Transcript of an interview with Brix Smith and Craig Scanlon from an undated cassette tape distributed by The Cartel entitled “Skin and Bones”. From the clues in the interview it would appear to be circa late 1984.
NB. I believe that Paul Hanley was also present, but is not credited.
Interviewer: As far as I am concerned The Fall had quite a big influence on the sort of music that I’m interested in. Do you think that what you are doing now is still one step ahead? Will you be able to look back and say, “Yeah, we influenced what’s happening now”?
Brix: One step ahead, not necessarily. I think the music is still unique and really, like, original and has a sound like nobody else’s and I’m sure you can say, “This song is structured like a rock-a-billy song” or you don’t…it comes across as like its own. You know what I mean? We’ve always been leaders and not followers. That’s what we’re trying to say, not so much years ahead. That’s all.
Interviewer: OK
Craig: A lot of people seem to be catching up right now, so maybe we’re not supposed to have people catching up.
Interviewer: When I first saw that Gavin Friday was on the new album, it initially struck me as being a bit strange for some reason. How did that come about and do you have any plans for doing anything with him in the future?
Brix: Well, umm, Mark played me this record called “Sandpaper Lullaby” by The Virgin Prunes, I’d not heard them, but I’d heard off them. It was the most beautiful song I’d ever heard, it like made me cry which I’ve never been moved like that; very rarely by music. And it seemed to me, I thought that Gavin’s voice the texture of it and the tone of it would be really good with Mark’s voice and it’s such a weird idea. So I said to Mark, “Do you think this would be a good idea?” and he said, “It’s very interesting”. So we wrote Gavin a letter, “Would you be interested?” and he said, “Yes”. So I …’cos we’re friends see.
Interviewer: Has anybody got any ideas of doing any music or other stuff outside the context of The Fall?
Brix: Beggars have asked me to do a solo single, whether or not I don’t know if I’ll do it without The Fall as I want to use the rest of them on it. <laughs>
Craig: They didn’t ask me to do anything, so I think I’ll stick with The Fall.
Brix: Doing other projects is like …within the Fall there is so much room to create your own way; like if Craig wanted to sing a song or I wanted to sing you could. I mean we could contribute more than we do maybe, so it’s not like a burning desire to get away from it.
The one good thing that we are doing is Michael Clarke the choreographer, they are using four tracks from the new album for the Paris Ballet Company, owned by Rudolf Nureyev, previewing December 10th in Paris . So The Paris Ballet Company’s dancing to The Fall, which is a complete freak-out to me.
Craig: All right!
Brix: ‘cos you don’t know how snotty those people are.
Craig: I was surprised yeah.
Brix: <laughs>
Craig: Having seen the ballet in London, trying to get a word in edgeways.
Brix: Sorry, I don’t know why I’m so wound up
Craig: When we went to see the ballet it was great, the idea of ballet doesn’t appeal to me at all. You just saw all the humour in the band, he was dressed up as Hitler as a woman. It’s really good, I mean in a way, it’s like Mark was saying, he’s like The Fall of the ballet world, he kind of shocks the ballet world. The band was reaching this audience, well a …stuffy audience but I think we influenced them
Interviewer: What sort of people were there though?
Craig: They were from about 18-years old even saw some people about 50, didn’t we? This is NME, “When I kiss your lips, I will keep recording”. Do you know what I mean, real old fuddy-duddies. People who had never heard of us before.
Brix: They go….”Michael Daaaarliiing.” We didn’t really think people talked like that. ”Michael Daaaarliiing, get mummy a big gin and tonic.” You know like this and I think we didn’t know what to expect when we heard about it. When they saw it everybody was impressed, you know it was really good.
Craig: That sums it up all those years in Civvie Street for about 3 or 4-years.
Brix: Yeah
Craig: That sums it up perfectly.
Brix: It added a new dimension to the music we never saw before; even playing it, recording it, knowing it.
Craig: ‘Cos you can’t see it like that, it touches you, it’s like this is your fucking life man. He had different interpretations of the saongs though, it wasn’t always right, like read lines into these things. He’s got a great fucking arse though!
Brix: Oh God!
Interviewer: Do you ever feel take The Fall too seriously?
Craig: Yeah, that was the good thing about the ballet. ‘Cos Michael Clarke could see the humour in it, it was good. Yeah, mainly because we play in student halls and they tend to analyse things.
Interviewer: Has Mark got a big pile of lyrics that he just brings along?
