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|
| Date |
September 2005 |
| Type |
Mag |
| Source |
Notion, issue 9 |
| Title |
Goldfrapp |
| Country |
UK |
| Journalist/Photographer |
Loriann Luckings/ Ross Kirton |
| Pix |
     
 |
| Text |
Two years ago they became household names; 'Black Cherry' was Goldfrapp's latest masterpiece, an album that earned them a Brit Award nomination and ensured their theatrical, electronic, glamorous pop music was soon firmly planted in the hearts and minds of music fans everywhere. Famed for their suggestive lyrics and provocative videos, Goldfrapp certainly won't disappoint with their latest offering...
Alison Goldfrapp greets me with an almost coy smile and plonks herself in an oversized armchair in the plush hotel room that is her base for the day. It's a hectic menu of interviews today for the 'face' of Goldfrapp - her partner Will Gregory choosing to stay out of the limelight - and I'm worried she'll take a while to get back into it after the 20-minute breather she's just had.
But I needn't have worried. Demure yet unashamedly self-assured, Alison is now sitting in front of me, her face almost completely obscured by the huge sunglasses that would hide a multitude of sins. She takes a sip from the large pink cocktail that's been prepared for her and asks me if I'd like anything at all. Unassuming, friendly and unexpectedly normal.
It almost seems Alison is a very different person off camera; sure, she's straight-talking and sassy and smiles a knowing grin when something amuses or surprises her, true to the eccentric persona she portrays, but she's also always careful to answer questions properly and in full - professionnal to the hilt.
So how did it all start ? Goldfrapp has been around since 1999, but what were Will and Alison up to before they came together? Alison had always wanted to work in music - something she took a step towards when she moved to London from the countryside aged 17. "Bloody hell... it was just something I always wanted to do. It was pretty crazy, really", she sighs, twiddling one of the many blonde curls that fall over her face. So, set up in the big smoke, she followed the usual route, answering newspaper ads, joining bands -"most of which were fucking awful" - and singing on other people's tracks.
"I was all like, 'hello, I'm a bit stupid, come and speak to me. I was pretty naive and got myself into some weird scenarios, but, you know, I was on a quest - I'm gonna be a singer and the streets will be paved with gold." But it wasn't quite the fairytale Alison had expected - it was hard work.
Aged 20 the British Council took her on a trip to Belgium to sing with a dance group. "I was introduced to a lot of music I'd never heard before. That's how I realy discovered about the voice and what you can do with it - the way you can manipulate it and cut it and do crazy things with it." It was a learning experience, but a frustrating one, musically.
On her return to the UK, inspired by her travels, she enrolled in art school. Why the change in career direction? "I'd become very disillusioned with music and the music business and thought I didn't want to be part of it." She looks at me earnestly. "I got asked to do a lot of poppy things that I didn't want to do. I knew it wasn't right for me, even though I desperately wanted to do something!
"At art school I did a lot of performance art and played with music a lot and wrote stuff, and then I met Tricky." Alison had already worked with a various artists, including Orbital, and was well known for her distinctive voice. She worked with Tricky on his 'Maxinquaye' album, and then spent two years touring and performing vocals with the Bristol-based trip-hop pioneer in the mid-'90s. "I was doing other people's songs, which really did my head in, actually."
After that she spent more time writing, never giving up hope, but always wondering when her big break would come. Did she ever consider giving it up? "Yeah, I often thought, fuck this, it's never gonna happen, it's all bollocks, I'll be a hairdresser! I've always been very uncompromising and that can be good - and bad - but I think it was good for me because it made me really think about the things I didn't want to do! I just stuck to my guns."
The less public side of Goldfrapp, Will Gregory made his name as a film composer. The pair met through a mutual friend who had heard what Alison was working on and thought Will would like it. He did, and they met up. Did they click immediately? "Well, we spent a lot of time just talking about music and sent each other a lot of music and checked each other out and found out where we were coming from. We had both worked with so many other people before that we saw no point in just doing something for the sake of it. I thought this would be my last stab, so it had to be right."
It is a union of two very different but very strong personalities, each contributing their own ideas and opinions, but each understanding that they can complement one another. But it's a partnership more than a support system. "We're very different people and we work well together. We're both into different music and we introduced each other to different music. We had something more than just music in common, which can sometimes be completely irrelevant in a way. And there were all these things we wanted to try out - things we'd not tried out with anyone else."
