Interview with Karl about OWB (in Japanese)

[stauff]

http://mysound.jp/electronica/interv.../10/004728.php

Interesting snippit:
---
Q: "Boy Boy Boy" is a great "individual" style track I think. Are there any plans to make a single cut?

KH: Certainly lots of people have been saying that - because it's got the straight sort of rocky groove.
---
hmm.. he didn't really answer the question.

I'll translate more when I have my power adapter in the same place as my laptop

[Edit: now translated, see below]

[phaseblue]

I'll translate more when I have my power adapter in the same place as my laptop

I don't want to get off topic, but did you live in Japan before? I was up in Utsunomiya for 3 years, but recently moved down to Yokohama.

BTW - Karl was at Tower Records in Shinjuku signing autographs last week, but unfortunately I had prior engagements! It is nice though, to have so much of Underworld's attention placed on the country you happen to live in. With early album/single releases, autograph signing, tons of Japanese magazine articles, it seems like every week I find out about some new perk!

I can't complain!!!

Matt

[negative1]

Originally Posted by phaseblue

I don't want to get off topic, but did you live in Japan before? I was up in Utsunomiya for 3 years, but recently moved down to Yokohama.

BTW - Karl was at Tower Records in Shinjuku signing autographs last week, but unfortunately I had prior engagements! It is nice though, to have so much of Underworld's attention placed on the country you happen to live in. With early album/single releases, autograph signing, tons of Japanese magazine articles, it seems like every week I find out about some new perk!

I can't complain!!!

Matt

that, and all the really cool, long concerts too..
(where they sold the live cd's)...


can someone please ban matt from this board!





(just kidding.....japan's a very cool place to visit, i was there
once awhile ago(mid 90's), and enjoyed it quite a bit)...

[stauff]

Originally Posted by phaseblue

I don't want to get off topic, but did you live in Japan before? I was up in Utsunomiya for 3 years, but recently moved down to Yokohama.
...
It is nice though, to have so much of Underworld's attention placed on the country you happen to live in. With early album/single releases, autograph signing, tons of Japanese magazine articles, it seems like every week I find out about some new perk!
...

Heh.. nah, I've never actually lived in Japan, but I work for a Japanese company here in Sydney, so I go there a lot. I've been studying Japanese for about 5 years, but sometimes it's hard to get motivated to practice.

Reading about underworld on Mixi etc gives me a good excuse to do some study (well, I can pretend that it's study ). Also turns up some interesting tidbits occasionally. And yeah, it's cool that underworld like the place as much as I do.

I haven't been to Utsunomiya, but I've seen a photo of the giant gyouza at the railway station

[stauff]

Ok, that took me longer than I meant it to, but here it is for you all. Sorry about the slightly crap translation in parts..

-----

Q: The new "Oblivion with bells", as the first album in 5 years will be keenly expected by fans, and there will be a great sense of expectation as to what Underworld has become..

KH: Yeah. Some people want an intense uplifting sort of thing, and others are looking for something very musical. I guess we've made an album that honestly represents the sound of Underworld as we are now.

Q: The title, "Oblivion with bells".. is there some meaning in it?

KH: It's a line from the 9th track, Faxed Invitation. As for the meaning of the words, I don't know there's any particular meaning to them. Rather, it'd be more interesting to watch what the listeners make of the title. It's an abstract and "Underworld-esqe" title don't you think?

Q: That's for sure. The jacket artwork is also has a very "underworld"-like quality to it

KH: That's a collage made up from some of the pictures I take on my mobile phone camera every day, made by Tomato. It was made digitally originally, and then passed through an analog process to get the final design.

Q: You've already got a single cut of Crocodile, is there going to be a video clip for it too?

KH: We're going to start filming the video next week. We'll do some of the filming at a place which was a sort of old pigsty that we turned into a studio - we used it to record some of the audio too. We're working with Simon Taylor from Tomato. After that we also plan to make video clips for "Ring Road", "Boy,Boy,Boy", etc.

Q: About when did you start the recording for this album?

KH: If I had to say, it'd be about 2003. We were developing some of these songs back while we were doing the download project (Riverrun). That, and tracks that come from when we were doing the two soundtracks. Doing Danny Boyle's Sunshine and Anthony Minghella's Breaking and Entering were great experiences.

Q: Where did you do the recording?

KH: For example, that old pigsty that we turned into a studio, and we also used the private studios in our houses. This time we also used the internet to send data back-and-forth for jam sessions.

Q: Were there any new methods or equipment used this time?

KH: We used this on the soundtracks too, but we're putting in more orchestral and vocal sounds, and pushed along by Gabriel Yarad, there's also some grand piano and acoustic guitar. There's also of course some new software. Up until now the underworld recordings have been mostly me and Rick, but this time Steven Hall from the label, and Pete Heller [just guessed the spelling there..] and there's also some guest musicians have been included.

Q: What sort of guests did you have?

KH: While we were recording, Rick wanted some live percussion. So we phoned an old friend from U2, Larry Mullen, and he was happy to help out. We also had a percussionist play for us by the name of Paul Klavis [??not sure of his last name], who's played on Herbie Hancock and Brian Ferry albums.

Q: For an Underworld album to include guests is pretty rare isn't it?

KH: For the Breaking and Entering soundtrack we had session musicians and a splendid orchestra [and something else I don't quite get]. On "Boy,Boy,Boy", rick had programmed in a beat, but we wanted to make that into a natural sound, so we ended up asking Larry to play that for us on the drums.

Q: "Boy Boy Boy" is a great "individual" style track I think. Are there any plans to make a single cut?

KH: Certainly lots of people have been saying that - because it's got the straight sort of rocky groove.

Q: Finally, do you have any messages for you Japanese fans?

Thanks for continuing to support underworld. We always get great inspiration from our Japanese fans. Whenever there's anything new, the first reaction always seems to come from the Japanese fans. I'll be back in December for the first time on a huge stage for a while, so please look forward to it!

(Interviewer: Hideo Koutarou)

[Lx_Nen]

Thanks, that was a fascinating read... perhaps 'ring road' is also a contender for second single?

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by phaseblue

I don't want to get off topic, but did you live in Japan before? I was up in Utsunomiya for 3 years, but recently moved down to Yokohama.

BTW - Karl was at Tower Records in Shinjuku signing autographs last week, but unfortunately I had prior engagements! It is nice though, to have so much of Underworld's attention placed on the country you happen to live in. With early album/single releases, autograph signing, tons of Japanese magazine articles, it seems like every week I find out about some new perk!

I can't complain!!!

Matt

wait wait wait, hold the phone- tower records still exists in store form?

[Yannick]

I got scan from 2 jp mag i'll scan them in if anyone want to translate

Loud from September and October
Floor from September and October.. with bonus dr bits

http://www.krinum.com/patient/yan/dr.jpg

[holden]

Originally Posted by stauff

Ok, that took me longer than I meant it to, but here it is for you all. Sorry about the slightly crap translation in parts..

Thanks a bunch, Stauff! Some nice tidbits in there.

[TheBang]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

wait wait wait, hold the phone- tower records still exists in store form?

Internationally. They are owned by different companies than the Tower that folded and liquidated all the U.S. stores.