Interview with the kickass Cazals!!!

• 21st Feb 2008

Luca/L (guitar), Warren/W (drums), Phil/P (vocals), Daniel/D (guitar & manager) and Martin/M (bass & producer) are Cazals (a slinky kickass Weller lead Strokes like outfit) who’re ready to release their superb debut LP ‘Life Is Boring’ (March 3rd) on Kitsune records.

They kindly took time out to answer all of the 69 questions that were posed. So, read on…

AS: Why the name?
M: Sounds good, looks good. D: Long story including Camden market, a stall, some cheap sunglasses, a small town in France, a poker player and rehearsals that needed paying for!

AS: When you take aim with your peashooter/pellet gun/sniper rifle, you’re aiming at?
M: My foot. D: Random people in the street.
P: Pikies kicking my bins over.

AS: Where do you go when it all gets too much?
P: The pub… a nice pint of Guinness and a friendly barmaid sorts me out. M: My sisters’ house.
D: As Richard Gere said “I got nowhere else to go”!

AS: Is bedtime more half nine with a half read paper or more half four with fully red eyes?
P: Half 4, though I don’t know what my eyes look like at that time… maybe I’ll take a photo with my phone later. M: The latter.

AS: What do you do in your recreational time?
D: Play in a band. M: Process data.

AS: Who would be your dream collaborator?
D: Id really like to write something with Thomas Mars from Phoenix as I really like his vocals. Or have Daft Punk produce a song with us. M: Either Roisin Murphy or Gyorgy Ligeti (RIP).

AS: What’s the last gig/concert you went to?
P: Dead Pixels at the Hoxton bar, they get better every time I see them. M: Olivier Messiaens Turangalîla-Symphonie at the Royal Festival Hall.

AS: What’s the best music video?
P: Party All the Time by Eddie Murphy and Rick James, it’s a masterpiece. M: Around the World – Daft Punk. D: Anything by Michel Gondry.

AS: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
M: Walking, images, listening, instruments and constant work. P: Oh dear, I hate this question, the best way to describe it is, you know when you can’t sleep at night because something’s bothering you, well, I just write it down. Then I’m out like a light, guilt free and ready to put off tomorrow what I should’ve done last week! D: I just play a lot and ideas just form and happen.

AS: Any regrets, missed opportunities or things that might’ve been?
P: We played a show in Denmark with Hookie from New Order DJing. We were in the DJ booth trying to be cool when the hole rig went down and the only thing left working was the mic’. The only rap I truly know from start to finish is John Barnes’ bit in the world cup song ‘World in Motion’, but I never did it and that keeps me up at night!

AS: If you were a musical instrument what would you be?
M: A Celeste.

AS: Do you believe in love at first sight?
D: Yes. P: I do, but unfortunately I keep seeing the wrong people! M: Yes.

AS: Were/are you aware of your escalating popularity?
M: No.

AS: Will your past come back to haunt you?
D: I really hope not. M: Certainly.

AS: Where do you most enjoy playing live?
D: Ireland. M: In my bedroom.

AS: Why? What's your biggest why question and has mystified you the longest?
M: Why do different countries need different plugs and voltage?

AS: Who is most influential on your sound?
D: It’s a weird split, Phil’s voice is a huge part of the sound of our music and Martin’s production ideas for the band are a large part too. Then obviously there is the actual songwriting which again is a weird split. M: I don’t think any one person.

AS: Where do you sit in the grand scheme of things?
M: Alongside all the other egotists, trying to leave some sort of lasting mark for no apparent reason.

AS: Whose the most likely to go solo or crazy?
D: Martin on both accounts. M: Yeah, me on both.

AS: What makes you better than everyone else?
D: What may set us apart from others is our brilliant album.

AS: When do you plan to take over the world?
M: Never.

AS: What changes can we expect to notice with this outing?
M: Subjectively better instrumentation, arrangements and performance.

AS: Are you all agreed/in control of the formats for your releases?
M: Not sure! D: It’s kinda down to me.

AS: Wish you were doing anything else with your time other than music?
D: I sort of trained to be a chef when I was 18 and I wish I’d kept up some form of learning and cooking as it was a great experience… the pressure of a restaurant kitchen is a lot harder than playing a gig but I wouldn’t want to do it over music. M: No.

AS: What do you think of the paparazzi?
D: I’ve never dealt with them so no comment… I said no comment!

AS: What are you listening to right now?
D: The sound of fingers on a keyboard. M: 2001: A Space Odyssey… on DVD (Gyorgy Ligeti again).

AS: Any message to any underachieving or odds facing musician out there?
D: We’ve really taken a long time to make anything happen so I’m not really sure we’re the best people to give advice. M: Join the club!

