In Conversation with
‘Monster Movie’
June 2006
A little background:
Salutations
to Ryan from the band ‘Dreamend’ for his help with this
Interview.
I
contacted Ryan for a interview with his band ‘Dreamened’ a
Little
while back for a interview, which is hopefully
Forthcoming
shortly for ‘Setting Sun’.
Ryan
from ‘Dreamend’ also told he runs an independent record
Label,
which I currently cannot remember at the time of
Writing,
but it was he who suggested me contacting
‘Monster
Movie’ also as he thought they were be
Interested
in doing a interview.
At
that time of writing I had heard of ‘Monster Movie’
Through
my friend, Jen who runs ‘Stratosphere’
On
Yahoo Groups and I know she had played
A
number of ‘Monster Movie’ songs to me
Which
I had certainly enjoyed but couldn’t
Remember
really anything about them.
Interested,
I went to the band’s official website
And
downloaded a few of their tracks on there
And
was really impressed by their atmospheric
Sounding
guitar led sound which in a easy
Media
led World would compare them to
A
throwback to the sound off Slowdive
From
the early 90’s, even though I
Would
say it is very, very different
Indeed.
Thanks
again to both Christian
And
Sean for their time with this
Interview.
Hopefully
it won’t be too long
Until
you get going with your
Next
album etc.
For
more information – please
Go
to:
Cheers
AEN
Setting Sun:
How
are things and what is happening at the moment?
Christian:
It's
been an extremely busy year for both of us. It's involved
Moving
house, getting married and having children.
Most
of our time, however, seems to be taken up with
Phoning
up incompetent companies.
Obviously
on the monster movie front nothing at all is
Happening,
'All lost' came out and promptly disappeared
Again,
we haven't got any money to record and our PC is broken.
We
have written a load of songs, hopefully one day we'll be able
To
record them.
Sean:
Unfortunately
our time is taken up with dealing with the
Adult
world.
We're
both kind of bemused.
Setting Sun:
Can
you next tell us a little bit about the history off Monster
Movie?
How it all started and to use my favorite quote who fired
The
starting pistol?
Christian:
Sean
and I have been in various bands together since
About
1988.
Sean
was the only person I knew who could actually
Play
the guitar, most of my friends at the time
Just
had guitars as a fashion accessory
Or
in a desperate attempt to try and pull
Girls.
I couldn't play either (or pull girls).
We
were really into bands like My Bloody
Valentine,
The Pixies, Sonic youth,
Dinosaur
Jr, Jesus and Mary chain etc.
People
would come and go, and terrible
Gigs
would occur from time to time.
We
are not particularly driven type
People,
so things usually just
Petered
out.
We
decided to try and do something again
in
2000, we booked some studio time almost
Immediately
so that we had something
To
work towards.
Our
initial plan was to try and do some
Minimal
type music, but all these melodic
Slightly
sounding poppy songs came instead.
Those
first studio sessions were picked up by
Clairecords
and became our first EP.
Since
then we have recorded three albums,
A
mini album and a split single.
Sean:
Christian
fired the pistol. He just booked the
Studio
time so we had to get the songs ready.
Setting Sun:
What
are your influences (music wise) and
What
have you been listening to recently?
Christian:
When
I started playing guitar it was My Bloody
Valentine.
I really liked the way Kevin Shields
Used
guitar tunings, probably he had
Been
influenced by Husker Du and Sonic Youth.
I
liked the way that Kevin used these tunings in
A
slightly more melodic way, and we have used different tunings
Throughout
all our records. I wouldn't say sound wise we
Have
been influenced by My Bloody Valentine at
All
though.
During
the course of Monster movie I have been influenced
By
bands like Pavement, Stereolab, Grandaddy, Yo La Tango,
Brian
Eno, Radiohead, Air, Giorgio Moroder, Ultravox,
Velvet
Underground, David Bowie, Simon and Garfunkel,
The
Pixies, Yes and ELO.
I
have just got a car with a CD player in it so I have
Actually
been enjoying a few albums in the car like, 'Absolution'
By
Muse, 'Low' David Bowie, 'Feel' by Animal collective was
Interesting,
the new Flaming lips was good fun in places,
Genesis
'Nursery Cryme' and 'Foxtrot'.
