Hugo Race (09/08/2011)
It's not often that an interview opportunity like the one we had with Hugo Race comes along. Race was one of the founding members of (Nick Cave and) The Bad Seeds, and was pioneer for modern music as it is today. We chat with him about his upcoming work, working overseas and what an 8-year old Hugo would think today if he could see himself today.
Hi Hugo! Thanks for speaking with The 59th Sound today. Let’s start with something a bit off topic! What is your favorite native Australian dish
Easy - Magic Pudding.
You are starting a tour of what’s being billed as extremely intimate shows, do you prefer smaller venues and a closer atmosphere or is it still the dream to play in front of seas of people?
These Fatalists shows are not electric rock concerts, more semi-acoustic, and these songs suit more of a seated situation in a theatre, although that isn't necessarily where we've been performing. I never dreamt of seas of people as in mass audiences, that was never my objective - the intention was strictly about the music. Each performance is an encounter, it's personalised.
What’s a taste of what people can expect at these shows? Will you be focusing on your more recent work or will it be a little more retrospective?
It's the entire new Fatalists album conjured live, and other songs that fit into this atmospheric acoustic territory - some ballad tracks from the True Spirit 53rd State record, and a few pieces from Dirtmusic. Also some new songs that will appear later on the second Fatalists record - as yet unrecorded, but several songs written. Live, I'm playing with guitarist Hellhound Brown and multi-instrumentalist Michelangelo Russo from the True Spirit. The music recalls folk and delta blues contaminated by electronics and noise - the lyrics and voice are out front, because there's more space without bass and drums, so the stories come to the foreground, stories of dreams, about dreams.
Tell us a bit about your evolution as an artist over your almost 30 year career? When you look back at your early work in the Birthday Party and the Bad Seeds can you see it still flowing through albums like Between Hemispheres or do you feel a certain amount of musical transcendence?
I think there was an attitude about music I shared with The Birthday Party – regarding repetition, unpredictability and the idea of a sense of danger and exploration in rock music... And that is still relevant. Since early days I've always thought of rock music as interesting only when it refuses to be co-opted by trends and the business of trends. I like it to sound real, a bit damaged, beautiful imperfections. Between Hemispheres opens a whole other world sonically because of the African instruments and the electronics, but the electronic sounds are samples of organic things, not sequenced, they're triggered, so the effect is alternately violent and seductive. Currently I'm driven by acoustic sounds and the last records I did, Dirtmusic BKO, Between Hemispheres and Fatalists are all explorations of wood, stone, wire and voice, sounds that don't rely on electricity. Each new release covers new ground, and to be honest I very rarely look back at all.
How have you seen music as a whole change before your eyes?
Music as an entity is really too big to grasp. I just see angles, moments, scenes. there's a lot of recycling going on, as well as tremendous freedom to do anything you want. Mass culture has taken over and dumbed everything down, while the independent scene somehow survives on a street level. Everything’s available, everything’s now, and next generations can't easily imagine anything different. At the same time, sonically, everything is possible and audiences are more open to unusual ideas because they're more exposed. The sheer quantity of rock music today was unthinkable when I started in the 80s!
Being an Australian artist working overseas, how do you find the international audiences receive your music, especially those in non-English speaking regions?
Although a lot of my music is lyrically based, it doesn't seem to make much difference to non-English speaking audiences. The vibe and atmosphere is foreground in my music and that's what audiences initially pick up on. In eastern Europe for example English is more widely understood than twenty years ago so the key phrases and song titles translate easily. I lived in Italy six or seven years and tour there a lot and work with local artists and the concerts come across with very little lost in translation. The music is well received everywhere and there are always more offers than I can logistically handle since moved base back to Australia.
It’s known that when you were touring Europe at the turn of the 90’s you ended up being one of the first international acts to play the freshly liberated Eastern Bloc. How was that experience and why do you think music tends to play such a pivotal and noticeable part in political and social change? How were you received by the East Germans who had had limited exposure to the kind of progressive blues rock that The True Spirit produce?
