Fred So a new album after all this time, how does that feel?
Garçe Strangely satisfying actually. When the band fell apart sometime in the early 90's there were a lot of good ideas that never got used. I’ve always been protective of my creative output, songs I’ve written are definate bits of me, so having melodies and lyrics floating around in the ether was quite unsettling. When Tony suggested recording them for fun I secretly hoped they would be released at some point and I can honestly say that not being under pressure to finish recording has given us a better end result.
Fred How does the album fit in with the older work for you?
Garçe That is such a difficult question. Our music was once described as being like “Pastoral Pink Floyd” which I rather like but does this album sound more like PPF than say, Epic Garden Music? When we first recorded our stuff there was an innocence about it as we were still defining our style. The problem with recording after so much time and musical output is that you risk either becoming a caricature of what you think SLAG is or of trying to be something completely different which loses whatever it was you were in the first place. I hope you follow that! Anyway I think we got the balance about right, it’s still SLAG but it’s a progression.
Fred Tell me about the songs and what they are about?
Garçe All the lyrics are relevant to my personal experience. Quite simply I have such an un-rock–n–roll voice that if I can’t believe in the lyrics then I can’t sing them convincingly so you get a lot of me for your money. The songs were either written in rehearsals where we jammed endlessly around a theme, with me warbling like a choir boy on acid over the top or they were sketched out on tape by Tony at home and given to me to write the melody and words. We always recorded all of our rehearsals to extract every ounce of creativity out of each accidental chord change and blip so I always to work from tape ultimately. This was good because I could listen for a mood or atmosphere and build the song around it. I’m not keen on explaining what each song is about because every listener has the right to their own interpretation but I will say there is a song about my daughter (!) a song about my Grandfather and how I would have liked him to have related to my Grandmother and a song about finding strength and self knowledge whilst being depressed. Well you asked.
Fred Your voice sounds as good as ever, if not better. Why is that?
Garçe When you don’t have much of a voice to start with it can’t get much worse! No the voice is better because we recorded it in Tony’s studio and I was more relaxed. Also Tony is an excellent vocal producer.
Fred The lyrics seem more personal than the early SLAG stuff. Was that a conscious decision?
Garçe They are more open because I’ve got more confident as I’ve got older. I remember using elaborate codes to say what I wanted in the past (InFlux) which was quite interesting as an effect. No it wasn’t a conscious decision just maturity, there’s nothing special or unique about my world except my view of it, that is all I have to say.
Fred Was it weird not recording with Nigel and Cliff and Juliet?
Garçe Not half as weird as it was rehearsing with them the other day.
Fred Are you going to be playing live soon?
Garçe SLAG will be appearing in a scout hall near you soon!