And so the farytale began. Daniel Miller, founder of Mute, was immediately hooked, having listened to a demo the pair prepared, and the fiercely independent label was the perfect home for this very individual band.
What about the music? First came the Mercury Prize-nominated 'Felt Mountain' in 2000, with such memorable hits as 'Lovely Head', the first song Alison and Will wrote together. It was an introduction to Goldfrapp's sound - romantic electronica, full of wistful vocals, subtle synths and dreamy melodies.
Three years later came their commercial ice breaker, 'Black Cherry', which catapulted Goldfrapp into the mainstream. From the immediately recognisable 'Train' to 'Strict Machine', it was a wholly luxurious affair, all throbbing bass and raw sex appeal. It won them a widespread fanbase and a Brit Award nomination.
Now they're back with 'Supernature'. After the enormous success of 'Black Cherry' and 'Felt Mountain', what direction have they chosen for this new work? "I think it's a kind of synthesis, if that's too big of a word to use, of both albums, but I think it's a lot more confident than 'Black Cherry'. I think with 'Black Cherry' we were still discovering how we wanted to use the sounds. For 'Supernature' we got to thinking about songwriting a bit more, and the structures of the songs. We still have those, you know, very syncopated rhythms and electronic synthesisers with a more dreamy romantic sound, which I suppose is reminiscent of 'Felt Mountain'. It's a bit of the two."
Three albums in five years is fast work for a pair who work mainly on their own. Encouraged by Mute, Goldfrapp have never felt pressured to produce. It's a natural creative process. "I think we've been very lucky; we've been able to develop and do it all at our own pace and do what we want, really." Does she think that's in part because their success was gradual? "Yeah I do. It must be difficult for Scissor Sisters or Franz Ferdinand, who have so much attention with their first albums. It must be hard to live up to that. With our first album we were promoted through word of mouth!"
Visuals are an important part of Goldfrapp's whole. Whether it's the inimatable CD covers, the outstanding music videos or the website, with a different 'setting' for each album, image is important. "I've just always been interested in visuals, I guess. I'm very interested in mythology and since time began man has always used animals as metaphors for feelings,' she says in reference to the animal imagery that has been used so frequently in their campaigns. "You know, it's humans versus nature, humans versus machines, what it is to be human...visually it is quite interesting. I like the idea od hybrid animals and hybrid humans."
the band will be touring the UK throughout October, as well as appearing at various summer festivals, including headlining TDK Cross Central, and performing in Spain, Belgium, france and Ireland. So is this theatrical extravagance translated to the stage? What is Goldfrapp's live show like? She looks sheepish and fidgets. Having only just finished the album, and being in the middle of promoting, it seems the pair haven't really considered what they'll be doing. "Shit. I've just realised it's all so close. It's quite mad. I haven't got a bloody clue what I'm gonna do."
How does she prepare for a performance? Is there any requests? Any chanting, meditation?
"Yeah, there's chanting... 'fuck, fuck, fuck,' like that," she laughs, before shaking her head. "No I warm up and smoke a fag. That's pretty much it, actually!" No demands for painting rooms a certain shade of pink? "No! I might start doing that actually! I don't know, I might ask for some rabbits! I can actually understand that - there is something therapeutic about having animals around."
And chilling out when it's all over? "That's a difficult one. I must learn some yoga or something. Straight after a gig you normally pack up your things and then head to your hotel, or the next town you're playing, so I think there is a need to find something to help to wind down. Most of the tour you're full of adrenaline! I should probably find something to wind down... I love horse riding! That's something I like to do to relax". I suggest that perhaps she could ride a horse between gigs. We're on a roll, giggling as we come up with more and more ludicrous suggestions. "Now, that would be very diva-ish! I might turn up at a venue one night on a big shire horse! Actually, I've always thought that when I have my little shack by the sea, I'll have a horse and cart to go to the shops in. I mean, you can get loads of shopping in the back of a cart!"
Steering the conversation back to Goldfrapp, there's something I've been looking forward to asking Ms Goldfrapp. As well as being perceived as something of a gay icon - a point that was evident during Goldfrapp's appearance at London gay night Popstarz, when she had to appeal to the audience to stop screaming so she could hear what she was singing - Alison is also seen as a purveyor of blatant sexuality. Is she a man-eater? "Well, if I want something I always make sure I go out and get it! And I'll do it without even knowing." So she's subtle? "Yes, but uncompromising! Well, actually, I've done some filthy things to get...
umm... get the message across," she laughs and flashes that grin. But she doesn't want to share any more secrets. |
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