And Also The Trees

AND ALSO THE TREES

It was in the early 80s when John Peel described And Also The Trees as “too English for the English”. Maybe this is one reason why founding member and singer Simon Huw Jones moved to Geneva in Switzerland some time ago. He does not only steer the course of AATT from there, but also runs a side project with YOUNG GODS-drummer Bernard Trontin. In early times, AATT were often associated with THE CURE (in the beginning of the 80s they toured with them twice), and Robert Smith repeatingly talked about AATT being his favourite band. This led to Smith and Laurence Tulhurst producing some of AATT’s early releases.

But that’s a long time ago. The band’s current sound is far more sophisticated, mature and provides more “Industrial White Man’s Blues”-charm than in the early years.Today the band members live in Worcestershire, Geneva and East London. Maybe that’s the reason that it’s been some time since their last regular studio album, the very introspective “Further From The Truth” in 2003. In last year’s November, their tenth album “(Listen for) The Rag And Bone Man” was released. The band’s self-assessment reveals essential and significant reminiscences: “a dreamlike journey through dark landscapes populated by stray nursery rhyme characters, mysterious women who peer into the psyche and pools of light that appear like reflections of their pastoral upbringing... touched by the likes of Scott Walker, Tom Waits, Calexico“. Nonetheless – and really positive – the new album shows the return of such great past moments and albums such as “Virus Meadow” (1986) and “The Klaxon” (1993). The new album was presented to the German audience in some concerts in autumn 2007. Emer Brizzola enriched the band on keyboards and some other instruments.

MK: There’s been some time since the last regular release “Further From The Truth” (2003), if you do not count the retrospective “Best Of 1980-2005” and your project with Bernard Trontin of THE YOUNG GODS. What happened in the meantime?

SHJ: Usually it takes some time until we finish the songwriting. And after the last album our Bass player Stven Burrows emigrated to the USA with his family. This naturally restrains the developing process of a new album. Ian Jenkins took over his part and in the first rehearsals with Ian and Paul it became clear that his creative input would become an important impulse. Ian’s experimants with the double bass surely were an important point. We felt that this new and warm sound was very inspiring. Then everything flowed as if in a stream and all of a piece, but good songs take their time.

MK: When exploring AATT’s body of work, there always was a very significant influence of literature, paiting or poetry, for exaple William Cowper or painting of the 19th century. What were your influences for the new album? For example, “Further From The Truth” in its matureness would have been a good soundtrack for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Greast Gatsby”.

SHJ: I think everything we experience, read and hear in everyday life influences us in one or other way. Some things influence us to be creative, some don’t. Currently I read a lot by Haruki Murakami, a Japanese writer who wrote books like “Kafka On The Shore” or “On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning “. I appreciate him a lot. On the one hand, he’s very entertaining, on the other hand he cultivated a consise and clear style which I wanted to flow into my lyrics. I cannot say for sure if I succeeded in this, but I hope so. With our current sound, we’re also closer to our old stuff again. Considering my lyrics, partly it was as if I visited familiar places from the past. At first I was doubtful, because I thought I’d repeat myself, but then I felt this to be a natural process. What you describe as “mature” or “glamourous” maybe is a good counterpart to rockmusic’s tendency to extreme alcohol abuse or extremely exaggereted harshness and a very retarded imagination of human relationships and what they are about.

MK: In my impression a musician steadily develops himself, for example currently Nick Cave with GRINDERMAN focusses on the puristic blues of John Lee Hooker and Memphis Slim. At a certain age Blues and Jazz seem to play a more dominant role. Would you say that this is the same in the case of AATT?

SHJ: I know what you mean. But I don’t think that this applies to AATT. From the beginning, Jazz always was an influence more or less, even from the first album. We evened this out with the lyrics and the musical arrangements. The song “Rive droit” from the new album begins with a very Jazz-influenced rhythm section of double bass and drums, but during the song this changes with the influence of guitar and voice: leaving Jazz behind for a more classic or romantic direction. Musicians like Tom Waits or Nick Cave of course go along perfectly with this Jazz- and Blues-dominated world and are part of it. We also don’t want to fade out this influence.

MK: In my eyes David Sylvian also is a great artist who perfectly combines music, poetry and painting/art. For example his early 90’s multi-medial installation project “Ember Glance: The Permanence of Memory”, a collaboration with Russal Mills and Ian Walton. From time to time I see parallels to AATT. Are you interested in collaborations like that, maybe like Sylvian did with BLONDE REDHEAD?

SHJ: I also think David Sylvian is a great artist. But I cannot see a real parallel to us. For example I could imagine a collaboration with Stina Nordenstam with her singing and writing lyrics instead of me. I could imagine the same with a black female singer. I think someday we really should do a soundtrack for a movie. I could imagine a plot dealing with the tension of a big city. Beyond AATT, I personally will continue working with Bernard Trontin. But I cannot really imagine doing anything else than AATT.

MK: In Berlin you played with the GOLDEN APES – somehow a hybrid between THE CURE and THE SISTERS OF MERCY – who are based in the Gothic scene. The Gothic tag accompanies you right from the start. Is this category a “burden” for you?

SHJ: First I have to say that I like the GOLDEN APES. And about this Gothic-tag that accompanies us through the whole band history: well, it’s just the same with THE YOUNG GODS, THE TINDERSTICKS, DEPECHE MODE or NICK CAVE. We are just as “Gothic” as them, not more, not less. It’s more a burden for us that we did not get the publicity like they did and did not get the attention and presence in the music press to put things right. That indeed is a little pity.

MK: In April 1984 AATT did a BBC Radio 1 Session for John Peel. John Peel died some years ago and also Tony Wilson, Factory Records mastermind and “discoverer” of Joy Division, died last year. Have you ever met one of them?

SHJ: No, not one of them. John Peel really was an influence to everyone who was interested in music in his formative times. Like many others we spent our time in front of the radio to listen to his shows – nearly in a religious way. That way we discovered the bands which were most important to us. He presented them in a very worthily way. I think his opinion had such a relevance that he himself sometimes must have thought that one single person’s opinion should not have such an importance. – but of course that was not his fault. He was so exceptional that no other DJ could be compared to him in any way.

MK: Last topic “youthful transgressions”: In the middle of the 80’s AATT did a cover of “Lady d’Arbanville” by Cat Stevens, today known as Yusuf Islam. Are there any other songs you’d like to do a cover of? My first thought was “The Mercy Seat” by Nick Cave. I think you perfectly could have reproduced this significant feverish-dramatic style, just like in your own song “Shaletown”.

SHJ: Well, to speak frankly, the cover of Lady d’Arbanville is a thing we kind of regret today. And that’s the reason why we are more cautious about cover versions. I would not dare to lay my hands on “The Mercy Seat”. I even would go so far and say that the original is sacrosanct – with the exception of Johnny Cash’s version which surely is a noteworthy interpretation. But I take it as a compliment that you think we could do the same.

Interview