Craig Scanlon interview
Jen Antonic
Dave Nichols FallNet repost....
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Craig Scanlon interview with hastily-improvised questions 1991 © D. Nichols
(This was done for an untitled magazine that John Henderson, who ran what
was then my record company Feel Good All Over, was always about to publish.
I know he did a three-hour interview with Lora Logic for it... but I don't
know what else he was going to put in it... what I do know is that, like
most of the projected FGAO records, the magazine never came out)
I thought I would be interviewing Martin Bramah, in fact I'd specifically
asked Polygram to tee something up with Martin, because I was such a fan of
the Blue Orchids. Imagine my surprise, then, when I arrived at the Sydney
hotel where The Fall were staying (The Victoria Towers, I think) to find
that no Martin Bramah was staying there. Well, I told the reception woman,
he's a member of The Fall. Oh yes, she said, The Fall are staying here. So
I talked to their manager who told me my interview had been rescheduled
with Craig Scanlon. Oddly enough, it was the first time Craig Scanlon had
heard of such a thing. Read on for explanations...
D: Martin's not here....
C: No he's not. He's gone home.
D: Really? What's the story?
C: (Lying back on his hotel bed - he's got the flu) Can't tell you really.
You can't get an exclusive. It just didn't work out really. Shame.
D: You've just done your last Sydney show, so, why are you still in Australi=
a?
C: We've got a week off. And we're going to Japan, so there's not much
point in going home again. Yep. We've got the drummer and the bass player
preparing Sunday lunch. I know it's Monday, but... we've got them working
in the next room because they're always boasting about how they used to be
chefs and boasting about how good they are... Mark's going to come down...
D: How have you enjoyed your shows here?
C: Pretty good, mostly. I thought the Livid was good (i.e. the only Sydney
incarnation of Brisbane's Livid Festival where they headlined) and Dee Why,
that was good. We've had some that have been a bit naff. It's been like
this the whole tour, 3 or 4 days off and then another gig, which doesn't
really suit us. We start getting good after two gigs (in a row) ... you
have to psych yourself up after 3 days this way. The nightclubbing kills
you on the days off. It's a lot better playing!
D: Have you been impressed by the crowds (i.e. considering Polygram
probably didn't even know you were signed to them)?
C: It's very varied here. Melbourne was quite enthusiastic, Sydney was more
reserved. I liked Melbourne better.
D: How does this compare with your last tour of Australia?
C: I don't know, we always have kind of upsets when we tour Australia. The
last one was a bit of trouble. Fighting within the band. this one's turned
out just the same! So I don't know if it's been jinxed... but it's been OK.
D: Were you happy with the response to the last album?
C: Yeah, yeah, it was really well received, especially in England, Europe.
D: The big hit single still eludes you though.
C: We got close, though. "Telephone Thing" did well in America, got on
Billboard in America, it kind of paved the way... we went there before, we
just played two gigs, and did a lot of press...
D: What are your favourite songs in the set at the moment?
C: The new ones, basically. We've got some new songs so I love playing
those because we've been playing Extricate quite a long time. We mostly
play Extricate, there's only a few other songs we fit in. We've got a song
called "Life Just Bounces", which is good... (I like it) partly because I
wrote it, as well... We've got a few new ones, and we try and introduce a
few new ones for each... if we're playing the same city, we won't be
playing the same set every night, we'll introduce some older stuff or we'll
play "Victoria" and stuff.
D: Friends of mine were disappointed you didn't play older things
C: Oh yeah, like what then?
D: "Cruisers Creek"
C: Yeah but that was almost like a different band though, we had two
drummers. It's not practical.
D: How long have you been in the band now?
C: About eleven years
D: What were you doing before that?
C: Me and Steve had a band. We used to support The Fall. When I first saw
The Fall, they were like this great band... I used to follow them around.
Roadie for 'em... help 'em out. Not get paid or anything. And then we
formed a band. Then Martin left (The Fall) and I took over and Steve
joined. I was like 17 or something when I joined, so I had a job before
then for about six months which I hated, in this design place, but it's
basically The Fall all my adult life.
D: I remember a while ago Mark saying in the press that you were all like
his underpaid musicians, how you were being loyal to him and he appreciated
it.
C: Well, that's a load of bullshit. He is the leader of the band, there's
no question about that, and I don't think bands work on terms of a
commune... democracy... where every decision has to be discussed... but we
have a say in the band.
D: How do you write songs? Do you come to a meeting with a tape?
C: Well, the way we work is, I'll have a tune, or Steve may have a tune,
we'll work it out and tape it and give it to Mark. Or sometimes we'll
write, if we're touring, in the hotel room. Or we'll do it in soundchecks -
someone will play something, just a riff, that's how we got a couple of the
new ones. But everyone's a songwriter so they'll chip in little bits and
things.
D: So you're going to Japan - what after that?
C: Well, we've got a festival, in France, and we're doing Reading Festival,
and I've heard now we're going to Greece. And that American thing. It's
going to be busy all year, basically. We didn't do anything last year
except record. And now we're being punished, heh heh.
D: Have there ever been times when you thought The Fall would end?
C: Lots of times. It's not like a normal band, we don't have a scheme... if
we've still got the songs and people are still enjoying it we'll still do
it. There's no grand Fall scheme. But yeah, there have been a few hairy
moments. It's mainly tours, you see. Living in hotel rooms... I know it's
the complaint of all bands, but we get a bit more homesick - a bit more
stressed.
D: You're still living in Manchester?
C: Yeah
D: Do all the band live there?
C: The drummer lives right in the centre which is quite unusual anyway
because Manchester's a... people don't live in Manchester because it's
mainly office buildings but they've started opening up apartments but yeah,
I'm not far from town I'm like 2, 3 miles - I live in the same area as
Mark, in Prestwich. Steve lives in the south of Manchester. But within like
3 miles of the city centre.
D: What other bands do you get on well with?
C: Well, when we see 'em, we know 'em to say hello, we get on with New
Order, we toured with them in America, Si knows everyone. He's like the Mr.
Personality of Manchester. Drummers always are, they're like social
animals. He knows the Stone Roses very well. And Happy Mondays.
D: What did you think about your support band here? (The Fall toured mainly
with Tactics, who would have been totally appropriate in their earlier
incarnation - fantastic caustic wordy rock, check out their LPs - but by
this time they were some 10-piece abomination that sounded like a pale
imitation of Talking Heads, just WRONG for anyplace, anytime!)
C: Well it's all a scam that, you see. We found out that the promoter of
this tour is also the manager of Tactics. We tried to get them thrown off
but then they said well, the musician's union's going to have something to
say about that, you'll be breaking the contract. So fuck it, bear with 'em
and don't watch 'em... go out when they go on... I mean they've been going
for years, haven't they? They didn't go down at all well, as well. I don't
know why they bother. Saw a band up at Kings Cross, Box the Jesuit. they
were OK for about four songs. We also went to see Bobby Brown. That was
like a freebie. And we're going to see the Bad Seeds this week. We know
them quite well as well. So we'll see Blixa and Mick Harvey.
D: What's Mick Harvey like?
C: He's alright. He just bloody follows you round all the time. Gets on
your nerves. Heh heh. And Blixa's really nice, he's quite a gentle
character.
D: You're down to a five piece now, so you are you going to be scurrying
into a rehearsal studio and roping someone else in? To play in Japan?
C: Don't know what tack to take really, because... when's this going to be o=
ut?
D: Not for ages (how right I was)
C: Oh well, you see, we've also lost our keyboard player. So we're only
down to a 4-piece at the moment. We might get another guitarist but at the
moment we're just patching it out, someone's going to play keyboards at the
side of the stage. It would have been a lot better if this had all happened
after Japan. But it didn't work out like that. We did a tour of Europe with
a bongo player. He got a drumkit on the last day! The response was alright.
People were surprised. But as I say, we've been through all this before so
it's not that daunting.