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From gloomy to Rumi >>
Talkin’ Turkey with Peter Murphy
Peter Murphy:
I’ve worked with people before who are wonderful, I love them,
but I’ve met producers who have sat me down and said, “Listen,
this is a great idea, we can do this,” and they’d play me
back this sort of like plastic glam rock, almost-alternative idea and
I’m saying, “Get out of here, what are you talking about?!”
If I choose that, I’ll get Bauhaus. That’s the real deal,
not some sort of Hershey-bar version.
M: Do you
still keep in touch with those guys?
PM: Of course,
yeah, they’re my family.
M: Did you
have a feel for Dust? Was there a template you wanted to work with?
PM: I think this album was heard before we even made it. I’ve been carrying an album like this around in my body for a couple of years, really. It’s almost like a pregnancy. People may miss it actually, because it’ll throw a curve to a lot of people.
Hearken to Arkin M: I find
it interesting that you met a Montreal trance DJ/producer in Istanbul,
who you have decided to work with, resulting in the recording process
taking place here. PM:
I met Mercan Dede, otherwise known as Arkin Allen, in Turkey—he
was playing in the Mercan Dede Ensemble, which is more traditional Sufi
music that blends with a Western aesthetic. Once I saw that, I was like,
“There it is, I know the person I want to work with.” Without
any real discussion in terms of details—it was almost like Mercan
knew exactly what I was looking for. It was a shared experience. I didn’t
write any music until the actual recording sessions. I asked Arkin to
lay down sparse and loose ideas a few days before I went in. It was
a very natural, easy, fluent process, and we used a group of talented
musicians from both Turkey and Montreal. Arkin was able to direct the
Turkish element in a way that both of us understood was needed. M: How do
you see this album compared to your past solo works? PM: If you
listen to my albums, obviously they’re very eclectic, but this
album is kind of like the essential, ultimate tribute to Mark Bolan
with his early T. Rex work, kind of like the spirit of that. It has
a lot of glamorous aspects to it. This wasn’t going to be a world
album, this was going to be a Peter Murphy album, which is really about
the voice, and then once you go past that name Peter Murphy, it’s
about love, really. M: What
brought you to Turkey? PM: My wife’s a lovely Turkish lady. We met in London and she was commissioned to begin the first-ever modern contemporary state dance company in Turkey, so I moved there. My wife and I have a very creative relationship alongside our love for each other, we’re constantly sort of sharing our works, working with each other. On a social level, Turkey’s my home, really. I think of myself as British and part Irish too, but my heart is in Turkey. : With Michael
J. Sheehy at Club Soda on Sunday, May 5, 9pm, $24.50
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At
the eye of the storm that was Bauhaus—a band that delved into dark
rock, experimentalism and even dub, yet was somehow labeled “goth”—was
Peter Murphy, who vocalized the band’s energy and macabre wit over
20 years ago. After their breakup in ’83, and a subsequent and
successful worldwide “Resurrection Tour,” there lay the proof:
original fans and those who were chillin’ in the womb during the
band’s heyday wanted them to continue where they left off. But
at that point, each member had his own thing going. Peter Murphy’s
latest leads us through a lush entanglement of traditional Turkish music,
with violins, acoustic guitars and percussion, meshed with modern production
values, samples and techno-influenced backdrops, eventually bringing
us back to Montreal.