Q: Did you play and record most of the songs from Listen for the Rag and Bone Man live, as you did for Further from the Truth ?
SHJ - Yes - Justin , Paul and Ian played the songs together in this big, old barn. It looked very impressive, especially with the double bass and gave a good warm, natural sound. I was singing the guide vocal in a different, smaller room. Once we got a good take of the drums and bass we moved on, that was the really important musical relationship to capture.
Q: Now that you’re living in Switzerland, how do you work with AATT, what is the process of writing? Does that explain the fact that you offer us less albums than previously (the fact that you and Justin are geographically separated)?
SHJ- I've always worked alone with recordings so the actual creative process isn't that different, but it IS much slower as trying out simple arrangement patterns and different approaches needs human interaction, I used to be able to walk across a yard and up a flight of stairs to see Justin, it's not so simple anymore.
Q: Do you think that silence or stillness is necessary for creating?
SHJ: For me it is yes. I used to spend a lot of time creating the right environment to work in, it was part of the process for me and I enjoyed it. But then I started to become a slave to it and this sensitivity started to annoy the hell out of me. Thankfully I am more spontaneous and less particular these days.
Q: … and that the fact that AATT came from a calm place played a part in your music?
SHJ: The Hamlet where we lived had a population that fluctuated between 15 and 20, and yes, this has played a big part in our music, as it played a big part in our lives. Creatively... we made the most of our geographic isolation - we immersed ourselves in it and allowed it to shape the way we worked. In fact i still go back to my memories of those times for inspiration and as a band we still rehearse on a farm a few miles away.
Q: Since The Klaxon your music is softer, less cold, less rude a priori. There’s still melancholy but it seems that it comes from different elements, do you agree? And does it come from a new direction in what you listen to?
SHJ: It wasn't provoked by what we were listening to no, but we did open ourselves up to influences from different sources.
Also, at around that time, we were concerned that if we didn't move away from the sounds and imagery that we had become quite well known for, our music would stagnate and become formulaic. So we started to break away from our past.
We wanted to do something quite extreme but to keep our identity... Justin changed his guitar sound and we sort of let ourselves float away from our pastoral English roots into more urban landscapes. It was like setting out on a dreamlike journey across another continent, into another time.
Not surprisingly this move was unpopular with many of our admirers but it was actually what kept the band alive. '(Listen for) The rag and bone man' is coming from another place again, although sometimes you can hear reflections not only from that period but also from our original sound in some of the songs. This came very naturally but still, we were suspicious about it at first... we didn't want to 'go back' to something we'd left behind for the wrong reasons. In the end we let it be, accepting that our past shapes our present and that that can sometimes be a positive thing.
Q: AATT always had a special sound, that we’re able to recognize among thousand others, even if the band evolved, did you ever think about doing scores for movies?
SHJ: We are often asked this question and yes, we do think about it. When the right offer, the right project, comes along maybe we will actually do it.
Q: AATT always had a strong romantic imagery (in the literal sense of the word, from your look to your influences), this time you recorded (Listen for) The Rag and Bone Man in a manor. How did it happen?
SHJ: We recorded it in a large barn in the grounds of a manor actually... and it was one of those things that just happened, as they tend to with AATT. We weren't specifically looking for a romantic location at all. We wanted to see what the alternatives to recording in a studio were so we asked Matthew Devenish, the sound engineer who we'd asked to record the album, to see what options he could find.
And it just happened that he discovered an ancient but newly renovated barn, with very fine acoustics, for rent in Herefordshire. Which happened to be in the grounds of a very beautiful, decaying, 11th century manor house... with a huge untamed garden, surrounded by unspoiled countryside.
Improbable... but true.
Q: What about the actual line-up and the arrival of Ian Jenkins? What new did he bring on (Listen for) The Rag and Bone Man?
SHJ: Our long time bassist Steven Burrows went to live in America just after the last album. We plan to work with him again but for this album it would have been a bridge too far.
Ian Jenkins had taken Steven's place for the live performances and during some of the rehearsals with Justin and Paul a creative vibe had naturally started to form amongst them. The experiments with Ian playing the double bass were very important steps towards starting the album and giving it a direction - we found the sound, especially when bowed, very inspiring and the instrument has a wonderful presence. (Shame he can't , for technical and size reasons, use it live.) I suspect that without this union of AATT, Ian Jenkins and the double bass there would have been no new album.
Q:Your lyrics are once again inspired by stories (obviously legends, special characters – Mary…?) could you tell us a bit more about what inspired you? Or do you still bring these characters from your imagination/dreams (like Vincent Craine)?
SHJ: I bring them from the music via my imagination. Mucklow is actually the name of a character who is part of the folklore from where we come from in Worcestershire. He is said to have been hung for stealing livestock at a crossroads near our old house... and he came into my mind when I was working on the vocals for that song. There was a very menacing presence in that piece of music and when I tried to channel it though me it came out in a voice that wasn't much like mine... and sounded like someone calling the cattle in but charged with fear or panic. A bit of a freaky experience to tell the truth which left me thinking...'who the fuck was that?'. And then I had Mucklow in my mind.
Mary of the woods is very different, she comes from the music, and when the music stops she's gone.
Q: What is your favorite track on this album and why?
SHJ: This changes from day to day, they have all been my favorites at some point. Today my favorite was 'Under the stars'. I love the way it starts with that guitar that reflects Justin's old style. The way the other instruments join it and build up to that almost orchestral climax after the second verse before the main guitar theme comes in - so late in the song. And I'm pleased with the words, they seem to describe scenes as if through a camera from above, and the way they are full of hope.
Q: This is your eleventh album, how do you see your career?
SHJ: As a 'Career' it has been a disaster, as an on going creative work it has been an absolute joy.
Q: Do you have any regrets?
SHJ: No major regrets but of course there are plenty of things that we could have done differently....
too much reverb here.. too much 'synth' there, not enough guitar on this album, songs overworked all over the place, unnecessarily complicated arrangements ... but we don't lose sleep over it.
A lot of people think we should be reaching a much larger and broader audience than we are, and I suppose the fact that we aren't is the result of failings on our part. But we don't lose sleep over that either. It's all part of what makes us what we are... and we're OK about that.
Q: What are the things you’re the most proud of?
SHJ: I'm proud of the fact that we remained true to ourselves. I'm proud to be associated with the music and that I'm able to be a part of it.
Q: You worked with Bernard Trontin for your beautiful project called November. What did that experience bring to you?
SHJ: It brought me a lot of pleasure because Bernard is a very nice guy with a massive enthusiasm for music. He is also an excellent and creative musician and his confidence in me was very heartening. We were both very pleased with what we did. It made me feel stronger.
Q: Would you like to give a follower to this first album?
SHJ: Yes, but if you have seen how busy 'The Young Gods' are you'll understand that we haven't had much time to work together for a while. But something will happen eventually
Q: Any other projects of that kind?
SHJ: No.
Q: Did you ever think to express yourself in another kind of art? Or does music fulfill all your desires?
SHJ: I trained as and worked as a photographer but as long as I am working on music I find it difficult to seriously dedicate myself to other forms of expression. Justin and Paul are both artistically gifted - it would be great if life offered them more opportunities to use their talents.
Q: Your gigs seem to be as deep and strong in colours as 15 years ago (when I first saw you for example). After 27 years on stage, do you still feel new sensations or real excitement?
SHJ: That feeling is still there, as strong as ever and we still have a great hunger for it. It's important for us that the new material compliments the older songs well... as performers it feels as though the new songs carry the old ones along in the flow - a bit like the way we, as people, carry along fragments of the past.
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