I dont think Supergrass fans ever thought the band would grow and mature. In fact Im sure we were hoping they wouldnt. But after ten years its hard for a band not to evolve. Their new album Road to Rouen may be their best yet. I got a chance to talk with band member Rob Coombes.
Check out the official site for Supergrass.
Daniel Robert Epstein: I read the press notes for this album and I know that bands dont always read the notes. But according to them you guys are firmly shaking off your frivolous cheeky image.
Rob Coombes: I think it depends on who you talk to because were all individuals. I think Danny is trying his best to shake off his cheeky image because he seems to get himself into all sorts of trouble [laughs]. He hasnt quite made it into the National Enquirer but hes made it to most of the papers.
DRE: [laughs] So hes still a bit cheeky.
Rob: Yeah, but as for me Im just your typical archetypal English, anally retentive guy that doesnt go out.
DRE: Why dont you go out?
Rob: Well, the only places I have to go is gigs so I guess I do go out.
DRE: Thats work, that doesnt count.
Rob: Somebody told me the other day that Ive done 500 gigs in the last three years. But its better than working in an office.
DRE: So Supergrass has been around for ten years now.
Rob: Not quite for me.
DRE: When did you join?
Rob: It depends on what story you read. I started working with the band just after theyd done their first album and then I started playing live with them. Then I started writing little bits with them, but I didnt actually kind of join and get my pictures taken for the CDs with them, until about three years ago. But I was quite happy with the situation; it was a bummer that I had to finally have my face in public. I had to stop all my criminal activities immediately.
DRE: What kind of criminal activity were you engaging in? Anything good?
Rob: Yeah it was fantastic actually. Its still going on but I just went and toned it down. Criminal activity is good as long as it doesnt hurt anyone else. [laughs] I realize thats bullshit, but I do love reading about criminal activity. My hat goes off to people who make a living in their life by doing something that doesnt hurt someone else.
DRE: I read you guys recorded this album overseas.
Rob: Yeah, we went to Normandy. The weather wasnt very good, but I think that was the best thing because we couldnt really leave because it rained all the time. So we just had to work. We didnt have a studio and all that sort of stuff. But it was ok because sometimes the less choices you have, the quicker you work and the better it is. When the skys the limit you can end up working for days. Whereas I felt we got much more to the point.
DRE: Was this new direction for the band in any way related to your mother passing?
Rob: Yeah, I think it probably couldnt fail to be any other way. You always write music, but you never think its directly how your life is. But theres always got to be links to how youre really feeling and what youre producing when youre hurting. So we didnt sit down and make the conscious decision that we were going to write about our mums. But yeah, it happens, especially lyrically. In a lot of ways, this album is the most mature album that weve come up with. The lyrics really mean something and they really hang together. In the past Supergrass has been known to write really great songs and choruses. The difference is that this doesnt just sound great, it means something too.
DRE: Was there an actual zither and ukulele brought into the studio?
Rob: Yeah, Mickey plays the zither.
DRE: Well was the song written with a zither in mind or did you bring in the zither to see what would happen?
Rob: Actually it was written with trumpets. But it totally didnt work and I remember when it came back, there was a bit of disenchantment. I cant remember whose idea it was to put the zither on it. But whoevers idea it was, it was a stroke of genius because it really took it to a different level. With the horns alone it was kind of bland and the zither just gave it this very fresh feel.
DRE: Roxy is a pretty long track for an album that totals at 38 minutes, how did that come about?
Rob: The backbone of this album comes from Gazs demos and the last album may have come mostly from Dannys demos. So Gaz is quite prolific and Roxy is a song that definitely has a lot of feeling about what was going on. It did seem to have a disproportionate amount of importance to the rest of the album but the thing that I really enjoy about playing Roxy live is seeing the people in the audience be really moved by the lyrics. The first time it happened it was weird because you dont want to be taken too seriously. Then you realize its a great thing to play a piece and have it mean a lot of things to a lot of people. To sit on stage and play something thats moves people is something I feel lucky to have done.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official site for Supergrass.
