Mick Harvey - Lord of the Tides

I'm on the landing checking if I have everything.

I walk into the room with an attitude that's nothing short of serene. Thank goodness I've done theatre…

Good morning, Mr. Harvey.

(ironic)Yes, of course. (hints at a smile)

Are you still very sleepy?

No. No, no, I've been awake for quite a while now: I'm a musician, and musicians always get up terribly early. Didn't you know that?

Actually, I didn't think so…

Look, this morning I was here at 7am doing my first interview. (yawns)

So… after “One Man's Treasure” and “Two Of Diamonds”. Will the next record be called “Three Little Pigs”?

Oh, that's a great idea! It'll definitely be three of something. (laughs) Maybe “Three of something” or “Three at last”, we'll see.

I started a cycle with a title that contained “One”, so it seemed logical to follow it with “Two”, and it'll probably go on with “Three”.

Anyway, I find all these titles pretty pointless (laughs).

I get the impression that “One Man's Treasure” was recorded as a tribute to the artists you're most fond of, while “Two of Diamonds” seems more like a tribute to your friends.

No, I think the intentions are the same… It also depends on who you think my friends are…

Well, there are tracks by David McComb, Chris Bailey and PJ Harvey and others dedicated to Chrislo Haas and Roland Wolf…

Yes, but the same is true of “One Man's Treasure”: Jeffrey (Lee Pierce, ed.) was a friend of mine, and then there was the Nick Cave song. I think the two records have a fairly similar balance.

It was the same selection process: they were songs I like to play, that I had ideas for, and that I found interesting to record.

For both records the reasons were very similar, so I imagine it'll be the same for the next one too, though I might end up recording the songs in a very different way.

But it seems to me the approach on the two records was different: they sound different from each other.

Absolutely, it was a deliberate choice. If I'd recorded this album entirely on my own, the way I did with the previous one, “One Man's Treasure” and “Two Of Diamonds” would sound very similar to each other. Lately I've been playing live with the band that recorded the album with me, and that gave me the chance to record the songs with new arrangements and try out different versions. I'm glad I worked this way.

So that's why, for the first time, you brought in other musicians. It was a very easy decision to make.

Yes, because I was already playing with them.

Let's talk for a moment about soundtracks. How do you approach scoring a film, and how different is it from working on an album?

They're two completely different things. When I compose music for films, choosing which pieces to record is very different from when I'm deciding which songs to put on an album.

The film also imposes a particular structure on the piece, because they're closely tied to each other.

Usually the director shows you the film when he's almost finished shooting and tells you what ideas he has in mind for the music. Sometimes he has no ideas at all, other times he has plenty. Often I try to distance myself from the director's ideas and figure out what the film actually needs, then I play the director what I've composed and we discuss it together.

That said, this is just my way of working. I think everyone has their own.

So, rather than a different approach, it's a completely different kind of work.

Absolutely. The moments when you compose and record the music are quite similar, but it's different when you're working with someone outside the group who is nonetheless the “owner” of the project: you're working on someone else's film. In the whole process, your contribution is just a small part.

When you're working on your own record, you're the owner and the only person responsible for the project.

I'd say it's very different in that sense.

Have you ever thought about directing a film? Up to now you've worked on quite a few music videos.

Directing has always fascinated me, but I've never really followed through on that inclination.

Until a few years ago, shooting a film was very expensive, but now I think it's become more accessible with the new generation of digital cameras that keeps evolving.

I was never too motivated to get involved in the film world because, until recently, it was a completely chaotic world, a real disaster, extremely difficult, with people investing years and tearing each other apart trying to make a film. You know, all this led me to think it was a bad idea to get into the film world (laughs). No, I just didn't think it was worth it.

When I was about twenty, when I was playing with the Birthday Party, in the mid-80s, I really wanted to become a filmmaker, but then I dropped the idea.

Maybe I could start again now, yeah.

Could you tell me a bit about the Wallbangers?

It's... (smiles)... it's a project I put together. I was tinkering away in my music room, but it's something I never finished. Then a Spanish record label asked me if I had a side project or some material lying around, and I remembered this rock project I'd left unfinished, so I sent it to them. They liked it a lot, so I finished it and they released the EP.

You can hear a couple of tracks on my Myspace page.

Great. Now... there's something I've been wanting to tell you for more than 15 years. So... in 1982...

Mh...

...you told the Sisters of Mercy they were a pathetic band, definitely the worst band that ever opened for the Birthday Party, and the poor things even broke up for a few months because of it!

Actually, we didn't say anything to them: we were getting ready to go on stage and this guy from their management kept asking us what we thought of the show, but we were too busy, so to get rid of him the only thing we could tell him was: "Tell them we think they're shit." The truth is we hadn't even seen them play.

Very good, that's exactly the answer I wanted to hear. Thank you!

I know you're a big fan of Mark Lanegan.

Yes, yes. I like him a lot.

Have you already heard the new Soulsavers album that Lanegan guests on?

No, not yet. It always takes me a while to get around to new records, and you also have to consider that I don't follow the music press much. I know there's also a new White Stripes album out there somewhere, but I don't know much more than that.

Maybe someone was pulling my leg, but I heard a rumor that you're the one who handles all of the Bad Seeds' management.

Most of it, yes.

Actually, we have a lot of people working for the Bad Seeds: we have a press office, record labels, booking agents, a tour manager, accountants... and whenever there are matters that need to be discussed, all these people discuss them with me.

But if you think back to the mid-80s, I used to act as both manager and tour manager, and thankfully those days are over: I was hugely busy back then, but now I'm not nearly as much.

I know you're acquainted with several people who work with Italian artists, and others who spend a lot of their time here in Italy, maybe on holiday.

Not a clear one, but then I don't have a clear sense of the Australian music scene either!

Over the years I've started going out less and less, even when I'm in Melbourne, so I don't really know what's going on.

You tend to focus heavily on your own songs once you figure out which path you need to follow, and that leads you to stop paying attention to everything else.

I know it's a prolific, high-quality scene, and I know a couple of names, but I really couldn't say what I think of the Italian music scene.

Mr. Harvey, our time is up, we have to stop here. Thank you.

Were you angry about the whole Sisters of Mercy thing?

NOOO!!! And like I was saying before, since you were about to go on stage, I imagine you hadn't seen their performance. And come on, let's be honest, the Birthday Party certainly weren't the kind of band that would respond: “Oh look, we really liked them!”

(Mick laughs)

And anyway I never thought they were a band particularly suited to live shows.

Neither did I. I never liked that drum machine. I was never a big fan of Sisters of Mercy, but any comment about that gig wasn't aimed at them, it was aimed at this person who kept bothering us (smiles) and wouldn't stop until someone gave him an answer. You can't control certain stories, and this is one of them: over the years it's taken on all sorts of different shades.

Thank you again. See you in a couple of weeks, when you'll be playing in Italy.

A couple of years ago I shouted “Initials BB” at you…

But to do that you need a whole orchestra!

That's what he answered me from the stage. He could do it, go on tour with a whole orchestra, I mean.

No, no, it's all a money issue (smiles), it would cost me thousands of euros to keep them all.

It would be nice, but I've got other things to do.

Record label: “All good?”

Me: "Arancione"

Ride the wave of great music

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