INTERVIEW: Superstar
- Bob Gajarsky
Superstar, the Glasgow-based rock band built on harmonies, recently pulled into Hoboken on their three week American tour. The club they played at? The famous Maxwell's - launching pad for many groups, from R.E.M. to They Might Be Giants to New Order and hundreds more. The concert-goer sometimes gets lucky and sees a veteran such as Bob Mould or Alex Chilton to play here, or sees a band that's just starting to break through on American soil (Frente! played there in June). But, for this evening, the stage was all Superstar's. And, before their concert, Consumable Online had a chance to catch up with Joe McAlinden, lead singer and guitarist for Superstar. Consumable Online: Getting Alex Chilton (Box Tops, Big Star) to play with you on your American debut album is a mighty impressive accomplishment. How did you get him to play on the record? Superstar: Basically, I was playing strings, brass, violin and sax for (boyhood friends) Teenage Fanclub on the records and that's how I met Alex Chilton. We got on real well - had similar tastes in music - and last year we were recording the album, and Big Star were at a show in Glasgow. Teenage Fanclub was supporting them and I was playing with them. We were standing, watching Big Star, applauding, and Alex Chilton said "Hey Joe, do you know Kansas City in 'C'?" and I said "Yeah", so he said "Well, bring your sax up". So I got to play on the Big Star reunion tour. He came down to the studio one day - we had a couple of the tracks we had to do - and he liked a couple of the songs - and that's how it happened. We traded numbers, keep in touch - he's now recording a new album which should be out later this year. C: Bringing in others isn't totally unusual - but you did bring your 62 year old father in to play piano on one of the tracks "Let's Get Lost". What's his musical background? S: My dad was a high school music teacher and a trained pianist in the Royal Academy of Music. I just thought it would be neat to have him play on the same record - I mean, me and my father on the same record - to me, is almost quite romantic. C: Did you get any chills when you were in the studio, listening to him play, thinking "He's going to be on *my* record?" S: It's great, y'know. He was actually my teacher at school , so when he was in the studio (this time) I was the boss. I got my own back on him. We actually did a good job. C: When I'm in there listening to you on the soundcheck, the first thing that was very noticable is three guitars and drums - that's it. On the release, you had violins other string instruments and horns which you're omitting on the tour. Will that harder-edged sound be prevalent on the tour? S: Yeah, I mean, the thing about the songs is I hear the songs in my head - when they're done, they're good songs. They can be played on acoustical guitars and still be good songs. And it just - you have to be careful not to rely too much on the strings and the brass to carry the song, but to enhance the song. They enhance it - but they don't *make* the song. All the harmonies are still there. All of us are singing. C: Someone who listened to this album said "The thing that makes them sound so good is that they're all playing instruments," which should be taken as a compliment. Does it get you upset that less talented bands bother you? S: It doesn't really bother me, no. I know what I want to do - I believe strongly in what I want to do. All my favorite records are older records, before samples and such. You get the true sound of the violins or the guitars or brass. It all helps to make it sound really natural and almost exciting. C: The track, "Feels Like Forever", is going along in a melodic way - all of a sudden, at the end, the guitar starts picking up and really rocking. Was there anything that inspired that, from 20 years ago, like the Who or Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young? S: (laughing) Well, actually, it happened when we were doing the rest of the song and it was like "This is pretty good." Some people have said it was a Crosby, Stills and Nash thing (with the doo-doo's) but at the time, I just thought "Let's do it!" C: Another one of your stated influences is the Beatles, with a Sgt. Pepper-esque feel on "Let's Get Lost". You've also mentioned John Barry, Burt Bacharach and Vivaldi as influences. That's a wide range there. What other influences were there from your childhood? S: When I was younger, I was growing up with classical music and playing in orchestra and playing Bacharach medleys. I didn't really listen to much pop music until I was 17 (C: about 1987) - I mean, obviously you hear it on the radio, but it was like, I missed the 1980's. I liked the specials when I was younger. I'm almost embarrased, the first record I bought was in 1974, the World Cup finals. It was a song called "Easy Easy" and I've still got that record.
