From: Leighton Kyle Littlefield (lkl1380@tam2000.tamu.edu) Wednesday, July 12, 1995 Telephone interview with Raymond McGinley, guitarist for Teenage Fanclub This interview was conducted for a story I wrote for The Battalion at Texas A&M University. Kyle: You are probably tired of these first two questions by now but for those who aren't too familiar with Teenage Fanclub, how did the band get it's name and how did you get the title _Grand Prix_ for the new album, when I hear none of you drive? Raymond: The name of the band ... well, we formed the band and we didn't have a name and one of the first things you have to get is a name which is a difficult job. Something pretentious or something you will get tired of. Because we didn't want to call ourselves something like _Spandeau Ballet_ or something like that. Or some ridiculous pseudo-artsy reference thing. We just wanted to get something really stupid-sounding that would eventually become associated with the band. It doesn't mean anything really. I can't remember where it came from. We kinda liked the word "Teenage." We kind of liked it. It kind of sprung from somewhere deep in the sub-conscious and then we grew to love it. It's not like a reference to anything. The only thing it means is the four of us in a band. Basically, the stupidity of the name wears off and it becomes to mean those people in that band. Kyle: And what about the name for the new album? Raymond: Well, that came from a similar process, I think. Norman came up with it in the midst of the session, while we were trying to come up with ridiculous names. We toyed with the idea of calling the album "Demos." We thought it would be funny to have an actual album marketed and everything, and its called "Demos." Norman came up with _Grand Prix,_ I don't know where that sprung from. But we liked the sound of it, and we thought that the sort of irony and imagery of formula one car racing and everything was exactly the opposite of everything that we're like. Kyle: I noticed that the producer for Grand Prix has worked with Tom Petty, Mick Jagger and Frank Black, among others. What do you think he brought to Grand Prix that wasn't there in the past albums? Raymond: David (Bianco) is the type of guy who has made lots and lots of records and he's made lots of high-profile type records. We had discussions before making the record of how we wanted it to sound. And he would say, "Listen, it's gonna sound great. Don't worry about that. Let's just work on the songs. Just relax and just make the record." So I think it was just that experience that he brought that meant that we could just relax because we knew it was going to sound good. That there wouldn't be any problems on any technical or stupid level, we could just get along with recording the songs. So it simplified the whole process. Kyle: From your first album Catholic Education to Grand Prix the band has almost reinvented itself with each new album. Where do you think the creativity comes from to continue to do this? Raymond: Well, I think that's something that we purposefully don't really think about. In a sense that when it comes to making new records we try not to second-guess our ideas and feelings as to how it should be. We just go along with whatever our instincts are. Do whatever we want to do at that point in time, instead of thinking or should we try and do something different. Because we always think about records as ... If you went up to the studio with the exactly same idea of how a song should be. And you did this every year, and tried to record the same song, it would come out sounding differently everytime just because of the subtlety of how you feel at different points in your life, where you are. Things come out differently with out even trying. They only stay the same if you have some kind of stupid formula. Kyle: Has your role in the band changed since its conception? I know that on Bandwagonesque, you didn't write too many of the songs, and then on Thirteen, you wrote more, and then you wrote a few more on Grand Prix. Raymond: The band started with me and Norman writing songs and we made Catholic Education and I started off the Bandwagonesque period doing lots of ... because, you know we didn't have a manager, so I ended up doing all of those kind of mundane tasks. So I was bogged down. Kyle: So your role was more on the non-musical side of things? Raymond: Yeah, the non-fun type things. After that, we got people into those positions. Kyle: When Bandwagonesque came out there were mixed emotions: some people thought the band wore its influences as little too blatantly ( like the homage to Big Star in "Guiding Star") and others thought it was nice to hear good music again. What is your take on all of this? Raymond: I think, we definitely didn't try to ... because especially in Britain a lot of people thought that this band was ripping off this kind of music, or copying it. But it was some kind of post-modern reinvention of music from the past. Which it totally is not. I think we just made an album naively, in the best sense of the word. Which is the way we always try to approach things. We didnŐt really think about going ... 'cause it's almost like cool now - especially in Brittain at the moment. We think that this sort of concept of stealing from the past, actually plagiorizing things, and putting them into new contexts, seems to be something which is acceptable and cool. But I don't think we have actually plagiorized anything. Things were just in a similar vein. You know we met Alex Chilton from Big Star. We know him pretty well now. And he was saying, "You know I don't think you ripped us off at all. People used to say I ripped off the Kinks and the Beatles." Kyle: Just curious, but did the band feel any jealousy at all that the Posies played the Big Star gig? Raymond: No, no. In a way, they (The Posies) are probably better suited playing someone elses music. In that sense, they are more accomplished musicians. Whereas, if we had got involved, it would have turned into Big Star/Teenage Fanclub. We're not as ... it would have probably been stamped too much with our identity. Because that's the