Spiritualized's Pierce Moves Forward

01/13/09 5:48pm

by Jonathan Paige (CHARTattack)

Spiritualized main man Jason Pierce sits in a hotel lobby in Buenos Aires, Argentina dressed in archetypal T-shirt, jeans and silver trainers following an October show in support of Songs In A+E.

The band were in the South American country to play two gigs. The first was at a small downtown venue called La Trastienda, where the performance included a pulsing, revitalized take on Spacemen 3's "Take Me To The Other Side," complete with full-on epilepsy-inducing strobe effects.

"We can always push it, always try and take it somewhere else," says Pierce.

Songs In A+E was rootsier than the space rock Pierce has become known for with both Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized. New song "Life Is A Problem," which was performed during the supporting tour, moves even further in that direction.

"It's almost straight country, like a Willie Nelson song," says Pierce of the track. "The band’s been together for 10 years now and we can play straighter, the kind of soul that Aretha [Franklin] might play, or more traditional sounds, but retain the kind of beauty that’s always been within Spiritualized.

"I've never been able to do that before. Often when you get a band that tries to play straight, it sounds like this ridiculous white thing."

It would be easy to believe that Songs In A+E was Pierce's recovery album, recorded after his 2005 brush with death via double pneumonia. But, in fact, it was finished before the attack. So what comes next?

"I have this love-hate relationship with making records because they take so fucking long," Pierce says. "I'll put a few songs together and get really excited about it, so I'm waiting for that to happen. I don't know what it'll be yet, but I'm thinking about it."

It's almost impossible to attend a Spiritualized gig and not see at least one person in the throes of ecstasy. Pierce explains why:

"What we do is so different from what a lot of people do, going after that thing that I love. That glory, that power, that thing that makes you cry, that makes you a mess. It's not easy to find. If it was, every band would be doing it. Just playing the notes in the right order isn’t enough."

Modern technology clearly doesn't grab Pierce. Ordering an album off the internet isn't the same to him as digging through crates in a record store. He doesn't have much time for audio purists either.

"These seven-inch records, people are always trying to get the best sound from them," says an incredulous Pierce. "But originally, they played them in jukeboxes, which stacked them up and dropped them.

"The thing that's invested in that music isn't the clarity or the production. I don't know what it is 'cause I ain't got the words. It's between the notes. These days you can make a record exactly like The Beatles, or you can do the same thing as Phil Spector's studio. You can make records that'll have the same appearance, but they won't be great. It's not to do with the production, it's not to do with the notes, it's something else in there."

"Moving forward" is a phrase the 43-year-old Pierce repeats, almost like a mission statement. Three years ago, he was tentatively offered the chance to reform the original Spacemen 3, and turned it down flat.

"That whole thing's become an industry," explains Pierce. "It seems like someone got lucky putting a couple of bands back together, was like 'fuck, the audiences are massive,' and now everybody does it, from My Bloody Valentine to the Osmonds.

"Most of these bands who are getting back together didn't talk to each other until somebody put a fat cheque through the door, and that's never been my motivation. People always talk about 'the original lineup' like it fucking matters."

Bands from The Warlocks to Super Furry Animals to The Brian Jonestown Massacre cite Spiritualized as an influence, but Pierce says influences are nothing without your own sound.

"The key is to drag your influences kicking and screaming into your own world, not to go where your influences were. That's what most people don't understand. So much music is a copy of other people's music, and copies by their very nature are inferior.

"You just do what you do. You can't look to the bigger picture, you just do what's important to you."

Spiritualized have these dates scheduled:

Jan. 13 Auckland, New Zealand @ Powerhouse
Jan. 15 Brisbane, Australia @ Riverstage (All Tomorrow's Parties)
Jan. 16 Sydney, Australia @ Metro Club
Jan. 17-18 Sydney, Australia @ Cockatoo Island (All Tomorrow's Parties)
Jan. 22 Tokyo, Japan @ Liquid Room
Jan. 23 Tokyo, Japan @ Tokyo Duo Music Exchange
Jan. 24 Yokohoma, Japan @ Yokohoma Bay Hall
Jan. 26 Nagoya, Japan @ Club Quattro
Jan. 27 Osaka, Japan @ Club Quattro
May 7 Leamington Spa, England @ Assembly Rooms
May 8 Minehead, England (All Tomorrow's Parties)
May 29 Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound
May 31 Malaga, Spain @ Cervantes Club