Brix: He’s got, I’m telling you, we have this closet in our house and he has a box, it’s four feet deep and he just keeps writing and sometimes he takes the papers out and picks lines from them and puts it together.
Interviewer: Cuts up sort of..
Brix: Yeah, cut up technique not so much anymore and some times he just writes it straight.
Interviewer: Somebody once said, it was probably more about free festivals, The Fall were working lads and had to be paid for the work they did. Is there anything you’d be prepared to lose money for?
Brix: They wanted us to do a Miners Benefit and we said we’d do it but we wouldn’t do it in London because everyone does it in London. We wanted to do it in Yorkshire where they needed it and the miners could come and everything like this you know. And they said they were not going to put it on anywhere north, so we said forget it.
Interviewer: Do you listen to your own stuff much at all? Do you sit at home and listen to a Fall album or what?
Brix: We don’t listen to anything we don’t even have a record player.
Interviewer: Do you have any preference between Fanzine interviews and music press interviews?
Brix: I like fanzine interviews better.
Interviewer: Why?
Brix: Because the people are much more on our level and they are not out to slice us up. I find that, particularly with me, the NME this is just what happened, they look for your weak spots and they get you over barbed wire fence and it’s really hard, I don’t know, nasty I think, but they haven’t said anything too bad yet. Mark deals with it really well because he’s been through it for years, but for me, I prefer fanzines and I think fanzines are really important. I think they are dying out. Obviously no-one likes to hear bad things; criticism, yes, but like slamming, no. People taking their own anger out on something that you’ve done. Do you know what I mean?
Interviewer: How do you find Manchester compared to say, Chicago or wherever. It is Chicago you’re from?
Brix: I’m from L.A., but I lived in Chicago for a while. I like Manchester and I like where we live, it’s nice and quiet and the people are very friendly and warm. I miss America a lot and I go there once a year to visit my family and I get a dose of it and then I come back here.
Interviewer: Are you into English pubs and beer and that sort of culture?
Brix: I don’t drink and I don’t like pubs at all and I don’t go and Mark goes without me.
Interviewer: Do you count yourselves as being privileged to have the rock’n’roll lifestyle.
Craig: Err, well the money’s not there to live the privileged rock’n’roll lifestyle.
Interviewer: But do you feel….
Brix: I’m very proud like that I’m in The Fall. It doesn’t come down to money. If it came down to money I wouldn’t be in it.
It is working with the best people and that’s what’s sort of being creepy, I, pity he’s here now, but I think we’ve got the best two drummers, different styles and I think we’ve got the best two drummers around, you see.
Craig: No, it’s true, I’m sorry he’s here but I like drums, drum songs, I’m a frustrated drummer really.
Brix: You know how much money I get paid every week? Do you want to hear, I’m going to blow it sky high you guys. You know like, me, a big composer in the band ,yes.
Craig: Come on don’t tell us
Brix: Yeah, but me, you know right, managing and everything. I get £30 per week. That’s pretty good.
Interviewer: What about this thing about Marc Riley on tape and The Fall.
Brix: Can I delicately…I think Marc Riley and Mark Smith have tension, should we say, between them. I think as a person Marc Riley is very nice, I met him, we have nothing against each other and he’s doing pretty good. There is a seed of something in there that is pretty good. Craig can tell you, because he lives with Marc Riley.
Interviewer: Do you think that travelling abroad and when you go on tours abroad. Does that change your perception of here or anything like that?
Craig: Yes, you realize how Britain’s very small. Small minded in a lot of ways. I mean it’s like little trivial things, things that just piss you off. England closes down at half ten. When you’ve been in a 24-hour city, you wonder why?
Interviewer: Do you still think you are outside the establishment? If so, how come you play polys and universities?
Brix: It’s like the money obviously, one time———– criticized the band for admitting that they played for money, but what else, I mean it’s fun to play, but it has become a job; we love it, it’s a good job.
Interviewer: How do you find British TV?
Brix: It’s not any good; America, you know how many channels it has? 72! 30 of them go on all night; the trashiest greatest shows you’ve ever seen. We’ve got cable channels where they have like a porn Manhattan one, adult channel, everything is like completely dirty. They have talk shows on normal Channel 6 everyone is naked and I think those are really good. It’s really entertaining at night. When I was in high school I had the joy of coming home and watching the TV with my friends. You laughed until you went to the bathroom and wet your pants.
Notes: –
Sandpaper Lullaby is from the Virgin Prunes album “A New Form of Beauty”.
Gavin Friday sang on Copped It, Stephen Song and Clear-Off on The Wonderful and Frightening World of… album