Draped in their spot-on representation of all things hip circa 1974, it's a bit tricky to adopt a retro-free perspective of Imperial Drag. Brought into being by former Jellyfish enlistees Roger Manning and Eric Dover, they dip liberally into the glam bag and tosses up swinging images of Hef, the Zodiac, and glorious days of gender bending on the Sunset Strip. Oddly enough, they spent a fair portion of the year opening stadium spot for Wesley Willis muse Alanis Morissette which may reaffirm somewhat Manning's claims that the band isn't simply working the hallowed Marc Bolan vibe. Odds are that she doesn't own a copy of Electric Warrior. Manning elaborated on his position between mixing sessions:
Consumable Online: Is this glam attitude you've adopted with Imperial Drag likely to stick with the band for long?
Roger Manning: That's really hard to answer because so many people have come back saying "Oh you guys are doing a T. Rex/Sweet thing." and we're like "What are you talking about?" Because that wasn't even a thought. I mean yes we like that music, yes "Boy or a Girl" has a verse T. Rex type of a verse to it, but anybody who's listened to the whole record, like the first song for instance, is more like a funk tune than anything else. But a lot of journalists just find one angle and just go with it. They don't even make it to track four of your album. I'm not going to say we don't like glam rock because I love that era of British pop, but we like rock and roll whether it's 50's, 60's, 70's, or 80's. Eric and I are huge Smiths fans. We like Echo and the Bunnymen. We like the Beastie Boys, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Beck. Obviously some influences in our stuff come out in our songs a little more obvious than others, but with this record we tried to make a really focused album. But just being from Jellyfish, there are moments when we go down these little paths. This band is continuing to discover ourselves. The next record I know for a fact will be aggressive, but it'll be different as well.
C.O.: Can we talk real briefly about the genesis of all this and the Jellyfish split?
R.M.: Sure. Basically it's really simple. There's no great melodramatic story behind it. We basically just grew apart personally and musically. He (Andy Sturmer) wanted to take things in a different direction, as did I. So in the beginning of '94 it was just very logical for us to go our seperate ways. And then having out with Eric on the road, I just told him to send out tapes of some of the things he'd been working on. And we both kind of agreed that we should try something together, since it seemed like we were both riding into similar areas. When I made the phone call to Andy it was literally one of those things that was beyond my control. It was like my body was making me pick up the phone before I was committed to an insane asylum. Four days later I knew I'd made the right decision. I equated it to what it must feel like to when people say they've been born again or abducted by aliens or something.
C.O.: What about the recording process for the Imperial Drag record? Especially after having been involved in something so layered and intricate as the last Jellyfish record.
R.M.: The whole thing is different. This material didn't require as much production. It's a lot more straight forward and we set times lines on what we were doing. We wanted to make a quick record and capture the spontaneity. So we were in and out in three months.
C.O.: Are you more or a keyboard person in the way you conceive music, because I've seen you play guitar a bit.
R.M.: No, actually I write on both. You don't need to know anything about either to write a good song. I'm quite capable on the keyboard and quite uncapable on guitar. But I write equally on both instruments. In fact a lot of my songwriting at this point I come up with in my car and then I run to an instrument as soon as I can even if it's a flute or something just to capture the idea.
C.O.:So you don't necessarily keep up with what's happening keyboard-wise, with new instruments or players like Ben Folds?
R.M.: No...I don't. I can always go listen to Elton John, you know what I'm saying? It's kind of like if I want to hear people who can play their instrument whether you're talking about a saxophone player or a keyboard player, I'll listen to jazz or progressive rock. I don't keep up with a lot of newer performers becuase I hear so little that impresses me. The guys today that are saying new things and very fresh things are a handful of some of the grunge bands and some of the rap stuff. I mean I love the fact that the Beastie Boys are breaking new ground even though it's in the realm of rap. Fortunately for people like that, keyboards have gotten back into the forefront. On the whole, the late 80s and 90s have been such an argument just because of what punk said to the world, to not be proficient at your instrument, you have a lot of people who are idea people who can't perform or do anything and work with people like the Dust Brothers who can execute their ideas. If that makes good music in 1996, then so be it. I definitely come from a more traditional background where having all kinds of knowledge and ability at your disposal allows for ultimate freedom of expression.
C.O.: Do you guys find yourselves now, especially when you're setting up a new project, a little jaded or super conscious about how you're represented? I mean I think it's a big coup that your single got well so much airplay considering what's else is out there getting attention.
R.M.: I totally agree, but there's also a lot of weird, random shit out there having success. Sure there's the rap metal/Rage Against the Machine type thing but modern rock is basically becoming a top 40 format like in the 70's. I mean Dishwalla are basically the Rembrandts of the 90's. But because the guitars are a little fuzzier, and because they have the right haircuts, it's looks like something hip and young. So with "Boy or a Girl" being played right next to a Soundgarden song, I agree is very weird, but it might also mean that there is hope.
C.O.: Have you guys gotten any flack for the retro clothes you wear. I mean with all these lounge acts around now resurrecting different shades of avocado.
R.M.: But the funny thing about all this lounge stuff that's so hideous is that it's going to be one of those hipster trends that is going to be huge and then burn out in a year and a half. The people who did the records in the first place, were classically trained people like Henry Mancini and Hugo Montenegro and they were arrangers. And the level of musicianship that those guys had was so ridiculously insane that they could do all those wacky things with an orchestra. But a lot of these bands being inspired by this thing are attempting to do things that they can't possibly do. It'd be like me having a love for basketball and being five foot six and a half thinking I could go out there and compete with the big guys. But it's interesting you say that about our clothes because compared to the clothes we wore in Jellyfish, nothing we wear we consider retro. But if you perceive it that way, maybe I have to have a different sort of band meeting next time around (laughs)...
