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Summary
The Pitchfork Classic on Slowdive's 'Souvlaki' delves into the story behind the band and their journey to create a unique sound. Formed by a group of teenagers, Slowdive navigated the complexities and challenges of the music industry during the 90s era marked by significant shifts like the rise of Britpop. Despite initial setbacks and the tumultuous personal dynamics, the band found a breakthrough with 'Souvlaki' through experimentation and collaboration, notably with Brian Eno. With emotional depth and innovative soundscapes, the album, although not immediately appreciated, has stood the test of time, proving Slowdive's lasting impact and the enduring appeal of their music.
Highlights
Slowdive's formation began in a youth center and was driven by a shared love of bands like The Smiths and The Velvet Underground. 🎸
An unexpected meeting with Alan McGee of Creation Records was a turning point, leading to their signing. ✍️
The process of creating 'Souvlaki' involved isolation and deep personal reflection, particularly for Neil. 🎧
Brian Eno's involvement brought an experimental edge to their music, which helped redefine their sound. 🎛️
Despite struggling with the UK's music press, Slowdive's 'Souvlaki' is now celebrated for its atmospheric soundscapes. 🌌
Key Takeaways
Slowdive's music was heavily influenced by the emotional turmoil of its members. 🎶
Collaboration with Brian Eno was a pivotal moment in Slowdive's career. 🎤
The band struggled with public perception and industry dynamics during the rise of Britpop. 📈
'Souvlaki' initially received a lukewarm reception but has since gained recognition as a classic. 📀
The band's commitment to their unique sound ultimately led to their legacy being appreciated years later. 🎸
Overview
In this Pitchfork Classic, the journey of Slowdive, a band that emerged from the UK’s vibrant youth music scene, is recounted with a focus on their landmark album 'Souvlaki'. From their humble beginnings practicing in a youth center to the eventual breakthrough with Creation Records, Slowdive’s story is one of determination and creativity. Despite their initial teenage angst-driven sound, they evolved into a group known for their lush and atmospheric music.
As the documentary unfolds, it explores the personal challenges within the band, especially amidst the competitive landscape of the early 90s music scene dominated by Britpop. The band’s dynamics were tested both personally and professionally. However, a period of isolation for Neil in the Welsh countryside and a collaboration with Brian Eno introduced innovative musical elements, helping reshape their sound. This marked a critical evolution in their artistic journey, bringing a new depth to their music.
Despite facing harsh critiques from the British press at the time, 'Souvlaki' has gained acclaim as a significant work in the post-music era, leaving a lasting legacy. Slowdive’s willingness to defy conventional soundscapes and embrace their unique style ultimately won them a dedicated fan base, and their music continues to resonate with audiences worldwide. The documentary highlights the enduring quality of 'Souvlaki', celebrating its transformation from an underrated album to a cherished classic.
Chapters
00:30 - 02:00: Starting the Band The chapter titled 'Starting the Band' opens with a prominent and recurring theme of music, as indicated by a sequence of [Music] notations. It sets an atmospheric tone that hints at the beginnings of a musical venture. The mention of 'listen close' and the lyrics 'down B St I'll be here in the morning' suggests the initial stages of band formation, focusing on commitment and the initial steps towards creation and collaboration in the musical journey.
02:30 - 03:30: Connecting through Music This chapter, titled 'Connecting through Music,' delves into the essence of teenage band experiences and the unique sound they create. The prevalent theme is how youthful angst, characteristic of teenagers, naturally influences the music produced during this time. The music's distinct personality resonates well with young listeners, as it authentically mirrors the emotional and rebellious spirit of being 17 or 18. Overall, the chapter highlights music as a powerful medium through which teenagers connect and express their feelings.
04:30 - 06:30: Recalling Influences The chapter titled 'Recalling Influences' seems to involve a dialogue or reflection of feelings. The transcript suggests a situation where a sister figure is expressing contentment despite apparent absence or emptiness, as indicated in 'there nothing here but that's so okay.' The line 'but your eyes tell me she's just' hints at an underlying emotion or truth that is visible despite words. It seems to explore themes of perception, emotional connections, and possibly introspection.
07:00 - 16:00: Signing with Creation Records The chapter titled 'Signing with Creation Records' begins with a narration about the early days of forming a band. The narrator mentions a mutual decision made with a friend to start a band at the age of 15. They had access to a youth center associated with their school, which played a role in their musical journey. The chapter likely elaborates on how these beginnings eventually led to signing with Creation Records, offering insights into the path and experiences leading up to this significant milestone.
