INTERVIEW: UnAmerican
- Christina Apeles
You may have not heard of UnAmerican yet, but you will. This quartet of Brits are releasing their self-titled debut album next month on Universal Records with twelve tracks reminiscent of sixties Americana, yet right in line with such contemporary acts such as the Jayhawks and Wilco. UnAmerican is Steve McEwan (founder and lead singer, formerly of World Party), Matt Crozer (guitar), Pete Clarke (bass) and Tim Bye (drums). If you are looking for intelligent, sincere song writing sans the image-conscious demeanor of recent English bands, UnAmerican offers a classic sound without all the attitude.
While doing a string of interviews in New York, Consumable met with the singer Steve McEwan and drummer Tim Bye, to talk about the impact of American music in their lives, the state of music today and preparation for their album's release and upcoming tour.
CONSUMABLE ONLINE: There's always a story behind the naming of a band, so why UnAmerican?
McEwan: We're in England and we make music that's sounds quite American. We love American music but we're not American. It's just a great name for encapsulating what the music is about, British people making music that sounds American.
CO: So how is it with all the great acts that have come out of England, your biggest influences American artists like Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry and Paul Simon?
McEwan: The only English bands that we have been influenced by are American-sounding, like Led Zeppelin. And there's the Beatles, who were really influenced by American rock 'n roll.
Bye: Nothing English has ever really been a big influence on our band.
CO: Most of the music that has been popular in the States from Britain have been electronica acts, Brit Pop bands and alternative rock bands like Bush or Oasis. How do you see UnAmerican fitting into the current musical landscape?
Bye: What we do as a band, no matter what trends there are in music, whether it's the heavy rock stuff or the pop stuff, it is not really a case of us fitting in. It's really a case of no matter what's going on in a scene, there's always gonna be room somewhere. We're a four-piece band not using electronics playing rock n roll.
CO: You've obviously been received well in London clubs since that's how you were discovered. Is there a large audience for your brand of Americana?
McEwan: Bands such as Wilco and Jayhawks, they all have a following in England. There's a magazine called Mojo, they love that kind of stuff and that's probably where we're coming from so yes there is an audience. Trouble is to be a huge success in America, what tends to happen is England kind of slates you, they crucify you because you've had success in this country.
CO: Your album is first being released in the States. Obviously, the goal in mind is to break' here, but why not launch the album at home then take it abroad?
McEwan: The thing with America is it's so big and can cater to a lot more kinds of music, whereas London is very small and it all happens very quickly so you have to get on radio, you got to get in a couple of magazines, you have a hit and then it's all over within a week. You can't get in a bus for a year and tour in England. You can get around it in three weeks. The thing is in England you have to hype it up and be trendy, it's very fashion land.
CO: It's apparent your music comes first before image which is very refreshing.
Bye: We're not trying to be fashionable. We haven't set out to create a new image or create a new scene like that, we've just set out to make music and play songs, which is really what it's always been about.
McEwan: I just want to move people in some way so I really believe in the songs and I think they're good enough to move people and I think that's what really counts.
CO: You can't ignore that packaging of a band is a fact in the industry.
Bye: If people are into you for your songs, chances are they're gonna be into you longer. If people are into you for your image or because what's hip at the moment, you're not gonna be cool or hip for your whole career because things change.
McEwan: During that Brit pop thing, there were so many bands that kind of like came and disappeared once the Brit pop thing was all over. Now it's a dirty word. Those that (still) exist are the ones who have changed their sound completely like Blur who sound more like Pavement now.
CO: Your music is very passionate and the lyrics have a nice story telling aspect to them that you don't hear a lot of these days.
McEwan: The kind of things I've grown up with listening to are Bob Dylan and Neil Young or Joni Mitchell... really emotionally kind of wrenched kind of stuff and it's obvious that's what I try to do. When I write a song and you get that kind of, I can't describe it, that tingling feeling, you know you're onto something and that's what I try to capture. A lot of other people I know who have done really well in England write very formulaic songs. Let's get a topic, a first chorus, it's produced, it's always slick and sells a lot of records. Good luck to them but I can't write like that.
CO: What was your experience working with such talented session musicians as Jim Dickinson, Barry Beckett and David Campell, who have worked with legendary artists like Ry Cooder, Boz Scaggs, Dylan and Roy Orbison. Were you intimated at all?
