Maxïmo Park
TM - Hi this is Amelia and Elizabeth from Twinmusix, and we are here with Maxïmo Park. Thank you for having this interview with us today we appreciate it.
MP - It's nice to be talking to people on the other side of the world.
TM - What can fans expect from your Australian tour?
MP - It has been 20 years since we first started. We thought it would be nice to celebrate that and play a lot of songs that we played back in the day, and play some songs from our other records. We are representing the past 20 years, but also focusing on our first album "A Certain Trigger", we still like the album, and other people seem to like it as well. It will be a real celebration of the music that we have made over the years. We are very grateful to come back to Australia. We haven't come in a long time, and we feel lucky to come.
TM - What's your favourite song to play live?
MP - That is difficult as a lyricist and a singer, I am so close to these songs, they are all like my children. The songs that we write are very personal, and it is like you are wearing your heart on your sleeve. "Apply Some Pressure" has always been a signature song for us because it is such a strange song, it leaps around from one thing to the next and encompasses what we are trying to do as a band. We are trying to do pop arrangements and put in as many hooks as we think are needed. This song is very angsty and funny, and there is a melancholy tone towards the end, so when we play it live, the crowd seems to love that song.
The other song I like to play live is, "Dormant ’til Explosion", people go crazy dancing and throw themselves about. We were very lucky to have one of our favourite singers "Vanessa Briscoe Hay" from the band "Pylon Reenactment Society", perform on our album, and we recorded the record in Atlanta Georgia. We are big fans of "REM, The B-52s and Pylon Reenactment Society" and Vanessa singing on the record was really nice.
TM - How did fans respond to your album "Stream Of Life"?
MP - Everyone seems to like it, and that is the main thing. We have a creative Force and love what we are doing, and that makes it easier to go and play older songs. We feel the same way about older songs, and every time we want to go and make a record, we want to make it a timeless record. It is a document of its time weather it is musically or lyrically or something that you can go back to and find different meanings to. We have different layers, and I have always wanted to be a creative person ever since I was a young person at art College. I wanted this record to be something that you were excited about. Doing something reflective and thoughtful, and "Stream Of Life" is in that mold there is a reflection on life but also a spark to make the music.
TM - Who was the first band or Artist you saw live, and can you tell us a story?
MP - "Shed Seven" in Middlesbrough, which is near where I come from. It was kind of like an indie disco, and they had a band on and then a disco afterwards. I was just excited to be out of the house, to be honest with you, and I was 17 going to a gig by myself. It was so exciting, and it wasn't my favourite band, but just to see a live band was exciting. I never thought about being in a band till I got to art College. I was 19 and some of my favourite bands at the time where "Neil Young, Tindersticks, REM and The Smiths".
TM - How did you come to join "Maxïmo Park"?
MP - I had no idea that I would join "Maxïmo Park". Tom, our Drummer said we need a new front person. Let's go and watch Paul play with his instrumental group because he likes to put on a show. I hadn't sung much in my life, and Tom's wife heard me sing along to Stevie Wonder songs in a soul club while we were playing pool underneath these speakers, and I didn't know anyone could hear me. They put two and two together and asked me to be in the band. I had no dreams of being in a rock band or being a front person or a singer. It is very strange that twenty years later, I am still in a band and it is my job.
TM - If you could have any band play one of your songs, what band would it be, what song would it be, and would it be in your style or their style?
MP - I like a singer called "Cat Power", and I would love them to sing one of our songs, maybe "Books From Boxes" in her style. It is a melancholy, lyrically driven song, and Duncan's guitar Melody on that song is beautiful.
TM - Is there anything else you want to say to your fans?
MP - Thank you for sticking with us for the twenty years. We will try to never let you down. We want to make music that excites people and is relevant to people's lives. Our music could be about anything topic wise and we try and give it meaning. We tried to connect with people, so hopefully next year when we are in Australia. We are connecting with people and putting on a great show for the first time in a while.
TM - Thank you for having this interview with us today. We appreciate it.
MP - Thank you.