Sinister: Caroline, Yes

[Nick.Dastoor at xxx.uk]

Caroline said:

> Apart from my Hefner fridge magnets (and Mogwai earplugs) I don't have
> any band merchandise. I feel silly in band T-shirts. Does anyone else ?

Yes.  For years I only ever wore my Smiths T-shirts as underwear.  I hate
wandering around town telling everyone "Yes, I am proud to be a bedwetter."  Not
that I was a bedwetter (props to real bedwetters, though), but I didn't want to
have to go around proving this to everyone I met.  Worse still would be to be
wearing one in non-high street 'indie' environments, where the whole thing takes
on the status of some kind of gang colour.  I've never liked gangs.  I have
occasionally been known to wear a B&S T-shirt in public, but it's not brought me
happiness.  Oh, I lie.  I love it.  But I draw the line at badges.

Joe Egg was on BBC London Live last night talking about 2000 Troubled Teenagers.
It was in the gay entertainment zone hour.  I seem to remember 200 Troubled
Teenagers being listed in the gay section of Time Out.  I'm not sure if this is
because Joe is gay or because The Paradise Bar is usually gay or whatever.
Anyway, it looks like BabyChrisCrystalBalls was right all along.  DOUBLE ANYWAY,
Joe did his best to explain to the presenter why B&S had a gay following and
generally went on about why they had such an obsessive fanbase.  Then he talked
about the event and what a success it had been last time and how great the
sequel would be.  He said there'd be Crystal Tipps & Alistair videos, prizes for
the person who bulit the best life-size models of the Velvet Underground in clay
and something on stage which wasn't quite sorted out and was 'secret'.  I very
much doubt this will involve a surprise set by Belle & Sebastian, but you never
know.  Then they had Joanne Kinney (cover star of Tigemilk and Dog on Wheels) on
the phone.  That was kind of weird.

Presenter:  So, Joanne, you work for a major record company.  What do you think
about the promotion of pop stars as icons?
Joannne:   Actually, I work for an independent record company.
Presenter:  Oh, I'm sorry.
Joanne:  That's OK.  [pause] Err...  What was the question again?
Presenter: It was 'What do you think about the promotion of pop stars as icons?'
Joanne: Umm.. [talks about how B&S have a fairly low media profile]  I haven't
really answered your question, have I?
Presenter:  No, but that's OK.

Joanne also talked about how she went to 200 Troubled Teenagers and how odd it
was, like some kind of cult.  She was asked if anyone recognised her and she
said no.  That was about it really.

Then they had a competition to win two pairs of tickets and I won for knowing
that Belle was a dog.  Actually, I said she was a Pyrennean mountain dog, but I
think they thought I was showing off.  I'm not sure I can actually go to the
thing (if someone in the know would like to tell me who the surprise stage
guests are that would help me to make up my mind) so it was rather selfish of me
to win, really.

Thanks to Elisabeth for translating that interview.  Isn't it amazing that
Stevie speaks Norwegian!

>"It's not like we try to keep up with the new musical
>trends. Yesterday someone asked me what I thought of
>Spearmint.
>Spearmint!
>He thought it was incredible that I hadn't heard about
>them. Have you heard about Spearmint?"
>-No
>" Thank God! I thought it was just me!"
>-What do you listen to?
>" I like pop. And musicals. When I'm drunk I like to
>do a couple of songs from "Guys & Dolls" and "West
>Side Story". And I like Madonna. And Miles Davies. And
>the Beatles. So I am not really down with the latest
>trends.

Yeah, me neither.  I have a confession to make.  I'm really quite prejudiced
against Belle & Sebastian fans who *are* down with the latest trends.  I don't
mean wearing the latest hip-hop threads and all (that's jsut fine), but I just
get a bit... queasy around people who are into loads of current 'indie' bands.
I think this is a hang-up from the time I had completely lost interest in any
new bands (96-97), turned off my radio and only listened to show tunes and
Madonna.  When I finally caught onto Belle & Sebastian in Summer 97 I was angry
that all that shit indie had prevented me from hearing something truly startling
earlier.  I sometimes insist that Belle & Sebastain aren't an indie band at all,
but maybe I'm just kidding myself.  At the very least, they transcend the genre.
I have a half-formed thesis about the development of indie, which involves
accepting all those bands that bore me as belonging to a genre that's just not
my cup of tea, much like swingbeat.  The idea is to separate out all the people
who are trying to do something interesting.  In my scheme they don't belong to
any genre at all, because that's the whole point.  Like I say, it's a
half-formed idea that's probably self-serving and meaningless.  Comments
welcome.

  Nick xx

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