The Jazz Butcher
Press
The Record Store Up Front And Center Issue #5
- May 08, 1992
Published: The Record Store Up Front And Center Issue #5
(Waterloo, Canada)
May 08, 1992
Credit:
Jennifer Brown
Interview w/Conspirator:
Pat Fish
Album Review:
Condition Blue
Jen: I'd like to talk about the new album,
Condition Blue
. There is
definitely a more sombre tone to this record than in the
past. Was this a conscious effort by the band?
Pat: Yes, it's borne out of some very tortured personal
experiences that left me chewing the furniture for months.
That was on way of crawling out of it. It's basically fifty
minutes of music that goes "Come Baaaaack!!!!!!" ...
it didn't work
Where is she now?
I don't know.
You have this label of being an eccentric wierdo, but
you sound pretty normal to me! Is it all a big myth?
It really is. If you put me in a room full of Tory
voting, queer bashing plumbers - yeah, I'd look pretty odd.
It only takes one journalist like that and "eccentric" goes
on file. I don't think of myself as particularly special;
apart from being a steaming A #1, 24 karat genius.
What was it like working with
David J.
(Bauhaus, Tones on
Tail) on your first record? He's a gothic idol!
Well, we are a gothic group. In our own twisted
little way we've got plenty in common with those sick 19th
century gothic types. In fact, our shows now are much more
demanding on the audience. It's much more than going along
and drinking to the sounds of
Sex Engine
.
I guess you've progressed from that "funny rock band"
image. But you said in 1984 that you liked the dumbness of
pop music. Isn't it all pretty dumb?
It's dumb now in a way that is appalling. What I
really meant by that was when you look on old "Doo-Wop"
records from the 50's and 60's, there is a kind of naivete
or innocence - dumbness in the best possibly way. Today,
it's less dumbness and more stupidity!
(quoting Nigel Tufnel) It's a fine line between clever
and stupid. How do young bands with some degree of
intelligence get heard in the U.K.? There is a real lack of
community or college radio there.
Some colleges have radio, but it's very much "student
favourites." They really don't have a lot of influence. It
all basically depends on two channels. One is John Peel,
who is granted a patronising two hours a night on the
national BBC, where he plays what I call "Grubby Squatter
Music." I've never really cared for his taste. The other
thing is just through playing gigs. It's a small country,
and there are a lot of venues.
What about the British Press
It's basically the press and their pals who contrive
things. The whole way bands get famous here is to do with
newspaper sale. Basically, it's the same 200 people in
London getting older and more out of touch, trying to
control things.
Sounds like the Government!
Yeah, we're all neck deep in shit, aren't we?
Condition Blue
For all the pain and crap from which this record was made, the actual sessions were a gigantic and wonderful party. This was warmly received by The Outside World, less popular among those who counted themselves JBC afficionados. This IS the sound of me having fun, and getting me to do that in those dark days of mid-1991 was no small job.
![[Condition Blue cover thumbnail]](/images/releases/blue_front_250.jpg)
creation_records, sky_records LP;CD
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20Nov2010 10:07 PM (12 years 318 days ago)J was not in Tones on Tail.