eNTRaDaS PaRa La HiSTeRia

martes, 23 de mayo de 2017

Cracker de gira en Mayo por España. Entrevista a David Lowery


Vuelve Cracker con su directo de primera división tras más de 20 años mezclando en un cóctel de Americana estilos como el country-rock, la psicodelia, el punk y el folk.

Los fundadores de la banda David Lowery y Johnny Hickman dirigen el viaje como es habitual y pisan escenario de siete ciudades españolas. Sus letras siguen estando definidas por la crítica social. David Lowery es profesor en la Universidad de Richmong y un activista declarado contra las grandes corporaciones, como se puede comprobar en su blog  The Trichordist.

  
Su último álbum de estudio “Berkeley to Bakersfield” (2014) reunió a la banda original en el estudio y como explica el propio Lowery: “En el disco está el line up original de Cracker: Davey Faragher, Michael Urbano, Johnny y yo mismo. Es la primera vez que estamos juntos en una habitación para grabar en casi 20 años. Y casi de forma preconcebida, al estar en los Estudios Easy Bay Recorders en Berkeley, pensamos en centrarnos en la música que asociamos inmediatamente con la East Bay: Punk y Garage con rollo funky por ahí. Y darle fuerte a la reivindicación política en las letras."


LA GIRA

04/05. Riquela-Santiago de Compostela 
05/05. Intxaurondo K.E. - Donosti
06/05. Kafe Antzokia - Bilbao
09/05. Looco Club - Valencia
10/05. El Sol- Madrid
11/05. La2 de Apolo - Barcelona
12/05. Helldorado - Vitoria


THE INTERVIEW

The songs of Cracker sounds like an elegant Rock where I can detect Country, Folk, Stoner, Blues and a bit of Pop. A mix of styles that results on the personal and beautiful sound of your music. But, what are really your musical influences?
Probably classic American sounds as translated through the UK/Canada.  Seriously.   It’s like the Stones, The Faces, The Kinks, Led Zeppelin and the Band taught my generation when we were teenagers about our roots music.   But there was also a big west coast hippy-country influence as well.  Things like The Grateful Dead , Kaleidoscope, Country Joe and the Fish;  Southwest Punk Country influences like X, The Beat Farmers, Meat Puppets, River Roses, Los Plugz and the Blasters.

This year will mark 15 years since you edited our first album named “Cracker”. What is the difference between the music of Cracker today and your music 15 years ago?
15?  You mean 25?   I think the strange thing is that remarkable little has changed.  When we turned in our first record to Virgin Records, our A&R executive politely noted it was a country rock and blues rock record and the most popular music styles in rock were grunge and “Manchester sound.”   In other words we were out of sync with the times.  However they released it anyway and it went gold.  Don’t we still make the same kind of albums?


What's your inspiration when making your songs?
I like to invent characters in my head.   Then I let the characters speak.  I don’t write the songs.  They write the songs.   This is the definition of being schizophrenic right? Hearing voices?

What do we will see and enjoy in your live concerts?
Lately we’ve been trying to play a little bit from every part of our catalogue.   Leaning a little bit more on the first album as well. Maybe because it’s 25 years since that album was released.  Also we’ve been playing a few of the songs without drums and bass each night. We’ve developed this offshoot of Cracker called The Trippy Trio.  I play a classical style guitar, Johnny plays electric and Pistol plays pedal steel.  The songs are reinterpreted.   Also rare songs we don’t play in concert. 

This is not your first time in Spain. What do you expect from the Spanish crowd?
Spanish rock crowds are the best fans in the world.  Every American rock band will tell you that. 

Do you think the digital world will end with music as we know it today? What do you think is the future of music?
Well, ultimately I’m an optimist.  You can’t have a situation where songwriters (especially) are not fairly compensated for their work.  Eventually no one will write songs.  In Nashville 90% of the professional songwriters have quit.  It’s irrational, eventually the businesses or governments will have to fund songwriting again.    In rock music where the performers also write the songs it is not as big a problem, but it’s only a matter of time.

What is your best memory about music?
The other night in Bilbao at Kafe Antzokia.   I have this song Almond Grove.  I think it’s one of the better songs I’ve written.  But it often doesn’t get a big reaction in live concerts.  But in Bilbao they sung along with the chorus and people were crying.  Never have I achieved that level of connection with an audience.  It was powerful.

How is a normal day in the life of Cracker?
Coffee at the hotel, drive in the van for 6 hours, soundcheck for two,  quickly eat dinner, play, teardown, sleep for 6 hours start over.  It’s very glamorous.

What do you think about the current economic and social situation in Spain, Europe and in the World in general?
Politically I’m very moderate. In the US I’m not registered with a political party. I’m listed “Independent”  at the polls. But I am deeply disturbed by the acceleration of wealth inequality.  I think both capitalism and government interventions are accelerating the problem.  It’s the worst of both worlds.  It seems similar in Spain.   Are we and our children going to be waiters, housekeepers and gardeners for rich New Yorkers?  Berliners? Russians? Is that our future?  To quote Yeats “The center can not hold.”  
If it’s not corrected we will end up with populist fascism.   

CRAKER
Low (2009)


MISCELLANY

Could you tell us about...

... A book?:
Who Owns The Future.  By Jaron Lanier.  This Silicon Valley visionary turned critic, predicted the present.  Everyone needs to read this to understand that essentially wall street, military industrial intelligence complex and silicon valley have all merged into an extremely powerful entity.

... A movie?:
The Big Lebowski.  The Cohen Brothers are modern day Homer.

... A song?:
Taylor Swift: Shake it Off.

... An album?: 
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... A group or soloist?:
Divine Feed,  really just one guy.   A pig farmer from South Georgia.   Start with the song Valdosta or Valle D’Osta.   It’s what I imagined the Alabama Shakes were supposed to sound like. 

... A hobby?:
Obscure music scenes.  Like near the very rich areas of Palm Springs and Palm Desert there is also the agricultural eastern half of the Coachella Valley.  There is this hybrid transnational culture there. It’s neither US or Mexico.  But it is producing all these young bands playing backyard parties.  They sound heavily influenced by midlands UK bands from 1980s. No one knows why.   Try the “The Tribesmen” for cool post punk instrumental music. (THIS IS NOT THE QUEEN OF THE STONEAGE DESERT SOUND.  THIS IS FROM THE POOR EASTERN HALF OF THE VALLEY!)

Also similar transnational space rock scene South Tucson.  

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