16:00 - 25:00: Facing Criticism and Changes The chapter describes a scene where the narrator takes his keyboard with him, presumably to a rehearsal or musical gathering. Neil, a character mentioned, sets up all the equipment. The atmosphere is casual, with Neil outside being occupied with something like playing golf in a field.
25:00 - 39:00: Resilience and Musical Evolution The chapter 'Resilience and Musical Evolution' explores the unlikely musical partnership between Neil and Rachel. Despite their contrasting musical tastes—Rachel being deep into her goth phase and Neil being an indie enthusiast—they bonded over a mutual appreciation for The Smiths. Their collaboration started when they were perhaps the only ones in their school with this shared interest. This chapter highlights the dynamic nature of musical influences and partnerships, demonstrating resilience in finding common ground in diversity.
39:00 - 52:00: Challenges and Growth in the Studio The chapter titled 'Challenges and Growth in the Studio' mainly focuses on the early friendship and musical collaboration between Rachel and the narrator. They've known each other since childhood, bonding over music and forming bands during their school years. Their mutual love for bands like Velvet Underground was a common ground that further strengthened their friendship. Despite romantic involvement at around 17 or 18, music remained a central part of their relationship, as seen by Rachel's continual involvement in bands with Neil throughout school.
52:00 - 72:00: Creating "Souvlaki" In this chapter titled 'Creating "Souvlaki"', the narrator recounts their experience of joining a band as a bass player, at a time when they were in a 'gothy' phase. They connected with Rachan, a fan of Susie and the Banshees, which helped in fitting well with the group. Neil, initially hesitant about having two Goths in his Indie band, eventually came to terms with it.
72:00 - 84:00: Commercial Struggles and Reflection The late 1980s saw proactive promoters in Reading who organized notable music events in a limited setting. A prominent venue was 'The After Dark' club, where promoters succeeded in hosting significant performances over a year and a half, including acts like Luke and The Spaceman.
84:00 - 103:00: Legacy and Impact The transcript discusses the impact of Valentine's live performances, highlighting a period that was influential in inspiring local musicians. The narrator mentions studying what Kevin played during gigs and attempting to replicate it at home, showcasing the inspirational legacy of the band.
00:00 - 00:30 [Music] [Music] [Music] listen close and down B St I'll be here in the morning
00:30 - 01:00 [Music] I'm just floting we were quite a Teenage Band really and I can kind of understand why like teenagers kind of got it because it's that kind of music it's it's kind of angsty that music only comes out from you know an 18 or 17y old really [Music]
01:00 - 01:30 with the sing there nothing here but that's so okay said your own sister spinning but your eyes tell me she's just
01:30 - 02:00 mine I guess she's around somewhere me and a friend decided we were going to start a band when we were like 15 we had like a youth center bit to our school there's a a system there
02:00 - 02:30 you could borrow and amps and stuff so I took my keyboard with me and um Neil set all the equipment up he was just there he was outside I think playing golf in the field or something I was up at the school practicing golf I was a sad kid and I heard this music coming from the youth thing and I just s wandered over him and I ended up like sticking around and playing guitar for him we didn't speak about it he just kept turning up kept playing and I kept
02:30 - 03:00 turning up and kept playing and that's how it started really we were probably the only people at school that were both into the Smiths so I think that was probably the point we connected cuz Rachel at that point was just kind of into her goth phase was a heavy goth by that point Neil was a total Indie kid so yeah it was quite a strange marriage in a musical sense I suppose cuz we were completely different different you know but and then we had
03:00 - 03:30 common ground in bands like Velvet [Music] Underground Rachel and I have been friends since we were five and I guess when we were 17 or 18 we we went out with each other for a [Music] while Rachel and Neil always had bands through school
03:30 - 04:00 and they happened to be looking for a bass player and I'd been a lonely bass player up to that point we just sort of fitted in pretty well I was having a slightly gothy phase at the time and rachan was a big Susie and the Banshees fan and so you know I kind of got on with her immediately Neil was a little bit cool about the fact that there were two Goths in his Indie band but you know he soon got over that [Music]
04:00 - 04:30 [Music] in the late 80s there were some good promoters in reading it were really proactive and put on you know some decent bands in quite a limited sort of environment there was a really good club called the after dark in reading the promote had managed like over about a year and a half he had like Luke played the Spaceman played there the
04:30 - 05:00 Valentine's played there and so that it was a really influential period for us cuz we got to see all these bands play Live Well you know it's up to you think we could do can I have [Music] aile I was in a couple of rubbishy sort of bands at the time and I'd go to my buddy Valentine gigs and I'd like study what Kevin was playing and go home and