AS: Any career highs or lows you care to share?
D: Highs- making an album and touring with Daft Punk. Lows- there’s a few… sacking our old manager (who I counted as a close friend) was a terrible thing to have to do. M: Highs- The first listen to our finished album. Lows- being fired by the rest of Cazals.

AS: Do you enjoy playing live or are you more at home in a studio?
D: We’ve played a lot of gigs and sometimes they can be really special, but once in a while you can be really productive in a studio and all your ideas work. Days like that hold the best feeling for me.
M: Studio. But I often enjoy performing too.

AS: Your career defining dream moment would be what?
M: Creating something I’m in awe of.

AS: What was the highlight of your summer?
D: Really can’t remember what I did, I think I was heart-broken for most of it. M: I went on a road trip around America with my dad and saw a great white shark.

AS: I’m sure you’ve done a few but, do you know which has been your best ever gig?
D: I think when we last played the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park. We were on in a tent while Jack White and The Raconteurs were on the main-stage. The tent was pretty empty when we line checked but by the time we had finished our first song, a crowd of about 2000 had filled out the tent and people couldn’t get in. Security said they had to call in 6 extra bouncers from the main-stage to handle the crowd.
M: The final Tokyo show with Daft Punk.

AS: What will this year bring?
M: How could I possibly know?

AS: Are you unlucky in love?
D: Yes. M: Not especially.

AS: Best song, movie or LP ever?
M: Impossible question.

AS: Where did you sleep last night?
D: In a bed.

AS: What’s your secret vice, what are you a sucker for?
M: Movies intended for girls or children!
D: A pretty girl smiling at me.

AS: What makes the world go round?
D: Too much Guinness! M: Inertia!

AS: Where’s the place to be?
D: Paris.

AS: What’s your weak point?
M: Amongst the many, my inability to recreate exactly what it is I imagine. D: Extreme mood swings.

AS: What’s your favourite instrument?
M: The Orchestra.

AS: What inspired the LP title?
D: A b-side of ours which musically, is the blueprint to our albums sound.

AS: Are you a good dancer?
D: In an out of time kind of way, yes. M: What I lack in technique, I make up for in enthusiasm!

AS: What kinds of music do you dislike the most?
D: I really hate a lot of music, so it’s hard to pick just one type but, I’ll go with what I call ‘kid-indie’ where an indie band in their late twenties write these children’s nursery rhyme songs with loads of ‘doop do do’s’ and terrible lyrics. To me they all sound like the in-house band from kids Saturday morning shows. M: Anything too distasteful, self-promotional or obviously insincere.

AS: Where will you retire to when you're tired of comeback concerts?
M: Wherever is home.

AS: When will the world end?
M: Who do you think you’re interviewing?!

AS: Who is the main driving force or do you work as a team?
D: Quite interested to know what the others say on this one! M: It’s depends on what’s being driven!

AS: What revival would you most like to witness?
M: Cassette tape and VHS.

AS: What era would you have been born in ideally?
D: Pretty happy in my own time. M: I’m fine where I am though sometimes I think I’d like to have witnessed certain things at the time they happened.

AS: If you could save 1 thing in the world, what would it be?
M: Sharks.

AS: Who’s the most gifted person alive today?
M: Krzysztof Penderecki (Polish composer/ conductor of classical music) by quite a way.

AS: Have you got any famous relatives?
D: Yes: my uncle was a famous guitarist. M: No.

AS: Have you goy anybody’s autograph?
D: Yes, I used to be a massive Oasis fan when I was younger and I once snuck into Top of the Pops with some friends when Oasis were filming for their ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ single. My friends and I went to the canteen and Blur (my second favourite band) were in there. We sat chatting with them and then Oasis walked in too, it was like being in an old western. Anyway, I managed to get both bands autographs.
M: Yes – Billy Sheehan.

AS: Which fictional character would you most like to be?
M: Steve Zissou. D: Quint from Jaws.

AS: Which rules, the digital age or the vinyl/cassette age?
M: Digital.

AS: If a musical style was to become extinct, which would go first i.e. jazz, folk…?
D: I think UK R’n’B is pretty endangered, isn’t it? M: I think in terms of new work being created, lots of styles are already extinct.

AS: Do you have any unused band names you’d love to use?
D: My best friend and I have a band called ‘The Side Projects’ which we’re yet to actually start.
M: ZX Plectrum.

AS: Was growing up and becoming who you are today easy?
M: Obviously not.

AS: What’s the biggest myth about stardom?
M: Don’t know… ask a star. D: Not sure you’re asking the right band.

AS: Do politics have a place in music?
M: Like it or not, politics have a place everywhere.

AS: Any choice epitaphs, famous last words or something you’d like to be remembered for?
M: Certainly not my choice of words!

AS: Have you ever been conned into or out of something?
M: Of course. Amongst them, answering a 69 question interview!

AS: Thanks for time, patience and endurance guys, hope the LP goes down as well as it should.

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