[JUST...RADIOHEAD]
IL FAN CLUB ITALIANO DEI RADIOHEAD
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INTERVISTE Spin With A Grin
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“Spin with a grin” (www.spinwithagrin.co.uk) è una sorta di archivio di risorse e informazioni sulla band, tra cui spicca uno spazio per domande & risposte, aggiornato in continuazione dagli stessi membri del gruppo. QuellA che segue è una selezione aggiornata al mese di  giugno 2001.

THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED BY RADIOHEAD:

SUBMITTED BY: chris lloyd from England
QUESTION
With the current influx of bands that have come out in recent times (examples: limp bizkit and n'sync), what direction do you predict the music market will head into? (this question is meant to stand for "where do you think music will head to next .. what is the next big fad, trend, etc?) 
ANSWER
im not into speculating on this sort of thing, maybe its like the seventies and we're in the shit cocaine disco bit. who knows. its sympotmatic of whats going on elsewhere..... a climate of fear.. where is it heading. into an asteroid with no-one driving. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: John Earls from UK
QUESTION
Why have you chosen Pyramid Song as the single from Amnesiac? How will you feel if it gets to No1/how will you celebrate? And what are the chances of there being further singles from the album (which song will it be if there are?) PS: Can I get a fuller phone/face-to-face/e-mail interview with any of the band? (Caffy seems happy with the idea in principle, but says it's a question of time.) Puuuurrrrrllleeeeaaaaasseeeee?
ANSWER
absolutley no chance whatsoever. ask alex. yes there will be more singles. all aimed at radio3. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: Jenny Jarvie from Britain
QUESTION
I read in the NME that your new album features a song which attacks Tony Blair - and that it will be released three days before the election. I am writing a piece on political parties' growing reliance on celebrity backing and would very much appreciate your comments. I appreciate that you are all busy, but wonder if I can throw the following questions out: What is it New Labour that particularly frustrates you? How do you feel about the other main political parties? Will you vote? Young people are increasingly labelled as 'apathetic' and criticised for not voting. What do you think about this idea? Do you think it is irresponsible to vote for someone you don't believe in? Would you consider launching "You And Whose Army" as an official anti-election tune? Of course, please feel free to mention any aspect of contemporary politics you feel strongly about. Thanks very much, Jenny
ANSWER
never believe anything you read in the NME. that is a formal denial in case your wondering ,...dont waste your time reading etc.... much like never believe anything reeled out by Alistair "unelected" Campbell... this song is not a personal attack. but no i wont vote and havent votedfor a man willing to go along with son of star wars. its not exactly surprising that a large section of the population will not give a flying fuck about the election. everybody blames evryobody else. and new labour is happy to let filingdales be used in world war 3. they are not in touch and have blatantly betrayed all who supported them except those friendly business interests. we were involved in a campaign to encourage people to vote a few years ago in the uK. this was hijacked by labour. labour are good at highjacking and betraying. they attempted something rather similair with jubilee2000. frightening levels of paranoid bullshit. err oh dear. world war 3. tchocky 

SUBMITTED BY: Tique De Koninck from Belgium
QUESTION
I was wondering why Morning Bell appears on Amnesiac. I heard the new version and it sounds great, but why did you decide to include it on the album ?
ANSWER
because it came from such a different place from the other version. because we only found it again by accident after having forgotten about it. because it sounds like a recurring dream. it felt right. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: David Peschek from UK
QUESTION
Thom - I'm writing an introductory 'Mojo Risiing' piece on Mark Mulcahy. He seemed very touched by your support in the past, and I was wondering if you could offer a few words as to why he's so fantastic, why he was inportant to you etc - there's a 'references' bit at the end of the piece for well-known fans to rave about the subject of the piece. It only need be, literally, a few words, but feel free to ramble on should the mood take you. Have you heard the new album, BTW? It's lovely. Thanks a lot, David.
ANSWER
When i was 15 the best song in the entire world and the most beautiful voice i had ever heard sang "all for the best" of Miracle Legions Surprise Surprise Surprise. it was the voice of someone who was only truly happy when he was singing. it affected me a great deal. the record never seemed to get anywhere, i had to go to London especially to get it. no-one seemed to know who they were but my brother & i played that record until it was completely unplayable. it changed the way i thought about songs and singing. thom

