Lá para Julho, a
http://www.banana-magazine.com/, uma e-zine italiana, mandou-nos um e-mail a expressar a sua vontade de nos entrevistar. Nós, de boca aberta, naturalmente concordamos, e eu tratei de responder às perguntas da Sara Spagnuolo (que foi absolutamente simpática em todo o meu contacto com ela) assim que pude.
Lá passaram uns meses, e a mesma Sara me informou que, devido a umas trocas de gerência na dita Banana Magazine que eu não compreendi totalmente, a nossa entrevista e mais outras tinham sido descartadas. Sendo que não vos vamos poder mostrar um .pdf brilhante com fotos nossas e outras coisas bonitas juntamente com a entrevista, aqui está ela na integra.
-D
- Taking for granted the fact that each listener may grasp different hints in your music, is there any artist who has somehow influenced you sound-wise and that, most likely, no one would ever think of...?
Despite our core sound being mostly cohesive and firmly related to modern indie pop and indie rock, most of our individual references manage to find a way to sneak into songs. For instance, the "divebombing" guitar near the end of So Disappointed was Vitor's way of showing off his Kevin Shields' hero worship. Lyrically, Morrissey constantly creeps into my thoughts like a bad debt that I can't pay. He's definitely the main influence in my writing, though that influence tends to be blended in with some Stephin Merrit, a dose of Travis Morrison, and a pinch of Damon Albarn.
And Justin Timberlake is the secret inspiration that guides all our songs, no doubt about it.
- I saw couple of videos of The Iconoclasts twitching and jumping on stage. Looks like improvisation and interaction play a pivotal role in your gigs. Did you notice any changes from the very first shows to the most recent ones? Or is it the audience to change...? Any experience abroad?
Our live act has definitely improved over time, as I'm sure it will continue to. We mantain a strict "Let's Have Fun" policy when playing live, and this was completely unrestrained on our first shows - extremely fast and furious, but at the cost of some technical mishaps. We've learned to tame ourselves a bit since then, and though we still find ourselves completely drenched in sweat after three or four songs, we're a lot tighter and more focused in how to release that energy. Audiences seem to appreciate that, as much as an audience can appreciate an indie band starting out. We never do feel entirely trusted, but it's also tremendously satisfying when the few boys and girls in the crowd who had a smile plastered on their faces while you were screaming at them come tell you how they loved you after your show.
- Dialectic counter-voice, frequent shift of pace and tone, squeaking guitars, syncopated drums... yet there must be a core rule lying beneath this systematic irregularity. Can you unravel it for us? What happens when being outrageous becomes a rule in itself..?
We always strive for a healthy mix of familiarity and unexpectedness, musically and lyrically. We try to write fun, catchy, energy-filled songs and to make them as detailed and interesting as possible - songs you can dance and bang your head to, but with a clever layer hidden underneath it. I've no idea if we actually succeed, though.
- I assume that your “iconoclasm” is not literally aimed at the destruction of religious icons... what are the “icons” you are waging war on then? What are your weapons? Do the “icons” fight back? Or perhaps you don't take yourselves that seriously and the name you chose is actually ironic…
The name is 75% ironic, 25% serious. We definitely have our idols and we all spend so much time delving on the little details on their lives that we couldn't possibly be completely straight-faced about it. On the other hand, we do embrace the name as a banner to a certain extent - we could very easily sound like the Arctic Monkeys or At The Drive-In or A Place To Bury Strangers or what have you, but we chose to write songs that -we- like more than songs that deliberately resemble something. It also reflects a certain disdain for bands that actually go and do that.
- The Web is nowadays one of the most mighty and controversial means of music acknowledge and diffusion. Are you friends or foes with its overwhelming powers? To what extent?
We're best friends forever. We're on so many different social and music sharing platforms: Myspace,
Last.fm, Facebook, Hi5...We're even on this online game called Next Big Sound, where players are supposed to run a label and "sign" their favourite indie artists. I was really addicted to it for a while.
- What is it that makes you “special, exactly like everybody else”...? (By the way I totally agree with this baseline concept, everything is just a matter of perspectives...)
It's hard to pinpoint, really. We think we write great songs and that they really deserve to be heard, but what band doesn't? You work hard to promote your band and to write the best music and give the best live show possible, but in the end you're just another band trying to make it. It's sort of tragic.
- Can you sketch in few strokes the contemporary music scene in Portugal, and your spot in it? Any hardship for the “indies”? Oh well, several i guess...
Very few bands here make it to the point where people have actually heard their name, it takes them a long time to do so, and only 10% of those bands are actually any good or interesting. The much maligned British (and American to a certain extent, I guess) custom of finding the latest and freshest in music and letting people know about it that the NME tends to represent isn't really widespread here in Portugal, so the few bands that do deserve to get out of the underground very seldom do. Still, Linda Martini, X-Wife and Peixe:Avião are some bands who prove it's still possible, even if unlikely.
- I'm really curious... If i say “name an Italian musician/band” - excluding the über-commercial breed of course - would you pull a blank face or already have a few names in mind...?
I've no idea how their indie-cred is, but I heard Spiritual Front last year in Paredes de Coura and liked it quite a bit. Vitor says he likes Verdena and Settlefish a lot, as well.
- Some unforgettable moments that outstand when you look back? And when you look ahead...?
We've terrible memories and even worse imaginations. However, one day we will headline Glasto. It's written in the stars.
- You didn’t give yourselves a very listener-friendly description, but are your moms proud of you in the end…?
Always, even though they secretly still plot to destroy our band.
- Which movie's soundtrack you wish The Iconoclasts had been part of?
Home Alone. Not because of the movie itself, but the title describes our lives so perfectly.
- Anything else that we really should know about The Iconoclasts? Or that we'd better never know..?
We love pork, Jesus Christ, and our mothers, in that order. And your readers, more than pork, JC or their mothers ever could.