What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.
Waiting For The Man by The Velvet Underground. When I was 16 I finally managed to tune up the guitar I’d had for four years to learn a few chords to be able to play that song.
The band are currently made up of three original members: Tracy, myself and Tig and our main producer Paul Sampson who has played bass guitar on all recent recordings has also been playing bass live with us.
Provide us with some info about your latest release…
We have released two singles over the past year – our first new material in 6 years. The latest one called ‘I Won’t Care’ was only a digital release but we’re looking to do a vinyl version soon.
Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?
I was mostly influenced by The Velvet Underground and post punk stuff, but once the Primitives started a lot of 60s and 70s pop that I’d grown up with came into play also. Apart from that I would say that I was influenced by the people I hung around with – friends and the members of the band when we started out in our late teens. You tend to rub off each other at that age.
In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?
The way we play and write and Tracy’s voice is what makes us unique. Even if there are similarities here and there with other bands you can still tell it’s us I think. We always strived to exist outside of music press created genres, C86, Blonde, etc, because they were really only about restriction and control and ultimately eradication. Having said that we have been described as Jangle pop, noise pop and power pop
Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…
Albums
I think I prefer live. Studio is great when all the parts are done and you’re happy with them, but there’s always the worry that stuff could go wrong, that a performance won’t be up to par, and then that is it forever. If you have a bad gig it’s annoying but it’s over with.
Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?
We asked Julian Cope to produce us back in the early 90s. He wasn’t opposed to the idea, but was concerned that because we’re small and he’s tall and moves about quite quickly we might get scared. We could see his point.
Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?
Maybe Empathise off the album Galore. It is not a typical Primitives song, but it shows a different side of the band that has always been there right from the early releases. If I had to choose one song as a great Primitives pop tune then Way Behind Me or for something more recent I’d say Spin-O-Rama.
Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?
We’re doing a UK tour with Hugh Cornwell in January and are looking at some overseas shows in March – somewhere new for us, can’t say anymore at the moment – and as I said we’re looking at a vinyl release of I Won’t Care with HHBTM records.
Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…
If I could go back what advice would I give myself.
It would be so tempting to show myself how to play and write better, but I think great things can come from youthful naivety and tampering with it could mess things up. I would definitely tell myself to take better control of the situation I was in especially when we hit the big time.
Curated by: Christos Doukakis
Recommended listening:
Connect with The Primitives: