Pop Will Eat Itself
By Sebastian Mackay
Pop Will Eat Itself, thankfully isn't pop and hasn't eaten itself (you could argue they did but vomited themselves back up 10 years later) and that means they're coming for us. For the first time in 20 years the good ol' chaps are bringing their live shebang to our rainy little shores. It's a wonder any still cares, really. ButGraham Crabb (co-vocalist and last standing original member) has answer for that. Well, he has an answer for most things.
Why should people care about Pop Will Eat Itself?
Cos we know where they live. I'd like to think we're honest, cutting edge, care about our fans, give everything we can live. We're also great company and great in bed.
When it comes to finding new fans, there are hundreds of other acts, how do you stand out?
If I knew the answer to that I'd sell it. I just try and keep current, keep a large degree of quality control, keep your mind open to influences and keep on keeping on!
Being in a band you've got a platform and thousands of people that are willing to listen. Do you feel obliged to use that power to say something important?
I definitely don't feel obliged to do that. We often create largely instrumental pieces but then we can get heavy with the lyrics too. Sometimes I feel politically motivated, sometimes I don't - depends what's going on in the world. Right now I feel pretty strongly about the rise of multinationals, large corporations taking over the world, tax evasion by the wealthy and living in a plutocracy, so that's coming out in the lyrics.
You have political songs like Ich Bin Ein Auslander, do you still stand by those lyrics or have things changed for you?
Auslander is more relevant now than ever before. There's a lot of racial tension around. Picking on immigrants seems to be a sport in the UK right now. It doesn't matter which minority you focus on, the point is still the same. Intolerance is everywhere. When things are rough, people look for scapegoats.
You guys disbanded, came back in 2011 with a new line-up, when you have new (or different) members in the band how do you stay on direction?
The simple answer is there's no 'direction' to follow, other than your heart. I guess we all know there's a certain 'ball park' we operate within, but that's never defined for fear of restricting ourselves. Gut instinct will guide you.
When you've been playing the same songs for decades, do they lose their meaning or become a chore? How do you keep the passion for them alive?
They should do, but they don't. My theory for that is that when you're up on stage the adrenalin is pumping and you feel very positive about what you're doing (unless you fuck it up big time) so the positive feelings for songs tend to get reinforced. I sometimes go off a song for other reasons - I think it doesn't fit the set, or we've outgrown it etc, then they tend to get dropped. But not for reasons of playing them too much.
Pop Will Eat Itself New Zealand Shows
Tuesday September 9th: Bodega, Wellington - Tickets via NZTix
Wednesday September 10th: Kings Arms, Auckland - Tickets via NZTix
http://www.popwilleatitself.net/pwei/