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While we wouldn't normally put interviews up on One Fan Clapping, I was given the chance to speak to a member of James on behalf of both Leaking and One Fan Clapping. Despite the One Fan Clapping manifesto against this sort of thing, who in their right mind is going to turn it down? So, on the evening of February 26, 1998, I spoke briefly with Jim Glennie on the phone regarding the Best Of James, the upcoming tour, and basically where the band are at this point, and here's what he had to say. |
JG=Jim Glennie, OFL=One Fan Clapping/Leaking
OFL:
Why did you choose to release a greatest hits compilation at this point?
JG:
Umm, well everybody's reaction seems to be, oh they must be breaking up, it must be the band's ending. It's not anything like that. The main reason is we wanted to get things moving, or keep things moving. Between Laid and Whiplash there was kind of this huge void where we traveled around on a bus and played to back and beyond and everywhere in between in America really; so we came back and went a few years in between tours. It's just too long to only be releasing one album every three years, we just kind of found that very strange, so it was like "OK, let's keep it moving, let's keep banging away." And this just seemed like an easy way to get the songs out there and keep them out there. And we've also got, god willing, an album coming out in the autumn, for which we've already written 25 songs; and we're in the process of trying to find little gaps to go in and record them. So we just wanted to speed it up really, to keep things moving. We're very prolific; we sort of write all the time basically, and it's just soul destroying that you know the industry can only handle you releasing 10 songs every 3 years. We're trying to break that mold.
OFL:
How did you choose what was going onto the best of record, it seems a bit like a singles collection?
JG:
Well, it seemed like an easy way to start because, especially the people that know James' back catalogue well, everybody's going to pick and choose a different sort of Best Of. I mean it is, yeah, basically a collection of singles, with kind of a few other bits of stuff thrown in for interest. I don't know. I mean, we argued over the ones - but we basically based it around the singles. Yeah, that was the idea really, to kind of get busy, to kind of draw the line between the songs we're doing, the end of a period, maybe the beginning of a new one. There were no major fights over what would go on there. That's the weird thing, you see, especially when you're talking to people that do know your songs well, it's like "Oh! You didn't put this on, and why didn't you put that on! And that was odd, I thought you'd have put that one on." But it's like, "Well, I know, but everybody's gonna draw up a different 15 or 18 songs."
OFL:
Was there a conscious decision not to put any of the old Sire Records material on, or did they simply make it impossible for you to do so?
JG:
No, we just kind of went through and picked what we wanted and then pursued it. We didn't worry about the record company and having to get permission. We just kind of picked what we wanted really.
OFL:
How do you feel that "Destiny Calling" as a song fits into your career at this moment?
JG:
Well, I think, "Destiny" kind of hailed a new way of songwriting for us really. Cause we've been a bit more throwaway in that respect. When we recorded it we only played it through 2 or 3 times and said "Yeah, that's it, leave it alone." And I think it's, kind of, harking back to the earlier attitude of the band where we were kind of more off-the-cuff and didn't tend to stew over things - which makes things a lot easier. So I think this is kind of like...I think the next album will be a bit simpler, a bit rawer, a bit fresher. It's so easy to get dragged in to the mentality that the more hours you put in on an album, the better it will become. It's like, if you work hard it will be better, but that's not the case in music at all because you very very quickly lose any objectivity. Take a song like "Destiny" which was recorded very very early in its existence really - I mean I've listened to it more times than any real James song up to this point. I think you very quickly want to put in stuff to make it fresher for you, you get a bit bored with it. And I think that if you're not careful, you lose kind of the freshness of the song in the early days of it beginning to form. Plus, having that attitude does make life a little easier because you're not punishing yourself. So basically we're going to be a bit more off-the-cuff, a bit more throwaway, fly-by-the-seats-of-our-pants and hopefully get away with it.
OFL:
Why did you choose to release it as a 3-part single?
JG:
It's a purely cynical, stubborn, increasing record sales thing. Basically, until they change the regulations which mean people can't do stuff like that, if you don't do it, you don't get the chart entry and you don't get played on the radio. And if you don't get played on the radio people don't hear your songs. And if they don't hear your songs, they don't go buy it. And if they don't buy the single, they don't buy the album and your life suffers. I'd love to be principled and refuse to do things like that, but we work too hard and love the music too much to put ourselves into such an immediately weak and bad position; and it's sad and it's silly and I wish we didn't have to do it. It would make life easier if we could just hang out and do what we wanted to, but unfortunately that's not the way it's set up.
OFL:
I understand that the b-sides for the "Destiny Calling" single are b-sides off older singles. Why did you choose to rerelease them?
JG:
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OFL:
What should we expect on the tour? Are you going to be playing any of the new material?
JG:
We might play a sprinkling of new material. I think primarily it's going to be based on the greatest hits, we'll have a singalong. I think we're gonna have the words on the wall behind us with a little bouncy ball [laughs]. Umm, it's gonna be based around the greatest hits. Umm, the tour...we're really looking forward to it. It should be fun. But, I think so, yeah, we're gonna squeeze in a few of the newer ones and see whether they can stand up on their own. Just for our sake as much as anything, and just get them ourselves.
OFL:
Did doing Lollapalooza last summer change the way you are approaching touring now?