SUBMITTED BY: marylouise harding from UK
QUESTION
Your're know for beong stong advocates of the web in terms of using it to communicate and swap ideas and information with your fans (and the media!) and, with Kid A, using it to give people free access to your music. Do you forsee that you will eventually use the medium as your primary tool for distributing your music, in addition to ideas and information? What changes need to take place for that to happen both in terms of existing business relationships and technological environments? 
ANSWER
its all going to morph into one media again isnt it? i dont understand how anyone will make a living necessarily, or maybe lots of people will make a small living, we have no idea how we shall deal with these changes, it still is a novelty for most of the people on this planet unless you live in north america. there is still this element of goldrush bullshit that seems to go with any discussion about the internet. the main thing is that you can copy anything digitally without anyloss of sound. (it makes you very paranoid about walking round town with maybe a Cd in your bag, or leaving it on the kitchen table when you go out.) but hopefully people trying to get somewhere wont have to expend so much time and energy dealing with idiot A&R men and crazy corporate shakeups, perhaps it will encourage the DIY thing again. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: Michael Christian from Canada
QUESTION
Maybe the artifice of copywriting recordings is like copywriting textual pieces, but I find it difficult to understand. Public libraries are mostly free, and so you don't need to buy a book to take it home and read it to your kids. Some libraries even let you take out movies, records, tapes and CD's. My university library is great in that respect. But with digital content, there seems to be an intolerance in the commercial media industries for online public libraries of music and texts. It seems improbable that an Andrew Carnegie of this day and age would ever invest in making libraries again. Carnegie Libraries of digital content are considered lazy dreams. If mp3's had a public library, and we all had cards, would that change how threatened some people feel? It seems unlikely now. But Napster had an enormous effect on the popularity of Kid A, helping to build enthusiasm and community from little seeds of curiousity last summer and fall. Do you see mp3's still shaping Amnesiac's impact in any way? Can something like that ever occur again in the current climate, with the RIAA against Napster, or in the future? How does it make you feel with Amnesiac being released into this atmosphere? 
ANSWER
The record industry is reaping its bad karma for repackaging music in a crap Cd format and destroyng vinyl, getting away with charging too much for too long, as well as buying the sources of distribution and trying to sow the whole thing up completely. the loosers for too long have been the listener, there have been some benefits in reissues and etc but the money the majors made out of it all merits the sprawling abuse of copyright that they will never completely be able to control over then net. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: MARK CUNNINGHAM from AUSTRALIA
QUESTION
Radiohead fans tend to be extremely devoted to the band - they seem to connect with your music and ideals. What do you see as the major aspects of your music which people connect with so well?
ANSWER
to be really truthful i dont see it myself. when we play soemthing new we dont how people will react. if i show an idea to the rest of the band im terrified if they will respond or not. they are the same. it always amazes me how complex this remains. there was a time when we could make the correct moves and the required response. and that was the time when the shine started to fade.\ do people connect with our ideals? i dont know, surely encouraging people to make informed decisions is more useful? ignorance is the biggest problem isnt it? we are no purer than anyone else, no smarter. equally we are not little rag dolls you play with but say nothing and go back in the box when your finished with us. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: MARK CUNNINGHAM from AUSTRALIA
QUESTION
Kid A was a total change of direction for the band. Was everyone committed to this new direction? How did Jonny feel about focussing more on keyboards than guitar?
ANSWER
I don't remember much time playing keyboards. It was more an obsession with sound, speakers, the whole artifice of recording. I see it like this: a voice into a microphone onto a tape, onto your CD, through your speakers is all as illusory and fake as any synthesizer - it doesn't put Thom in your front room - but one is perceived as 'real' the other, somehow 'unreal'. I'm straying from the point. What was the point ? Well, it's the same with guitars versus samplers. It was just freeing to discard the notion of accoustic sounds being truer. The inverted snobbery amongst some people even extends to keyboards. Mellotrons are 'truer' than Synths, apparently. But remember that hearing a band rehearse will never be the same coming from two speakers. That's fine. Of course, you want your music still to sound beatiful, or to somehow make you react. It's not about just spuring tradition, or rationalizing rubbish because it's 'different'. SO we'll still fill tapes with violins and guitars as much as anything else. Whatever sounds cool. Whatever isn't boring. Whatever is addictive.And ANYWAY There's nothing like a guitar for physically making music - like a drumkit for making rhythms - so I don't get bored playing the thing. I've been telling people, glibly, that there's so little guitar on the new stuff because there are only five Pixies albums, and there are other sounds out there. They hit at their instruments in striving to not be boring - whilst avoiding muso drudgery. Remember the advert The Pixies placed to get Kim Deal (the only applicant):"Band into Husker Du and Peter, Paul and Mary seeks bass player. No Chops." 