05:00 - 05:30 play the same C and was like what's going on it sounds horrible and I was good friends with Steven from chapter house and he said oh they're using guitar tunings so that just opened it out for me so you know you had that noise stuff and then the tunings and I was obsessed yeah after Christian joined we just end up coming to rehearsals with more
05:30 - 06:00 and you know just experimenting a bit and I think that was an important period for the band cuz I think our sound changed pretty radically from sounding sort of like the Primitive or something to something with with a much bigger guitar [Music] sound the turning point for me I remember was the evening before we recorded our demo which actually became our first EP Neil started playing like a couple of chords with which became
06:00 - 06:30 avalin and Nick came up with this Baseline and yeah I think I just put the Reverb on it on like as high as it could go suddenly we had a whole load of [Music] space I think AVN was the point where we were we felt a okay so this this is
06:30 - 07:00 something that doesn't just sound like my buddy Valentine or or the CTO twins you know it has its own thing happening and that was a big moment I think for us as a band that was the point where we started to sound like slow dive [Music] [Music]
07:00 - 07:30 we hadn't long finished that demo and we were supporting 5:30 at the after dark club and there was an anr guy there for them really and he saw us open for them and thought you know what I know someone who might be interested in hearing this band and um like a week later we had a phone call from from this Scottish guy claiming to be Alan McGee Alan McGee by
07:30 - 08:00 the way was a gentleman who brought um J Mary Chain to um to fruition in this world and the Chief Executive Officer of um creation records creation were like the label they they were basically the coolest label in the country they had all these bands like Primal scream house of Love My Bloody Valentine you know all of our kind of favorite bands and I think ride had just come along as well who we really liked [Music]
08:00 - 08:30 having made a name for himself as a successful talent scout McGee gets dozens of cassettes every day and in amongst them has found the future stars of his label he literally just phoned up out the blue one day you know I was living in a house with Rachel in reading and on the phone it was just like McGee's on the phone I'm just like it's on the phone Neil phoned me at home and said we're we're going to meet Alan McGee in the ship hotel in reading and I was just like yeah whatever whatever mate and yeah it was it was bizarre just
08:30 - 09:00 walking in and seeing this guy with curly Ginger hair and sunglasses sat on a table in the corner of a bar in reading and I remember we were all really really quiet because we were so in awe of Allan I don't think I said a word to him the whole time they all sat in a little kind of semicircle and I sat of the year and I just spoke at them and they were like little kids you know when little 16 and they really have get zero confidence but the front it out and they were like just kind of giggling amongst themselves right on the spot he said I want to sign you guys I think he's I
09:00 - 09:30 think his exact words where I think you're [ __ ] ethereal we we pretty much agreed on the spot in the time on a tradition of not thinking about things when you're like 19 years old I looked out the window after they went away and they'd got signed and you know how the little kids jumping each other on the back and they tussle each other they were doing that they were like punching each other and were walking down the road and jumping at each other's back I was like God I really have sign children this time you know you know
09:30 - 10:00 [Music] you know the first time we went up to their office there's Bobby Gillespie sat in the corner and Jim Reed coming down the stairs and and you just think this is a bit of a crazy world that we've suddenly landed in the um offices are above a sweat shop it wasn't quite what you imagined it would be but everybody you know was really nice and there was a nice kind of Buzzy atmosphere in there but we we we definitely felt like the
10:00 - 10:30 kids when we went in there they were too young to even you know get them any drugs or anything you know it was like it was it was the usual creation celebration around that time when we were still degenerates was champagne and cocaine and and and ecstasy and we with them I think it was like I think we had a Shandi or [Music] something to suddenly say we want you to become a part of that and for Alan McGee to be like so enthusiastic was just absolutely amazing it gives you that
10:30 - 11:00 confidence you think you know man we can really go for this and you know try and make you know our stuff is good and we can get [Music] better Adrian our original drummer said in the original meeting with Alan McGee
11:00 - 11:30 that he was like oh I'm probably going to leave and go to universe and we were like what and at that point we were like oh we're going to have to find another drummer and we had seen the charlott playing somewhere and we watched time and then we were just like oh my God he's amazing want him slow dive supported the Charlottes in in 1990 and after the show was completely blown away I just thought this is my band he just fitted right in cuz he was like a massive fan of all the
11:30 - 12:00 stuff we were into I was kind of like you know this is like a dream come true you know great band great label we really stand a chance [Applause] [Music] here cross the field [Applause] [Music]
12:00 - 12:30 at that point we literally wrote from record to record and so the next time we went into record and I just picked on this studio and something caught me it was such a weird thing they appeared there didn't seem to be any anr involvement and all my sort of classic business understandings was where the [ __ ] the anr guy you know they're just being allowed to do what the [ __ ] they like and it's this is [ __ ] brilliant Courtyard Studios and Chris Hufford have been sort of the contral point of the
12:30 - 13:00 band's entire existence really although he was just the engineer he became kind of a part-time producer as well it would be Chris and Neil that would sit there and throw ideas around they were doing really out their stuff Neil in particular his his his dreams his aspirations were just Bonkers they kept wanting to break all the rules [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]
13:00 - 13:30 [Music] when Neil was growing up he wasn't really allowed to listen to pop music in his house it was all classical music whatever he'd been listening to as a kid was coming out because it wasn't coming out in your standard cliche Rock hords that's for damn sure [Music] [Applause] [Music]
13:30 - 14:00 like all the days [Applause] gone feedback and guitar drone were the new sounds to be experimented with many people use this sound to manifest the confusion that they saw in the world AES recession the Gulf War I did these were heavy problems and they brought with them feelings of fear anxiety insecurity and because many of these bands felt the
14:00 - 14:30 weight of the world in their shoulders they spent a good portion of their live gigs just staring at the floor and that is where the term shoe gazer came [Music] from I mean apart from being quite shy and quite awkward we just had these pedal boards so we would spend a lot of time looking down because you're kind of tap dancing your way through the set a little bit and and that that label then
14:30 - 15:00 stuck I prefer to think of it as Progressive guitar [Music] music every live gig we seem to get stronger as a unit the crowds got bigger the reviews got nicer and then Bang there it is then go the week again and
15:00 - 15:30 you start thinking right we're sort of on a bit of a roll here it's what everybody dreams about when you're playing air guitar or air drums in your bedroom you want to be in a great band you want to be liked you want to see more and more people listening to you so they they were nice [Music] times I think there was always an awareness that it wouldn't last very long just
15:30 - 16:00 because that was the way the British music press operated at that point there was definitely a short little brief period where the whole shoe gazing temps Valley scene could do no wrong and I think when just for the day came out there were people that really liked it but it wasn't suddenly walk on water [Music]
16:00 - 16:30 just for a day came out and it got really bad reviews I remember like reading the first reviews and just being like oh God no one likes the record this is this is a bit embarrassing unfortunately Britain changed because the media at that point had a huge huge say in what was cool and what wasn't cool and slow dive had got more and more uncool as soon as Nirvana started to
16:30 - 17:00 break and everybody decided to kind of you know grow their hair and turn over from Seattle that combin with the start of brick pop and you know it's very much like shoe gaze was was a term that nobody wanted to admit they liked I think it's very hard for people to do kind of appreciate at this point
17:00 - 17:30 just quite how a how much power they had and and how and how vicious they could be you know it was a culture of kind of building bands up and then being quite brutal about about knocking it down again all that stuff we did ignore for a while we just thought it's out of our control you can write what you like we're just going to be over here doing our thing we just felt like we were in a bubble floating around and people can try and kind of burst it but but it was get getting very delicate at
17:30 - 18:00 that [Music] point the confidence of the band was pretty low at that point um partially as a result of reception for the first album um but also you know Neil and Rachel had been in in a relationship um
18:00 - 18:30 you know they they did split up while the band was in this sort of phase you know it was it wasn't great obviously bit messy but I think we tried to keep that out of the band things it would be so easy for that to just destroy the band and you know and I think we all loveed doing it so much it it was like no you just kind of have to keep hanging on and and get through it it was a pretty heavy Vibe personally and I think touring had been really hard for me and Rachel so and I think that had rubbed off on the band so I think you know
18:30 - 19:00 where we'd all be in like this big gang I think that had just started to fracture a little bit at that point and and I remember like spending a lot more time you know writing by [Music] myself the first stuff we recorded was was not really so I I was being super
19:00 - 19:30 influenced by like Joy Division and albums like low and loder stuff that was slightly off what we were about it was almost like we were looking around for music from when we were teenagers to try and get back that feeling of being in a band for the first time so all those influences were coming out and rather than looking forward we were looking backwards and and I don't think the songs really worked out I know that creation weren't happy with them we were called in to see Alan down into his office See You Got No
