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It’s all Greek to him
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by JACK OATMON Last December, Andy Butler told the Mirror that he was planning to turn his revivalist project Hercules and Love Affair into a full live show, “taking classic techno songs and putting them on horns so, all of a sudden, it sounds like P-Funk.” Then he released one of the most exciting dance music records of the year, in March—a smooth, arresting blend of analog techno, booming house and classic string-laden disco characterized by shrill, delicate vocal choruses, personal introspection and uplifting, driving songs. Now he’s back, as promised, with a live show that aims to translate the rich production and intimate feel of his recordings into a stage show. The Mirror spoke with Butler about lyrical challenges, the live transition and the strongest man in the world. Mirror: A lot of your production seems to revolve around the voice. What is this fascination with the voice? Andy Butler: Well, for so long, I was a fan of instrumental music and I was only interested in vocals if they were used in a repetitive or looped sort of way. Growing up, my favourite bands always had singers who didn’t articulate particularly well, who didn’t enunciate—it kinda sounded like they were singing in weird languages. I like vocal performances by singers who treat their voice as an instrument rather than just as a means of delivering words. For a long time, I just couldn’t listen to vocal music because I felt like, eventually, whoever was singing was going to say something I didn’t like or I didn’t agree with, and it would turn me off or push me away. Now I’m really interested in using vocalists and interesting voices. And having them deliver poetic lyrical content that’s timeless and romantic. M: So, when you hear music and you can’t align your view with the person, you have a hard time listening to it? AB: Yeah. I prefer vocalists who fudge the words. I like the open-endedness of vocalists like Elizabeth Fraser from the Cocteau Twins. For instance, something that never stood well with me was the extreme, macho ranting of a lot of hip hop. I’m put off by it. I don’t feel welcome listening to something like that. One thing I try to avoid in terms of lyrical content is, I don’t write about things that have a particularly modern feel. I would never write a song about a cell phone or anything about modern technology from the past century. Even a car. I prefer something personal, introspective, that looks outside of material stuff. Mixes and mythsM: How do you find translating music that was written for sequencing into a band scenario? AB: It’s challenging. That was the biggest issue for me upon embarking: How are we going to translate this really studio-based thing into a live show? There’s double tracking, there are really lush moments on the record that I didn’t want to do injustice to. Initially, I was trying to stay very true to the arrangements, but then I realized I should be having fun with it and being more creative. Once I realized that and let go a little, the show really just came together. I’m lucky because I have a lot of talented jazz musicians on stage, so some of the repetitive and mechanical aspects of the music, they’re actually quite capable of doing live. We’ve incorporated drum machines and electronic sounds into the mix, so I’m quite pleased. M: You once told me that the band name came from a particular myth, but we never got around to talking about which one it was. Could you tell me about that? AB: It’s a story about Hercules in the context of another hero, from Jason and the Argonauts. Hercules and his younger lover go along with Jason, as part of his crew. And they stop on an island and his lover walks away, exploring the island, and he gets dragged into a lake and drowned by lake nymphs. Hercules is desperately looking for his lover, but Jason says they have to leave the island. Hercules says, “I can’t leave this island without my lover.” And they leave him there. On a lot of levels, it’s a poignant and beautiful story, but one thing jumped out at me. It’s interesting that Hercules, who is the strongest man on Earth, would be so heartbroken and vulnerable and immobilized by his feelings. And that they would be feelings for another man. WITH GUESTS AT LES SAINTS ON |
