HUGO RACE ex-guitarist and founding member of BAD SEEDS in their great years speaks to Dimitris Antonopoulos for his new album with CHRIS ECKMAN (Walkabouts) and DIRTMUSIC.
1.Tell me some details about your new album with DIRTMUSIC?
The new Dirtmusic BKO album has a special genesis in a trip we made to Mali two years ago to play at the festival au desert in Timbuktu. We shared a campsite at the edge of the Sahara with a young Tuareg band called Tamikrest and we just jammed with a bunch of unplugged electric guitars and a dobro. I taped some of the jams with a portable cassette player in mono and mastered them up later in digital and there was this great atmosphere, but really lo-fi.
Chris and Chris and I really wanted to release this bootleg as the 'Tent Sessions', but I was talking to Pino from Tamikrest in Kidal at the same time and he said Tamikrest didn't want to put that stuff out. So we booked some studio time in Bamako the year following and they came down from the desert and we cut the album, old school style, in about a week. Theres a lot of guitars
2.What about your cover 'All tomorrows partys' (VELVET UNDERGROUND*)
One of those synchronistic events- in the jam sessions in the desert, Brokaw launched into it - maybe as a classic New York folksong - and it struck a chord sonically with the Tuaregs, it came up as a party vibe, and we just left it like that.
3.About your collaberation with Chris Eckman,is there a great 'chemistry'?I think?Tell me about
We're exploring common ground but coming from different places. its good to step outside whatever box you're in and open your mind. I like what Chris and Chris Brokaw bring to Dirtmusic respectively, and the fact that its coming out of their US roots. Australia is a different kind of society, but the resonace of dispossession and estrangement from europe is mutual, and then these anglo-irish musical roots. We're getting comfortable singing together, theres a lot of subtle backing vocal son the BKO tracks
4.Can we expect a new TRUE SPIRIT record soon?
Not proximately. There is a True Spirit album in its formative stages, but the next thing you're likely to hear from me is a solo album called Fatalists, that should appear as vinyl and download only this summer. Fatalists has a different sound to the True Spirit - maybe more acoustic, and with different players from all over the world.
5.Are u still in love with KRAFTWERK?As you told me many years ago(2003)here in Athens/radio interview.
Love might be too strong a world. I still dig electronica. Did you check out my Between Hemispheres release of 2009? Instrumental, limited edition, African raw meets electronica in a trance state
6.What about the music industry nowdays,with the internet,mp3s etc.Your point of view..
Well, that's why Fatalists is going to be vinyl only. Musically, it suits the analog LP format in a way that makes sense. Cds are becoming redundant really. BKO is out on vinyl too. The point is, you cannot easily translate the vinyl listening experience to another platform - its is exclusively its own format. In digital, everybody is streaming to mp3 players. This isn't good for albums as a format, and the audio spectrum is not the same. Music loses substance in digital, like a videotape of a painting. These are qualitative issues, but its about getting the music across in the best way to those who really want it. So its gotta go back to vinyl to survive. Otherwise, as we all know, the internet is a mindfuck!
7.Any chance for an Athens gig soon maybe?
Improbable. I don't imagine Greek promoters taking risks this year/ But I'd jump at the chance to play Athens anytime, I love to visit there
8.Some details etc about the forthcomin SKY SAXON tribute album,with IGGY,THE FUZZTONES,ELECTRIC PRUNES etc,you'll be a part of it ofcourse with TRUE SPIRIT.How do you feel?
The Owsley is just kicking in. We didn't get started yet, been too crazy the last months.
9.And for the end,are u still enjoy your stuff with the BAD SEEDS,looking back? Amazing times, I guess.
It was very interesting seeing the DVD documentary in the Mute reissue of From Her to Eternity, brought back a lot of memories, as did the recent passing of Rowland. The wheel just keeps on turning. Doesn't seem so long ago anymore...
Ciao Hugo Race
THANK YOU!dimitris
Hugo Race's Official Site
1.Tell me some details about your new album with DIRTMUSIC?
The new Dirtmusic BKO album has a special genesis in a trip we made to Mali two years ago to play at the festival au desert in Timbuktu. We shared a campsite at the edge of the Sahara with a young Tuareg band called Tamikrest and we just jammed with a bunch of unplugged electric guitars and a dobro. I taped some of the jams with a portable cassette player in mono and mastered them up later in digital and there was this great atmosphere, but really lo-fi.
Chris and Chris and I really wanted to release this bootleg as the 'Tent Sessions', but I was talking to Pino from Tamikrest in Kidal at the same time and he said Tamikrest didn't want to put that stuff out. So we booked some studio time in Bamako the year following and they came down from the desert and we cut the album, old school style, in about a week. Theres a lot of guitars
2.What about your cover 'All tomorrows partys' (VELVET UNDERGROUND*)
One of those synchronistic events- in the jam sessions in the desert, Brokaw launched into it - maybe as a classic New York folksong - and it struck a chord sonically with the Tuaregs, it came up as a party vibe, and we just left it like that.
3.About your collaberation with Chris Eckman,is there a great 'chemistry'?I think?Tell me aboutWe're exploring common ground but coming from different places. its good to step outside whatever box you're in and open your mind. I like what Chris and Chris Brokaw bring to Dirtmusic respectively, and the fact that its coming out of their US roots. Australia is a different kind of society, but the resonace of dispossession and estrangement from europe is mutual, and then these anglo-irish musical roots. We're getting comfortable singing together, theres a lot of subtle backing vocal son the BKO tracks
4.Can we expect a new TRUE SPIRIT record soon?
Not proximately. There is a True Spirit album in its formative stages, but the next thing you're likely to hear from me is a solo album called Fatalists, that should appear as vinyl and download only this summer. Fatalists has a different sound to the True Spirit - maybe more acoustic, and with different players from all over the world.
5.Are u still in love with KRAFTWERK?As you told me many years ago(2003)here in Athens/radio interview.
Love might be too strong a world. I still dig electronica. Did you check out my Between Hemispheres release of 2009? Instrumental, limited edition, African raw meets electronica in a trance state 6.What about the music industry nowdays,with the internet,mp3s etc.Your point of view..
Well, that's why Fatalists is going to be vinyl only. Musically, it suits the analog LP format in a way that makes sense. Cds are becoming redundant really. BKO is out on vinyl too. The point is, you cannot easily translate the vinyl listening experience to another platform - its is exclusively its own format. In digital, everybody is streaming to mp3 players. This isn't good for albums as a format, and the audio spectrum is not the same. Music loses substance in digital, like a videotape of a painting. These are qualitative issues, but its about getting the music across in the best way to those who really want it. So its gotta go back to vinyl to survive. Otherwise, as we all know, the internet is a mindfuck!
7.Any chance for an Athens gig soon maybe?
Improbable. I don't imagine Greek promoters taking risks this year/ But I'd jump at the chance to play Athens anytime, I love to visit there
8.Some details etc about the forthcomin SKY SAXON tribute album,with IGGY,THE FUZZTONES,ELECTRIC PRUNES etc,you'll be a part of it ofcourse with TRUE SPIRIT.How do you feel?
The Owsley is just kicking in. We didn't get started yet, been too crazy the last months.
9.And for the end,are u still enjoy your stuff with the BAD SEEDS,looking back? Amazing times, I guess.
It was very interesting seeing the DVD documentary in the Mute reissue of From Her to Eternity, brought back a lot of memories, as did the recent passing of Rowland. The wheel just keeps on turning. Doesn't seem so long ago anymore...
Ciao Hugo Race
THANK YOU!dimitris
Hugo Race's Official Site
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