19:30 - 20:00 Songs they're all [ __ ] I'm like okay Bugger I wasn't being a [ __ ] I I just genuinely didn't think they were good enough it just it just wasn't there really but anyway I we rejected about the first 25 songs that they gave me creation were coming up with some like ridiculous ideas around this time like they were going to like get other people in to try and write the songs and stuff I remember like getting a really weird phone call from Alan and he didn't want to talk about the songs he wanted to talk about me getting some leather trousers which was really confusing for
20:00 - 20:30 me at that point after 25 songs I said shouldn't go on the record I'd got fed up with it and went you know what just put on whatever you want and I think we just gave the controls to to Neil and went you drive I hope you get there Neil needs some space he needs to kind of disappear and write some [Music] [Applause]
20:30 - 21:00 songs our manager at the time fin suggested he go and rent a cottage and just get away from everything you know he's quite old school so I think he probably came from that school where it's just like worth the Songwriter's having some some issues you know his girlfriend's dumped him let's just let's mind that you know send him off to send him off to a cottage somewhere and and let him kind of stew for a while when I was in North whales somewhere in the middle of middle of nowhere for like two
21:00 - 21:30 weeks just basically with a for with a for track just um trying not to go outside too [Music] much when he came back he had a handful of songs that ended up on suaki I remember he had dagger um I think he had machine Bean gun and I think he had 40 days which
21:30 - 22:00 were you know really good songs I don't know what his frame of mind was like while he was there but it definitely did help it hadn't been long after Rachel and I had split up so I was kind of miserable about that and I was miserable about having to be in this little cottage in the middle of nowhere and and I think that informs the songs that came out of that so suddenly he had something to write about
22:00 - 22:30 all you days and I miss you I'm so high that I lost my mind it's the summer I think
22:30 - 23:00 in 40 days and I'm blown away you know with 40 days I think it was definitely it was just about feeling miserable it was um yeah it's a breakup if I saw something good gu I they're very loose drums it kind of bounced a bit more skipped and that's kind of a new thing to the slid dive
23:00 - 23:30 sound we were looking for a a a more sparkly and in some ways poppier feel to to certain aspects of it we didn't want to make an entire pop record but we wanted to have more light and shade and and more and more sort of feel to it which gave Neil and Rachel a bit more freedom and Christian as well with his guitars to sort of play around with the sound in a new way [Music]
23:30 - 24:00 there's a lot of the slow dive stuff was it was about atmospheres and so possibly in a sort of slightly teenag sort of way it was about creating like these cinematic moments I suppose so so I guess the the lyrics would kind of try and lock in slow a little bit [Music]
24:00 - 24:30 it's like you can watch a film and it could remind you of really sweet moments and you kind of lock into that as a feeling and I think that sometimes that that sort of stuff can carry over into songs as well [Music] [Music]
24:30 - 25:00 [Music] when the Sun hits was uh is one of my kind of all-time favorites I always
25:00 - 25:30 consider it to be quite a happy song really quite uplifting I like the song because it was this kind of blaze of light you know the lyrics and the music kind of suit each other you burn so fast it scares me I loved it when when he brought it into the studio and we started to work it out I could feel it was a really really big song and it's a really fun one to play Live it's incredibly popular
25:30 - 26:00 live it's like right but it's when the Sun hits now so let's Crank It Up and us you know where you [Music] are to me it was always like the pixie song you know cuz it has that quiet loud
26:00 - 26:30 thing you know I wanted a kind of a pixie Baseline in there cuz you know I I still love Kim Deal's baselines I think she's not one of the best players so we wanted to uh we wanted to have that kind of that kind of feel she'll be [Music] waiting under the and you [Music]
26:30 - 27:00 I remember McGee like phing me up when he heard that song he was like he was concerned that I might be um you know on heroin because he's like you're talking about when the Sun hits man surely surely I like Alan I'm not going to wear any leather trousers and I'm not taking any heroin just yeah it's all good [Music] I
27:00 - 27:30 [Music] watch we then gave creation the next batch of recordings and they were like well maybe you guys should think about getting a producer because that didn't sound too good we all struggled with
27:30 - 28:00 making things sound bright you know we always ended up with a bit of a mush sometimes the traditional soive method of mixing was just to put all faders at 11 and to just have a wall of noise and that obviously didn't sound too good we wanted somebody who was going to give a fresh um sound to what we what we were trying to do to to brighten things up a lot of the Bands I were working with before I worked with them were a bit murkier and so I just had this reputation of cleaning it up a little bit making it a little bit more radio friendly he had a completely impartial
