... are Barry, Ryan and Sean and in my opinion are one of the best bands around at the moment. This interview took place a while ago when they played at the Network Club in front of a crowd consisting of a few of their mates, support band Kismet, me and Ruth and nobody else. Anyway it was the first time I saw them in about a year so it seemed logical to ask...
What have Backwater been doing for the last year?
Ryan:Writing all that.
Barry:Writing all the songs you heard tonight and recording some of them. We recorded a new single which was the second song you heard tonight called �Earthly Faces on Alien Places� and it will be out sometime on Fantastic Plastic records, a four song CD which will come in a cardboard kind of envelope thing all hand printed by us.
Ryan:Woo-Hoo!
Barry:There is 500 of them.
Ryan:And we went on holiday to New York.
Barry:We went to New York and played in CBGB�s which was good. And we did a tour of Britain, we did our own headline shows in Edinburgh and London and we played Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow supporting some wee boys from Downpatrick.
Ryan:Ash!
Is there going to be a new album out soon?
Barry: (with barely contained disgust) Bwaa!! NEW ALBUM! Go�way on with you!
Oh Dear! Raw nerve.
Barry: as you know we were signed to Che records and we got dropped, a kind of mutual parting of ways. We certainly knew that they weren�t right for us, and they knew that we weren�t selling enough records to keep us so we�re currently without a record deal but we�re doing one-off singles with people and we�re just going to get another record deal, it�s that easy. It�s not really but we like to tell ourselves that it is.
Why do you think that Belfast is so shitty that you are playing in front of 7 people tonight? I recently saw Barry giving out about bands who could play really well but were really boring at a Belfest conference for new bands.
Barry: Oh hear! I was awful rude at that, but everything I said I stand by. I think it was all true, I think that people are too concerned with playing the right notes and not having an imagination and I will maintain that to the day I die.
Ryan:I on the other hand am not concerned with playing the right notes, just having the right emotion.
Barry:Exactly, people in this town are too concerned with being competent and being derogative of their favourite bands that they are not prepared to go left of centre in any way except for of course Tunic and possibly Roo and...
Ryan: ...that�s all I have to say?
Barry: ...and I love those bands because even if they don�t make it to the end of a song and mess up a million
times, at least they�ve got passion and integrity and have genuine meaning.
Round of applause from everyone.
Barry:Thanks a lot! What did you think of Belfest as a whole?
The only gig I saw was Watercress who I didn�t really like and Gold Blade who I thought were really good.
Barry: Gold Blade I do believe have integrity but unfortunately...
Sean:Who�s this?
Barry:Gold Blade. What could you say about them?
Sean:They�re a pantomime Rocket From The Crypt but John Robb�s got a sexy arse, when his gold trousers rip open.
At this point Backwater decide to interview me about Yakuza during which I am asked about dribbling over a bloody baby dinosaur (I think) and...
Ryan:How do you fit into the modernist post-rock schema of generality that pervades in the music industry?
I think it�s the way to go, but anyway. Didn�t you support Radiohead recently?
Barry:Yeah, I supported Radiohead with an acoustic guitar and it was...
Ryan:It was pretty...Uhh... especially when the guy with the thing on his arm because he has repetitive strain injury was pulling them over like this... but the other guy, the bass player, he was pulling them over the other way so it was alright in the end.
