Orange County Register, March 4, 1994: Difference between revisions
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"I'm aware of those people, and I know maybe they get exasperated sometimes by me following my instincts about music and trying to do things that I think are interesting and worthwhile," he said. "I believe in the long run it's richer for the next musical thing you do." | "I'm aware of those people, and I know maybe they get exasperated sometimes by me following my instincts about music and trying to do things that I think are interesting and worthwhile," he said. "I believe in the long run it's richer for the next musical thing you do." | ||
Struggling with a case of bronchitis — a leftover from a Canadian video shoot — Costello, 39, took an hour recently to set the record straight on reunions, classical music and his career twists. | |||
First, the classical album was one of his greatest commercial successes, both in the United States and overseas. | |||
"''The Juliet Letters'' was the biggest-selling album I've ever had my name on in Japan," Costello said. "It's already out-sold ''Spike'' and ''Armed Forces'', my other two big sellers." | |||
Worldwide the album has sold 250,000 copies after originally being budgeted for sales of 100,000. | |||
"That's a hell of a lot for a chamber-music record," he said. | |||
''Brutal Youth'' came about when Costello and drummer Pete Thomas returned to London's Pathway Studios, the same eight-track studio in which he recorded ''My Aim Is True'' in the late '70s. | |||
"I didn't even tell the record company or anybody that I was starting to make a record," he said. "It was just Pete and I in a studio. He and I were playing the songs live, with him on drums and me on electric guitar and singing live. Then I'd just dub everything else that was needed. | |||
"As much as I enjoyed that, there were other types of songs I was writing that wouldn't suit that kind of recording. They needed more musicians to play them properly." | |||
Producer Mitchell Froom was brought in, as was bassist Nick Lowe and former Attractions pianist Steve Nieve. | |||
"Shortly after that, Mitchell said there are a couple of the songs that (bassist Bruce Thomas would play great on," he said. "The next thing I knew it was the Attractions in the studio, without anybody really noticing." | |||
It wasn't quite that simple. Years ago, Bruce Thomas had protested bitterly when Costello had started working with musicians other than the Attractions. Thomas even wrote a book, thinly veiled as a novel, blasting his former boss. | |||
"You know, a couple of us haven't been getting along terribly well," Costello said diplomatically. "To be honest, I don't think very many people, including us, ever expected us to be playing together again. | |||
"But when you think about what's positive about playing together against a squabble you may have had some time ago, you think 'Is it really worth it to let that stand in the way of playing?' It wasn't like 'Oh, well, I've gone on my holiday, now I'll come home and put on my comfortable shoes.' If anything, you know this was going to be a bit more edgy." | |||
Edgy maybe, but Costello quickly used the band's skill to pull together his most compelling set of songs in years. | |||
<!-- "Obviously someone like Steve Nieve has a tremendous amount of technique ... and Bruce is the same, and increasingly Pete as well. He listens much more to the other players and is much more concerned with the tone of his drums. The drums don't sound like something stuck on, just rhythm." | |||
But he quickly tires of talking about the new album. | |||
"I'm always thinking of the future," he said. "There's always another record to make." | |||
So we come to one of his biggest problems: competition with himself. You can't hear all of Costello's music because the record companies simply can't put it out fast enough. By the time they do, he's moved to something else. | |||
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{{cx}}<!-- --><!-- Caption: FAST NOTES: Prolific Elvis Costello has written more than 300 songs, including an album's worth in one weekend last year. --> | {{cx}}<!-- --><!-- Caption: FAST NOTES: Prolific Elvis Costello has written more than 300 songs, including an album's worth in one weekend last year. --> |
Revision as of 23:33, 14 January 2021
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