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ReviewsYou're Not Alone - Interview by Orkus Q. Hello, Please write your names before your answers, thank you. A. Hello. I am Steve Bellamy, and will be writing this interview (as the main music writer). PJ, our singer will also respond. The band are:- Steve Bellamy – Keys/guitar/bass/programming Q. So, at first, how are your feelings after finishing the work on your new album? Are you satisfied with the results? A. Quite relieved! and yes, we are satisfied. It has taken a long time but I think it has been worth it……It’s nice to know its all finished. I have always been a bit paranoid about computers crashing and such other disasters, even if I have backed up. Its nice to know that it’ll be out there, as it were…..very soon. Q. Only few know you. So tell me something about you. When did it all began and what was the reasons for you to make music. And finally: how did you get your band name? A. Well it started with myself and Andy Page whom have known each other from schooldays. We used to tinker around with synths in our teenage years. This was really down to our love of early synth music, the usual suspects I suppose – Kraftwerk, OMD, Depeche mode etc. Eventually we decided to form a band, which was mainly for fun, and we never really intended to do many gigs, and subsequently split up soon after a handful of small live shows. I was then lucky enough to be approached by Frank Drake, who asked me to remix a Gary Numan song, ‘I die, you die’ for a compilation album of techno mixes. This project required a name, and ‘Greenhaus’ was it! (‘greenhouse gases’, turned to ‘greenhouse’, but with the house in German, if that makes any sense!). We then got to know Jon through an indie band i was also in. He was the natural choice as a guitarist for Greenhaus . Phoenix J, Clark, Susana and Warren have all been recruited in the last 2 years and both Andy and Frank have gone their separate ways. Q. How was the work on the new album? How was the progression? Did you have a special aim to reach while making this (by the way fantastic) album? A. We started out with an idea to do something more challenging and to use a greater array of live instruments. I wanted to try and get away from the samplers and synths. It took a while getting the musicians together, the violins, flutes, percussion and drums, but it was worth it. We were lucky enough to have Achim Faerber from Project Pitchfork on drums for the album, and Namaah Di-Richi and Jonny Hunt on flutes and violins. PJ, our singer has also made a massive difference to the sound, and now I feel the band sound is so much more cohesive than ever before. This, I think was something that was lacking on our last album and I think a lot of stuff on that was done for the sake of doing it. Jon has spent more time getting something different sounding, and I have concentrated on the ‘swirly’ stuff with the e-bow. I think we work better together now – knowing our roles I suppose. Q. For the first time, you will be also released in Germany. Does this perhaps mean something special for you? A. Yes it does. I speak for all of us to say that we love playing in Germany. Personally I think it’s a great country, and it’ll be nice if the release can do well here. Q. How did you get the connection to the Kalinkaland Label in Germany? Do you have already some fans from Germany? A. Kalinkaland approached us after coming to a gig in Erfert whilst we were on tour supporting De/Vision. They liked what they heard live, and got in contact with us via Steffen from De/Vision soon after. We have played a few gigs now in Germany, so it’ll be nice to think that we do have a few fans here! Q. I remember, that I saw you on stage in Munich as support for Mesh. At this time you made only instrumental tracks. What was the reason for you to put a lyric part in your songs? A. That gig in Munich!!! If my memory serves me well, that was the night we started as a 2 piece and finished as a 4 piece. The English have always been rubbish at time keeping! Andy and I have always loved instrumental music. I am a great fan of Mogwai, Godspeed and other cool post rock bands. We used to create our own cassettes of all the instrumental tracks from our album collection ….’Sealand’ by OMD, ‘Elegia’ by New Order, and a whole bunch of Brian Eno! I have a big ambient collection and I still listen to that an awful lot. Jon has always preferred a ‘traditional’ song, so we thought we would try it. We loved the results, and naturally we got a full time vocalist in. Q. Let’s take a look at the lyrics. On one side, songs like “Not In My Name” are very clear in their meanings. Others like “Til The Fat Lady Sings” seems weird to me. What are your intentions when you write the lyrics? A. Ok, I’ll hand you over to PJ for this one! PJ, are they weird?...PJ ‘The title is inspired by a saying from America which may also refer to the opera. It's just a nice way to capture the sentiment I wanted to convey. In the UK we use ‘don't give up, don't give in’ or 'It's not over till it's over'. My lyrical intention was to point out that ‘YOU decide when it's over’. Q. Does the music come after the lyrics or is there also at first the sound and the lyrics comes after? A. All the music is written, and then passed over to PJ to come up with the vocal ideas and words. The whole thing goes back and forth until we are happy. The End result is usually quite different to what we started with. Jon usually re-takes everything as he likes to work around PJ’s vocals. Q. Especially the song “Not In My Name” is very interesting. I think it has something to do with the war in Iraq, isn’t it? A. Anthony Neale, a guest singer wrote this song. He saw banner being held up during a protest, with the words ‘not in my name’ written on it. This was inspiration for him to write this song, and yes, it is about the Iraq conflict. Q. One remarkable song also is “Higher Ground”. Seemed to me like a love declaration to somebody. Is this song dedicated to someone special? Back to PJ….PJ ‘Yes, it's a love song, but it is meant to be a love song to anyone who's special to you.....mother, lover, child and so on... in no particular order -anyone who has helped one to achieve a higher plane of existence’. Q. Generally: Are your lyrics very autobiographical? What inspires you? A. PJ….’They are mostly autobiographical, about situations in which I have experienced. My muse is aided by Steve's compositions and arrangements, which are thoughtful and often pensive and atmospheric’ Q. Your kind of music also impressed me much. Are there some groups or musicians, that inspired you in your work? A. Thank you for your kind comment. I think, to be honest, most things I have heard, and really loved have inspired me to write music. This will be true for Jon and PJ, and probably true for anyone that plays an any kind of instrument. If I had to name any one artist in particular, it would be Mark Hollis of Talk Talk. They have always been on top of the pile. Q. Mostly Synth Pop Bands want to make music for the dance floor. But you are different. You don’t have up-tempo songs. Why do you choose more slow rhythms? A. I just prefer slower music, It makes me think a whole lot more. I think there are some really good dance floor tunes - created by bands that do that thing very well, and the best of luck to them. I would like to think that all musicians do exactly what they love doing, it will show up to an audience if you are trying to do something other than that. I don’t think it’s that unusual to use slower rhythms, although, would agree that the current trend is for club orientated music. Our manager always moans that there isn’t any 140bpm 4/4 stuff for the DJ’s!! Q. How does the people react, when they see you on stage? A. I think we go down well these days because Live its something different to hear . I suppose its quite bold to play totally slow songs live, but I think they stand up to the test. They are very enjoyable to play and hopefully the audience can get that feeling from us. We do see a lot of couples in the audience swaying to the music. We jokingly have named our genre ‘UK Sway’! Q. Bands told me, that it is much more easier to get the crowd by storm when you play funky ore danceable songs. How is your repertoire? How do you get the listeners? A. I would agree with them, it is harder. I suppose for reasons in my previous answer, we would hope to win them over by the end of the set. I think PJ has a wonderful voice, which at times is very difficult to ignore. Q. Will we see you live also here in Germany? Are there some gigs planned? A. We will definitely be coming early 2006 but nothing has been set in stone yet. We are all looking forward to it. Q. Thank you for the interview and all the best for your career A. Our Pleasure, and thank you.
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