Interview
(Progressive Newsletter Nr.56 07/06)
excerpts from an interview with Mike Sary (Bass)
I have to say we generally don't have a "game plan" when producing a French TV record, other than to avoid techical problems that we may have experienced on the previous one. It's generally about finding a group of songs which fires everybody's imagination, and following all ideas to their logical [sometimes ILLOGICAL] conclusion. The title is something of a statement-in the past, we have had people complain or suggest "you should avoid THIS" or "more people would like you if you did THAT", or "I wish French TV's music was more like____". Well, THIS IS WHAT WE DO! TOO BAD FOR YOU!
Are there some things different on this album compared to its predecessors, did you try out new things or is it something like the usual French TV CD?
More in terms of exploring different ways of working as a group. The drummer and I live in the central part of the US, while the keyboardist and guitarist work on the west coast. Usually, the rhythm section records their tracks, then send it off to the others for overdubs. This time, we had our guitarist Chris Smith come to Louisville and record live with us for most of the album. It certainly helped make the final arrangements more interesting! Also, one of the tunes, "MY LITTLE CICADA" features our Italian touring keyboardist Paolo Botta, which gives this song a bit of contrast to our usual sounds and melodies. We also decided against performing any cover songs this time. We were beginning to notice that most of the reviews and comments only talked about whatever cover tune appeared on the latest cd, so now they have to think about our originals instead!
You fusion almost every style. Do you tend to be more jazz-rock or progressive rock orientated or does this depend on your mood?
Most of the ideas start out as jazz-rock, mostly due to the fact that I specialize in a rhythm-oriented instrument; it's a function that the bass itself is ideally suited for. If the idea stands on its own; if it leads to interesting solos or grooves; if it produces "happy feet", then the idea stays in the vein of jazz-rock. If, however, the idea doesn't fulfill those requirements, then it usually is developed into something more progressive, with [hopefully] interesting chord progressions and contrasting sections. If this doesn't work either, then off to the garbage can it goes!
How hard is to find musicians to fit into French TV, because all over the years there have been a lot of changes in the line-up?
Extremely hard, if I limit myself to my hometown. And it seems to get harder every time there is a line-up change as time goes by-the desire to be involved with peculiar music that involves any sort of effort seems to have been "bred" out of younger musicians, and the older guys my age have convinced themselves that anything interesting CAN'T be done.
Where do you get the ideas for the bizarre titles of your songs?
I wish I could claim credit for thinking up the titles myself, but they are mostly things I've read in comics or newspapers or literature; odd things friends have said in passing [our previous drummer Chris Vincent excelled at this]; or a friend might point out what a new song of ours reminds him of, which in turn reminds me of a phrase that's even more odd. I have various scraps of paper around our house with song titles written on them - I really need to organize them sometime!
To say it with Frank Zappa “Does humor belong to music?” or in other words how important is it for you to put some humor in your music?
The humor isn't really forced on the compositions; I don't write a song and think "there's not enough funny stuff in here - time to yuk it up". We've always tended to have humorous personalities in the band, and if a new band member wasn't like that, they didn't last too long. When writing/improvising, we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to make each other laugh [mostly because rehearsing the same 15-second section of music can be such a painfully tedious processs!], so it's bound to be reflected in the music. I'm surprised there aren't more bands like this, frankly.
Does it bother you that you’re still very much underground and not so well know after all these years, even in the progressive rock community, which is a underground movement in itself?
I hate to admit it, but, yes it does. I think about this probably more than I ought to, but it's one's function as a band leader to analyze why a band isn't "getting across" like it should. Over the years, we've seemed to operate more or less with one arm tied behind our back. We play primarily instrumental music; it's not "catchy"; we never seem to have enough members who can commit to touring more often; we're an independant band who don't have a label that can afford to put money into publicity; etc. Plus, I sort of feel odd when attempting to promote what we do; I tend to think that good work should speak for itself, but, as evidenced by the types of bands & music that DOES get talked about, I'm afraid we don't live in that world. That being said, I've talked to a number of bands about sales, and our numbers are actually pretty favorable compared to bands that operate on our level. I also get the impression that the type of person who enjoys French TV isn't prone to raving to other people about us , or other bands they like, for that matter. I'm toying with the idea of titling our next cd "CASUALTIES OF THE COOL".
Did you get recieve any reactions or feedback from the bands you’ve covered on your albums over all these years, for example Happy The Man, Van der Graaf Generator and all the progressive rock bands from France you’ve covered on “Pardon our French”?
Well, I've met and corresponded with Roye Albrighton and Ron Howden from Nektar, and they were incredibly nice to me-I got the impression they were truly flattered and almost grateful that someone loved their music enough to record it. I've received a couple of nice e-mails from various members of Happy the Man about how pleased they were with our version of "Partly the State", and original HtM member Cliff Fortney [who sang and played flute on our version] continues to be a friend to this day [hurry up and finish your solo cd, Cliff!]. And I've met Lars Hollmer and Hasse Bruinisson of Samla Mammas Manna on a couple of occasions, who both complimented me on covering their tune. Hasse was present at the Baja festival we played a few years ago, and saw us perform "Joosan Lost/The Fate". Seeing him clapping wildly after we finished was one of the most gratifying moments on stage I've ever had! I've never heard a word from the various French bands whom we covered on our last cd, and in fact, response from the entire NATION was virtually non-existent - VAS TE FAIRE FOUTRE, FRANCE!
Kristian Selm © Progressive Newsletter 2006