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Wire: we play what we feel like playing Wire: we play what we feel like playing
(6 months later)
They formed at the height of punk in They formed at the height of punk in the UK, releasing three albums that are generally regarded to be unassailable: Pink Flag (1977), Chairs Missing (1978) and 154 (1979), which saw the quartet transform from noisy, minimalist pop-punkers to expansive post-punk experimenters.
the UK, releasing three albums that are generally regarded to be Those albums were a huge influence on the English music to come, especially during Britpop. Blur and Menswear both owed them a debt, as did Elastica: to the extent that two of their biggest hits, Connection and Line Up, were transparent lifts of Wire songs – Three Girl Rhumba and I Am the Fly, respectively – which resulted in an out-of-court settlement for copyright infringement.
unassailable: Pink Flag (1977), Chairs Missing (1978) and 154 (1979), However, the creative pace set by those albums proved impossible to continue and the band acrimoniously split in 1980. Solo projects followed before the band reconvened in 1985. They’re remained fitfully active ever since, with a couple of line up alterations: guitarist Bruce Gilbert left for good in 2007, replaced by Matthew Simms.
which saw the quartet transform from noisy, minimalist pop-punkers to This will be Wire’s third Australian visit and singer/guitarist Colin Newman is curious about how the band are regarded in our neck of the woods.
expansive post-punk experimenters. “I don’t really know. You do get a sense when we play somewhere that maybe we’ve toured more often that quite a lot of people in the audience really know what’s going on with us, and I know there’ll be people in Australia who will be in that same position, but there may be others who have maybe just heard about the band. But I think everybody will be hopefully rather pleasantly surprised.”
Those albums were a huge influence on They’ve been notoriously unwilling to revisit their past – they once toured with a Wire tribute act as their opening band since the band refused to play any of their old material – but last year’s Change Becomes Us split the difference between their past and their present in a fascinating way.
the English music to come, especially during Britpop. Blur and “I’ll attempt to do this in as short a way as possible, because it’s quite complicated,” chuckles bassist/vocalist Graham Lewis.
Menswear both owed them a debt, as did Elastica: to the extent that “Basically, Wire released 154 and then, as was our working method, we already had written new material, some of which we were already playing live. And we did a special series of concerts that were kind of performance-based, and in early 1980 we did a performance at the Electric Ballroom and wrote a whole bunch of material for those as well. And then what happened after that was history, really. The band spun apart and we left the field of play.”
two of their biggest hits, Connection and Line Up, were transparent Because Wire didn’t revisit those pieces upon their reformation, the result was “potentially two albums worth of material just lying around. And a lot of it was only played once or twice, so it hadn’t exactly been investigated or edited or hammered into shape.”
lifts of Wire songs – Three Girl Rhumba and I Am the Fly, “So when we got to the end of 2011 we’d been asked to do a second tour in the UK,” Lewis continues. “And we’d been working quite extensively that year: we’d started the year off with yourselves in Australia and toured pretty much through the year, and the band was in a really strong state and Matt had very much bedded into the group. And so we didn’t want to still be doing exactly what we’d played six months ago, and we wanted to work on something that Matt could be part of.”
respectively – which resulted in an out-of-court settlement for Without time to work up completely new material the idea became to “take things from that pot of bits and pieces and see if we could make some sense of them”, according to Lewis. “And some were already quite established, like [lead track] Doubles and Trebles, but then there were things that were perhaps only a riff which was of any use.”
copyright infringement. The pieces were worked up and toured, and the band were heartened by the response, and the natural next step was to head to the studio.
