Picture us standing with my foot up on the monitor, close-fisted in my attack on the rock. Picture the last day of school, sliding dad's station wagon into first and leaving that shit in the dust. Picture us sticky fingered in basements, or walking in slow motion at the end of the movie. Picture listening to Stylofone.
What a great fucking band. Good name, good sound -- not too heavy, but just heavy enough. The drummer swings the set along, the acoustic guitar comes in for just a second, and the harmony solo kicks around. The build-up towards the end gives me chills. It's just one of those songs I could listen to over and over again. Believe me, I'm doing it right now.
Stylofone are a New York band, preparing to launch their first release - a uk-only single. This song comes from that, and it's not the best of the lot. All three tracks on the EP are rock solid jams. It's true. the single will be out on Young & Lost Club records, which is based in London. I'm sure this is just the beginning for the boys, who just have some really great songs. I haven't seen the live show, but my guess it that it's a wonderful thing. Highly recommended listening.
Ann Shenton has been delivering synth goodies to the public for over ten years now, originally known for being in one of the most influential bands of electronic music, Add N to (X). Their live shows were not to be missed, and their sound was and still stays as one of their own. Now Ann presents herself as Large Number a solo act that still rings true of her past projects. Though often compared to such visionaries as Kraftwerk, Wendy Carlos, and Robert Moog, there is something to be said of the Rock N’ Roll aesthetics brought to her sound. Now almost exactly four years after the release of the last Add N to (X) album ‘Loud Like Nature’, and three years after her Large Number release ‘Spray On Sound’, Shenton is here to talk to us to clear things up and let us know about her progress in destroying what is portrayed as electronic music today.
Rchrd: First off thank you so much for taking some time to talk to BigStereo, this is a dream come true. I might nerd out a bit and tell you that this is the reason why I do this, you are a true hero and getting to talk to you and ask you questions is in my eyes one of the best perks of the job.
So how are you? Where are you currently? Where are you calling home right now?
ANN: Well right now I have just returned from Glasgow where I performed at a launch party, it was for the re-issue of a lost Delia Derbyshire album called ‘Electrosonic’, so I performed some Radiophonic Workshop pieces dressed as a snail. [ There is a track called ‘The Snail Is Jammed Again’ so I dressed for the part.]
I have been down the bottom of the field in the rehearsal room (garage) getting material ready for the next recording session too, the moog is looking old, the Korg MS20 is fucked up and the theremin’s are screaming, but no-one can hear the racket as we’re in the middle of nowhere. That’s where the label is based, about 5 mile outside of Windsor, down a lonely old country road. London has lost its charm for me, but it doesn’t really matter where you are in the world, as long as you keep on trucking.
Rchrd: That’s great. Let’s take this from the start. Are you speaking to Barry or Steven? If not, when was the last time you did?
ANN: Well, let me see. I saw Stevo in July. He came to one of my shows. He’s cool, doing his paintings, and showing with a gallery. Barry, hmm, not seen him for a long while. I received a message from him while flying to Brazil with Chicks on Speed in 2004. Alex had seen him the night before in some Hoxton dive with his boyfriend and he wanted to pass on a message of goodwill. Its been so long since I tried to drown him in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel pool; maybe we could be civil to each other now.
But then again…they say time heals but I am not 100% sure what would happen.
Rchrd: Almost four years ago I went to one of the last Add N to (X) shows, in San Diego. It wasn’t much of a surprise that you were not present as rumors had already been flying around that you had left the band. I approached both Steven and Barry that night and asked what had happened. Although Steven seemed hesitant to speak about it, Barry gladly jumped in and said “That bitch went crazy�. This was not incredibly shocking to be honest, as I had heard that you had moved to the Midwest and were working in a small town. Seriously the Midwest can do that to you, or at least that’s what I thought. Can you tell us about your “holiday� in the Midwest and what was going on in your head at the time? Where exactly were you?
ANN: I went to Idaho for a while (there was a man there I was interested in). I hung out with a biker gang and just wanted an adventure. Alas, on my return to London things had changed with Add N to (X), I was told that the new album would be recorded in 3 parts; all of us recording separately, and I thought this was a bad idea. It turned out to be a very bad idea indeed. We just fractured as a band. They wanted to bring in more people to do the live performances, and I didn’t agree with that. We didn’t need session musicians, we needed to work harder as a band. I just freaked out at the studio a week before an American tour and stormed out. That was that. They still went ahead and did it, I don’t blame them, but I have been told that I was missed, even though I was replaced by 2 men! They should have got them black wigs to wear at least. So I suppose the bitch did go crazy.
Rchrd: I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. I can relate in going to other countries to get away from things and experience new cultures, different thinking, etc. Did you find anything interesting in America? Find what you were looking for?
ANN: I revisited things I did as a kid, like camping, horses, fishing. Culturally, Boise was lacking a certain ‘edge’. I was drinking from morning ‘til night by the end of my stay as I was going mad with lack of stimulus and after 9/11 everyone in our street had the US flag hanging from their houses, sitting on the deck polishing their guns. I wanted to get out.
I went back to England with my tail between my legs. I felt like a failure. My band had split up, and my new life had turned sour. It took me about a year to feel right again. It was then I met Marc Hunter from White Label Music, and he sort of helped me through my dark ages.
Rchrd: All bands fight and argue. Being in a band is like being in a relationship. What kind of things would you guys mostly bicker about?
ANN: We would all be drugged up , so the arguments are sketchy in my mind. They would follow me to the toilet to make sure I wasn’t taking heroin. That irritated me. It was ok for them to take cocaine though. We would fight about anything concerning analogue equipment, mellotrons, and arps.
Rchrd: So what exactly happened to your equipment and how did you get it back? Tell us about the story of your most prized possession and how it made it back to the Large Number recordings. Is that it on the cover of ‘Spray On Sound’, and if yes did you do it to show your ex-bandmate’s that you aren’t giving up?
ANN: I had left tons of gear in Boise. My manager at the time (who had his head up his arse) had arranged for the Add N to (X) tour bus to do a detour and stop by my old house to collect it, but at the last minute the tour bus was intercepted by my friends courier company from England and got there first! If the driver from England had stopped to buy a coffee or go to the loo, he would have been too late. I couldn’t believe the luck we had on that day we were tracking him on the map, like some scene from Churchill’s bunker… so that’s how I got my equipment back, otherwise I would have been left with nothing. It arrived several days later in England and I popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. That’s when my depression lifted.
Rchrd: Were there any hurtful moments after the split? Trash talking? Back stabbing?
ANN: Yes, like they wanted to storm a radio show I was doing and trash my records.
Rchrd: I’m sure the whole band had more than a handful of close friends in common. Was it difficult for you to stay friends with some of the same people after the split?
ANN: I just moved out of London to get away from it all. So I didn’t see people.
Rchrd: One of your common friends was Jarvis Cocker. He began taking interest in electronic music and was even influenced by your sound it seems for his project Relaxed Muscle. Do you still speak to him? Besides Rob Allum (Add N to (X) drummer) are there any other people you worked with then that you still are working with or planning to?
ANN: I spoke to Jarvis when we put one of his tracks on the electronic bible series. But I will be giving his new album a listen. I wonder if he has gone totally Scott Walker?
I met up with Rob Allum in the summer. We went out boozing together. He actually suggested we reform Add N to (X)! I replied that unless there was a special offer for lobotomies going on, that I didn’t think it was a good idea.
Rchrd: In the end do you think it was the best decision for the band to split up? Ever wish it could be how it used be then?
ANN: To be honest, it was always so fucking hard. I wouldn’t want to go back to that time. I see it as a Dickenson novel, no, a surrealist novel - a Dadaist film. I remember the drinking and the sex and the drugs and the screaming and crying and the endless traveling. I‘ve done that now - been there.
Rchrd: Tell us about Large Number and how that all started. Are you working on any more material?
