Mark Lanegan - The bard of the abyss

LONDON – To mark the release of “Phantom Radio” on October 20th, we met Mark Lanegan in London during his European promo tour, back in June. During those days, as a guest of James Lavelle at the Meltdown festival, Lanegan also had the chance to perform some tracks from “Phantom Radio” live for the very first time. Given the tight schedule of promotional marathons, our questions focused mainly on the album's promotion. If you're driven by other curiosities, feel free to go say hello to him during his upcoming Italian tour, from March 3rd to 5th.

Last Saturday (June 14th), during your Meltdown show backed by Jeff, with Duke Garwood as a guest, you performed two new tracks from “Phantom Radio”: “Judgement Time” and “I Am The Wolf”.  How do you think the audience reacted?

Actually, that was the very first time I'd had the chance to perform these new songs live. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the audience's reaction, but I enjoyed playing them live, even if it was just with Jeff and with Duke as a guest on stage for “I Am The Wolf”. But for the 2015 tour, which will also stop in Italy (around March), I'll be bringing my full band along.

During “I Am The Wolf” you brought Duke Garwood on stage, with whom you'd already collaborated on “Black Pudding” back in 2013 – can you tell us if it will be the album's single?

I called Duke up on stage because Duke wrote the music for this track. I don't think it'll be the single from the record, but it's a song I like a lot. As for the single, I haven't discussed it with the label yet, but generally I think they'll go for something more upbeat.

"Phantom Radio" will be your ninth solo album — where were you when you wrote it, and what were your influences?

The writing process was very similar to "Blues Funeral" and, in part, to "Bubblegum" too. It was very natural. When I decided to make the record, I didn't have a single song in mind, but I wrote one and the others followed. For "Phantom Radio" too I worked with Alain Johannes, in Los Angeles. We didn't lock ourselves in a studio for a whole month to come out with an album — we only recorded the songs when we felt they were ready, over a period of 2-3 months, working maybe twice a week and no more than four hours at a time. That's generally how I prefer to work these days. Alain has a studio at home, so everything is simpler. Sometimes, when Alain had to work on other projects, we wouldn't see each other for 2-3 weeks, but during that time I always kept writing songs.

"Phantom Radio" has a lot of different sounds, from blues to rock, but also new wave and electronics — at one point I thought I could even hear a touch of Spacemen 3...

I love all these genres you've mentioned, deeply. I love Spacemen 3, I think "The Perfect Prescription" is one of the most beautiful records ever made, and I also love Spiritualized, so I'm sure there are influences from all these genres and bands on my record. As you said, I borrowed a lot from new wave. When I drive, I generally like listening to the satellite radio stations that play new wave, and that's also what I was listening to while driving to Alain Johannes's place when I was working on "Phantom Radio".

Besides new wave, during this period I also listened to a lot of kraut-rock: Cluster, Neu!, Harmonia, Can. Maybe none of these are things I actually built the songs' foundations on, but they were major influences that I folded into the process along the way. As for the foundations, I generally build songs from something I already have in my head, or I just start from an app on my phone, like FunkBox, which I used to write most of my recent records (and here he launches into a demonstration with a few different beats, ed.).

The way of writing songs has certainly changed over the last twenty-five years — do you think it's easier now?

It's definitely changed a lot for me, and it's more fun nowadays. It's simple: I start from a drum machine loop on my phone, then I add drums, or guitar, or piano, or synth, and record everything on my phone using the "Garageband" app — I've got hundreds of demos recorded that way on my phone. Then when I lose my phone, that's trouble.

Besides Alain Johannes, who else played on "Phantom Radio"?

Actually, it's pretty much the same musicians I've been playing with for a while. I think the one I've played with the longest is Aldo Struyf, the leader of my band, who's from Antwerp in Belgium. He's been playing with me for ten years now, would you believe it! Then on "Phantom Radio" there's also Freddy Lyenn on bass, Jack Irons on drums, although on a few tracks my drummer Jean-Philippe De Gheest plays as well. And on a few songs Jeff Fielder played guitar and Martyn LeNoble played bass. Martyn, ex-Porno For Pyros, is an old friend of mine and an incredible bassist, who I'd already played with in Soulsavers.

When you write, do you think of your album as a single unified piece of work? Would it bother you if someone downloaded just one track and didn't consider the whole record?

To be honest, I've never really thought about it. It can definitely happen, but unfortunately those are things I can't control. It can also happen that someone buys the album and then only listens to one track, or... maybe none at all. But really, when I write, I conceive of the album as a conceptual work in its entirety, not just as a list of songs — that's how I've always made records, and it's also the only way I know how. Maybe it's also because when I write a record, I generally have the beginning and the end of it in mind, and then I slowly start filling in the gaps — one song tells me how or what the next one will be. It's a natural flow. Hopefully whoever connects with my music will listen to it the same way. On the other hand, it's also true that, as far as I'm concerned, if I like a record I might end up only listening to a few tracks from it myself.

The other day on stage you sang "Cherry Carol Tree" from your 2012 EP "Black Mark Does Christmas". Don't you think there's a mystical thread that has always run through your choice of lyrics, including these ones on "Phantom Radio"?

Generally there's no precise process I follow when it comes to lyrics, and I don't pay much attention to what they're meant to communicate. What's certain is that, ever since I was young, I've been inspired by gospel music and carols. "Cherry Carol Tree" is a wonderful song that I find very appealing, and if I could only write a song that made me feel the way that one does, I'd be thrilled. Obviously I could never be moved by one of my own songs the way I am by one written by somebody else.

