Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 13. June 11 1979
Music — Talking Heads Interview;
Music
Talking Heads Interview;
Salient's enterprising reporter, Mark Wilson, [ unclear: recely] managed to snatch an interview with Talking Heads during their whirlwind [ unclear: touf] New Zealand. And this is what he [ unclear: ou].....
An [ unclear: interview] with David Byrne from Talking leads.
[ unclear: A] stage and record he possesses a [ unclear: vo-cal] unique in its abandonment, but in [ unclear: conersaton] David Byrne, Talking Heads' [ unclear: sing] songwriter and guitarist, is the exact [ unclear: oppite]. Shy, reserved, awkward, In seems like schoolboy who has been called up before he headmaster Rather than feeling ill [ unclear: atee] myself, I felt as if I was making him [ unclear: nerus].
[ unclear: ked] about the success of the tour so [ unclear: he] band performed in Dunedin and [ unclear: Ch] church before coming to Wellington), [ unclear: dav] said that the audience response had very enthusiastic and that the band [ unclear: really] enjoying their visit.
[ unclear: e] New Zealand dates are the start of [ unclear: te] by the band that will see them on [ unclear: ad] until December, he said, going [ unclear: firall] to Australia, then Japan and finally tough Europe. "It won't be as hectic our last tour of Europe (in early 1977 we'll be playing fewer cities than befor'
[ unclear: d] by way of a "break", although it [ unclear: souls] to me like a busman's holiday, [ unclear: Davided] he'd be returning to New York for [ unclear: a work] and a half in between the tour of Australia and that of Japan to finish [ unclear: mixim] the band's new album Fear Of Music. The like their second album More Songs [ unclear: abt] Buildings And Food is being produced by Brian Eno. Eno has been [ unclear: criti-] regarding his work on More Songs of [ unclear: nating] the record and dehumanising the [ unclear: the] and's sound, so I asked David if he thoght this criticism valid.
It seemed to be a question that he has had to field before. He said that the sound on the second album is "mostly our own sound" and Eno "just happens to be the type of person who likes that sort of thing." 'A lot of people think that a lot of the things they hear on the record are his doing but they're ours. Some are his but not as many as some people think."
Regarding the songs on the new album, David said that they followed much the same style as those on the other two "although some of the new songs are more psychedelic." Naturally enough, he seemed to immediately regret his choice of adjective.
The original Talking Heads (keyboardist Jery Harrison didn't join until the band's 1977 British debut), having been formed at the Rhode Island School of Design by Byrne, drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Martina Weymouth, turned professional in 1974 when they debuted at CBGB's - the club that became known as the birthplace of American "new wave" bands. Because of the connection. Talking Heads picked up many labels at the start of their career, perhaps the strangest being "thinking person's punk."
Asked if such labels had any meaning as far as the band were concerned, David replied that they probably do "to the people who wrote them." "I've always found labels a bit inadequate," he says, "and also, bands don't like to be labelled.
"We've had to live down some of the labels we've been given. When we first came out people thought we were a punk band and that we would play a lot louder than we do. That made it difficult for us because there were a lot of places we couldn't play."
Giving his opinion of the wealth of new bands on the music scene at the moment, David said that "about 80 percent" of them are not very good "but that's just personal taste." "I try to keep up with the new bands though," he adds.
Asked what music he likes listening to and where his influences lie, David replied that he's not sure that the music he listens to actually influences his own writing. If anything though, he said, his main influence would probably be "middle period James Brown." (Say no more, thought I, nodding knowingly and trying to remember who James Brown is, or was)
"It veers off in all directions from there," he continues (phew), "some sounds like country and western and some sounds more like something else."
It seems the fashion at the moment for a band to have an overall stance or aim contained in their music apart from the traditional "let's have a good time" approach, witness the Clash's "we're still with the kids" and Devo's "back to the slime" philosophies, so I asked David if there was anything he was especially trying to say through his songs.
"There probably is but I'm not sure what it is," he replied. "I'm not very clear about what the aim is in terms of something that I'm trying to get across or anything like that."
Deciding to give up on that question I asked him what the band planned to do after completing their tour in December. He replied that they haven't made any plans yet, although they are expected to make another record then.
"We'll see how it goes though. We can't make a record if we don't have enough songs by then," he said.