2006年Jane Magazine对Richard的采访

Interview with Richard – Jane Magazine

So, this was a bit of a dream come true for me, interviewing Richard, the drummer from Keane–one of my favorite bands in recent years. I reviewed the new album in detail in the June/July issue (page 40). So without further ado, here are some of the best bits of my wee chat with new bff, Rich. —Brekke

Jane: I loved Hopes and Fears. What were your goals when you went into the studio to record Under the Iron Sea?

Richard: We’d gone a little bit crazy on the road. We were starting to lose sight of what made us a band and why we were friends in the first place. I don’t think we thought about what were going to do in the studio because we really didn’t know if we were going to make another record or if we were going to be a band anymore. So we were focused on that rather than, you know, whether we were going to introduce a mandolin in the second chorus of Crystal Ball.

Jane: So it was like “Do I want to kill him or do I want to record with him?”

Richard: Well, exactly that kind of thing. I think what we did do like typical men. We’re not very good at talking through this stuff, but fortunately we’re in a band and we get to address some of it through songs, and that’s what we’ve done.

Jane: What song is most special to you personally?

Richard: There’s a song that’s very special to me called “A Bad Dream.” It was inspired by a poem by W.B. Yeats called “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death.” It’s a poem written sort of from the eyes of a soldier who is kind of looking over enemy lines and thinking, ‘I don’t hate the people over there, and I don’t love the people I’m trying to protect. Why am I here? What is going on? I’m going to die probably and this is s***.’ The poem is probably as relevant today as it ever has been.

Jane: Sounds it. Where did you record the album?

Richard: We recorded some of it in the countryside in East Sussex at Heliocentric studios, the same place we did the first record. We also recorded some of it in the Magic Shop Studios in SoHo in New York City. We love New York and we played there many times. We had a lot of fun when we were recording because we were playing with U2 in the evening at Madison Square Garden.

Jane: That must have been an incredible experience.

Richard: Yeah, recording in the day and then playing with U2 at night. As days go, that’s a good one. They’re amazing and they’re an amazing band and amazing people. And they were full of very good advice for us.

Jane: You must’ve been hungry for advice having survived 18 months on the road and still live to tell the tale.

Richard: Well, we just about survived. The advice from Bono about making a second record was something we were very excited about getting. He was talking about trying to get the atmosphere on the record and really as important as anything else, to get the track listing right and to really make sure it works as a sort of body of work and a journey. He was candid with us about what he thought made for a great record. We’re very grateful for that.

Jane: How do you feel about going back out on the road?

Richard: Well, I’m excited about going back on the road. We can mix up what we’ve got to play. We can change the set list. We can play old stuff and new stuff. It’s sort of really revitalized playing the old stuff, let alone the idea of playing the new stuff. I don’t know why. You’ve got more options and you’re not playing exactly the same set every night. Because you get to play at Radio City and it’s a stunning place to play, but when you’ve only released one album, it’s quite a hardcore thing to do.

Jane: And what’s on your iPod these days?

Richard: I love the new Death Cab for Cutie record. There’s also a new band in the U.K. called The Crimea. I think they’re wicked as well. When I get time, I’m going to download the new Paul Simon record. He was definitely a massive inspiration for Keane. The way that his lyrics flow, they’re basically just perfect.

Jane: I haven’t listened to it yet. I adore Graceland. That got me through college.

Richard: Yeah, the first line on that record: “The Mississippi Delta was shining/Like a National guitar.” I mean that is about as good a line as you will ever find, for use of words and language. What a lyrical genius! And he wrote the melodies, too. What a bastard! I hate him. Actually, I hate him.

2006年Jane Magazine对Richard的采访

对我来说，这有点像是美梦成真的感觉，就是采访近几年来我最爱的乐队之一：Keane的鼓手Richard。在6－7月刊号上有我对他们最新专辑做的评论（第40页）。现在废话少说，以下就是我和Richard的一部分对话。——Brekke

Jane: 我很喜欢”Hopes and Fears”。你们是抱着怎样的目标而走入录音室录制”Under the Iron Sea”的呢？
Richard: 在这个过程中我们都有点发疯。我们在组团的初衷和为什么走到一起成为朋友这点上迷失了方向。我们没有去考虑将要在录音室里干些什么，因为我们根本就没有概念是否还会制作下一张专辑，或者说我们是否还能在一起组成1支乐队。所以，那时我们的心思都花在那些事上面，而不是什么是否应该在”Crystal Ball”第二次合唱部分配上曼陀林琴。