Bye: The guys were more intimidated by us.
McEwan: There's Jim Dickinson and he's this character who's played on everything, I mean the Stones, played with Dylan and all these people, but he doesn't know anything about music really. Basically we'd ask him to play a C chord, and he'd say, I don't do chords. He'd be like shaking when we'd play the song. All these guys have been doing this for years but are now in their sixties or late fifties.
Bye: They were wondering why young guys from England wanted them on our record.
McEwan: They've been doing a lot of producing but probably haven't played on a record for awhile. Like Barry Beckett did a ton of stuff in the seventies, and again while we were recording he'd say, I haven't done this in a while guys, so stick with me here while I get my chops back together. He was great. David Campbell, Beck's dad, was amazing. He did the string arrangements. He's a genius.
CO: The album was produced in Memphis. How did it feel being in a city rich with music history?
McEwan: It was fantastic, it was great. Memphis is very blues-oriented and although we're not a blues band, just the fact that all these blues legends recorded there, it was amazing. We were there for three months but it's quite conservative. There's not that much to do. It would get to one o'clock in the morning and we'd be ready to party but there would be nothing to do.
CO: There is so much in your bio about older influences, are there any current bands that you are inspired by or share a sense of camaraderie?
McEwan: There's Wilco and the Jayhawks, and there's Gomez but they're doing something slightly different, more blues than rock. The whole music industry has become so professional now that very few things are less heart and soul. With the whole corporate machine, I think the innocence is gone. In the sixties and seventies it was all about the music and not just radio play.
Bye: That's what I was saying earlier about image and scenes. Bands such as The Who, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles, they weren't aware that they were starting a whole new scene, they were just doing it. They weren't making a conscious effort to say okay, this is our image this is how it's gonna be. They just wanted to play their music and that's why, to me, it was all so good because that was there #1 objective, not oh we've got to go down to the gym and get our muscles up or we've got to do this or do that. Play music and make it sound good, that's how it should be, it really is that simple.
CO: Can you talk about the transition from playing with World Party to forming UnAmerican?
McEwan: After the World Party thing I wanted to get my own band together and it took a while because you don't want to be with a bunch of wankers. You wanna be with a group of people that are really nice and easy to get along with and can be friends and be really good musicians as well. I met Matt first, who was playing with a really dodgy band and his guitar playing is really different than mine, completely on the edge, he never plays the same thing twice, he's on another planet. And no matter how much we rehearse, when we get to the gigs, he plays something completely different whereas I am much more disciplined. I make sure everything is in place, things like that. I got a hold of him and he was really up to it. Pete I saw was in another band and he had a great stage presence then we had this other drummer, but he had a bit of a wobble and went off his trolley two days before the first gig and Tim came in and saved us from a huge embarrassment. He learned the whole set in one day.
CO: What was your experience playing with World Party; did it give you a good grounding?
McEwan: It was really brilliant, I was just really young in my early twenties touring America in these huge shows. We toured with the 10,000 Maniacs on their last tour and it was really great... playing those venues and seeing America was an amazing experience.
CO: Our readership is mostly in their early twenties to mid-thirties. What kind of response do you anticipate from an audience that recalls your style of music as rock music their parents listened to in their time, versus this age of hip hop, electronica and so forth?
Bye: I think if they're into good songs, they'll like it. The style of the music is almost secondary to the songs.
McEwan: There are teenagers who just love Bob Dylan so there's a new generation of people that are looking back and discovering old music and realizing that it's not old at all, it has a life and a strength and a depth that maybe a lot of new music doesn't have. So I hope they listen to us because we have that spirit.
CO: The album is being released here in April and you'll start touring the States immediately. How is the band preparing for these upcoming events?
McEwan: Lots of greens and vitamins. Actually, we've been doing a bit more recording to have the second album ready. We've got a studio in the tower of a church and it's really lovely and we do all our rehearsing and recording in there and that's what we do when we get back until we tour. It's perfect because it's stone and there's no houses around so you can make as much noise as you like. You can go completely bonkers except Sunday morning of course.
Consumable sends belated birthday greetings to drummer Tim Bye and bassist Pete Clarke who celebrated their birthdays on March 11 while in New York. Further information on UnAmerican and tour information can be found on their aesthetically-pleasing website at http://www.unamericanonline.com .