Initially the East German audiences had no idea what to make of us because we didn't play standard arrangements and chord progressions, and English at that time was barely spoken at all. Early east gigs were particularly strange - the sound systems, venues, the skinhead incursions, a kind of culture shock that was inspiring for our music! Czech audiences embraced us, however, and Prague became a regular hang out for us from the start. All the east bloc countries had different experiences of the Soviet occupation and different grassroots cultures. Czech had a psychedelic edge to it and an old anti-establishment culture that was stimulated by art and music as a way to express attitudes that would otherwise be censored and we resonated with that. The cultural brain cleansing in east Germany was more severe and insidious. Poland because of the catholic connection seemed and still seems more romantic, and I could certainly connect with that undercurrent in the audiences. All these places had a real hunger for non-mainstream culture.
What is the one song from your catalogue you hold as a testament to your life and career?
Extremely difficult question! If I need to direct someone who never heard my music before to a song as a kind of introduction to where I'm coming from I give them Sorcery. I cover several streams in my music so there's no one truly representative song.
And finally, if a wide-eyed 8 year-old Hugo Race were able to see you as you are today, what would he think?
I do believe he would be astonished that many of his dreams came true although never as expected! I always wanted to travel, see the world, merge with it and continue to create, and that's what by good fortune I've been lucky enough to do. Knowing what I do now, I'd love to do it all over again. But that's not possible - you just have to make it up as you go along!
Thanks for your time Hugo, from all of us at The 59th Sound we wish you all the best with the upcoming shows and release!
Many thanks to you for your interest. All the best!
Christian Gilbert
‘Fatalists’ (out now) is Hugo’s first record as a solo singer/songwriter and the Italian music press hailed it as a “masterpiece. ”Don't miss out on this rare opportunity and catch Hugo Race live!
BRISBANE | Thursday 25 August @ The ZooTickets www.thezoo.com.au
SYDNEY | Friday 26 August @ The Vanguard Sydney Tickets www.thevanguard.com.au
Hi Hugo! Thanks for speaking with The 59th Sound today. Let’s start with something a bit off topic! What is your favorite native Australian dish
Easy - Magic Pudding.
You are starting a tour of what’s being billed as extremely intimate shows, do you prefer smaller venues and a closer atmosphere or is it still the dream to play in front of seas of people?
These Fatalists shows are not electric rock concerts, more semi-acoustic, and these songs suit more of a seated situation in a theatre, although that isn't necessarily where we've been performing. I never dreamt of seas of people as in mass audiences, that was never my objective - the intention was strictly about the music. Each performance is an encounter, it's personalised.
What’s a taste of what people can expect at these shows? Will you be focusing on your more recent work or will it be a little more retrospective?
It's the entire new Fatalists album conjured live, and other songs that fit into this atmospheric acoustic territory - some ballad tracks from the True Spirit 53rd State record, and a few pieces from Dirtmusic. Also some new songs that will appear later on the second Fatalists record - as yet unrecorded, but several songs written. Live, I'm playing with guitarist Hellhound Brown and multi-instrumentalist Michelangelo Russo from the True Spirit. The music recalls folk and delta blues contaminated by electronics and noise - the lyrics and voice are out front, because there's more space without bass and drums, so the stories come to the foreground, stories of dreams, about dreams.
Tell us a bit about your evolution as an artist over your almost 30 year career? When you look back at your early work in the Birthday Party and the Bad Seeds can you see it still flowing through albums like Between Hemispheres or do you feel a certain amount of musical transcendence?