ANN: Just recording a load of tracks now. the new album is going to be called ‘MODERN HORROR’
Rchrd: Was the recording and live experience incredibly different to how it was with Add N to (X)?
ANN: The recording was just as bloody hectic as an Add N to (X) session. We had blood, missing persons, wild dogs coming in the farm house and stealing food, but hey you cannot predict what will happen with a group of people in a remote farmhouse, all slightly egocentric and drunk.
Rchrd: You did some live shows with Chicks On Speed? How was that and how did it happen?
ANN: While Melissa was pregnant I was her “stand in�.
We went on tour with James Brown & The Red Hot Chilli Peppers! Oh my god, it was the most dangerous period of my life. 150,000 audience stadium gigs, and if that wasn’t bad enough, we got bottled off every night! But then we went to South America, and that was brilliant. They just called me up one summers day when I was sitting in the pub garden drinking pimms & asked me to join up. I had a few days rehearsing in Peaches studio with them, then we hit the road.
Rchrd: You have been working on your Electronic Bible project for a few years. What is the process of that? How do you find all of these bands?
ANN: We get loads of music sent to us at WLM , so its my job to compile the Electronic Bible compilations. We just wanted to create a series of what we deem to be good electronic music, all genres - but it has to be real, none of this pretend electronic crap. I hope I have an ear for it… we have got tracks from Dave Ball (Soft Cell) and Richard Norris (The Grid) as well as 50 other artists, some have never had material released before, and some are well established.
Rchrd: Tell us more about White Music Label and how that is going?
ANN: We wanted to concentrate on electronica , the entire spectrum, that is the mission of WLM - To create a label that’s recognised as a solid platform for some pretty challenging music: Man from Uranus, Pony Harvest, Hiem, The A$BO KID (ex EMF).
We have a label partner in Russia now Soyaz, so hopefully WLM will hit the cold tundra & snow.
Rchrd: Tell us about the project you are trying to start with an orgy of musicians. Sounds like quite an event. If there is anything to be said about it is that it is probably going to be one of the trippiest recordings ever. I mean you can’t tell me you are all going to be sober right?
ANN: Well its called the SONIC WEEKENDER. We have got this farm house by the
sea, there will be about 20 musicians, some have never met each other before. They have only spoken via the label forum. For 3 days and nights we shall attempt a concept album, based on the film Dark Star. I am going to be artistic director, and if that means preventing/encouraging fights then so be it. We will have an engineer and a producer there too, and of course tons of synths.
Rchrd: What are some other projects that you have had on your mind?
ANN: Well I am doing a few talks on the Radiophonic Workshop next year, and if the Sonic Weekender goes well, we will be doing a summer camp too, plus loads of gigs and looking after my label artists.
Rchrd: How do you feel about electronic music today, I mean especially the current electro-rock thing that has been becoming more and more mainstream?
ANN: Yes, its becoming more mainstream. We were trying to come up with better words to describe this music, one of our artists, Sunset People came up with some pretty good alternative names for ‘Electronica’ such as GREY DISCO, or Moog-onics.
..fashions come and go, but the hardcore will always be there, and they are the musicians who come up with the real earth shattering goods.
Rchrd: What are some of the best bands in your ears at the moment?
ANN: Hiem , Sunset People, Man From Uranus, Lowsparks, and Pony Harvest.
Rchrd: Electronic music seems to have a very limited amount of women involved. Yet it seems as though it is more acceptable than other music categories. Name some women that you really respect as well, that are involved in electronic music.
ANN: Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, all the dead ones.
Rchrd: Sexuality seems to be appearing a lot around me lately so I want to get your opinion. Are women really equal to men? Or are they on a completely different level to men. I mean besides the fact that they are discriminated against and not treated on equal grounds as men in society.
ANN: Sexuality, well the less clothes you are wearing, the more desperate you appear to be. Just don’t expect people to be interested in you for the long haul though. Longevity is the name of the game and depending on where your passions lie, you don’t necessarily have to get your kit off to get noticed. This applies to both sexes.
