Peter Hayes: guitar, bass, vocals
Robert Levon Been: guitar, bass, vocals
Nick Jago: drums, percussion
The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club began in 1998. It really began a few years
before when Peter Hayes and Robert Been met in high school. They are a San
Francisco-based group that has been performing constantly since that time. The
group's distinct sound is a mixture of hard rock and psychedelic music with folk
roots. The introspective lyrics and inventive musicianship separate them from
the bastard noise of their contemporaries. The band has many noticeable
influences including Bob Dylan, The Stones, Joy Division, Velvet Underground, as well
as more recent bands such as Ride and The Stone Roses. When Robert and Peter
met in high school, they started writing and playing together making
four-track recordings in their tiny garage. Peter Hayes gained some experience on the
road as a member of Brian Jonestown Massacre. That band has been documented in
the movie Dig! Peter quit and came back to San Francisco to work on BRMC.
They needed a drummer to complete the group. In 1998 they met drummer Nick
Jago (fresh off the boat from London) and they all began recording together.
They recorded a full-length demo with no record label backing. San Francisco
wasn't interested in the new sound so they left for Southern California. In the
summer of 1999 the band concentrated on playing Los Angeles, playing live
relentlessly for the next six months and becoming one of the most talked about bands
in LA. The music is known for being dark, heavy, and mesmerizing. They were
soon signed to Virgin Records. Their debut record BRMC (2001) was very
impressive. It had great songs like "Love Burns" and "Spread Your Love." They soon
toured the rest of the country. They played with bands like Spiritualized and
others. The media in the UK lumped them in with the "New Rock Revolution" and
bands like The Strokes and The White Stripes. This found the band moving to
the UK to play many successful tours. A second album exploring the ideas of the
first album and taking them further soon came out. This was called Take Them
On, On Your Own (2003). This album had a more political tone with songs like
"U.S. Government." BRMC played an anti-Bush rally in 2004. BRMC even did a few
tours with Anton Newcombe of BJM.
In 2004, drugs and alcohol and partying took their toll on the band. Peter
Hayes and Nick Jago had a punch out in Edinburgh. For a moment Nick Jago was out
of the band. BRMC soon left Virgin Records. They started writing songs again
and working from scratch. Soon they were back in the studio. They recorded a
bunch of songs with Rick Parker in Los Angeles. It was called the Americana LP
for a while. This was a big departure for the band. You can hear new
influences like Johnny Cash and stuff from the Harry Smith/Alan Lomax collections. BRMC
was all about revolution man! The new album is called Howl. It may be the
best new record of the year. I spoke with Peter Hayes and Robert Been right
before they started their new American tour of 2005. They were going to play all
the shows with one of their heroes, Mark Gardener (of Ride). BRMC are starting
the counterculture today!
AL: You guys met in San Francisco. How long have you know each other?
Robert: Well, we met in sophomore year of high school. So that was about ten
years ago. It's been a while now.
AL: Peter is from Minnesota. How did you end up in San Francisco?
Peter: The farm went bust. My family broke up. I followed my mom to San
Francisco. I didn't really have any choice back then because I was very young.
AL: Then you ended up moving to Los Angeles. Why did you do that?
Peter: We couldn't get any shows in San Francisco. It seemed like the scene
for new music in LA was more evolved. We played any show that we could get at
first. We were there for six months and for a while we in Europe a lot of the
time. We lived in England for a year because Nick Jago couldn't get back into
the United States. But even though we moved to Los Angeles five years ago, it
seems like we have only been here the past year.
AL: It seems like Howl was an album that you always wanted to do from the
beginning?
Peter: Most of our songs begin and are written on acoustic guitar. Songs like
"Love Burns," "Rifles," "Spread Your Love," "In Like The Rose" started
out that way. We have always had acoustic guitars. It's a style that we have
always written in. Some songs made sense plugging in an electric guitar and
playing them. Songs like "Weight Of The World" and "Gospel Song" were written at
the time at the time of the first album. We didn't put those songs on there.