SUBMITTED BY: MARK CUNNINGHAM from AUSTRALIA
QUESTION
You seem to be making a concerted effort to move away from the commercialisation of music - do you think this is possible, given that there is a tension between getting your music heard and becoming pawns in the music industry, especially since the industry is very much consumer driven?
ANSWER
i dont agree that we are making any concerted effort to move away from commercialisation. perhaps we are just choosing not to play the usual stupid games because at least for the time being we are in a position to do so because people still buy our records. the main corporate music industry is very conservative at the moment, sandbagging against the floods, but it is maintaining a complete stranglehold on good shit because it is totally uninterested in taking risks and has a cartel over formats and distribution. that ultimately will be its own funeral. i dont think the industry is consumer driven either. unless you are 10 yrs old that is. small labels are right to stay away from the large companies, their methods historically are those of any large corporate structure, we ended up inside the perimeter fence when the music business decided to stop having faith in new music and fatten itself off for the big merge. lucky us. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: MARK CUNNINGHAM from AUSTRALIA
QUESTION
Alternative media seems to be a better way to access a wider range of info on sensitive global issues rather than through the media monopolies. Do you feel that alternative media outlets have a significant impact on the way we view the world today?
ANSWER
yes. it never ceases to amaze me how shit mainstream news has become. dismissing WTO and the iMF protesters as ignorant trouble makers or anarchists or some such bullshit will some day in the future look very daft. tchock