Men & women are different in essence but we have similarities in what makes us tick, what drives us & what infuriates us. both sexes want to protect and discover. So we share the positive altruistic characteristics. Put football and handbags aside as these are the superficial differences.
Rchrd: How was it for you being on tour with a bunch of men, and surrounded by men at most of your shows?
ANN: Ok, they were just as shallow as being surrounded by a bunch of women, no seriously though you don’t really think of it like that. You just get on with the situation at hand. You deal with the basics when you are on tour like getting food, water, vodka, showers, second hand shopping, buying records, its like being in the army I imagine as I have never had the pleasure of warfare.
Rchrd: Do you think homosexuals are the next women as far as politics go? Any thing to say about the lack of “out of the closet� celebrities or musicians?
ANN: Sexuality is unimportant to me. It is however very important to people who think it will get them noticed.
Rchrd: Well said. Do you have anything to say about politics? What are some of your concerns, if any, on the way the world is changing currently?
ANN: The planet doesn’t have a will, earth doesn’t make a decision to pro-create. We force our ideals and desires on to the planet. We will all ultimately perish. The idea of recycling is a joke, all the UK plastics for recycling are shipped to China where they are melted down creating tonnes of toxic smoke, made into cheap Christmas decorations and then sold back to us.
OK that is it as far as any deep questions go, now it is time for the BigStereo favorites.
List your favorites.
Bands: Fleur de Lys, Man From Uranus, Les Biberons Batis, Sunset People,
Movies: Dark Star, The Holy Mountain , The Man in the White Coat.
Magazines: Zoot
Books: Thus Spake Zarathrustra
Websites: www.whitelabel-music.co.uk
Cities: anywhere but Sao Paulo
Foods: Goose Barnacles (found in Portugal, they look like little penises)
Heroes: outsiders.
Well thank you so much for taking time with us. Please keep us updated on your future projects. We hope the best for you and hope this is the last time the whole Add N to (X) drama is brought back. Now go do your thing and Rock N’ Roll!!!
Bloggies added a music category this year. It is a shot in hell that we will make it through the nomination process since there are like a million other music blogs out there, but if you love BIGSTEREO then please give us a shout.
Bad Flirt and Hexes & Ohs team up for some delicious indie dance pop. I’m not familiar with the original, but “This Song is Romance” (You Look Like Hell Mix) sounds a bit like 90’s pop or something… maybe something I would’ve expected from 90’s era Cardigans. This track sounds like everything you’d want in a pop song… but. Like most great pop songs, it might be disposable. I’m not sure how many listens this song will stand up to before becoming a bit trite. Enjoy it now though — good stuff.
Bad Flirt vs. Hexes & Ohs - “This Song is Romance” (You Look Like Hell Mix) (mp3)
Ok, Generally BIGSTEREO stays away from bands like Deerhoof because they already have a huge blog buzz going for them, and… you probably already know. A quick glance at Hype Machine and I’m proven correct. So I’m not the first or last to post up “+81″, but whatever. That’s not the point… This track cannot be ignored.
As all the nerdy white fanboys expected, Friend Opportunity is a solid release… actually probably Deerhoof’s best to date. OR at least their easiest to love to date. It’s a little less experimental, a little bit less artsy, a little more straight forward and easy to digest. That is a good thing. I’ve never really gotten into Deerhoof before because they can be one of those bands that is way too abstract, and I totally get bored by that after about two seconds. That’s not exactly fair to the band only because they’re probably just generally too complicated for my little brain to understand. I hadn’t reached the point of love… until this album.
“+81″ is the perfect intro to Friend Opportunity — those horns! Wonderful. Total sucker for that.
Deerhoof - “+81″ (mp3)
Friend Opportunity comes out on Kill Rock Stars January 23rd. Fine music stores everywhere. BLAH: Amazon | Insound
A sneak peak EP is currently available on iTunes 
and eMusic.