28:00 - 28:30 ear you know when you've been recording for a long time you can get in a muddle you can get too close to something and that was exactly the reason why we gave it to him it spent a long time on this record there was lots and lots and lots and lots of layers and one of the first things I did was get rid of whole chunk of stuff I remember it's all sitting there going this isn't right where's where all the guitars gone and then at a certain point I think like the penny dropped with all of us that actually this might make make it listenable it's with that sort of music because you're
28:30 - 29:00 trying to keep the Popp intact but you don't want to get rid of that orchestral vagueness so it's just being able to keep the both things sort of present at the same time [Music]
29:00 - 29:30 [Music] Neil was quite heavily influenced by Eno's work that he did with David Bowie on the three albums that were recorded in Berlin so you know he was kind of a bit of a a bit of a kind of production hero we were really and interested in getting him involved I think he' was
29:30 - 30:00 coming off the back of you two and stuff like that it just sounded like logically an intelligent move so asked briano and briano went yeah said he wasn't really interested in producing but he would do some like co-writing with us over two or three days and then you know Neil was the only one that met him in the end which was kind of unfortunate for the rest of us getting really excited and then you're like no you're not going to meet him but yeah for some reason I got thrown into a studio with with Eno and this is slightly embarrassing but I wasn't really aware of what he'd done at that point I knew that he'd work with
30:00 - 30:30 David Bowe and so and so when I when when I met him I remember like talking to him an awful lot about David Bowie because I thought that was what he was famous for and I wasn't aware of his solo records I had no idea that he was like the Godfather of ambient at that point at all you know he he'd taken like a clock off the wall and he'd put Sat by the desk and that was that was like his
30:30 - 31:00 method of working I guess for for that particular session was to just divide everything up into like 10 minute slots and I would just go I would go into this room play the guitar he'd record me for 10 minutes and then he'd told me to play something else for 10 minutes it was literally like that so we'd record like hours of the stuff Neil would have to be like right okay it's Brian Enos out there he wants me to play this and you know he didn't necessarily have any ideas about what he was going to play the fact that I didn't really know much
31:00 - 31:30 about him was kind of quite good because I think if I had I'd have just been too a struck to really be confident enough to go into a room and start playing the guitar in any kind of way that would have been free or or easy [Music] [Applause] [Music] he came back with these tapes it was
31:30 - 32:00 sort of repetitive motive sound texture based beautiful and a nightmare for me because I sat down and none of it had been done to a click track so the timings I literally had to score the drumming parts and I had these paper everywhere trying to play Sing speeding up slowing down slightly you know and it took for ages I mean the drums are kind of completely different to anything else we we've done before cuz it almost has
32:00 - 32:30 like a trip hop kind of quality to it um which wasn't really where we were at at all and actually might have been before trip off [Music] anyway my concern was he's going to be very very Hands-On in fact not true at all I think one of En know strengths was that he'd come in and act as a catalyst and also get other people to do more
32:30 - 33:00 work and then he'd [Music] [Music] depart Neil started to become more prolific and write these really fantastic songs we thought we'll try Chris Harford again because we'd spent really 6 months just thinking yeah let's try this one let's record that one this
33:00 - 33:30 is quite a cool song it was very fragmented there wasn't a sort of band vibe there it wasn't until we went back to Courtyard again that things started to fall into place a little [Music] bit it was great to have them back again you know there was there was a direction a new Direction like I was really starting to get into do stuff like Apex Twin and and get more interested in kind
33:30 - 34:00 of dub music and like early sort of drum and bass kind of stuff so he was kind of pushing it in that direction the Eno kind of collaboration that had inspired us so we thought you know let's really space it out [Music]
34:00 - 34:30 it was a track that came together as a band just basically around that sort of bouncing guitara and I had an idea for a Melody which i' sung over the top to Rachel when we were in the studio and then she went in and sang it and wrote some lyrics for [Music] it in and Rachel are completely unraveled you know they were both
34:30 - 35:00 hurting and she had stuff to write about I think there definitely Rachel's song about Neil cuz she wrote the words that one just came out of my mouth yeah it's not a very happy song really uh I I have no idea what she [Music] says I'm sure they love it [Music]
35:00 - 35:30 we kind of gone back to the traditional way of working with that one just in the studio creating it as we were recording it and I remember looking at Rachel and Rachel up and looking at Christian and Nick and us all looking at one another like this is sounding amazing and there was a feeling amongst us that we kind of got the band Vibe back again and even though Neil and Rachel had split up it it very much felt like slow dive again [Music]
