INTERVIEWS
THE PET SHOP BOYS
Neil Tennant:
What is this for? Ah, the good old Internet.
[In mock announcers voice:] This is Neil for CNN
[as make-up is being
applied] We can, so we do!
VOX: How
does it feel to be back out on tour
NT: Great!
This is our first world tour in eight years, and we started in Miami a
week and a half ago. The crowds have been wild. Its great. I mean,
literally, Chris and I havent toured in America in eight years.
Its fantastic. We have such a loyal audience here.
VOX: What
made you go back on the road
NT: Well,
we finished the last album, "Nightlife", we love the album.
I think its one of the best weve made. We thought, "Why
not tour when the album is done." [Laughing] We usually tour when
the album is done.
VOX: You
have such a fanatical following with out the benefit of much airplay
NT: We get
no airplay.
VOX: Well,
how does it feel to have that kind of fan base?
>LISTEN to Neil Tennant discuss the various sides of PSB live.>>47
seconds
NT: It feels
great, because you know they like what you do - its as simple as
that really. Funny, theres a review of the album in the latest edition
of Rolling Stone. It compares us to the Grateful Dead. It says the "Euro-cheese
disco version of the Grateful Dead," because we have so many fans
swapping mixes on the Internet and chat lines and all that. I think no
one else does what the PSB do. I think the song writing, in what we write
about, the way we present ourselves; design, video and on stage is completely
unique. And were getting a lot of new fans as well. A lot of our
new fans are in the early twenties in America and I think thats
great.
VOX: Who
or what has influenced you in the visual sense?
NT: Visually
we tend to get influenced by the things we see in artwork rather that
other music stars. This show is designed by a world famous architect known
as Zahar Hadeed who is one most revolutionary architects in the world
today. Chris and I always try to do something totally new. We like a four-piece
rock band; we have our computers, we have our singers, we have Chris on
keyboards live and I sing live. Thats what always has attracted
us to live performances we have the opportunity to try something new.
VOX: Neil,
in your opinion which PSB song best showcases you as performers?
NT: Hmmm
There
are different approaches in this show like "NY City Boy." Its
like a scene from a show, you have film of New York City, and you have
dancers dressed like sailors, doing a routine
that film that they
come out singing, New York, New York, its a wonderful town'
its
taken from that. Then you have the song "Young Offender" which
is completely me and Chris playing keyboards and singing
There's
this fantastic film from Ireland about the young kids that ride ponies
everywhere. Then you have one that's all acoustic
the many different
versions of PSB that you get in the show.
VOX: What
is your favorite track off of the album and why?
NT: I think
its "You Only Love Me When You're Drunk." Its a
very simple song. But I think it works in many different ways. Its
sort of funny, the title - I think it gives everyone a guilty conscience
when they hear it. Umm, It true, its got a lovely melody. The producer,
Chris Armstrong, whose a film composer, did the a brilliant string arrangement
which make it uplifting as well. I think-its short - 3 minutes.
It's a perfect pop record
VOX: What
do you think of Los Angeles?
NT: I havent
been to Los Angeles in five years, and that was just a two day stay en
route to somewhere else. Cause Chris and I, in the late 80s, were
always in Los Angeles. But I like it; the weathers nice.
Its
pleasant and quite cool.
VOX: What
changes in growth do you see in your music between Bilingual and Nightlife.
Has something changed professionally, personally
NT: You know,
Chris and I write constantly. We try to aim to produce music that is simultaneously
simple and sophisticated. A song like "Vampires" on the new
album has a very simple melody. Chord change
musicians, we have this
chord change. We have this musician, Peter Schwartz, and he loves this
chord change. And I love that 'cause hes this classical musician
- he loves this piece of music that weve written. And I also like
the pop simplicity - thats what we like to achieve. And also we
gradually changed the PSB sound. We are not the sort of band to come back
and jump on the latest trend. Our last album Bilingual, was, half of it,
Latin inspired by trips to South America. Everyone thought it was weird
at the time cause thats when Brit pop was happening. But now of
course everything has gone Latin! Weve moved on but we do experiment
as well.
VOX: What
is the PSB creative process like?
NT: We work
in the studio, we write together. Sometimes Chris works at home, I work
at home. Ive written with the piano, guitar at home like the song
"Boy Strange" on the album. Then Chris vibes all over it as
well. Sometimes Chris writes an instrumental and I write the words for
it.
VOX: The
song "In Denial", everything is laid bare, you lay all of the
emotions out. What inspired it?
NT: "In
Denial" comes from a scene we've written. Weve written a musical
were
going to workshop it in the spring. We hope to produce it within the next
year. Its set in a club and I am a manager.
VOX: What's
behind the title Nightlife?
NT: Well
we realized that a lot of the content of the songs took place at night.
And actually we have a song called "Nightlife" which did not
make it to the album cause we havent got it down right yet. We thought
it was a good concept 'cause a lot of the songs take a place at night.
It starts with "For Your Own Good," and it ends with a song
called "Footsteps" which is really about being scared of the
dark and wanting the comfort of your lover next to you. And in between
that you get lots of different aspects of nightlife. You get vampires,
when they come out at night
You get the fun disco side in "New
York City Boy."
VOX: How
long would you like to see the PSB exist?
NT: I think,
the end will come when it comes. Chris and I are really good friends.
We get along great together. You know we have got a lot of projects on
the go at the moment. I just think its one of those things that
you let it just happen [end]. If you told me 15 years ago, or even for
that matter ten years ago that [today] we would be playing at Irvine Meadows
I
mean lets face it, bands from our generation arent around
anymore. I think the key is to keep doing new stuff, change and use your
imagination. The Pet Shop Boys are about using your imagination.
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