SUBMITTED BY: MARK CUNNINGHAM from AUSTRALIA
QUESTION
how effective do you think the current anti-globalisation protests - including anti-WTO and -WEF protests, are in in altering the way the large corporations and governments operate? Do you think community-based activism has a significant impact?
ANSWER
i dont think it is any way altering the way that large corporations operate because i think they are mostly stupid enough to still believe they can fob people off with expensive public relations. governments? i dont know in this country there are laws that may soon be passed making legitimate legal protest into terrorist activity, i wonder what 'the thief' will come up with in the US................ but this is all encouraging from the point of view that obviously they feel there to be a genuine threat out there. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: MARK CUNNINGHAM from AUSTRALIA
QUESTION
Third World debt relief is a huge issue these days, with calls from Bono, Michael Stipe and yourselves to cancel all unpayable third world debt. Do you actually envisage this ever being achieved? Do you think the G8 will ever bow to the pressure to act on this?
ANSWER
yes. i think so. what it demands now is for the G8 to admit the reason they are holding on to indirect debts through the IMF/WOrld Bank et all is because they are still rather fond of the political and economic influence the has afforded them. consiquently the indebted countries should use their political weight to resist such influence, they should form their own union against such blatant bully tactics. it is bullshit to say the west cannot afford debt cancellation and they know it. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: Brooke McIntosh from Kansas City
QUESTION
i just wanted to say that your music is like a 7th grader who plays with science. no forumulas, just a mess. and that's a good thing. it's like those drawings that 5th grade boys make of spaceships or cars from the future. there's so many parts and labels and detail it's interesting to look at, but it's so unreal. it's fucking wonderful you it's like listening to a kid sing to himself when he thinks no one is listening. okay do you feel grown up, like adults? i don't want to sound like an ass, i don't think your music sounds juvenile at all, but definately not um adult i guess. i dont' know. nevermind, just wanted you to know your music makes me feel happy. makes me want to grab some crayons.
ANSWER
ha ha you should see our studio. or our new drawings and paintings. or jonny infront of his huge patchbay. or colin staring at the screen for hours on end. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: Sean Wong from Hong Kong
QUESTION
Tell us something about your forthcoming album.
ANSWER
i read that the gnostics believe when we are born we are forced to forget where we have come from in order to deal with the trauma of arriving in this life. i thought this was really fascinating. its like the river of forgetfulness. it may have been recorded at same time as `Kid a but it comes from a different place i think. i used to listen to it on my laptop on tour supposedly trying to find a running order but really becuase i was so happy to have soemhting we had done that nobody else had heard and was our secret. it sounds like finding an old chest in someones attic with all these notes and maps and drawings and descriptions of going to a place you cannot remember. thats what i think anyway tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: Stephen Kwok from Hong Kong
QUESTION
Which of your songs are you least satisfied with?
ANSWER
the unfinished ones without words. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: Koen Kwan from Hing Kong
QUESTION
If you could only bring 1 and only 1 CD to the moon (with your discman, of course!), what would it be?
ANSWER
if you listen to any piece of music long enough it will drive you insane. therefor it would have to be a programmed DVD that would create randomnly.

SUBMITTED BY: HSNNHAL HSNNHAL from Hong Kong
QUESTION
Many artists have been involved in making music for movies, like Bono for "Million Dollar Hotel", Bjork "Dancer in the Dark"....... Have you ever thought of producing a movie and the music to it? Any other parts of the movie production process you're interested in?
ANSWER
I've just got back from Park City, Utah, where the Sundance Film Festival was held. I saw Jamie Thrave's " the low down ", and also Jonathan Glazer's " Sexy Beast ", ( en route, not at the festival ). I went to see " Scratch ", about turntablism, but they gave our tickets away! So it was frustrating to see film because of the demand and small seating numbers. So I spent most of the days learning how to snowboard, which involved falling on my arse alot...The good stuff that came out was meeting film makers and music supervisors ( they put film makers and musicians together in a matchmaking kind of way), and letting people know we were interested in cool projects. It's such a time consuming and completely different field that I don't think we'd ever do anything in the ' production ' thing...but it's true that a screenwriter often has the soundtrack in their head when they write a cool movie, like Anderson's ( i think ) " Magnolia ", and if we were in their head and we liked the idea, then that would be great. What we hated was being tacked on to some soundtrack to an ' action ' movie that would include, say, the Cardigans (no disrepect ), or whoever would appeal to a middle america demographic to sell cds and bums on seats. I know Jonny is interested in doing some scoring, but again the time commitment is a big deal, so maybe a strong short would be a good first experience. Ed thought that it would be interesting having to work to someone else's vision - the director - since we've never done that, and that could be an interesting discipline. Or maybe a nightmare!

SUBMITTED BY: Old Wife from Rocklands
QUESTION
The arts have always expressed the salt-of-the-earth's version of life, the universe, everything and nothing... do you feel radiohead's simplicity is over-scrutinsed as being some kind of sinister, political marketing plan and any plans to do a u turn (musically, in the media) in the future to make life easier for yourselves in the public eye? (p.s. personally hope not, i like you evolving and like being continually surprised but musicians have been worn down in the past...) ARTS NOT ARMS!
ANSWER
if it was so well thought out and planned it would be shite and none of us would have bothered. i would love to make my life easier in the public eye, maybe then i would nt get these pains in my stomach and be short of breath and wake in the middle of the night with these fucked up thoughts going through my head. and maybe evrybody gets worn down in the end. amd there is nothing the british like better than sticking the knife in. its infectious. we all have it. proffesional lifestyle opinion demographic tail chasing bullshit. tchocky:)