35:30 - 36:00 we wanted to mix it live you know so you add the delays as you mixing it Neil myself and Chris Hafford were all on the ne desk at Courtyard the drums are going through this dd2 everybody's got their hands on faders I remember all of us being very jolly and uh Simon dancing and tweaking the H on the
36:00 - 36:30 desk and like human phases there was just so much [ __ ] delay going on everywhere and it wasn't an automated desk so there was lots of rubbish having to be done all the time to actually work your way through this thing we literally probably did about 20 straight through takes where we would play the track and mix it down it was real old school stuff on that front and kind of [ __ ] who [ __ ] up that time let's go another
36:30 - 37:00 [Applause] [Music] rehearsal and Chris never put you on the clock you'd just sit there and be continually just rolling really small little joints you know it's little single Skinner the hashish helps me from being a grumpy old man that was really stoned but I mean you know Nick and Christian didn't do any drugs at all
37:00 - 37:30 actually so they were always the straight ones I guess you know kind of lends itself on some levels to more creativity it depends really doesn't it with Su suak definitely was a good thing but you know Nick did that Baseline no Dr so what does that say [Music]
37:30 - 38:00 [Music] dagger came out of that writing session in Wales that was the atmosphere of that College in Wales wasn't a happy [Music]
38:00 - 38:30 place Falls dreams alone I don't think listening to any of the songs or playing the songs I kind of felt like there was an uncomfortable this is like Neil's diary or Rachel's diary um apart from dagger it's definitely about a a slightly [ __ ] up relationship
38:30 - 39:00 which I think is what Rachel and I had at the end there the first time I heard dagger was quite sad actually sort for obvious reasons that's it's quite a sad song and I couldn't listen to it for a really long time probably for years to be honest the world is full of noise here I hear it all the time and me I am your
39:00 - 39:30 [Music] D I am like personally I always felt oh it's a very kind of vulnerable kind of exposing track you know so I've always been I was always uncomfortable with it and that respect it's kind of a strange thing you know you're playing in a band with this couple that just split up and I mean obviously cuz we traveled around we toured together you're in the same bus
39:30 - 40:00 you're in the same Hotel eat breakfast lunch and dinner together and so you're very much you feel every sort of everything that happens between a couple obviously at the time it was it was really hard to sort of get on a tour bus and to be that close to someone that you've been in love with and that you're like now having a very hard time to sort just you know cuz it's you know as as everyone knows when and those sort of things the thing you want to do is kind
40:00 - 40:30 of spent some time apart so you so we didn't really have the option she Whispers while I'm sleeping I love you when you [Music] smile I didn't really lose you I just lost it for
40:30 - 41:00 it was a little bit different to anything we'd done previously which I think is what um we all liked about it it's weird because it's such a traditional song but that really pushed us as a band you know the idea of doing an acoustic song was was a real kind of like whoa Studio we don't do that stuff um I guess that's just you know from because of where where we were coming from was was from a completely different place so it really stands out on on the [Music]
41:00 - 41:30 record on the album took a year to do almost and at the end we went to First protocol in London and Neil was again on his own writing tracks but really inspired um he shaved off all his hair he turned up to the studio with like no hair yeah I remember just seeing Neil coming up the stairs to the student and he like just completely shaved his head
41:30 - 42:00 not quite sure what what he was doing around him it was basically a bad acid experience and I yeah I ended up with with a shaved head which freaked everyone out including myself for a while he was going through a few changes and it really kind of inspired the tracks and the I think the last song he wrote was Allison and when he came in with that he was like that's going straight on the album that's it done [Music] [Music]
42:00 - 42:30 [Music] listen cross and dum B Star I'll be here in the morning cuz I'm just floating it's our most kind of overt pop moment I
42:30 - 43:00 suppose but I don't remember sitting down and trying to write write a pop song really we recorded it and um it just sounded like a jangly Indie pop song and um we got to remixing with Ed Buller and he completely turned it around I mean he just arranged it in such a way that that suddenly here was this great pop song You Know lyrics are good and um yeah I just thought it should be poppy with you're talking and your
43:00 - 43:30 BS you messed up life still Thrills me I list we had already split up and he he was with somebody else anyway um I was with somebody else yeah it's kind of difficult to lyrics isn't it could you tend to listen and think oh I wonder if that's about la la la la la I started