Sean:
I
always think of my influences as coming down the Velvet
Underground
line through Bowie etc. We're also influenced by
Pop,
essentially that's all we do - write pop songs and then record
Them.
For 'All Lost' I was influenced by Anthony, Nick Cave,
David
Bowie, Coil & Current 93. Recently I've enjoyed
Patrick
Duff, The Arcade Fire, Ladytron & Om.
Setting Sun:
And
what have you released to date?
Christian:
We
have released an EP in May 2001, then an album 'Last night
Something
happened' in Feb 2002, a split EP with Dreamend in
Oct
2002, another album in Aug 2004 'To the moon', then a mini
Album
'Transistor' In Dec 2004, and finally our most recent album
'All
lost' came out in April 2006.
Setting Sun:
Do
you play concerts? If so, how do they compare to your
Studio
sound? Is their one you prefer over the other?
Christian:
We
never play gigs. I think it would be difficult to play live,
As
I can't remember how to play any of our songs.
It
would be fun to have the opportunity though.
Sean:
We'd
like to but our momentum is kind of forward and
Playing
old songs involves memory and looking backwards
And
we don't have that ability.
Technically
I'm a really sloppy player as well.
Setting Sun:
Probably
my favorite track of yours so far is from your 2004
Release
Transistor the track being in question letting you know
Can
you tell us a little bit more about this track?
Christian:
Letting
you know is quite a simple poppy song I suppose.
We
recorded it in Sean's bedroom. The song itself isn't
Specific,
but is based on people who are indecisive and
Too
afraid to take gambles. I wish people could be more impulsive.
I
think that was the first song that Rachel Staggs sang on for us.
We
try to get her to sing on everything now.
Setting Sun:
What
is the inspiration for your name Monster Movie out of
Interest
too? Nothing to do with Can is it?
Christian:
When
we started making music again in 2000 we were listening to
A
lot of bands like Neu! So we thought it was a good name for a band.
We
thought wrong.
Sean:
We
wanted to be called B-Movie but someone else had
Already
taken it.
Setting Sun:
What’s
next for yourself? Do you have any more releases in mind etc, etc?
Christian:
We
have written a lot of songs for a future record and probably
We
will come up with a load more. Hopefully we can
Record
some of them before we forget how to play them.
I
guess we'll record another homemade 'transistor' type
Record
again.
That
would be fun, and if we could do it this time without
Accidentally
deleting songs it would be even better.
Sean:
That
was my fault; Christian has a photo of my face immediately
After
I deleted the song. I look confused, but still beautiful.
That's
my default.
Setting Sun:
A
few more lighthearted questions to finish off with a,
Firstly,
what would you be your dream job if you were
Not
a rock and roll star?
Christian:
I
would quite like to be the best football player in the world.
Sean:
I'd
have my feet up doing nothing.
Setting Sun:
What
would you like to be doing when you
Are
60?
Christian:
As
little as possible without actually being dead.
Or
ill.
Sean:
I'd
like to be brushing my hair.
Setting Sun:
What
will you be doing when you are 60?
Christian:
Probably
working a shitty job with a massive
Tummy
and a slap head.
Not
that different to now.
Sean:
Same
for me. We'll still be really depressed about it.
I
don't think we'll ever be able to accept the way our lives
Have
turned out.
Setting Sun:
Lastly,
something light to finish off (Borrowed from a pal's
Zine
almost) Imagine you were ship wrecked on a desert Island
And
could have (Clearly Have Second sight here lol) the choice
Of
having 5 records or Cd's with you With a Stereo of
Course-
what would be your desert Island discs?
Christian:
It's
a bit tricky. Just for great songs 'Hunky dory' By Dave,
(Bowie
– Setting Sun) then I would take this double
CD
compilation of Electro Music that I've got, I would have
A
lot of spare time so I could get good at body popping like
Jeff
from Shalimar, then I'd probably take another
Dave
album, 'Low', then maybe a Velvet Underground
CD
and 'number one song in heaven' by Sparks.
Sean:
That
question makes me anxious - I have a lot of records and
I
don't understand why I'd only have 5 with me. For the sake of
Shits
and giggles I'd have the 3rd album by The Velvet Underground,
The
3rd album by Big Star, Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake,
Fun
House by The Stooges & Pet Sounds by the Beach
Boys.
Hopefully the VU & Iggy will make up for the lack
Of
Bowie.
