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You're Not Alone - Interview by Sonic Seducer

Q. Steve and Jon - as your band is assumingly mostly new to our readers, please tell us a bit about your history - how did you get into music, and how did your musical vita develop? As I read, you started off with Techno tracks back then? How did that develop to your current sound?

For me (steve), it all started with the synthesizer. I used to love the early 80’s music I could get hold of and it inspired me to buy an old string synth for 75 quid (£75). I loved the ambient instrumentals that someone like OMD and the like produced - that was enough to get me hooked. I met Jon much later in another London based band we were in, he joined greenhaus after I had known him about six months. I know Jon was very much into learning the guitar to a good standard before he did anything with it – totally the opposite from myself really. As for Phoenix, she has had success in Asia, but I couldn’t tell you how it all started for her!! Techno, Hmmm. The band ‘Greenhaus’ did start as a 3 piece techno outfit. It started out of the blue, based around my a load of stuff I had churned out over the years. It all soon started to change as I think Techno is quite limiting as to what you can do, and not my first love at all. We were always accused of being to melodic for the techno market, and we didn’t really fit in with that scene either. I’ve always liked ambient / slow instrumental music, and with the introduction of Jon on the guitar, the techno beats became less and less and now are gone completely. PJ has joined us, and has added great vocal melodies to our new album. There are still a lot of electronics going on though - I suppose those will always remain, but there are no more four four style beats. We wanted to create something a lot less electronic, and that’s why we got involved with the violins and woodwind as well as the live drums. It took ages, especially the string stuff, but I am glad we stuck at it.

Q. How did it feel touring many times through Germany without having an album in the backpack that had a proper distribution in Germany?

A little bit fruststrating I suppose, although the fact that nothing was available easily meant we sold a lot more at the shows. You have to sell a lot to make ends meet! I think touring is enjoyable anyway and the bigger picture got forgotten because we were having a really cool time.

Q. Is it strange to you to be mostly seen as a newcomer in Germany with the history that you already have, as this is your first official release here?

This is our first official release in Germany, so it doesn’t surprise us at all. I think the new album is so different from the last two unofficial albums that it’s a good starting point for those who don’t know who we are.

Q. During the time of your first albums “The Unmistakable Sound Of Sloth” and “Another Life”, your worked with various singers who basically had the status of guest singers, like it is also practised by bands like Massive Attack. Now you have a stable band line-up – where do you see the advantages and disadvantages in both ways of making music? Was it a conscious decision to change the concept of the band?

The main advantage for using different singers was the fact that a different voice could be used for a different sounding track. The slower tracks on ‘Another Life’ were well suited to Lahannya’s melodic voice and tone, whereas something like ‘try harder’ was perfect for Roi’s style. I suppose the different voices gave us a lot of variety on one hand, but took away continuity on the other. Our thinking is that the continuity of an album is more important. Maybe that’s why Massive Attack use a singer over a lot more songs. They usually sing at least three songs, and one featured vocalist will be prominent over the others for each album. Live shows were a bit of a nightmare with different vocalists. We played once in London where the plan was to play with five different singers, each with an instrumental in between. Well, the nights’ schedule ran later and later, and by the time we came on, we had half the original set time. All the instrumentals were cut, which left us with a ‘TV audition’ show style walk on, walk off, from the singers – each announcing themselves as the entered the stage. It was a bit embarrassing for all involved, confusing for the audience and looked very unprofessional. That was the night that Jon, Andy (who has since left the band) and I said ‘no more!’. PJ sang that night and we thought she was amazing, luckily she liked us too, and that was that, she joined!

Q. How did the process of songwriting change with your new members – if it changed at all?

For ‘You’re not alone’ the music writing methods haven’t really changed . The album was finished before Clark(bass), Susana(keys), and Warren(drums) joined. I do the programming/ electronics and then Jon and I share the guitars and bass etc. The drums were added last and kindly provided by Achim Faerber from Project Pitchfork. PJ works on the vocals usually at a stage where the music is half finished. She changes stuff, I change the arrangements and so on and so on until the whole thing eventually works (we hope!!).

Now things are slowly changing drirection. We have started jamming together and are enjoying the total ‘Live’ jamming/writing thing. Its nice when you can change things on the fly as there is no backing music to follow. These jams will form part of the next release, although they will need to be shortened from the average running time of 20 minutes! I think half of the next release will be electronica based and the other half quite live sounding.

Q. Where do you see the differences to “Another Life” and “You´re Not Alone” yourself?

The first difference is that Phoenix J commands most of ‘You’re Not Alone’. There are 2 other vocalists involved namely Anthony Neale and Josie Akers, who both do a great job, but they only have two and one song each respectively. Lahannya was great on ‘Another Life’, but didn’t feature as much. The music is very different in sound. We have used, I would say eighty percent ‘real’ instruments and twenty percent ‘electronic’ ones. I like those proportions, I would like to think that they seem to work.

Q. Phoenix J, what was your musical career before you became a member of Greenhaus? What´s influencing you for lyrics, and what your intention in the lyrics on “You´re Not Alone”?

I’ve had two solo albums, starting with my BINARY STAR debut, which was Top 40 in Asia. The second, JUNKK, was released in the UK once I had moved there from my native Singapore. I’ve also performed quite a bit, taking in America also. And I’ve constantly kept up a series of collaborations with some exciting and talented musicians, such as the guys at Greenhaus, which is my current focus. As for lyrics, I write about things that are personal, but not just to me. Events, and people's reactions to them, are a rich source of inspiration. 'You're Not Alone' is about having to face the challenges of life that can make one feel alone in this world. Circumstances may be unique but the problems are often universal. Just knowing that you’re not out there facing it on your own can be empowering and will help you pull through. Most of the songs that I have written for the album are about self-empowerment, which, not coincidentally, is a stage I’m going through right now. So, come to think of it, it’s pretty much autobiographical!

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