However, the creative pace set by those “We hadn’t been planning that this experiment would be ‘the next album’,” Lewis explains, “but it felt like we had to go in and resolve it one way or the other. It was a case of combing through the rubble, I suppose, to find the essence of things. And then we realised we had an album that we had to release as an actual stand-up album, rather than just as an interesting project.”
albums proved impossible to continue and the band acrimoniously split Fortunately the response has been among the most positive of their career and will be debuting new material on their Australian tour. “We feel that we’ve got to get back ahead of ourselves.”
in 1980. Solo projects followed before the band reconvened in 1985. “And we play stuff from across our entire history,” Newman points out. “We play what we feel like playing, basically. The way the industry is set up, if you’ve been around for a while you’re not normally given latitude to be a contemporary band, there’s only an interest in your back catalogue. And that just isn’t the case with Wire. People are interested in the back catalogue, but not exclusively, for sure.”
They’re remained fitfully active ever since, with a couple of line up Still, it’s rather wonderful to think they could effectively collaborate with their own younger selves. “It’s music that came from a strange place,” Lewis chuckles in agreement. “From the embers of a fire from 30-odd years ago.”
alterations: guitarist Bruce Gilbert left for good in 2007, replaced
by Matthew Simms.
This will be Wire’s third Australian
visit and singer/guitarist Colin Newman is curious about how the band
are regarded in our neck of the woods.
“I don’t really know. You do get a
sense when we play somewhere that maybe we’ve toured more often that
quite a lot of people in the audience really know what’s going on
with us, and I know there’ll be people in Australia who will be in
that same position, but there may be others who have maybe just heard
about the band. But I think everybody will be hopefully rather
pleasantly surprised.”
They’ve been notoriously unwilling to
revisit their past – they once toured with a Wire tribute act as
their opening band since the band refused to play any of their old
material – but last year’s Change Becomes Us split the difference
between their past and their present in a fascinating way.
“I’ll attempt to do this in as short
a way as possible, because it’s quite complicated,” chuckles
bassist/vocalist Graham Lewis.
“Basically, Wire released 154 and
then, as was our working method, we already had written new material,
some of which we were already playing live. And we did a special
series of concerts that were kind of performance-based, and in early
1980 we did a performance at the Electric Ballroom and wrote a whole
bunch of material for those as well. And then what happened after
that was history, really. The band spun apart and we left the field
of play.”
Because Wire didn’t revisit those pieces
upon their reformation, the result was “potentially two albums
worth of material just lying around. And a lot of it was only played
once or twice, so it hadn’t exactly been investigated or edited or
hammered into shape.”
“So when we got to the end of 2011
we’d been asked to do a second tour in the UK,” Lewis continues.
“And we’d been working quite extensively that year: we’d started
the year off with yourselves in Australia and toured pretty much
through the year, and the band was in a really strong state and Matt
had very much bedded into the group. And so we didn’t want to still
be doing exactly what we’d played six months ago, and we wanted to
work on something that Matt could be part of.”
Without time to work up completely new
material the idea became to “take things from that pot of bits and
pieces and see if we could make some sense of them”, according to
Lewis. “And some were already quite established, like [lead track]
Doubles and Trebles, but then there were things that were perhaps
only a riff which was of any use.”
The pieces were worked up and toured,
and the band were heartened by the response, and the natural next
step was to head to the studio.
“We hadn’t been planning that this
experiment would be ‘the next album’,” Lewis explains, “but it
felt like we had to go in and resolve it one way or the other. It was
a case of combing through the rubble, I suppose, to find the essence
of things. And then we realised we had an album that we had to
release as an actual stand-up album, rather than just as an
interesting project.”
Fortunately the response has been among
the most positive of their career and will be debuting new material
on their Australian tour. “We feel that we’ve got to get back ahead
of ourselves.”
“And we play stuff from across our
entire history,” Newman points out. “We play what we feel like
playing, basically. The way the industry is set up, if you’ve been
around for a while you’re not normally given latitude to be a
contemporary band, there’s only an interest in your back catalogue.
And that just isn’t the case with Wire. People are interested in the
back catalogue, but not exclusively, for sure.”
Still, it’s rather wonderful to think
they could effectively collaborate with their own younger selves.
“It’s music that came from a strange place,” Lewis chuckles in
agreement. “From the embers of a fire from 30-odd years ago.”