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You are visitor 35523 |
| Home | Introduction | Biography | Interview | Music | Game | Art gallery | Other Bands | Email us! | Feedback! |
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You are visitor 35523 |
| Home | Introduction | Biography | Interview | Music | Game | Art gallery | Other Bands | Email us! | Feedback! |
Click on the tracks to go to the review of each song.
Rich E Rick D Ricardo A Dick K Richi V
Person: Dialogue
ET: Hello, I'm Emma T of Cigarette Weekly and I have here with me tonight that cult band, TheOlmec.
RV: Hello Emma, it's Richi V here.
DK: Alright, Dick K.
RA: Hey, Ricardo A.
RD: Hello.
ET: So boys, first of all it's great to see you all in one room together. I hear this has been almost impossible to do - clearly I'm honoured !
DK: Well yes, imagine what it's like for me having to produce this lot. Ricardo A is always windsurfing, Richi V always has his builders clothes doing DIY, except when his going out on the town. Ricardo A is constantly travelling. The only person I can rely on is Rick D who will probably be in the local curry house when I need him.
RV: I'm difficult, eh ? Anyway Emma, we would like to say, just for the record that none of us smoke, but we are grateful that your, ditto ditto, top magazine ditto ditto, is interviewing us.
ET: Well thank YOU Richi ! Now lets get on to the subject of music. How about the first track, which I think is the best track on the album, 'So I live in a Hotel'.
RA: Thanks, Dick K wrote this track many years ago when he was a young teenager - and that was a long time ago after all he is the oldest member of the band!
DK: Hey, that's enough of that, I'm not the only old one in the band, you know !
RD: Great drums too, eh lads ?
RA: Yes Rick D, great drums. Finally, I put some lyrics on the song a few years ago. Rich E did the electric guitar work on it and if you listen closely you can still hear Dick K's original keyboards in the background. And yes, the lyrics were written when I was travelling and staying in large bland hotels ! Funnily enough, there was a recent Hollywood film that was almost on the same subject, but we can reveal that our song came first !
ET: What about your second track on the album, 'Your Face'. This is quite a punky track isn't it ?RA: Yes, it is my song again, but improved with the help of Rich E's guitar work. This is not about a person as such, but, well I'll let you decide what it's about. On Dick K's insistence we recently did a faster remix and I have to say it sounds great !
ET: Relections is a new track, so I hear ?DK: I wrote this song many years ago along with '….Hotel'. It was arranged on the keyboards, until Ricardo A and Rich E overlaid it with guitars. Now it's a totally new song and much better for that. It's quite a dark song.
ET: 'The Dentist's Surgery' is a bit of a departure from the first two tracks ? If you don't mind me saying - a bit depressing, even more than 'Reflections'.RV: Yes, this is one was started quite recently by Ricardo A and I finished it. Once again the lyrics are not about a dentist's surgery at all! I do love the harmonica in this track, that was me Emma.
ET: Really, Richie ?
ET: Anyway, moving on, 'The Sea' is quite a long track isn't it ? And even more depressing ! Can you tell us what this is about ?RV: One of our favourite tracks, if not the best !!! It was written when I was living in Manchester and it just came out one evening. All of us (except Rick D !), had a hand in this one. It was a very spontaneous song. It's about our cycle of life and not the sea ! You'll love Rich E's atmospheric guitar heard throughout this song - this was a late addition to the mix, wasn't it Rich E ?
RE: Yes.
RD: Rich E's a bit shy with strangers Emma, you won't get much out of him. When they recorded this track, they locked me out of the recording studio and wasn't happy about that. Luckily there was a local curry house nearby.
RA: Dick K also did a great job producing this track and in fact Rick D got his own back when we remixed this track in Opus studies and overlaid some drums on it.
ET: Well I never, and I thought it was about sailing.
ET: And 'Athens' ?RA: I wrote this while travelling around Greece. It's about past civilisations coming and going.
DK: And I wrote the music - it's quite an 80s electronic track.
RV: And check out my poetic voice !
RE: Vogan voice.
ET: 'Thinking of You', is a great track, it sounds like a romantic song! Just what is going on here ?RA: I think the acoustic guitar work is superb. Rick D had a great time drumming at the end of the track !
RV: And the lyrics - they aren't about a beautiful women in a red car. Have a listen and see what you think !
RD: If I can get a word in here, playing the drumson this track was great fun, but it was the electric guitar from Rich E that really made this song. That was another late edition to the song, wasn't it Rich E ?
RE: Yes.
ET: I guess the next track, 'The Ice Maiden', is also not about a beautiful women either ? I have to say, it's a gentle string track with no drums.RV: I'm afraid so ! It was actually inspired from a Japanese film I saw many years ago, but the lyrics are hinting at something else…
RD: Ummm…
DK: I locked out Rick D, again, from the recording studio at this time (sore point), because I wanted to try and make a string ,production without any drums or electric guitars. You know, I'd love to re-make this track with a full orchestra and opera singers (opera is one of my passions !), sorry Richie V, nothing to do with your singing !
RV: What are you saying about my singing ? I'm the best singer out of the lot of you !
DK: I was just saying…
RV: You can't have another vocalist anyway, not without my permission. This is my track and my band…
RA: How do you know that, Richi V ! We could be controlled by another force ….
RV: You shut up, Ricardo with all that philosophy nonsense. And I've just about had it with you Dick K, come on, outside !
RD: Come on lads, we're in the middle of an interview here and we're scaring poor Emma ! Just calm down, now. Sorry Emma, lets carry on.
ET: Yes, thanks Rick.
ET: Now 'Red Hair', I think must be your happiest song on the album ? Do I detect a light at the end of the tunnel ? Why red hair ?RA: Well this song was done a few years ago now, and yes, I think it's our happiest song yet.…
RV: .. but it's not happy, I must emphasise, we don't do that sort of thing in our band ! This is probably the most commercial song we've ever done, though we can never decide !
RA: It's not a love song but the lyrics have a catch - don't they Richi V ? We also like the guitar too, thanks Rich E !
RE: No problem.
ET: The next track is almost a dancy track.DK: Yes this is a track Rick D and I tried out. No guitars here ! Lot's of different keyboard effects and drums.
RD: The lyrics were written by Richi V while we (well,some of us) were at Glastonbury.
ET: What about 'No Heros Here' ?RV: I wrote this song a few years ago - it marked the start of the official band. We all finally got together, mixed this song and thought - that's it lets do a whole album ! We spent the next 6 months in Dick K's recording studio, finishing the album. That was an intense time, we fell out on many an evening !
ET: This is not a very nice title.RA: This song I wrote while travelling and it's totally dedicated to elevator music, which I detest !
ET: And your finale ?RD: This was a team effort and one we enjoyed doing despite it's complexity. The song builds up from an acoustic number to quite a heavy guitar (Rich E) and then back again. The drums are great !
ET: And what's it about ?
RV: Well Emma, the clue is three quarters of the way through in the song. It's not about the TV !
ET: Well thanks guys, good luck with your excellent new album. Anyone liking this sort of music is going to love your album! I hear you are also selling T-shirts from your sell-out tour this year ?
RV: We've never made any bones about it - it's gothic. No 'The Darkness' here ! So anyway, Emma, what are you doing later …
RE: Here he goes again….
ET: Going back to my husband and 3 kids, thanks.
RV: OK then.
ET: Well there you have it, TheOlmec. Good luck with your great new album. Think of me when you get famous, boys. This is Emma T signing off.
All: Thanks.