Daniel Robert Epstein: I read the press notes for this album and I know that bands dont always read the notes. But according to them you guys are firmly shaking off your frivolous cheeky image.
Rob Coombes: I think it depends on who you talk to because were all individuals. I think Danny is trying his best to shake off his cheeky image because he seems to get himself into all sorts of trouble [laughs]. He hasnt quite made it into the National Enquirer but hes made it to most of the papers.
DRE: [laughs] So hes still a bit cheeky.
Rob: Yeah, but as for me Im just your typical archetypal English, anally retentive guy that doesnt go out.
DRE: Why dont you go out?
Rob: Well, the only places I have to go is gigs so I guess I do go out.
DRE: Thats work, that doesnt count.
Rob: Somebody told me the other day that Ive done 500 gigs in the last three years. But its better than working in an office.
DRE: So Supergrass has been around for ten years now.
Rob: Not quite for me.
DRE: When did you join?
Rob: It depends on what story you read. I started working with the band just after theyd done their first album and then I started playing live with them. Then I started writing little bits with them, but I didnt actually kind of join and get my pictures taken for the CDs with them, until about three years ago. But I was quite happy with the situation; it was a bummer that I had to finally have my face in public. I had to stop all my criminal activities immediately.
DRE: What kind of criminal activity were you engaging in? Anything good?
Rob: Yeah it was fantastic actually. Its still going on but I just went and toned it down. Criminal activity is good as long as it doesnt hurt anyone else. [laughs] I realize thats bullshit, but I do love reading about criminal activity. My hat goes off to people who make a living in their life by doing something that doesnt hurt someone else.
DRE: I read you guys recorded this album overseas.
Rob: Yeah, we went to Normandy. The weather wasnt very good, but I think that was the best thing because we couldnt really leave because it rained all the time. So we just had to work. We didnt have a studio and all that sort of stuff. But it was ok because sometimes the less choices you have, the quicker you work and the better it is. When the skys the limit you can end up working for days. Whereas I felt we got much more to the point.
DRE: Was this new direction for the band in any way related to your mother passing?
Rob: Yeah, I think it probably couldnt fail to be any other way. You always write music, but you never think its directly how your life is. But theres always got to be links to how youre really feeling and what youre producing when youre hurting. So we didnt sit down and make the conscious decision that we were going to write about our mums. But yeah, it happens, especially lyrically. In a lot of ways, this album is the most mature album that weve come up with. The lyrics really mean something and they really hang together. In the past Supergrass has been known to write really great songs and choruses. The difference is that this doesnt just sound great, it means something too.
DRE: Was there an actual zither and ukulele brought into the studio?
Rob: Yeah, Mickey plays the zither.
DRE: Well was the song written with a zither in mind or did you bring in the zither to see what would happen?
Rob: Actually it was written with trumpets. But it totally didnt work and I remember when it came back, there was a bit of disenchantment. I cant remember whose idea it was to put the zither on it. But whoevers idea it was, it was a stroke of genius because it really took it to a different level. With the horns alone it was kind of bland and the zither just gave it this very fresh feel.
DRE: Roxy is a pretty long track for an album that totals at 38 minutes, how did that come about?
Rob: The backbone of this album comes from Gazs demos and the last album may have come mostly from Dannys demos. So Gaz is quite prolific and Roxy is a song that definitely has a lot of feeling about what was going on. It did seem to have a disproportionate amount of importance to the rest of the album but the thing that I really enjoy about playing Roxy live is seeing the people in the audience be really moved by the lyrics. The first time it happened it was weird because you dont want to be taken too seriously. Then you realize its a great thing to play a piece and have it mean a lot of things to a lot of people. To sit on stage and play something thats moves people is something I feel lucky to have done.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
buttonbutton:
um, the pic and header on his article are wrong.
thrash242:
Yeah WTF I wanna read about Peter Chung not whoever this guy is. What the hell is "supergrass" anyway?