IT’S no secret that I love the music of The Beatles. And it’s always been a dream of mine – since I was a young lad - to be able to sit down and chat with any of remaining Fab Four. (I also harboured hopes to jam with George Harrison, he seemed to be doing a lot of that at the time). I remember thinking, “If I could manage that, I’d retire a happy man.”
Of course, I said that because I never thought that in a million years, I’d be sitting down and chatting with the one and only Ringo Starr.
(photo by Rob Shanahan)
Continue reading ‘It’s Starr time!’
There comes a time when you heed a certain call. In Sergio Vega’s case, it was to join the Deftones after their original bassist Chi Cheng was involved in a tragic car accident. (He’s now in a semi-conscious state and under medical supervision.)
Of course, coming into a band that has had years of bonding isn’t the easiest thing – so it helps that they have been friends for some time.
Hi Sergio, how’s the Big Day Out tour going so far? It’s a lot of fun. A lot of bands, and a great crowd to play to. Just enjoying ourselves really. It’s our first time to a lot of Asia outside of Japan, so we’re very very excited. The Big Day out thing is just fun. It’s my personally my first time, but I had a lot of anticipation for it, because everyone in the band had such good things to say about it. Even Stephen who doesn’t like flying was excited. And I’m like, “Wow, if you’re excited then it must be something good!” It’s just been a good time. Nothing crazy, but just great fun. It feels really good, it’s nice to have that chance to see people you wouldn’t ordinarily get a chance to meet, or play with because it would make “no sense”.
Who are your “must-see” picks for Big Day Out? Ooh, Crystal Castles, LCD Soundsystem, Primal Scream, Tool… You name it. Yeah, usually at festivals we get to play for 50 minutes which is a short time. Our own show is two hours, right? And once that 50 minutes is over, it’s like, “now what?” But here, “it’s like oh wow, there’s all these cool bands!”
We’ve seen your live shows online, but what’s key to your gigs, do you think?
Continue reading ‘Unexpurgated: The interview with Deftones’ Sergio Vega’
Hi Poparazziacs,
A couple of days ago, Ringo Starr, the drummer for that band that used to be The Beatles, turned 70. Yes, he’s that old. Actually, he’s the same age as Tom Jones. And younger than Clint Eastwood. But that’s not the point. The point is that to commemorate his birthday, I listened to The Beatles’ album called Help!. And yes, it was only because that happened to be the only Beatles album at hand.
But here’s the thing: After years of listening to the darned thing, I’ve only just realised something: The album is probably the saddest Beatles album ever. Yes, yes, I know, all the songs sound so… happy. But if you look at the lyrics, you’ll realise the whole thing is just one mopey Radiohead album – but way before Radiohead. Continue reading ‘HELP!: The saddest Beatles album ever’
CURIOUSLY enough, while this album by The Beatles often ranks high on critics’ polls of top rock albums of all time, many still forgo this in favour Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band as the artistic height of The Beatles’ creativity.
Sorry – wrong!
Here’s why: Every musical aspect that the Beatles would be known for is encapsulated here (and to some extent, the predecessor, Rubber Soul).
There was tons of experimentation:
- John Lennon and George Harrison’s backwards lead guitar solos on I’m Only Sleeping;
- Tape loops for Tomorrow Never Knows, itself a musical exploration into atonal depths (Paul McCartney, for example, plays only one note throughout).
- The use of automatic double tracking or ADT (which John dubbed “the flange”),a process by which you can automatically double up your voice so you didn’t have to sing the same parts again. This would lead to the development of the flanger and the artificial chorus effects of today.
- Even some of the curious sounds heard on Yellow Submarine were created in the studio and not taken off some special effects record.
- The Beatles circa ’65/’66: going from cutesy pop band to cultural icons
Aside from the experimentation, The Beatles were delving deeper into their musical journeys:
- For George, it was the influence of Indian music: Love You To is obvious enough, but even Paul has said he put some Indian styling on his solo in Taxman (yes, it’s Paul playing on that one) to suit George’s fascination with Indian music.
- Paul continued to master the art of melody with ballads like Eleanor Rigby, For No One and Here, There And Everywhere.
- John’s writing became more experiential (She Said She Said, Dr Robert) while still maintaining his ability to churn out some of the best pop melodies (And Your Bird Can Sing).
- Ringo Starr sang Yellow Submarine.
And through all that they still kept what made them famous: Nice melodies, , close harmony singing and catchy choruses – plenty of them. Don’t forget The Beatles hadn’t yet given up touring yet. The recording was sandwiched between April and June of 1966, they didn’t have the time and luxury they had on Sgt Pepper.
The sounds and scenes painted in Revolver reflected the sign of the times too: The world was changing, the swinging Sixties was all but over. Social commentary, cultural consciousness and disenchantment with the establishment were rife.
This has since been heralded as one of the first psychedelic albums, not least aided by cover art from their old friend Klaus Voorman, but also by the unconventional nature of the album.
Having had a chance to sample the remasters released last month, I have to say that if you wanted a Beatles album that could be definitive of what The Beatles were, this is it.
