When Slowdive, one of the 80s/ early 90s shoegaze pioneers who disbanded after their third record, announced their comeback in 2014 with the self-titled album in the following years, it’s beyond the wildest dreams young fans like us would never expect this to be real. But here will be our second time seeing them live with our eyes in our hometown, believe it or not!
In this COSMOS’ Space Invader, we’re with Slowdive’s guitarist Christian Savill, on their second record after the 20-year hiatus ‘Everything is Alive’, and everything else we’ve never known about them that makes us feel alive.
When thinking of Slowdive, we’d never expect to hear this sound from you. This album is heavily influenced by 80s underground electronic music, yet still contains the band’s signature guitar sounds. Please tell us how you chose this direction for the album.
We grew up with synth music. So it’s always been an important part of our musical development. I remember being obsessed with Kraftwerk when ‘The Model’ was number 1 in the UK in 1982. That was way before I got into guitars. Neil (vocal, guitar) got really into electronic music in the early 90s and that influence can be heard on ‘Pygmalion’. So it’s not feel like a big jump for us. In recent years Neil and Simon (drums) have been experimenting and writing with synths. I think Neil is just enjoying writing songs in different ways and we liked the song ideas he presented for this record.
It’s been around 6 years since you released the self-titled album ‘Slowdive’, which was your first in 20 years after the break. When you were back for touring, were there any moments that inspired the lyrics or music in ‘Everything is Alive’?
I can’t speak for Neil so don’t know if there was anything during touring that provided inspiration. Neil is always working and writing, but that’s harder during touring. We chose to take a year off after the last album and then Covid hit. So I think a lot of writing happened during that period.
How did John Cale and the Velvet Underground’s music influence this album?
The Velvet Underground were always a massive inspiration for us and our whole generation. One of the reasons I wanted to join the band back in 1989 was because of a brilliant cover of ‘Stephanie Says’ they did. That was before the band became Slowdive (fka The Pumpkin Fairies). I know ‘Paris 1919’ by John Cale is one of Neil’s favourite albums.
What’s the inspiration behind the art direction of this album; the maze, and how does that relate to your music?
We didn’t have the maze in mind when the record was finished. We were all trying to find art that fitted. Neil’s partner Ingrid found the old illustration of Labyrinth of the Reims Cathedral and we all loved it. We changed it slightly to have a more spectral figure in the middle. Ingrid has a great knack of finding the right art for the music. She also had the idea for the 2017 record which was from a Harry Smith’s 1957 film ‘Heaven and Earth Magic’.
How do you feel about ‘the scene that celebrates itself’, a term coined by the media in the past, becoming a huge movement in modern music and even one of the mainstream genres in the Bangkok music scene (and beyond)?
We don’t really think about it to be honest. Obviously we got labeled as shoegazers back in the 90s and it wasn’t complimentary. Whereas now it’s been reclaimed and turned into a positive thing for kids finding or starting bands. I’ve noticed older people in the UK can still be dismissive of us as just shoegazers when I doubt they’ve heard things like ‘Pygmalion’ and are still just taking old reviews from the 90s as gospel.
Did you ever imagine that the music you made in your 20s would become so powerful and inspire so many bands in the past 30 years?
Definitely not. It’s truly amazing to us. You have little ambitions when you start a band… do a gig or two, maybe even make one record if we’re really lucky. The thought at the time that you could make a record that would still be being discovered 30 years later would be like the wildest of ambitions.
As I read on the Grammy website, you felt a bit awkward when people treat you as a ‘heritage band’ and mostly want to hear your old records live. Do you still feel that way?
We’re totally fine with how people find us… If some people just love the old stuff, that’s totally their choice. From our perspective we want to make new music as well. We still love the feeling of playing new music that we’re all excited about. Hopefully people who love the old records will give the new songs a listen too. But obviously we’ve noticed that some of the newer songs like ‘Sugar For the Pill’ or ‘Kisses’ get cheered as loud as old favourites.
It’s common for artists, when performing the songs they made when they were young, to not have the same emotions or sentiments as when they start writing it. Is it the same to you?
I think that’s the case for all performers regardless of age. A song can be a little snapshot of a particular moment or feeling that you may never feel ever again. Playing the songs live is different every night. Something can happen in a show that can make playing a particular song special… could be the sound or the audience reaction or something else that makes it emotional.
What is the mind-blowing discovery or the best practice you’ve got from being in the industry/ making music?
We’ve seen all the ups and downs of the music industry. It’s like life. Just gotta make the most of the good moments and don’t take anything for granted.
I remember in the interview at Laneway Singapore 2018 that Slowdive fans were super quiet, almost like they were paying respect to your music. Is it like that at every show?
Audiences are different around the world. We’re just grateful there is an audience because in 1994 that wasn’t always the case. We played in South America and the audiences there were so raucous and loud and it was really fun. It’s totally fine if audiences are quiet and more restrained or respectful. People can express themselves however they want. Sometimes when it’s really quiet we worry that we’ve done something wrong.
It’s the second time of Slowdive in Bangkok, but this will be your first solo show here. Are you excited about playing on the indoor stage in front of your fans?
We can’t wait to come back to Bangkok. We get to play for longer and play songs from all our albums. Thank you so much for all your support. We’re so excited to play for you. We hope you’ll enjoy the show with us.
See you on Monday 18 March at Voice Space for their sold out show #HYHBKK Live! with Slowdive
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