I'm still getting into things like the Beach Boys and other stuff. There's so much great music from 20 years ago that I'm discovering now; I would rather spend money on the great music of the past because I'm still enjoying it so much - but I bought the last two Beastie Boys albums and I *love* both of them, especially "Check Your Head". It's all such a wide taste of music. C:The bands in the U.K. that wear their influences on their sleeve - like Primal Scream with the Rolling Stones, Whiteout with Faces - have recently been feeling backlash from the English press. Do you feel any of that backlash with your almost-70ish feel (with the harmonies) from the press? S: No, actually - the album hasn't been released in the U.K. yet (Their first, issued last summer over there, was Greatest Hits, Volume 1). But that sort of thing wouldn't bother me; I set out to do something and I've done exactly what I wanted to do and I'm really happy with it. I don't mind when people criticize as long as it's something constructive. There's lots of things I don't like but I don't go around saying "That's a load of rubbish". I think it's much easier to talk about a band that you like than to try and talk about something you don't like - leave it for somebody else. C: Back to the U.S. release - why over here first, instead of the U.K.? S: Well, we're actually signed directly to EMI-America. It hasn't been released yet over there because we're not signed to a label yet - it might be EMI Worldwide, which would also cover Japan and Asia - but it hasn't been decided yet. C: Any ideas on a date for that? S :We're hoping for it as soon as possible. I'm hoping within the next 2-3 months. We finished the album in November and it just got out now. C: Do you have any recollections of playing over in Scotland? S: We actually had a residency in a club in Glasgow, prior to coming over to America. We played there every Thursday for four weeks and it was great - more and more people coming along. A lot of fun - we made all the tapes up ourselves (while the crowd was waiting for them to come out) so there'd be good music playing, put candles on the tables. C: When your boyhood friends in Teenage Fanclub and Eugenius were succeeding, with T.F. zooming up the British charts, how did that make you feel? Did it inspire you? S: It inspired me - well, we've known each other throughout the years, played in bands together and hung out - we all help each other out, share equipment, y'know - they're a really good band - and I was just proud of them. It's like your best mate is doing something really good. C: Teenage Fanclub is another band that alternately gets glorified and villified by the press - especially for their Big Star influences. S: I don't understand - everyone's got an influence. Some are more obvious than others. C: So what about "Come All Ye Faithful?", one of your soundcheck songs? Combined with Led Zeppelin, that's a hell of a diverse soundcheck. S: (laughing) I don't know what came on (to sing that). When I was younger, I was in the choir, singing the Christmas carol services and all that. C: Any surprises in the show? S: We'll be throwing in a couple of cover versions - we like to play our songs and then after that, we get a chance to play some other songs that we like. C: A couple more questions, since I know you have to get in to perform. What would be the overriding theme, lyrically, for what you try to write about? S: Relationships. And their many problems! C: Tracks on the Superstar release, "Noise City", with its refrain of "You don't bring me down" and "Amouricity" take off of that theme. S: The toughest part for me is coming up with great lyrics - that, for me, takes a lot longer than the music to do. I just write about things I've experienced or things I feel and I'm more comfortable writing about that - relationships, friends, girlfriends, or whatever. I'm not good at writing some political song - I don't have it in me. Leave it up to the big boys! (laughing) C: OK, a standard question that you'll get asked way too many times. What are your goals for Superstar? S: Oh, I think world domination! (Laughing). Actually, I can't believe that I've gotten to the stage that someone is paying me money to record songs, to play songs - and get a wage every week. It's like a dream come true. As long as I can keep doing that, I'll be happy. I can't imagine doing anything else. And if I wasn't signed to EMI, I'd still be playing songs, playing in bars.
And the show went on. Nine songs from their American debut album, Superstar. A couple tracks lost the "oomph!" provided by the in-studio horns. Some, including "Noise Level" and "Barfly", gain so much in the concert setting. The crowd was moving to almost every song played, through the two, three and four part harmonies.
Two covers exemplified the band's diversity; "You Are So Beautiful" and the Nazz song, "Open My Eyes", which was a prime example of good ol' rock and roll. McAlinden also had contact with the audience, as well, talking in between the songs and cracking jokes.
Superstar's got a firm grip on the past while looking to a brighter musical future.
(For a review of the band's self titled release and tour dates, see the June 30 issue of Consumable Online).