JG:
I mean, I don't know. Obviously it was a strange experience, going and playing to lukewarm reactions. Trying to play to an audience which, even if they like what you're doing, you get very little back from them for that length of time can be difficult. It's the kind of reaction you get when you do festivals - you begin to win people over but at the time it was difficult. I don't know if it's changed the way we approach touring. We did incredibly well to keep morale up ourselves and not get too suicidal. Cause the thing is, you do get used to going onstage and coming offstage with a big huge shot of adrenaline, with a huge buzz from an audience giving everything back. You know, you're used to going on stage and playing to 2,000 people who love you, who sing along to all of your songs, you've got a huge buzz from it, and on Lollapalooza we missed that. You come off stage and you think well yeah, technically it was a good gig, we won over some new people, but obviously there's this kind of huge emotional vibe we're used to experiencing. I just kind of thought "Awww I miss it, I want it back" but, I don't know, we managed to get through it, didn't kill each other. We managed to make it fun for us.
OFL:
I understand you're working with Al Clay on the new album?
JG:
Well, we started working on a couple of tracks with him. I don't quite know what's going to happen next. He engineered, well he actually worked as an assistant on our first album, Stutter, thousands and thousands of years ago, in the early days of studios' existence, back when they were coal-powered. Umm, so we actually go back a long long way with Al Clay, we do.
OFL:
Hasn't he in the past produced stuff for Nitzer Ebb, how is this affecting what you're doing?
JG:
Well, it's a new phase in our career, you know...[laughs]. I don't think it's going to sound like Nitzer Ebb, but I don't know, you never know.
OFL:
Why did you choose to bring back the daisy motif?
JG:
I don't know, we just wanted something that represented James obviously, and it hit us right in the face really. I mean we see the greatest hits as being suggestive of a period, not necessarily where we are now, what we're doing now, but of everything that's come and gone before. And obviously the kind of road sign for that is the daisy. It's a natural choice really. Plus there's been a huge gap without it, we've not used it very much at all, so it's kind of nice to see it out there on posters.
OFL:
Why have you changed the appearance from having 8 petals to only 7?
JG:
Really?
OFL:
Yeah.
JG:
I hadn't even noticed. I don't know. Unless somebody's not told me something, I've been crossed off the list. I don't know. Anybody that can think up a good answer to that one, by all means send it in, because I'm bound to be asked that again and I could do with a good answer. If you can think of one that's really esoteric and artsy to do with something like days of the week or months of the year...
OFL:
How about as a tribute to Larry?
JG:
Maybe, yeah. And then there were seven, but there never was eight anyway, and there aren't seven now. But if you can think of anything....
OFL:
Really? I had heard a rumor that Michael Kulas had actually been made an official member of the band? Is this not the case?
JG:
Well, he's got a work visa now, so he's legally allowed to be in the band now.
OFL:
So he's just kind of around?
JG: Yeah.
OFL:
In the past, the songwriting credits have gone to "James" but on the "Destiny Calling" promo it actually lists out names. Does this suggest that you've changed the way you're working together to write?
JG:
The difficulty with the actual James writing credit is it's a little different in relation to the reality. Everybody in the band has always contributed to the songwriting. That has changed and people contribute more and in different ways than they have in the past. On top of all of this is the fact that there's only me and Tim signed to the record company and to the publishing company, which means, I think, according to the contract, 70% of the record has to be written by the band that's actually signed to the record company. So on paper me and Tim have to been seen to write the vast majority of the songs. Umm, the lads would have to be signed up to the record company as well and they're not and they don't want to be. So we end up in this weird situation where we can't actually be honest and say what we do because we legally have to work out these requirements. Legally me and Tim get most of the songwriting but we split it up afterwards. But this has now become legal, and it's an absolute bloody nightmare. But they get paid for loads of things from the record company that me and Tim don't get paid for. They get paid to record an album. They get a big bunch of money to record an album and me and Tim don't, and they get paid for doing promotion and television, it's a bloody mess, it's a nightmare. We all worked it out last year; we end up with roughly the same amount of money, but from very different sources. So yeah, the songwriting is moving into a different phase, Saul, Dave and Mark are being credited as songwriters now properly only because now we actually found a way that we can do that.
OFL:
What about Adrian's contribution then?
JG:
Well, there again it's like Adrian, and Michael, they are contributing, but especially Adrian, they will be credited in the future.
OFL:
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JG:
I don't know, I suppose if people dislike us then go listen to another band.
OFL:
It's not a matter of like or dislike, just change.
JG:
I have a great deal of passion for the fans in this country. I really really do. I know people who have been following James throughout the years, coming along. I feel the celebration and gratitude when we go on stage from people. I think it can be heartwarming that our songs are so very moving. And one of the reasons we do this is the buzz we get playing to people who are that passionate about what we do cause we are as well. I don't know. We've moved on, we've changed people, we've changed music, but we're still James. We were never going to be an easy band to be into. We were never going to find a sound and then churn out album after album sounding like that. That's not what we are, and I think that for James fans you can move into areas that people don't like; but OK cool. First and foremost we judge ourselves by our own standards and we have to love what we're doing. Album after album we love to work in new areas that stimulate us and that is, I think, the beauty of James. And also I think that people wish we'd stayed in an area they like but we don't, we move on but that is what we do, and we do that for our sakes to keep it fresh for us, to keep it alive for us, so we can continue to do this and we've managed to succeed at that for 15 years. Hardly a soundbite but....
We'd like to thank Sarah and the James PR corps for setting up this interview.
