itself.
His first band Spacemen 3 formed in 1982 and split after the fallout between Pierce and Peter “Sonic Boom” Kember in 1990. In the February of that same year, Spiritualized was born. Their sound detached from the hypnotic drone of Spacemen 3 to a gospel, garage- rock and orchestral- pop style of music which explored themes of life, death, drugs and love.
Pierce has released seven albums with Spiritualized and one solo album in 2006. His mind altering music takes you on a rollercoaster ride through ups and downs as though you’re experiencing an intoxicating trip followed by its consequences. Pierce demonstrates subversive creativity with his gospel-leaning, mainstream-defying space- rock music. A decade since his near death experience with pneumonia and years since his battle with liver disease, Jason Pierce is now spirited and looking to record his new album.
You Played at Austin Psych Fest this year; did you see any bands there that stood out from the rest?
No, you know what I kind of would have wanted to stay back for ‘the elevators’ but I had another show I had in Atlanta which was the following day; so if I cancelled that to see the elevators I would have wound up spending 30 grand to see a band- no matter how much I love that band. It was an amazing day but we were there so briefly. We played on the Friday night and we’d left to go to Atlanta that evening. I’ve never been at a festival where the whole thing seems like a warm up to one single band so there was a weird expectancy in the air that everything was about the ‘13th Floor Elevators’ playing, and I’ve never been anywhere where everyone is just waiting for that moment to happen.
Do you usually watch bands when you play at festivals?
It depends on the time usually; if we’ve got another show the next night it’s difficult. You might catch the band before you or the band after you. Tame Impala we saw those guys who played after us at Austin Psych Fest but that sort of thing rarely happens.
You have spoken in other interviews about how festivals are no longer about art but are part of the Entertainment industry and you have played a lot of festivals this year…
Well that’s coming back to haunt me…
[Laughs] would you say that you have been pleasing the crowd playing your old songs or focusing on your new songs?
Mostly just getting a band together so mostly the old stuff. We were playing new songs for a while but then we kind of held off. We were trying to release a record earlier this year so it seemed like kind of crazy to start giving all the songs away now. We kind of play together as we go along, we’ve done a set for the last few shows but it’s not a static thing.
Actually, I should qualify that sentence shouldn’t I or it will come back to haunt me again. I said that ‘festivals are the death of art’. I’ve said that for years not wanting to disrespect festivals or anything but I have said for a long time; that the bands are used to draw people in being the biggest thing on the posters and advertising the festival. The festival is more about who you live with and who lives in your city and trying to get in for free from that, so it’s not really about the bands. But then what I find weirder is you walk onto a stage you’ve never been on with a sound system you’ve never heard before with amplifiers that have been hired on for the occasion and it seems like the worst call to come and see these bands. It’s more of a complaint about that, not about festivals per se.
You’re headlining Moseley folk festival and Liverpool psych fest this year; do you not think that people are going to these festivals because they want to see Spiritualized following on from what you have just said?
Like I said, I think the bands are a bit large on the advertising but I think it’s about getting the hell out of what you do for the rest of your year to see people who live in your city or what’s going on in your city. I think there are many more bases for people going to these shows than bands.
Do you have a favourite location or venue where you like to perform?
No not really, I think you take everything at its marriage and we kind of draw on some weird energy that exists out there and it’s about finding that and in a weird way festivals are sometimes better for that because they haven’t got to think about where they will be tomorrow morning or how they are going to get home and all that kind of stuff so people are a lot freer at festivals.
You have played with inspirational people like Patti Smith and Daniel Johnston, is there a person you have collaborated with who has been the most memorable?
All of them, some of the collaborations came about by accident like I just happened to be at the right place at the right time with some people but I always have this thing where people could always say no like you could send them the track and they play it and I’m always really shocked when people say yeah I would love to do it or I really like what this is about so I kind of follow that dream. It’s not hard to ask a favour off somebody or if they want to get involved. I am still shocked that some of the people have said yes but there’s obviously something there that regiments.
So it’s mainly you going to other artists then?
[Laughs] I think Patti really we were just in the right place at the right time and I wanted to play guitar so yeah probably, it’s probably me. You know I’m a big fan of these and there’s a saying isn’t there that ‘never meet your idols because they’ll always disappoint’ but it should be ‘never meet your idols because you’ll always disappoint yourself’ to get your words out and to not just be in awe, but you know generally it always works out.
Is your new album still in the process of being completed in Spain this year?
That’s way, way off. Hopefully next year – though it’s not about finishing the album, it’s about finding a place to put it out. There’s a lot of stuff to put in place but hopefully we are still looking good for early next year.
How will this new album be different from your previous albums?
Yeah but I get accused of writing the same songs for the whole of my life. It’s the evolutionary flow like any evolution. I think the songs I have been doing are really quite amazing and I just want to find a record that justified that you know – which is a big deal of the kind of music I am interested in. I just wanted something that went right across the board again which maybe the last time that kind of worked in a record was ‘Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space’ where that covered the basis. There was a line in a TV Show where he says that you have to record an awful lot of music to get to the good stuff and I think that’s the deal you know you have to keep trying things and keep putting things down that’s worthy of making a record. I just think if you’re gonna do this then it has to be resolved; it has to be everything you were looking for.
Your last album was more of a pop album wasn’t it, so are you going to go for something a bit different with your new album?
I just don’t really know, there’s some stuff on the new album that is pop but in a kind of ‘walk on the wild side’ kind of way but looking back there is a lot of different ideas. I like to make records that challenge people and aren’t immediate and people can find a way into. It’s something with a lot of music where you can hear music when you’re sixteen or seventeen or twenty eight or whatever and that doesn’t even touch you, but ten years later it can mean the world to you so.
What about your creative process for writing songs, where do you get your influences from?
I dunno really, all over. I am about the laziest person that I know so I certainly don’t work hard at it. I get an idea for a tune that I think is worth pursuing. It’s a difficult thing because having a great line is one thing, but then writing inwards and outwards from that and getting a chorus takes time.
I read that you sing your idea for a song into a tape machine and then work out how to play it afterwards – I find that fascinating.
Yeah, I’ve done a lot of that actually. My rational behind it is that you’re not limited by your abilities. Even if you don’t sing well, you can sing an idea down like these are the notes you want to hear but it’s really hard to play that so this is the way I have gone to write parts and then when I came to do strings and horns I was at a real disadvantage so it’s good to get it down and then transform that into music.
What music equipment have you been using to make your latest album?
We are a guitar band so there’s something very physical. It’s nice to leave it in the dark most of the time and not being sure where it’s going. I think the most important thing isn’t to do with equipment or what the technique is or whatever but it’s the kind of sound you sell you know. Anyone can put a song down and say there’s my song but that doesn’t devalue the song, some songs are great but the best experience of making a record is when you walk away going ‘I didn’t think that was gonna happen’.
What is your view on downloading music for free online?
At the end of the day it’s important that it’s heard. It would be good to make money where it’s due, but when I look at people who complain about their music being available for free or whatever they’re just counting sales like ‘that’s one sale I’ve lost’. I don’t see the value in counting and I never have. When I was a kid I had no money so I never brought a new record in my life I bought second hand records which never came with a loyalty to the artist so you know I just think that it’s better that the music is heard.
Paula Dunne