way we do things. Ken and Jon of the Posies are more traditionally skilled musicians. They can do those sort of things playing someone elses music. Whereas ... Kyle: Well, while we're on the topic of influences. It seems that the influences that are most evident on Grand Prix are the Byrds on Sparky's Dream and I can hear a bit of Brian Wilson on your song, "Verisimilitude," but the rest of the album seems uniquely the band's own style. Raymond: When we do a song, we don't think, "Does this sound like anyone else?" We kind of take it for granted that we have written the song ... You always place yourself, and try to put yourself in perspective with other kinds of music to figure if anyone else is going to like or not. Or if it makes sense. But we will just write a song and play it and do it without thinking if we are making a reference to any other type of music. Kyle: But do you think that maybe some of what you listen to when you were younger or maybe something you listened to the day before you came up with the song, do you think that it influences you sometimes? Raymond: Yeah, I think it is all sort of subconscious. Perhaps if you sit and listen to a few soul compilations over a weekend, and then you write a song itŐs going to be more laid back than if you were listening to hardcore punk records. It's subtle. It's not like we all sit around listening to the same records or anything. I suppose it's just a part of the larger musical community. It's just music. Kyle: What are some of the individual band members favorite groups. Raymond: On a general sort of level, Gerard loves things like the Byrds and Gene Clark, and ? and Clark, Gram Parsons and all that kind of stuff. Things in the past. He likes the Pastels and Guided By Voices, Stereolab. In terms what is cool, or what he would go back to as his main musical taste, it would be Byrds-type things. He's the big Byrds fan in the band. Norman is sort of a Beach Boys/ Phil Spector type fan. He always works with that sort of angle. I can't really think of what I like at the moment. It's kind of hard to say. Kyle: What were some of you records you listened to when you were younger? Raymond: Um, I suppose my favorite records were by the Beatles. Revolver, and whatever. Kyle: I was going to ask you about that. I think in "Genius Envy" you have a great line: "So what if you see other people, I only get jealous when I listen to the Beatles." Raymond: ItŐs funny, because "Beatles" and "people" don't actually rhyme. But you sort of get messed up because it says "Beatles." (laughs) But it's always hard to think of particular records. Kyle: I can hear some T.Rex on Bandwagonesque Raymond: Yeah, 'cause that's the kind of music we grew up with. Like Brittain in the '70s. Like T.Rex, Slade, Gary Glitter - that was the massive popular music at the time when we were 7,8,9, 10 years old. And that type of thing does have a big influence on you. Especailly the Beatles, hearing that when you're like 3 years old. And when you hear those songs it reminds you of your early childhood. It has a certain resonance in your head. I always think it's strange, when someone was born in 1979, and they were 3 years old, and they hear some horrible 1982 music. (laughs) I think it was a great privelege to grow up and be a toddler in the late '60s. Kyle: I have heard that the band was kind of unhappy with the last album Thirteen. How much did this influence the making of "Grand Prix?" Raymond: I suppose we were unhappy in the sense that we labored over it a bit too long. We spent too long making it. It became a chore rather than something fun to do. Whenever we can we try to things fresh as possible. It does give me the perspective, that if you try to work on something too hard, youŐre never going to gain anything from it. It's like an illusion. Kyle: I noticed on the liner notes of Grand Prix, that the band used vintage equipment to record the album. What kind of guitars and amplifiers do you use to get that Teenage Fanclub sound? Raymond: The sound on Grand Prix is derived mainly from ... Norman plays a Gibson Les Paul Custom, and I play mainly this really tacky Brian May guitar made by Guild. I've got one of those because I couldn't resist it. I thought no one else is gonna have the courage to play one of these on stage. (laughs) I had to go for it. And I use that through an old Fender Bassman, an original late-fifties amp. And an old Fender Deluxe like Neil Young uses. What we wanted to do was try to cut out all of the over-dubs. If there was a guitar solo in a song we would just hit the pedal, and try to keep it all live. It makes it more exciting, when you try to do a solo, and you know that it's the main take, you know if you get it wrong, you have to do the whole thing again. It keeps everything much more exciting. Kyle: How long have you been making music, how long have you played guitar? Raymond: In terms of playing gigs, I guess about and the first record I was on was about eight years ago. But I have been playing guitar for about 14 years now. Kyle: In the press release, it says that "Verisimilitude" is an attempt at an honest love song. Can you give a little more explanation about that song. Raymond: I suppose that when you write a song and there are all types of things in your head, it goes in all sorts of directions. I guess it is an anti-dishonest love song type song, if that makes any sense. Kyle: the kind of music you hear on the radio, the dance music and other meaningless stuff? Raymond: It is against anything which isn't human. It is something that revealed itself during the process of writing the song, I didn't approach the song with any big ideas. You start writing a song and things start to suggest themselves to you, and the song kind of takes on a life of its own, by the end of it. Kyle: What I think is interesting about Teenage Fanclub is that the songwriting is shared, each one of you writes great songs. Can you give me a breakdown of how the songwriting process takes place between the band? Raymond: We usually just write songs on our own and bring them into the rehearsal. It works out well for us that way, I think. It takes