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Go ask Alice >>
Wonderland brings the Charlatans U.K. out to play
Mirror: So
how does the band manage with Tim Burgess living in L.A.? Jon Brookes:
Where there’s a will, there’s a way, so we commute. It’s
a day away, really, and if you’ve ever travelled on British rail,
it takes a day to travel half the length of the country so you might
as well take a plane to the other side of the world, d’ya know
what I mean? And we should be allowed to live anywhere we want, really.
I think part of being in a band is expressing your freedom of choice.
You’re not conforming to the general idea of what you should do
for a living so you shouldn’t start restricting yourself with rules. M: It seems
you guys have broken some of your own rules with the new album. Less
organ, more soul— JB: Yeah,
we’ve used Curtis Mayfield as an inspiration and we’ve also
gone and used electronic programming as an inspiration. We like the
idea of that because it reminds us to think of the future rather than
keep looking to the past. We’ve tried to just put it all together
again and make a bit of a psychedelic, organic stew. M: And that
vibe translates well to the stage? JB: The
atmosphere has always been brilliant for our gigs, that’s why it’s
a thrill to come back across the Atlantic and play, and we really connect
with Canada so it’s been a long time coming. M: Do you
attract obsessive fans? JB: No, we don’t get devotees. We don’t offer a philosophy on life so, therefore, people usually follow our music because they enjoy the tunes and the beats, which I’m happy about. I’m not into brainwashing, I don’t believe in it. : With Starsailor
at Café Campus on Saturday, Jan. 26, 8pm, $19.50 |
Forget
reality TV and Destiny’s Child, the Charlatans U.K. are survivors.
After the fire under Manchester’s loved-up dance scene had fizzled
into obscurity (i.e. Shaun Ryder’s crackpipe) the Charlatans persevered,
re-emerging triumphant in the Britpop years, a period that was soon
tainted by the tragic death of keyboardist Rob Collins in 1996. Still,
the Charlatans forged ahead, and the new millennium finds the band with
a fresh, new (seventh) album, Wonderland. Drummer Jon Brookes spoke
to the Mirror about the fans, the show, the record, and the singer in
sunny California.