"Complicated Situation" and "Shuffle Your Feet" have been around since the
first album. We decided that they were better songs than just b-sides. We wanted
to introduce this whole other side of music that we do to people. Even at our
live shows if a guitar brakes down or the power goes out you have to do it on
acoustic. We have always had pride in that because we knew that we could
always fall back on that. I am of the opinion if you can only play your music on
electric guitars and it's loud, then you don't have a lot to stand on. We are
trying to write good songs, and we don't care how they come out. That's it.
AL: You were playing some of these songs last summer when things like that
happened. Some people who saw you play last year, maybe heard a little of what
was coming up on the new album?
Peter: I don't think it was so much that Howl was something that we always
wanted to do. The other albums are not of lesser value because we didn't want to
do them. We are only trying to write good songs. We are not trying to sell
anything. You know what I mean? That's it.
AL: There is something sexy about rock music and loud music. There is
sexiness about young guys playing it. Then you guys come out with a slightly
different angle. And you all come out on stage with beards. Some of the teenage fans
that listened to your records in the past think, "This is weird!"
Peter: Well, I don't have a beard. Nick doesn't have a beard.
Robert: I just shaved my beard.
AL: That's good news.
Peter: Yeah. I don't know. The kids have to grow up. If the kids aren't into
pirates, they are being sold the wrong ship. This is our pirate album. That
is basically what we are saying. Are we supposed to be clean-cut boys?
AL: Some people hear the new songs like "Promise" and wonder what is this?
What happened to my rock and roll?
Peter: That's fair. That's all right. If you don't get it, that is okay.
Robert: It wasn't really the expectation that everyone was going to like this
record. It was pretty obvious that it was going to leave a bunch of people
behind and could spark the interest of a lot of people who didn't give a shit
about us before. It's the good and the bad. It's what you get. We made a
selfish record. It was made for the best reasons. It we didn't love the music, or we
didn't have our heart into it, then it is going to sound like that?
AL: So when you write songs, do you both work individually, and then come
together?
Robert: Every which way. Most of the time we write songs separately.
Sometimes we will meet each other to finish the ideas and lines of the songs.
Sometimes you get songs for free. The songs are born in the moment. You have to work
sometimes to bring songs to a close. It is pretty good to lean on each other
for different songs when we can't find the last bit.
AL: What happened to Nick Jago? He was out of the band for a while. I heard
that a girl was going to replace him for a while. Now he is suddenly back, and
he played on "Promise" on the new album. What is he up to?
Peter: He is playing the music with us. (laughs). That is what he is up to.
It just came down to he needed a break. He needed a break from touring and the
business for a while. He stepped back and made sure he was doing it for the
right reasons. It's not about selling music to pointless kids who are concerned
with beards. This record is not for them. This band is for people who give a
fuck about music. This is what we have been into since the beginning.
AL: The name "Howl" is the name of a poem by Allen GinsbergÉ.
Peter: The counterculture man: where is it? That is what it is about.
Robert: The name of the record was a tip of the hat to the Beat Generation,
because that was a great time. Thanks. The weight of words meant a lot more in
that time. When we were writing this album, I fell in love with words again.
More than the other records. I fell in love with reading and writing poetry and
different things. That was an inspiration. We were saying thanks not only to
Allen Ginsberg, but that whole time. Howl is a word that represents all those
things.
AL: Were you always inspired by Beat Literature or the music from the same
time?
Peter: We are inspired by the idea of youth rising up and making a change.
They should be making a difference in a world they don't want to be a part of.
AL: Don't you think that for young people they might think that their only
option is being this passive consumer?
Peter: That shouldn't be the only option, man.
AL: Well, that is what their behavior is. That is what they end up being at
the end of the day.
Robert: That should be the reason to change, not the reason to stay in that
place.
AL: Maybe you have discovered an alternative to this cookie cutter culture
that young people are presented with, but they don't always see it.
