Q 1) FIGHTING
I once read a Jill Sobule interview where she alluded to your “handsome English mug, that says ‘don’t mess with me'”, and wondered how ‘handy’ you are in a fight? (You did live in Glasgow for a while after all)
A – I’m happy to report that I’m 0 for 0 in fighting as an adult. I can claim two TKOs, I think, when on two separate occasions an ass offered to ‘take it outside’ and then declined to when I accepted… As a teenager I was 1 for 2, both awful experiences, winning worse than losing, as I recall.
Q 2) FRIGHTENING
Has a fan ever really freaked-you-out by crossing the line between ‘avid’, and ‘rabid’ (like riffling through your bins and calling you 15 times-a-day)?
A – A few times. There are one or two avatars on this site that I know well enough to hit the delete button before even reading.
Q 3) EXPERT
Given that you have recently pulled-off the coup of getting JAPW to contribute to your new record, is there anyone you’re ever tempted to call and ask if they’d ‘work for scale’? (I’m thinking maybe Eno, Scott Walker, Nile Rodgers, Prince, John Barry, Tom Verlaine…just kidding on that last one 😉
A – Gosh. The list is endless. Before I met Quine I was thinking of calling Richard Thompson. Eno, sure, but not sure when it would have been a good idea. On this record I was thinking we might try to get Bowie to sing back-ups, but then when I heard Joan with, Dave, Mark and Kendall I knew we were fine. DB is my favourite backing singer – his work on those two Iggy records and Transformer is fantastic.
Q 4) TIMING
Do you ever worry about the ‘legacy’ of your work? (Like if some indie filmaker in 20 years time chooses to put your recording of Romany Soup on their soundtrack, and this will be the thing you’re ultimately remembered for)
A – I used to think about those sorts of things, but all one can do is to try to put good work out there. One cannot even choose one’s audience.