Lefthand - Interview

  by Mark Rowland

published: 22 / 1 / 2002

intro

London's Lefthand second full-length record, 'On Discovering Fire',is a mixture of tense guitars, dub-y basslines, effortless vocals and diverse rhythms with an electronic undercurrent.Singer Blair Dean tells Mark Rowland all about his group.

London's Lefthand have just released their second full-length, 'On Discovering Fire', a mixture of tense guitars, dub-y basslines, effortless vocals and diverse rhythms, with an electronic undercurrent. It even comes in CD form. Vocalist , guitarist and lyricist Blair Dean sets us straight over Lefthand's place in today's music scene. PB :'On Discovering Fire' is a very diverse sounding record. What were your influences as a band when you entered the studio? BD : I can't recall there being any specific influences during the writing and recording of 'On discovering fire,' but I never tire of taking inspiration, sometimes bordering on plagiarism from the likes of, Can, Neu, This Heat, Joy Division and the Velvet Underground. PB : Is there anything that you've heard recently that have made you sit up and think "Wow" ? BD : I downloaded some stuff on the internet recently by a band called the Screamers, who were part of the late 70's LA punk scene, which is brilliant, sort of a cross between Suicide and the Electric Eels. They never officially released anything, so its an assortment of demo's and live recordings, so the sound quality is quite poor, but the songs are great. Also the Nau ensemble's, the Eternal-variations on Joy Division, which is an incredibly dark listening experience. The Icarus line album -'Mono' and The Von Bondies album - 'Lack of Communication'. PB : What sort of thing are you listening to at the moment? BD : Bobby Conn-'The Golden Age', some Glenn Branca stuff from 77 & 78, the Misfits Box set, Dion-'Born to Be with You.' PB : Your previous album, 'Minus Eight', was a vinyl only release. Why did you decide to release it in that format only ? BD : We liked the idea of our first LP being on a nice thick slab of vinyl. PB : What made you choose to release 'On Discovering Fire' on CD as well? BD : It was more practical, plus the production of the album lended itself to a digital format. Most music retailers dont take vinyl anymore so if you want to get any kind of general exposore you really have to put a CD out. PB : With the amount of post-rock bands on the market at the moment, do you feel that you have had to work harder as a result to stay innovative and ahead of the rest of the pack? BD: I pity anyone at the back of any pack headed by us, as well feel pretty alienated from the music world, even in an underground sense. In regards of innovation within Post Rock, I really don't see what we do as being strictly in keeping with that genre. While I love a lot of bands that could be described as post rock, such as Slint, Tortoise, Rodan etc, most of my inspiration come from Post punk and Krautrock. PB : The British press and many record labels from this country have shown a singular lack of interest in post rock music. How has this affected the dynamics of the band ? BD: We don't really pay any attention to all that. It is odd though that the NME which is really the main indie paper thinks it is helping music by reviewing the likes of Geri Halliwell instead of giving new bands a bit of exposure PB : Much of your music and lyrics is of a dark nature. How much has your music been influenced personal experiences, and how much by what you've seen happening around you? BD : Both really, some lyrics are based on empirical experience, and some are influenced by books, the news, or even films. I invariably write the words first, and then try to write music  that suits their mood to accompany them. PB : Thank you