In 2013 you moved from Beggars Group to Heavenly Recordings — was that an artistic choice or a contractual one?

I'd call it a contractual choice, really. I'd been with labels from the Beggars Group for a few years already, first Beggars Banquet and then 4AD. At a certain point my contract was expiring, a lot of the people I worked with had left, and also my friend who'd signed me back in the mid-90s, back at Sub Pop, who was now handling my A&R, was about to leave too. On the other hand, Jeff Barrett of Heavenly Recordings and I have been friends for a long time, he was also my publisher for many years, and I'd always wanted to make records with him at some point in my career. 4AD did an excellent job, but unfortunately, since I wouldn't be working anymore with all the people who'd been with me for so long, and since my contract was coming to an end, I decided to work with Jeff and Heavenly Recordings.

Regarding the album cover, can you tell us something about the artwork?

The artwork was created by an artist called Gustavo Rimada, and it's taken from a painting and collage he called "Santa Muerte".

Do you have any special packaging planned for the vinyl?

As of now (June 16th, ed.) I still haven't seen anything from the record label, but I think it will definitely be a double vinyl, 180 grams.

Myriam Bardino

LONDON, 08/04/2015 – Even though I wasn't the one who was asleep, the whole thing was pretty dreamlike. From start to finish. I arrive at the Electric Ballroom in Camden around ten to six, about ten minutes before the time arranged with Remco, Mark Lanegan's tour manager. There's already a good-sized line of fans, signs pointing to a sold-out show, doors still locked; I knock. The voice tells me to cross through the Camden Town Tube station, then turn left, and finally head down the corridor that leads to the back of the historic venue. Well, just walking through that long space painted red and black, a kind of limbo trapping the stink of alcohol and the creak of instrument trolleys wheeled by practically everyone, was already half a dream. But that was nothing compared to being practically pushed and then shut by Remco into Mark Lanegan's dressing room, only to find the man himself asleep on an old leather-covered sofa. After treating myself to the pleasure of waking Mark Lanegan by introducing myself with as loud a throat-clearing cough as I could manage, we began our interview.

Hi Mark, how's it going?

Mark Lanegan: good, and how are you?

Great, I'm really happy to get the chance to chat with you. Let's start with your latest work. Listening to 'Blues Funeral' for the first time, even though your style of lyric-writing had stayed pretty much unchanged, it was quite a shock to find all those synths and beats on one of your records. With 'Phantom Radio' you've kept going down that road. Where does this sound come from? What have you been listening to?

See, every time I start working on a new record I just focus on whatever's in my head at that moment, you know, I don't use new instruments, nor do I reinvent the way everyone else uses the instruments they use. But yeah, you know, back in 2003, I started using synthesizers and drum machines…

Right, around the time of 'Bubblegum', something was already happening with that record.

Exactly, I set off down that path there, and what's happened with the more recent records is just the natural evolution of that journey.

I read that you recently produced some music using a smartphone app, tell me something about that.

Yeah, I used this app, it's a collection of vintage beats, to put together the drum parts of a song, for a demo I made at home, that's all, I've never used it for a whole record.

Tonight Duke Garwood is joining us, and I know you two are really close, you've shared an album, 'Black Pudding', and he wrote 'I'm The Wolf' for you – do you have any plans to do something together again?

Not right now, but, you know how it is, these things happen, at some point we'll make a new record together.

I really loved 'Heavy Love', Duke's latest album, it's one of my albums of the year, did you like it?

'Heavy Love?' I mixed that one myself, so yes, definitely, yeah.

Will you be playing something together tonight?

Of course, I really hope we'll manage to.

I've always found your music to be quite introspective, listening to your songs I've always had the impression of hearing someone who really looks deep into the human being. After almost thirty years spent writing and playing, what has changed in your way of exploring the human abyss?

You know, I just write songs, I don't know where they come from, I just grab whatever inspires me among the things that come into my mind. Really, you know, I don't know where my songs come from and I don't pay the slightest attention to what they mean, or what they might mean to anyone else, I just write them. That's it.

How autobiographical are your songs?

Well, sure, songs start from something that happened, but songs aren't real life, songs are an imitation of life, they're imitations of moments, of facts, of stories. You know, really, songs aren't real life, songs are just songs.

By now it's impossible to keep count of your projects, your incarnations, your collaborations. Where do you find the time, the strength and the inspiration to bring all this to life?

Just by enjoying doing it, this life, that's what I've been doing for a long time, that's what I love. For me, you know, it's simply part of what my life is. Thanks for the question, anyway.

There's one of your countless side projects I'm particularly attached to, 'Gutter Twins' with Greg Dulli, but it seems to have ended with the LP 'Saturnalia'. Is there hope of hearing something new under this moniker at some point?

I don't know if at some point me and Greg will make another 'Gutter Twins' record. I'm in touch with Greg pretty much all the time, he's really one of my best friends, we talked just the other day too, so we'll see.

During your live performances you're almost motionless and you keep your eyes closed most of the time. Is there any reason behind this?

It's simply what comes naturally to me.

Are there any new bands or artists you'd recommend to us?

Whenever they ask me this question I never have an answer ready — if I had my computer with me I could tell you, but no. There's always good music around, though, really good music.

In about ten days you'll be playing in Italy, at a beautiful castle near Cesena. You end up in my neck of the woods pretty often — do you like Italy and its audiences?

I love spending time in Italy, I always have, and I've got great friends there...

Musician friends too?

Sure, I'm very close with the guys from Afterhours. I really do love playing and spending time in Italy.

That's all, Mark, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

Michele Corrado

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