SUBMITTED BY: Trevor Cochrane from ?
QUESTION
Included in the DVD for the Movie "Fight Club, there is a comentary made by Edward Nortan that is played along with the movie and he mentions how Brad Pitt and himself are big fans Radiohead and how they were hoping that they would do the soundtrack for the movie. I was wondering why Radiohead turned down the opportunity (although I am quite sure you were probably really buisy). I was also wondering if scoring film soundtracks is something Radiohead wants to do in the future. Is it not an eciting idea? Or are you guys just waiting for the right movie to come along. What are your thoughts? Thanks Trevor Cochrane 
ANSWER
Jonnys big into the idea. I didnt understand how yuo did it till i i went to a flashy studio in london and realised that you just there watching Tv playing along. which is sort of interesting, i tend to do that anyway.it would be nice to co-ordinate something that wasnt necessarily a set of songs, for me however i worry that this will be like trying to hold water. everytime i think abou it i see a large neon sign that says "lost it". however i am getting used to seeing that sign nowadays so maybe thats okay. personall yi d like to learn to read music first. yes i suppoise we are waiting for the right idea, which is why colin and ed have gone to the sundance festival to join the hollywood jetset haw haw any excuse. tchocky(son of star wars) one of these days id like to make the film after doing the sound track, would that mean its a video... err oh.

SUBMITTED BY: Martin Aston from United Kingdom
QUESTION
This is to follow up Mojo man Andrew Male's query about prog-rock favourites; would any Radiohead member like to provide comments for a feature I'm writing for the same Mojo issue; do 'prog-rock' values still hold their ground in the contemporary era? What is it about prog-rock that still appeals, despite it being widely treated as a genre for losers, geeks, whathaveyou? I'd really appreciate some feedback from a band with their feet so firmly rooted in 2001, yet with some connectivity to the prog spirit. Thanks 
ANSWER
prog rock is sad. and krautrock is not prog rock is more punk. queen were not prog rock. the were camp and not serious or shite enough. pink floyd moved to slow to be prog rock. certain areas of electronica smell of prog occasionally, i try not to notice. those who thought prog rock was like jazz are deluded. i dont know what prog rock is. never did. just because you change time signature a couple of times doesnt mean you is singing abou the fairies in the woods does it? were genesis prog rock? when peter gabriel put a flower round his head and kicked a bass drum was that prog? i have no connectivity with anything prog whatsoever except maybethat last bit about the flower and the kick drum and peter gabriel. tchocky 

SUBMITTED BY: Laurence Boisnard from France
QUESTION
Though on some songs of Kid A, you "hided" the voice among the instruments like on Kid A (the song) for instance, on other songs, like "How to disapear completely", the voice is the spin of the song. Do you find a pleasure, even a physical one, to sing ? 
ANSWER
i go through phases of hating my voice. i was interested in not having to rely on it to convey what was needed. its my instrument, and i got bored with singing softly or high or all the usual tricks, i didnt get off on that anymore. after being on tour yes i actually started to physically enjoy making my noise again, to understand where i used to come from you know? i suppose its all wrapped up in other issues.. but.. tchocky

SUBMITTED BY: max k from ukay
QUESTION
since the dawn of time, you've always had the "5 blokes in a room, bash out a song live, put it on tape and leave" approach available to you. but (i hope?) most people have realised kid a's successfully taken you somewhere more interesting than that. you're notorious for having loads of versions of tracks and now you're not forced to capture just the live version on record - however for your live shows, youve still got to find that translation that blasts out powerfully enough to get across to 10,000 people in a big tent. while that's all valid and good fun - have there been any thoughts on *other* ways of presenting your latest tracks live (obviously you can release alternate versions on record). what about DAT or powerbook gigs - maybe remix/dj sets... i suppose the cclosest 'rock analogy' is an 'acoustic' set. could be a waste of time, could end up like a hideously wanky sonic youthy sideproject, but with enough care it might just work...
ANSWER
we talk about this a lot but still enjoy hitting stuff more than moving a mouse. but its a bastard trying to justice to kid a obviously. not sure. it aint much fun trying to keep up with a machine, especially when it always seem slow and dull. son of star wars