43:30 - 44:00 going out with someone else um and we were we were living together with a couple other people and um it was kind of inspired a little bit by by that household of space like Michelle and her friend Allison your own sister yeah but
44:00 - 44:30 she tells me she and I think it was quite an optimistic song cuz I think for me it was it sort of come out of come out of a long relationship with Rachel and things you know things have been a bit negative for a while I spose and I think that that it was it was an optimistic song about being in love with someone and sort of of being open to new things again you know so I I kind of
44:30 - 45:00 always see the song in in that way although I guess lyrically it's not always optimistic in that song but but for me it was it was kind of a song of it was a song that was as much about the future as it was about you know the past as SP
45:00 - 45:30 I remember thinking we've got a really good album here and quite excited about it you know and it felt like a proper full band record it was a huge relief to actually get it kind of done and sequenced and I probably just thought this will do I mean personally I thought it was a great record I thought I was really pleased with Su surely somebody's going to like it and they all hated it watch [Music]
45:30 - 46:00 away sun and fall oh yeah here we go again just going to slate it they're not actually going to listen by that point I think whatever we'd have put out was going to be criticized you know in the UK just the Brit pop thing was starting to happen so you know certainly it was all about Suede and all that and we didn't we didn't fit in with that at all that became kind of the norm and the lad
46:00 - 46:30 culture with the kind of Union Jacks and football and logger and the loaded magazine you know the jock culture maybe you'd call It in America all came to the four suddenly there was like these guys with long fringes and stripy t-shirts now we want football Boos and [Music] boobs it's just
46:30 - 47:00 and I remember going into creation McGee not being there just looking around not recognizing a lot of people and just thinking pretty much everyone in this room is disinterested in us as a band oh [ __ ] but I liked cak I mean we picked up the option of made pigmon do you know what I mean so it's a bit like you know we weren't we weren't idiots about it we knew there were a good band but it didn't really fit where we were going well as a label because we get into kind
47:00 - 47:30 of like being a big time record label because we had oases we kind of saw sudden like [ __ ] we're going to be huge we want that one do know what I mean so everything else that wasn't going to make his huge kind of got sidelined if we were being [Music] honest two of Britain's most popular pop groups have begun the biggest chart war in 30 years working classmen from Manchester called Oasis I felt like really kind of Our
47:30 - 48:00 Moment had passed sort of thing I think Nick joked that they should put like the sale sticker on the actual album cover you know cuz we just felt like that was it you know no one was going to remember us at all and at that point people stopped turning up to our concerts and the last London show we played was December 1993 at the garage it holds about 700 people and we struggled to get 300 you know as we finished the set I
48:00 - 48:30 remember looking up and there was a woman mopping the floor where the audience should be and I thinking you know maybe I need to kind of get a real job the world never got slow dive uh if we were being honest really honest about at all you know I got it but it's really difficult to do something when nobody else cares we had our own Universe going we just thought [ __ ] them we'll do our own thing
48:30 - 49:00 we're good enough and eventually the the it it dissolved but um it didn't [Music] [Applause] [Music] disappear ultim Ely what you want in a band is for your records to stand the
49:00 - 49:30 test of time you know and for people to still listen to them or to discover things you know and 20 years later people still are which is amazing you know I don't feel like I'm playing songs that are 20 years old I mean I kind of sometimes when I'm doing the lyrics I'm like wow you were pretty young you know and I and it kind of all comes back don't lose
49:30 - 50:00 me come so far don't lose me despite the kind of dark times that he had and Rachel had when they broke up I think all those things kind of came together to make suaki a strong record because we were pushed as a band to make a much better record it was just a case of quite a Young Band like coming out of that initial kind of period where you're excited about your influence is and you're making this kind of quite Spontaneous Music where you've not
50:00 - 50:30 really thought about it and then all of a sudden you're put in this position where you're like okay you need to actually think about it and I guess our way to do that was to kind of dig really deep you know going through a few different styles you know hooking up with someone like Eno to just see if we could find something that that worked for us it certainly wasn't an easy record for us to make you know it was definitely it yeah it was by by far the hardest one they always did what they wanted to do you know that's that was
50:30 - 51:00 one of the key things learned learned from them you when you do something original it can come around again now after the event people get slow dive 20 years later I'm glad I'm glad that the good guys sometimes win and uh you know they've won finally Where You Are [Music]
51:00 - 51:30 the sun you'll be with all things I and you still B me you're song