Peter: The alternative, for me, is not to give up. The alternative is not
giving up. You do that and you just feed into it. Instead of watching TV and
staring at it, and saying "I hate this," you turn it off. Instead of listening to
the radio and saying "God, this is pointless," just turn it off. That is the
first step. If people are going to sell us the same stuff, in the same way,
and treat us like a cookie cutter culture, and a generation, the only thing
they pay attention to is money. If we don't give them any fucking money or
attention, maybe we can turn it around. Every day is a vote.
AL: Last year you did a tour with The Rapture. That seemed like a good tour.
But now that seems like an odd choice. What do you think of that tour now?
Robert: It introduced their fans to our music and visa versa. That was the
idea. Not to have this divide between the kids. That is not what it is about. It
is just like packaging. That is just what is on the outside.
AL: You did one tour with Spiritualized and this next one is with Mark
Gardener (of Ride). That seems like the same audience for both bands.
Robert: Sometimes you are preaching to the converted. Sometimes it is nice to
open the door to more people. There are good times for sacrifice. There are
good times to open the doors to other people than your small group who
understand your music. We have played with all sorts of different bands. We like
people who are looking for something different but don't really know that they are
looking for something different. It's not good to speak to the same people
over and over.
AL: You recorded this album Howl without any ideas how you were going to pull
it off live. When you play live on this tour, what should people expect?
Peter: We have another guy helping us out. He plays acoustic guitar on some
songs. He plays bass guitar while Robert is playing piano. He'll play bass
while Robert is playing guitar. We both play keyboards. The music actually blends
with the other albums better this way. The parts are being played on guitar
now. Some vocal things are being played on guitar. Things like that. Instead of
getting a choir up there. It's not about that. It's obvious that the album is
something different, but it can be done live.
AL: What about some songs like "Complicated Situation?" Is Nick going to be
happy just being the tambourine man?
Peter: You have to ask him about that. I don't consider him to be just Mr.
Tambourine Man. He can smoke a cigarette and play the tambourine. I think he
enjoys that. I haven't heard him complain yet.
Robert: All of us are doing different things on stage. It is nice to try
different things. It's cool to play different instruments and learn different
traits. That is fun. Always doing the same thing, thinking the same, living the
same routineÉ This is our life. It is always fun to change the temperature a
little bit. As far as the live show: there are a lot of changes. You are just
going to have to see it for yourself. It's hard to explain.
AL: Well, if you have a song with acoustic guitar and voice, and there are
four or five guys in the band, they don't have parts, so they feel left out of
that song.
Peter: (laughs). That's really funny. You sound like a counselor.
AL: Yeah, I am trying to counsel the band.
Peter: It's like we put someone in the corner and say "Everything is okay!"
Robert: We're okay with it if you are okay with it. Peter came onstage in
London and did a couple acoustic songs. It was fun. I didn't know what to expect
because we had always been up there together. It was cool. Peter played
"Complicated Situation" with acoustic guitar and harp. It was the first song. I was
able to stand in the audience and watch him from the other side. I had never
been able to do that. You never get to see your own show in some way. I never
expected to do that. You can see what it is like for other people.
AL: How did you end up picking Mark Gardener for this tour?
Robert: We did a show with him at the London Forum a while back. It was a lot
of fun. We planned to do a tour with him back then, but we ended up only
doing one. This is a chance to finish the job.
AL: Is Michael Been ever going to join you onstage?
Robert: He does the sound. If we can ever find the right pulley system to fly
him across the stage. I don't think it's going to happen.
AL: Do you have any feelings about the situation in New Orleans?
Peter: We were going to play a date in New Orleans. That has been canceled.
Our feelings are: we will try to do anything we can to help. You can donate
money to Red Cross through our website.
By alexander laurence
B.R.M.C.
album: "HOWL" in stores August 23rd.
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Buy Howl for $10.99 on Amazon!