the pressure of any individual to feel like they have to come up with anything. It also keeps the structure of the band kinda loose. We donŐt have a set arrangement where one person is the main songwriter and another is the collaborator and the rest are the minions of the band. I think it makes things more exciting. Kyle: How much do the other members of the band contribute to songs that you write? And how much do you contribute to the songs that they write? Raymond: I think it varies. Sometimes you have a song for which you have really set ideas and how you want it to be. And other songs you have just the structure. It varies a lot. We like it to be a kind of natural process. Sometimes you have a song in early development and someone will have a great idea for it, and you end up using it. The process varies, there is no set formula. Kyle: One of the things that sets Teenage Fanclub apart from a lot of bands is that it isn't afraid of harmonies. Some of your songs have some pretty complex harmonies. Who in the band has the ear for all of that? Raymond: Norman is our main harmony correspondent. It probably comes easiest to Norman. He could go into harmonies on songs for days. Mainly Norman and Gerard. Kyle: When artists such as yourself, make good albums and they don't attract the attention that you feel they might deserve, are you sometimes prepared to say that mass audiences just don't like good music? Raymond: That's always a dangerous thing to get into. A lot of times the mass audience doesn't like good music. Sometimes they do. You can't really sum it up. I think whether you are sucessful or not, it just either goes that way or it doesn't. I suppose that some really talented people have had no success, and some very talented people have had massive success. I don't know if you can generalize either way. It depends if you are making a certain kind of music that is out of fashion at that point, it depend if you intersect with the mass audience's mood at the time. If what your doing intersects with the mood of the masses at that point then you will be successful. Kyle: If you look at a lot of bands these days, they always have a front man and if they don't the media tries to do it themselves. Teenage Fanclub doesn't seem to have a lead singer, everybody shares the duties, has the media tried to make a front man out of any of you, and if so, how did you deal with it. Raymond: Norman is probably perceived as the main Teenage Fanclub frontman. It's probably because Norman does most of the talking on stage. He has a very gregarious personality. He can fulfill that role quite well. Gerard and myself are probably a bit more shy and retiring. (laughs) Kyle: Well, you seem pretty talkative. Raymond: When Norman is in the room, he's the most talkative. So we kind of leave it to him. It's a tough job being gregarious to people. Kyle: WhatŐs the next single going to be? and since you aren't stopping in Texas this time, when do you think you will be coming back? Raymond: We may be back perhaps in October. We are going to do our own tour after we do the Weezer tour. And the next single, I'm not sure what it will be (in the US). Singles don't really exist in your country anymore in that sense. Over here, it's gonna be "Neil Jung." Kyle: In this age of music videos being able to make or break a band, does Teenage Fanclub feel any pressure to release a commercially-appealing video in order to get MTV's support in the States? Raymond: It's something I don't think we've been very good at. We hate videos. We hate the whole concept of videos. None of the videos we have made have been any good. We made one with Spike Jones, who made the Weezer "Buddy Holly" video. Kyle: And which video was that? Raymond: It was for "Hang On." We actually liked that. Kyle: I liked the video for "The Concept." Raymond: We didn't like that at all. We thought it was terrible. Kyle: Really? Raymond: It was OK but we felt over-loaded by the whole video-making experience at that point in time. I don't think we have represented ourselves very well in videos. Whether they have been good videos or not. If someone just watched the videos of us they would not get the whole picture of what we're like, whereas if people went to see us live, or just had the records. They get a better picture of the band. ItŐs a difficult thing to do, making good videos. Kyle: Speaking of Weezer, what do you think it will be like touring with them? Raymond: I think it should be good fun. We wanted to go on tour with a larger band with lots of venues, so it should be good. I suppose what they do is like pop music, it is melodic and in a similar vein to what we do. It's not like we are supporting a rock band. Kyle: Do you ever feel any competition? Like maybe they are infringing on your audience? Raymond: No, no. We don't feel that way at all. We never feel any competition. We just like to do our own thing. Kyle: Well, since time is running out on me, I have just a few random questions for you. First, have you seen the Teenage Fanclub homepage on the Internet. Raymond: I think I have. Is that the one that says something about Chris' Page of Fun. I haven't made any contact with them yet, I don't think. We're not on the Internet or anything like personally, so we don't have much access to that. Probably will be soon. In which case the guy will probably be sick of hearing from us. Kyle: And finally, how do you think coming from Scottland has influenced the band's music. Raymond: ItŐs kind of hard to tell. I think Scottland has a strong tradition of melodic music. To some extent we do take on that tradition.Scottish folk music, though we are not big folk fans or anything ... I guess it goes back to music that we like, like the Byrds or Neil Young, people who were influenced in part by Scottish and Irish folk music. It is something in that kind of music that we can relate to ... a Scottish sort of thing. this interview was conducted for a story I did for The Battalion. Any publishing of it of any kind without permission from me or The Battalion at Texas A&M University, is strictly prohibited. thanks to Cybele from DGC, and Raymond McGinley.