Sunday, December 19, 2010

Ian McCulloch October 1995

At Echo and the Bunnymen’s zenith during the mid-1980s, the Liverpool quartet was one of the best and biggest exports from New Wave England. Following the band’s acrimonious dissolution in 1988, leader Ian McCulloch made a couple lackluster solo works that failed to scale the Bunnymen’s heights, while guitarist Will Sergeant kept the name and created a dismal finale that pleased no one. Finally, in 1995, Mac and Sergeant made amends and teamed up again with a new project called Electrafixion. The old ingredients were there, but something still wasn’t right and the project basically went nowhere. They then reformed Echo and are still together.


This interview, from October 1995 before a Denver show (where maybe 40 people showed up at the 1300 seat Ogden Theater) is classic Mac. He always loved talking trash about unworthy musical acts, as he does below:
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Whatever happened to your solo career? After the second album (1992’s Mysterio) it seemed to just fade away. You never toured after that record. What happened?

I don’t remember what happened. I went to Tibet for six months.

What?

Uh, all right, I didn’t really go to Tibet. We didn’t do the tour ‘cause it didn’t seem worth it That’s the wrong answer, isn’t it? At that point I knew I was looking for something else. Some songs on the solo albums were good, and there were some really good lyrics, but there was also a lot of confusion. I didn’t really know what I was looking for — until I met up with Will and heard him play guitar again. I never liked putting records out as Ian McCulloch. Still, I’m not done. I’ll have a comeback in the year 2000. I’ll come back as the Sinatra of the 21st century. I want to get people to write songs for me, though, people like Nick Cave. But that’s a ways off.

Were you disappointed that the solo path didn't work out?

Anything like that does, even if you think it doesn’t. It put a dent in my confidence, but I learned from that. There was a period when I was really uninspired. Some songs on the solo records were good, and some really good lyrics, but there was a lot of confusion. I didn’t really know what I was looking for. Until I met up with Will and heard him play the guitar again. With his guitar and my voice ....

Are you playing guitar for these shows or just singing?

I play a little bit on stage, but now I’m just shakin’ me thing. It’s great. I’m no Eric Clapton, you know.

What exactly led to you and Will getting back on civil terms again?

A mutual friend suggested we start speaking again because it was so petty. We met and had a pint and that was that. Because we hadn’t spoken for five years there was a new kind of tension between us, and that led us to make the Electrafixion record, which was a really raw, rockin’ album. But now it makes sense to call it Echo and the Bunnymen because that’s who we are. We chose the name Electrafixion because of a dream Will had about me being crucified on some barbed wire electric fence ... an electric crucifixion. And I’ve always hated names like ‘Huey Lewis And The News.’ But now we’re coming back and we’re gonna rock the pants off people. They’ll love it. It’s a new start and we’re reclaiming what’s ours. I want all our riffs back, because people have taken Will’s guitar riffs and abused them. Not to mention my singing style!

I’d imagine you’re not fond of the Echo album that Will made with singer Noel Burke after you left (1990’s Reverberation)?

Definitely. It was crap. It was so mediocre it saddened me. It wasn’t Echo and the Bunnymen, because Echo and the Bunnymen was over when I left. It was over whether I left or not on April 22, 1988. That was it. It was something I loved, but it was dead. Now that we’re back together, we’ve found there’s more tales to tell. We get on better now than we ever did, I think.

What should your hardcore fans expect from this reunion?

The best, because that’s what we gave ‘em with the Bunnymen the first time around. I think they should expect star quality. Charisma. Fantastic rockin’ songs. We’re uninhibited again, and we don’t manufacture mystique or overdo the sense of drama like some bands. We just do it naturally. That’s what we’ve got that sets us apart from the crowd.


Absolutely. I remember your last American shows — you were stuck with Gene Loves Jezebel. And it was no contest.

Yeah, I hated those shites! I wanted them thrown off the tour, the dumb bastards. And they were ugly as well! If you’re gonna throw the makeup on, you need to have the plastic surgery done first!





(Copyright 2010 by Jeffrey Charles Stratton. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.)

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