Dan Wilson - vocals
Si McCabe - guitar, drums, piano
Tom Greatorex - bass
Black Wire is a great new band from the U.K. They are a mix bag of modern pop rock with thick roots in 70's punk.
Black Wire will be making there first stop in San Francisco at Popscene on 2/10. It should be a beer swilling shout-along for all.
Dan and SI of Black Wire were kind enough to share a bit about themselves last week:
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SFB: You were born on the wrong side of the tracks...where was that exactly?
Si: Me and dan were born in Middlesbrough, the asthma capitol of Britain and tom is from derby.
SFB: Two of you met trying to lift the same record by Suicide. Is this a clue to some
of your influences? What are some influences?
Si: A lot of people used to mention Suicide when we first started. We didn't used to listen to them that much so we we were shocked when the NME made up that story.
SFB: Your band Black Wire was formed in 2003 have any of you been in any other bands
prior? Have there been any line up changes since 2003?
Si: We were all band virgins when we started, and we three will see it to the end.
SFB: Your band is hitting the states next month. Will this be your first U.S. tour?
Have any of you previously been to San Francisco? (Did you sight-see or sit in
sunless bar drinking yourself silly?)
Si: I know Dan and Tom have been to New York but none of us have been to San Fran. I'm writing this from Torino and this is the farthest I've ever been from home. We are really enjoying traveling and can't wait to get over there.
SFB: The Kaiser Chiefs wrote a song about one of your live gigs; "I predict a riot".
Shall we expect you to actively incite a riot at Popscene on 2/10 in SF or is
that just the nature of the music you make?
Si: I know that the title of the song came from one of our gigs at the pigs club in Leeds, the rest of the song is about Leeds in general I think. Our shows are definitely high energy as we love being on stage.
SFB: How would you describe your live gigs and how do you prepare for them?
Si: We really do try to give everything we have. I'd feel too guilty if we'd played half-heartedly with people paying to get in and all. We love touring and love playing live. We write on the road so it is a direct influence on anything we record.
SFB: Whats it like on the road? Any Juicy horror stories or super happy fuzzy tales?
Si: Tom once threw hot candle wax in Dan's eyes causing us to spend the night in Cardiff casualty. I once went sleep walking in some zebra print Y-fronts through a Glasgow hotel, forgot my room number and had to sleep in the elevator. There's been a few arrests and Tom took too many sleeping tablets on the road last night and tried to jump out of the van at 100mph on the the alps below. We'll tell you more when we get there.
SFB: Do you prefer the road or studio time?
Si: I'd have to say the road. We love being creative in the studio but the road wins with me.
SFB: Tell us about your process a little. Do you do live takes when recording?
Dan: There's a lot of live percussion on top of the drum machine and the bass and guitar are usually recorded live together. We have a rule to our b-sides in that we have one day to record them and it is very much an experimental process, which helped a lot with the album.
SFB: Do you come up with a melody and then write the lyrics or the other way around?
Dan: All the songs are written in different ways. Sometimes it's a lyrical phrase like 'Hard To Love' and sometimes we have the music all ready, get drunk and write the lyrics around it. The odd song, like 'Broken Back', we started with just a drum groove.
SFB: Where are you when you come up with most of your lyrics?
Dan: Usually on tour or the night after something significant happens to us. The same reason anyone writes I guess. Inspriration.
SFB: Does everyone bring something to the table in studio and hash it out or do you
arrive ready to colaberate and come up with new material?
Dan: In its early stages I come up with the general direction of the song, then once we're in the rehersal room we all have an input.
SFB: How long did it take you to record this album?
Dan: About 8 weeks in total, we worked over Christmas, 14 hours a day and never saw our families. We all had cabin fever by the end.
SFB: Whats your favourite track?
Dan: Mine would have to be 'Broken Back'. It was a real changing point in the studio and has a lot to say about our new direction.
SFB: Analog, Digital or both?
Dan: Each to their own.
SFB: You decided to use a drum machine because "most drummers are ugly sexually
deviant". Is that really what you think? Or is it really that they get all the action
despite their looks?
Dan: It was an easy option that we grew to love. Each of our songs can have a completely different feel without it costing us millions of pounds and I like that, being skint and all.
SFB: Do you ever get a sleazy vibe from your drum machine?
Dan: It has put on a lot a weight recently and is becoming a bit of a recluse.
SFB: Oh yeah, and one last question. In your press photo your all sporting very nice
shoes. How do you go about picking them and how many pairs will you be
bringing?
Dan: 10 pairs each. We actually have a shoe-tec who stands at the side of the stage and checks our soles between each song.
An interview with Black Wire
By Keith Martin & Marion Dunham