Jane: 就是“是想杀了他，还是想和他一起作专辑”那样的感觉么？
Richard: 呃，就是这样。我想我们都是典型的男人，不擅长交流这方面的话题，幸运的是，我们还在同一个乐队里，还能将这些问题用我们的歌曲表达出来，而这也正是我们的作品。

Jane: 对你而言，哪首歌最特别？
Richard: “A Bad Dream”对我来说十分特别。这首歌的灵感取自W.B. Yeats①的一首名为”An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” 的诗。它从一个士兵的视角出发，当他从空中俯视敌人防线时想：“我不痛恨底下所谓的敌人，我也并没有热爱我正试图保护的人们。那为什么我会在这里？究竟发生了什么事情？我却可能会因为这些该死的自己都搞不明白的事情而死！”这首诗的启发意义直到现在都很大。

Jane: 听上去真不错。你们是在哪里录制专辑的呢？
Richard: 我们在苏塞克斯郡东郊的Heliocentric录音室，也就是我们制作第一张专辑的地方录制了一部分。在纽约市休南区的Magic Shop录音室里也录了一些。我们喜欢纽约，在那里做了好几次演出。我们在那里过得很开心，因为晚上我们和U2一起在麦迪逊广场花园进行了演出。

Jane: 那一定是一次令人难忘的经历吧。
Richard: 是的，白天录音，晚上和U2同台演出。随着时间推移，这势必成为我们美好的回忆。这是一支让人感到惊异的乐队，队员也很令人惊异。他们向我们提供了许多有益的建议。

Jane: 那在路上的18个月中幸存后，你们一定非常渴望得到些建议吧，所幸你们还在一起谱写自己的传奇。
Richard: 恩，我们刚刚从灾难中幸存过来。Bono建议我们制作第二张专辑，这让我们感到非常兴奋。他告诉我们说，整张专辑所散发的氛围非常重要，要花心思在安排专辑曲目的顺序上，确保作品的完整性，这样听完整张专辑就好像进行了一段旅程一样。他教我们如何制作出很棒的专辑，对我们很坦率，我们对此很感激。

Jane: 回到原来的路上重新开始制作专辑，这种感觉怎样？
Richard: 我们对重新开始作专辑感到很兴奋。我们可以把想要演奏的东西都混合起来。我们可以改变曲目的列表。我们可以表演以前的曲目和新曲。在表演过去曲目的时候我们都有一种重获新生的感觉，更不要说新的曲目了。我也不明白为什么当你有更多选择时，你就不会每晚都演奏同样的曲目了。可能是因为你必须在无线电城音乐厅这么棒的地方演出。但如果你只发表了1张专辑，这就不太可能轻易实现。

Jane: 最近你的iPod里面都放了些什么歌呢？
Richard: 我很喜欢Death Cab for Cutie②的新专辑。英国最近有一支新乐队，叫The Crimea③，他们很邪恶，但是很棒。等我有时间的时候，我要去下载Paul Simon④的新专辑。他绝对可以说是Keane的灵感来源。他那行云流水般的歌词配合的是那么完美。

Jane: 我也还没有听过Paul Simon的新歌呢。我喜欢他的Graceland，它陪伴我度过了大学生涯。
Richard: 是的，”The Mississippi Delta was shinging/Like a National guitar”这首歌真是一流的作品，我是指，当你一听到这首歌时，无论从文字还是语言表达上，都会马上被吸引住。他可真是一个作词天才！当然他同时也作曲。哦，他可真是个混蛋，是的，我恨他。

①叶慈(W.B. Yeats, 1865-1939)：1923年诺贝尔文学奖得主，亦是二十世纪诗坛巨擘与颇负影响力之文论批评家和剧作家，更是爱尔兰大文豪。

②Death Cab for Cutie：来自华盛顿柏林汉姆的四人Indie Pop乐团。

③The Crimea The Crimea成立于2002年夏。乐队的音色是基于混沌之中，且主题涉及爱与性的阴暗面；杂乱纷呈的吉他与钢琴声线的交汇之旅，进行着富于思想、想象力、进取心和佳品创作。

④Paul Simon: 作为一名歌手和吉他手，他同伙伴阿特.加芬克尔(Art Garfunkel)的合作获得了世界性的成功。于1970年俩人分道扬镖，开始单飞。

翻译：akia