| Owain & Dewi of Rheinallt H. Rowlands (Glitter interview March 27, 1997) Glitter: How did you come up with the name? Owain: The name Rheinallt H. Rowlands originally came from the strange imagination of Alan �Dr Funk� Holmes of Ectogram, who thought it sounded like a proper old-fashioned singer. Glitter: Do you prefer to sing in Welsh or English? Owain: I talk in both languages, so I like to sing in both languages � it�s no big deal really. If I could speak more languages well enough I would write songs in those too. Glitter: What do you sing about? Owain: The songs I write are about the unglamorous side of real life, which is why I identify with Charles Bukowski. Lost love, death, lust and drinking are all themes I explore, but that doesn�t make them all sad songs. I celebrate life in all its ugliness. Glitter: What makes you angry? Owain: All sorts of things make me angry, especially myself, and other people who are selfish. Dewi: The usual stuff: politicians, lack of respect for the environment, lack of tolerance and respect between people of a different race/nationality/religion. On a more mundane level, the criminal cover version of Killing Me Softly by the Fugees annoys me, as does Mariah Carey�s �singing�. Glitter: Describe Wales in three words! Owain: Old, bitter, beautiful. Dewi: Small, perfectly formed. Glitter: Tell us a little about your collaboration with Gorky�s Zygotic Mynci on the track Iechyd Da. Owain: I used to sing once a week for the customers at the Taverna Politis in Bangor, North Wales. One night my friends from Gorky�s came to see me and we stayed late after the place had closed, drinking and making up songs. Giorgios, the owner of the bar who is from Athens and speaks very little Welsh kept shouting �Iechyd da, Iechyd da� so we incorporated it into a song and decided to record it the next day. I had no idea at the time that the Bwyd Time album would be so successful. Glitter: Have you ever been involved in the making of a fanzine? Owain: I have never been involved in a fanzine, songs are the only things I write. Dewi: Although I am a fan of many different people, I have not as yet been involved in the making of a fanzine. It�s a lovely idea though and I greatly admire people like yourselves who go to so much trouble to provide information to other fans, especially about bands who are ignored by the more mainstream music magazines. It�s a very valuable service. Glitter: What is your favourite TV programme? Owain: I don�t have a TV. I prefer films, but The Simpsons is good and Twin Peaks was excellent. Dewi: A difficult choice � I suppose the programme I watch most regularly is the soap opera Coronation Street. My all time favourite programme is probably Dad�s Army. Glitter: Is image important? Owain: In pop music you are expected to portray some kind of image, but I don�t like bands who pretend to be something they�re not. If the music needs some kind of artificial image then it can�t be any good. Dewi: I think a band or artist adopting an image can work as long as they don�t take themselves too seriously. For example Kraftwerk have a very well thought out image �robot� type image which is perfect for the music they play. If they played live or appeared on their record covers wearing jeans and trainers, it just wouldn�t work in my opinion. I do like a certain showbiz element in music, where artists dress in the sort of clothes they would never wear if they weren�t on stage or filming a video, people like Prince or Shirley Bassey. It�s ok as long as they don�t take themselves too seriously. In our case, image isn�t so important because the music is bigger than the both of us! Glitter: Who do you regard as cool? Owain: Swedish people! Dewi: Audrey Hepburn, Jason King, Scott Walker, Charles Aznavour, k.d Lang, sixties and early seventies Michael Caine, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Glitter: What are your influences? Owain: My influences from music are people like Scott Walker, Nick Cave, and Momus � they all have elements in their writing that I identify with. Of course there are dozens of other people that have influenced my music in one way or another, probably more than I realise. The great mountains and rocky coastline of North West Wales, with all their changing moods are a constant source of inspiration. Dewi: All the people in my cool list plus Ennio Morricone, The Beach Boys, Jimmy Webb, John Barry, Michel Legrand, Danny Elfman, Pet Shop Boys, sixties and early seventies film themes, Angelo Badalamenti and many more too embarrassing to mention here. Glitter: What makes you happy? Owain: At the moment, the sunshine is making me happy and the prospect of summer and doing more gigs. Knowing that people as far away as Sweden are listening to our music cheers me up to. Dewi: To be honest, few things make me truly happy at the moment. However, a large glass or two of red wine usually cheers me up and maybe an old episode of Dad�s Army (classic British TV comedy.) Of course, finding that people of all nationalities appreciate our music is very uplifting too. This may sound like a clich�, but it makes all the hours of hard work worthwhile. (C) Glitter Fanzine 1997 |