I think there was an attitude about music I shared with The Birthday Party – regarding repetition, unpredictability and the idea of a sense of danger and exploration in rock music... And that is still relevant. Since early days I've always thought of rock music as interesting only when it refuses to be co-opted by trends and the business of trends. I like it to sound real, a bit damaged, beautiful imperfections. Between Hemispheres opens a whole other world sonically because of the African instruments and the electronics, but the electronic sounds are samples of organic things, not sequenced, they're triggered, so the effect is alternately violent and seductive. Currently I'm driven by acoustic sounds and the last records I did, Dirtmusic BKO, Between Hemispheres and Fatalists are all explorations of wood, stone, wire and voice, sounds that don't rely on electricity. Each new release covers new ground, and to be honest I very rarely look back at all.
How have you seen music as a whole change before your eyes?
Music as an entity is really too big to grasp. I just see angles, moments, scenes. there's a lot of recycling going on, as well as tremendous freedom to do anything you want. Mass culture has taken over and dumbed everything down, while the independent scene somehow survives on a street level. Everything’s available, everything’s now, and next generations can't easily imagine anything different. At the same time, sonically, everything is possible and audiences are more open to unusual ideas because they're more exposed. The sheer quantity of rock music today was unthinkable when I started in the 80s!
Being an Australian artist working overseas, how do you find the international audiences receive your music, especially those in non-English speaking regions?
Although a lot of my music is lyrically based, it doesn't seem to make much difference to non-English speaking audiences. The vibe and atmosphere is foreground in my music and that's what audiences initially pick up on. In eastern Europe for example English is more widely understood than twenty years ago so the key phrases and song titles translate easily. I lived in Italy six or seven years and tour there a lot and work with local artists and the concerts come across with very little lost in translation. The music is well received everywhere and there are always more offers than I can logistically handle since moved base back to Australia.
It’s known that when you were touring Europe at the turn of the 90’s you ended up being one of the first international acts to play the freshly liberated Eastern Bloc. How was that experience and why do you think music tends to play such a pivotal and noticeable part in political and social change? How were you received by the East Germans who had had limited exposure to the kind of progressive blues rock that The True Spirit produce?
Initially the East German audiences had no idea what to make of us because we didn't play standard arrangements and chord progressions, and English at that time was barely spoken at all. Early east gigs were particularly strange - the sound systems, venues, the skinhead incursions, a kind of culture shock that was inspiring for our music! Czech audiences embraced us, however, and Prague became a regular hang out for us from the start. All the east bloc countries had different experiences of the Soviet occupation and different grassroots cultures. Czech had a psychedelic edge to it and an old anti-establishment culture that was stimulated by art and music as a way to express attitudes that would otherwise be censored and we resonated with that. The cultural brain cleansing in east Germany was more severe and insidious. Poland because of the catholic connection seemed and still seems more romantic, and I could certainly connect with that undercurrent in the audiences. All these places had a real hunger for non-mainstream culture.
What is the one song from your catalogue you hold as a testament to your life and career?
Extremely difficult question! If I need to direct someone who never heard my music before to a song as a kind of introduction to where I'm coming from I give them Sorcery. I cover several streams in my music so there's no one truly representative song.
And finally, if a wide-eyed 8 year-old Hugo Race were able to see you as you are today, what would he think?
I do believe he would be astonished that many of his dreams came true although never as expected! I always wanted to travel, see the world, merge with it and continue to create, and that's what by good fortune I've been lucky enough to do. Knowing what I do now, I'd love to do it all over again. But that's not possible - you just have to make it up as you go along!
Thanks for your time Hugo, from all of us at The 59th Sound we wish you all the best with the upcoming shows and release!
Many thanks to you for your interest. All the best!
Christian Gilbert
‘Fatalists’ (out now) is Hugo’s first record as a solo singer/songwriter and the Italian music press hailed it as a “masterpiece. ”Don't miss out on this rare opportunity and catch Hugo Race live!
BRISBANE | Thursday 25 August @ The ZooTickets www.thezoo.com.au
SYDNEY | Friday 26 August @ The Vanguard Sydney Tickets www.thevanguard.com.au