SUBMITTED BY: Barnes Anthony from UK
QUESTION
I'd like to find out a bit more about your collaboration with Humphrey Lyttelton. On the face of it, it seems like an unlikely link-up. How did you get together, how did the session go? Many thanks. 
ANSWER
jonny should answer this one...

SUBMITTED BY: Andrew Male from Britain
QUESTION
My question is for Jonny. At the moment MOJO are compiling a prog issue with features on King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, etc. Given that you're supposed to be something of a prog fan I was wondering whether you'd be up for speaking to us about your fave act. If, on the other hand, this is yet another example of twisted disinformation, my apologies. However, if any of the band have something close to their heart that they would like to speak to us about, drop us a line. Cheers, Andrew Male Features Editor MOJO
ANSWER
alright andrew? I'll tell jonny when he gets back from holiday this week....lovely to see you last week-end. drop us a line if there's any cool music on in the city... cheers colin.

SUBMITTED BY: Hidekazu Hori from Japan
QUESTION
The sounds of album "Kid A" differs alot from the sounds of album "OK Computer". Was there any specific event or clue which led you to go different direction?
ANSWER
Ok Computer was mostly recorded live, after a lot of rehearsals and touring. Kid A was our first attempt at working on sounds and songs from sounds in the studio. We wanted to understand more about some of the modern ways of making music, such as samplers and sound modules. Also we were interested in recreating fresh sounds using old analogue synths and drum machines which had in turn been sampled and put into boxes. We still love to play live; it's just that we needed to find some more colours to play with. Also, we're not ' players', so the machines are beguiling because they're constructed for duffers such as us.

SUBMITTED BY: Chris Salmon from UK
QUESTION
What's your favourite London music venue? And why? Thanks very much. ps - I sent you the sleeve of my copy of 'Anyone Can Play Guitar' way back in '93, hoping that you'd autograph it. Any chance I could have it back now?!
ANSWER
I'm sorry about your Anyone sleeve....I'll see if we have one in the office....oooops. Maybe we thought you were just sending it back. I like the old Town and Country in Kentish Town, I think. 

SUBMITTED BY: bethan cole from UK
QUESTION
what are the advantages/disadvantages of having almost zero prescence as celebrity 'personalities' Does reclusiveness ultimately serve to augment fame and myth? Do you really have to ever fight to stop yourselves being turned into celebrity/brand/object rock stars? Do you think the whole culture of empty celebrity in Britain will continue to dominate the media or will it implode? (Sorry this is more than one question - I'm writing a celebrating people with that curious combination of immense fame and utterly minimal public prescence)
ANSWER
Its all very interesting isnt it? 

SUBMITTED BY: Gregg LaGambina from USA
QUESTION
My father is a conservative Republican. He often criticized the idealism of bands I listened to growing up, saying things like, "Since when does a rock band feel it’s necessary to change the world and tell my son what to think?" Can a rock band change the world? Are you a rock band and are you trying to change the world?
ANSWER
"Since when does the Bush family feel fully qualified to run the world?" 

SUBMITTED BY: Gregg LaGambina from USA
QUESTION
You’ve cited Talking Heads’ Remain In Light as having a major influence on the making of Kid A. If you believe what you read, it sounds like the reaction to OK Computer had a bigger influence. What was it about Remain In Light that inspired the band? 
ANSWER
its a record i can dance to. no-one is humbly strumming a guitar and where. the words speak to me about my life. its about rhythm. the words are amazing. its all improvised. it was composed using the mixing desk bringing things in and out. there are no loops but its all loops. tchocky
Spin With A Grin
06/2001
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